Chapter Eight

:: Max ::

"So her powers are really gone? For real?"

"I've told you ten times, Colosso. Yes, they're gone. For real."

It had never been particularly hard for Max to lie, but he was especially bad at lying to Colosso. He paced his lair, his mind spinning. It had only been four days.

What was happening?

Did they see right through her?

Had she found out more about Twilight Inferno?

"So she's just over at her house doing whatever non-supe's do?"

"I'd imagine she is."

"And that's not driving you crazy?"

Max stopped pacing. He waved his arms around.

"Don't you see I'm wearing a path into the lair floor? Did it occur to you I don't know what to do?"

"We could sing our song—"

"Never again."

Colosso didn't answer. Max resumed pacing.

Should I go to Metroburg?

Should I check on Keegan? No - that one's easy to answer. Just...no.

Max had lost count of how many circles he'd made when a pop filled the air and he walked right into Chloe. Before he could say a word, she grabbed his arm.

"You're coming with me, baby."

And with another pop! the lair was gone and they were surrounded by shoes.

"Welcome to BASE! Can I introduce you to a pair of shoes? Or how about a razor for you, scruffy looking sir I don't know?"

"Billy, it's us."

Billy looked at Chloe blankly and then glanced at his arm.

"Of course it is…Chloe! I'm just surprised to see you and…" he glanced at his other arm. "Tax."

"Tax?"

Billy brought his arm closer to his face. "I think the M smeared again."

Max crossed his arms and sighed. Chloe tugged his arms apart. "C'mon, Max," she pleaded. She gave him sad puppy eyes. He sighed. "Fine."

Chloe grinned. Max rolled his eyes. He was well aware that she knew how to get her way every time; he was nothing but a pushover when it came to her. He attributed it to the giant age gap. She attributed it to her never-ending cuteness and irresistible catchphrase. Even at age 11, her 'baby!' tagline made people smile.

"These are my new Billiam 2's," Billy was explaining. He held up a giant bowling shoe.

"Who in their right mind would buy those?" Max asked.

"Just sold a pair to the Badass Baller earlier this morning," Billy boasted.

"Billy, he's a villain!" Chloe gasped. Billy yanked a wad of cash out of his pocket with his free hand and waved it against his cheek.

"He was super polite. He counted the bills out twice for me. You know...math struggles."

Max pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's counterfeit."

"It is not! It's the newest print of Metro-dollars."

"Gimme those."

Max yanked the bills from his brother's hand. They left streaks of green against Billy's cheek. He held the terribly constructed currency up to the light and gasped.

"What?"

Phoebe's - Twilight Inferno's - face smiled back through the light, right in the center where the picture of an old dead President should be. His heart gave a weird jerk, but before he could think about it too much, the bills self-ignited.

"Ouch!" Max yelled. He dropped the pile of faux dollars, now ashes, on the floor.

"Max! You owe me six thousand Metro-dollars!"

"Billy, why don't you show me the super-tween section?"

Billy's forehead wrinkled in confusion. Then he smiled. "Sure!"

Max watched as his two siblings walked across the store. Billy's brain power, or lack thereof, terrified him. No amount of brotherly bonding had helped pour logic into that brain. It was less of an issue with Nora around, but she was hundreds of miles away.

"Doggin, get back here! MAAAAAXXXX!"

Max stumbled forward as Blobbin's squishy frame tackled him in a hug. The plump bulldog danced around his feet excitedly.

"I just had the best morning and seeing you just made it better! What did I miss?"

No one in the Thunderman family would ever tell Billy, but Mom and Dad had made Blobbin promise that he'd watch over their youngest son. Blobbin was happy to do it; he was always desperate for attention and with the family just a Blobbin call away, Billy finally proved he could make a name for himself away from the shadow of the talented Thundermans.

Poor, unsuspecting Billy.

"You missed a villain and a pile of counterfeit money," Max said, kicking the pile of ashes. Doggin sniffed them curiously.

"Oh no! He'd been doing so well," Blobbin sighed.

Max couldn't argue. BASE (Billy's Awesome Shoe Emporium!) was packed with people. Two blonde teenage employees were fitting little kids with shoes and getting repeatedly kicked. An over-the-hill geriatric supe was doing a slow jog in place wearing a glowing pair of white sneakers. Phoebe, aka Twilight Inferno, was sneaking along the wall, yanking the price tag off a pair of thigh-high leather boots that matched her leather suit…

"Excuse me" Max said, patting Blobbin's shoulder. Blobbin didn't see what had caught his attention for at that moment, Doggin gobbled up the money ashes and immediately started to snort and gag. Max dodged around a spinning rack of tie-dye soccer socks and a cardboard standup of Electress wearing a pair of silver heels.

"DOGGIN-WOGGIN!"

She slid through the door leading back into the warehouse portion of BASE. Max was mere steps behind her. She tore across the half-empty room. Max knew he should let her go. She could be there with another villain and he could ruin the whole operation. It had only been 96 hours since they had separately left Hero League.

But Max couldn't resist temptation when temptation was staring him right in the face. The second she landed in the rope loop, he was ready with the end. He gave it a pull and her body swung up, her hair cascading down like a red waterfall.

Billy's favorite booby traps were rope related. Actually, his only traps were rope-related. It had been a nice bonding moment between the brothers when they installed the fifteen around the giant warehouse. Billy was able to set off any one of the traps before a villain knew what was happening...and so could Max.

"Well, well, well…" Max drawled slowly. "What do we have here?"