Sunny Daze (4 page)

I grab our bags, slinging them both over my shoulder as I head out into the woods.  To my surprise, all three of the villains are standing right outside the RV, looking extremely serious.  “What?” I ask, adjusting Cubby slightly.

“He didn’t say we couldn’t work together,” Max says.  “And it takes time to build a place to sleep, right?  So I figure for tonight we should cooperate.”

“Super villains cooperate?” I ask.

“Ace, put up a place for Cubby to sleep,” Max says.  “Jack, is there any steel in the vicinity?  We can use that for building material.  Sunny, how good is your plant growing ability?  Can you bring up trees close enough together to keep the wind out?”

Jack glares at Max.  “Who made you boss?”

“Do you want to leave a four year old outside the entire night?” Max asks him.  “One who just happens to be Panther’s son?”

“Well… no, I guess not,” Jack mutters, reaching his hand toward the RV.  His familiar metal surfboard comes from off the roof and he hops on.  “We passed by a ton of metal up north.  I bet it’s a junkyard.”

“Let’s see…” Ace says, glancing over at the boy.  “Something simple, so I don’t have to focus--” he waves a hand and a tent appears, complete with a comfortable looking blow-up bed that covers the floor. 

“Thanks,” I say, heading over and slipping in.  I put the little boy down.  “Can I get some blankets?” I ask over my shoulder, covering him up when they appear.  Now that that’s taken care of, I climb out and look at the trees already surrounding us.  They’re huge, and rather close together, which should make this easier. 

“What are you thinking?” Max asks me.  I realize I’m staring up at the tree limbs, and have been for a few minutes. 

“Bears don’t climb trees after a certain age, right?” I say.  “I don’t wanna wake up to a bear attack.”

“Bears,” Max repeats blankly.

“Bears,” I agree.

“Do they HAVE bears in Texas?”

“Do you really want to find out in the middle of the night?” I ask, lifting my hands.  The trees start swaying.  It’s actually a lot easier to make the plants move than it is to grow brand new ones--soon the larger branches from three of the trees are weaving together to form a platform.  It’s not flat, but it’s flat enough, I think as the light-headedness hits me.  Using too much power always makes me feel a bit off-balance.  Thankfully I recover quickly.  “You guys can do the walls,” I tell him, falling onto my back in the grass.

What?  I might have recovered, but he doesn’t need to know that!  Max snorts and floats up, landing on the platform of tree branches and looking around before glancing down at me.  “How do you plan on getting up here with the kid?” he asks me.

“Jump,” I say.  Yes, he IS making fun of the fact I can’t fly yet--the jerk.  All three of the villains can fly in one way or another.  In Ace’s case, he can fly in two different ways.  Me, though, I’m stuck hoofing it until I learn to fly.  Used to be Trent and I were both flightless, but then the traitor had to go and learn to fly before I did.  Best friend or not, that still stings.  (Of course that doesn’t really apply right now--he’s not even here.)

“I’m back,” Jack calls from behind me.  I glance over, blinking at the sight of several metal scraps floating behind him.  If that didn’t get attention from the locals, I don’t know what will.  Then again, Jack isn’t the discrete type.

“We need walls,” Max tells him.

“On it,” Jack says, heading for the platform.  The metal scraps start forming into walls and he runs a finger down the seams, binding them together.  “Ace, what’s taking so long?” he demands over the edge.

“What’s Ace doing other than keeping Cubby warm?” I ask.

“Getting firewood,” Ace says, making me glance over.  “SOMEONE should have worked harder to get Vinny on our side,” he adds pointedly.

“Vinny’s too lazy to be a villain,” Max says, moving away from the platform and reaching out his arms.  Fallen tree branches take to the air, shaking hard for a second before floating up to him.  “We’re going to need a roof, right?” he says.  The leaves are literally pulled off of the branches as gravity strips them.  He’s gotten better control lately, I have to admit.  “Sunny, get us some vines to strap these together, would you?”

“Sure,” I say, getting up again and jumping onto the platform.  I dig into my pocket, pulling out a handful of seeds.  This is a trick I learned from Mom, who used it to beat Dad once long ago.  I go over to the floating sticks and hold open my hand, letting the seeds sprout.  The vines shoot up, weaving through the sticks to hold them together.

“That, I have to admit, is pretty awesome,” Max says, holding the sticks still for me.

“Anyone got a lighter?” Ace calls from below.

“Why aren’t you using an illusion for the fire?” I ask him, not looking away from my work.

“I always wonder if there’s a chance of getting salmonella from cooking over imaginary flames,” he says.  “Speaking of which, someone’s going to have to break into the RV for food.”

The three of us on the platform look at each other.  “Not--” I start out.

“Sunny,” Jack and Max say without a second of hesitation.

“Why me?” I demand.

“You’re dating his daughter--he’s less likely to kill you!” Max says cheerfully.

“Still need a lighter!” Ace calls up to us.

“Rub two sticks together, you should be able to do that much, right?” Jack says.  “Aubrey stole all my lighters and made me swear off smoking,” he adds in a dark tone. It’s no surprise that the rest of us laugh at him.

“Don’t build it down there, Ace, we’ll bring it up here!” Max calls over the side.  “Now, the roof is done, Sunny get to stealing,” he goes on, laying the makeshift roof onto the metal walls that Jack is finishing off.  “Jack, think you can rig up a fire-pit that’ll keep the rest of the place from lighting up like a match?”

“Yeah, I can pull that off,” Jack says, making more of his random scraps float up and twist, forming into a metal bowl.  I want to watch, but Max reaches over, pats me on the shoulder, and shoves me off the platform.

“Dinner, remember?” he says as I land on the ground.

“Max, you’re a jerk,” I call up to him, taking a moment to check on Cubby.  He’s sound asleep and snoring softly, so I can’t use him as an excuse to avoid this.  All I need to do is get past the super villain with the best hearing in the ENTIRE WORLD.  Yeah, that’s not going to happen.  I head for my bag, digging through it and grabbing my wallet.  “Hey, Jack, did you pass any grocery stores or anything?” I call up to him.

He leans over, looking down at me and pointing.  “Go about four miles that direction, you’ll reach the suburbs.  There are probably grocery stores there, but whether they’re open this late at night, I got no clue,” he says with a shrug.  “You sure you should leave Cubby here?”

I hesitate, almost positive that Panther is watching us from somewhere.  Cubby’s my responsibility, but he’s sound asleep, right?  “If he wakes up from a nightmare pull the turtles trick again,” I tell Ace.  “I’ll be back in half an hour at most.  That way, right?” I ask Jack.

“Straight that way.”

“Shouldn’t we send one of the guys that can fly?” I mutter, stretching and shaking my head as they laugh.  Oh well--we all know where I stand in this group.  If you haven’t figured it out yet, it’s pretty much the bottom.  It only makes sense, especially on a trip like this.  I’m the only non-villain, no-name, non-flying kid in the group.  I’m also youngest and shortest in the group.  Jack and Ace are like, six feet tall, Max has grown a little, I think he’s approaching 5’10, me, I just reached all of 5’7 and a half.  I’m the little kid--well, other than Cubby. In a group of guys that act as bullies for a living, that makes me the lackey, right?

So far, though, the worst thing they’ve done to me is make me go get the groceries, so I can’t complain.  I race through the woods, reaching a field and stopping for a moment.  The moon is massive and hangs right over my head like it’ll drop at any moment.  There are lightning bugs floating lazily all around me.  It almost feels like I’m in a dream.

This is awesome.  I can literally feel the energy all around me, from the earth below me, the trees behind me, even the sky above me.  I can’t help but hold out my arms, throwing back my head and soaking it all in with a laugh.  It feels amazing!

There are buildings in the distance, I notice, so I turn slightly and head for them.  It’s a good night for a run.  I’m going to have to thank the guys for making me go--who knew it would be my new favorite thing?

***

“You sure you should be picking on Sunny like that?” Ace asks as he picks up Cubby and steps onto his floating silver circle.  Sure he can fly, somewhat, but this is still easier for him.  He reaches the newly made tree house and steps inside.  “He’s pretty dangerous, right?”

“Sure he is,” Jack says, finishing up the grating on the fireplace, “but he’s also Sunny.”

“What’s that mean?” Ace asks curiously.  “I’ve never really spent time with the guy, but I know his dad.  He’s going to grow up like Nico, right?”

“In some ways,” Max says, bringing up the pile of kindling that Ace had left below, “in others, Sunny’ll always be Sunny.”  He puts it all into the metal fire-pit and heads for his bag, pulling out a lighter.

“I asked for one of those earlier,” Ace complains.  “And I still don’t think it’s smart--he could wind up doing something to all of us if you push him too far.”

Both of them start laughing.  “More likely he’ll get distracted or fall asleep on the way,” Max says.

“Huh… well hopefully he goes after you two first.  Hey, did anyone make an actual bed up here?” Ace asks, feeling a tiny bit of drool fall on his neck.  “At least for this guy?”  The other two look at each other blankly.  “You might not realize it, but I can’t keep up an illusion and sleep at the same time.”  He watches them continue to look blank for a moment before letting out a sigh.  “Oh forget it, give me your clothes, I’ll use those.”  No wonder Sunny was put in charge of the kid.

“Hey, don’t worry about Sunny.  We won’t bully him too much,” Max says as they dig out their clothes for the bed.  “He’s my girlfriend’s twin brother--you don’t mess with that.”

***

Store, store, store… most of them are closed.  What time is it, anyway?  I’m pretty sure it’s past midnight already.  Is Texas still Central time?  I think it is, probably, they’re right in the middle, but south… ward, or something.  Southward--that’s a word, right?  I wonder if I should buy a ten gallon hat to fit in, or something.  Maybe speak with a southern drawl--nah, probably not.  More than likely it’d give me a lot of strange looks.  I really suck at accents.

I should have talked to Vinny more about his trip down here.  Actually I’d like to talk with Vinny more in general, he seems like a pretty cool guy.  Well, you know, other than the burning-things-down part.  A part of me is probably always going to be a little bit worried by that.  It might be because I deal with highly flammable trees and plants.

“Look at this, boys!”  The words make me turn, looking blankly at a group of men heading towards me.  “Shouldn’t you be in bed, boy?” the lead speaker asks.  He’s missing a few teeth, needs a shave, and looks far too fond of flannel in this hot weather, but whatever.  I don’t judge.

“I’m avoiding curfew,” I say, seeing a gas station up ahead.  “Don’t tell my parents, okay?”

“Oh, we won’t--if you give us your wallet,” the man says, pulling a gun from the back of his pants.  I’ve never understood the logic of sticking a gun down your pants--I mean, what if it goes off?  You’d have this bleeding hole in your butt!

“I can’t,” I say, “I’ve got to get food for an entire group, and if I come back after being mugged I’ll never live it down--”

“This ain’t a JOKE, BOY!”

I let out a long breath and reach into my back pocket.  “Okay, fine, just give me a second.  I’ve got to get it out, right?” I pull out a seed, bringing up my hand and slamming the head guy in the gut with a thick vine.  It shoots forward, sending him flying back into the street and pinning him to the ground with one stalk.  “Wait, that’s not my wallet, sorry, think it’s in my other pocket,” I admit as the other men start backing away urgently.  “Oh, man, so THAT’S why the ride down here was so rough!” I say as I bring out an acorn.  “This grows into an oak!  Wanna see?”

They run, but they’re passing right past the still-growing vine so I can’t help myself, really.  Green, leafy stalks wrap around their ankles, hauling them into the air upside down.  “You know, I still can’t find my wallet,” I say, walking over as the items in their pockets fall to the ground.  “So… why don’t I take yours?” I ask with a brilliant grin.  I scoop up all the wallets and a few other things off of the ground, including a really nice looking lighter.

I stop at the main guy, leaning over and taking the gun from his fingers.  “This is a no-no,” I tell him, holding it up.  Think it’ll work?  It’d look really lame if it doesn’t--I grab the gun barrel and bend it.  It works!  Sweet!  Now I just need to get rid of it.

I would say it’s well past time to get going, wouldn’t you?  I start going through the wallets as I walk away, pulling out all the cash before tossing the rest over my shoulder.  I should probably call the cops on them or something, right?  But if I take too long, I’ll be in really big trouble for abandoning Cubby.