Super Villain Academy 2: Polar Opposites (26 page)

“Oh, thank goodness,” Sandra said. She collapsed in relief, her head falling with a plop onto his stomach.

“Don’t spill!” Sarah cried.

“I won’t. I won’t,” Sandra replied. She sat up again, assured that the sneaker was level, and smiled at Jeff. “You really gave us a scare, bro.”

“I told you he was fine,” Whisper mumbled, staring at the ground.

Blinking at the shoe, Jeff realized it was dripping. “Tell me you did not give me water out of that thing.”

Sandra rolled her eyes. “Whatever. You’re welcome!”

“What am I welcome for?” Jeff smacked his tongue against his mouth and was sure he tasted dirty gym socks.

“Saving your life!” she said. “Well, actually, it was mostly Don.”

Jeff looked straight upward at the big man with the smug expression looming over him. Was he posing?

“I think I’d rather take the credit on this one,” Sarah said.

Jeff raised an eyebrow at his mother’s disgusted tone.

“It was clear you needed water,” she explained. “You’re so elemental.”

Set snorted.

With a glare in Set’s direction, Sarah continued. “I told Don his hair was messed up from the wind storm.”

Raising a shaky hand, Jeff rubbed his face. “I don’t get it, Mother.”

“In a state of panic, Don can find any reflective surface.”

A grin split Jeff’s face. “Seriously? He found the water so he could fix his hair?”

Don’s smug expression collapsed into confusion and then hurt. He glanced sideways at Sarah.

“Thanks, Don!” Jeff said. Looking back at Sandra, Jeff grimaced. “But a shoe?”

“We had to make due. We used yours, figuring it would be a little less gross to drink your own stinky feet smell.”

“Right. What’s up with him?” he asked, gesturing to the prone teacher beside him.

“He lent you some of his power,” Frank said. “He’s just resting for awhile.”

Sitting up, Jeff dumped the rest of the water over his head and shoved his foot into his squishy shoe. “Okay, what’s the plan?”

“It’s your show, cowboy,” Set said.

“Right, well, I think we were headed in the right direction before we were so rudely interrupted by the stampede. Let’s continue with that.” It took him a second to gain his balance when he stood. He offered a hand to Edward Hammond and helped him to his feet.

Frank cleared his throat. “That’s not much of a plan.”

“I didn’t hear you volunteer one when I asked,” Jeff said. He turned toward the horizon and started trudging, thankful to at least be out of the war zone and onto more level land. At least they could move with super speed, if need be.

Source and Sandra walked with Jeff. They talked about everything except what they were in the middle of doing, which Jeff was thankful for. The further into the desert they got, the more Jeff wondered if they’d missed a clue, a sign, or even an entire building. The landscape yawned around them, baring all its contents in one easy show. When you’ve got nothing, it doesn’t take much to show if off.

“So, Jeff scrambles up the tree with the bulldog on his heels,” Sandra finished her story with a snort.

Source wiped away a tear that escaped from laughing so hard. “Oh my god, that dog must have been livid! How long was he up there?”

Jeff laughed at the memory, though at the time, his seven-year-old self was stuck in the tree with the dog jumping and snarling below him, he hadn’t thought it funny at all. “It felt like days, but Mother came looking for me when I didn’t come home for dinner.”

“Wait! You didn’t get help?” Source asked Sandra.

She laughed. “He took my
Totally High School Barbie
and turned her into a quadriplegic. I was not going to get him help!”

“You never discovered the raw bacon in your back pockets?” Source asked Jeff.

“Mother did when she did laundry, like, two weeks later.” Jeff scowled at Sandra, who burst into a new series of giggles, which stopped abruptly as she came to the top of the hill they climbed.

Jeff’s mouth fell open. “Holy crap, Batman.”

Source’s gaze roved over the long building and then, as if someone said something, the three of them dropped to the ground and skittered backward until they were just peeking over the top of the hill.

An odd building that looked like the cross between an adobe and a military base sat nestled in an old gully. Every surface except for the windows seemed to be covered in the sandy earth. Even the long awnings, extending over each window, were the same texture and color as the rest of the structure.

“This has got to be it,” Jeff said.

“I don’t see anybody around,” Sandra said. “Wouldn’t she have guards?”

“There doesn’t seem to be any movement inside either,” Source said.

“This has got to be it,” Jeff insisted.

“What’s up?” Frank asked, coming up behind them. Then seeing the building, exclaimed, “Whoa!”

“Get down, Dad!” Sandra scolded.

“Right.” Frank fell to his stomach and examined the seemingly lifeless building and its surroundings.

The rest of the group crawled to the crest of the dune to peer over the top. They argued about the best way to approach the building. All the while, Whisper tried to interrupt. “You guys.”

“Hey,” she tried again.

They finally stopped when a girl said from behind them, “It isn’t necessary to sneak around. Mystic is more than happy to invite you in.”

Jeff whirled around to find a small, mousy girl standing with her hands politely clasped in front of her.

“Where did you come from?” Sarah asked.

“The elevator,” Whisper said, pointing to a metal box that had sprouted from the ground. Its doors stood open waiting for its return trip.

Sarah squinted. “Where does the elevator go?”

“Underground,” the girl said. “This time of year, it is too hot to live on the top floor, so we stay mostly underground.” Her shy glances took in each traveling companion, pausing on Set the longest. “You all look in dire need of water. Please come with me, and we’ll get you water, and you can visit with Mystic.”

“I don’t like it,” Jeff said.

“Our brilliant leader and his astounding power of deduction,” Set drawled.

The girl wrung her hands. “I don’t understand. You are here to see Mystic, right?”

“I’m here to rescue my girlfriend,” Jeff said.

“Your girlfriend?” The girl looked genuinely confused.

“Oceanus. Mystic kidnapped her, and I’m here to save her.”

The girl took a step back. “I don’t understand. Oceanus is… she’s not…”

“What?” Jeff’s heart hammered in his throat. Was he too late? “She’s not what?”

Set rounded on Jeff and snarled between clenched teeth. “Why don’t you try a little charm instead of scaring the girl to death?”

Jeff sucked in his breath. More bees with honey, and all that. Right. He envisioned his panic squished into a dark corner of his mind and forced himself to relax. He quirked his crooked half grin, wrapped a hand around the deon, and met her gaze. The girl’s demeanor changed so quickly, it would have been comical in a less stressful situation. Suddenly, she gravitated toward him with a moony expression. Jeff forced himself to appear calm and said in an intimate tone, “You were saying something about Oceanus.”

A smile spread wide across the girl’s face when she realized she could share good news. “She’s not being held prisoner. She’s a friend of Mystic, and is just here visiting.”

“What?” Jeff snapped.

The girl blinked and shook her head.

“You’re wrong,” Jeff spat at the girl. “Oci hates Mystic. You’re wrong. Go away.”

The girl stumbled across the sand, tears coursing down her cheeks. She tripped into the elevator, frantically pushing the button to send the contraption into the ground and collapsed against the wall, sobbing. The doors slid closed and the elevator sank into the ground as the sun dipped below the horizon.

“Uh,” Don said, staring at the patch of sand that was the top of the elevator shaft. “Anyone else think that might not have been the best tactic? You know, sending the girl away in a fit of terror.”

“Are you going to defend her honor, Don Quixote? Huh?” Jeff blurted. He knew he was acting ridiculous, but he couldn’t stop himself. “The girl is either lying or being lied to. There is no possible way Oci is down there voluntarily.”

“Jeff, dear,” Sarah soothed. “Let’s just assume the poor girl is being lied to. It’s rare that humans side with villains, especially humans like her. She’s sweet and shy.”

“Human?” Jeff asked.

“Yeah,” Sarah said. “Couldn’t you tell?”

“Our fearless leader has very poor instincts,” Set drawled.

“Set!” Jeff rounded on him, flame erupting from his hands ready to be thrown. “Shut up!” His fire surged like someone spun the dial on a propane fireplace.

Set stared at Jeff with disdain. Winds whirled like a shot-putter and then slammed into Jeff, billowing his own fire toward his clothing.

Sarah leapt in front of Jeff and pushed the winds back at Set, knocking him off his feet. “That’s enough.” She sparked a white line of electric rope in her right hand and twirled it like a lasso. “Unless one of you wants to test your luck.”

Jeff’s fire winked out, though his chest rose and fell as he seethed. Set’s winds floated away. The boys stared at opposite ends of the horizon. Set crossed his arms over his chest, and Jeff pumped his fists open then closed repeatedly.

“Now, mister god of storms, we could use some water, so pull a rain cloud our way and make yourself useful,” Sarah said, gathering the electric rope into her hand before squishing it in her palm.

“Source and I are going to scout that building to see if the mouse was telling the truth about being underground.” Sandra bounced past Jeff and stage whispered, “Mom’s my hero.”

Chapter 40

It took Set a long time to locate a storm cloud of any substance and pull it to them. By the time it reached them, Set had dark circles under his eyes, and his shoulders were slouched. The night settled in, cold and very, very dark. Don had gotten wet when he tried to help harvest the storm water, so Jeff caught a dead cactus on fire for Don to dry off. Everybody else gathered around the fire for warmth, except Jeff, who could keep himself warm with his internal fire and who wanted desperately to be alone. He wandered over a rise and down into the ditch to get out of the wind and stay out of view. He didn’t think he had to worry about snakes during the cold nighttime, but he wasn’t sure about scorpions. He hated scorpions.

“Why did my Polar bear try to eat my cub?” Sliding through the dark, Mystic sank onto the sand next to him.

“How did you find me?” Jeff asked.

Mystic tapped his head with a long elegant finger. “Those defenses I weaved in your head are like having a homing beacon on you.”

Jeff shuddered, wondering what else they were. It was brilliant of her to remind him of his vulnerability right off the bat.

“Why didn’t you come inside?” Mystic stretched her legs in front of her and crossed them at the ankle. She never covered them. Jeff couldn’t blame her; they were fantastic legs, a mile long, bronze, and toned with an otherworldly sheen. Even in the pitch dark of the desert, the starlight reached all the way into their ditch just to illuminate them.

“Mystic, did you really expect us to blindly trust your invitation?” Jeff squinted at a shadow within a shadow. Had it just moved?

“Come on Polar bear, where’s the love? After all the time we spent together at S.V.A?”

“You kidnapped my girlfriend,” Jeff said.

“Well, yes. It did start out that way. I wanted to get your attention.”

“But you never made any demands.” Jeff turned to her. “You never asked for ransom, or a swap. I figured you were somehow after me, but since the minefield almost wiped me out, now I’m not sure.”

“I changed my mind, Polar.”

“What do you mean?”

“Actually, Oceanus changed it for me.” Mystic bored a finger into the sand as she spoke. Both she and Jeff watched as her finger swirled deeper and deeper into the sand.

“How?” Jeff growled.

She didn’t answer right away. Instead, her finger slowed to a stop and she pulled it out, dusted it off, and then finally looked at Jeff. “She didn’t want to be with you anymore.”

If Jeff had thought he was cold before, it was nothing compared to the ice bath that washed over him with Mystic’s words. Even though he already suspected Oceanus’ feelings had changed, it somehow hurt more coming from Mystic, the queen of callousness. Not wanting to show even more vulnerability, Jeff avoided eye contact. He stabbed the fingers of his right hand into the ground, trying to form a perfect circle with the impressions. Stab, shift, stab, shift. Eventually, he had what resembled the Olympic rings.

“You don’t seem surprised,” Mystic said.

Jeff shrugged. “Tell me again why I should trust you.”

Mystic chuckled and let her head fall onto Jeff’s shoulder. “I’m almost sad to be the one who demolished that trusting side of yours. Was it the dogs that did it, or was it before that when I knocked you over the head to abduct you?”

Jeff continued to press his fingers into the ground until his circles looked like a pyramid. It ended up looking more like a crumbling ruin, because his circles were getting sloppy.

“Come inside, Polar. See her, talk to her, get it over with.” Mystic grabbed the hand he’d been sticking into the ground, brushed off the dirt, and then blew her hot breath over them. “See for yourself, Polar.”

Her confidence was wreaking some serious havoc with Jeff’s psyche. He didn’t want to believe her. He wanted to think she was luring him into her trap, but he had no idea what her motivation would be for luring him inside. She was so certain that Oceanus didn’t want him anymore, but feelings couldn’t be turned off that fast, especially not in dire circumstances like being kidnapped. He didn’t believe for one minute that Oci and Mystic had bonded as Polar haters.

“Come on.” Mystic pressed his hand against the exposed skin of her chest. “You’re cold.”

“I’m not cold, Mystic. Fire, remember?” It wasn’t completely true, but he didn’t appreciate her tactics.

“Fire and ice.” She touched a finger to his lips as if indicating where his ice comes from. “Gravity and levity. Good and bad. Love and…”