The Dominion Key (5 page)

“Uh, well …” Captain Justice tugged at his cape. “I invited her.”

“You invited your superhero girlfriend to our house?”

“I wouldn’t say that she’s my
girlfriend
, exactly. We’re dating, but we’re trying not to use that label until we’ve fully—”

Captain Justice went quiet when he noticed the angry looks my parents were giving him.

“It’s bad enough that
you’re
here!” Dad flung up his arms, pacing back and forth. “Now
Scarlett Flame
knows our address!”

“I thought you’d met before?”

“Yeah. We did. She disrupted our death satellite and captured a few of our best zombies!”

“Pardon me, but my daughter is in danger!” Captain Justice stepped forward, flexing his biceps. “We can use all the help we can get.”

Sophie turned on her dad. “I don’t need your girlfriend to protect me.”

“She’s
not
my girlfriend!”

Everyone was talking at once, raising their voices to be heard over the thrum of the helicopter outside. My parents’ relationship with Captain Justice had been shaky enough
before
Scarlett Flame’s arrival. The way things were going, it wouldn’t be long before they were back to being mortal enemies.

“WOULD EVERYONE JUST SHUT UP!”

The sound of my voice silenced the argument. My parents turned on me, shocked. They had a rule against using the words “shut up”—which always struck me as kind of strict, coming from two people who’d tried to destroy the world more times than I could count—but by this point, I really didn’t care.

Stepping forward, I looked from my parents to Captain Justice. “Phineas Vex is on the loose, nFinity is trying to kill us, and Scarlett Flame is standing in our front yard. But all you guys do is fight. The longer she stands outside with that helicopter, the more people are going to notice.”

Dad sighed. “He’s right. We’ve got more important things to think about. Like keeping our children safe. And the best way to do that right now is to get the superhero—and her helicopter—off our lawn.”

Captain Justice opened the front door just wide enough to wave Scarlett Flame inside. As the door closed behind her, the red helicopter rose back into the air and disappeared into the blue sky.

“Sorry I’m late, everyone!”

Scarlett swept into the living room. If anything, she looked even more beautiful and glamorous in real life than in all the commercials and magazines.

“Whoa!” Milton whispered, staring.

Sophie elbowed him. “Might want to wipe the drool off your chin.”

“Your dad’s the luckiest guy in the world.”

Scarlett gazed at her surroundings. Dropping her red
handbag on the sofa, she exclaimed, “What a quaint house! So tiny and disheveled! I
love
it!”

“Just make yourself at home,” Mom grumbled.

Scarlett didn’t seem to hear the comment. Smiling radiantly at my mom, she exclaimed, “Emily Dread! So nice to see you again!”

Scarlett leaned forward to plant an air kiss on each of my mom’s cheeks. It was probably a good thing Mom was too surprised to react. Otherwise, I’m pretty sure she would’ve karate-chopped Scarlett across the room.

Releasing my mom, Scarlett whirled to face my dad.

“And Dominick! How long has it been? You look terrific!”

“Uh … well … th-th-thanks,” Dad stammered. He adjusted his glasses. “Er … so do you.”

This last comment didn’t go over too well with Mom. Her scowl shifted from Scarlett Flame to Dad. Not that Scarlett noticed. She was too busy crossing the room, arms outstretched toward Captain Justice. “Honey-poo! I missed you
sooo
much!”

“Greetings, sweetie pie!” Captain Justice took hold of Scarlett’s hands, pulling her in for a kiss.

Sophie turned away like she was searching for the nearest barf bag. “Let’s not forget that everyone’s life is in danger. Save the mushy stuff for later.”

One thing was for sure: Scarlett Flame knew how to make an entrance. I’d been so distracted by her arrival that I’d momentarily forgotten about the current crisis. And by
the look of it, so had almost everyone else. It was up to Sophie to fill Scarlett Flame in on the situation at hand.

“Right before you caught the attention of everyone in town,” Sophie remarked in an annoyed voice, “we decided that my dad would help us enroll under fake identities at Alabaster Academy.”

“How wonderful!” Scarlett gushed. “My alma mater!”

“Your alma
what
?” Milton asked.

“It means she went to Alabaster too,” Miranda explained.

“She was a couple of years behind us,” Captain Justice explained.

“
Several
years behind them,” Scarlett said quickly. “But yes—I had an absolutely marvelous time at Alabaster. You’ll love it there—”

Mom stepped forward, clearing her throat. “As much as we appreciate your school spirit, Ms. Flame, we aren’t sending the kids to Alabaster for the pep rallies. We’re doing this to keep them safe.”

“The first thing to consider is transportation,” Dad said. “Alabaster is hundreds of miles from here—”

“Three hundred fifty-seven miles,” Miranda said.

“Exactly. Getting there could be problematic. We can’t risk being followed. Or attacked along the way.”

“You’re welcome to ride in my helicopter,” Scarlett volunteered.

“Ooh, yeah!” Milton hopped up and down eagerly. “Can we?”

My parents were already shaking their heads. “Your helicopter would draw unwanted attention,” said Mom.

“And there wouldn’t be enough room for other passengers,” Dad pointed out.

I glanced at my dad. “What other passengers?”

“Your mother and I will be traveling with you. Just in case something
does
happen on the way.”

“We’re coming too! Aren’t we, honey-poo?” Scarlett reached for Captain Justice’s hand.

“Certainly, sweetie pie. And of course Stanley will be joining us.”

Dad puffed out his chest defensively. “If your robot gets to come, then so does mine.”

“Roooaaad triiip!” Elliot squealed.

“That’s quite a lot of people,” Mom said. “Where are we going to find a vehicle big enough to fit everyone?”

Captain Justice reached for his utility belt and removed his phone. “If it’s space you need, I have the perfect solution. Just let me make a quick call.”

We had a lot to do, and not much time. Luggage to pack, birth certificates to forge. Miranda went home to tell her mom the news. Meanwhile, Captain Justice paid a visit to Milton’s house. And it went just like Miranda had predicted. Milton’s mom was so astounded to see Captain Justice in her living room, it didn’t matter that she’d never even
heard
of Alabaster Academy, or that Captain Justice kept referring to her son as “Marlon.” By the time the superhero was through charming her, she agreed: Alabaster was a terrific opportunity for her Milton.

Early the next morning, we loaded into three cars, making sure that each kid had at least one superhero or
supervillain escort. I crammed into the Volvo with my parents and Elliot. Miranda traveled with her mom and Scarlett Flame. Captain Justice and Stanley went with Sophie and Milton. Each car took a different route (in case we were being followed), but we all ended up at the same place.

A warehouse on the outskirts of Sheepsdale.

Inside, the warehouse was stuffed with promotional items for
Hangin’ with Justice
. T-shirts, posters, coffee mugs, trading cards, baseball caps, action figures.

“Wow!” Milton whispered, gazing at the endless racks of Captain Justice–themed merchandise.

My parents weren’t nearly as impressed. For years, they’d considered Captain Justice a “super-sellout” more interested in his own celebrity than saving the world. Since getting to know him a little better, their opinions had mellowed. But now their lips curled with disgust as they looked at box after box of “worthless junk” (Mom’s words) and “cheap throwaway items to be hoisted onto the unwitting masses” (that part came from Dad).

I was taking a closer look at a stack of mouse pads—each plastered with an identical image of Captain Justice’s grinning face—when I heard the sound of brakes groaning outside.

Our footsteps echoed across the vast warehouse as we hurried toward the loading dock. Heavy steel doors rose to reveal a gigantic silver and blue tour bus. On its side was the same grinning picture of Captain Justice that I’d just been looking at on the mouse pad—only bigger.
Way
bigger. My eyes scanned the splashy words emblazoned beside his picture:

“Looks like our ride’s here,” Captain Justice said.

I’ll admit, at first it didn’t seem like the best idea.

Our goal was to travel more than three hundred miles without anyone noticing. And so what did we do? Join a national publicity tour with a couple of world-famous superheroes. Yeah, that’s not gonna get attention.

“Tell me again why we agreed to do this,” Mom said, stepping hesitantly onto the tour bus.

“It’s called hiding in plain sight,” Captain Justice said. “Phineas Vex and his minions assume you’re in a secret location. Which is why they’ll never expect you to be hidden in the middle of a publicity extravaganza.”

“Yeah, because who would be idiotic enough do that?” Dad muttered, following my mom onto the bus.

“The kids will never leave the bus. Nobody will even know they’re coming along. And this way, we can all be there to protect them.”

As soon as I climbed onto the bus, my jaw dropped. It was like a four-star hotel on wheels. Leather sofas stretched along both sides of the vehicle. Flat-screen TVs were attached to the walls. Beneath a row of tinted windows was a mini-kitchen that came equipped with a sink, microwave, and refrigerator. And past all that was a bathroom, six bunk beds concealed behind curtains, and a door that led into
another
room, with a king-sized bed.

“Forget Alabaster Academy.” Milton plopped down on the sofa, gazing at his surroundings. “I say we hide out in
here
for the next year or two.”

Miranda sat down beside him. “This is a big step up from the buses I
usually
take to school.”

“And unlike your average tour bus, this one comes with state-of-the-art security features,” Captain Justice said. “Just in case anyone
does
attempt to mess with us.”

Once everyone was on board, Stanley took a seat behind the steering wheel—Elliot was strapped into the passenger seat beside him—and closed the door. A moment later, the bus lurched into motion.

We were on our way to Alabaster.

But first we had a couple of stops to make.

“People will get suspicious if we don’t do any publicity on our publicity tour,” Captain Justice said.

And so, after an hour of driving, Stanley navigated the bus off the highway and pulled into a parking lot. Nearby
was an outdoor stage where thousands of fans were already awaiting an appearance from Captain Justice and Scarlett Flame. The door opened and the two superstars stepped out.

Captain Justice poked his head back through the door. “We shall return soon.”