Life Light (9 page)

“Cosmic, Felicia, good to see you,” Superior says, smiling. “We’ve just been working on my granddaughters’ training.”

“Oh? And giant pulses of light are part of training?” Duplicitous asks curiously. “Is she okay?” she asks, motioning to Aubrey.

“She is fine,” Tatia says. “Come! We will go in and get comfortable. Clifford, please do put the objects down. We do not need to draw more attention than we already have.”

Emily watches with wonder as the two newcomers head for the fortress entrance. The ice pieces that were her new playground gently land on the ground. Superior walks over, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Good job,” he says.

She grins up at him, proudly. “It was a lot of fun--but I never did catch you,” she complains.

“Of course you didn’t,” he says. “But what you did do was worthy of a compliment.” He walks on past her, leaving her standing there with Taurus--who promptly hauls her into a massive hug.

“That was amazing--both of you were,” he tells her.

“Aubrey and me?”

“I should have said all three of you were,” he says. “Where’s Repeat?”

“She poofed when Aubrey came out--I’m exhausted,” Emily admits, leaning against his chest and sighing. “I bet Aubrey’s even more tired than I am. This vacation thing is really hard, Dad.”

“I know,” he says, picking her up and sitting her on his forearm like a child. She leans against him, perfectly content to be carried. “You were just complimented by the biggest hero in the world, though,” he whispers. “I think it’s worth it, don’t you?”

“I like that game,” she says, yawning hugely and only barely covering it with a hand. “It was fun enough that I tried my very hardest. Repeat and I never even got within twenty feet of him, though," she admits with a sigh. Her eyes are on the fortress. “That was Duplicitous,” she says.

“I know,” he says.

“Think she’ll like me?” she whispers.

“I know she will.”

***

“Isotonic?” one of the black suits says. Isotonic glances up from his computer, “We’ve had another ping from the Arctic,” she says.

He groans, reaching up and rubbing the bridge of his nose. “What is it this time? If you say it’s another spaceship sighting--“

“No, sir, this time it’s a bright ring of light. We estimate it came from the Arctic Circle--there have been several strange occurrences following it,” she says.

“What do we know about the ring of light?” Isotonic asks.

“It seemed to cover a few miles, heading southward at a steady speed,” the black suit says, looking at the folder in her hand. “After being touched by the light, there are reports of a handful of people who reacted strangely. They began to float, their eyes started to glow, in some cases the victims started to scream.”

“How many is a handful?” Isotonic asks.

“Five known cases in our district, sir--all norms.”

“Find out what they have in common,” he says, “age, gender, race, anything that might link them to each other and to the light. Also, arrange a jet for me.”

“Sir?”

“There have been several strange reports from that area for the past few months,” Isotonic explains patiently. “I really doubt that it’s Cosmic messing around--he’s been retired for years.”

“Then who do you think it is?”

“I don’t know--that’s why I’m going up there,” he explains, as if to a child.

“Should you consult the other Halls?” she asks.

“Really, do you think a simple reconnaissance mission is beyond my abilities?” he asks her darkly. “You’re dismissed.” He waits until she leaves to pull out his phone and tap on the screen. “Julian, I need to ask a favor--can you and your wife take care of my daughter for the weekend? I have a quick trip to make.”

“Sure,” Hard Knocks says, “but where are you going?”

“Up to the Arctic Circle. Someone’s been causing enough trouble to get reported by the norms.”

“Sounds interesting, will you need backup?”

“I’d rather you keep an eye on Olivia--it’s my weekend. She’s been having little hiccups more often lately. She had one in school the other day, turned into linoleum and couldn’t change back.”

“You need to look into Cape High.”

“I know. I just hate the idea of Mastermental lording it over me,” he says irritably. “That is his little pet project, after all.”

“Have you thought about starting up a school of our own?” Julian asks. “I’ve got two boys that will be getting their powers any day, now.”

“I have. I’m working on it. Unfortunately I don’t happen to have a Superior hidden in some dark corner to pull out and put in charge of it,” he mutters.

“We could bring Liz back in,” Julian offers. His tone is amused, showing he knows exactly how Isotonic will reply.

“Never again,” Isotonic says. “You’re already on the list of people that can pick her up, and she goes to your sons’ school, the middle school division, but you know all of that. Tell her that Daddy’s going to call tonight, would you?”

“Sure,” Julian says. “Are you going to tell your ex?”

“She can find out like the rest of the Hall,” Isotonic says darkly.

“You could just have her keep her for the weekend.”

“And give her the privilege of saying I failed in my fatherly duties? I think not. She’d happily make it so I could never see my little girl until she was ready to join the Hall, herself.” It hadn’t been a pretty divorce. He’s still fighting just to keep her in the North Hall, so he can see his daughter on the weekends.

“I’ll take care of it,” Julian says. “Say hi to Cosmic for me, would you?”

“If I see him, I’ll do that,” Isotonic agrees.

“Sir, your jet is ready,” the black suit calls from the door.

“Coming. Thanks, Julian, I owe you one.”

“You owe me several, but who’s keeping track?”

Something is off… I can't figure out what. Granddad Jake and I are heading through the park for the store. Just last week his doctor told him that he couldn't drive anymore, so we're walking to the grocery store a few blocks away. It's beautiful out, thankfully. There's a nice breeze and clouds that keep crossing over the sun, but I'm still worried. I need to get my license. I can't, though, not until I finish Driver's Ed. Once I get through that class I'll go out and get my license, then we won't have to walk all the way to the store.

I worry about Granddad. Ever since my parents died in that car wreck a year ago, he's gotten more and more fragile. He's also called me my mom's name more times than I can count. Sometimes when I look into his eyes, I can tell he's wondering who I am, and why I'm calling him Granddad. It's terrifying. He's all I have in the world, and I know I'm losing him.

I force a smile, wrapping my arm around his as we walk down the street. "Granddad, why don't we get one of those sandwiches from the grocery store for dinner?" I ask. "You said it was good last time, right?"

"That sounds good," he says, walking along slowly. He seems to be slowing down with each step, I notice, trying to match my step with his. A shadow passes over, making it dark for a moment.

Granddad reaches up, grabbing at his shirt and stumbling. I grab for him, trying to keep him from falling. "Granddad?" I ask, worry starting to hit me. We're not alone—there are people walking their dogs, or playing with their children, but no one seems to notice as my grandfather stumbles. His face looks wrong—like it's falling on one side. I think he's having a heart attack.

"Help," I say as he slowly falls to the ground. "Someone help," I say a little more loudly as I drop to my knees on the ground next to him. I don't know what to do—I dig for my cellphone with my right hand, taking his hand with my left and praying that the ambulance can get here in time. "Stay with me Granddad—stay—"

His hand tightens on mine, and it happens. The world suddenly goes white. I can't see--at least I can't see his face. Instead I'm staring at what looks like a—

It's a heart. I've seen them in biology class. It's acting wrong, I think, no longer really hearing the world around me. Vaguely on some level of thought I know people are asking questions, even more vaguely I realize my hair is doing something strange, but my attention is on the heart.

I reach for it. I think it's with my mind, but I can't be sure. All I know is that I know what to do. The heart shudders and starts to react to whatever it is I'm doing. It gets firmer, pulsing once and changing from dull pink to a healthy, strong red color. I watch it for a moment, checking to make sure the beat is right, and move on. Bones are strengthening, plaque hidden in veins dissolves, the brain—I head for the brain in my vision, running over it and fixing this, fixing that. There's a small tumor that I don't think anyone knew about. I get rid of it.

I have no sense of time. I don't know what's happening outside of this. My entire focus is on healing Granddad. It seems like only a moment before I'm slowly slipping back into reality, but by the light I know it's been hours.

"She's back," someone says. I look around, staring blankly at the people that surround me. Right in front of me is a paramedic. She's standing next to a stretcher, but she hasn't done anything. "You're a super," she says when she sees me looking at her. "You're a healer, aren't you?"

"I—I don't—" I say, not able to come up with anything. "Why didn't you take him?" I ask. "How long have I been—" I motion to myself and Granddad, not capable of saying what I think just happened.

"I started to, but it became obvious that what you were doing was working," she says, kneeling down in front of us. "I've seen the old videos of healers in the past," she says. "We've been trained to watch for them—and if they're working, we're to keep out of it unless it doesn't seem to be working. You're amazing."

The people surrounding us start cheering excitedly. I can tell they think it was some sort of miracle. I look down at Granddad, seeing the color in his cheeks, seeing how much stronger he looks. His eyes open and he looks at me, a hint of confusion on his face. "Aubrey? Honey, why am I on the ground?"

"You had a heart attack, sir," the paramedic says, "but don't worry—your granddaughter healed you."

"She did?" he asks with wonder.

"She did," the paramedic says.

The world seems to twist. I see glimpses of local newspaper reports, of people staring at me at school, of crowds of news reporters cluttered together on our yard. In a small town in the middle of nowhere, I'm the biggest thing—

I'm standing in our front room. A part of me knows it's been at least a few weeks since the scene in the park, but another knows it JUST happened. I look around, wondering why I feel so nervous. "Granddad?" I call, heading for the hallway. "Granddad, are you ready to go to the doctor?" I call up the stairs.

"Almost!" he yells down from his room. "That doctor of mine is quite the looker, you know—I've got to be spruced up properly."

I feel a smile pull at my lips, and I'm about to call back teasingly when a hand clamps over my mouth. I jerk, struggling, trying to pull free. I can't scream—I try to. I can't even get a whimper out before I'm sinking through the floor, kidnapped by an unseen super.

Time jumps again and I'm in the middle of my glass cage. I turn, looking for my fellow "zoo kids." I hate the term, but we've all accepted it—we can't deny it, after all. Something is wrong, though. I don't see Morgan, or Vinny, or Carla, or any of my friends. Instead I see a group of strangers. There's one right next to me, sitting against the glass wall with his knees hugged to his chest. Hesitantly I walk over, tapping on the glass. He turns, pushing his glasses up and looking at me with the most heart broken expression I've ever seen.

I think he might be a healer.

I start to cry.

***

“Now she is waking up,” I hear a soft voice with a Russian accent say. I open my eyes, looking straight into Grandma’s. She smiles at me. “Hello kitten, how are you feeling?” She reaches up, wiping away the tears on my cheek without a word. I'm grateful for her silence. My mind snaps back to the present, but the dream is still lingering.

Instead of speaking about it, I take the time to do a thorough scan of my body. It’s a trick I learned when I accidentally hit myself with that attack. “Slight muscle strain that’s already almost healed, a bit light-headed, though,” I admit, sitting up slowly. Grandma braces me when I sway. “What happened?”

“You had a small... incident,” Grandma says. “It is nothing to worry about at the moment, I am sure!”

“Not exactly,” I hear Grandpa say. “We’ve got a few news reports saying that ‘norms’ are starting to act strangely all throughout Canada and the states. There are a few recorded on YouTube, here--“ I look over, realizing we’re in the workout room again. He’s standing next to the wall of televisions. There’s a man that I don’t know standing next to him, watching the coverage with an amused look on his face.

“She’s made quite an impact, hasn’t she?” the man says.

“She IS my granddaughter,” Superior says proudly.

“Through blood?”

“No, adopted. I have a theory that she’s a descendant of Mary’s,” Superior says easily. “Of course this means we’ve just accidentally revealed all of the healers in Canada and America...”

“Isotonic isn’t going to be very happy.”

“Neither will Mastermental.” I get the distinct feeling that under their extremely serious expressions, they’re amused by those facts.

“What do you mean, ‘revealed all of the healers’?” I ask, getting up and heading for them. “What happened? Did I--was it my fault?”

“It was an accident, kitten, these things happen with S-class supers,” Tatia says.

I ignore that, heading for the television screens and staring at the YouTube video playing. We see a stocky looking teenager start to float, he has his back to the screen, but I can see lights coming from his eyes. He's in a school gym, there are banners with school symbols all around him. The people recording it are whispering loudly over how amazing it is, but I know better. This isn’t amazing--this is extremely dangerous.

“We have to protect them,” I say as another video shows up.

“There seem to be about seven on record,” Cosmic says. “We’ve got the cities they’re in, and an idea of their age, but not their addresses or name. Some of them are obviously high school students, though—this happened while they were in school. The only ones that know what this reaction indicates are us, right? Those watching--”

The screens change, going static for a second before a huge image of Nico appears on the wall. He doesn’t look happy. “Hello, Nicolas!” Grandma says, waving at him.

“Hi, Mom,” he says before looking straight at Superior. “What did you do?” he asks.

“That, actually, is a good question,” Superior says as he looks over at me and Grandma. “What caused this, exactly? Something about falling off a wall?”

“We were trying to push Aubrey to her limits so we could access her self-defense abilities,” Liz says. “Instead of a beam, though, she melted the ceiling and sent out a pulse that seems to have revealed all the healers in Canada and America.”

“You’re in the Arctic Circle--you covered more than just Canada and America,” Nico says. “As far as I can tell, you’ve revealed half of Earth’s healers, at least. Those that were caught on camera, that is.” He runs a hand over his face. “You might not have noticed, but at least two thirds of them were teenagers, or pre-teens. Even adult healers don’t have that good of a defense!”

“I’m sorry,” I whisper. Tears are threatening as I picture little girls and boys being hunted for their abilities--no, they’re not threatening anymore. The tears are pouring down my cheeks as I fight the urge to sob like a child. “I didn’t--I wasn’t--”

“Shhh,” Taurus says, pulling me into a hug and pressing my head to his chest. “We can handle this,” he tells me, stroking my hair. “We’ve got connections to heroes all over the world. It’s just a matter of bringing them into the Halls for their protection--”

“What about their LIVES?” I demand, pulling away to look at him. “Some of them are adults--that means they’ve got jobs and families and--and even the kids will have families, I hope! We can’t just drag them out of their lives because of something STUPID that I did! I didn’t even know I COULD do that! I wish I couldn’t!”

“We’ll work that out when we get to it,” Nico says. “While most super villains are secretly dealing with the Hall regularly, not all of them are--but the most dangerous people in this case are the norms.”

I go still, stunned by that idea. “Why--no, you’re right,” I say. “I need to help. Grandma, Grandpa--I’m sorry, I love being here, but--”

“It is fine, kitten,” Grandma says, walking over and pulling me out of Taurus’s arms and into her own. “We will have many more visits in the future!”

“Yeah,” I say, hugging her tightly. “Maybe sometime you and Grandpa can meet my Granddad?” I ask.

“We’d be honored,” Grandpa Superior says.

“I really wanted to talk to you more,” Emily says, making me look over. She’s standing in front of Duplicitous, looking as if her heart is breaking.

“I’ll come visit after your work is done,” Duplicitous swears, pulling Emily into a hug. “Well, one of me will. I want to meet all of your doppelgangers as well!” she says.

“Me too!” Emily says, breaking into a smile. “Maybe you can come for my debut?”

“I wouldn’t miss it!” Duplicitous says. “I would love to see you in action.”

“I’ll call you when it’s about to happen, okay?” Emily says excitedly, pulling out her phone. “What’s your number?”

“I do believe your granddaughter likes my wife,” I hear Cosmic say to Superior with a hint of amusement. “Isn’t she going hero?”

“She’s going to be a Liberty girl,” Superior says.

The look of shock on Cosmic’s face is hysterical. “You’re kidding, right?”

“She is to be the partner of Kid Liberty!” Grandma tells him cheerfully. “They are an adorable couple.”

“But--does he realize--” Cosmic starts out, only to get a dark look from his wife. “Nothing, honey,” he says.

“Trent already knows I’m a handful,” Emily says with a wicked grin. “There are three of me--and we tend to fight over hand-holding privileges.”

“But you haven’t gotten to the multiple ages stage yet,” he says.

“Multiple ages?” Emily repeats, her eyes going huge.

“It’s good to have a teenage and child version,” Duplicitous tells her. “We’ll talk about it later, okay?”

“Absolutely,” Emily says eagerly, only to frown. “I can’t teleport us,” she admits, looking at me, “at least not yet. Grandpa’s game sort of tapped me.”

“I...” I start out, looking to Liz.

“I can fly two of you, but--” she starts out.

“I can take you,” Duplicitous says. “I need a picture of where you want to go. Do you have anything?”

I let out a sigh of relief and pull out my phone, showing her a picture of one of the famous Kansas City fountains. “It might shock people if we just appear there--so everyone put on your masks,” she says as she motions us closer. “Hold on to me, please.”