The Distort Arc: Cape High Books 1-4 (Cape High Series Omnibus) (28 page)

“From a fourteen year old girl who was barely starting to show signs,” Frank says coldly.  “Two on one is not defending, two on one is a crime.”

“You don’t know Emily!” the mother says.  “She’s a wild animal!  She’s rabid!”

“Get out,” I snarl, startling myself as much as I do everyone else in the room.  “Get out of my Hall!  Nobody talks about Emily like that!  You just stood there and let them gang up on her--you’ve got no right to don a mask!”

“Who do you think you are, telling us what to do?” the father demands, turning on me.  “You have nothing to do with this situation!”

“Yes he does,” I hear my father say from behind me, “because Emily is his future partner.”  I turn, seeing Dad and Mom both in full uniform, with Emily standing in front of them.  Emily looks like she’s been slapped.

“Emily,” I say, holding out a hand to her.  “Come here.”  She hesitates for a mere second before stepping forward and taking my hand.  “This isn’t a wild animal,” I say clearly.  “This is a girl who’s lost everything, and when she turned to you, you betrayed her.  You accuse her of having something to do with this, you accuse her of assaulting your older--physically stronger daughters.  You’re as bad as they are.  And even with all that, she still cried when she saw your daughters the way they wound up.”

“You have no idea what happened--“ the mother starts out.

“Do you want me to find out?” Frank says.  “Because I can.  And if I know for certain that you were aware of what was going on and did nothing to stop it, I will have you thrown into the cape cells for being an accomplice to child cape abuse.”

“You--she--“ the father splutters.

“I believe Kid Liberty has already told you to leave,” Frank says.  “I suggest you gather your children and do exactly that.”

“Wait,” Emily say.  The room seems to go still as she takes a step forward.  “Mastermental... I don’t think it’s right, not trying your hardest to find out what they did to take their powers,” she says quietly.  “Regardless of--of the past, it’s just... we need to find out how to fix it, right?  In case it happens to someone else.”

"She acts like this in front of you, but--" the father says.  I take a step forward, my hands fisting at my sides, only to stop as I realize Emily's hanging onto my waist, trying to stop me.

"Don't," she says, looking up at me.  "Does this make you a better person?"

"It might make him one," I say coldly.

"Trent," Dad says quietly before stepping forward.  "We are truly sorry for what's happened to your daughters," he tells the two in front of us.  "But Emily has nothing to do with what happened--except in one way.  Your daughters came here for her, and spoke about it as they went on the tour.  We all heard it.  And since we've clearly established that they came back after being delivered by a small group of assistants, they came back for her, as well.  That, in no way, shape or form, is Emily's fault."

"America's Son," Crank snarls.  "I thought you were always out for justice, regardless of who the wrongdoer is--"

"I am.  If this were Emily's fault I would make sure she was dealt with.  But trying to blame a fourteen year old child for your daughters' mistakes is not acceptable to me."

"Geoff, don't," Marlina says, grabbing her husband's arm.  "You can't take on an entire Liberty family."

"Liberty--" he stops, his eyes falling on me.  "I should have realized," he says.  "We're leaving.  But this isn't the end of it, Mastermental.  I fully hold you responsible for what's happened.  If my daughters never regain their powers, it's your fault."

"No," Nico says.  "It would be the Superior line's fault."

"Superior?" Crank asks, going pale.  "Who are you?"

"Technico, first son--I assume, at least--of Superior himself.  And had you been calmer you would have seen exactly what happened to your children.  To be honest it's not completely Superior fault," he says thoughtfully.  "But I have no idea who she is, and since she's working with him, well, he's as good a choice to blame as any.  If you really desire revenge, go after this man."  He turns the laptop around, showing a screenshot of a man that looks exactly like him, but like a photo negative, with the colors backwards.  "But you won't win."

"He's a villain, isn't he?  Good always wins--" the father starts out.

"He is a
Superior brat
," Nico says coldly.  "Good or bad or what you think counts as 'good,' even, doesn't matter when you're that outranked.  If you want to see how you stand up to a son of Superior, I'll be happy to show you."  He's put the laptop down and is on his feet, still wearing his civvies.  There's no built in defense in that t-shirt he's wearing, but I don't think he needs it for this one.

"Nico," Frank says.  "Sit down."

Nico looks at him, and I can see him debating on whether to obey or not.  Instead of doing either, he turns for the exit.  "I'll lead them to the healing ward.  I need to check on Jack, anyway."

"How is Jack doing?" I ask.

"We've gotten it to where he can breathe on his own," Nico says, "but he's still unconscious and unresponsive.  It's going to take more work."  He looks at the parents, looking impatient.  "Follow me."

They hesitate before nodding reluctantly and Nico leads them out of the room, leaving the laptop on the table.  For a moment the room is silent, then I feel Emily's head bump against my chest and look down.  She's shivering.  I wrap my arms around her, tugging her close.  Her arms go around my waist and I know she's trying her hardest not to cry.  How can they think that this girl is rabid?  What just happened almost broke her.  For how long has she been this close to the edge?

"You did good," I say, feeling a tiny bit awkward at this happening when surrounded by people.  "You did real good," I repeat, rubbing her back.

"They--they--" she whimpers.  "They thought--that I--"

"I know," I say.  "They're wrong.  We all know it.  Do you want me to make them regret it?" I ask.  "Because I can."

She shakes her head against my chest before hugging tighter, as if trying to force me to stay right where I am.  I look up, not surprised as Mom and Dad step in front of me, turning this into a group hug.  I glance over at Frank and Max, who are standing to the side, having a silent conversation, no doubt.  They have the same expressions on their faces and suddenly I see the family resemblance.  It's a bit terrifying, if you think about it, the idea of these two teamed up together.  But then Frank changes the subject.

"I believe this is as good a time as any," he says, making us step back and turn to him.  Somehow Emily has transferred from me to my mother and is cuddled up against her side like a chick under a wing.  "Since we have established the two boys as enemies, I would appreciate you keeping up the rivalry in the school.  And I know that you and Zoe are friends, Emily, but a bit of feuding, or perhaps trying to talk her out of dating a super villain might be expected.  It will, of course, be for show, but--"

"I--I don't mind if Zoe knows it's just play acting, right?" Emily says, frowning.

"She will be informed," Frank says with a smile.

"I'm looking forward to it," Max says, grinning at me.  "Team captains, right?" he says.

"I get Sunny," I say quickly.

"I'm keeping Zoe.  But we need another super villain or undecided if that's the case," Max says.  "Since you're obviously keeping Emily, too."

"Ah, yes.  The one I'm planning on recruiting hasn't called back yet, but I've heard from Black Panther.  Of course it was delivered as a threat letter shortly after the fight, you can't expect a traditionalist like Panther to do anything else, but he's asked for his son and daughter to be admitted into the school.  He wants both to be properly trained super villains.  Alas, I could only accept the daughter for the moment."

"And why is that?" Max asks.

"Because the son is only three years old.  The daughter is fourteen, almost fifteen.  According to tradition, she should be called Adanna, now that there's a son to inherit the family name, but for most of her life she was called Cub.  His threat letter is extremely informative.  His wife sent a text, though, saying that she would rather her daughter choose her own path, so as far as we're concerned you can both try and sway her to your sides."

"Do you have a picture?" Sunny asks.

"Of course.  I've been watching Cub quite closely for a while.  She's a shape shifter," Frank says, pulling out a piece of paper from his pocket and handing it over to Max.  Max looks at it curiously for a long moment before handing it over to me.  The black girl in the picture is thin and wiry looking, but her face is striking, even though it looks like she's trying to dress and look like a boy.  She has high cheekbones and tilted eyes and a wide, full mouth that's set in a threatening scowl.

"What does she shift into?" Emily asks, peeking at the picture I'm holding.

"What else?  A panther, of course.  Enhanced speed, hearing, agility, all the things that made her the perfect heir for the Panther name except for her gender," Frank says.  "She's trained since before she could walk in bo staff fighting and hand to hand combat.  I was hoping your showing would get her, especially since she lives so close."

"It sounds like she's already well trained," Max says.

"No, unfortunately she's having quite a bit of trouble with her shape shifting," Frank says.  "And with the new brother, well, she's at a disadvantage.  I expect you to treat her well," he adds, looking pointedly at Max.  "Since officially she'll be on your team, so to say."

"I've always admired Panther," Max says, "she'll be fine."

"She'll be there tomorrow for the first day," Frank says.  "Now, if I could speak with Emily for a moment?" he adds.  "Privately?"

I look at Emily, who looks a bit worried, then nod, heading for the exit with the others.  I can't help but feel like I should stay, though, as the door closes behind the last of the assistants.  I can't hear a thing from inside the room.

***

"Now, seeing as you're no longer in hearing distance of the Liberty family," Frank says as he turns to the little redhead.  "Tell me what you would have done with that family."

"Wh--what?  I don't think it's really right about the little brother, but it frees her up to--"

"Not that family," Frank says.  "The Beht family."

"Oh.  Them."  Emily looks down, staring at her feet for a long moment before speaking.  "I don't like them," she says quietly.  "I don't like how he just assumed he was good because he's called a hero, or how they just assumed their daughters were right--I don't like them at all.  I'm glad I don't have to pretend to live with them anymore," she says fiercely. 

"Do you want them out of the super business?" he asks.

"What?" Emily asks, shocked.  "I can't really decide that--"

"But I can," he says.  "Although this might come to a surprise to many, I am still the official head of the Hall--regardless of what branch it might be.  I can fire them.  Their head leader might protest, and I might have some red tape within the Hall to cut through, but within a month or less they will lose their backing as Hall members.  I cannot stop them from going vigilante, of course, but it is not a very nice world for vigilante heroes."

Emily looks at the door, then looks back at him.  "I... I don't like what they did in their personal life, but I never heard about them doing bad things in their cape life," she says finally.  "There aren't really that many heroes, right?  I mean, when you think about how many norms there are--can you--I don't know, stick them on some sort of fire fighting duty or traffic accident duty instead?  Oh, or something really, really nasty, like sewer patrol or something!  Something that needs to be done, but really sucks to do!  Where they never show up in newspapers or anything cool like Trent just did!"

Frank looks at her for a moment, then starts to laugh at the sight of her wicked grin.  He reaches up, messing up her short red hair with a fond grin.  "Consider it done," he says.  "You know, I think that you will be an excellent addition to the Liberty family."

"You mean because I'm going to be Trent's partner?" she asks.  "But that's not really enough to let me use the super hero family name, right?  I mean, I'm part of the Divine family, not that anyone knows us hardly... or me, I should say."

"In time," Frank says.  "Maybe you should consider using it in your name?  As a tribute."

"If I can live up to it," she says.

"Something like Divine Justice," Frank adds.  "Or Justice Divine."

Emily smiles a little.  "Yeah, maybe.  So I can go now, right?  Because I've got school in the morning."

"Of course.  Thank you for your very helpful input, Emily," he says.  "I'll get that set up now."

"Okay!" she says, grinning from ear to ear as she heads out the door.  She stops, though, with her hand on the handle.  "But... please find out how to fix the girls, okay?"

"Oh?"

"Yeah.  I want them doing sewer duty, too."  He's still laughing as she slips out the door and heads straight for the family waiting for her with anxious expressions.  Ken's the first to react.

"And?" he asks.

"Sewer duty for Geoff and Marlina!" she says, looking quite important.  "He offered to have them canned, but we need heroes, right?  So I thought they should do something that needs to be done--but is really nasty, instead."  She grins as Jeanie tugs her into a hug, kissing her on the forehead.