The Rise of Renegade X (29 page)

I slide my thumb along the slats in the bench. “I don’t know. I don’t think it disqualifies me, and I’m going to talk to Taylor.” Who mistakenly thinks I’m not Vilmore material, even without knowing about my less than sparkling parentage.

“We were supposed to go at the same time. Become real villains together.” Kat rests her chin in her hands. “Damien, we’ve got to do something big. We’ve got to be villains for real, so Taylor lets you in. We
both
have to go to Vilmore. It’ll seem like we’re so far away if we don’t.”

“Aren’t you listening to me? I’m still going. The dean is marrying my mom—he’ll let me in. I just have to talk to him.”

“What if you
don’t
get in? What if your
X
decides to become an
H
? I can’t … with a hero … My dad would disown me, Damien!”

“It doesn’t work like that—it’s not just going to become an
H
. I can do stuff to influence it. It’s based on my actions, not on who my parents are.”

“What am I supposed to tell people next year when you visit me at school? This is my boyfriend Damien. He’s a superhero. Don’t beat him up, okay?”

“Kat, aren’t you listening?! I’m still going to Vilmore. I said I’d be there, and you don’t have to tell them anything, because I’m
not
a superhero! I don’t care what anybody thinks!” I stand up, throwing my arms up and letting them fall back to my sides with
a thwack
. “I’m a supervillain! I was raised by a supervillain, I
think
like a supervillain, and I’m never signing any damn League Treaty! I do things my way.”

“You certainly acted like a superhero the other night.”

“Yeah, well, I had to, didn’t I?”

“You have a
sidekick.”

“I don’t! It—it doesn’t matter, because I’m through with it! I tried living with my dad and his superhero family, and it didn’t work out. I find out I’m half hero for my birthday, and suddenly everyone expects me to be some kind of saint. Maybe they should judge who I am based on my actions and not on some stupid genetic nonsense!”

“Damien, you can fly! Even if you get your
V
, you might as well wear a big sign that says I HEART SUPERHEROES the rest of your life!”

“Who, me? I can barely get up the stairs! I’m never leaving the ground if I can help it!”

“What if you are a hero? I’m a villain—how are we supposed to be together?”

I kneel in front of her, my knees getting wet in the grass. I take her hands. “Kat, listen to me. Tell the kids at school to just try and mess with me. I’ll show them what a real villain can do. It doesn’t matter what anybody thinks, or if you’ve got your
V
and I’ve got my
X
, and it doesn’t matter what my
X
turns into, as far as we’re concerned. Because I’ve realized something. No matter how crazy things have been between us, no matter how much we’ve hurt each other, I still care about you—more than anything—and that’s not going to change. I think you feel the same way, and it doesn’t matter what our thumbs say, Kat, because I—”

Cold water splashes on my head. It trickles down my back and soaks through my shirt. Then a giant dog licks my face.

Sarah is standing behind me. With an empty water bottle. She says, “Come on, Heraldo. I thought I saw someone I knew, but I guess I was
wrong.”
She tugs on his leash, turning and walking very quickly away from me.

I hurry after her, with one last glance at Kat on the park bench. “Sarah, wait. I can explain!”

She shoves me away with both hands. “It didn’t mean anything? You’re such a jerk! I can’t believe I liked—I can’t believe I ever wanted to be your sidekick! I guess it’s a good thing I’m not, or else I’d resign!”

“Sarah, I didn’t mean—”

“If you liked her more than me, you should have said so!”

My gaze falls guiltily to the ground.

“You don’t want to be a superhero? Good, because you’re not, Damien Locke! You’re right, people should be judged on their actions, not their genes, because I can think of a ton of people more heroic than
you
. And they don’t have a famous superhero for a father, and they can’t even fly! And if all it takes to be a supervillain is lying and cheating to get what you want, no matter who it hurts, then I guess you’re set!
For life.”

“Sarah, it’s not like that!” I move toward her, but Heraldo growls at me.

“Good boy,” Sarah says, rubbing his ears. “And as for you,
Damien
”—she says my name like it’s a swear word—“I don’t ever want to talk to you again.”

She storms off, and I actually stand there and watch her go. She’s probably too mad to listen to me right now anyway. Not that she doesn’t have a right to be mad, after how awful I’ve been. I’ll call her later and sort things out. I mean about the whole romance thing. I don’t know what I’m going to tell her about being my sidekick.

Kat comes up and dumps my backpack in my arms. “I’ve got to get back home,” she says. “For dinner. I’d invite you, but my grandparents are coming over. Mom always freaks out when they’re around, you know, so …”

“No, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it.”

“We’ll talk later and figure out how to get you into Vilmore.” She moves to hug me, then realizes I’m sopping wet. She hesitates and does it anyway. We embrace, holding on to each other too tightly, like it might never happen again. I whisper in her ear. “Let’s dress like pirates for the wedding.”

“Aw, but you were right—you’d look hot in a tux.”

“Swords, Kat. I’m talking about getting to have
swords
. And a parrot who’s also a sea captain to read us our vows.”

“Let’s tell everyone else it’s a Renaissance theme and to dress accordingly.”

“Better yet, we tell my side it’s a fifties-diner theme, yours that it’s World War One,
not
Two. Anyone who shows up without a costume gets the Renaissance garb we’ll have on hand.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Kat says. We high-five each other.

I wave at her as she walks off to her warm house and warm food and cranky relatives. I don’t look forward to deciding what to do with myself next.

And then I don’t have to, because a dog licks my hand. I look down to see Heraldo dragging his leash, with Sarah nowhere in sight.

It’s dark by the time Heraldo and I get to Mom’s. My arms are sore from dragging a giant dog through the city. Every time he sees something interesting, he pulls me along after him. I don’t know how Sarah does it. I also forgot my glove in the park—I think my right hand has leash burns.

“Mom!” I call as I get through the door. I set my stuff on the couch, take off my other glove, and let Heraldo loose. He takes off into the kitchen. I hear a deep bark and then Mom screams. She pokes her head into the room and seems relieved to see it’s me. She’s on the phone. She holds her hand over it and says, “Damien, what are you doing here? And more importantly, what is this
beast?”

“I’m dogsitting.”

She holds up a finger, signaling me to hold on. “You’ve got her this time? Oh, excellent. No, everything’s ready on this side. Don’t hold back—get results, honeybuns. Whatever it takes—keep me informed.” She pauses, her eyes darting toward me. “He’s here, actually. I’ll make sure, don’t worry.” She hangs up. “Taylor says hello.”

I’m sure he does. “Things didn’t work out at Gordon’s.”

She flinches when I say his name. Heraldo jumps on her, knocking her back a step, and she pushes him away. “Damien, please keep that
thing
under control. I’ve got important work going on.”

“For honeybuns?”

She fixes her hair. “As a matter of fact, yes. I have a surprise for you. You know Taylor and I have been doing some work together?”

“Is that what you call it?”

Mom clasps her hands together and beams at me. “Taylor’s actually quite brilliant. He’s worthy of more than being ‘dean’ of some school.”

“Of
Vilmore.”
I pet Heraldo, and his tail thumps really hard against my leg. “What’s wrong with that?”

Mom tilts her head, her expression pitying. “You used to be so ambitious before you got that
X.”
She puts her hands on my face, pinching my cheeks. Then she pats me on the head. “I shouldn’t have let that
man
take you—”

“My
father
, you mean?”

She sighs. “People like me and Taylor, we’ve got untapped potential. And we’re not getting any younger.”

“He’s the dean of
Vilmore
. Some people would kill to get there. It’s … Stop looking at me like that, Mom.”

“You’ve got your whole life ahead of you. You can’t understand. All right, Vilmore is a prestigious school, churning out many fine young supervillains who’ll go on to do famous things. But that’s just it. How many of those kids dream of sitting in an office at that same school? It doesn’t make the history books.”

“And what’s so horrible about
your
life?” I slump down in the armchair and pick at a string hanging off it.

“Well,” she says, very matter-of-factly, “I did have you at a rather young age.”

“So? You were twenty-two, that’s—”

“It’s hard to build a name for yourself while having to put so much time into someone else. I think I did a pretty good job, considering, and I love you very much, you know. I wouldn’t change a thing. But … you’re growing up now, and—”

“And it’s so convenient that you have someone else to pawn me off on.”

“—if I’m going to give my career an extra boost, now’s the time.” Mom sits on the edge of the couch. She smells like chemicals from her lab. Sulfur and ammonia. It’s good to be home, even if it feels really empty after being at the Tines house. Mom’s whole face lights up, and I have to admit I haven’t seen her this happy in years. “By this time tomorrow, we’ll—Damien, where’s your coat? It’s cold out.”

“Lost it. Guess I’m not as ready to take care of myself as you think.” Heraldo suddenly leaps on me, his front paws punching me in the stomach. He slurps my face. “Get down! Boy …,” I add lamely, pointing at the floor. He doesn’t listen.

“Anyway,” Mom goes on, rubbing her hands together, “tonight, everything changes. Tomorrow, we’ll be king and queen of this city—”

“Who? Us?” It’s hard to listen with Heraldo’s hot breath in my face. I fend him off with both hands as he licks my hair. I make the mistake of turning my head right as he barks, and then my ear is ringing.

“Taylor and I. And you’ll be my little prince. Isn’t that wonderful?”

“You’re taking over the city?
Tonight?”
Did she call me little? I’m sixteen and taller than her.

“I’ve been bursting to tell you, but you’ve had so many changes in your life lately, I didn’t have the heart to get your hopes up, in case it didn’t happen.” She slaps a hand to her chest and breathes out. “It’s such a relief to share this with you! It’s so exciting, I can hardly stand it. Think of it, Damien. We can do whatever we want, have whatever we want. You name it.”

“Oh, so if this works out, you and Taylor won’t get married? Because that’s what I want.”

Mom’s selective hearing must be acting up again, because she acts like I didn’t say anything. By “whatever I want,” she must have meant the opposite. “That Sarah Kink girl’s the key to making all our dreams come true. You were right, Damien—the hypno device wasn’t Dr. Kink’s invention after all. It turns out it was his daughter’s. Now that we’ve got her in custody, our plans are going to go very smoothly.”

Custody. Mom and Taylor nabbed Sarah and have her in “custody.” Just like they had her dad. My insides go cold and it takes effort to keep from shaking. But if I have any hope of saving Sarah, it all depends on Mom and Taylor not finding out I care about her.

I force myself out of the chair and follow Mom as she dances into the kitchen, she’s so happy about whatever’s happening tonight. Something that involves kidnapping my sidekick. “Your plans?”

“You picked a good time to come back. I have to give you something. I tried to call you, but you had your phone off.”

The counters are covered in chemistry beakers, and there are stacks of filthy pots and pans piled on the stove. Papers with what look like recipes and math are tacked to the cupboards. Intermingled between all the science-lab equipment are open boxes of Chinese food with dry noodles and chopsticks hanging out of them. There are stains on the floor, too, especially near the stove and the sink, where Mom must have spilled her concoctions and never cleaned them up. “Mom, did something happen to your lab?”

“What? Oh no, sweetie. With you gone, I got a little carried away.”

“Lazy
is the word I think you’re looking for.”

“Well, that, too. Ah, here it is.” She grabs a small vial full of green liquid off the microwave. She holds it out to me. “I want you to take this as soon as possible. This will protect you.”

I stare at it. “From what?”

“The hypno toxin I invented. Taylor and I are about to pump it through the sewer system. On its own, it doesn’t do much, but when combined with Miss Kink’s device, anyone who breathes it in will be susceptible to mind control. Oh, I shouldn’t say
anyone
. Anyone who’s not a supervillain. Once we’ve spread my toxin, all we have to do is speak into the device and set the trigger word. We’re going to broadcast it across the city. Once the trigger word is set, anyone affected by the toxin who hears the word spoken through this device will be helpless, forced to obey my—our—command. But it’s the superheroes I’m really interested in, not the nobodies. By morning, if all goes well, every superhero in Golden City will be like brainless robots, ready to do our bidding.”