Super Powereds: Year 1 (59 page)

“Oh no, I think proximity is very important. It fosters deep, intellectual conversations. Conversations about new developments, and what those new developments might be doing this weekend,” Alice said.

“You want to know where Hershel is taking Mary on Friday.”

“See, I always told people how smart you were,” Alice said.

“Liar.”

“Admitted,” Alice said. “But I still want to know, so spill it.”

Nick laughed. “And why would I betray the secrecy of my dear friend for the curiosity of a girl who repeatedly hits me?”

“Well,” Alice said, leaning forward slightly. “Maybe because a gesture of that sort would make her feel better disposed toward you. Maybe she’d show you a softer, kinder side.”

“Yeah, not buying it.”

“Fine. Then how about maybe because she’s right next to you with her hand in punching range of your crotch?”

“Now, see, that, that I believe,” Nick said, shifting his legs slightly to provide cover. “Even if I wanted to tell you though, I can’t. As of when I last checked, Hershel doesn’t even know what he’s going to do with Mary after dinner.”

“That sucks,” Alice said. “He better think of something soon. Mary’s looking forward to a good night out.”

“I’m sure our little nerd boy will come through in the clutch,” Nick assured her. “He can be tenacious when the mood strikes him. Plus, Vince and I offered up a veritable plethora of helpful suggestions.”

“Please. You probably suggested something moronic, like taking her to a strip club.”

“I would never!” Nick cried in a hurt tone. “I can’t believe you think so little of me.”

“Uh huh. Whatever you say, stud. Let me know if he tells you anything,” Alice said, getting off the couch.

“No promises, but if it’s exceptionally interesting I might seek you out,” Nick said.

“That’s probably as good as I’m getting out of you,” Alice sighed. “I’m going to go work on some chemistry. Night, Nick.”

“Night, Alice,” Nick said, giving her a perfunctory wave. Once the door was closed, though, worry descended on his face. She’d been much more comfortable and familiar around him than normal. The whole mock flirting thing had demonstrated that amply well. Such an attitude could be problematic. The last thing he needed was her to grow so at ease around him their friendship developed into romance. No, it was best to nip this in the bud right away.

Nick flipped out his cell phone and selected a number from its directory. That was the good thing about catching these situations early, they could often be resolved in a single phone call.

103.

The concrete crunched under the forceful impact of Roy’s substantial form crashing against it.

“Getting tired?” Roy croaked from his prone position on the ground. “That last one lacked your usual flair.”

“Did it?” Chad asked. “I’ll be sure to make up the difference on this one.”

“I appreciate it,” Roy said, pulling himself vertical. “I’m not here for the B course after all.”

Chad did something then that Roy hadn’t seen from him so far, something to his knowledge no one had witnessed.

Chad laughed.

“You know, for all of your flaws, you’ve got tenacity,” Chad said, chuckling to himself. “It’s refreshing, even after all these weeks. I’d started thinking there was no one who could take my strength and keep coming.”

“And all this from the guy who wasn’t even worthy to fight you,” Roy said, smiling as he tried to get his feet steady.

“Indeed,” Chad said. “It almost makes me wish you were on my level. I think fighting someone with your resolve at a higher talent level would benefit me greatly.”

“Then you take this as a Roy Daniels promise: when I’m stronger than you, I’ll still be your sparring partner.”

“I appreciate the intent,” Chad said, taking a stance as he prepared to bring Roy down again. “You do know that you’ll never be better than I am, though, don’t you?”

“I know that you think that,” Roy said. He charged forward, left arm swinging around at Chad’s head. Chad easily stepped to the side, caught Roy’s arm, and wrenched it around to his back.

“With moves like that, you’ll lucky to even land a blow on me before the year’s end,” Chad said. He expected Roy to make another witty comment before Chad swept his legs out from under him and deposited him on the ground. What met his ears was something entirely different.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAH!” Roy released a gut wrenching scream, one that tore at his very vocal chords. Chad was taken by surprise. He was behind Roy, pulling Roy’s left arm to his back against Roy’s considerable struggling, ready to send him sprawling. It should have hurt him, yes, but not nearly enough for a reaction like that. Fleetingly Chad wondered if his continuous beatings had somehow left lasting nerve damage that the healers hadn’t gotten. It was only a half second of doubt and confusion, yet almost instantly Chad realized what it had cost him.

The fingers of Roy’s right hand wrapped around Chad’s left bicep. Chad felt the arm in his grip dangle weightlessly, his hold no longer effective as Roy turned around to face him.

“You... ripped your entire left arm out of socket?”

“And screamed loud enough to distract you while I did it,” Roy said. “See, for guys with our kind of strength, it’s hard to tell the difference between regular struggling and bone-shattering effort. It all feels the same weighed against our power.”

He was right. Chad had felt him bucking against his grip, but Chad had assumed it was merely his usual boisterous escape attempts.

“A good point,” Chad said. “Now what, though? Your left arm is useless and you know I’ll break that grip you have on me in no time. You still can’t win.”

“Newsflash, Blondie,” Roy said, gritting his teeth through the pain that his left arm was broadcasting. “I’m not trying to win.” In one motion Roy jerked Chad forward, digging his hand deep into the arm and pulling forward with all his weight. Chad braced himself for a throw, reaching out for Roy’s shoulder to reverse it before he was airborne. That was to his detriment, because too late he realized the meaning of Roy’s words.

“Dodge, fucker,” Roy said, slamming his head directly into Chad’s temple. The world dissolved into static and Chad’s head swam in pain. He wasn’t so far gone that he forgot his years of experience, and by the time his vision cleared he had placed Roy back onto the concrete with considerable force.

“You lose, yet again,” Chad said, his vision clearing to reveal a badly-battered Roy coughing up blood from the ground.

“Yeah, I do,” Roy said, his voice ragged. “But I hit you.”

Chad felt a soft trickle of blood run down his cheek. He sealed the cut on the side of his head immediately, but there was no denying the damage that had been dealt.

“You tore your arm out of socket and sacrificed every advantage in our confrontation just to land one blow?”

“Damn right,” Roy said, pushing himself up with his right arm. It took him a moment to get standing, but he made it eventually. He faced Chad once more, right arm pulled into a fighting position, left arm dangling uselessly at his side.

“That was an insane gamble,” Chad remarked.

“It wasn’t just some gamble. I’ve paid to attention to your favorite moves in response to how I come at you. I’ve watched your style all these weeks, and I knew if I ran at you dumbly, you’d put me in a lock before dropping me. I had a feeling you’d defend against a throw over a headbutt, too.”

“What made you assume that?”

“Because you fight with polish and tactics, and you always go for the win. People like you defend like the other guy has the same thing in mind. It would never occur to you that I’d be going for a head-butt instead of trying to toss you out of the circle and win,” Roy explained.

“Because it’s ludicrous,” Chad pointed out.

It was Roy’s turn to laugh. “Yeah, yeah it is. But it worked.”

Chad shook his head. “I suppose it did. So you finally hit me, Roy. Now what?”

“Now I go for two,” Roy said, flexing his right hand and cracking the knuckles.

One minute ago Chad would have dismissed such a notion as sheer foolishness. Now, he merely nodded and took his own stance. Roy Daniels was lacking in training, refinement, and overall skill, but he had determination in spades. Chad knew firsthand how dangerous that particular quality could be. He wouldn’t be underestimating his opponent again.

“Whenever you’re ready,” Chad said.

104.

“How do I look?” Hershel asked.

Nick made a twirling motion with his hand, which Hershel obliged by slowly spinning around in place. He was wearing a hunter green button-down shirt, khaki pants and loafers. It wasn’t the most fashionable outfit possible, but for a guy who wore shirt with dice on them, it was one hell of a step up.

“You look great,” Vince assured him.

“Almost perfect,” Nick agreed. He stepped forward and slightly adjusted the angle at which Hershel’s shirt was tucked in. Neither Hershel nor Vince could see any difference when Nick stepped back; however, he seemed quite pleased with himself. “And there we go. You’re ready for a night on the town, you lady killer.”

“Heaven deliver us from such nicknames,” Vince said. “Let’s go over the list again. You have your wallet? Your cell phone? Nick’s keys?”

“Check, check, and check,” Hershel confirmed. “And thanks again for the loan.”

Nick shrugged. “I can’t let you take out a girl like Mary on Roy’s motorcycle. She deserves more class than that.”

“Agreed,” Hershel said.

“Just be safe with my car. I don’t fancy going back to walking my happy ass everywhere.”

“Will do.”

“So, did you ever think of a good place to take Mary after dinner?” Vince asked.

“Sort of,” Hershel said. “I have no idea if she’ll like it. It’s all I could think of, though, so I guess it has to work.”

“Any hints on what the brave act of desperation is?” Nick asked.

Hershel shook his head. “Nothing personal, but I want it to be a surprise. Mary doesn’t read my thoughts, but she hasn’t made any such claim about you guys.”

“A fair point,” Vince said. “And I think that’s everything. Are you ready to pick up your date?”

“Dear god no,” Hershel said, clasping his hands to keep them from trembling. “But let’s go ahead anyway.”

“Atta boy,” Nick said, throwing his arm around Hershel’s shoulders as they left the boys’ lounge and entered the common room. “By the way,” he whispered, “I left a box of condoms in the glove box. Just tossing it out there if you need to know.”

“What happened to treating a classy lady right?” Hershel whispered back.

“Hey, I’m not making judgments or assumptions. I’m merely of the mind that it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

“Thanks, Nick. I think.”

With that they were in the common room, walking in on the sight of Alice standing in a very guard-like way by the girls’ side. She examined Hershel critically, her expert eyes assessing his ensemble and demeanor. Whatever test was being performed in that blonde head evidently culminated in Hershel passing, because she knocked twice on the steel door next to her and said, “He’s here.”

A moment later the door swung open and revealed a girl none of the boys could have immediately placed if not for process of basic deduction. Gone was the wild-haired girl who often wore outfits consisting of capris and combat boots. In her place was a petite young lady wearing a peach dress with her hair styled carefully. Her face was lightly dusted with makeup, gently accentuating the features her tussled locks often hid. She was a little bit taller, thanks in no small part to wearing heels for once, and the smile on her face was absolutely entrancing.

“Hi,” she said, fidgeting slightly as she stepped into the room.

“Hi,” Hershel echoed, his tone saturated in the same sense of sheer wonder that the rest of him was feeling. “You look really nice.” The boy had a talent at understatements.

“You, too,” Mary said. They continued looking at each awkwardly for a few moments more, though it in no way compared to the awkwardness the other three felt at standing around observing this haphazard attempt at romance. Eventually something in Hershel’s head snapped into place, and he extended his arm.

“Shall we head out?”

“Sounds great,” Mary said taking his arm. The other two boys would have had to stoop slightly to link arms with Mary, but for once Hershel’s vertical disparity was working in his favor. The well-dressed couple walked out the door, thought it was a slightly more complicated task than normal since they were now linked together.

“That was just plain adorable,” Alice said once they’d left the room.

“I feel like I just watched a pair of kittens wrestling playfully,” Nick said. “I’m not sure I like this warm feeling creeping up inside.”

Alice swatted his arm half-heartedly. “You know you’re just as happy as we are that they’re finally going out.”

“He talks a tough game, but he ran Hershel through the ringer getting his outfit right,” Vince said.

Had Mary been there she would have slammed Vince into the ceiling and proceeded to detail all the different fashion combinations Alice had forced upon her during the last five days, showing no mercy until he had a whole new appreciation for what “going through the ringer” was really like. Since she was otherwise happily occupied, the comment went unpunished.

“You got me, I’m a big ole softy,” Nick said.

“I don’t know about that; however, I’ll give you points for loaning your car to Hershel,” Alice admitted.

“Why not? He’s a careful guy, and it’s not like I’ll be using it tonight anyway. My date is driving. Oh, that reminds me, I need to go change before she gets here,” Nick said, glancing at his watch and dashing off into the boys’ lounge once more.

“Ugh, that is so like him,” Alice said. “He does one nice thing, but he put off getting himself ready and now some girl will have to wait- HIS WHAT?”

“His date,” Vince replied helpfully. “Didn’t he tell you? I guess Hershel’s bold move finally put the right spring in his step.”

“Right. Just so we’re clear here, this is Nick we’re talking about, right? Nick has a date?”