Villain School (14 page)

“It's about time,” was all he said. No
thank you
. No signs of worrying for his son's safety. “What
are
you wearing?”

I glanced down at my superhero costume and
blushed. Then I noticed my dad wasn't alone in the cell.

“Who's that?” I asked.

“Who?” Jezebel asked, venturing another peek from beneath my cape. When she saw the room was window-less, she flew out and transformed back into a girl.

“I would venture to guess it is the Master of this school, Doctor Do-Good,” Master Dreadthorn said in his bored voice.

Upon closer inspection, I could see it
was
the doctor. He was slumped over, and obviously unconscious.

Just then, we heard something that sounded like a raging tornado from somewhere below us.

“It must be Vortex! They're trying to break through the door!” I said.

“How do we get Master Dreadthorn out?” Wolf asked.

“I don't know. I guess I'll have to use a spell,” I said uncertainly. I wasn't exactly the best Speller. Sometimes accidents happened, usually involving setting people's pants on fire.

“Or you could spare me bodily injury and use the keys,” the Dread Master said, nodding toward the wall where the keys were hanging.

“Right,” I said, yanking the keys from their hook and unlocking the cell.

“Where are the keys for the handcuffs?” I asked.

“If I had them,” said Master Dreadthorn, “I wouldn't need you.”

“Right,” I said again. “We'll have to get them off later.”

Another explosion sounded from below. I could hear shouting. It wouldn't be long before the heroes broke through.

“So, what's the plan, Rune?” Jezebel asked. “You got us up here, now how are we getting out? Do you expect us to just fly out the window?”

“Yes,” I said, opening the door and running back into the stairway. Jezebel squeaked in surprise and popped back into a bat. This time, she had to hide in Wolf's cape since I was standing in full sunlight.

“Do you see her?” Wolf asked.

“See who?” asked Master Dreadthorn.

“Ileana,” said Wolf.

“No,” I answered with disappointment.

I mean, I knew the prophecy had pretty much predicted it, but I just couldn't believe after all we'd been through together that Ileana would betray me.

“Now what?” asked Wolf as I came back into the room. Below us, at the bottom of the winding staircase, I heard a loud crashing sound.

I shut the door and braced it with a chair.

“Good work, Rune,” said Master Dreadthorn. “First
I
was imprisoned, now we all are. Bravo.”

We heard feet pounding up the stairs, and with one gust, Vortex sent the door flying from its hinges, nearly slicing off my head.

When the swirling debris settled, Deven, Vortex, and Omnibrain were all standing between us and escape. We were trapped. I didn't see the Queen Bee anywhere. I assumed she and Invis-a-boy were still hashing it out somewhere in the corridors.

“Really, Rune? You came here just to save your dad?” Deven asked as the three heroes moved slowly into the room. “Why? All he does is humiliate you, betray you, and lie to you.”

“He's got a point,” Wolf said. The Dread Master's cold eyes fell on him. “Sorry,” Wolf added quickly.

“I do what is necessary to teach him. That is all,” said Master Dreadthorn.

“Does that include lying to him about his mother? His sister?” Deven asked with a smirk. “Oh, yes. I know. Morgana told me everything.”

“I don't answer to you,” Master Dreadthorn said, his eyes boring into Deven Do-Good.

I was starting to wonder if Deven had a point. I mean, my dad had been a jerk to me all my life. He'd taken me away from my mother, lied to me. But then
he kind of had to. I mean, the crystal had revealed that my mother couldn't keep me. What was my dad supposed to do?

I didn't have time to sort out all the drama. We came to get my dad and reclaim the villain school from Morgana. That was all I cared about right now.

“Face it, you've lost,” Deven said. “No one can save you now.”

We heard a terrible ripping sound and a loud roar. The ceiling tore away, and bright sunlight streamed in. Lucky for Jezebel, she was still hidden in Wolf's cape. Above us, Custard roared and dipped, flapping her golden wings in the air. Beside her, Fafnir wheezed and flew kind of lazily with Ileana perched on his scaly back.

Before anyone could react, Custard dived into the room. Her immense body was too much for the little space. The young dragon's tail thrashed, knocking over furniture and slicing through the cell bars like they were made of butter. In seconds, the room was demolished.

The heroes had taken refuge under the tattered remains of an old wooden desk. Deven peered out. We locked eyes just as one of Custard's taloned claws wrapped around me, plucking me from the tower room. Beside me, in her other claw, was Wolf. We
were lifted up just as Fafnir dived into the room to rescue my dad.

“This isn't over, Rune Drexler!” Deven shouted after us.

Briefly, I wondered if he would come after us. After all, he could fly, but he didn't follow. I figured Deven wouldn't fight alone against two dragons. No, he would get some help, then come after us. In seconds, we were airborne, and Doctor Do-Good's School for Superior Superheroes was shrinking behind us.

We flew on for a while longer, just to be sure no one was following us, then the dragons landed in a clearing. That was when I realized we'd picked up some extra baggage.

“What's
he
doing here?” I shouted, tumbling out of Custard's claws and over to where Fafnir had landed with Ileana, my dad—and a still-unconscious Doctor Do-Good.

“Oh, you're welcome,” Ileana said, sliding down from the old dragon's back. “No, it was no trouble at all. I was happy to save you after you accused me of betraying you.” She crossed her arms and thumped her foot. She had changed back into her dress.

“Do you have our clothes, too?” Wolf asked hopefully.

“I might,” Ileana said, “and I might not. I think all of you have something to say to me first.”

“Sorry!” Wolf said, holding out his hand for his clothes.

Ileana raised her eyebrows at me. I took a deep breath.

“I'm sorry,” I mumbled.

“What was that?” Ileana asked, cupping her hand to her ear.

“I'm sorry I thought you would betray us to the heroes,” I said loudly.

“Now can I have my clothes?” Wolf asked eagerly. I knew he was ready to be rid of the hateful cape, but Jez was still hiding from the fading sunlight.

“Not yet,” said Ileana. “There's someone else who needs to apologize.” She looked meaningfully at Wolf's cape.

“Not a chance,” came Jezebel's squeaky bat voice. “You could still betray Rune!”

“C'mon, Jez!” said Wolf. “If you don't apologize, I'll have to stay in this outfit forever!”

“Don't be dense,” Jez squeaked. “You can change when we get back.”

“Yeah,” I added, “but that means we'll have to enter the school dressed as superheroes. Including you, Jezebel.”

“I'll just stay a bat then,” she said.

“Okay, but you're not hiding in our capes. I hope you like the sunlight,” I said, reaching in to grab her. She squeaked frantically beneath Wolf's cape.

“Fine! Sorry,” Jez said, finally.

Ileana nodded and smiled and gave us all our clothes. We took turns changing behind a tree. Wolf transferred Jez from his cape to my cloak. After the sun finally set, Jez turned back into a girl and changed, too.

When we were done, we gathered around Doctor Do-Good, who was completely zonked. A thin string of drool ran down his chin like a trail of slug slime. Beside him, my dad held out his shackled hands to Ileana.

“Do you mind?” he asked. She looked at him.

“Why didn't you tell us that we were twins?” she asked.

My dad stared for a moment, then sighed.

“Obviously a conversation needs to take place. But now is not the time, Princess,” he said, still holding out his hands.

“When is the time, then?” Ileana asked. “When is the time to tell somebody you're her father?”

I could see Ileana's eyes filling up with tears. Wolf coughed uncomfortably, and Jezebel grabbed his furry arm and led him off to the other side of the clearing. I just poked my foot in the grass and tried to look
everywhere but at the princess. Did I mention villains aren't good with emotions?

“A good time might be when we are back at villain school,” said my dad, boring into Ileana with his sharklike eyes. “Right now, I'm guessing that an entire army of superheroes is about to descend on my students in search of him.” My dad poked Doctor Do-Good with his boot. “I'm also guessing that since you were all able to escape Morgana's clutches, you most likely had help from Queen Catalina, which means she might be in danger. Where exactly did you leave her when the four of you went truant?”

Ileana and I exchanged a guilty glance.

“She was safe,” I said. “I mean, she should've been. Right?” I asked. “Unless—unless Morgana found her before the spell wore off or something.”

“Spell?” asked Master Dreadthorn. He turned his eyes on me. “You hexed your own mother?” My eyes got big and I shook my head and pointed my finger at Ileana. Hey, no loyalty among villains.

“Well done, Ileana!” my dad said.

“What?” I asked in disbelief.

His mouth twitched in a funny kind of way, and I realized he was smiling. “It's not easy to catch Cat, uh,
Catalina
off her guard.”

Oh sure. I braved a school full of superheroes to
rescue him, and not even a thank-you, but Ileana hexed our mom, and it's “Well done, Ileana!”

Ileana smiled at our dad, then her face fell.

“You're right, Rune,” she said.

“I am?”

“About Mother. We didn't exactly sneak quietly out of the school when we left.”

I recalled how we blasted our way through the walls of the dragons' cavern. Someone would've come to investigate. Would the spell have worn off by then? Or would the queen have stood helplessly as Morgana descended on her? Ileana seemed to be thinking the same thing.

“We have to get back,” said the princess. She sucked in a deep breath, pulled out one of her hairpins, and tried to pick my dad's lock.

Ileana was the best lock-pick I'd ever seen, so when a few minutes had gone by, and my dad was still in chains, I began to worry.

“I don't understand,” Ileana said with frustration. “I've never seen a lock like this.”

“It's magical,” I said, “maybe it can't be picked.”

“I've picked magical locks before,” said the princess, biting down on her tongue and working feverishly.

“These must be different,” I said when her hairpin broke, and my dad remained handcuffed.

“My mom could do it,” Ileana said, remounting Fafnir. “Come on. Once we get back to the school, she'll set you free.”

I expected my dad to berate the princess for failing, but he didn't. Boy, I could already see who the favorite child was. In a few minutes, we were all mounted on the dragons. Doctor Do-Good was still unconscious on the ground.

“What do we do with him? Leave him here?” I asked.

“No,” my dad said. “Bring him along. We might need him.”

“For what? Weapons practice?” I asked. My dad glared at me.

“You heard the man,” I said to the dragons. “Bring him along.”

Ileana passed the message to Custard, who scooped up Doctor Do-Good in her talons.

The sky was a deep purple when we arrived at the entrance to the school. Ileana commanded the dragons to roam freely but not to go too far from the school, then she used a spell to make Doctor Do-Good float along beside as I led the way through the castle ruins toward the front entrance.

“Not that way,” my dad said. “Morgana might have it guarded.”

“What other way is there? Back through the hole we made in the dragons' cavern?”

“No, there is another way,” Master Dreadthorn said. Then he did his slow, creepy turntable spin, raising his hands to his face, his fingers steepled. “But you must never reveal it to another living being on penalty of
death
.”

We all exchanged nervous glances and followed my dad to a nearby hill as night descended. With the cool of the evening, an eerie fog crept into the low places. As we crested the hill, I realized where we were going and shuddered.

Mist ghosted across the grass so that only the tallest tombs could be seen. They floated in the fog like lost ships. Gnarled trees twisted their ancient branches toward the smile of a crescent moon that made the mist glow. Being a villain, I might be expected to gravitate to a place like this, but I couldn't help feeling a chill as we passed through the iron gate of Silent Hill Cemetery.

We wound our way through the maze of tombs as the night grew colder. Every cracking branch and rustling leaf made us jump.

“What about ghosts?” Wolf whispered behind me, his tail drooping as his eyes darted from side to side.

“There's no such thing as ghosts,” said Jezebel.

“Says a vampire,” added Ileana.

“Rune,” Wolf whispered, moving closer to me.

“What?”

“You don't think your dad's going to bury us in shallow graves, do you?”

“Nah,” I said. “He's very thorough. I'm sure they'll be a proper six feet under.”

Wolf's eyes got huge, so I smiled reassuringly and patted his hairy back.

“We just saved him, Wolf. He's not going to do anything to us.” I hoped.

“Be silent,” my dad said.