34 Cape High Fire Spin, page 29
part #1 of Cape High Series
“Oh, silly, even I’M not crazy enough to suggest you’ve got a hidden kid when your real kid and lady friend are watching,” she says. “It’s REALLY obvious that the little mermaid’s yours!”
He almost trips as he hears that—and then he bursts out laughing. “Thank you for noticing,” he says.
***
*The Bubble Apartments*
All of the West Hall super kids are outside at the moment, floating in the water around the bubbles, although a few of them have to be tugged down on a regular basis to keep them from surfacing. They’re all using their E.P.B.’s. “Okay!” Ariel says, moving in front of them. “Since we got all of the buildings up and working, we need to do something with you until they say we’re all clear up on the surface, right?” she says, looking to the side where Boogeyman is lounging in the water with fish swimming all around him.
“That’s right,” he says, “which is why Tank and Jack have been working so hard on their little… monstrosity.”
“It ain’t a monstrosity! It’s a maze that’ll work as an obstacle course!” Jack yells from the ocean floor. “It’s sort of how the healers train, so it’ll be just fine for noobs, right?”
“Actually,” Tank says, “it WOULD have been, until we started that little competition… I ain’t sure these kids are old enough to do it solo.”
“Naaah, they’ll be fine,” Jack says. “All they gotta do is lift a few things an’ swim through some others, ya’ know?”
All of the kids floating there, looking at each other, and then at the massive pieces of sunken ships that make up the course. “Um… were all of those down there, already?” Lorie asks, swimming down to look at them.
“Sure they were,” Jack says. “We got every sunken ship I could find. Am I gonna haveta report on the gold I found?” he asks as an aside to the adults watching this with amusement.
“Yes, yes you most definitely will,” his father calls out.
“Dang it,” he complains as Tank starts laughing. “Well, we set up some easy traps and doors, so you should be able to get through the maze by workin’ together—doors will be marked with a glowing signal, but only for the first time through. The goal is to make it through all three ships and touch the bubble building—ALL of you. If you ain’t got even the littlest ones to the bubble before time runs out, I won’t be providing prizes to anyone.”
“Prizes?” Lorie asks, looking excited. “Addie, he said prizes!”
“I shouldn’t enter,” Addie says, shaking her head. “I’ll just mess everything up for you—“
“Your dad is a MASTER at puzzles and locked rooms and stuff, right?” Indigo asks, looking at her. “Does he ever do something like this?” He motions down to the ships, which are laid out in what could possibly be a pattern.
“Well, sure,” she says. “I mean, we do all sorts of locked room games and treasure hunts, but—but even your sister knows that I mess everything up—“
“Forget my sister, we need someone that knows how to get us through weird situations quickly,” Indigo says, earning several looks from the other working group kids. Grace’s expression is the most blatantly angry, but he ignores it. “Do you seriously think I’m going to pass up the chance to get a prize from Cold Steel?” he asks her.
“He’s got a point,” another says.
“She’s Foundation,” Grace says, her jaw ticking. “And your sister—“
“Down here you aren’t Foundation or Working,” Tank says, and they turn to him. “Down here you’re just… what should we call them? Brats?” he asks Jack, who bursts out laughing. “How come you’re the one providing prizes, anyway?” he asks.
“Because what are you going to offer? A fixed roof?” Jack says.
“There’s nothin’ wrong with a fixed roof,” Tank says.
“They’re kids, they’ll want something cool—which you wouldn’t know if it smacked you upside the head,” Jack says, and the West Hall kids watch blankly as the two start wrestling like children, arguing over prizes.
“Don’t break anything, you brats!” Boogeyman calls out. The West Hall kids look at each other, and a few of them start to grin.
“Okay, time for the obstacle maze!” Ariel says, floating around them before heading to the first ship. “Are you coming?” she asks. “We should have brought Nate! He would like this!”
“We’ll do it next time,” Boogeyman says as the kids awkwardly swim down to the beginning.
“I found the first door for you, riiiiight here,” Ariel says, knocking on a huge slab of metal. “Now you just need to figure out how to open it.”
The working kids go first, fighting with the door in pairs, and then as a group, but the moment they manage to get it open, it starts swinging closed again. They look at each other, and then behind them, to where the Foundation kids are just hanging back. “Hey, Shane,” Indigo says, “get over here, would you?”
“I don’t—I mean—“ Shane starts out, only to have Lorie try and push him.
“You can do it!” she says.
“Um… Addie?” Shane asks, turning to look at her, as if expecting her to save him.
“Shane can lift the door, then we should prop it open,” Addie says, looking around and pointing. “That’s probably why they left that chunk of metal over there, see? It’s too short to be used as one of the legs of the bubble rooms, but it’s the perfect height to hold the doors!” She starts looking the area over, her eyes glowing faintly. The working group swims over to the metal pole, and Shane goes to open the door. “When we’re all in, grab the pole! I bet it’ll come in handy!” Addie tells them, and then changes the angle of the pole to keep it from falling before swimming into the sunken ship. The adults watch with a bit of amusement as Shane grabs the metal pole and the door slams shut behind them.
“We are filming this, aren’t we?” Reaper asks.
“Of course we are,” Tank says, grinning. “We made sure to set up the drones while we were putting it together… but you actually think it’ll work?”
“It got you two working together,” Ken says, swimming over and placing a hand on each of their shoulder’s. “If this can make YOU two work together so well, it’s bound to make them!”
The two guys look at each other with wry expressions and then tap on their comms, bringing up the cameras on the kids in the obstacle maze instead of responding to that.
***
“Don’t tell us what to DO!” Grace snaps at Addie, now that they’re out of sight of the others. “Violet isn’t here because of you! Violet’s one of US, but just because you’re a Foundation member, she gets tossed out of everything!”
“I—I didn’t—“ Addie starts out, feeling as if she’d slapped her.
“Shut it, Grace,” Indigo says. “Violet isn’t down here because she was being a snot, and you know it.”
“She’s your SISTER, Indigo!” Grace says. “You’re just ditching her like that? Are you suddenly trying to get in with the Foundation brats? Think you’re too good for our group anymore?”
“Addie…” Lori says, swimming over to the other girl. “Breathe, it’s okay. You’re doing exactly what you should be doing.”
“She was TRYING to boss us all around!” Grace snaps, turning on them.
“Addie,” Shane says, swimming over. “Lead the way, we’ll let them solve it on their own.”
“I wasn’t trying to—I didn’t mean to be bossy,” Addie says. “But if they’d swung that lever, like that guy was about to, I’m almost positive that the—“
“This lever? THIS lever?” Grace demands, and then swings it. The metal over their heads starts to creak, and the others yelp, trying to get away as it slowly begins to crash down on them.
Shane grabs both Lorie and Addie, moving them behind him and grabbing the falling slab of metal. He grits his teeth, since even underwater, it’s heavy. “Go forward, already! There’s an exit straight ahead!” he snarls at the others, his canines sharpening. The two girls rush forward, trying to help him hold it.
“He’s right! Go on, already!” Addie says. “If this comes down, the easiest way out will be blocked, and we’ll have to find another way through the ship! We’re on a time limit, remember?”
“If we don’t go through with all of us, we won’t get prizes!” Indigo says, angrily, grabbing onto the metal sheet, as well.
“We’ll take the blame,” Lorie says. “We’ll tell them that—that we just couldn’t work with you because we’re ‘Foundation’ and you’re ‘working.’”
“This is freaking heavy,” Shane says, and starts to stumble. The metal starts falling down again. The other working supers look at each other, and then from Grace to Indigo before a few of them grab the metal, as well.
“I say we leave them,” Grace says. “They can take the fall like they’re saying. They’ve already left one of ours behind—“
“I—I never meant for Violet to be left out there,” Addie says. “She—she was—was my classmate! But—“
“Don’t lie,” Grace says, glaring at her. “You’re playing the victim now, but you’re just out to show how much Negatia loves your stupid group more than she loves us!” Addie winces, like she’s been slapped.
“What do you know about her life?” Shane asks, almost too quietly. “What do any of you know about us? Until you walk a mile in our shoes, you have no right—“
“What shoes? You’ve got PAWS,” Indigo says. “You’re shifting already, aren’t you? The rest of us are only NOW starting to come into our strength and speed, and here you are lifting a thousand pounds—don’t tell me you’re not holding most of it!”
“You wanna know what kind of paws he gets?” Lorie asks, getting angry.
“Lorelei—“ Shane says, a hint of warning in his voice.
“I don’t like any of this,” Lorelei says. “They think they can just hate us because—because our parents are what, stronger than theirs are, or something? Well I only have GILLS, I don’t have a tail yet, and I met my HERO—“
“She’s um, a villain, though,” Addie says.
“And I couldn’t even show her my tail OR my fangs, because I have to wear stupid braces!” Lorelei says, looking close to tears. “And Addie keeps messing up all her clothes and books—“
“My favorite series was… was puzzle-ized,” Addie admits.
“And Shane turns into a PUPPY!” Lorelei finishes.
“It’s not a puppy, it’s a wolf cub,” Shane says, but his face is bright red, not that most of them can see it in the dim light. “And with that, I’m done,” he says, stepping back and letting go of the metal sheet, leaving most of the working kids to race through before it falls completely. Only Shane, Indigo, Grace, Addie and Lorelei are still left in the closed off room.
“Why did you stick around? You said we should leave them,” Indigo asks Grace. She looks flustered, and glares at him.
“Because SHE’S probably going to cheat and find a faster way out!” she says, finally, pointing at Addie.
“That isn’t what this is about, though?” Addie says, reaching up and rubbing her temples with her fingertips. “Fine, let’s find a way out.” She jumps up, so she’s floating in the middle of the room, and slowly starts to spin, her eyes glowing brightly. To Indigo’s surprise, several different items light up in the same color as her eyes.
“Grab them!” Lorelei says, rushing for one piece, Shane heads for the largest, leaving Indigo to head for another. Only Grace doesn’t do anything, even as Addie finishes her circle.
“We’re going up,” Addie says, and then swims upward and looks around. The sunken ship that they’re in is upside down, so they’re swimming up into the “below decks.”
“What do we need these parts for?” Lorelei asks, blankly.
“That was to fix the lever in case this doesn’t work,” Addie says. “But we’re still breathing just fine, and who WOULDN’T want to explore a sunken pirate ship?” she asks, turning to them with an excited look. “We can come back! We still have an hour, see?” she adds, tapping on her comm and bringing up the hologram of the countdown. “There might be more of that gold that Cold Steel said he found, you know?”
“If it’s a pirate ship, why was there a honking huge sheet of metal? It should have been older looking, at least,” Shane points out, although he follows her, looking around curiously.
“They said they put in traps, remember?” Addie says. “That’s definitely the sort of trap a metal elementalist would put in.” She seems calmer now that there are only a few of them. Her eyes light up again, and they watch blankly as several different items light up one after another.
“What are you doing?” Grace asks. “Are you finding the exit?”
“No, I was making a search… and…” Addie blushes as she realizes what she’d just been caught doing. “Find?” she finishes in a little, sheepish voice.
Shane goes still, cocking his head slightly. “It sounds like the other gang is stuck on the exit door, Addie,” he says. “Is there another way out?”
“We have a few porthole windows that Lorie and I might be able to get out, but… you wouldn’t. We’ve got a treasure box, though?” she offers, pointing to a darkened corner. “We can look in the treasure box and then…” she hugs herself, frowning.
“And then what?” Grace demands.
“And then fix the lever and go help them out,” Addie says, sighing. “They stare at us, though,” she whispers. “It’s bad enough that you hate me, but… but there’s just you two. When the entire group is here…”
“Don’t you DARE try to play up the victim card,” Grace says, glaring at her, her hands clenched at her sides. “We all know they made this place for YOU. Why else would they have made this stupid obstacle course even harder by making it a maze?”
“Because they were working with what was already down here,” Lorie says, already prying open the treasure chest. “They won’t bring down anything that isn’t either ocean-safe or already a part of the terrain. Awww, it’s an octopus!” she says as the thing inside the treasure chest starts moving. “What a cutie! I want to keep him!”
“I want to see the octopus!” Addie says, swimming over.
“It sounds like they’re going to get hurt if they keep this up,” Shane says. “Girls, we gotta leave the octopus for later—get the stuff together to fix the lever.” He swims down again, grabbing the things Addie had shown them, earlier.
“The adults are going to save them,” Indigo says. “And it’s pretty obvious that you guys hate Working supers as much as we hate you, so why do you care?”
“We never hated you,” Shane says as Addie starts fixing the lever system. “No, that’s a lie,” he admits, looking at Indigo. “I hated the fact that you had friends and could pretend to be normal. I never could.”
“That’s not hatred, that’s jealousy,” Lorie says, now hugging the octopus like it’s a pet. “Octi was lonely,” she says as all of them just STARE at her for a second.
“Sure, Lorie,” Shane says, before starting to lift the metal plate again. Indigo starts forward to help, only to stop as he realizes just how easily Shane does it. He barely even notices as Addie hooks up the lever system again, and Shane lets go of the metal.
“You said that was hard,” Indigo accuses him. “You acted like—“
There’s a sheepish expression on Shane’s face. “Do you really think I want to stick out more than I already do?” he asks quietly. “At least in this group I’m ALMOST normal, as long as I keep my head down. Go on through, it won’t fall again.”
“You’re a liar,” Grace says as she goes through, but there’s less rage in her eyes.
“I’m a super,” he says. “We’re taught to keep our abilities a secret in public, remember?”
“I think they must have set off another trap—the puzzle’s changed,” Addie says, swimming past them and looking around. The other West Hall kids are grouped to their right while the oldest keep challenging a trap of swinging cannon balls. “They must have stolen this idea from a game,” Addie says, and the cannonballs light up as her eyes do. “Five… two… five…” she says quietly, even as one of the supers gets hit in the chest and clings to the ball as he swings back and forth.
“If I let go, it might hit me again,” he calls out. “Addie! This is YOUR JOB!”
“Why are you depending on her?” Grace demands.
“Because not ONE of us has gotten through! We think we have and then the pattern changes on us!” he says, and then shoves away from the cannon ball as it reaches the high point, hitting the wall behind him with a grunt. “Ow.”
Another kid grunts as a cannon ball hits her, as well.
“Don’t go more than one at a time,” Addie says, her eyes still alight. “I need to see if I’m right!”
“About what?” Indigo asks.
“About it being dependent on WHO is going through the trap,” she says, and she looks pointedly at three different spots. Tiny drones light up just like the parts had, earlier. “They’re controlling it from outside, see?”
The kids look at each other, and then make their way to the wall next to Shane. The swinging cannonballs slow to a stop, and then rise up in the ceiling again. “Now… um…” Addie says, hesitating as she looks over at Shane. “Shane?” she asks.
“They can do it, right?” he asks, looking hesitant.
“But you could handle making a mistake easier,” she says.
He groans and steps forward—only to barely catch a swinging cannonball with both hands. He braces himself, only to get tossed back onto his butt. The other cannonballs come swinging out as he sits there.
“Got it!” Addie says, completely ignoring the look on his face. “Go when I tell you to!”
“Yeah, okay,” he says, getting to his feet and starting through the trap.
***
*The Basement*
Halo walks into the room full of supers and kids, sighing loudly. She’d just spent twenty minutes cleaning up the mess left by Riddle and Vinny, but it had worked. The news is full-on excited over what had happened to the reporters. No one’s that worried about the drilling, save for the serious eco-warriors. There’s a good chance they’ll be sending divers in to “prove” that they were right, but that isn’t her problem.
