Villain School (15 page)

“As the grave,” I added with a chuckle. This earned me an evil glare.

“In here,” he said, stopping in front of a stone building. It was a mausoleum—a crypt. I really didn't want to find out what was inside, but it looked like my options were pretty slim.

Wolf gave me a meaningful look and whimpered.

“Why in here?” I asked.

“Because I said so.”

We followed my dad into the tomb. Once we were all crammed inside, Master Dreadthorn reached up, took a torch from the wall, and handed it to me.

“Well?” he asked.

“What?”

“Light it, Rune.”

“Oh! Right.” After singeing Wolf's fur and burning a hole in the Dread Master's cloak, I finally managed it.

The sudden glow of light revealed a small, square room of stone. It smelled damp, and I could see moss growing in the cracks in the wall. In the middle of the crypt was a long, rectangular box. I really didn't want to know what was in it, but I had no choice because my
dad reached for an old vase on a shelf. The vase must have been some kind of lever, because gears grinded and the lid on the coffin slid slowly open.

Beside me, Wolf whimpered again, and his tail drooped even more. Ileana moved away from the casket, and even Jezebel looked worried. I held up the torch, expecting to see old dry bones and shreds of ancient cloth. Instead, I was looking at a staircase that descended down inside the coffin.

“A secret passage!” said Jezebel.

“And it will remain a secret unless the four of you want to spend the remainder of your educations dangling over boiling cauldrons. Understood?”

We quickly nodded in agreement.

My dad took the torch from me and disappeared into the coffin. Jez went next, then Wolf, then Ileana with the still-unconscious Doctor Do-Good floating beside her. I brought up the rear. My dad pulled a lever at the bottom of the staircase, and the lid of the casket ground back into place, leaving us in darkness.

We walked along an old tunnel that felt very similar to our school passageways, only a bit darker and moldier. Every once in a while, water would drip into some unseen puddle with a tiny
plop
. Other than that, the crackling of the torch and the soft thud of our own footsteps were the only sounds.

The tunnel ended suddenly in a flat stone wall. My dad handed the torch to Jezebel and motioned for us to be quiet. He reached up with his bound hands, slid aside a small panel on the wall, and pressed his face to it.

Master Dreadthorn gasped suddenly, then spun around, pointed at me, and wiggled one of his pale fingers, motioning for me to come look. I padded across the floor and raised my eyes to the peephole. It took me a minute to understand what I was seeing. It was a room, obviously. There was a door on the far side, opposite me. Closer was a desk. A black onyx desk. I was looking at the Dread Master's study. And a moment later, I realized something else. I was looking at his study through his glass cabinet, the one where he kept his precious crystal locked up. The crystal that was currently tucked away in my cloak.

Directly in front of me, I could make out the back of a blond head. Morgana was sitting at the Dread Master's desk. And beyond the desk a woman stepped into view. Her hands were bound with magical manacles. It was Queen Catalina. No, this wasn't just the kindly queen, this was my
mother
. An angry shock went through me at seeing her handcuffed like that.

“You can't keep me locked up here forever, Morgana. It's only a matter of time before Veldin comes to
reclaim his school,” said the queen. “You should run while you still can.”

Morgana laughed.

“Oh, Cat. Still haven't figured out how to be a villain. Let me give you a few tips. First, villains don't come to the rescue. We undermine. We scheme. That's what I do. That's what Veldin does.”

“You're wrong. He'll come here, and he'll save me, and you'll be sorry.”

“Maybe the old Veldin would have. But when you left, he changed, Cat. He's not the man you once loved. Now he's as ruthless as any villain. Well, except me, of course. Really, you leaving was probably the best thing that ever happened to him. There's no love in him now.”

“That's not true!” said the queen. “He loves his children. And they're going to rescue him.”

More laughter.

“I think not. An entire school of superheroes against four wayward villains? They're probably locked in a tower room as we speak. In fact, with any luck, they're already—What was that?”

The ground shook. I backed away from the spy hole. For a moment, nothing happened, then the ground shook again, louder this time. Dust and dirt rained down from overhead as the shuddering continued.

We stepped back from the wall. My dad looked meaningfully at the floating Doctor Do-Good.

“The heroes have come,” he said.

We heard shouting, and I raised my eyes to the spy hole again.

A man had burst into the room, one of Morgana's guards.

“Mistress! The school is under attack!” he said.

“Attack? From whom?” she asked.

“Superheroes!”

“What!” said Morgana. “Why that little two-timing weasel Do-Good! He'll be sorry he ever crossed Mistress Morgana! Gather the school Masters and all the Apprentices. Assemble them at the front entrance! Now!”

“Right away, Mistress,” the man said, then dashed out the door.

“Cat, sorry we couldn't chat longer, but duty calls. Being the Mistress of two schools is
such
a burden. Why don't you just sit a spell?”

With that, Morgana hexed the queen, causing her to sink into a chair, where she was unable to move.

“Let me out, Morgana. I can help you!”

Morgana laughed bitterly.

“Oh, Cat. Do you really think I'd let you go? No, I have other plans for you. Once I chase off this rabble
of superheroes, I think I'll set my sights on your kingdom next. I believe I'd look rather fetching in a crown, don't you? Ta!”

Morgana stopped to check herself in a mirror, then left the room.

“Morgana's gone,” I said. “Can you believe her?”

“Yeah,” said Ileana. “And I thought Jezebel was conceited.”

Jez hissed at the princess.

“What now?” asked Wolf.

“Step away,” said my dad.

Then he reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out the chain of keys he kept around his neck. He found the one he was looking for.

“That stone, Rune. Move it.” He pointed to a small round stone in the wall.

I reached up and pushed on it. The stone slid aside, revealing a keyhole. My dad took the key in both hands, fit it into the keyhole, then turned. With a click, the wall vibrated, then slid open, and we stepped into the study.

“It's about time!” said the queen with a huge smile on her face.

“Mom!” Ileana said, bounding across the room and embracing her mother.

“Would you be a dear and get me out of this chair?” asked Queen Catalina.

It only took Ileana two tries to find the right spell to free the queen.

“And how about these?” asked the queen, holding up her magical manacles.

“Um. I haven't had the best luck with this style of handcuffs, but I'll lend you my last hairpin,” said Ileana.

The queen worked to free her own wrists. Then my dad held up his.

“If you don't mind,” he said.

“You couldn't unlock them?” the queen asked Ileana.

Ileana crossed her arms and pouted her lips. “No.”

“Here, let me show you the trick.” The princess watched as her mother worked at the Dread Master's chains.

“See?” asked the queen. “If you bend it this way and then turn it just a half turn.”

“Oh! I see!” said Ileana, taking over the job from her mother. A moment later, there was a tiny click, and my dad was free.

“And who is this?” asked the queen, pointing at the floating doctor.

“Long story,” I said.

“And there's no time to tell it. Right now we have to fight off the superheroes and rid ourselves of Morgana,” said my dad.

“Right!” I said. “Let's go!”

“Rune,” said my dad, holding out his hand.

I just looked at it. Was I supposed to shake it? Slap it? High-five? What? He seemed to notice my confusion.

“The crystal, Rune.”

“Oh.”

I reached into my cloak and fished out the crystal ball, handing it to my dad.

“Show us why the heroes attack us,” he commanded.

We all gathered around the crystal, where a scene unfolded. It showed Deven Do-Good rallying the superheroes.

“My fellow heroes!” said Deven. “The villain prisoner has escaped along with the other villains! But I have even graver news! They've taken our beloved mentor, my father, Doctor Do-Good, as a hostage! We must go to their cursed school and fight them! You followed my father. Now follow me to his rescue and to victory!”

There was a loud cheer from the assembled teachers and students of Doctor Do-Good's school.

“Gather out front! We'll leave immediately!” said Deven.

As the crowds were dispersing, he turned to his cronies Omnibrain, Vortex, and Aero-boy.

“We have to get to my father before anyone else does,” he said. “If he wakes up, he'll tell the heroes about our plan to take over this school. We'll be ruined! We have to get rid of him, and tell everyone the villains did it. Then we'll crush their school! After that, no one will question our authority!”

“I dunno, Dev,” said Aero-boy. “Maybe we should just rescue your dad. If we do, he might forgive you and—”

“No! We've come too far for that!” Deven said.

“Yeah, Aero. Don't be such a baby,” said Omnibrain. Aero frowned but kept silent.

“Let's go!” said Deven.

The scene in the crystal faded.

“So, now what?” asked Jezebel, hands on her hips.

She looked defiant, but I could tell Jez was nervous. Whatever Morgana's faults, she was right about one thing:
An entire school of superheroes against four wayward villains?
Even with the Dread Master and the queen thrown in, it still was not good odds.

“We have to get rid of Morgana, but we have to stop the superheroes, too!” said Ileana.

“How do we do that?” asked Wolf, nervously wringing his tail between his paws.

“Leave Morgana to me!” said Cat, her eyes flashing. I think Morgana had underestimated the queen as a villain—and an enemy.

“No,” said my dad. “I'm going with you.” For a brief moment, he and the queen locked eyes. Then he turned away quickly and cleared his throat.

“And what do we do?” I asked. My dad looked at the comatose Doctor Do-Good.

“Isn't it obvious, Rune?” asked my dad. “You have to protect that superhero.”

“What?” My jaw dropped.

My dad sighed. “He's the only one who can expose Deven Do-Good as a traitor to the heroes. You have to find a way to wake him up before the heroes destroy this school.”

With my dad and the queen gone, Jez, Wolf, Ileana,
and I were left staring at the floating form of Doctor Do-Good. Ileana released the spell, and he fell to the ground, landing on Wolf's tail.

“Aaarf!” Wolf barked in pain and surprise. He yanked his tail out from under the unconscious hero.

“Now what?” Ileana asked.

“We have to find a way to wake him up,” said Jezebel.

Wolf poked him in the ribs. “Wake up!”

“Uh, Wolf,” I said, “if dragons, spells, and villain abduction didn't wake him up, I don't think poking him is going to work. It's like he's under some kind of enchantment.”

“No,” Jez said. “Hero powers are different from villain powers. Heroes always have a weakness—one fatal flaw that drains their powers. If only we knew what Doctor Do-Good's weakness was, then we could find a way to counter it.”

“Hang on a second,” I said. “Remember when we were following Deven at hero school? I watched him take out a jar of something, some kind of creature, and use it to subdue his father.”

“What was it?” asked Ileana.

“I couldn't see. Maybe, maybe whatever it was is still on him. Search him.”

Outside the door of my dad's study, we heard a thunderous explosion and the sound of feet pounding
as students and teachers rushed to defend the school against attack.

“We don't have much time. Hurry!” I said.

Everyone began to pat down the doctor, taking off his boots, searching his pockets. We couldn't find anything.

“Help me get his shirt off,” I said.

“Aaaaa!” Jez shouted in alarm as Wolf and I removed Doctor Do-Good's shirt.

“What?” I asked frantically. “Did you find something?”

“No, but
cat-a-bats
, does he have a hairy back!”

“What's wrong with that?” Wolf asked with a frown.

“A_www! Look at this! It's so adorable!” said Ileana in her cutesy voice that was reserved for when she saw a baby or was holding a kitten or something gross like that.

“What now?” I asked, rolling my eyes. “Don't tell me! He has a tattoo of a baby dolphin.”

“No, Rune. But he does have this little guy hitching a ride behind his ear. Look.” Ileana held up her hand, where a tiny orange creature crawled lazily across her fingers.

“What is that?” asked Wolf, wrinkling his snout in disgust.

“Eww! It's a bug! Squish it!” said Jezebel, backing away.

“No! Don't hurt it. It's just an itty-bitty caterpillar,” said Ileana.

Doctor Do-Good's eyes fluttered open.

“What—what's happening? Where am I?” he asked. Then he saw the caterpillar in Ileana's hand. “Get that thing away from me!” Do-Good scrambled to his feet and backed away.

We all looked confused for a moment, then I realized what had happened.