Super Villain Academy 2: Polar Opposites (22 page)

Set nodded. “Ah.”

“She says she was continually drawn to me without realizing it,” Gyro continued.

Delfina had a faraway look and a small smile. “I’d suddenly have to seek him out without explanation. I didn’t realize it was a strange compelling trait until after we discovered I was his guide. You know what they say about hindsight.”

“Theoretically speaking,” Jeff said, “what do they call hindsight for an unsighted person?”

“Oh, I had my sight then,” Señora Valdez said.

Gyro sighed heavily. “I was stoked when we discovered Delfina was my guide. I’d always had a crush on her, but never had the nerve to tell her, not that I got any braver when we started working together. I was just content to know I’d spend time with her on a regular basis.”

Jeff glanced over to see if Set appeared as uncomfortable as he was, but he had his usual haughty, bored expression in place.

“Well, the reason I’m regaling you with our history is so that you know how long I’ve been in love with Delfina,” Gyro continued, “so you will better understand how devastating almost losing her was for me.”

Set narrowed his eyes. “What happened?”

“She was guiding me in the jungle. We were hot on the trail of a particularly nasty bank-robbing villain who liked to take prisoners that he never intended to release.”

“What was a bank robber doing in the jungle?” Jeff asked.

Gyro shrugged. “Hiding. He was a shape changer; jungle cats were his specialty, but he also did primates pretty well. Anyway, when we found him, he was in panther form. A panther with super villain strength and speed is a difficult thing to capture. Usually Delfina and I stayed out of the capture part of the business, but the panther had other ideas. He came straight for me, which might not have been an issue, but Delfina foresaw him lunging at me and threw herself in between us.”

“His claws made ribbons of me,” Delfina added, “but his breath was what stole my vision. I’ve tried to tell Gyro that it was better me than him, since my second sight compensates for my loss of vision. If it had been him, he would have been rendered useless.”

“Sounds like he was anyway,” Set said.

Gyro’s back stiffened. He stood with his feet shoulder width apart and hands stuffed into the front pockets of his cargo pants.

“Out of the mouths of babes,” Señora Valdez said, with a sly grin.

Set scowled.

“She was in the hospital for months,” Gyro said. “Skin grafts, painkillers, rehabilitation. It was a nightmare. I won’t let it happen again.”

“What if she gets hit by a car?” Set asked.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Gyro asked.

“I’m just saying she has just as much chance of being hurt living this life as she does doing what she’s supposed to.”

“Is that the last mission you guys took?” Jeff asked.

“Yes,” Gyro said. “I’ve refused all requests since, and I’m not going to change my mind for a couple of kids.”

“Even though the balancing may end up creating so much apathy in the world that lawlessness will take over?” Jeff asked.

Gyro scoffed. “We still have police forces.”

“That’s rich, coming from someone who lives in Mexico.” Set laughed.

“Have you been watching the news?” Jeff asked. “Haven’t you noticed an up-tick in crimes gone wild? The police are no longer getting support from the heroes, because one, they are no longer heroes, and two, most supers no longer care enough to help. And it’s getting worse. The not caring part, I mean.”

“So?” Gyro asked. “What does any of that have to do with me?”

Jeff closed his eyes and did a quick search for his chi. He knew his argument was flimsy at best, but if he lost his temper, he could kiss any cooperation Gyro might consider giving goodbye. He leveled a steady look across the room at the burly man. “I’m not even going to pretend to understand how Oceanus and I managed to bring about the balancing, but I do know there is no chance of me fixing whatever has gone wrong without her involved. My best chance of finding her is finding Mystic. My best chance of finding Mystic is you.”

Gyro took his hands out of his pockets and rubbed them back and forth on his bald head while he resumed his pacing. “So you’re saying that I stand between you and saving the world.”

“Possibly.”

“Delfina?” Gyro seemed to plead her name.

Her head cocked in his general direction.

“What do you see?” he asked.

“Surprisingly, not a lot. However, I can see that Jeff’s, excuse me, Polar’s reuniting with Oceanus is important.”

Gyro stopped in mid-pace and tipped his head back. He pressed his hands against his head as if he hoped it would pop.

Jeff was surprised to feel sorry for the guy. It obviously tormented him to consider taking Delfina out as a guide. He wished there was another fast, reliable way to find Mystic. Not knowing of one, he kept his mouth pinned shut against the apology he wanted to offer. For the first time ever, he wished he were more like Set and cared less.

“Any idea where they might be?” Gyro asked.

Jeff and Set shook their heads.

“Mystic has done a thorough job covering her tracks,” Set said. “We don’t even know if she’s in the States or not. She completely vanished.”

Gyro resumed his pacing and almost sent Jeff into a fit of frustration. He gripped the arms of his chair, their wobble reminding him that he’d broken them earlier. He wished he could tear them off and throw them at Gyro.

“Delfina, I can’t chance losing you,” Gyro said.

“I will refrain from any heroics that might present themselves,” Delfina said.

Turning to Jeff, Gyro said, “We’ll find your target, and then we’re out of there. If she doesn’t have your girlfriend, that won’t be my problem. The extraction is all up to you.”

Jeff’s heart pounded in his chest. “Fair enough.”

“Fine then. We’ll do it.” Gyro stomped across the room and grabbed Jeff’s hand in a solid handshake.

Jeff grinned at him like a boy who’d just gotten everything he wanted for Christmas.

Chapter 33

“I trust you brought an item of Mystic’s? Something that belongs to her?” Señora Valdez held her hand out.

Set let his head fall back against the chair as he growled an obscenity.

Jeff’s heart stopped its incessant pounding so suddenly it made him gasp. He blinked up at the headmaster, who’d glided out from behind her desk and now stood in front of him. For such a petite lady, she sure was good at towering over someone.

“You don’t have anything?” The Señora let her hand drop.

Jeff shook his head. “Sort of a spur of the moment trip.”

“That’ll sure slow our progress.” Gyro chuckled.

Either Set grumbled, or distant thunder rumbled.

“How was I supposed to know?” Jeff scowled at Set, and then turned an apologetic expression on Señora Valdez. “What kind of thing do you need? We can get someone to get their hands on something.”

Gyro answered. “Anything that belonged to her. Jewelry, hairbrush, item of clothing, schoolwork.”

Biting his lower lip, Jeff asked, “Does it have to be tangible?”

One eyebrow raised, Gyro said, “Uh.”

“How about my defenses?” Jeff looked at the headmaster. “Remember? She built them. You could feel that they were hers last time I was here.”

“Hmmm. Yes, I do remember.” Señora Valdez turned to Gyro. “It might work.”

Gyro shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

“Here.” Señora Valdez placed one hand on Jeff’s head and beckoned to Gyro with the other. “Come see if you can read it.”

Gyro placed his hand on the other side of Jeff’s head. Jeff watched as Gyro’s eyes tracked across the top of his head as if he were reading a book.

“It’s faint, but I am getting something. It’s mixed with a lot of him though.” Gyro shook his head and pulled his hand away. “It’s very jumbled.”

“Is it enough to start with?” Jeff asked. “Maybe we can get going based on that, and I’ll have someone get something else of Mystic’s for you to continue with.”

“Why don’t you imprint Jeff?” Señora Valdez’s lips pinched into a straight line. “I mean Polar - my apologies - so that you can better decipher what belongs to Mystic.”

Gyro nodded. “It’s worth a try.”

He swung the chair he had sat in earlier around and set it in front of Jeff. “This may take a while. Don’t interrupt me while I’m processing. Why don’t you give me your necklace?”

“Why?” Jeff automatically clutched the pendant in his fist.

“I’ll use it to imprint you. It is yours, isn’t it?” Gyro asked.

“Oceanus gave it to me. Will the fact that it was hers originally confuse your imprinting?

Gyro shook his head.

Jeff handed over the chain with the pewter pendent. He watched Gyro run a thumb over the raised ridges of flames on one side and the snowman on the other. The custom pendant had been a gift for his seventeenth birthday. He’d looked at her like she was crazy when he saw the snowman. “What the heck is this for?” he’d asked.

Oceanus had laughed her clear bell-toned laugh, making Jeff smile and his stomach flop. “Well, how else am I supposed to depict ice? I almost chose a polar bear, but it makes me think of that tree trunk.” That was one of her nicknames for Mystic.

Gyro stared at the item for a very long time. Jeff watched in a state of anxiety. Set looked as bored as ever, and Señora Valdez appeared to be meditating, since she was so still and focused inward.

Forty minutes later, Gyro finally blinked up at Jeff. “I think I’ve got you processed. Now, I’m going to try your head again, and see if I can pick out the bits that only belong to Mystic.”

“Okay,” Jeff said. He wasn’t thrilled to think of spending the next half hour or so sitting still with Gyro’s hand on his head, but he was left with little choice.

Luckily, it didn’t take half the time to sort through the Mystic stuff. Gyro’s removing of his hand from Jeff’s head to massage his temples was their first clue he was done.

Señora snapped to attention immediately and suddenly dug through her desk drawer and pulled out a small tin. She glided over to Gyro and opened it under his nose. The scent wafted to Jeff.

“Licorice?” he asked.

“Yes. We found it reduces the headache.” When Gyro smiled thankfully, she snapped the tin closed and slipped it into a pocket in her skirt. “Well?”

“I think I’ve gotten a sense of her, but there are two possible locations, and I can’t tell enough to know which, if either, is the one she would have chosen.”

“Where are they?” Set asked, standing and stretching like he expected them to take off immediately.

“They are both in the states,” Gyro said. “There was a third, less likely location in Italy.”

“She’s from there,” Jeff said.

“That’s why I don’t think it’s a possibility. Villains rarely take their crimes home. That’d be too obvious.”

“Then we should at least get up into the states,” Señora Valdez said. “I will contact the pilot to prepare the jet. Jeff, er, Polar, call someone who can get their hands on a better item of hers, and you and Set need to organize your cavalry.”

Gyro looked at his wife with a mixture of love, respect and worry. “I’ll pack.”

“I’ll join you shortly, dear,” Señora Valdez said.

After she hung up the phone, Jeff used it to call home. Sandra answered.

“Let me talk to Mother,” Jeff said.

“I’m fine, thank you. And you?” Sandra’s tone was deadpan.

“No time for this!” Jeff growled. “Mother, please.”

“Using your charm and manners won’t help, bro. Mom’s not here. She and dad are still out of town.”

Jeff felt his energy drain out his toes. He slumped his head into his hand and rubbed his eyes, trying to hold back the useless anger that surged up, hoping to explode into the phone. “When are they coming back?”

“No idea. What’s going on? Why does the caller ID say Mexico is calling?”

“I’m in Mexico.” Jeff pulled his phone out and browsed through his contacts list until he found Mother’s number. “I gotta go.”

“Wait!”

But Jeff hung up, and then dialed Mother.

“Sarah Mean.”

“Hey Mother, it’s Jeff.”

Set paused in dialing a number of his own to raise an eyebrow.

Jeff turned his back. “Why do you still use Mean? You know it’s fake.”

“I always knew it was fake,” Sarah said.

“Oh yeah.” He’d grown up thinking his last name was Mean. It was easy to forget that his parents always knew, since they had lied to him and Sandra their entire lives in an attempt to hide the fact that a hero and a villain had fallen in love and had children together.

“Jeffrey, I’m in the middle of something.” As if to underscore her point, Jeff heard a loud thump followed by a cascade of crashing noises. “Can I call you back?”

“Are you fighting?” Jeff asked.

“Um,” Sarah’s grunt was followed by a solid thud. “Really, it’s more like disciplining.”

“I need something that belongs to Mystic.” Jeff spoke fast, not wanting to wait for her to call later. “Would you be able to get something?”

“Oh, sure honey. I’ll stop at Annie’s on the way home.”

Jeff heard wind buffeting the speaker of Mother’s phone and knew she was getting ready to blow someone away, literally. “When are you going home?”

“Looks like we’ll be out of here in about ten minutes.”

“Say hi to Dad for me.”

“Sure thing, Jeffrey.” The wind swirled so fast Sarah had to shout to be heard over it. “Be sure to take the trash out when you get home. We’ve been doing your chores for you far too much lately.”

Jeff shook his head and looked up at the ceiling. “Yes, Mother.”

He wasn’t sure but he thought he heard his mom chuckle.

“See you at home,” Sarah said before disconnecting the call.

Gyro entered the room with one backpack over his shoulder and another one clutched in his hand. “Where are we headed?”

“Ransom, Idaho,” Jeff said. “Might be the only place left with supers who kind of care.”

“You better hope there are enough to form an extraction team,” Gyro said.

Set and Jeff exchanged an unsure look.

“Let’s hope,” Set growled.

Chapter 34