Super Girls (Cape High Book 13) (30 page)

She turns, lifting her own hand to blast him away. She stops before she does, staring at that shaking hand with terror. “No,” she whispers. “No,” she says again, pulling out of his hold and starting to walk again.

“Miss, I really must insist,” he says, moving in front of her. “Please. You need help,” he tells her, his voice gentle.

“I’m past help,” she says, looking him in the eyes. He has brown eyes. They aren’t sharp and cold, they’re soft and worried. How long has it been since someone worried about her?

“No one’s past help, if they’re still alive,” he says. “At least let me get you something to drink.”

She’d had no idea how to find the other Lerrestian, at least not until he showed up on television—well after she was married and had a child. When she looked at him, on the screen, she’d seen those same cold eyes as she’d seen on her old planet. Looking at his face brought back memories of the war—

And she’d been in love with a kind, gentle man that worked hard to make her happy. The plans for her home planet were shoved to the back of her mind as she went back to her life. When Superior “died” she had almost felt relieved. She clung to her simple life, still loving Wade even as he grew older and older. She knew, even then, that this would only last for a little while, but she hadn’t cared.

Love, she thinks now, staring blindly at the watch in her hand, the type of love that accepts you, regardless of the problems. The kind of love that fights through the hardships and difficulties of this life, and never gives up—she’d had that kind of love. She kept changing his body, trying to make him live longer, but he still…

She takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Now she has nothing but a bitter loneliness that she tries to ignore. She’s doing everything she can to keep herself occupied, because if she doesn’t, she’ll realize that once again she’s lost everything. Even her own son looks at her with those same cold eyes as she remembers from her past. To avoid seeing them in the mirror every morning, she deliberately changes her eye color all the time. But the coldness doesn’t change.

“Why are you really doing this?” the little accountant healer asks her. For a second it shocks her, and she turns, looking at the woman blankly as she tries to come back to the present. “Why are you kidnapping people? What do you have to gain from this?”

“I need you,” Mother says, unconsciously. “I need you to keep your thoughts to yourself,” she corrects herself sharply.

“You sent the norms after Justin,” the college student says. “What do you want with that little prick?”

“He is hardly a little prick,” Mother says, looking at him. “Justin is a good boy, and a great musician,” she says. “But he’s also in the way of what my son is trying to do, so I’m afraid he has to go.” Marvin’s entire platform is that supers are a hazard to society, after all. Having millions of people (especially the young ones) practically worshiping a singing hero is NOT a good way to make them out as the bad ones. Once the public opinion of regular heroes goes down, it’ll be just a matter of time before they become the outlaws. Once they’re no longer trusted, it will be much easier to take over. They might be more powerful than the norms, but there are far less of them.

When Marvin has control of the free world, well, then this part of her plan will be finished and she’ll go home with…

Well, if Superior’s taken, perhaps she can take the son? He’s so YOUNG, though, she thinks with a scowl. Her own son is old enough to be his father! She doesn’t like younger men—they’re so flighty. No, Superior is still the best—and he is, actually, a bit younger, but not so young that she could be his grandmother! Of course, Tatiana will be a bit of a problem, as will convincing Superior what needs to be done, but she can do it.

If she can’t, her species is doomed to be two full blooded and a handful of half-breeds. Through the generations the blood will be watered down until they are no longer considered super, even by norm standards. Her species will be as good as dead.

She can’t allow that to happen. She’s put this mission off for too long, already.

***

There’s a tense atmosphere in the gym, one that I know I can’t fix. Of course everyone is on edge—Mother knows where we are. I look over at Justin, since he’s the one that’s dealt with her the most in this group. He’s sitting on the bleachers, talking quietly with Malina and a woman with pale skin. I don’t think I know her—I bring up the school files, shifting through the staff information. Ariel, no last name, no background, nothing. She’s obviously a super, though, she’s wearing one of the power stopping bracelets that Dad makes. Since she's an adult, I can only assume that means she has more power than she knows how to control. Aunt Liz only wears her in public crowds.

“This is all karma biting Superior in the butt, and getting us with him," the pale woman says, making a face. "She's after him, right?"

“Ariel, Tatiana talked to you about this,” Malina says quietly. “When you tried to kill him when he first came.”

“She tried to kill Grandpa?” I ask, so shocked that I accidentally say it out loud.

“Ariel?” Adanna says, coming up to me. “Yes, she did.”

“And she’s still allowed to work here?” I demand.

“Well, she had a reason,” Sunny says, joining us. “She was friends with Mimic—I think he saved her life or something.”

“And Grandpa is the reason he lost his powers—well, Grandpa and Dad are the reasons,” I say, suddenly understanding. “Wow, that’s got to be frustrating, but it’s not Grandpa’s fault that Mother knows where we are,” I say quietly. It doesn’t matter how quiet I am, though, since every eye in the room is looking over at us, hanging on our every word.

“Why does Mother know where we are, Zoe?” Aubrey asks.

“Ah, well,” I say slowly, feeling guilty. “We were doing some research on her and Herold—we found the house where Herold grew up. Mother showed up and fought with Dad, and she left—but only after stealing something of Dad’s.”

“What did she steal?” The question comes from every angle, in the same dry tone.

“Let me guess, a watch?” Aubrey adds, crossing her arms over her chest. “Someone REALLY needs to stop him from making those,” she says with a pointed look at me.

“The watches come in handy—” I have to protest for a second before giving up. Even I know how big a problem they’ve been. “Okay, okay, I’ll steal his watch parts, but it’ll only mean he uses a different format—like a channel changer.”

“He wouldn’t—no, he would,” Sunny says, giving up as quickly as I do. “Hey, are you going to fight Sandra?” he asks, changing the subject. As a group we turn to the half floor above us, looking into the shadows of the science lab. She’d disappeared shortly after being put down.

“I want her to start coming to classes,” I say. “She’s too hung up on how she looks—Sunny, she hit me and it made me feel light headed. From what I’ve seen, she could easily be considered a tank. We need more tank females!”

“Grandma’s a tank and Jeanie’s a tank,” Sunny says.

“Name one other,” I say. “Even Aunt Liz doesn’t get called a tank, and she’s a S-class. I’m not saying she isn’t tough, but there’s a--a status difference. Even when, or if, I guess, I hit S-class, the world won’t consider me a tank. Not with my technopathy taking center stage.”

“Why’s it matter?” Cisco asks.

“Because they’re the heavy hitters of the super world,” I say. “The brawlers—the ones in the lime light taking down tanks and giant robots of destruction.” I might have a few stars in my eyes right now, but can you blame me? “Every team should have one—every army should shake in their boots at the threat of them coming in! Did you ever see the news report about how Jeanie stopped a small war in South America?” I ask eagerly. “She did it ALL. ON. HER. OWN! And I’m not saying that Sandra will be on her level—I haven’t checked her power lines, but even on a smaller scale that’s awesome! If the other Halls knew about Sandra, there’d be a civil war to get her! But if she doesn’t graduate, all she’ll be is… here,” I sum up, waving a hand around the room.

“But here is home,” Carla says softly.

“No, it’s not,” I say, walking over to her. I place my hands on her shoulders, looking into her big golden eyes. “I’m not saying we won’t keep in touch—we will, I swear I’ll make sure we do, but Cape High is just a small step for all of you,” I say. “Soon you’ll start graduating and going your separate ways. You’ll spread out through the Halls, and you’ll do what you were always meant to do—be heroes. Or villains,” I have to add a bit dryly, letting go of her to look over the group. “I will help you in any way I can,” I tell them. “You have my promise on this.”

“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to stay somewhere safe,” Malina says. “If Sandra doesn’t feel safe out in the world—”

“But because she understands how important being safe is, shouldn’t she want to make others feel that way?” I ask, feeling frustration trying to rise up. I shove it down. “Because you know how it is to feel vulnerable, shouldn’t you have more compassion for those weaker than you are?” I ask them. “You are NOT weak,” I tell them, hearing a few gasps. “You’re the strongest people I know—”

“Zoe?” Sunny asks.

“Not now, Sunny,” I say, waving him off. “I’m trying to make a point.”

“You’re flying,” Adanna says, a bit dryly.

“Wha—” I yelp as I fall.

“Hey, if I get all righteous like that, think I could fly, too?” Sunny asks his girlfriend.

“The key word is ‘if,’” she replies.

“Yeah, don’t tell Grandma,” I say. “She’ll make both of us try that. But anyway!” I say, turning back to the group. “You all have important futures ahead of you—Sandra does, too! This world NEEDS all of you!”

“It needs you, too,” Carla says.

“It’ll have me,” I say, giving her a smile. “I’ve been invited to work in the new Cape High South until Dad’s ready to retire. I’ll introduce the clean-up program down there, too. After Dad retires, I’ll keep track of both schools and the training programs from here. Together we WILL change the world,” I finish dramatically.

“You are so full of it,” Sandra says from upstairs. We all look up, seeing her sitting on the steps, glaring at me. “You think prancing around in tights can save the world? That’s complete—complete POOP.”

Sunny snickers and I shoot him a dirty look. “What? She said poop,” he says like the annoying brother he is.

“We can make a difference,” I say, looking at Sandra. “We rebuild after every fight—with Dad’s help and mine, we can replace the things we break with eco-friendly items. With Sunny and Adanna’s help, we can rescue helpless animals and rain forests. With your help we can stop the actual villains, like Mother, and like—like Shadowman, too. We can speak up for the weak, or the abandoned—and people will listen to us, because they watch us save them on a daily basis,” I say. “By wearing tights, we put ourselves in the position to speak up and be heard. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to live a quiet life—I admit that. But at the same time, if you had the opportunity to say something and be heard, would you pass it up? Tell me, Sandra, what would you tell the world right now, if you knew they had to listen?”

“So you’d dress like a clown if it meant people heard you?” she scoffs.

“Sure,” I say, “if I felt my message was important enough.”

“And what’s your oh-so-important message?” she demands.

“That there are kids out there like you and me, with powers they don’t know how to control, who need to have a safe place,” I say. “A place where they can grow up and become what they want to be. Cape High is the dream I didn’t realize I had when I first met Dad.”

“But you’re NOT UGLY!” she yells.

“Neither are you,” Aubrey says before I can. “I really hate that word. The only way it SHOULD be used is in describing situations or actions, not people! People are not ugly! They’re amazing, living beings that are capable of so much. What their outer appearance is shouldn’t matter NEARLY as much as what they are on the inside.”

“Says the girl with a boyfriend,” Sandra drawls.

“Hey, if I didn’t have a girlfriend, I’d date you!” Sunny says, earning a sharp look from Adanna. “What? She looks awesome. Besides, I bet we have a lot in common. You know, with my earth elementalism? Shutting up now,” he says as Adanna just keeps looking at him. “But you’re never gonna find a boyfriend if you shut yourself up in your room—”

“Unless she finds one online!” Carla says. “But you never know about people online, it’s dangerous.”

“She can’t get online because she never even took the phone Nico made her, much less a computer,” Freddy says.

“Shut up, Freddy,” Sandra mutters, but she doesn’t sound nearly as angry. I think things are going—oh crap, I think as Skye slips through the stairs behind Sandra, wrapping her arms around her from behind. Sandra yelps, jerking in shock.

“It’s okay!” Skye says, still hugging her. “It’s hard to get a boyfriend when you’re different, but there’s more to life than just boys!” Sandra just stares at her, a blank look on her face. “There’s my all girls super villain group!” Skye tells her, excitedly. “There’s me, and Doris, she’s down there—she turns into a Jersey Devil! You can join us down south and we can be a trio of evil doers! We have our own secret base and EVERYTHING!”

“Am I the only one that finds that idea terrifyin’?” Rochester asks, staring at them.