Flying High
Chapter 5 – Vicious Games
By: CountessMorgana
----------------------------------------------------------
The daughter of Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl was not the first high-school student to be a super, and she certainly wasn't the first teenager to have a crush on a boy. Before Violet Parr and Tony Rydinger, before the ban on supers, before the Glory Days ended, there was Stratogale and Macroburst. And their story isn't quite as typical as one would expect.
----------------------------------------------------------
It's close to midnight and something evil's lurking in the dark
Under the moonlight you see a sight that almost stops your heart
You try to scream but terror takes the sound before you make it
You start to freeze as horror looks you right between the eyes
You're paralyzed
'Cause this is thriller, thriller night
And no one's gonna save you from the beast about to strike
Michael Jackson, "Thriller"
----------------------------------------------------------
The third week of freshman year saw Mackenzie Kintail and Enid Gwynns being teased endlessly by Frank Amery, the occasions of which were often interrupted by brief spells where Mackenzie attempted to throttle Frank for being an idiot, or where Enid hit Frank upside the head for innuendo. The day after Mackie and Enid's 'incident', Frank found an unlikely ally in Gemma Modern, Enid's blonde friend; unlike Frank, Gemma always walked away from the conversations unscathed. Mackenzie had had a coughing fit upon hearing Gemma's surname—he promised himself that the next time he was in Metroville, he would ask Edna if she happened to have any extended family in the Megalopolis area.
The fourth and fifth weeks of term had Riverview Heights finally settling back into school life, and the jokes at Mackie and Enid's expense became less and less. Tom Pecker and the scrub team had little time to harass anyone now that training for the football season had started (not that anyone really cared for more duffings). The end of September saw Science Lab 'D' go up in flames after a botched assignment. Various underground student bookkeepers collected their winnings or lamented their losses, and Mackenzie grudgingly paid Frank five dollars.
Before anyone knew it, it was over two months into the school year, the last week of October—Homecoming Week at R.H.P. Toga Day saw many a bedsheet and laurel wreath paraded about; Casual Day saw a showcase of all the latest fashions; the pep rally saw a veritable sea of school colours blue, green and white festooning every available space.
Friday was the last day of Homecoming Week. It would see the school parade, the big game against R.H.P.'s main rival, Central High, and the subsequent Homecoming Ball. As the last day of Homecoming coincidently fell on the 31st, this meant the dance was a costume ball. Teachers and chaperones looked forward to a mostly uneventful evening, where the only danger was boys attempting to spike the punch, and the only entertainment watching the couples trying to dance in ridiculous outfits. It helped that the ball was also open only to upper-school sophomores and above.
As one could imagine, the rule caused no end of grief among the more socially inclined freshmen.
----------------------------------------------------------
The big game on Halloween was just starting the second quarter, and already there was restlessness among fans on both sides. Many were students who were obligated to come, and some were voicing their dissent. Nearly all of the displeased were, unsurprisingly, R.H.P. freshmen.
"I still don't see why I'm getting blamed for something Seamus did!" a boy was heard to complain loudly in the back of the Riverview stands. "Just because me name's O'Malley doesn't mean we're all stupid, drunk bastards!"
"Aren't you having a Halloween party at your place after halftime anyway?" Mackenzie asked, turning to the loud-mouthed O'Malley.
"That's beside the point!" he said.
"Would you shut up already, Paddy?" Frank snapped at the Irish boy.
"It's Patrick," the other boy said sourly.
"Whatever, Paddy," Frank said rudely, turning to Mackenzie, who in his boredom was inspecting his popcorn. "How'd he get into Riverview Heights again?"
"His family own shares in Guinness," Mackie said listlessly, shoving some popcorn into his mouth. "Not majority, but still fairly sizable."
"The brewery? Typical," Frank nearly spat.
An unhappy Frank was not a pleasant Frank, and Mackie knew why his friend was annoyed. Ever since one of the O'Malley clan had caused an obscene amount of damage to the school conservatory (the traditional dance venue and an expansive Victorian-era glasshouse), freshmen were banned from the Homecoming dance on account of being 'socially immature'. The ban was challenged every year, and every year Principal Branksome put her foot down. She was especially adamant this time around: The latest of the O'Malley brood was Patrick O'Malley, a freshman notorious for his house parties, and nobody was about to see him follow in his infamous sibling's footsteps. The fact that Paddy had come about just as Mrs. Branksome was considering a relaxation of the ban had (unfortunately) made the youngest O'Malley quite possibly the most despised person in the freshmen class.
"That's it," Frank said decisively, standing up. "I'm getting out of here."
"So soon?" Mackenzie said, surprised. "It's not even halftime!"
"I came, I saw, and now I'm leaving. No written rule says we have to stay," Frank said flatly, then added, "I'm also sleep deprived, have those Latin translations to work through, and need a sugar boost. Besides, there's got to be something better to do than watch Pecker's crew run around. See you on Monday, Mack."
Even though it was the varsity team on the field (meaning the scrub team had as much chance of playing that night as a snowball lasting in Egypt), Mackenzie waved him off, and Frank disappeared into a sea of blue and green as the crowd roared and cheered a touchdown. He almost hoped Baron von Ruthless might make a go for world domination, if only for an excuse to leave.
"Excuse me, this seat taken?"
"No, go ahead," Mackenzie said, not even looking over at the newcomer.
"You could show a little more enthusiasm, Kintail."
Mackenzie turned, ready to tell this person exactly what they could do with their enthusiasm. He was surprised into silence by the familiar face.
"Having fun, kid?" Rose Cameron asked mockingly.
----------------------------------------------------------
On the outskirts of Megalopolis' Bayside suburb, an Acme armored truck was parked outside the Bank of United States depot. The three armed guards had just finished loading the truck full of currency and were enjoying a smoke before driving over to the reserve bank, where their cargo was due to be disposed of. A waning moon languished overhead, and one of the guards noticed the lunar light reflecting off something that glinted gold.
"Hang on. We're not shipping any bullion, are we?" he asked of his companions. They shook their heads.
"So what's—" He broke off, as the gold materialized into a human figure, wearing a form-fitting costume and gimp mask of gleaming yellow with a long mane of dark hair flowing behind. Halloween aside, something told the men this person was not an innocent reveller.
"Trick or treat," the apparition said smoothly.
That was all the warning the guard got in advance. Just seconds later jets of blinding light stabbed forward from her hands, striking the first man at point-blank range. He hit the ground hard, cap tumbling away, and his companions stared in horror.
"Jim!" one man yelled.
"You witch!" the other shouted.
Behind her mask, the woman smiled. One down, two to go.
----------------------------------------------------------
"Why the heck are you here?" Mackenzie groused. The football game was in full swing below, but he knew more than a handful of male spectators were craning their heads to catch a glimpse of the Marilyn Monroe-esque blonde sitting beside him.
"I'm an alumna, remember?" Rose smiled. "Just thought I'd stop by and see how the old alma mater's doing. Can't begrudge a girl for that now, can you?"
"I guess not," Mackenzie muttered, slouching. "But I know when you're not telling the truth, Rose."
Rose looked at him oddly. "Has anyone told you that you sound almost exactly like Everard when you say things like that?"
"In case it slipped your mind, we are related. I do have some genes in common with the man, like it or not."
"Pity," Rose murmured almost inaudibly.
But Mackie didn't hear, and even if he had his moodiness wouldn't have improved. As it was, he had another, less pleasant distraction – Bernie Kropp was sidling his way down the bench across the aisle. Wonderful, he thought. What the heck did the English teacher want now?
"Kintail, I was grading your last paper just now, and I have to tell you—" Mr Kropp broke off as he 'spotted' Rose. "Oh hello, have we met?"
If the paper Kropp was waving hadn't been completely blank, his ruse might have been more believable. In any event, the incredulous expression on Rose's face was one for the history books. Wordlessly, she turned to Mackenzie, who was strongly reminded of a mission at the museum over two months ago. Perhaps some payback was in order...
Rose caught his thoughts, and her eyes widened in alarm. Mackenzie didn't even try to hide his grin when he said aloud, "This is Mr. Kropp, my English teacher. Mr. Kropp, this is Dr. Rose Cameron of Cameron and Howard, Psychotherapists."
"I'm his aunt," Rose said quickly, shooting Mackie a glower. If looks could kill... well, she wasn't Gazerbeam, so no loss there.
Mackenzie snickered and reached for his popcorn. This was going to be good.
----------------------------------------------------------
Two moments after Jim's head had hit the concrete, the other two Acme truck guards had immediately pulled out their standard issue Smith & Wesson revolvers and opened fire. Normal human crooks were one thing, but supervillainesses were another – a point driven home when the woman used her powers as a form of light-based shielding that disintegrated their bullets.
Force fields, one of the guards thought. The darn witch had force fields! Backing up a few more steps, his foot brushed against Jim's arm and belt holster, where Jim's own service firearm lay unused.
"Cover me!" he yelled. The other man obeyed as he reached down and pulled out Jim's gun. Then came the ugly sound of a hammer clicking on an empty chamber.
"Oh heck no..." the guard whispered. "Abe!"
"Get to the truck!" Abe shouted, shooting with Jim's gun.
"But—"
"GET TO THE DARN TRUCK!" Abe screamed as everything went blindingly white around them. The other man covered his eyes in time, but he heard rather than saw Abe's body fall.
The last guard scrambled into the truck, seized the radio dispatch and began shouting frantically.
"Help! This is transport number five-one-eight, robbery in progress, robbery in progress at Bank of U.S. Bayside depot! We have two men down, and assailant is closing in. Assailant has super powers, I say again, assailant has powers! Send in reinfor—!"
There was a knock on the window, an ironic smile through the glass, a finger tapping the edge of sill where the door was set to unlocked.
Slowly, the dispatch dropped out of the man's hand, heedless of the voices blaring through on the other end. "Mother of G—" he began.
The door swung open and a gloved fist caught him squarely on the jaw. He slumped back against the seats with a groan, and did not stir.
Meanwhile, the radio crackled. "Transport five-one-eight, reinforcements are en route. I say again, reinforcements are on their way; just hold on until then. Is anyone there? Hello?"
Angrily, the woman reached out and switched off the offending radio. She punched the unconscious guard again, both as a precautionary measure and out of spite, before sliding out of the cab and hurrying along to the rear. Time was of the essence.
----------------------------------------------------------
"You're his aunt?" Mr. Kropp, thrown by Rose's statement, looked questioningly at Mackenzie for clarification. So did Rose.
"Yes," Rose said firmly. Honestly, Bernie Kropp? She might be a bit of goer, but for Pete's sake, she did have high standards!
"Yeah," Mackenzie agreed, as Rose's gaze promised a slow and painful death if he did not comply. Untimely ends aside, this was turning out far better than he'd hoped.
Kropp was persistent. "And Dr. Howard?"
Rose coolly replied, "Everard Howard and I have been long-time partners, and currently seem set to stay that way." And if that doesn't make him back off, nothing will. She smiled in Mackenzie's direction and affectionately squeezed his shoulder. Mackenzie tried to shrug her hand off, desisting when her grip became painful.
"I'm sorry," Kropp appeared abashed. "I'm so sorry, I was under the impression..." He broke off, and tried again on a different tack. "If you don't mind me asking, how long have you and Dr. Howard been married?"
'SAY WHAT!'
Rose's bottle of Blert Cola slipped from her fingers and shattered, while Mackenzie briefly forgot to swallow his popcorn.
"We're not—" Rose started, faltering. 'Oh hell.'
"She's not—" Mackenzie began, glancing at Rose. 'Bugger.'
"He's not married!" they finally said in unison.
"You're not?" If he wasn't already, Kropp was truly embarrassed now. "I'm sorry. Again. I thought, well, that is, I..." His owl-like eyes darted about, finally landing on Rose's unsalvageable cola. "I'll get you another drink!"
"Oh, that's quite all right, really!" Rose exclaimed, but Kropp had already gone just as the horn blared, signalling halftime.
"You and I aren't through, young man," Rose said after a moment, getting to her feet and grabbing her coat.
"Didn't think he'd scared you off," Mackenzie said impetuously.
Rose stood stock still, one hand tightly clamped around her clutch style handbag, the other twitching furiously as if she'd love nothing more than to slap Mackenzie at that moment. Instead she reached out and grabbed his collar, dragging Mackie forward so they were face-to-face.
"Listen to me, you hooligan," Rose said through clenched teeth. "This has gone far enough. If and when that teacher of yours gets back here, you had better – and I mean it – make sure he loses interest. Fast."
"Yes, ma'am." Mackenzie managed to choke out – Rose was cutting off his air.
"Good," she snapped, releasing her grip and letting Mackie fall back into his seat. "I don't care what you say, so long as it isn't slanderous."
"I didn't think it'd go this far!" Mackenzie protested. "And where are you going?"
Rose smirked. "I've a coronation to officiate over. See you later."
She headed down the steps, leaving a stunned Mackenzie by himself. A moment or two passed, and then a fellow student wisecracked, "Seems everyone's bailing out on you, huh Kintail?"
Mackenzie flipped a rude sign at the speaker. "Shut the heck up, Paddy."
"It's PATRICK!" the angry O'Malley nearly wailed.
"Whatever you say, Paddy."
----------------------------------------------------------
"One, two, three, four, five..." the gold-clad woman mused, first eyeing the pile of burlap sacks at her feet and then the large amount of currency remaining inside the truck. "Hmmm, this should be enough for a good start."
"A good start would be you putting those back where they belong." The speaker had a flat, monotonous voice, and the thief inwardly flinched before turning to face her new adversary.
"Gazerbeam." She shook her head. "Word on the street was that you'd relocated to the West Coast, over in Municiberg. Guess that'll teach me for listening to hearsay."
"Moving doesn't mean I can't come by for a visit," the superhero said. "You know my name, and I'm afraid that's where you have an advantage. Who are you?"
"Me? I'm the false light, the keystone of vice. I am the demon who haunts all men. I hoard, I covet, and you are the last person who can stop me."
"A riddler," Gazerbeam was stoic. "We'll see if you can give a straight answer once you're in police custody."
Her shoulders slumped. "I'm really no good at this, am I?" She sighed, and Gazerbeam spotted something glittering in her hand. "Can't I have even one, as a keepsake?"
"No," he responded, relaxing his guard slightly. "Do you honestly want to remember how botched up your first heist was?"
"You don't have to add insult to injury. Catch!" she shouted, and the glittering became a full-fledged light. Gazerbeam dove out of the way as the woman's laser skimmed past him, letting loose with one of his own. His aim was more accurate – the blast struck the gilded figure full in the chest, knocking her backwards onto her pile of loot.
Unfortunately, he realised too late that her aim had also been on the mark. There was a sickening crack, a rumbling sound, and then large slabs of concrete from the bunker-like depot fell, pinning the super to the ground. Able only to move his head, Gazerbeam turned to look at his opponent, certain that whatever injury he had sustained, the woman had been taken out as well.
He was wrong. His eye blasts, which had stopped or at the very least done serious damage to countless villains and crooks, hadn't even left a scratch. As he stared in disbelief, she roused herself and staggered to her feet.
"Ow," she whined. "Bit more than what I'm used to. Thanks for the recharge, handsome. And I wouldn't advise doing that again – you'll just make me stronger."
She waltzed over to Gazerbeam's prone form, knelt down, and smiled.
"You wanted to know who I am," she purred. "Je suis la perfidie, je suis l'avidité. Je suis l'Avarice."
By this time the first sirens were heard approaching. Avarice smirked, blew a kiss in Gazerbeam's direction, seized her bags of money, and ran off into the night.
To be continued...
----------------------------------------------------------
The Halloween madness is far from finished! While the newest villain makes her debut in Bayside, the Riverview crew face a threat closer to home. What's an NSA agent to do when his best supers are on vacation? It's a night of beginnings in Megalopolis, next time on 'Flying High'!
Author's Note: Exams are finally over (hurrah!) – so chapters should be quicker in coming. Don't forget to press the nice blue button below to your left; reviews make the Countess very happy!