34 Cape High Fire Spin, page 10
part #1 of Cape High Series
“Nico!” the super finder exclaims suddenly. The man looks into the air, seeing the super flying right over his head.
Superior. The word seems to echo loudly in his head, and he almost curses out loud. Superior was supposed to have died decades ago! The super drops to the ground, mere feet away from where the man is hiding. For a second, the man doesn’t dare to breathe. The Superior is staring right at him, with a strange expression on his face. That lasts for all of a second before the floating female from earlier runs through the wall of the house and stops in front of him.
“Skye,” he says.
“Did you find the unlisted cape?” she asks.
“Not… yet,” Nico says, and then looks at the spot where the man is, again, a confused frown on his face. “The temperature in that spot seems… wrong,” he says, starting for the hidden man.
“That’s not important right now,” Skye says, grabbing his wrist. “She tried to steal my powers.”
“She did what?” he asks, looking back to her. “What happened? Never mind, I’ll find out for myself. Where are the girls, have they finished, yet?”
“Mmmm…” Skye says as they head into the house. “Oh! Ariel found something interesting! I forgot all about that until just now, think we should go see?”
“What did she find?” Nico asks.
“A mermaid!”
“One of the Foundation, right?” Nico says, and they head into the house. For a moment the hidden man stays right where he is, his heart beating faster than it has for several decades. It’s not Superior, he tells himself. Superior would possibly have sensed him, even with the reflective abilities. He’s got a very good idea what Superior’s powers had been, he’d studied them for a few months in the past. Atomic manipulation, super strength, speed, flight, and hearing. Most of those are just typical things, and could easily be dismissed, but the atomic manipulation had been fascinating to him. Of course Superior had hardly used…
He shakes off his thoughts as his stomach growls angrily. He can smell the faintest scent of food being cooked. He needs to get out of here and get something to eat. If he waits until they’re distracted, he should be able to make a run for it without being noticed—
“Food’s ready,” he hears the fire kid say, and the clinking of plates.
The hidden man makes a run for it, racing away at top speeds.
***
*Cape High, the Next Morning*
The entire dorm body looks up as Max and Jack walk into the den, dropping down on their couches as if they belong there. “He’s only fourteen, right?” Jack asks. “Did Negatia do the calling?”
“No, it was the kid’s father,” Max says. “And yeah, apparently he’s had his powers for half a year… we had some pretty impressive fourteen-year-old kids in the past, so it might be worth it, but…”
“But what?” Ward asks, having already been on the couch Jack just dropped down on. He grunts as Jack drapes an arm over his shoulder, starting to wrestle with the older male. “Giddoff, you’re heavy,” he complains, shoving at him.
“But I missed you, man!” Jack says, clinging onto him as the rest of the group starts to laugh. “We got a kid calling up for a debut from the West Hall,” he says, now holding Ward in a loose choke hold. “Why don’t you do it, Ward?” he asks.
“I’m not going villain—or is the kid a villain?” Ward asks. “And I haven’t debuted, so it wouldn’t work, anyway. But I bet he called for one of you two, anyway, right?”
“Technico, bring up the files on Laserblast’s kid,” Max says, not even noticing how Tommy and Toby are watching him like hawks—or apparently not noticing. He looks up at them, grinning wickedly. “So, you two thinking of going villain?”
“We never said that,” Tommy says, turning back to his homework like he’d been doing it all this time.
“I might be interested,” Toby says.
“They got this place Toby-proofed just last weekend,” Ward says. “So we thought we’d show them some of their big sister’s funniest moments.”
“Isn’t Carla doing rounds right now?” Jack asks Max.
“She’s on duty with Liz, yeah,” Max says. The two of them seem to communicate silently for a moment before grinning hugely. “Let’s show them her golf game with the Darlin’s!” Max says, pulling out his phone.
“Wait, wait, you were about to say something interesting,” Ward says. “What’s with the West branch guy?”
“What’s Vinny say about it?” Freddy asks. “He’s already met the kid, right? That future werewolf.”
“That’s not the kid we got called about,” Max says. The others look at each other. “I don’t think Vinny’s even met this kid,” he admits as the information shows on the screen. “He’s going to the same school that the werewolf kid is going to, and that Riddle’s kid was going to. It looks like the Hall made an agreement with them—it’s private.”
“Weren’t they going to open up a Cape High?” Malina asks. “I remember Zoe talking to her.”
“The parents of the prospective students didn’t like it,” Max says. “See…” he hesitates as he thinks about it. “In the west, there are two different Halls operating at the same time, pretty much.”
“How does that even work?” Ward asks. “And why did no one TELL me crap like that before trying to get me to go there?”
“Because the Foundation doesn’t do crap, show-wise,” Max says, tapping on his phone. “There are six of them, all of them would be Specialized S-class or extremely high A, depending on if they have flight abilities, and all those other little technicalities that don’t actually matter in reality. But not one of them has donned the proverbial cape in decades. That’s why Negatia brought in decent A and B-class capes to do the show.”
“And what DO they do?” Ward asks. “The Foundation guys, that is.”
“They make money,” Max says, “hand over fist, as easily as breathing, practically. It’s almost like having six Reapers in one Hall. But the working group either doesn’t know, or doesn’t care. They just know that the only reason they’re headliners right now is because the Foundation doesn’t want to do it… and they’re paranoid that they’ll suddenly get the urge to take up the cape again, and take their places.”
“And the kid that called us?” Jack says, now just leaning on Ward like an armrest, “He’s one of the working group. We’re betting he freaked out because… what was it that made him freak out again?” he asks Max.
“Because the werewolf kid got our attention as soon as we found out about him,” Max says. “Vinny dragged him into a spar, and Doris kidnapped him for a second. He’s one of the Foundation kids, and a Maui warrior… well, would he be called a warrior if he hasn’t been trained on the island?”
The room goes silent for all of a second before they start roaring in approval. “A werewolf Maui?” Ward asks Jack. “We gotta call Kaden!”
“I want him. He’d be an awesome lackey,” Jack says, grinning widely. “But Doris already tried to grab him for Tank’s group,” he complains.
“He SHOULD be sent to the island for at least long enough to be trained,” Max admits. “They’re even in the same Hall. It’s just… yeah, he’d be the picture-perfect headliner, or he will be, as soon as he gets past the puppy stage, and Negatia’s planning on it.”
“So… the Laserblast kid’s got a REASON to be freaking out, right?” Freddy says, almost blandly.
“He doesn’t have a chance, right?” Toby says, and the look over at him. “That thing says he’s got laser eyes and the basic speed and strength, stuff like that,” he says, motioning to the window on the wall. “That means he’s up against a massively cool werewolf that has Kaden-ish powers. Are they going to make the werewolf kid a hero?”
“Sure they will, right?” Tommy says, looking at his twin. “He’s that powerful and cool, they’ll want him to be the—“ he stops as he notices both Jack and Max watching him like cats watching a mouse.
“So you can’t be a villain if you’re powerful and cool, huh?” Jack asks, evilly.
“Carla’s not here right now, is she,” Max says, repeating something they’d already discussed. For some reason the statement is FAR more terrifying this time than it had been earlier.
“But she’d hear if you did something,” Ward says. “Also, why do I have to make the Vinny comments, now?”
“Because you’re the one taking his place, duh, other than the cooking,” Freddy says, tapping on his phone to bring up the video of Vinny sparring with the werewolf boy. “So… which of you are doing the kid’s debut?” he asks. Max and Jack look at each other, and almost as one, point at Freddy.
“You are,” they say.
“Wait, what?” Freddy yelps.
“You want to be a VTV worker, you’d better debut as a villain,” Max says. “We’d take you over there, but…”
“We’re sending you because we don’t wanna bother going!” Jack finishes cheerfully.
“Won’t that just make things worse?” Freddy demands. “I haven’t had a debut, so how can I help someone else have one? No, one of you two or—hey, send Ace, he needs a graduation gig, right?”
“Debuting a B-class cape isn’t good enough to graduate with,” Jack says. “It’s barely good enough to waste a day.”
“That was cold,” Freddy accuses him.
“Which one of us has done it before, huh? And the kid didn’t even go through Negatia—who knows if she even knows about it?” Jack says. “Also, Justin! Get your butt out here!”
“I’m already packing!” Justin yells from the floor above. He comes out a minute later, carrying a huge duffel bag over his shoulder. “I’m going with you, Freddy.”
“What, you wanna do the debut?” Freddy asks.
“No, my mom’s adopted an alien girl, and something else weird is going on, and I’m going to be there for it,” Justin says.
“Vinny’s there,” most of the room says. “Nico is, too,” several others add. “If Nico’s there, it’s pretty much solved, right?”
“Nah, he can come along!” Freddy says. “That way HE can do the debut!”
“Justin isn’t going villain, he’s going elf,” Max says. “And I really doubt the kid wants to beat the son of his Hall leader.”
“Then what about—“ Freddy starts out, looking around the room. He sighs a second later, giving up. “Fine. If I get fried, you’re the one who’s going to pay Ace to fix my hair.” He reaches up, running a hand over the lizard shaped mohawk he’s still sporting. He changed the color again to blue and green, this time. “The kid’s not going to be happy, you know,” he adds as he gets to his feet. “I’m a no-name punk that plans on going into the news, not someone to brag about fighting.”
The entire room looks at him, amused. “You’ll be good enough,” Jack says. “You’re just used to sparring with guys like Ward and Kaden.”
“I’m not that impressive, either, you know,” Ward says.
“You took out a meteor shower,” the rest of the room says.
“Yeah… they put that in the game, you know?” Ward says. “So Fauna and I’ve been playing that one for days.”
“Pack up,” Max says, “I’ll teleport you over there as soon as you’re ready.”
“I got it, I got it,” Freddy says. “Does Nico know you’re dumping this on me?”
“He’ll know soon enough!” Jack says cheerfully. “He was there most of yesterday and already headed out again today.”
“Okay, sure, then he can walk me through it,” Freddy says, although he doesn’t look very happy. “Think I should tell Jen first?”
***
I’m in the kitchen that Nico teched out for me the night before—the one at Negatia’s house. There’s a feed of the Cape High dorms playing on my wall, where Freddy is getting roped into doing Max’s dirty work. I pull out the tray of bacon from the oven, placing it on the counter. Maybe if I don’t TELL Ho’pa that it’s meat, she’ll try it, huh? Nah, that’s sort of dirty. She can be a vegetarian if she wants to be, I just need to make sure she gets enough protein. And yes, I did have Technico scan her to find out her eating needs.
“We could just go to the Hall, you know,” Negatia says as she walks into the room. “Tell me, the Deadly Darlin’s HAVE left, haven’t they? I’m almost positive that they’ve annoyed every Foundation member we have. I would rather not have my Foundation irritated.”
“They got Ariel away from the mermaid girl quickly enough,” I say.
“You got her away from the mermaid girl, you mean,” she says.
“All I did was tell her that dinner was ready,” I say, shrugging.
“Tell me, do you spy on your old school often?” she asks, picking up a piece of bacon and taking a bite. I’m a bit surprised that she’s doing that, but I’m almost positive she doesn’t realize how informal she’s being at the moment. In fact, she looks startled, and stares at the piece of bacon in her hand a second later.
“It’s fair play,” I say. “Did you know that one of your kids called up Central to get a villain for his debut?”
She goes still, the bacon forgotten. “Oh, did they,” she says as Ho’pa comes into the room, looking sleepy. “Which one?”
“I think they said he’s Laserblast’s kid?” I offer as the waffles ding. I go to the waffle maker, flipping it over. “Max and Jack are making Freddy do it.”
She looks torn at that statement. “While I know Freddy is a wonderful news reporter… is he truly capable of doing a debut?” she asks. “Had Laserblast come to me, I would have found someone more—“
“He can do it,” I say. “He’s one of the Invisiboys. And,” I say, plating the waffles and topping them with peanut butter, “he’s a Cape High kid. The only Cape High kid that ISN’T trained to be a headliner in Central Hall is his partner, Jennifer.”
She looks at the screen thoughtfully as she finishes off her piece of bacon. “Technico, bring up the file on Freddy, please,” she says, and the file shows up on the screen next to the feed. “Fine,” she says, sighing. “If Indigo feels ready for his debut, I’ll allow it, but it needs to be at the theme park,” she decides before getting out the plates and starting to plate her own. More than half of the bacon goes onto the plate, followed by several eggs. “Ho’pa, you should at least try a bite of the bacon and eggs,” she says as she heads to the table.
“Do THEY have flower stories?” Ho’pa asks.
“Not that I’m aware of,” I say, but I don’t exactly rack my brain over it. Instead I put a piece of bacon and a single egg on her plate before taking that and the waffles over to place in front of her. “But they think the reason Laserblast’s kid is doing it is because he’s intimidated by Shane,” I tell Negatia as I go back to make my own plate.
“By Shane?” she asks, looking startled. “Why—no, that’s obvious, isn’t it,” she says, sighing. “Ho’pa, as soon as you’re finished with that, you need to start your English practice,” she tells the little girl. “Not all of our black suits have translators, you know.”
“I gnooo,” Ho’pa says, only to make a face and dig into her food with a pout. She takes a tiny bite of the bacon, chewing on it for far too long before gobbling it down.
“If you don’t trust Freddy to do the debut, I can do it,” I offer as I start to eat. “What powers does the kid have?”
“He’s only got the basics, now,” she says. “Medium range B-class, speed, strength, and super hearing. He won’t develop laser projectile powers until he’s little older than he is, now. His father is a decent cape, of course, and the boy would be perfectly fine as a side-kick type, but none of that is the problem,” she says. “The problem is that they didn’t even inform me of what they were planning. They wanted one of the big names, on top of it—did no one tell them that both Cold Steel and Maximum have standing contracts with our Hall?” she asks, growing more irritated by the moment.
“Max doesn’t even take debuts that are under A-class, and Jack doesn’t have to take the fall for them,” I say. “Which would have wound up with the kid being extremely embarrassed, I bet.”
“And of course you know the contracts,” she says wryly.
“I wind up cooking for them at least twice a week,” I admit. “We’re pretty good friends, honestly,” which is something I once never imagined I would say. “The guy should be happy they’re sending Freddy.”
“I don’t believe we have a contract with him,” she admits. “Is he going to have a problem taking a fall for a lower B-class?”
I think about it. “No, I don’t think he would?” I offer, finally. “I mean, he wouldn’t actually LOSE in a fair fight, or anything, but he’s not planning on going full-time villain, anyway.”
“Either way, we’re going to go have a talk with Indigo and Laserblast,” she says, standing and taking her plate to the sink. Ho’pa follows her as I quickly finish eating and clean up my own dishes, as well. We head out the door, and Negatia scoops Ho’pa up into her arms, leaping into the air as I light up. Soon we’re flying to the Hall, where she’s greeted by a dozen black suits the moment she walks through the door.
“Negatia, we have reports of the Deadly Darlin’s building off-shore,” one says.
“Negatia, Maximum, Cold Steel, and Gecko are here, along with Justin,” another says. “They want to have a talk with you.”
“Negatia, Riddle called early this morning asking for a home-schooling program that isn’t absolute—ah… tripe,” another says, looking pointedly at Ho’pa.
“Negatia, no one knows how to use the new kitchen appliances.”
“Negatia—“
She lifts up a hand, stopping them all without a word. “You, take Ho’pa to her study room and start helping her with her enunciation,” she says to one, “you, take me to speak with Maximum and the others, you, there should be a step-by-step guide on the kitchen, just say ‘Technico, how do I use this?’ and it should bring up a video that… Fire Hazard actually made.” She shoots me an amused expression.
