Super Villain Academy 2: Polar Opposites (21 page)

“Wait,” Sadie interrupted. She jumped up and ran to the door and studied Jeff’s face like it was the first time she was seeing him, which it probably was, since no one had even bothered to find out anything about him since throwing him in the powerless room. “You’re…” With a hiss, she scurried back to her desk and picked up the phone. Her finger turned white from punching the phone’s buttons so hard. She tossed a few nervous glances in Jeff’s direction while she waited for someone to pick up the other line. She checked her watch. Then she stood perfectly straight, as if at attention.

“Hemlock, I’ve, um. Well, I seem to be holding Polar Tohler in the confinement room.”

Jeff grinned at her. It was about time being a Tohler got him something.

“Yes, sir.” Sadie hung up and gnawed her lip as she stared at Jeff.

“You’re going to let me out, right?” Jeff asked, stepping to the door.

“No.”

“What? Why not?” Without thinking, Jeff grabbed the bars and shook. A bolt of electricity shot up his arms and across his back. He staggered backward and shook his hands like they were wet, trying to shake the buzz out of his veins.

“Are you okay?” Sadie asked, gnawing more frantically as she appraised him.

“No, I’m not okay. That hurt like hell!” Jeff felt his anger building. He was like a wild animal looking for something to maul. He worried what would happen if he lost control of his abilities in a confined room. Would he end up scorching himself with the blue fire? Levitating the heavy wooden chair into the side of his head? He desperately tried to find his chi so that he could center it, but instead of the warm inner ball of light he’d been taught to imagine, he found a live roiling ball of fire ready to burst from his hands and singe death threats onto the walls.

“Still refusing to examine your depths, I see.”

Headmaster Señora Valdez floated into the office. Her calm demeanor instantly soothed Jeff, though the reminder of the warning she’d given him that last time they’d met didn’t sooth at all. Jeff had forgotten about her cryptic way of speaking.

“I didn’t think you saw anything, Señora,” Jeff said, referring to her milky sightless eyes. He dipped his head to peek under her long skirt. Surely she didn’t really float, did she?

“You are right, in a sense. My vision is different than yours.” Señora Valdez held her hand out to Sadie, who dug through her center drawer and finally handed over the key to the electrified door. “Perhaps you will tell me why you lied about your identity on your first visit.”

He hadn’t expected that. “Um…”

The headmaster glided to the doorway, her cloudy eyes reflecting an odd iridescence as she passed under a fluorescent light. “Don’t you remember?”

Jeff shook his head to clear it. This woman had a compelling aura that left him tongue tied and fuzzy-headed, even through a power-negating force field. “I was looking for a friend. We thought maybe your academy had taken him.”

The corner of the headmaster’s mouth quirked into a smile. “A friend, you say? But wasn’t your visit before the balancing?”

“Look, don’t you know all this about me already?” Jeff snapped. He wasn’t in the mood to play mind games, and this woman seemed like the queen of the game.

“I do not know much about you at all, Mr. Tohler,” Señora Valdez said. She turned the key, and Jeff felt the static retreat from the room.

He winced when she wrapped her hand around a bar to push the door open. When nothing happened, he cautiously stepped through the open doorway. “How can you know that I need to explore my depths, which I’ve done by the way, but not know that even as a villain I made friends?”

Her elegant eyebrows arched. “Oh my. Where to start?”

Jeff’s mouth fell open. “What the hell does that mean?”

Tsk-tsking him, she handed the key back to Sadie. “Thank you for taking care of our guest. I hope he was no trouble.”

Sadie shook her head, which Jeff assumed was a lost gesture, considering the Señora was blind.

The headmaster beckoned Jeff to follow her and led him to her office.

Taking her time to prepare two cups of tea, she set one on a small table next to the armchair she’d motioned Jeff to sit in. “My sight is more like the sense of touch than anything else. I can feel things. Physical things, such as this table.” She lowered her cup onto a side table next to the chair she’d settled in. She crossed one leg over the other, her long skirt falling in elegant folds toward the floor, and rested her thin arms on the cushiony arms of the chair, looking like she was about to introduce an episode of Masterpiece Theater.

“My sight can also feel emotional things, like your pulsating powers that you can barely control, and the swirling darkness deep inside you that is still yet untouched.”

“No, that’s not true. Oceanus is my ‘depths.’ I knew it as soon as I saw her in that melee of a rescue, and then we did the whole balancing thing and… well, it’s just because she was stolen that I’m off-kilter now.”

“Let me assure you, Jeff. Your depths remain unexplored, and as long as they do, you will remain volatile.” Señora Valdez took a sip of her tea.

“You called me Jeff.” An eerie feeling, like a length of gauze, wrapped over him.

“Did I? Sometimes I just find these nuggets of truth. You are like an open book, really. It’s almost as if I can see you.”

Jeff shuddered. He did not appreciate being reminded again and again that he lacked his own defenses. He especially didn’t like being read so easily. “Look, I came for a reason.”

“Of course you did.”

Jeff slammed his eyes closed and tried to collect his muddled thoughts. It was like his mind was suffocating. “Can you lay off with the smothering? Not even Mother pays that close attention to me.”

“I’m sorry. It’s how I see, but because your defenses are not your own, it seems to bind differently. I’ll try to back off.”

“Thank you.” Jeff massaged his temples with his fingers, then squinted as the headmaster relaxed into her cushy armchair. “There was a guy, an imprinter, at the gate on my first visit.”

The señora straightened her spine. “Sí,” she agreed hesitantly.

“I need to find him. Well, I need him to find the girl I was with that day. She’s the one who kidnapped my girlfriend.”

Señora Valdez leaned forward in her chair. “She kidnapped her? When?”

“Um, a couple months ago, I guess.”

The odd angle of her head made her look like a robin listening for a worm underground. “After the balancing?”

Sucking in a deep breath, Jeff nodded. Then, realizing that she couldn’t see him, he voiced the affirmative with a croaky voice.

“Well, that’s very interesting indeed.” Señora Valdez relaxed back into her chair.

“Yeah,” Jeff said.

“Have you met anyone else who wasn’t affected by the balancing?”

With a loud gulp that reminded Jeff of a cartoon character, he admitted, “Me.”

Her eyebrows shot upward, and her cloudy eyes seemed to bore into him. “Yes, that’s interesting, as well.”

“So, about your imprinter…” Jeff said.

“Ah, Gyro.” Her heavy sigh twisted Jeff’s stomach into a nervous knot.

“Is he… still here?” Jeff asked.

“Yes.”

Jeff frowned. “Can I speak with him?”

She nodded once. “Of course you can, but I will warn you, it is unlikely he will help.”

“Why?” Jeff hadn’t realized how much he was relying on the imprinter being his ticket to Mystic. Anxiety pinched his windpipe until he found himself panting.

“I’d rather he explain that himself. Let me call him.” Señora Valdez rose from her chair and glided across the Oriental rug to the ornate desk.

Jeff couldn’t help trying to peek under her skirt again, but the shadows were too deep to see if her feet touched the ground or not. He heard nothing more than a murmur as she spoke into the phone.

After hanging up, Señora Valdez headed across the office to the door. “It seems you have company.”

Jeff frowned. Was she talking to him?

Set entered, looking slightly unnerved by the Señora’s cloudy stare.

“Oh, yeah,” Jeff said. “Señora Valdez, this is my… um… well, this is Set.”

“Ah, yes, Egyptian god of storm. I can feel your thunder, lightning and wind. I can also feel… oh.” Squinting at Set as though her eyes could see his expression, Señora Valdez didn’t finish her thought. “Come in. We are waiting for Gyro.”

Set nodded to her before stalking over to Jeff. “How did you get out?”

Jeff shrugged. “Used a little name dropping.”

“Whose name did you drop?”

“Mine.” Jeff smirked at Set’s scowl.

“About this balancing, Mr. Tohler,” Señora Valdez said. “Have you noticed the effect it is having around the world?”

Jeff’s stomach dropped. Of course he’d noticed. It wasn’t like it was his fault. He would never have done it on purpose. He didn’t even know how he caused it in the first place.

He was saved from engaging in the conversation by a light knock on the door. When it swung open, Jeff was relieved to see the stocky, bald, tattooed guy he’d met on his first visit.

“Delfina, I was told you wanted to see me.” Gyro eyed Jeff and Set.

“Yes, dear. Thank you for coming so quickly. I hope we did not interrupt anything important.”

Gyro shook his head and stared at the boys.

“Jeff and his friend, Set, have come to request your services,” Señora Valdez said.

“Polar, ma’am.” Jeff felt an odd wave of embarrassment wash over him at the use of his real name. “They call me Polar.”

She stilled mid-step and considered him. Her gaze was set just over his head, making her appear deep in thought. “As in the bear?”

“No, ma’am, as in opposing abilities.”

“Yes, of course.” Her gaze dropped to the floor, and she remained frozen in that odd stance for an uncomfortable amount of time. Gyro crossed his arms over his chest and waited, all while glaring at the boys. At last, Señora Valdez lifted her head and continued across the room to her desk. “Polar, why don’t you tell Gyro why you are here.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Gyro replied. “I don’t hire out my services. You’ll have to find someone else.”

Jeff gaped at him. “But I’m looking for someone you met. You’re the only imprinter I know who has met her.”

“I’m sure there is another out there. Do the hard work and research the people she knows. You’ll find one.” Gyro did an about face and marched toward the door.

“Wait!” Jeff cried. “Why won’t you?”

“He’s probably afraid,” drawled Set, “or maybe embarrassed.”

Gyro froze just short of the door. His fists clenched at his sides.

“Either he isn’t good at it, or he doesn’t have a guide,” Set supplied. He crossed his leg and leaned back in his chair. “Maybe they had a nasty divorce and now he can’t contact her, so he’s dead in the water, unable to use his ability.”

“I’m his guide,” Señora Valdez said.

Set raised his eyebrows at her, but said nothing more. He swung his gaze back to Gyro, along with everyone else.

Gyro’s shoulders rose and fell each time he sucked in a deep breath. He clenched and unclenched his fists. At last, he spun in a slow half circle until he faced the group. “I will not endanger Delfina’s life by taking her out on a mission.”

“Señora Valdez strikes me as more capable than any of us,” Jeff said, apprising the woman who sat confidently behind her desk.

Gyro glared at Jeff. His hands shook with anger. “You don’t know what you are talking about.”

Señora Valdez interrupted then. “Gyro, why don’t you at least have a seat and listen to Polar’s story. The outcome of his quest could very well affect us all, even if we are not involved.”

“Delfina, you are always arguing in favor of the requester. What can make his case anymore important than the last dozen I turned down?” Gyro asked. His anger seemed to melt away as soon as he’d spoken her name.

“Because Polar is the one responsible for the balancing,” Señora Valdez answered.

Gyro’s eyebrows arched. “Really?”

The Señora nodded.

“I don’t know if I should shake his hand or pummel him.” Gyro carried a small chair from its perch in a corner over to the front of the desk and sat down to join the conversation.

Señora Valdez turned to Jeff. “Why don’t you start at the beginning?”

Jeff nodded. Problem was, he wasn’t sure where the beginning was. Lucky for him, his story didn’t go back too far. “I only learned that I was a villain less than two years ago.”

It didn’t take too long to get through the story, though Señora Valdez prolonged it by asking a lot of strange clarifying questions.

“You say the two of you are forced to work together,” Gyro said. “But I don’t understand his motivation. Why are you involved at all?” Gyro asked Set.

Set swung his bored expression toward Gyro. “As we get deeper and deeper into this investigation, I question that myself.”

“So will you help us find Mystic?” Jeff asked.

Gyro sat on the edge of in his chair, with his arms crossed over his chest. Looking at the toe of his combat boots he said, “No.”

“What?” Jeff blurted, slamming his hands down on the arms of the chair and causing a loud crack.

“Why not?” Set leaned forward with a dark scowl forming that promised thunder and epic floods.

“You need to explain yourself, dear,” Señora Valdez said softy.

Gyro growled, still staring at his boots. He popped up onto his feet and paced the length of the office. “Delfina and I met in academy. Though her foretelling skills were obvious from the beginning, we didn’t discover that she was my guide right away. Being an untrained imprinter is pretty messy.” Gyro tapped his bald head. “Up here. It took me a long time to sort out all the data that automatically stores and learn how to process it into neat little compartments. You can’t even begin to search for your guide until after you are capable of sorting. Frankly, I didn’t think there was anyone at the academy that would be able to guide my surly personality anyway. I wasn’t in a hurry.

“Delfina and I were always good friends, but she was popular, and I didn’t even want to be.”

“Popular? In a villain academy?” Set asked.

“You’re popular,” Jeff said with a sneer.