Life Light (16 page)

***

I see the blood leave Alyssa’s face. For a moment it looks like she’s going to faint, but she recovers quickly--by getting extremely angry. “They couldn’t just leave it,” she says, her hands clenching. “Nooo, it wasn’t enough to make my life hell, now they have to go after another one of us.” She shoves out of her chair and runs over to the pile of mechanical toys that Nico has already stockpiled. “Where is it?”

“Where’s what?” I ask, getting up and following her. She picks up the watch Nico used to bring us here. “No--you don’t want to do that, Alyssa--” I say as she straps it on and pokes at it. I barely manage to grab her before we teleport away.

The last known coordinates on the watch were for her mother’s workplace--in Raymore Peculiar.

She staggers slightly before straightening and looking around. “It’s just down this way,” she says as she starts out. I have no choice but to follow along, worried that someone saw us just appear. It’s one thing when Nico is with us--he’s obviously a super hero, even when he’s wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Two teenage girls wearing snow suits, on the other hand, is another story entirely. Especially when it’s barely fall.

My phone rings. I dig it out, answering. “What are you doing here?” Trent asks. “I thought you were with Superior and Tatiana.”

“I was! But Nico left his stupid teleporting watch just lying around, and Alyssa got so mad over her brother and his friends that we came here--I’m not sure what she plans on doing, but she’s definitely going to do it.”

“Did you at least tell Nico what was happening?” Trent asks as we stop next to a car. Alyssa scowls at it for a long moment before kicking the tire.

“Stupid jerks--if I was a different type of super I would destroy this car, too,” she says. “Hey, are you talking to Kid Liberty? Can you talk him into crushing this stupid thing?”

A flash of gold light comes from a nearby rooftop and the tire on the other side is hit. It pops and the car falls down in that corner. I groan, knowing this is going to cause far more trouble than we want right now.

“Keliah!” I hear Trent scold. “We can’t destroy property unless there’s a legitimate reason.”

“There IS a legitimate reason,” I hear Keliah say. “They’ve come to abduct a super! Haven't they?”

“MY CAR!” I hear someone bellow from the school. Four teenage boys come running out of the building, their attention on the car. “What did you DO?” the tallest boy roars, turning on Alyssa and I.

“What do you think you’re doing here?” Alyssa demands, her hands on her hips as she glowers at them. “Are you here for the kid that was on YouTube? Because I WON’T LET YOU!”

“Big words from a punching bag,” the boy snarls, grabbing her by the arm. “You slashed my tire, didn’t you?” he demands, jerking her towards him. I see the look of fear cross her face and I don’t even think--I rush forward, grabbing the hand holding her.

My eyes start to glow, my hair starts floating, and I see every single problem he has. Cracked ribs, bruises, the typical damage that comes with football--and I realize--

“I’m a healer,” I say to him, looking him straight in the eye. The guys behind him are freaking out, “I can fix you--but here’s a big surprise--I can also really, really mess you up.” I pull his hand off of Alyssa and push him away. I'm not aiming to send him flying, but it sort of works that way. Have I mentioned I'm almost Specialized-S class? He slams into his car, sliding down the side and shaking his head a bit woozily. Whoops.

“Oh crap,” I hear Trent say over the com link. Before I realize it, Carla is standing between me and the other three norms, her hands up in fists. Trent is floating above us, in full uniform. Keliah appears on the roof of the car, a bow and arrow made out of gold energy in her hands. She's got the arrow aimed down at the guy I just pushed. “If we could have some peace, please,” Trent says in his “Super Hero” voice. “I’m sure we can work this out without--”

We all look up as a police car comes down the street, sirens roaring. “Without that happening,” Trent mutters with a sigh. “Carla, stand down. Keliah, put away the weapon.”

“They ASSAULTED us!” I hear one of the other teenagers yell. “We were just going to school--”

“Is this your school?” Trent asks, already knowing the answer. There are people glued to all the windows inside--including one of the boys that had been outed, I realize, the one that was in my dream--he’s right there, second window on the left. I’m positive that our eyes meet, because he stares at me for a long moment before slipping out of sight. We can’t save him because we jumped the gun. I feel sick to my stomach over that fact.

The police get out of the car, two large men in blue uniforms, and head straight for us. “Stand down,” the first cop says. He’s got his gun in his hands. “We don’t want any trouble, but there was no super activity planned for this area.”

“We apologize for that,” Trent says as he lands in front of me. He puts his hands up, “We’ll willingly come in and explain, Officers.”

The teenage boys look at each other--and make a run for it. Carla takes off in a flash and suddenly all four are falling on their faces. Before I can blink, Carla’s right back where she was, looking as innocent as can be.

“What did you just do?” I hear Alyssa whisper.

“Tied their shoelaces together,” Carla whispers back

“Awesome.”

“What--” the second cop asks. He’d been about to chase after them, you can tell by his pose. He looks at us and sighs. “I would appreciate if you stayed put.” He heads over, hauling the boys to their feet and pulling them back to the group.

“Sir, we apologize for that, as well,” Trent says, his hands still in the air. “We didn’t want them to cause more problems.”

“I didn’t see them move,” I hear the first cop whisper when the second gets back.

“Keep it to yourself,” the second whispers back.

“Officers, we can explain everything--but I would appreciate it if you brought in my boss, while we’re at it,” Trent says. “Mastermental will be willing to vouch for us.”

“Are you the reason this car is down a wheel?” the first cop asks.

“We didn’t want them to escape, sir, so we took out one of their tires. The Hall will be willing to compensate for it, of course.”

“They’d better,” one of the teenagers mutters.

“I would keep your mouth shut, if I were you,” Alyssa growls.

“If you hadn’t run off we wouldn’t be in this situation!” the teen snaps at her.

“I ran off because you were ABUSING me!”

The sound of more sirens come from the street and we all turn to watch two white police vans pull into the parking lot. “We aren’t arresting you,” the cop says, “we’re just going to take you in for questioning--as you suggested. So would you please get in the vans?” I’m pretty sure that’s not what they’re trained to say in this situation, but if I were a cop, I would take that tone when dealing with Kid Liberty, as well, so I can’t argue.

We get in the first van, Alyssa’s brother and his friends get in the second. For a long moment there’s silence before Carla whispers, “Are you sure they aren’t arresting us?”

“We won’t be arrested,” he assures us all. “We might wind up in detention for the tire, though.”

“You mean I might wind up in detention,” Keliah says.

“No, we’re a team. If one of us messes up, we all do.” He reaches up, patting her on the shoulder. “I won’t let you take the fall.” I can't help but look at the girl, taking in just how depressed she looks.

From this close she looks so young.

***

“They disappeared!” Skye says, standing in the middle of Nico’s room. She starts looking around, even sinking through the bed to make sure they’re not hiding underneath. “Aubrey? Alyssa! Where’d you go? We were going to make cookies!”

“They didn’t just disappear,” Liz says from the doorway. “They must have stolen one of Nico’s toys--Nico, what did you make THIS time?” she bellows upwards.

“A teleportation watch!” they hear him say from outside.

“See? Perfectly understandable expla--WHAT?” she yells. “Why would you be that STUPID?”

“It will come in handy--” Nico says, coming to the room's large window and stepping inside. For a second he looks around, “for teenage girls that want to run away, apparently,” he finishes before they get the chance.

“This is why you should never leave your toys out where anyone walking by can get them!” Liz scolds him. “Don’t even get me started on the time travel debacle.”

“Time travel? I want to go!” Skye says excitedly. “Can I have a dinosaur? I don’t know if I can fit a T-Rex into my base, but I’m sure one of the smaller ones would be just fine!”

“No, you can’t go time traveling, and no, you can’t have a dinosaur,” Nico says in an absent tone. He starts out the window again, only to stop as he sees a light flashing on the computer monitor. A window opens up and a recording of Trent and Aubrey’s conversation plays. He listens silently, his expression growing darker as it finishes.

“Not even a little one?” Skye asks as he steps on the windowsill.

“Maybe a little one--but no time traveling. Get a mad scientist to make it for you,” he says before flying away.

“YES!” Skye says, jumping up and down, only to stop. “No, can’t do it. I’ve had one too many run-ins with mad scientists. You know what? We don’t need no stinkin’ mad scientists!  You and me, Liz--we can do it just fine! We just need to dig up all the bones and hook it up to wires and we’ll resurrect one with your electricity!”

“A skeleton dinosaur?” Liz asks.

“Every super villain should have one.”

Liz stares at her for a long, long moment. “Sure, why not? But I want it to be a triceratops." As much as she wants to race in with lightning blazing, Nico is already on it—and she gets the feeling that Skye DEFINITELY needs kept out of whatever is going on.

“Sounds good to me!”

We’re getting a lot of stares, I notice. I don’t think the cops are used to having super heroes walk in. I look around, seeing another cop leading the four teenage boys in. They don’t look nearly as calm as my group does. Of course, my expression is a complete facade--I am really worried right now. I reach over, taking Alyssa’s hand. It says a lot when she grabs onto my hand like a lifeline. Carla steps forward, grabbing my other hand tightly. I look at her, wondering if staying with us might have been the scariest thing she’s ever done in her life. The threat of being stuck in a cell makes me feel sick to my stomach, as well.

“Your boss is already here,” the officer says. “It’s actually a pleasure to meet you,” he adds more quietly, holding out his hand to Trent. “I’m Gary Isaac.”

“Thank you for all your hard work, Officer Isaac. On behalf of the Hall, my family, and Cape High, I want to tell you how much we all appreciate what you do,” Trent says. The funniest part is that he honestly sounds earnest. Here we are, getting dragged in for questioning, and he’s complimenting the cop doing it.

“I--um, thank you,” Officer Isaac says. “The feeling is mutual.”

We head in, seeing Double M chatting pleasantly with the Chief of Police. They’re even laughing, I realize. Wow, he’s good. He stands, nodding at Trent, and then me, and heading straight for Alyssa with his hand out. “Alyssa,” he says with a wide smile. “What a pleasure to meet you--I didn’t expect to get the chance until you returned.”

She blushes brightly, looking stunned, and almost forgets to accept the hand that's offered. “Mastermental,” she says. “I didn’t think I’d meet someone as famous as you--like, ever.”

“My dear, you’ve already met a few of the men that I admire greatly,” he goes on. “Speaking of which, how is your grandfather doing, Aubrey?” he asks me. “It surprised me when he offered his assistance, he’s a very busy man.”

Andre, not Superior, then. “Ah, well, that was sort of my fault,” I admit. “I told him he needs to get out more.”

“He seems to value your advice a lot,” Double M says. “Now, why don’t we hear this story of yours?” he says, looking around the room, and abruptly walks over to Carla. “Actually, if you would give us a second, Chief Duxton,” he says over his shoulder. It must look strange to the norms, I think as he singles out a “lackey” and pulls her into a hug. “You see, these are our precious children, here,” he says mildly. “This mission is many of their first or second time on the field.” There’s something going on, I realize as Carla starts giggling her head off. He just told her something telepathically.

“You can’t do that!” she whispers, still giggling.

“I assure you, my dear, I can, and I would,” he tells her silently, giving her a grin before turning back to the Chief. “While they might be dressed as assistants, each one of them has a very promising career in front of them.”

“I agree completely,” Trent says. “A career that will be on your side, Chief--which is why we need to start from the beginning--with your story, Alyssa,” he says, looking over at Alyssa.

“All of it?”

“We can trust the Chief,” Double M tells her, “he’s a very good man.”

“Well... I’m a healer,” Alyssa says, sitting down in the chair that Double M offers. “I’m a--see, what happens is that I take whatever is wrong with somebody and it goes into me, so if they’ve got a broken wrist, they touch me and their wrist is healed, but mine’s broken. And that’s my brother, right there, right? Well him and his buddies are big-shot football players, and they were using me to--to fix all their problems from football.” There’s a stark look on her face, as if she’s using all of her courage to say this.

“I see,” the Chief says, looking at the boys.

“She can prove it, if you want,” I say. “Alyssa, would you be willing to prove it to him?”

“Yeah--yeah, I can do that,” Alyssa says, looking a bit shocked.

“We’ve fixed her own healing rate,” I say, “before I got to her, she would take a day to heal.”

“How long will it take now?” Alyssa asks me, holding her hand out over the desk.

“A few minutes at most,” I promise.

“I--I don’t know what to say,” the Chief says, staring at her offered hand. He looks stunned. “I’m a diabetic,” he admits, “can you heal it?”

“If I can’t, she can,” she says, pointing at me.

“This is bull!” one of the four boys yells, starting forward. “It’s all a lie--she’s not a healer--we didn’t--”

Alyssa takes the Chief’s hand. We all see an ugly white cloud appear around the Chief, floating there for a second before it goes to her. Even the Chief can see it, by the look on his face. When she lets go, he pulls open a desk drawer, bringing out a diabetic monitor. He quickly checks his blood sugar level. “It’s perfect,” he says. “It’s always a little high at this time of day--but it’s perfect.”

“Go to your doctor,” I suggest, “have them do all the blood tests. You’ll see that she’s healed more than just you diabetes.”

“Can you check him?” Alyssa asks me.

“If you want me to,” I say, “but you did your job properly.” Her brother and his friends are staring at us with barely hidden rage.

“It’s a fake-out--she’s lying! They’re using illusions or something to make you think she’s a healer, just so they can get away with slashing my tires!”

“We are NOT!” Carla says, stepping in front of Alyssa’s brother. “The only illusionist heroes--well, one’s a villain, I guess--but they’re Blackjack and Dragon! Neither of them is here--and Alyssa IS a healer!”

“Yeah, the only reason you came today was to replace me with that poor kid from that school!” Alyssa says. “They were going to kidnap a healer like me and force him to help them win Nationals! We had to go there and save him from them!”

“I see,” Chief Duxton says. “We’re going to have to call your parents, boys, and tell them what you’ve been up to. I’d like to thank you for your concern, but--” he says, standing, “this doesn’t change the fact that there was no arrangement made beforehand, and you WERE on what's considered private property--school property. Just as you said, Mastermental, these are our precious children. We have a right to protect them from dangerous situations. You’ll understand when I say we’re going to have to ask you not to try this again.”

“No--” I whisper.

“I appreciate what you do, I really do, but there is a time and a place for supers,” Chief Duxton says, “a peaceful school is not one of them.”

“You can’t do that,” Alyssa bursts out. “We need to talk to him--we need to help that healer! It’s too dangerous for him to--”

“That is something he and his parents need to decide, not you,” Chief Duxton says.

“What if he’s going through the same sort of stuff I went through?” Alyssa demands. “Will you just stand by and let it happen? It’s bullying--it’s worse than bullying, it’s abuse! We can’t let it keep happening!”

“We can’t let supers just barge in, thinking they’re saving people that aren’t experiencing that trouble, either,” he says firmly. “This is a situation that needs treated more delicately than supers are capable of. While I understand where you’re coming from, I must ask that you cease and desist. Let us norms take care of our own.”

“But they AREN’T norms!” I say.

“They are until they’re ready to declare themselves--that’s your own rule, isn’t it?” he says, looking at Double M.

“You are correct, sir. I agree that this was handled inappropriately,” he says, nodding. “We should apologize to the school, don’t you agree, Kid Liberty?”

“Absolutely,” Trent says.

“It's only appropriate that we make a brief visit to speak with the school body,” Double M goes on. “Don't you agree, Chief Duxton?”

The look on Chief Duxton’s face says he knows exactly what Double M is doing--and hates to admit that it’ll work. He sighs and reaches for the phone. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“We appreciate it,” Double M says.

I find myself looking at Alyssa’s brother. There’s a look on his face that’s a mix of guilt and hatred--it’s aimed straight at her. When he notices I’m looking at him, though, he turns it on me. “This is all your fault,” he says.

“No,” I say, my hands clenching at my sides, “it’s yours.”

***

“Mastermental promised me something while we were in there,” Carla says as we walk out of the police station. She’s got a positively wicked grin on her face. It widens as she sees Nico standing outside, waiting for us. Instantly she runs over. “Hi Nico! Did you see any polar bears up there?”

“What did Mastermental promise?” Keliah asks as we join them, stopping Nico from replying.

“He promised me that if they tried to put one of us in prison, he’d go straight to the president--and if that didn’t work, he’d brainwash the entire country into thinking HE was the president long enough to get us pardoned.”

“He wouldn’t do that--he COULDN’T do that!” Keliah says, but then she frowns thoughtfully. “Could he?”

“It’s possible,” Nico says. “Personally I would start on a smaller scale and send Ace in just long enough to pull it off, probably as the mayor. Once we had the pardon, we would switch you out to a different branch long enough for people to forget about it--if you liked it, we’d leave you there, if you didn’t, we’d move you to a different one. Even the norms would thank us. Can you imagine a super in norm prison? He, or she, would rule the joint. Not to mention anyone over a D-class would be able to walk out at will.”

“You’ve put way too much thought into this,” I have to point out.

“Really?” Keliah asks.

“Do you think metal poles could keep you in?” he asks.

“I don’t think so, but I’ve never really tried.”

“We’ll let you try sometime.”

“You’re going to teach her how to break out of norm prison,” I say, dryly.

“That’s--that’s SO AWESOME, can I do it too?” Carla asks eagerly, her eyes huge.

“We’ll make it a group class, if you want,” Nico says.

“Can we get going? We’re supposed to go speak to the private school--to apologize.” I pause, glancing at Alyssa. “Speaking of apologies, we’re sorry for stealing your watch, Nico,” I say, giving her a sharp look when she doesn’t agree quickly enough. “Aren’t we, Alyssa?”

“Yeah, I guess,” she says.

“Truthfully, you don’t need to worry about norm prisons at all,” Nico goes on, ignoring our apology (he's stuck on the prison conversation,) “because there’s an agreement between the Hall and the norm government--we deal with our own law-breakers. That’s why we have the Cape Cells.”

“But it’s also why he’s right about us bursting in and trying to get the healers,” I say as it clicks. “Until a super declares himself or herself AS a super, they’re under norm rule--and norm protection, aren’t they?”

“They are,” Mastermental says as he and Trent join us, “which is why the plan was merely to get them to where they can talk to you and their local Hall. Once they have, they’ll be free to decide whatever they want.”

“Then why were we sent in?” I demand. “Why didn’t we just send black suits--”

“Because you have more of an impact than black suits, but less authority than an adult hero or villain,” Nico says. “We’re using you for the shock or awe value, depending on the person. Well, not you and Alyssa, but Trent and the others,” he says. “We’re using you two as a common point. When they see you working with us, they might be more open to joining. This was never about forcing them, but the norms might not understand.”

“If things get worse, we'll discuss using the black suits,” Mastermental says. “But for now, you have a school to visit.”

“Hey, Mastermental,” Carla says, poking him, “you wouldn’t have to do any of that because YOU’RE the guy that would arrest me, aren’t you,” she says, giving him her most “I see what you did there” look.

Double M starts to laugh. “Of course I wouldn’t--but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be willing to,” he tells her. “I’ve always wondered how much I could change with just one day. It sounds quite entertaining.”

“You would use me as an excuse!” Carla says. “Shame on you, Mister Hall leader!” she adds, waving a finger at him.

“I was a super villain for a year or two, you know,” Double M tells her, still grinning widely. He reminds me so much of Max right now that it’s astonishing. “Of course it would have to be something drastic enough that people will understand my motives, but there is always that chance.”

“I doubt it,” Nico drawls. He looks at us and walks over, holding his hand out to Alyssa. “Watch, please.”

She unstraps it a bit sadly and hands it over. For a second he taps on the screen, and then he says, “Everyone grab on, we’re going to make a dramatic entrance.”

We grab onto him, and find ourselves standing right in front of the school building--with every student in the school out on the yard. Nico looks over at Trent, nodding to the teenagers in front of us.

“Shouldn’t Double M start us off?” Trent asks silently.

Nico looks around. Double M is nowhere to be seen. “He didn’t come along--it’s all yours, kiddo.”

Trent nods and steps forward. “Hello, Berker High!” he says, loud enough that he doesn’t need a mic. He’s floating a few feet off the ground, so everyone can see him. Suddenly every kid in the crowd goes silent, watching us a bit too closely. “I’m Kid Liberty, and I’d like to thank you for allowing us to speak today.”