Sunny Daze (8 page)

The dirt goes flying as Max breaks free of my little trick.  “Yeah, well getting me dirty right after a bath is foul play, as well, so we’re even.  Now come on, Sunny, you can do better than this!  I’m not impressed.”

I shouldn’t.  I don’t know exactly what will happen.  I look at his smug face, watch him floating in the air without a problem, and do it anyway.  My arms go out and the trees start swaying as far as the eye can see.  But it’s not the trees that shock me out of concentrating.  It’s the rumble of the ground below me, starting to shake.

I hear Jack yelp as he falls out of my tree house, landing on his butt.   There are cracks in the ground under my feet, and I step to the right as they start to grow wider.  I ah, think I just started an earthquake.  Whoops.

“SUNNY!” everyone bellows.  I’m starting to panic, honestly, especially when I feel some of the trees start to fall because the ground is shaking so hard.  I have to do something, right?  How do you STOP an earthquake?  Is there some secret word?  I should have asked my mom before leaving!  Has mom ever caused an earth--

I feel a heavy blow to the back of my head.  I stumble forward a few steps.  It makes me turn, staring blankly at Max.  “What was that for?” I ask in an injured tone.

“It was SUPPOSED to knock you out,” he says.  “Looks like I’ll have to hit harder.”

“The earthquake’s stopped already, Max,” Ace points out.

“Well, yeah… guess it has,” Max admits, looking around.  “Can I hit him, anyways, because that was just plain STUPID,” he yells in my face.  “Are you a moron?  Of all of us, you should be the LAST one to do something that could mess up the forest that badly!”

Guilt.  Oh the guilt.  I look down, not able to keep eye contact.

“Hey now, you’re the one that challenged him,” Jack says, much to my shock.  “You can’t expect a guy to back down--and everyone knows it’s hard to get used to being an elementalist.  I still have problems, and I only got one element!”

“He’s a Superior!  He should do perfectly fine using his fists!” Max says.

“He’s an elementalist,” Ace says.  “You use what you’re best at--and Sunny’s never been in a super fight before, has he?”  He looks at me as I glance at him.  “You haven’t, have you?”

I feel like such an idiot right now.  Like a little kid trying to fit in--and failing.  “No,” I admit, looking down again, “I’m still on basic training.  Dad says that I should be ready soon, though.”

Max makes a scoffing sound, running a hand over his face.  I don’t get why HE’S the one that’s so mad--he’s the guy that told me to do better!  How can I do better unless I actually use my abilities?  I look around, only to stop as I see Cubby hiding in a bush.  He looks terrified, and the guilt that’s been plaguing me goes sour, turning into self-hatred.  I caused that.  I caused that look of fear in his eyes, the tears threatening to fall, the trembling bottom lip.

In an entire group of super villains, I’m the bad guy.  “I--I need some time alone,” I mutter, turning on my heel and racing away at top speed.

“SUNNY!” I hear Max shout after me.  I ignore him.  I need to be alone for a bit.

***

“So…” Nico says, staring at his father for a long moment, “Pan’s got nothing.  Voltdrain had something earlier, but with Shadowman working with them it’s too easy for them to move.  This is a LOT like the Star Born situation, except this time our target has found a way to effectively go to ground without spiking the local electricity.  I’m open to suggestions, but if we’re going south, we’re going to have to deal with Century.”

Superior lets out a small snort and slams his fist on the long science table in front of him, crushing it.  “That’s school property, you know,” Taurus says in a mild tone.  He’s leaning back in one of the science chairs, sitting next to a rather silent Liz.  The very idea of Liz being silent catches Nico off guard.

“Liz?  What are you thinking?” he asks.

“How do we know they’re still in America?” Liz asks.  “If we go by that Rocco kid’s range of travel and add in the fact that Shadowman’s probably as old as Dad is, how do we know he hasn’t taken them across the world and is hiding in another country?”

“Then we get in touch with the Halls across the world,” Superior says, “put out a warning that there’s an insane old man trying to turn norms into supers.  I’ll--”

“You can’t,” Nico says.  “You’re dead, remember?”

Superior lets out a curse, giving his son a dirty look.  “That’s never stopped half of the capes I know--”

“We aren’t resurrecting you, Father, get used to the idea now.  You’d cause more trouble than you’re worth.  But--” Nico says, looking at Taurus and Liz, “Mastermental can do it.  He’s got the connections, right?”

“Huh?  Oh, um, yeah,” Liz says, glancing over at Taurus as if checking to see she said the right thing.

“Liz, is there something on your mind?” Nico demands.

“Didn’t you pick up on the radio waves?” she asks.  “There was just an earthquake down in Texas--one right near where you sent Sunny.”

“What?” the question echoes from all around.  “I didn’t realize you could hear radio waves, Liz--that must be handy,” Superior says in a somewhat impressed tone.

“That isn’t the important part, Father--and by the way, Liz can do a lot of things you don’t know about,” Nico says, turning to the wall and bringing up the television.  The channels speed past until he comes upon one reporting the damage to the nearest town.

“It’s nothing to worry about, so far no deaths have been reported,” Superior says.  “Really, I’m surprised this hasn’t happened before.”

“It hasn’t happened because my son is notoriously laid back,” Nico says, looking irritated as he grabs his phone.  “Pan--what--”

The rest of the room can hear Panther from where they sit, so the same surprised looks cross their face as he says, “Can’t talk right now, Nico.”

“Why’s that?”

“I’m dealing with a lunatic.  It’s a bit touch and go at the moment, can I get back to you?”  And the phone was hung up, leaving them all staring at each other blankly.

“Well, then… I should probably warn his wife, huh?” Nico finally says.

***

It had been going so well, Pan thinks a bit irritably as he watches the insane villain pace in front of him.  He’d just come in to check if Skystep had noticed anything off--as a super villain, he had assumed she would know such things--and then there’d been the earthquake.  Now, though, she’s freaking out as if the world is going to end, and he can’t make heads or tails of what she’s trying to do.

“You just stroll right into my territory and go shaking up the world--what if someone was HURT?” she demands, turning on him, her hair swinging out dramatically behind her.  “It’s bad enough that the heroes are coming every day with their ‘you need a better house!’ bull!  I know what they’re out to do!  They’re out to toss me into the Cape Cells, but I’m not stupid enough to fall for that!  I’m staying RIGHT HERE!  Do you hear me, RIGHT HERE!”

Pan has given up on arguing with her for the moment.  He just simply nods in agreement, although he can actually see why they’d want to move her.  Especially now that half of the building fell with the earthquake, he thinks a bit dryly, looking at the gigantic hole that used to be a wall.

“What?” she demands, getting right in his face.  To be honest, he’d heard all about her attack on Central Hall, and he’d been a bit offended by the territory thing, himself.

“I just came--” he starts out in as mild a tone as he can manage.

“You don’t tell me why you came, I tell you why you came!” she bellows in his face.  Insane, he thinks for the fourth time in the past minute, especially when she stares at him blankly.  “Why did you come?” she asks finally, in a startling cognizant tone.

“I was hoping for your assistance,” Pan says, not making a move from the chair she shoved him into.

“You--wait, what?  Seriously?” she asks in a shocked tone.  “Mine?”

“Yes.”

“But you’re PANTHER,” she says, waving a hand wildly at the uniform he had dawned just to meet her in, “a big shot--one of the biggest names in the industry!  What do you need me for?”

“I’m looking for information,” he says.  “Although I can see why you wouldn’t trust me, I’d like to mention that I’m not on the books in this part of the country--it’s strictly your territory, as well as a few others.”

“It’s good that you recognize that,” she says, arrogantly.

“I have brought down some students, but I can assure you that they won’t be intruding in your territory, either.”  Well, other than Sunny causing massive havoc with that earthquake, that is.  Really, he hadn’t thought it was strong enough to cause this much damage, he thinks as he glances at the hole in the wall.

She’s in his face again, he realizes, pulling back ever so slightly.  She seems to have a habit of getting far too close.  There’s no doubt in his mind that Skystep has never even heard the term “personal space bubble” before.  If she has, no doubt she never asked what it meant.  “Did THEY have something to do with the earthquake?” she demands.

“It… is possible,” he admits.  “I apologize.  In fact, as an apology, after our summer camp is over, I will have them build you a brand new base.  They’re well trained in such things.”

“I don’t like earthquakes.  I don’t like avalanches, either.  Or tornadoes, or--”

“I do apologize.  They’re young, they’re still learning.”

“What sort of summer camp does a super villain run, anyway?” she asks, distracted.

“For aspiring super villains,” he says.  He probably shouldn’t have, he realizes a bit belatedly.

“I WANT TO COME!” she says, jumping up and down excitedly.  “Are there arts and crafts?”

“In… a way?” he offers hesitantly.  “They’re expected to build their own bases.”

“There should be more than just that.  It’s SUMMER camp, after all!  That means all sorts of stupid crafts!” she says, looking far too excited over the idea of “stupid crafts.”   “Who all came?  Are they all kids?  I like kids!  I have a niece, her name is Emily.”

He truly wonders if Emily realizes she considers herself her aunt.  Then again, he either leaves her here in a home that’s falling apart around her, or he brings her to the camp.  As one of the few sane super villains in the world, he feels it’s his duty to look out for the clearly insane ones when he can.  “I will let you join our camp,” he says, holding up a hand before she starts jumping up and down, “if you tell me what you know about Kunnins.”

“Kunnins?” she repeats.  “You mean that creepy old norm that kidnapped me?”

“Yes, him.”

“Don’t know a thing.  But I bet he’s looking for supers.”

“Why is that?”

“Why else would he have all the things to capture us?  I mean, I’m not the easiest person around to grab, you know?  So… there’s going to be macaroni art, right?”

“I’ll be sure to pick up the elbow macaroni and glue from the store at the earliest moment possible,” he says agreeably, his mind already focused on something else.

***

“What just happened?” Kunnins demands as he looks at the ceiling.  There are cracks in the ten foot thick concrete, he thinks with a hint of wonder.  Whatever happened had been huge.  Several pieces of equipment are lying on the ground thanks to the earth shaking tremor.

“Earthquake, sir,” one of his nurses says, picking up computer parts from the ground.  “It looks like a lot of our equipment was damaged.  Should we replace it?”

“Steal it--but don’t get caught.  While you’re at it send someone to get more mice.  The twins and Hal were completely useless,” Kunnins says, running a hand over his face in frustration.  “Speaking of which, where are they?  Hal said he had something to tell me, didn’t he?”

“You were in the middle of something, sir.”

“Well I’m not now!  Tell Hal to meet me in my office.”

“Yes sir.”

Kunnins storms down the hall as best as he can, since he has to avoid several fallen items.  Something about this isn’t right.  Unless that earthquake was right over his head, it shouldn’t have affected the hidden base at all!  The chances of a massive earthquake right here, this far from the nearest fault line…  He’s frowning by the time he reaches his office.

“You called, sir?” Hal says from behind him.

“There was something you wanted to tell me earlier, wasn’t there?” Kunnins asks as he heads inside and sits down on his ancient looking chair.  “Tell me now.”

“Sir… according to the boys there are super villains in the forest above us.”

“What?  Who?”

“They listed Maximum, Cold Steel and Dragon.”

“I see.  All of which are teenage super villains.”  Kunnins pushes the button on his computer, hiding his relief that it still works.  “Get rid of them.”

“What?”

“You heard me the first time,” Kunnins says.  “We’ve finally found an acceptable base to do our work, I’m sick and tired of being hounded by Voltdrain.  A few teenagers, super or not, are not going to get in the way of my progress!  Send Shadowman after them--or the cops.  Whatever you do, just get rid of them!”  He stops, his mind catching up with a few things.  “Wait… you said Maximum, Cold Steel and Dragon, right?”