Life Light (10 page)

I pull on my mask and then bring my hood up for good measure. “After this is over, we can come back, right?” I say, feeling guilty for abandoning our family vacation so quickly.

“Any time,” Grandpa says.

We teleport.

***

The statue is as cool as ever (why do you think I’ve got the picture on my phone?) but the crowd of people staring at us is a bit overwhelming. At least it is until Taurus shifts and Liz starts sparking dramatically--then it’s REALLY overwhelming.

“Nothing to see here, ladies and gentlemen,” Liz says, taking to the air and striking a dramatic pose. “Teleportation is just one of our many skill-sets as heroes!”

“Call me, okay? I want to hear how all of this goes!” Duplicitous whispers to Emily and me, hugging us briefly before disappearing again.

“She likes me!” Emily says happily. “And different ages--why did I never think of that?”

“Because she probably used it for criminal activities?” I offer dryly.

“Oh... Those would come in handy, wouldn’t they?” she says. “Distractions, hostages, even in a crowd, nobody would notice kids. I mean, look at them--only a few of them are even glancing at us with Mom and Dad being so dramatic.”

“Exactly, which is why we should use this as an opportunity to sneak away,” I say, tugging her off from the crowd. Our snowsuits stand out a bit too much, so we duck down the nearest alley and take them off. Thankfully we’re wearing normal clothing underneath. “I want to keep the boots,” she complains as we stuff them into their bags.

“You can do that when your outfit matches them,” I say.

“Okay!” she says. “Now we need help--and to call the other Halls, right? So... Mastermental and Nico?” she asks.

“Nico can track them down, Mastermental can make the calls,” I agree, swinging the bag of clothes over my shoulder and pulling out my phone. “We need to get to school.”

“Yeah, but I can’t teleport us, and the parents are busy,” Emily says.

“Hi, Jeanie,” I say, as the phone is answered. I've figured this one out already. “Can you come pick us up? We’re downtown.”

“What are you doing back so soon?” Jeanie asks. “Never mind, you can explain later, I’ll be right there--where downtown?”

“Next to the Winstead's near the horse fountain.”

“Okay! I’ll be right there--”

“In the car, please.”

“Sure!”

***

“So,” Nico says, standing in front of the school body. The teachers tend to float in the back during these things, eating popcorn. Where they get the popcorn from--no, he knows where. There’s a popcorn machine in the teachers’ lounge--

“You outed an entire group of heroes and now we’re going to have to protect them from the norms--if the norms find out what their reactions actually meant,” Max sums up. The real question here, Nico thinks, is where HE got the popcorn from.

“Max, did you mug one of your teachers?” Nico asks.

“No! Blackjack just bet me a bag on--something else,” Max says, stuffing a handful of popcorn in his mouth rather than explain what that bet had been.

"But Max is right--for the most part. It wasn’t actually me that outed them,” Nico says.

“For once,” Jack says.

“For--I do not tend to out supers in public, thank you,” Nico says, snorting. “I’m trying to be professional about this, but you’re making it really hard, you know.”

“So what are we supposed to do about it?” Vinny asks, looking at his watch. “Isn’t school supposed to be out by now?”

“This is more important than school being out,” Morgan says. The group is actually smaller than usual. Both Sunny and Adanna are still down south, helping clean up after the earthquake Sunny caused. Justin is in special training with Banshee, in order to prepare for his upcoming tour. And Carla is--

“Where’s Carla?” Nico asks, looking at the group.

“My Little Pony marathon,” Jimmi offers. “She's inside watching the first four seasons on Netflix because she's paranoid they'll take them down before she can finish.”

“Fine, she would have gotten bored halfway through the explanation, anyway,” Nico says, waving it off. “Now, since a good majority of you are ready to do a bit of street work, I’m going to use you.”

They just stare at him. “Don’t we have a Hall?” Lance says finally. It’s a bit of a surprise to see him speak in public, so everyone turns to look at him.

“Who have actual, REAL jobs to do--” Nico starts out.

“They wear tights and fight in arranged battles,” Vinny says.

“They also deal with natural emergencies and help feed the hungry, as well as several other philanthropic activities. Listen, do you want to tour America or not?” Nico says.

“Let’s do it!” they cheer.

“We’ve got a generic hero outfit for each of you--at least the ones that aren’t debuted,” Nico says. “When I say generic, I only mean they look alike. Each one is fitted and equipped for your personal abilities.” He steps aside and the wall of the gym shifts, opening to reveal an entire wall uniforms. Half are white and gold, the other half are black and silver. “We’ve got the school logo on each of them, so if anyone wants to know who you are, you just say you’re a Cape High student.”

“So we’re just out to find the healers, right?” Morgan asks.

“That’s our main goal. Since there are so many of you, we’ll be separating you into groups and sending you to the places already known to have healers,” Nico says.

“Once you’ve talked with the healer, and at least tried to take them to their specific Hall to discuss their future, you’ll come back here. This will become a regular thing--sending you out as teams to deal with smaller situations. The groups will be a mix at all times. That means no team will be purely apartment, or purely dorm. So no complaining, got it?”

“It’s like at the pizza place, right?” Trent says.

“Exactly, each group will be led by an already debuted student. That means some of you will have to make your jobs look like criminal activity while others will make it look heroic. Regardless of how it looks, you’ll be doing work for the Hall, and with the generic uniforms, no one will realize who did what when you do debut,” he finished, only to pause and look at Malina. “Except Malina--you’re always going to be on a hero team,” he says.

“Should I yell discrimination?” Malina whispers to Morgan. Every single one of them hears her, and starts to laugh.

“No, kiddo, I’m just being honest. You’ll make a lasting impression on people--and unless you abruptly get the urge to go villain, I’d rather it be a good one,” Nico says.

“Well, okay...” she leans up, whispering at Morgan, “Then would it be special treatment?”

“Not exactly? He’s still making you do his dirty work,” Morgan says, not bothering to whisper.

“Oh, okay! As long as I’m not being treated differently.”

“You’re absolutely not,” Nico says. “Except I DO expect a lot from you, considering your powers.”

“WAIT!”

The group looks up, watching as Emily and Aubrey race down the stairs. “We’re here,” Aubrey gasps out as she reaches the canyon floor. "We need to talk to you, Nico--”

“No,” Nico says, “we don’t have time--Emily, your suit’s already prepared. Ace, we’re moving up her debut. We need another hero leading a team, and she’s had her debut put off long enough,” he says.

“Wait, what?” Emily asks blankly.

“We’re forming teams and heading out to find the healers--especially the teenage ones, right?” Max says, his arm draped around Zoe’s waist.

“I would think so,” Zoe admits. “We want to bring them to Cape High, right?”

“So... I’m debuting? NOW?” Emily demands, looking terrified.

“The sooner the better,” Nico says.

“She can’t! She needs--” Aubrey starts out, only to stop as she catches sight of Jimmi. “She needs recharged,” she says. “Jimmi, can you help me?”

“I just need a bit of electricity,” Jimmi says, rushing off for one of the buildings.

“Can I at least put some makeup on before we start?” Emily asks. She still looks a bit stunned.

“Make it quick.”

***

“What do I do?” I ask, looking at the group of students. They’re gathering into groups on their own--well, sort of. Max and Trent are sorting out “sides” as if it were a football game.

“I call Aubrey!” Trent says.

“She’s dating Jack, that automatically puts her on our side,” Max says.

“I’ve already picked the teams--Aubrey’s going to stay with me,” Nico says. “She’s the one we’re going to have the healers talk to first.”

I stare at him blankly. “We’ll set up a communication station,” he explains. “Each of you have a holographic system built into the com bracelet on your non-dominant arm. Once you find a healer, you’ll set up contact with Aubrey--she’s speed dialed if you push the A button. The plan is for her to be brought up as a hologram in front of you. Hopefully she’ll be able to talk the Healers down.”

“I’m the last person that should do that!” I say. “I’m the entire reason they’ve been outed!”

“And you regret it, so this is your chance to apologize,” Nico says in a bored tone. He stops, touching his earbud. “Speaking.”

“Nico, can you let us in?” I hear Grandpa Andre say.

“Us?”

“I’ve brought the healer girl.”

“I’ll be right up.”

***

There’d been a bit of a delay, since her roommate yelled at her. She’d had to go grocery shopping again, Skye thinks irritably. Shopping when it’s NOT shopping day is just so--so WRONG! But then again, she didn’t factor in feeding two people the last time she went, so it sort of made sense--

Well, whatever! She’s going to see her family!

She stops over the Arctic Circle, looking around in confusion. Everything is all ice and snow as far as can be seen--how is she supposed to find Emily in all of this mess? She frowns, just standing in the air high above the ground. The air sure is thin up here, she notices idly.

Abruptly she starts walking north. She probably should have asked for directions, huh? Usually she’s REALLY good at finding heroes--they sort of give off this feel, right? But this place is--

“Oh,” she says, her eyes widening as she realizes what the problem is. She’s feeling three (maybe four?) supers right where she’s at. It’s just that their power is just so gigantic that it’s hard to pin-point WHERE they are. They could be anywhere. Liz had sort of been like that--and Volt and Century are like that, to a degree, too... But it’s strange, she thinks, usually Emily is easy to find! It’s almost like she’s not here anymore.

“So you’re the problem.”

She turns and looks down, watching as a man formed of ice emerges from the ground. He grows larger and larger, until she looks like a toy in front of him. “This is North Hall Territory--who gave you permission to cross borders, Skystep?” he demands.

She tilts her head, her mind whirling as she tries to figure out who he is. “Um... Abominable Snowman Man?” she finally guesses.

“I am NOT the abominable snowman!” he snaps. “Haven’t you even learned who the other branch leaders are?”

“You’re a branch leader?” she asks.

“YES! I’m Isotonic!”

“Like the drink?” she asks.

“No, that’s gin and tonic--I am ISOTONIC!”

“Are you sure? Because it definitely sounds alcoholic,” she says. “Maybe you should change it, you wouldn’t want people making that mistake.”

“You’re the only one that’s made that mistake,” he says, an irritated look on his face. “How did you create the light pulse? Some sort of weapon?”

“You mean that glowy light that covered a ton of land?” she asks. “The one that made a couple of people float and get glowy eyes and stuff?”

“Yes, I mean that ‘glowy light.’”

“Never saw it,” she says, waving a hand. “I’m looking for my new parents--have you seen them?”

“Parents?” he repeats. “According to Century’s files, you don’t have family.”

“Of course I do! I have a niece, which makes her new mom my new sister and that makes HER parents my parents!”

“And how is she your niece?” he asks, daring to go along with this line of thought. Every once in a while the branch leaders get together and share information. None of them LIKE it, but they hate being out of the loop even more. With Century, though, you just need to give him a few beers and some food and he’ll start telling “Skye Stories,” until the entire group is actually amused enough to pretend they get along.

“She’s the daughter of Melody! She looks just like her. That makes her my niece!”

“In a way, that makes sense... I’ll accept the niece thing, but that doesn’t mean the rest of her family is yours,” he says, crossing his huge ice arms over his chest.

“You will back away from my daughter right now,” a deep female voice bellows from behind Skye. They both turn, staring blankly as a large, muscular woman in a pink snow suit takes to the air, her white hair tugged by the wind.