Sunny Daze (12 page)

The lights flicker over head and he waits.  His hand reaches slowly into his pocket, his fingers tightening around the small gun he keeps there.

***

“I hear breathing and machines in this direction,” Pan says, only to look up as someone punches a hole in the ceiling.  We pull to a stop as Dad drops down in front of us.  “You’re going to have to fix that, you know,” Pan says to Dad in a casual tone.  “We’ve already been yelled at once for ruining Skystep’s new base.”

“What?” Dad asks, his “business” expression changing to confusion.  “Have you found Kunnins or did they get away again?”

“There are still three people in here,” Pan says, shoving the rubble and pile of concrete out of his way.  “You just threatened the stability of the ceiling,” he complains.  “Sunny, can you patch that hole?”

“Um, yeah, maybe,” I say, lifting a hand to the ceiling.  Roots slowly knit together, closing the hole.  “But she’ll probably want concrete.”

“Where’s Max?” Dad asks as he looks our little group over.

“He got stuck babysitting,” I say cheerfully.  “We’re in my territory right now, so I get to come.”

“The rest of us did rock paper scissors,” Ace adds.  “He probably thought Jack would pick scissors--he was wrong.”

“Is Shadowman still here?” Dad asks.

“We don’t know, but I highly doubt it,” Pan says as he starts running through the maze of halls again.  I don’t know how he can pinpoint where the sound of three people breathing is coming from, but I don’t ask questions.  He seems to know where we’re going and I don’t, which is the important part.

“Are they moving?” Dad asks.  We’re going at a decent pace, so I’m not surprised when Pan pulls to a stop in front of a door and swings it open. There’s a small bang and the shape-shifter goes still, locked in place by whatever it was that hit him.  Dad shoves his way past his best friend, his hand going out.  He goes still as well.  Now they’re blocking the room from the rest of us.

“Do you really think I’ll go down this easily?” an old man asks from inside.  “I don’t know who else is out there, but I’ve got two very good hostages right here, and a needle full of some very potent super stopping chemicals.”

“What are your demands?” Ace asks in a loud voice, waving at me with a hand.

“This is Superior, isn’t it?” the old man asks.  “I’ll never forget that face.  I always knew he wasn’t truly dead.”

“We’re willing to negotiate, sir, but only if you get to the point,” Ace says, waving at me urgently and motioning to the wall.

“I want you all to turn around and leave,” the old man says.  “I’ll be keeping these two until I’m certain that you’re really gone.”

I head to the wall next to the door, looking it over thoughtfully.  I dare to touch it, seeing what it’s made of.  Concrete, I realize.  Skye’s going to be mad at me, I think as I look over at Ace.  He nods.

I punch a hole through the wall. I barely manage to see the dark expression cross Ace’s face before seeing my hand change.  It sort of disappears as a thick, muscular forearm in a white sleeve takes its place.  I punch the wall again, making the wall large enough to step through.  The old man turns, the color leaving his face as he sees me--or more specifically, he sees whoever it is I look like right now.

“Two of--you’re DEAD!” he yells shooting the gun at me.  Whoever it is I look like has to be over a foot taller than me, because the shot goes far too high.  I keep moving forward, reaching for the old man.  “DIE ALREADY!” he screams, shooting over and over again.

One shot catches me straight in the chest.  My body stiffens, no longer moving.  It’s obvious that the illusion is of Grandpa Superior, now, because it keeps moving forward as the old man shoots wildly.  The illusion grabs the gun out of his hold, crushing it easily.  The man hits him with his cane, twising rapidly and revealing a needle at the end.  He stabs it at the illusion, again and again.  “DIE!” he yells, panicking.  “You freak!  DIE!”

Jack goes right past me, grabbing the cane and jerking it out of Kunnin’s hold.  “I’ll take this,” he says, breaking the needle with his fingers and rolling it into a ball.

“I think we can call this a super arrest,” Ace says as he walks in, creating a pair of handcuffs and cuffing Kunnins--who’s still trying to attack the illusion of Superior.  I see his thin, spotty fingers clawing at the illusion.  It’s not an image I’ll forget any time soon, I admit.  That much pent up hatred, all these years after Grandpa supposedly died...

I see Dad jerk.  For a moment his eyes glow unnaturally and I see his mouth moving.  I’ve seen this before--he’s rebooting.  Within a second, he’s back to normal.  “Did you have to destroy the gun?” he asks Ace, looking at the scraps on the ground with a slight frown.  “That might have been useful.”

“Sorry, it didn’t occur to me,” Ace apologizes as he finishes cuffing Kunnins.

Dad nods and then walks over to me.  I can’t do anything but watch as he looks me over.  After a long moment of staring at me, he taps my forehead.  I fall over.

“Now tell me, old man, where is Shadowman?  Where’s the rest of your group?” Dad asks, turning away from me (leaving me on the floor.)  It’s a bit longer before I can move.  I jerk a few times before shoving myself to my feet.  Pan is shaking it off now, as well, I notice.

“Gone.  They jumped ship just like the rats they are,” Kunnins says with a slight laugh.  “Get it over with, already--finish me off.”

“We don’t kill,” Dad says, pulling his phone out of his pocket and tapping on it.  I’m surprised he can get any bars down here--then again, he IS a technopath.  “The black suits should be coming soon.  Spread out and make sure everyone really is gone,” he orders us, looking at me and then looking at Ace.  “Am I right in thinking you picked my son as the diversion?”

“I thought he’d do something a little less straight-forward than punching through the wall,” Ace admits.

“It worked--and you used me as a diversion!” I say accusingly.

“You make a really great one, too,” Ace says.

“Um, right, yeah, okay,” I mutter, blushing slightly.

“Also, good job finding them in the first place, Sunny,” Dad compliments me, messing up my hair.

“It was an accident,” I admit sheepishly.

“Sometimes accidents work out well,” Dad says.  “Now get all of the genetic work together before the black suits come.  That will come in handy.”

“But this is South Branch territory,” Jack says.

“Which is why you need to move fast,” Dad tells him.  “When they do come, bring them to this room.  We don’t have anyone here that can help them.”  I look to where he motions, seeing the two males in the hospital beds.  One’s an old man, the other is a strange looking teenager.

“Yeah, all right,” Jack says before racing away.  I look around the room. Now that it’s quiet, I notice the squeaking.  For a moment I just stare at the cages full of creatures to the side of the room, one full of mice, the other full of guinea pigs.  I don’t think this is what Dad was talking about, but it seems cruel to just leave them like that.  I grab the cages and head for the exit, planning to let the mice loose outside and take the guinea pigs to an animal shelter or something.

The sight of Grandpa Superior, Century, and Skystep standing there has me staring at them blankly.  “Sunny,” Grandpa Superior says, turning and motioning me over.  “Where is Kunnins?”

“He’s caught,” I say, shrugging.  “We’re just waiting for the black suits to show up and collect everything left.”

“That easily?” Century asks.

“We beat up Shadowman and he ran for it,” I say.  “He was the only super Kunnins had working for him, and how they ran away.  There was a bit of a fight with Kunnins and a weird gun at the end--but we handled it.”  Although I’m still feeling a little tingly.

“I find it interesting just how your little group came to be right where the bad guys were staying,” Century says, looking at me sharply.

“We found it shocking,” Max says.  He’s sitting on the RV with Cubby next to him. “I’m pretty sure this is going to blow the whole points game,” he complains, glancing at me. “We’ll probably be dragged back home.”

“Yeah, that really sucks.  That game was going to be awesome,” I agree.  “This ruined our summer camp.”  Even Cubby is nodding with a little pout on his face.

“Maybe we can talk Pan into taking us somewhere else,” Max says.  “Also, what’s with the rats?”

“Mice and guinea pigs--they were down there.  Think they were going to experiment on them,” I say, looking at the cages.  “Hopefully they haven’t already.”

“Just in case, I think we should take them with us,” Century says.  “The last thing we need are super mice flying around.”

I look at the cage. I look at him.  “Can I keep one?” I ask.

***

“So,” Pan says as the ambulances drive away.  “There’s a lot of work to be done before we can leave.”

“That’s right, that’s right!” Skystep says, her hands on her hips as she glowers at all of us.  “You RUINED my new base!  All these roots are coming through the roof!”

“Ah, sorry ‘bout that,” I mutter sheepishly.  Dad and Grandpa Superior left with the van taking Kunnins away.  I’m not sure I want to know what they plan on doing to the old guy, he seemed pretty messed up after the illusion disappeared. I heard someone say the unconscious guys were taken to the nearest hospital, as were the twins and their mom.  They needed to be checked out after being kidnapped for so long--both mentally and physically.  That’s what the black suits had told Century.  I feel unashamed about listening in.

“First we need someone to reinforce the walls and ceiling while Sunny withdraws the plants,” Pan says.  “Max, that’s your job.  Ace, you’re going to help with that, since there’s a lot of ground to cover.  Jack, you’re going to do the patchwork.  Remember to fix the rebar before laying the super cement.”

“Yeah, I got it,” Jack says, giving me a dark look.

“What?” I ask.

“Next time don’t do it up so big, moron!” he says darkly.

“It sort of grew bigger all on its own,” I say with a shrug.  “Couldn’t help it!”

“Sure,” Jack drawled.  “We’re going down for this part--should Sunny?”

“Can you do it from down there?” Pan asks me. I hesitate for a moment, thinking about it.

“Maybe?” I said.  “I can try.”

“Then let’s go,” Jack says, heading for the trapdoor entrance.  I follow him, wondering if this is a smart idea.  I’m a lot less likely to get caved in from up here, right?  Jack turns and looks as I come to a stop.  “What are you waiting for?”

“Nothing, really,” I say.  We head in.

***

“So summer camp is canceled, huh?” Max says as we climb into the RV.  “This whole thing with Kunnins is wrapped up--”

“But the norms caught sight of us when they came to see what Century was doing,” Pan says from the driver seat.  “There’s no way we could stay there, we’d be filmed at all times.”

“So it’s over?  I didn’t even get my points,” Ace complains.  I glance over at him as he looks at Jack.  “What are you doing?”

“Aubrey just sent me a text,” Jack says, scowling at his phone.  “That Tank guy that Vinny took out down south was taken to our Hall’s ER.”

“Why?” Max asks.

“Because we have Aubrey,” Jack says, “and nobody’s willing to send her back down for this.”

“So we’ve just got this massive overdosed creep in our Hall now?” I ask, feeling a bit uneasy about the decision.

“Yeah, we do,” Jack says, texting something quickly before putting his phone away.  “How do you think I feel, knowing my girlfriend’s the one expected to fix him?” he adds darkly.  He REALLY doesn’t look happy about the situation.  “And it’s not exactly like I can go up there to check on them regularly.”

“Emily could,” I say.  “But the guy didn’t look exactly intimidating when I saw him earlier.  He was in a coma.”

“Yeah, like that really makes a difference,” Jack says.  “I was in a coma, too, remember?”

“She’ll be fine,” Max says.  “Even if he’s messed up looking, he’s still a norm.  She can handle a norm.”

“Yeah, you’ve got a point,” Jack says.  He looks over at Pan’s back.  “Hey, Pan?  Are we really calling this done?”

“Who gave you that idea?” Pan asks.  “We’re just going to increase our territory.  I expect an actual base from each of you by the end of the week.”

“How big will the territory be?” Max asks.

“All of Central Hall.  You’re going to build a base there sooner or later, anyway,” Pan says.

Well crap.  Oh well, at least I get to see Adanna again!

***

“What was the plan, Kunnins?” Nico demands of the old man sitting in the chair in the middle of the room.  Century is to one side of him, Superior has been moved to another room--he looked far too eager to just take the old man out without asking questions.  “Are you trying to kill the capes again?  You go to ground for years, only to show up again now.  Why?”

The old man looks at him with pure hatred.  “You shouldn’t exist.  Supers shouldn’t exist!  The world would be a better place if you all just up and died--especially you, Century.  You’re no hero, you’re just an oil baron that happens to know how to fly.  You
disgust
me!”