Daddy's Girl: Cape High Book Five (13 page)

"What's going on?" I demand.  "Is it the Hall?"

"Does it feel like Trent or Max to you?" he asks as we hit the ground.  He grunts and sets me down.  "Find a spot, sit down and close your eyes.  If anything happens just tell yourself that it's all in your head," he orders sharply, pushing me away.  I run into someone, feeling metal at my fingers.  Justin.

"Who is it?" I demand.

"Just do what I told you to!"  I hear his foot hit the ground, then nothing.  It's like all the sound has been cut off.  The pitch black silence is terrifying, but nothing compared to when the screaming begins.  Wind starts whipping around us and I grab onto Justin tightly.  But it's not the wind that's screaming.

I think... it's a man.

***

Jack lets out a curse, mentally noting that the kids are behind him and Ace is... Ace is... hell if he knows, he admits.  Somewhere in the area.  This little obsession that the illusionist has with him, well, for the most part he just deals with it, honestly.  It had taken him a bit of digging to find out who the guy was and why he kept choosing him as a target, but once he had...

"Listen Ace!" he bellows, cupping his hands around his mouth.  "This isn't the time!  I swear I'll play with you later--"  Wrong word, he thinks as the world flashes in front of his eyes and a man races straight into him, wielding a sword.  The sword slices through his coat only to hit his arm.  The steel on Jack's skin warps, shifting out and forming a two foot long metal spike sticking out of his forearm.  "I mean I'll FIGHT with you later," he grits out, blocking another strike with his newly made spike.

"DIE!" Ace roars.  But it's not the swordsman shouting.  The swordsman is another illusion, which means--Jack twists, spikes rising from his back and ripping through his trench coat to stop yet another sword attack.

"I've got KIDS here, Ace!" Jack bellows, cutting the head off of one illusion swordsman.  The body shifts into shadow and disappears.  It'll be back, of course.  None of the attacks on the illusions ever hurt Ace, as far as Jack can tell.  "And Trent will be--"

The world beneath his feet starts to shake, ripping apart and sending him plummeting into the gaping hole that just opened.  Jack curses and holds out his hand, calling his steel surf board.  It's too late.  He hits the bottom of the hole, grunting as his breath is knocked out of him.

"Jack!"  He can hear Morgan calling his name, but he hasn't got the breath to reassure her.  If she is from the past, she's probably from the time she hated his guts, right?  So why does she sound so worried?

"Jack," a different voice says as the air swirls in front of his eyes, forming into Ace.  The man is about his age, thin and wiry, with long, matted black hair and shadows under his eyes.  "Jack," he says again.  "I'm going to kill you this time."  There's a hint of desperation in his voice that he can't hide, even as he brings his hands up, holding a dagger in two tightly clutched fists.  "I'm going to kill you and it'll all be over--"

Jack groans, only to stare in shock as Morgan comes into view behind the other male, her hand held out.  "No--" he starts out, starting to shove Ace off of him.  But it's too late.  Her hand presses against the back of Ace's neck--

And the world goes completely still.  The sky clears, the wind calms.  Ace's eyes roll back into his head.

"What..." Morgan says as Ace collapses on top of Jack.  "What is he?" she asks.

***

*The Present*

"So what," Banshee says with strained patience, "exactly happened?"  They're back at the dorm, having grabbed all of the kids and ran off off before people could start asking questions.  "Nico, where is Morgan?  And Justin?  And Noelle!" she demands, moving in front of him.  "What did you do to Mega?" she goes on, pointing at the unconscious man on the couch.

"0100110101--" Nico says, only to stop and scowl.  "I mean," he says slowly, "Mega lost it.  A
ll of a sudden he was--"

"Mega has never 'lost it' in his life," Banshee snaps.  "And if he did, it definitely wouldn't have something to do with kids!  What.  Exactly.  HAPPENED?" she demands again, getting right in his face.  "You swore you weren't going back to being a super villain--"

She stops abruptly, glancing over at the kids that are watching this entire thing.  Aubrey is crying, Vinny looks ready to kill, and the others are right in the middle--except for Zoe.  Zoe is staring at Nico with a confused expression.  But she lives with the man, right?  Of course, Banshee has never heard him speaking in computer language--binary, she thinks it's called--but she assumes that it's just a normal--

Is it normal?  Something seems... off.  About his voice, she decides.  His inflections.  "Nico?" she asks, her tone calm.  "You're the principal, so tell me what you think we should do."

"I'll take Mega somewhere where I can keep an eye on him until he wakes up," Nico says.  "Then I'll find out what he's done with the children."

"You can keep an eye on him here," Vinny says, getting to his feet, his lighter in his hand.  "And when he tells you what he did with Morgan, we'll go and get her."

"You don't need to--"

"You're an outsider," Vinny says coldly.  The rest of the zoo kids move behind him even as his hair lights up all on its own.  It's the first time he's been able to do that without a lighter, but he doesn't even seem to notice.  "You don't know us, we don't know you, and we don't trust you, either.  We want Morgan back, and we'll be the ones to get her back."

The group is large, but no threat to Nico.  Banshee lifts her hand, about to tell them to calm down, but stops when she sees Zoe and Sunny look at each other then stand.

"Dad," Zoe says, looking at Nico intently.  "DAD," she repeats when nothing happens.  Nico looks at her, finally.  "Aubrey should check on Mega.  He's been unconscious for too long."

"Aubrey?" Nico repeats.

"Of--of course, I should have thought of that--" Aubrey says, practically running across the room and pressing her hand to Mega's chest.

"Wait--" Nico says, but it's too late.  Aubrey's hair starts floating around her and her dark blue eyes turn white, glowing faintly.  He curses and takes to the air, racing at speeds so fast that the furniture is thrown against one wall--and he's gone, leaving them staring at the door that's barely hanging off of a hinge.

"What just happened?" Vinny asks finally.  His hair's out, but he hasn't even noticed it yet.

"Ban--Banshee?" Aubrey says, worry clearly evident in her voice.

"What, Aubrey?"

"There's no one here."

"What?" Banshee asks.

"It's not Mega.  I think... I think this is Nico, but... he's not here, either," Aubrey says.  "Like... his spirit.  His body's alive, but his mind... it's like a computer set on sleep mode.  It's--I can't explain it any better than that."

"But--then who was that?" Carla asks, pointing at the door.

"A shapeshifter," Banshee says.  But she can't think of someone with those abilities strong enough to take down Technico.  "I'm going to call Mastermental, you kids--"  But half of the group is gone already, chasing after the fake Nico.  Banshee curses, racing after them.  They have no chance against someone like that.  They're all going to get themselves killed.

***

He has his powers, Mimic thinks as he reaches the panel and presses his hand to it.  His body is a perfect copy--which is proven as the exit opens and he steps on each of the lit footprints, so why is it he was caught so easily?  And why is it that he's having such a hard time actually USING Nico's memories?  It's practically impossible!  Seeing into Nico's thoughts is like staring at a wall of numbers and letters that don't line up--in fact they float around and through each other, so even if Mimic DOES start to recognize a line it's rapidly overlaid with another--

He grunts and trips over himself as he gets out the exit, turning just in time to see the kids reach the force field.  He has to get out of here.  It's either that or attack children, which will get the Hall on his back so quick that his already spinning head will drive him insane.  So he jumps into the air and takes off, because flying is one of the few things he knows how to do in this body.  It's forming complete sentences that's hard.

Seriously, how does Nico live with this?

***

*The Future*

I find myself staring at the sleeping Ace, just sitting here next to him, staring.  "We need to leave, Morgan," Jack says.  He's standing there with an impatient expression, his metal surfboard under his arm.  Justin's been released, finally, but--

"We can't just leave him here!  The Hall is going to be here any second!" I protest, getting to my feet and grabbing the thin man on the ground.  He weighs more than he looks, I notice as I get him off the ground.  And he's tall--far taller than I expected.  In fact he reminds me of someone--

"If we take him with us, he'll just start it all over again," Jack says.  "And the Hall isn't coming--don't even think they are."

"Of course they're coming!  We just broke in and out of the Cape Cells and--and released a very dangerous guy!  They're going to be here any--"  I stop, looking into the air in stunned silence.  The Hall surrounds us, floating in a circle over our heads, looking way more dangerous than I've ever seen them in pictures.  "Ja--Jack--"

"Do you have your bracelet?" Jack demands, grabbing my wrist.  "Where is it?"

"I--I don't need my bracelet right now, we need to LEAVE!" I bellow, trying to jerk free of his hold. 

"Hold it!" Mastermental says.  "We've got you surrounded, so put your hands in the air--"

"Morgan!" Jack says, shaking me.  "Stop imagining the Hall!"

"I'm NOT IMAGINING THE HALL!" I bellow.

"You are!"

"Where do you get off--"

"Because Mastermental's retired!" he snaps at Justin before Justin finishes.  "He's taken a desk job--there's no way he'd be out here hunting down a single cape!  Especially one that he sent in the first place!"

The Hall disappears and I stare at him blankly.  "What?"

"Can we discuss this at my place?" Jack demands, leaning over and picking Ace up.  "Put your bracelet on," he orders.  I nod, digging through my pockets and pulling out my bracelet.  "Put it on the strongest level," he adds.

"How do you know so much about my bracelet?" I ask, pushing the controlling charm a few times before slipping it on.

"This might come as a shock," Jack says, waving his hand.  A plate of steel shoots out of the ground and he steps onto it, motioning us to come over.  "I keep these around the area just in case," he adds as we climb on, "but like I was saying, you and me?  We're friends in this time.  What, with you being my wife's best friend.  You've got your own apartment at the steel palace."

"Wife?" I repeat blankly.

"Aubrey," he says as the plate takes to the air.  "You had to see it coming, right?  I mean, we're dating even in your time, right?"  He looks over, grinning at me.  "I'm not that bad a guy, you know, even if I play one in the photo-op game."

I stare at him, wondering who kidnapped the Jack from my time and replaced him with this guy.  "I always expected her to come to her senses," I mutter finally.  I dare to glance around this time, only holding onto Jack's shirt as we fly through the air.  "How are you doing this, anyway?"

"I'd like to know that, myself," Justin says, not touching either of us but looking rather pale.  "I didn't know you could fly."

"I can't," Jack says as the large, evil castle looking building looms ahead of us.  "But I can make metal fly, which is just as good."  He lands the sheet of metal in front of the castle and picks Ace up again.  "I think it's time to shut up, though.  Telling you this stuff might mess up the past, right?"

"The past is already messed up, I think," I admit, feeling guilty.

"Yeah?  How?"

"Because I think my Dad went back in time.  And... I think we're stuck in this."  I feel a little sick to my stomach at that fact and find myself holding the bracelet that's keeping my powers--Ace's powers--in check.  "I need to talk to Nico," I say.

"I wish you could," Jack says.  "Problem is, nobody's heard from Nico in months."

***

*The Present*

Traveling by internet is distracting.  It's the main reason that Nico still hasn't allowed Zoe to access the internet even by computer, he thinks as he dodges yet another firewall and slips into the Hall database.  He needs to find Liz.  Or possibly Mastermental.  Mastermental would be good.  The only problem is, he thinks as he pauses in one of the machines, ever since they realized he's been hacking the database they've put up tiny little traps throughout the system. If he goes too fast he'll be caught.  If he's caught the norms will find out what's happened.  Even if they are black suits, they still might panic at the idea of a Cape Cell escapee with Nico's S Class super powers.

He'd jumped ship as soon as he felt his consciousness leaving.  A sense of guilt is still gnawing at him--he'd left his kids alone with Mimic, including his (and this still messe
s with his head) granddaughter, who knew exactly what had happened.  But in this form he can only do so much.  He absently tweaks the computer system he's sitting in, speeding it up before he leaves for the next one.  Neither Double M or Liz are using this one.