The Dominion Key (4 page)

At least Captain Justice hadn’t brought along his camera crew this time. That didn’t mean he’d come alone, though. Standing nearby was his robot butler, Stanley. Tall and dignified, with metallic skin and glowing eyes, Stanley stepped forward.

“If you would like, I would be glad to prepare a light meal for anyone who wants it,” Stanley volunteered in a crisp electronic voice.

“No need,” my dad replied.

“You sure?” Captain Justice asked. “Stanley’s a whiz in the kitchen.”

“Thank you, but I’ve got
my own
robot butler,” Dad said defensively. “And Elliot happens to be a terrific cook—”

Dad was interrupted when the door to the dining room burst open. In stumbled what appeared to be an aluminum trash can with paddles for feet.

“I haaave made mini-pizzzas!” slurred Elliot, bumping into a framed picture of Mom on the wall. The picture fell, glass shattering across the floor. “Sooorrry! I will take caaare of that!”

As Elliot bent over to scoop up the broken glass, the mini-pizzas spilled off his tray. Not that it was a huge loss. Pizza isn’t supposed to be green.

Elliot was Dad’s invention. And even though he would never admit it, I was positive Dad had built Elliot as a way
of keeping up with his former archnemesis. Unfortunately, Elliot was a long way from perfect. But despite his flaws, Elliot had saved my life a couple of months back. Ever since then, I’d kept my complaints to a minimum.

Elliot wasn’t the only one of my parents’ inventions making a scene. There was also Micus, the mutant ficus that my mom had developed several months back. Micus may have looked like an ordinary houseplant, but there was one slight difference.

He had a mind of his own.

At the moment, the ficus seemed a little disgruntled that he was stuck in the dining room, away from all the action. Using his leafy branches as hands, he kept grabbing clumps of soil from his pot and tossing them into the living room. And for some reason, the dirt usually ended up hitting me.

One other thing you should know about Micus … he has a serious grudge against me.

“Let’s just get to business,” Mom said, doing her best to ignore the soil that was sailing across the room. “nFinity and two of his minions were able to track you kids to the Sheepsdale Mall this afternoon. You did an excellent job of defending yourselves, but it’s only a matter of time until they come after you again.”

“And next time it could be at your school. Or …” Dad shivered. “Or even here.”

Captain Justice clenched his muscular jaw. “We can’t let that happen. Sophie—you’re all I’ve got.”

“What about Scarlett?” Sophie muttered.

It was tough, to be sure, but I think Captain Justice may have blushed a little at the comment. “Scarlett Flame is my … er … lady friend. But she could never replace you, honey. You’re my daughter. And I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“I know you kids like it here in Sheepsdale,” Mom began, “but it’s no longer safe for you.”

My stomach twisted into a knot. I’d been a part of this conversation enough over the years to know what was coming next. When you’ve got internationally feared supervillains as parents, you get used to a life on the move. I’d spent my entire childhood being shuffled around from town to town, school to school. Every time a superhero started sniffing around our backyard or the FBI tracked down my parents’ aliases, we were forced to pack up and start over someplace else. New names, new identities, new lives.

And now it was all happening again. I glanced at my friends. Sophie, Milton, Miranda—was this the last time we were going to see each other? The thought of starting the seventh grade without them was unbearable.

“There’s gotta be some other way,” I pleaded. “You can’t separate us.”

“I just convinced my mom to let me stay in Sheepsdale.” Miranda stared miserably at the floor. “What am I supposed to tell her now? Never mind? Oh, and by the way, you need to set me up with a fake name?”

“School’s gonna be super-lame if you guys all leave,” Milton complained.

“We’re in a lot more danger on our own,” Sophie said. “Look at what happened today. The only reason we survived that attack was because we were together.”

“I understand the points you kids are making,” Dad said, “but we’re out of options here.”

“Perhaps not.” Captain Justice gazed into the distance as if he’d just spotted an idea fluttering around our living room. “I may have a solution. A way to keep the children safe without separating them.”

He paused, considering. A tense silence settled over the living room. Even Elliot took a break from his attempt to “clean” and chewed on the dustpan nervously.

“What if …,” Captain Justice began, “we sent them to … Alabaster?”

The word meant nothing to me. But it seemed as if my parents knew exactly what Captain Justice was talking about. And whatever Alabaster was, they didn’t like it.

“Not a chance!” Dad said loudly.

“We want to keep them safe,” Mom added. “
Not
warp them for life.”

“Aren’t you being a little dramatic?” Captain Justice eyed my parents. “Alabaster is a very prestigious institution. The children could benefit greatly from a little time there.”

“Would someone please tell me what you guys are talking about?” I asked.

“Yeah.” Milton glanced from my parents to Captain Justice,
confused. “Why the heck do you want to send us to Alabama?”

“Not Alabama,” Mom replied. “
Alabaster
. It’s a school.”

“Alabaster Academy is the country’s oldest and best boarding school for Gyfted youth,” Captain Justice explained. “It’s where I spent six of the best years of my life.”

“We’re well aware of your glory years,” Dad grumbled. “But not
everyone
had such a grand experience.”

Dad’s comment sparked a faint memory. I turned to my parents. “Wait a second … I remember Alabaster Academy—that’s where
you guys
went to school!”

Mom nodded, although she didn’t look too eager to stroll down memory lane. “That was a long time ago.”

“You never told me the Dread Duo were your classmates!” Sophie said to her dad.

“We ran with different crowds,” Captain Justice explained.

Dad crossed his arms. “Yeah, he was in the too-cool-for-everyone-else-and-totally-stuck-up crowd,” he muttered.

“Maybe you would’ve had more friends if you hadn’t blown up the gymnasium,” Captain Justice countered.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you were antisocial and aggressive. Not to mention dangerous to those around you.”

“At least I didn’t go around acting like I was the king of middle school.” Dad rose from the couch. For a second there, I thought the two of them were going to break out the weapons, just like old times.

“Everyone calm down.” Mom stepped between them. “I
think we’ve had enough reminiscing for one day. We’re not here to talk about school. We’re here to find a way to keep our children safe.”

“And I say Alabaster is the best way to do that.” Over Dad’s grumbling, Captain Justice went on: “The principal there owes me a favor. I’ll make sure the children are enrolled under fake names. Nobody will know who their parents are or where they came from. And among so many other Gyfted kids, they’ll totally blend in.”

Mom still didn’t look thrilled about the idea, but she nodded anyway. “They
do
have excellent security at Alabaster.… ”

Dad faced her, shocked. “You’re actually
considering
this?”

“I know we didn’t have the best experience there, but Alabaster
is
a top-notch school. And more important, it’s our best chance to protect Joshua from Phineas Vex.”

Dad grudgingly accepted her point. “All right, then. Just until Vex is behind bars … or dead.”

I could see worry spreading across Milton’s face. “So this school is for Gyfted kids, huh?” he began in an unsteady voice.

“No need for concern, Marlon.” Captain Justice gave Milton a kind look (even if he
had
just called Milton by the wrong name). “I’ll have a talk with the principal, tell him you’re still waiting on your Gyft. We’ll say you’re a late bloomer.”

“Thanks, but … I seriously doubt my mom will let me
go to some school she’s never heard of. She doesn’t know anything about all of … 
this
.” Milton gestured to the odd gathering in our living room—three superpowered kids, one celebrity hero, two fiendish villains, a couple of robot butlers, and one mutant houseplant. “If I try to explain this to her, she’d probably have a heart attack.”

“Your mom will let you come.” Miranda gazed at Milton with a look of certainty. “Trust me.”

Milton took a relieved breath. “Any hints about how I’m supposed to convince her?”

“Captain Justice will talk her into it.”

“I will?” The superhero looked just as surprised by Miranda’s comment as Milton did. But that didn’t last long. Clearing his throat, he turned to Milton with a confident smile. “I mean—I
will
!”

I wasn’t sure about leaving my home behind. Especially if it meant going to some preppy school for superpowered kids. Did I really want to
live
at school? It sounded to me like a prison with textbooks. But if that was the only way my friends and I could stay together, then I wasn’t arguing.

And just like that, it was decided. The four of us would be starting the seventh grade at Alabaster Academy.

There wasn’t much time to prepare. If nFinity could track us to the mall, then nowhere in Sheepsdale was safe. Not even my parents’ house. But just as everyone began
discussing plans for getting to Alabaster, the conversation was drowned out by a noise from outside. Whatever it was, it was getting closer.

“What
is
that?” Dad asked.

Mom listened for a moment. “It sounds like … a helicopter.”

She was right. The
thwumping
of propellers grew louder and louder. It sounded like the helicopter was directly above us. Ignoring the warnings of my parents, I rushed to the window. Cracking open the blinds, I peered outside just in time to see a bright red helicopter landing in our front yard.

And that was only the
second
-biggest surprise.

The doors swung open and out stepped Scarlett Flame.

So much for keeping a low profile.

With a cherry-red helicopter parked in your front yard and an internationally famous superhero standing beside it, you’re bound to draw a little attention. But drawing attention was one of Scarlett Flame’s specialties. It’s part of the reason why she’d become the most recognizable female superhero on the planet. You could spot her on morning talk shows discussing her latest battle with Tesla the Terrible, or on the covers of fashion magazines. She had her own line of signature lipsticks. (“Scarlet isn’t just a hue,” she said in the commercials. “It’s an
attitude
.”) Once she’d begun dating Captain Justice, her fame had only grown.

And now she was standing on our front lawn.

Her mane of red hair swirled in the wind from the propellers. Sunlight glistened across her golden one-piece uniform.

Mom glared out the window, gritting her teeth at the new arrival. “What the heck is
she
doing here?”