Chapter One Hundred and Ten
...
When Fantasia woke up with her alarm, she lay on her waterbed, floating gently as she looked up at the ceiling. She contemplated if she could get revenge, if it was worth it, and if she could try to get the vine out of her body without Layla's power.
Frowning when she realised she couldn't hear any noise from her parents in the house, she eventually got out of bed to find them. Instead of her parents, Fantasia found two notes sitting on the kitchen bench. The first from her father said 'left for work early; will pick you up from the bus, Princess' while her mother's note said 'I can't do this anymore. Goodbye.'
Fantasia stared at the notes for a long time, unsurprised by the words on either. Her father had probably left first, heading to work early and without Fantasia's permission for the first time in years. Her mother, seeing the lack of punishment, would have left next. Fantasia was honestly surprised she'd even bothered to leave a note.
"Who's going to choose my outfit and organise my food now?" Fantasia asked aloud, the big and empty house not supplying an answer.
Realising that the answer was herself, Fantasia went upstairs to shower. She would have to choose an outfit on her own for the first time in fourteen years, and cooking was something she had never attempted nor had any interest in, either she determined that cereal would be less disastrous for breakfast. Her breakfast was a success, but Fantasia hated every outfit she tried on. Eventually, she realised she was running late for the bus, and pulled on a pair of leggings and an oversized shirt that would just have to do.
Fantasia barely remembered her bag and spent an extra three minutes trying to find her keys and the right ones to lock the door. She'd owned the keys to the house since she was six, but had never locked or opened it since she always had her parents to do it for her. Satisfied that the door was locked, Fantasia ran for the bus stop, trying to recognise and remember the landmarks from yesterday's car trip.
She made it to the bus stop just as the bus pulled up, the driver looking unimpressed with her tardiness - or perhaps her outfit - and Fantasia only realised that she had forgotten her lunch when she'd already sat down. She went to call out to the driver, then remembered that nothing she said would have an impact, and hoped that she could find some money in her bag when it was time for lunch.
Coach Boomer gave her an appointment slip when she came in to home group, and Fantasia saw that she had to see the school counsellor before lunch. Sitting at a desk, she looked out the window and wondered what she could talk about with the counsellor since she couldn't even say Layla and Warren's names and what they'd done to her.
"Hey, is this seat taken?"
Fantasia looked up to see a boy standing by her desk, who was a hundred and ten percent not her type. She was about to reject him when Boomer closed the door.
"Everyone sit down; I have to take attendance and I don't want to hear any whining!"
The boy hurried to sit beside Fantasia and she almost gagged at the putrid stink of body odour that came from him. She responded to Boomer's shout of her name but refused to get into any sort of conversation with the disgusting boy beside her, despite the boy attempting to talk to her several times.
He assumed that sitting together in home group made them friends and sat next to Fantasia in the next two classes as well, despite her attempting to sit with other people instead. When the bell rang for recess, she ran from the classroom and went to her locker to find any kind of body spray to get rid of the boy's associated stink.
"Tone it down, freshman; the whole school'll stink if you keep that up," a girl said across the hall from her, grinning.
"I don't care. It's better than smelling like my lab partner," Fantasia said, sniffing her shirt warily.
"Got stuck with a boy?"
"Yeah, how'd you know?" Fantasia asked curiously, looking over and doing a double-take when she saw how pink the other girl was: pink hair, pink lips, pink dress, pink shoes.
"Because no boy in high school knows a thing about hygiene. Except maybe the seniors, but some of them just take it way too far, y'know? One extreme or the other," the girl replied, grinning. "What's your name, freshman?"
"Fantasia. Yours?"
"Oh, you're Fantasia. I know about you," the girl said, and Fantasia unsure if it was something to be proud of or not. "Warren and Layla said you could do with a friend," she said with a bright pink grin. "I'm Cassie," she said, holding out her hand to shake.
Their names made Fantasia flinch, but Cassie's offered hand made her think. If this girl knew Warren and Layla, then maybe she could think of a way to get the vine out of her. Even if she couldn't, a friend would be nice, especially if the likes of Stinky Lab Partner was all that Sky High's freshmen had to offer.
Reaching out, Fantasia shook Cassie's hand. "Nice to meet you."
"Likewise. Come on, before that stinky kid finds you," Cassie said with a laugh, leading Fantasia away from the lockers and outside into the sunshine.
"How do you know them?" Fantasia asked as they walked around the school building.
"There was a thing with the bus almost crashing last year; Layla and Warren saved us and I got kinda fixated on Warren as a result. I tried to get him to date me and totally embarrassed myself."
"You did that, too?"
Cassie looked to Fantasia in surprise. "You've been here one day, and you already tried to break them up?"
Fantasia blushed bright red. "I thought it would work."
"Yeah, not likely. Those two are crazy in love, nothing and no one could break them up. What did you do?" Cassie asked.
"Used my power."
"Ooh, low blow. Did you learn your lesson?"
Fantasia thought about it for a moment, thought about the warring desire for revenge and to get her power back, no matter the cost, and shrugged.
Cassie snorted. "Well, at least you're not lying about it. Recess is almost over. Hey, let me see if I can get you away from that stinky kid in class, yeah?"
"You'd do that?" Fantasia asked in surprise; she'd known Cassie for the whole of five minutes and hadn't even used her power to get what she wanted.
"Totally. I completely empathise. Who've you got next?"
"Mr. Bowie; English for Heroes."
"Oh, he's awesome; he'll help you out," Cassie said with a firm nod, heading back to their lockers. "Quick, we'll get to the classroom before the rest of your class."
Fantasia grabbed her folders and pencil case, following after Cassie quickly.
"Hey, Mr. Bowie!" Cassie called, waving to Jared through the classroom door.
"Good morning, Cassie. You're here very early considering you don't have my class until this afternoon," Mr. Bowie said with a grin.
"Yeah, I'm here with Fantasia. She's being hounded by a guy in her class who won't take no for an answer. Could you make sure he doesn't sit next to her again, please?"
Jared looked from Cassie to Fantasia, who was blushing and looking at her feet in embarrassment. "I'll definitely try. What's the student's name?" he asked Fantasia.
"I don't actually remember," she said, her blush turning even more red.
"No problem; come in and have a seat. Tap on the desk when he comes into the room, okay?"
"Okay. Thank you, Mr. Bowie."
"No problem."
"Thanks, Cassie," Fantasia said quickly before her new friend could leave.
"No problem. Good luck," she said with a grin, leaving for her own classroom.
For the last few minutes between the end of recess and start of class, Fantasia couldn't help but think about Layla and Warren. As they were the ones to ask Cassie to befriend her, then if this plan worked, they would be indirectly responsible for getting the stinky kid away from her, which meant she would owe them. Part of her hated them even more for it.
A minute later, Fantasia saw the boy walk into the classroom and immediately look around for her. She paled and drummed on the table, hoping it looked like she was just playing around rather than signalling anyone. Mr. Bowie looked over to the boy and back to Fantasia, who nodded briefly.
"All right, class. Before anyone gets seated, I'm going to assign seats to you all. I know, I'm horrible," Mr. Bowie said with a grin.
"We're not kids, Mr. Bowie! Do you have to assign seats?" one kid groaned.
"Yes, because sometimes life isn't fair and this is one of those times," Mr. Bowie replied. "As you complained, you now have the privilege of sitting right at the front," he said, grinning.
No other students complained and Mr. Bowie spent the first two minutes of class organising the students in their assigned seats. Fantasia almost sighed in relief when she saw that the stinky kid was seated across the room from her in a position where he couldn't see her unless he turned around. Atlantis, the girl she was seated with, looked like she would use a death glare on Fantasia if she tried to distract her. Still, it was better than the alternative.
Mr. Bowie must have spread the word to the other teachers, as they also spent the first few minutes of their lessons rearranging their classrooms to suit themselves just as much as Fantasia's needs, with the troublemakers often moved to the front or middle of the class instead of the back. Fantasia was seated next to Atlantis for the rest of the day, which actually worked out well for her; Atlantis looked scary, but she was willing to help Fantasia with her work.
By the time her session with the school counsellor arrived, Fantasia came to realise that she'd made two friends today as a result of Layla and Warren.
Shit.
...
Fisher looked over at Mia, frowning as she reported what was happening with the Peace kid. "What do you mean you lostthe bus? It's a bright yellow school bus."
"Yeah, and I lose it every damn morning. I swear the bus driver has evasive driving skills," Mia said, sounding as frustrated as Fisher felt. "But I get Peace every afternoon at the Paper Lantern or the Hive on Mondays."
"Why only Mondays?"
"The Paper Lantern's closed on Mondays; the Hive's open for business," Mia said with a shrug. "Oh, and get this: this morning he went to the firefighter's cadet training. That redheaded kid went with him, too. He's been hanging around him more; do you think he's related to Layla?"
"The girlfriend? It's possible, but don't make assumptions. Do we know the kid's name?"
Mia shook her head. "Haven't heard it yet. I'm still waiting for Monty and Tyrone to put in their report; they're dragging their feet with it."
"After the dressing down Chief gave them for those supposedly solved crimes, I'm not surprised," Fisher said, shaking his head. "I've only got a few more days left in here, kid, then we'll be able to solve our own cases. Now, more importantly: where's my burger?"
Mia snorted. "Of course. Here you go, Fisher," she said, reaching into her handbag to bring out a paper bag, already stained with grease on the bottom.
"You're the best partner a guy could ask for," he said, taking the bag and biting into his burger before Mia could even respond.
She grinned at him and how eagerly he ate his food. "Yeah, I know. I'm going to head back out; I'll be back on Tuesday to take you home, okay?"
"Thanks, kid," Fisher said around his mouthful.
...
"I'm just saying we need to think about this. It will work!" Cara snapped, completely and utterly frustrated by Greta's stubbornness and refusal to see that it was a good damn idea.
Admittedly, she hadn't been the one to think of the idea originally, but she trusted her father far more than the old bag in front of her. Besides, while her father had thought of the original idea, Cara was the one who had worked out the finer details to appease both him and Greta.
"It sounds like you want to change the plan entirely, even though we've spent months working on it!" Greta snapped back at her, frustrated by the foolish girl and yet another attempt to undermine her authority and hard damn work.
"You can't even see a good idea when it's right in your face!" Cara said, waving the papers in Greta's face to prove her point.
Greta grabbed the papers and ripped them in half, ignoring Cara's screech of outrage as the papers fell to the floor. "We're doing my plan my way. You can do your own damn plan after we've done mine," Greta snarled.
Cara clenched her jaw, tempted to beat the shit out of Greta with her prosthetic. The old bag would probably send her right back to prison for her efforts, and that wouldn't help her, the twins, or her father. Breathing and forcing herself to unclench both her jaw and fists, Cara gathered the ripped papers and nodded. "Fine."
"Good. Now get out of here before someone sees you," Greta said, turning her back on her and ignoring her completely.
Cara left and waited impatiently for Greta to leave for her bridge game, or luncheon, or golf game, or whatever it was that old people did when they no longer worked and contributed to society. As soon as the car was gone, Cara turned on her phone, wincing at the sight of the low battery: ten percent remaining. Unless she could get a charger, this would be the last call she made to her father until she was free from Greta.
Ringing Maxville Police Station's number, Cara waited for the operator to answer, was transferred to the prisoners' section, and had her father on the line in a matter of minutes. Mr. Forge patiently listened to her rant about Greta and her stubbornness and refusal of the brilliant plan they'd devised.
"I know our plan will succeed, Daddy, but Greta won't even listen to me!"
On the other end of the line, Mr. Forge smiled. "Since when has that stopped you?"
Cara grinned at his words. "Of course! I can adapt the plan! I can still make it work. Greta won't even know that I've changed the plan until it's already happened! When our plan works, then she'll see that we're right!"
"That's my girl."
Cara felt pride swell in her body and then her grin fell as she heard the phone beep, pulling it away from her ear just in time to see the battery flash and the screen die.
...
"Good evening, Mr. Mayor. A villain has requested to fight against Jetstream and the Commander, but doesn't want it in the metropolis due to their destructive power; however, they don't want to miss out on the cameras recording their, ahem, epic showdown," Layla quoted, "so have requested that the cameras be extended beyond the main metropolis area."
The Mayor frowned. "How far beyond? We spent a significant amount of money on the cameras the first time round; we can't be expected to add more every time a villain wants to fight on the outskirts of the city," he said.
"The other alternative is to evacuate an area of the metropolis closer to the outskirts, but still within the range of the cameras. It's more cost-effective in the short-term," Layla said.
"How much for both options?" the Mayor asked.
"Long-term is three-thousand dollars, while short-term is one-thousand, five-hundred. We need to cover the company costs for the loss of production, employ police to ensure the area is evacuated safely, and set money aside for any repairs to buildings after the Commander gets involved," Layla said.
"Long-term doesn't need repairs?"
"Well, no, sir. There's no buildings in either proposed area, though farmers may need to be compensated for damage to their crops if we go south of Maxville. The northern side has some old paddocks that haven't been used for any agricultural purposes or development. There are no applications for either, as far as I can tell," Layla added, double-checking the address on the computer system to see if any requests or paperwork had been submitted to the Council.
"Okay. Three-thousand is justifiable, especially with that short-term cost. If three villains want fights like these, then it's already over the long-term budget. I'll talk with the shareholders and my financial backers tonight and provide you with an answer in the morning," the Mayor said.
"Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'll set a reminder on your calendar," Layla said. "Enjoy your dinner with your wife, Mr. Mayor."
"Thank you, you too," the Mayor replied distractedly, already heading to the elevators.
...
"Really, out on Scotia Drive?" Josie confirmed, frowning at the address.
There was nothing but paddocks out there, as far as she'd seen the last time she'd flown north of Maxville.
"Yes, Jetstream. The cameras are being installed this week, hence your scheduled fight next week. Will this be suitable or should I contact Robot Warrior?" Layla asked; the villain could control giant robots, after all.
"No, no, that's fine. I wasn't aware that new cameras were being installed, that's fine. Thank you," Josie said.
"Oh, I thought you knew. The Mayor said he was talking to shareholders about it," Layla said curiously.
"He did?" Josie asked, frowning yet again and forcing herself to smile so she wouldn't get worry lines on her face.
"Perhaps I misheard him. I'll confirm with the villain now for you," Layla said.
"Thank you. Have a nice afternoon."
"You too, Jetstream. Good night," Layla said, ending the call.
Josie set her phone down with a frown. The Mayor had had an important shareholder meeting without her?
Layla set her phone down, only for it to start ringing again. Picking up the handset and trying to calm her racing heart at the unexpected call, Layla smiled as she answered the phone in her usual manner.
"Hi, Layla. It's Dave. I need to go home early. It's only half an hour but I can't stay here anymore. My lunch disagreed with me and I can't - " Dave cut off with a low groan of pain.
Layla's eyes widened at the sound and his words. She had thought he looked pained when she had come in, but hadn't had a chance to ask as she was running late for work due to construction works that had delayed the bus.
"Of course, that's not a problem, Dave. You go home and take care, okay? Is there anything I can do to help you?"
"You've got the codes so just make sure everything is closed properly. I - oh, God," Dave groaned again and there was a sound of retching a moment later.
Layla winced at the sound and ended the call, hurrying over to the elevators.
In her pocket, her phone chimed with a received text message.
Honey: a taxi is on the way to bring Craig there and take Dave home
Honey: see you at the Hive later
The elevator arrived and by the time Layla had made it downstairs, Dave had just finished emptying his stomach. He was pale and trembling and looked ready to pass out entirely. Dave didn't argue as Layla gathered his things and helped him over to the Council building exit as the taxi arrived.
Craig slipped out of the other side of the taxi, unnoticed by Dave in his condition. Dave collapsed on the back of the taxi seat, giving the driver his address and thanking Layla in a weak voice.
"Take care, Dave," Layla said.
Dave groaned in return and Layla hurried to close the door, watching as the taxi drove away.
"He'll be okay. Food poisoning," Craig said in explanation.
"I thought you were staying near Warren?"
"Oh, I am. Craig 2.0 is currently eating a bowl of fried rice and learning swear words in Mandarin," he said with a grin.
"Okay. So why are you here, anyway?" Layla asked curiously as they headed inside and back to her desk.
"Gonna look at the Beast. Honey said it's a filing cabinet?" Craig added, frowning and tilting his head curiously.
Layla nodded, heading over to Nina's desk to get the keys to the Mayor's office. Opening the door, she had Craig shift to the Mayor and open his desk drawer to get the key for the Beast. Unlocking the cabinet and opening the bottom drawer as instructed, Craig placed the Mayor's palm on the hand scanner and typed the passcode that Honey had sent to him.
"Honestly?" Layla asked, sighing.
"What?" Craig asked, frowning at her since nothing had happened yet.
"That's the same code for his phone."
"Oh, that's not - " Craig cut off suddenly, stepping back as the Beast made a whirring noise, the top two drawers shaking. "What the - "
The shaking stopped abruptly and there was a clanking noise in the bottom drawer that had both Craig and Layla peering inside.
"It's that a flash stick?" Craig asked.
Looking from the USB to Craig, Layla nodded. "Grab it before it disappears or something; there might be a time limit."
Craig nodded, reaching in with the Mayor's hand to pick up the plain black USB. As soon as he had, the drawer slammed shut and the Beast locked itself.
Returning the keys to the Mayor's desk drawer, Craig looked from the USB to Layla with a grin. "What do you reckon's on here? Nuclear codes?"
"I doubt it; he's the Mayor of Maxville, not the President," Layla said, rolling her eyes. "Come on, my shift's over. We'll go to the Hive and get Adam to look at it," she said, taking Craig's hand and leading him out of the office so she could return Nina's keys and pack her things to leave.
Craig had shifted back and was pulling faces at the security camera. "Adam's covering it with old footage of you working so no one will see what we've done," he said in explanation when he saw Layla's expression.
"Uh huh. Come on, the bus will be here soon," Layla said, shouldering her bag and going to the elevators.
Craig followed after her and spent the elevator ride down dancing to the elevator music, Layla laughing so hard she almost passed out.
"Don't you like my dancing? I learnt it at the finest dancing school Maxville had to offer," Craig said, grinning.
"Adam, you got that, right?" Layla asked, looking to the security camera.
"Every second," Adam confirmed from their phones.
Craig grinned. "Good, can you send it to Grant and Jewel? They need a laugh," he said, his grin slipping as they left the Council building and he waited for Layla to lock up everything properly.
When Layla was satisfied everything was closed and locked correctly, they headed over to the bus stop to get to the Hive.
"It'll be okay, Craig. We won't let anyone hurt you. Not for long, at least. We'll rescue you, and then burn your kidnappers to ash," Layla promised, hugging him tightly.
"You always say the sweetest things," Craig said, sniffling.
Layla smiled and waved the bus down. They headed to the back seats, Craig looking out the window as they passed different areas of Maxville on the way to the Hive.
Thanking the driver as they got off the bus, Layla held Craig's hand and led him through the forest to the Hive.
Grant and Jewel met them at the door, both looking amused at the video Adam had sent them. Craig grinned and hugged them both tightly.
"You're a ridiculous dancer, babe. It was hilarious," Jewel said with a laugh.
"Oh, no you don't. This is a safe area. Give me the USB and go to your area," Adam said behind them.
"You heard the man," Grant said with a wink. "Let me know what's on it; I'm curious."
"So am I," Jewel said.
"Same. Want to postpone making out?" Craig asked, looking between Grant and Jewel as he held the USB out to Adam, who took it with a gloved hand.
"Nope. C'mon, babe," Jewel said, taking Grant's hand as leading both him and Craig downstairs.
Adam sighed and headed to his room, Layla following him.
"Everything okay?"
Adam shook his head. "Craig hasn't been sleeping much; I'm worried he's going to collapse due to exhaustion. It would have been better if he had already been kidnapped, y'know?"
"Yeah, I know what you mean. At least it would be over then," Layla agreed, sighing.
Adam was silent for a long moment as he plugged the USB into his computer and waited for it to be recognised. Opening the drive, Adam navigated through the various folders within the USB, Layla watching curiously behind him.
"It's the Super Bureau," Adam murmured in realisation a few minutes later. "The naming structure isn't standardised so the files are all over the place, but it's from them. If there was any structure to the files, then I could work out what was what, but it might just mean going through them individually."
"You don't have the time to do that. The USB isn't going to self destruct, but the files become corrupted after twelve hours. This is the only chance you've got to work it out, and no, you can't copy and paste. It reduces the limit by an hour every time you try," Honey said.
"Shit. I can't - "
"I can," Ethan said from next to Honey, dressed in pyjamas and looking tired but determined. "An organisation like the Super Bureau would require some sort of structure to their documents or no one would ever find anything. If there's a pattern, I'll find it."
"All right, good luck, man," Adam said, getting up and offering his chair to Ethan.
"Thank you," Ethan said, sitting and adjusting his glasses as he looked at the screen with a long list of files names composed of four parts.
1223109421543MOHUS4EDT-RcF-1300111595900JGSASAST2-G
"We'll come back in the morning," Honey said, Ethan making a noise of acknowledgement in response. "All right, let's get you home. Grant, Craig, Jewel; time to go!"
The trio came upstairs reluctantly, Grant buttoning his shirt, Craig's curls disheveled and a blush on his cheeks, and Jewel looking far too smug.
Honey rolled her eyes and led everyone out to her minivan to take them home. Unlike Ethan, they would all sleep that night.
...
End of the hundred and tenth chapter.
Thanks for reading; I hope you enjoyed it!
