No Master Plan Here (Madness Runs in the Family) (23 page)

             
And was hit by Stone's fist.

             
Anansi felt the breath get knocked out of him as he careened back out of the conference room and plowed into the wall outside. Kay teleported inside, using Anansi's visuals to paint targets in the room and appear between Stone and Spark, both of whom in their human forms. The female SHIP agent brought her arms to bear on Kay, electricity coursing down them. Kay dropped to the floor, the blasts flying over her head and into Stone's back. Stone stumbled forward and into Denise's foot as she followed Anansi's path, off of Archangel's face and into the conference room. Stone fell onto his back, nose bleeding.

             
Kay swept Spark off of her feet with a kick, and as the agent fell, Denise flipped over Kay and landed with both boots on Spark's chest. Stone stood, taking on his stoneform, and swung at Kay. The massive fist clipped Kay's shoulder and sent her spinning into Denise, driving both of them to the floor.

             
Anansi launched himself forward, stepping off Archangel's face again as the hero started to stand, and grabbed onto Stone's arm. He activated his teleportation rig, ripping himself and the big hero through space and reappearing beneath the aircraft. Anansi briefly wondered if Stone could survive the fall from ten thousand feet as he pushed off, but saw the flaming form of one of the superhuman escort break off from formation and start moving towards him and Stone. Worry relieved, Anansi teleported back inside.

             
Archangel was trapped once again, just inside the doorway, except this time he was inside the black mess of a Tar Baby. Anansi chuckled, knowing that the hero would be horribly angry right now. Denise and Kay faced the president and his chief of security, Spark on the floor unconscious. The security chief had his pistol pointed at Kay, though by his expression, he didn't think it would be very effective.

             
“It's over, Andrews,” Denise said, her voice calm. She took a step forward, palms open and empty. The security chief changed his aim to her. “Those supers outside can't get in here without taking the craft down, if they even know something is wrong. You're going down for mind control and attempted murder.”

             
“Is that so?” said Andrews from behind the security chief. He glanced to the man, who suddenly gained a glazed expression on his face. His muscles slackened, his weapon dropping from Denise. He placed the gun against his temple and held it there. Andrews returned his gaze to Denise. “The way I see it, this plane is full of hostages, people I find expendable and you are trying to avoid hurting.”

             
[Kay, are you recording this?] Anansi shot over the neural link. Kay did not move, but he felt her open the link so he could see through her. Not only was it recording, it was transmitting throughout the plane. Anansi smiled and let Denise continue working.

             
“So what, are you going to possess those supers outside and have them come tearing in here to take us out, leaving everyone inside to die?” Denise took another step forward. The security chief's finger tightened on the trigger. Sweat began to bead on Andrew's forehead as he seemed to concentrate, though on what, Anansi couldn't tell.

             
[He's using his power, but I can't tell what he is doing. He doesn't seem to be directing it at us, and I am not sure the range of his influence,] Kay sent, trying to trace the power use. Anansi palmed a grenade and faced the windows in case someone came careening through them.

             
“No, though that isn't entirely a bad idea, mine is better. A shame, really. Having slipped past Forcefire outside, Anansi and company infiltrated Air Force One and slaughtered their way through civilian and combatant alike to the president, who barely escaped.” Andrews smiled toothily, a madman's smile instead of the politician's. “It will cover the news for days, incense the world. Madness will reign as the world plunges into war, those supporting the existence of supers fighting those against. Supers will rally around me as I valiantly try to hold the world together while I secretly bend them to my will, and once I have enough, I will crush any opposition! The world will be mine!” Andrews started laughing maniacally, throwing his head back.

             
[Is that what I sound like when I start monologuing?] Anansi sent across the neural link.

             
[Yes. :P]

             
[Remind me to stop doing that.]

             
[I do. Also, I figured it out.]

             
[Yeah, me too. Didn't recognize him. Explains everything.]

Chapter 25

             
“Kinda funny that Nefarious Zod would be the president, isn't it?” Anansi said, turning back to face the president. Andrews' laugh stopped as he looked at Anansi. Denise shot a glance to Anansi, wondering what he was on about. “It bothered me when I first met you. I felt like we'd met before, and I couldn't figure out why.”

             
“How did you figure it out?” Andrews asked, crossing his arms across his chest. He seemed genuinely surprised. Impressed, even. “The disguise was perfect.”

             
“Almost. It was the laugh, really.” Anansi tossed the grenade up like a baseball, snatching it out of the air. “Sure, you look nothing like him, sound nothing like him. Hell, your cover was perfect. Didn't throw up any red flags, and you kept appearing as Zod from time to time in your campaign. I'm impressed. Really, I am.” Anansi clapped slowly. “Of course, when you laughed, I remembered the commission I got a few years back.” Andrews smiled.

             
“See, someone anonymous sent me a request for a transformation belt. Make you look and sound like someone else. Programmable.” Anansi shrugged. “It wasn't too hard and mostly anonymous requests are kinda par for the course for me. Took me a week to make it and send it out and got a pretty timeliness bonus for getting it done.

             
“Never figured it was you, though.”

             
Denise looked from Anansi to the president, her mind racing. It didn't make any sense. Nefarious Zod was famous for his mind control powers, but he was in a chemically induced coma in a military hospital under lock and key. She and Archangel had put him there themselves.

             
“I went to great lengths to establish my cover, even having these unwitting fools in SHIP “arrest me.” As if I could be taken so easily.” Andrews waved his hand dismissively.

             
“I've foiled you pretty easily,” Anansi retorted, tossing and snatching the grenade again.

             
“Yes, that. Have you? You may be immune to my control, and your teammates as well, but nobody else on this flight is. Speaking of whom...” Andrews gestured to the door. Denise looked at the same time as Anansi did, seeing the hallway outside clogged with press and staff, all of whom with pistols against their temples in the exact same position as the security chief.

             
“It seems that the hostages are present,” Andrews taunted, his smirk returning. “Would you like to try that line about you “having done me in” again?”

             
“Know what your problem is, Zod?” Anansi said, tossing the grenade skyward again. [Get ready to get the security chief,] read a message on Denise's viewscreen. He snatched it as it fell. Andrews raised an eyebrow, gesturing for Anansi to continue. “You're too obsessed with theatrics that you occasionally forget things. I know what that's like. It's what made me like you, even if you were a bastard that steals wills. You're like me in that manner. But sometimes those things you forget are important. Things like making sure that all of your opponents are still here.”

             
Andrews whipped his head back to Kay and Denise, who were still standing exactly where they had been. Kay waved to Andrews and disappeared as the grenade projecting her image destroyed itself. Kay reappeared behind Andrews as Anansi whirled, throwing the grenades he was holding into the hallway. As electricity arced through Andrews from Kay's gloves, the grenades exploded in the hallway, sending arcs of electricity up and down the hallway and through the bodies of the press and staff. Bodies slumped to the floor, twitching, weapons clattering out of hands. Denise reached the security chief, driving the gun upward just as he pulled the trigger, sending the bullet into the ceiling. She shocked the man, lowering him gently to the floor.

             
A hand touched her shoulder, and Anansi stood over her. “Nicely done. I might have to keep you around,” he said. A kissy face emoticon appeared on her display, tagged as from Kay. She rolled her eyes and dismissed it.

             
“You try to get rid of me,” she replied, standing. “I dare you.” She pressed her helmet against his. Kay filled her screen with kissy face emoticons. By the way Anansi laughed, she had done the same to him.

             
“So, mister hero,” Denise said, pulling back and miming holding a microphone to the area of Anansi's mouth. “Now that you've saved the free world from a mind-enslaving supervillain, what are you going to do?” Anansi ran a hand across the top of his helmet, as if brushing back his hair. He leaned down towards the imaginary microphone.

             
“I'm going to Disneyland!”

Chapter 26

             
“Breaking news. After Air Force One went silent for a span of twenty minutes today, it made an emergency landing on the interstate en route to Sacramento.” The blond anchorwoman shuffled her papers as if she weren't reading off of a teleprompter. The words “LIVE” and “BREAKING NEWS” appeared at the bottom of the screen in bright bold letters. “It was carrying President Andrews and an entourage to Sacramento to speak out against superhuman violence.

             
“According to sources on Air Force One, at approximately two thirty, three individuals appearing to be Anansi appeared in the aircraft, disabling all security personnel and directing the craft to land as soon as possible. They then proceeded to disable the president's personal security detail.

             
“In a stunning turn of events, the president revealed himself to be the man behind the mask of Nefarious Zod in disguise, a Class four Minder with mind controlling powers thought to have been captured and placed in a chemically induced coma at a maximum security prison three months ago. After this revelation, the president forced the staff and members of the press present on the flight to place guns to their heads in an attempt to force the group of Anansi to surrender.”

             
The anchorwoman looked off screen, past the camera. “Are we sure this is...?” she asked, confusion in her tone. She nodded as someone spoke too low for the camera to pick up. “Whatever. If this turns out to be a hoax, it's your fault for making me report this.” She turned back to the camera.

             
“The group of Anansi disabled the president and his hostages. No loss of life has been reported, though several members of the Secret Service were hospitalized with broken bones. A thumb drive was found taped to Nefarious Zod, who himself was cocooned in duct tape in the presidential conference room with an unconscious Agent Spark and incapacitated Agent Archangel. Both SHIP agents declined comment and with Agent Stone are being seen for evidence of mental conditioning. Team Forcefire, the designated security detail for Air Force One, refused comment as well.”

             
Anansi shut off the television with his neural link, earning him a pillow to the face.

             
“I was watching that,” Denise said, readying another pillow. She wore nothing but a tank top and underwear, halfway tucked under the covers of the bed in the back of the Cicada. Anansi, wearing sweatpants and an identical tank top, rolled off the bed, taking a pillow with him. He popped up to take a peek at Denise and was hit with the pillow.

             
“It was boring and we were there!” he shouted, flinging the pillow back at her. She caught it and rolled backwards off of her side of the bed, nearly hitting her head on the wall. She peeked up and immediately ducked back down to avoid a pillow thrown at her.

             
“We were getting to the interesting part, though!” she retorted, snatching up the second pillow and flinging them at Anansi in quick succession. “We still don't know how the rest of the country will react to you being the good guy.”

             
“Who cares?” Anansi said, dodging the pillows and returning fire.

             
“You do if you want to go home for the holidays again.” Anansi paused in mid-throw, which earned him another pillow in the face. He growled and leaped across the bed, catching Denise in his arms and dragging her back onto the bed where they wrestled until Anansi came out on top, pinning her arms to the bed.

             
“Stop making sense, you. We are supposed to be crazy, and crazy doesn't make sense.” She stuck her tongue out at him as the television winked back on. Anansi rolled off from atop her, allowing her to watch the television.