The Distort Arc: Cape High Books 1-4 (Cape High Series Omnibus) (45 page)

"I have to do this, kid," Shadowman says.  "He took everything I've got.  Everything!  Even the funds hidden overseas!  If I want to get it back I have to--"

A loud booming sound comes and a hole the size of a small car appears a few feet away above us.  "I warned you, Shadowman," Nico says in a hauntingly calm tone as he drops down into the sewers through the hole.  "I told you what would happen."

Shadowman grabs me, holding me up like a shield in front of him.  "You can't kill me, Nico, not if you can't find me," he says, starting to take a step back.  Everything hanging on the walls start shaking.  The air starts swirling with items, pieces of metal, a cone shaped lightbulb, all being pulled from the walls and ceiling as Nico pulls out a handful of other items from his pocket.  They swirl over his hand, taking form in seconds.  It looks like a toy gun when it lands in Nico's hand, with the lightbulb aimed at Shadowman.

"Do you know what I am?" Nico asks.  "I know a lot of people don't nowadays.  They've either forgotten or never knew in the first place.  But I'm the one that designed the first power blocker collar.  And this?  I call it a PED.  Power emission disrupter.  That means if you step through that wall I'll fire.  Whatever piece of you is in the wall will go solid.  Now I'm not sure myself what will happen, whether it'll get stuck or something worse, but I'm really interested to find out."

"I'll hurt her, I really will," Shadowman says, but he's trembling.  "Collector wiped me out, I've got nothing left to live for, Technico."

"Money?" Technico roars.  "You're doing this for MONEY?  You're trying to give away my best friend's daughter for MONEY--oh, I'm not even going to wait," he says, pulling the trigger.  The light flashes, blinding me, and I blink, missing the fist that slams into my kidnapper's face that quickly.  I'm grabbed and pulled away.  "Where does he keep them, Shadowman?  If you tell me I might not kill you," Nico says, strolling after the man he just sent flying.

Shadowman manages to whimper somehow.  His face is totally messed up, his nose is broken, I bet his jaw is, too.  It's amazing he's still conscious.

"Where does he keep the other cape brats you kidnapped," Nico demands, grabbing him by the shirt and hauling him up.  "The ones on display."  He stops, then reaches into Shadowman's pocket, pulling out his phone.  "Actually, since I broke your jaw why don't I find out for myself?" he says, tossing Shadowman into the nasty water.

This, I think, staring at the scene, this is a super villain.  Ruthless, taking what you want, regardless of who stands in your way.  His words are echoing in my mind, telling me that if I'm truly going to be a super villain I need to take my name back, even if it means running over my own little brother.  If necessary, use a nasty trick like taking someone's powers away before beating on them--

I...

Is that how I'm supposed to deal with Sunny?  It'd keep him from bothering me, it'd keep him from getting strange ideas that make me feel nervous and hunted, it'd keep him from interrupting my personal training time, it'd keep him from... from letting me ride on his shoulder and lecture him in whatever form I'm in.  It'd keep him from smiling at me, or laughing or--

I feel hollow.  I can't even imagine using that type of approach with Sunny, much less my little brother.  Cubby, who kisses me on the lips whenever he thinks he can get away with it.  Cubby, who does the sticky dance with me and looks so proud of himself when he does whatever new thing I show him to do.  Cubby who loves me so much that he cries when I leave...

"Your powers should be back by now," Nico says idly.  "But I'm keeping this," he adds, holding up the phone.  "Come on, Cub--"

"Not Cub," I say.  "I'm not Cub.  I'm Adanna."

Nico looks at me, a little smile pulling at his lips, much to my surprise.  The gun falls apart, the pieces falling into the sewer water.  "Good," he says.  "Let's go."

"I don't--I don't agree with what you just did," I say.

"I didn't hit him that hard," Nico says, walking over and wrapping an arm around my waist.  "If I had hit him at full strength I would have killed him.  As it is, he'll heal up soon enough."  I nod, looking at the man still in the sewer water, and wrap an arm around his waist before Nico flies up through the hole he created earlier.

He's right, after all.  He just punched through two feet of concrete to get to us, he really could have killed him.  It just... still seemed a nasty thing to do.  I find myself looking at the hole as long as I can see it while he flies--to the pizza place.

He really just did that.  (What is with the males in this family?  They're always doing outrageous things, as if it were perfectly normal!)

I'm staring up at the red and white sign blankly at this very moment, and now he's pulling me into the restaurant, like this is perfectly normal.  "Nico--" I say.  "Shouldn't we--you know--be going to the zoo?" I ask, not able to come up with a better way to call it.

"I'll send Liz and Taurus," he says, heading for the counter.  "They could use a date."

"A date?" I repeat.  "How is going to save who knows how many people from a psychopath collector a date?"

"What, don't think it's dramatic enough to keep Liz's attention?" he asks, pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket and giving his order to a rather worried looking man behind the counter.

I stare at him so long that he hands me a pile of pizza boxes before I come up with something to say.  "I doubt it's going to work."  Yes, that's what I came up with.  Okay, probably not the best response, but really, I've said already that he's strange.  "Wait, Taurus and Liz are dating?" I ask.

"About the same way you and Sunny are dating, but even less," Nico says bluntly, carrying more boxes and motioning for me to go out the door.  "He likes her, she ignores him, for the most part."

"Then why are you sending them together?"

"Why not?" he asks, starting down the road.

"What about the other problem?" I ask.  "Your brother."

"I've been thinking about that, too," he says.  "I need to do a little bit of research, then I'm going to hunt them down before they get a chance to run again."

"How?"

"Energy outputs in uninhabited, rundown areas," he says as we reach the apartment building.  He makes me go in first, and I press my hand to the panel, wondering why it's shaking.  I stare at it for a second.  "Go on, Adanna," he says gently.

"My hand is shaking," I say in confusion.

"I know it is."

"Why's it shaking?"

"Because you were almost kidnapped," he says, gently pushing me forward.  I step on the lighted footprints, a thought flashing through my mind. 

"You knew," I accuse him as I step through the door.

"Knew what?" he asks innocently.

"You knew that he'd gotten free.  Didn't you?  That he would come after me again.  Is that why you let me come along?" I ask.  "Did you use me as bait?"

"Did you get hurt?" he asks, looking at me closely.

"No--but--"

"Do you really think I would put you in a position that could get you hurt?" he asks.  "I've told you before, Adanna, you're extremely important to me."

Somehow I think there's more, though.  I watch him closely, getting a bland expression in return.  "But," he goes on, "thanks to you, we're going to save a lot more people.  Probably, considering Shadowman's talents, a lot of cape kids like yourself."

For just a few moments of me being surprised, we were going to save people, basically.  I think about the cats at home, picturing myself in a cage like that for who knows how long, and I nod.  "Yeah," I say quietly.  "It was worth it."

"You're a very good kid," he says, equally quietly.

I give him a little smile.  "I'm super," I agree.

***

Dinner came and went, people filtering into the apartment, then going their own way, the adults heading out to take care of the little "zoo."  All except Nico and Summer. 

Nico sits on the roof of the apartment building, his elbows resting on his knees as he stares up at the stars.  There's something off about him, Summer thinks as she steps out of the apartment and onto the roof.  He looks pale, stressed.  She had wondered why he was so willing to set up the television for a movie night for the kids, even with Zoe watching.  The chance of his television blowing up (which she had heard plenty about already) hadn't even seemed to occur to him.

"It's a nice night," she says, making him look up.  "But considering how long I was under, any night where I can see the stars is a nice night."

He looks back up at them, not speaking, so she walks over, sitting down next to him.  "Nico, it's been a long time, but you're still the same," she says.  "Whenever something almost goes seriously wrong you always act like you'd planned it ahead of time."

"I almost lost Cub," he says, not looking at her.  "He grabbed her and was underground before I even saw him.  I should have killed him.  I almost did, but she was just watching it all, committing it to memory, thinking that this is what a true super villain is like--Summer, I almost lost her.  It could have been Zoe or Sunny or--"

A shudder runs through his body, so strongly that she can feel it from where she sits.  There's nothing else she can do, she thinks as she wraps her arms around his shoulders.  He leans into her all too easily, taking a deep breath and wrapping his arms around her, as well.  "I should have killed him.  I told him I would."

"Would you want Zoe seeing you do something like that?" she asks softly.

"No.  I don't want Cub seeing it either.  But I can still hunt him down when they aren't watching--"

"No," she says.  "You did the right thing."

"I left a hole in the street," he says.  "We might need to tell Double M about it before too many cars fall in."

"Okay, maybe not entirely the right thing," she says dryly, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his smartphone to send a text to Double M.  "But that can be fixed, and won't get you tossed back in the Cape Cells."

"I didn't have time to find a sewer drain," he says.

"I know," she says, lacing her fingers through his hair.  Why is she forgiving him so easily, she wonders.  Why is she letting him slide back into her heart as if the hole was just waiting for him?

"This is like a dream," he says, holding her tightly.  "I spent so many years... so many years wanting to see you.  Now you're here--"

"I haven't forgiven you," she lies.  "You have a lot to make up for if you want me back."

"It's because of the canyon, isn't it?" he says, with a sigh.

"To put it that simply--Nico, you're a genius, but you're so--so--
stupid
!" she says, pulling away to glare at him.  "I had plans, Nico!  I was pregnant!  And there you were, running off and destroying massive amounts of land--"

"Concrete!  All concrete!" he protests.

"Not that deep down it wasn't," she says darkly.  "And then you get tossed into the Cape Cells!  You know supers can't visit the Cape Cells!  And what am I supposed to do, write you a letter?  One that would be read by the entire Hall?  'Hello, Nico, this is Lady Rose, I'm pregnant with twins'?" she demands, slapping him on the shoulder.  "You moron!"

"I was a super villain!" he protests.

"You were a super moron!" she corrects.  "Our children grew up without a father because of you!"

"Did they?" he says.  "Did you really never find someone to replace me?"

"A date or two," she says after a second.  "I went on a date or two--but do you have any clue how hard it is to find babysitters for those two?  I kept worrying that their powers would kick in young!  Picture the splatter on the wall left by the teenage babysitter," she says dryly.  "I did.  It was the most vivid image in my mind on every single one of those dates.  You'd told me about all the explosions you caused as a kid, remember?"

Nico lets out a laugh, only to get slapped on the shoulder again.

"I want new clothes, too," Summer says, looking down at the pants and shirt she's borrowed from Jeanie.

"Do you still dress like the sixties?" Nico asks.

"Yes, I do.  It's comfortable," Summer says.

"And you're a hippie."

"Well you're a technophile," she says before falling silent.  "I'm surprised," she admits after a second.

"By what?"

"By how quickly you've taken to fatherhood."

"It's easy," he says, looking up at the stars.  "I look at them and I see the one person I love most in this entire universe.  I work from there."

"Yourself?" she teases.

"Oh, I see that, too," he admits, shooting her a grin.  "Especially in Zoe."

"Sunny has a bit of you, too, you know," she says.  "More than just his looks."

"I've noticed, but I can read Zoe like a picture book."  His hand comes down, covering hers as he falls silent.  The silence isn't uncomfortable, she thinks as she looks up at the stars.  Neither is the touch.

***

Sunny's glued to my side.  I haven't even told them what happened, yet he's right there next to me, a worried expression on his face that says "I know something happened, you can't hide it, you know," on his face.  I'm not quite sure what to do, because shoving him away doesn't work when he's in this mood, and I'm positive he's going to figure out what happened if I say something--why is Trent looking at me now?