Super Villain Grandpa (Cape High Series Book 15) (18 page)

"She's playing with the kids," Trent calls over to him. "I think they're playing tag."

The ones that are still looking panicked in the crowd calm down slightly and rush for the building doors. The sound of children's laughter fills the air as the doors swing open automatically. "I do hope you forgive us for that," Century adds. Mentally he's debating how many lawsuits he'll be facing for all of this. He doesn't look forward to it.

"We've got them calm, now," he hears Max say over the earbud. "I'm going to leave--there are far too many people recording me right now." Century waves, sending the drones surrounding him away before replying.

"Thank you, son, when you do go hero, my door is always open."

"Century, if I ever go hero, I'm going to skip the leveling and aim straight for the top," Max says.

"Does your father know?" Century asks.

"He's a mind reader, of course he does," Max says.

"And you're dating Nico's little princess, aren't you?"

"I am."

"I see," Century says, shaking his head slightly. "It sounds like we have a very interesting future ahead of us."

CHAPTER NINE

"I wish he had sent Rocco with us," Malina says quietly as we stop and land outside of a little town. "This would be a lot quicker."

"Are you worried?" Grandma asks as she lets go of her. "We'll be fine. You have two full grown heroes with you right now."

"I know, it’s just that this would be a lot faster with Rocco," Malina says. "But I understand why he kept him--Rocco can find anyone."

"I'm starving," I say. "Can we get some food?"

"I’m afraid we’re going to have to. I haven’t eaten in days," Mom admits. "I can only fly so far without food."

"Oh!" I say, remembering something. "Mom! My tattoo is starting to show!"

"It is?" she asks, the first smile I've seen for a while crossing her face. "Well congratulations, sweetie. I can't wait to see it!"

"Technically I haven't seen it, either," I admit. "Grandpa checked. He said he always wondered if that had something to do with Grandma's powers."

"He checked?" Mom asks.

"Yeah," I say. "I'm not going to be able to wear swimsuits for a while, huh?"

"Not in public, no," Mom says. "Did he hurt you? In any way?" she asks as we walk towards the only restaurant in the tiny town.

"Nope! Well, nothing worth mentioning," I say. Why does everyone worry that Grandpa hurt me? Well, you know, other than the fact that he's an ex-con and can blow things up with a touch. "Other than trying to convince me forty-year-old Twinkies are still edible, that is."

"Ew," Mom says, making a face.

"Exactly, right?" We follow the lady that meets us at the door to a table, sitting down and picking up our menus. "Oh!" I say. "Malina, can you call Carla and see if she's okay?" I ask.

"Of course I can--but don't you think she'd like it if you did the calling?" she asks with a little smile. "I mean, if you two want to become friends, that's definitely a good first step."

I hesitate as she holds her phone out to me. "Are you sure she won't mind?" I ask.

"Are you kidding? She'd LOVE it if you called."

I reach out, taking the phone a bit awkwardly. "Thank you. Um... it’s pretty noisy in here, so I’ll try calling her from the restroom.” I see Grandma nod at Mom, but don’t actually register it.

I get up and head for the restroom, my mind whirling as I try to figure out what to say. What if she's busy? She might still be working at the theme park, trying to help everyone calm down, right? If I interrupt that, will she get mad? I don't know! I don't know Carla well enough to tell. But--but I'd like to, a deceptive little voice whispers. I want to be friends with her. I want to be friends with a lot of people, actually.

I look at Mom, who’s right behind me. “I’ll just be out here,” she says, stepping next to the restroom door. I nod and head in.

I felt so cut off when I was out with Grandpa. I'm not saying I didn't love spending time with him, but we were all alone. Now that I’m back in society I realize just how little interaction I’ve had for the past few days. I stop in front of the mirror and tap on the phone, my hand trembling with nerves. It’s the first name on the list. Oh… Carla and Malina are really close, right? I think? If they’re best friends, maybe me trying to become friends with Carla is—

The phone rings and I almost jump out of my skin. I rush to tap the answer button, and then realize I should have taken it back inside to Malina, since it’s her phone. “He—Hello?” I say, bringing it to my ear. I’ll just tell whoever it is that I’ll have her call them back.

“Malina! Malina, I need help!” I hear Carla say.

“No—um—this is Keliah. I was borrowing her phone. But I was going to call and ask—”

“I need help!” Carla says urgently. “He’s going to kill me, Keliah! I need your help, please!”

“What? Who’s going to kill you?” I ask, starting to panic. “Where are you? How can I get there?”

“It’s Deathblow! He’s going to kill me! I need—NO! STOP, PLEASE—” It cuts off with a scream and I hear a crushing sound. He must have gotten close enough to break her phone. If he’s close enough to break her phone, that means he’s close enough to break her, too! I need to focus. I should—I should—I don’t know what I should do! I don’t have time to figure it out, either! Carla needs me NOW! If I take too long, it might be too late!

I look around for the nearest exit. There’s a window on the far wall. I’m pretty sure it leads to the yard behind the restaurant. If I try to go through the restaurant I might wind up running over innocents in my haste. I can’t risk taking that much time. I need to save Carla!

***

“That was easier than I imagined,” Massteria says, shaking his head as he sees the girl racing down the street. “She’s on the move, go get her,” he tells Deathblow, but Deathblow is already gone. He turns, watching as the girl is grabbed by the large man. She struggles, almost screaming before a hand covers her mouth.

“Playing with little girls, now, Massteria?” someone asks from behind him.

Massteria jerks, a cold chill rushing through him. There, casually sitting on the water tower above him, is someone he did NOT expect to see. “How long?” he asks, starting to tremble with fear.

“Since the beginning,” Mimic says, dropping down in front of him. “I was originally aiming for D.B. but, well, you have such an interesting ability,” he says. “I think I’m going to enjoy this.”

***

All of a sudden, it’s like the world snaps back into place. My mind clears and I suddenly wonder what the heck I was thinking. I mean, I just jumped out of a window of a building where Mom AND Grandma were, and they are way more qualified to—

I can’t breathe. Someone’s holding me with their hand over my mouth and nose. “Hello, girl,” an unfamiliar voice says right next to my ear. “If you want to live, nod.”

I nod, since I DO want to live. That doesn’t mean I have to go along with whatever he tells me. I squirm, kicking back and trying to head-butt him in the jaw, but all he does is laugh. That would work on a norm, right? I’m actually feeling dizzy from hitting my head against his jaw, but he’s laughing.

That leaves me to conclude, reluctantly, that he’s either a really hardheaded norm or a cape. With my luck, he’s a cape. I’m pretty sure I’m strong enough to get free from a norm, adult male or not. “Now, little Boombastic brat,” he says, “you’re going to help me get a hold of your granddaddy, understand? Now you just nod again, got it?”

I shake my head, only to wince as he tightens his hold. I feel like I’m going to break from his hold. Angrily, I nod, hating him more by the moment. He jumps up onto the roof of the nearest building, carrying me like a child. “Massteria, I got her,” he says. “Come on, I need her silent for the trip.”

I go still, looking around as much as I can with him holding my head in place. It seems like forever before a skinny, weasel looking fellow jumps onto the roof, a sheepish look on his face. “Sorry, D.B.” he says. “I had to use the toilet.”

I feel the hold tighten for a second and barely refrain from squealing in pain. “Don’t do that next time,” the guy holding me says, “otherwise I’ll just have to kill you ahead of schedule.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Massteria says. “So this is the granddaughter?” he asks, walking up to me and looking me in the eyes. “She’s pretty useless at this age, isn’t she?”

“She’s plenty useful as bait,” D.B. says, looking at him a bit strangely, “which is what we were out to do in the first place. Now… we need to find a television.”

I start struggling harder, trying to scream from behind his hand. It’s a pathetic little sound, but we’re supers. SOMEONE might hear it, right? I have to believe that Mom and Grandma are coming after me!

“She’s too noisy,” Massteria says.

“Then do your thing,” Deathblow says.

“I could, but what if she screams louder?” Massteria asks. “Knock her out, it’s the safest bet.”

“You’re…” Deathblow starts out. “Fine,” he says after a second. I feel a blow to the side of my head and the world goes black.

***

“You told me to find Massteria,” Rocco says, looking to the two men standing next to him. “Here he is—at least he’s the strongest psychic type around other than Mastermental and Max. I know both of their energy, so I wrote them off. Another psychic is in Louisiana right now, but I’m pretty sure that’s that Rochester guy. And this one…” he frowns, poking the unconscious man. “He’s not giving off ANY energy right now. He was, though, I swear he was! It was only like, five minutes ago, before we went into the Shadowlands.”

Nico steps forward, pulling Massteria’s eyes open. One of his fingers starts sparking, and he holds it up so he can look at the eye. “Mimic,” he says, closing the eye again.

“What?” Bombastic asks. “What do you mean, Mimic?”

“Haven’t you thought about it, Boombastic?” Nico says, looking at him. “They’re going after each other.”

Bombastic looks startled. “What? Why?”

“Probably because it’s too risky to go after a big name right now,” Nico says. “And another reason is that we spent all those years bottled up together. How much time did you spend wondering who was in the other wings? What they were doing? Could you beat them, if you got the chance?”

“Did you wonder that?” Bombastic asks him.

“Of course not, I knew all of it,” Nico says. “But they didn’t. Think of it as a passing thought that quickly becomes an obsession. If you listened hard enough, maybe you could hear the others breathing.”

“Then why aren’t they going after you?” Bombastic asks.

“We’ve found Massteria, send a black suit to pick him up. Mimic got him, so he shouldn’t be too much trouble,” Nico says, touching his earbud. “And I didn’t say they weren’t,” he goes on, looking at Bombastic. “But the smarter ones will make sure to level-up before they do a head-on attack. I like to think of myself as the… final boss,” he declares arrogantly. “You can be the next to last boss,” he says graciously.

“What about Atlanti and Badmoon?” Bombastic asks. “Can we expect them to just show up somewhere?”

“I don’t know,” Nico admits. “They’re not like this group.” He looks up as he feels cars heading for their position. “The suits have arrived.”

“I didn’t think Massteria was, either,” Bombastic says, scowling.

“Nico? Nico, we have a problem,” Malina says over the earbud Nico’s wearing. “Keliah’s disappeared.”

“She slipped out the bathroom window,” Falconess says grimly. “She was just going to call Carla, so I’m not sure what happened. Whatever it was, though, we’re searching for her—”

“But we thought Rocco could find her faster,” Malina says. “Rocco, are you there?”

“I’m on it,” Rocco says, already standing on one arm in his “traditional dance of finding.”

“Thanks. Tell us when you find her,” Malina says.

Rocco goes perfectly still. “Nico?” he says silently. “Turn off the earbud.”

Nico waves a hand, indicating that it’s off. “What is it?”

“She’s not alone,” Rocco says. “We’ve got two really impressive powers with her.”

“They’ve got her,” Bombastic says, his hands clenching and turning black.

***

I was knocked out, right? But right now I’m sitting on a building, and I have no idea how I got here. I look out over the city, seeing the revolving restaurant not too far away; Downtown KC, my mind supplies. It’s the only thing it’s supplying. I look down, staring at the cuffs on my wrists. Those are Mom’s cuffs. Well, at least they look like them. I look closer, seeing that the right one’s actually one of the com-bracelets that Nico made us.

“Falconess,” I hear Trent say over the com. “Are you ALIVE? Because you’re missing the show.”

“Tr—Trent?”

“Liberty,” he corrects me. “If you’re late for another show, Falconess, I’m going to have to write you up. You’ve been messing up too often.”

“What? But I’m not—”

“It’s bad enough that you can’t even fly,” he goes on. I can practically see him shaking his head.

“I’m NOT Falconess!” I snap. “Where do you get off calling me—” I slow to a stop as I look at my cuffs again. “Why am I dressed like this?”

“Ask questions later, right now I need to cover for you. Again,” he says before hanging up on me. I don’t understand. I mean, the last thing I remember was going to lunch with Mom, Grandma and Malina… but maybe it was a dream? No. I don’t think so—

I hear someone scream and I turn, racing toward the sound without thinking. Someone is in trouble! I need to help—I pull to a stop as I reach the edge of the building, realizing abruptly that I don’t know how to fly. I grit my teeth and try to think happy thoughts. That’s how Peter Pan summons his wings, right? Wait… does Peter Pan even HAVE wings?

I don’t have time for this, the screaming is getting more urgent! I have to save them! I’m—I’m Falconess now, right? I need to be as brave and as powerful as Mom and Grandma were when THEY were Falconess. And if I’m wearing the uniform that means I should be up to their standards, right?

I HAVE to know how to fly. I step up onto the ledge of the building, looking down. Wow, this is a really tall building, isn’t it? You know, if I’d gone the sexy archer route I wouldn’t have to do this, I think as I step off the ledge.