Ch 20 sem. 2 wk 2

Glory felt a little nervous going into their class with Valkyrie and Stone, and clutched at Lawrence’s hand when they walked into the room. Valkyrie was already there, drinking coffee and leaning on one of the chairs. Glory did not like it at all. Normally her teacher stood tall, hands on her hips or behind her back, focused only on the subject at hand. Stone was nowhere in sight, and three minutes after class was supposed to begin Valkyrie sighed, put down her coffee, and turned to the class.

“I hope everyone had a good vacation,” she said. “And you’re all ready to dig into your second semester.” They were silent and staring, all fully aware of what had happened on New Years, even if the others hadn’t been there.

“This second semester will be the most important months of your training, and at then end--oh for Christ’s sake.” Glory looked around and saw that Righteous was ducking his head, Blue was doodling on her notebook, and even Lawrence was looking at her instead of Valkyrie. Glory was the only one willing to look her in the face.

“Look you guys, I’m sorry I disappointed you. Not every crime turns in our favor.”

“But you just stood there,” Righteous said.

The room turned as icy as Valkyrie’s glare. “Ask your dad about his encounter with Medusa. Ask him about the time Doctor Paradise nearly phased him to death and I had to freeze the particle accelerator in it’s path, or when Time Warp sent him back to 1987! That was not a good year!”

“I’d rather not,” Captain Righteous said in a small voice.

“It’s very rude to point out a hero’s shortcomings in their prescience,” she continued. “We are not sitting on our hands doing nothing. Every action is being taken to track down Dark Lothario and his accomplices, The Mistress of Minds and Trapdoor Spider.” So that was the other guy, Glory thought.

Her hand shot into the air. “Please, can we help?”

“Yes.” That wasn’t what Glory had been expecting, but she, and everyone else in the room, was pleased. A low murmur broke out among them and Valkyrie had to hush them. “One of our first assignments this year is to go out into the streets. You‘ll be broken up into groups, and a teacher--” Valkyrie cut off when Stone entered the room. She looked like she wanted to lash out, and Glory could see frost building up on the window behind her. Glory waited to see what would happen, but Stone just picked up where he interrupted Valkyrie.

“You’ll be broken up into three groups this week,” he said. “Saturday, instead of your combat class, we will go out into the west side and patrol for crime. This will include hunting down information on the mayor’s daughter.”

“America and Captain Righteous will be with me,” Valkyrie said, and Glory felt a warm, fuzzy feeling, to work with Valkyrie. “Black, Cloud, and Blue will go with Romeo Avenger.”

“Which means Torch, Chameleon, and KP will be with me,” Stone finished. “Now, just because we’re letting you off your leashes doesn’t mean you’re ready to fight real crime. You stay with your group and do what you’re told, or you’re out of the program. Understand?”

Glory sat back in her chair, not happy. Everything gets you kicked out of the program.

*****

Lawrence walked down the hall with America, heading towards the lounge with some of the others, when Black surprised him by falling into step next to him. “KP, can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Uh, sure.” Black barely talked to anybody.

“In private.”

“I am private,” America protested.

“It’ll only be a minute,” Black promised her, and KP found himself being pulled down the hall and outside.

“Is there a reason we’re out in the cold?” Lawrence asked, pulling his coat on.

“I don’t want to take any chances,” Black said in a low, soft voice. “Can you do me a favor?”

“Probably.”

“Just…keep an eye on things this Saturday, okay?”

“Uh…sure. Am I looking for anything in particular?”

Black adjusted his tie. “Not really.”

“Can you tell me why I’m doing this?”

“Well….”

“Okay, I get it. Classified, right?”

“It’s just a costume,” Black insisted, voice monotone. “I knew I could count on you, KP.”

“No problem,” he said, more confused than anything.

“And KP? Don’t mention this to anyone else. I don’t want people asking a lot of questions about what’s going on.”

“What is going on?”

“See you later, KP.” Black hurried off down the quad, and Lawrence went back inside, where no doubt America would try to pry the conversation out of him, and he had no idea what it had been about.

*****

Lola was feeling very contrary as she sat next to Lawrence during English Comp on Thursday. “I hate you,” she whispered to him in the middle of class.

“Well, I’m not too happy with you either,” he replied.

“With me! I’m not the one with the girlfriend behind my back!” Or a secret identity as a super hero.

“Why did you come to my dorm room? It wasn’t because you’re so desperately in love with me, so what’s the big deal? I can’t believe I betrayed her like that--I didn’t even want to--”

“Excuse me, Mr--” Professor Murphy looked down at his seating chart. “Lawrence. Perhaps you and Ms.--” Another glance at the chart, “Ms. Merriweather would like to break up in the hall instead of the middle of my classroom?”

Around them the class laughed, and Lola felt herself flush. “We’re done sir,” she answered.

“Yes, you are. Get out of my class.”

Lola made sure she made as much noise as possible leaving the room, and felt a little better for it. She glared at Lawrence out in the hallway. “Now see what you’ve done?”

“What I’ve done! You--” he stopped himself mid-sentence. “Look, lets go get some coffee.”

“I don’t want any freakin’ coffee,” Lola replied, yet somehow she found herself following him.

They settled into a corner of the café in the student center, their conversation masked by the noise around them. “I didn’t mean to hurt you,” Lawrence told her. “I didn’t know what I was doing, and I fixed things the best I could.”

“By dumping me.”

“We weren’t dating--we were making out in your car. I’ve got a lot on my plate right now, and I’m doing the best I can. I’m sorry.”

“Well, screw you.“

“That’s real mature.”

Lola crossed her arms over her chest. Of course dating Glory would be easier on him. No secrets, no difficulties. Well, she knew all about keeping secrets. She felt like she was keeping everyone’s secrets, and she didn’t know why. The explosion of putting it all out in the open would be terrible. Lawrence’s love triangle, all their secret identities revealed. Glory and Lawrence would finally see the three of them in the truth that Lola had to live with every
day.

She wondered who it would destroy the most. Glory, Lawrence, or her.

*****

Lola’s bad mood continued that afternoon when she stalked into the Red Door Club, Kioshi and Hannah flanking her in their matching black coats. Dark Lothario and his men had been making themselves scarce since the kidnapping, and Lola was not happy. She wanted to check on Patricia, to make sure she was okay. She was a part of the kidnapping--they had no right to leave her out of the loop.

She was in luck--Trapdoor Spider was at the bar when she entered the club. Approached him from behind and kicked the stool out from under him. Spider lurched forward and hit the bar, splashing his beer across the top.

“What the hell was that for?” he demanded when he got his footing and turned around. As soon as he saw who he was dealing with his eyes dropped to the floor. “Oh. It’s you. The Lothario said I would have to deal with you eventually. And look--you brought some brainwashed pets.”

“Where’s Patricia?”

“Somewhere safe.”

“I want to see her.”

“Not going to happen. The Lothario doesn’t trust you. You’re too…moral.”

“This is my deal too,” Lola countered. “You couldn’t have pulled it off if I hadn’t worked crowd control. There were four heroes in training wedged in there. I kept them at bay.”

“How do you know that?” Spider’s head shot up, and Lola knew she had made a mistake. “Four? More than that blond bitch? What do you know? Who do you know?”

“It’s time to go,” Lola said, thinking quickly. There were at least a dozen people in the bar. For all she knew they all worked for Dark Lothario. But when she tried to leave, only Spider followed her.

In the alley Spider grabbed her. “He’s going to get you for holding out on him. If you have information about the League-

“Hannah, Kioshi,” Lola said, and the two grabbed him, Hannah holding his arms behind his back and Kioshi wrenching his head up so Lola could look him in the eye.

“You are not going to tell Dark Lothario Anything about me.”

“Lemmie go--”

“I don’t know anything about the league. And you’re going to take us to see Patricia.”

“I hate you,” Spider said when she released him. “Whatever you just did to me, you’re not going to get away with it.”

“We’ll see about that,” Lola said. “Now, Patricia?”

“This way,” he grumbled, and they followed him out of the alley.

Spider took them to a warehouse a few blocks away. Lola noted that the boxes were all marked Wyler Industries. She might have cut the head off the company the fall before, but Dark Lothario had obviously worked that to his advantage. Was there no way to win against him?

They were keeping Patricia in a windowed office. There was a desk, a cot, and a television in the room, but nothing else. The girl stood up when she saw Lola. She was still wearing the same dress she had been kidnapped in and her hair was unbrushed, pulled into a messy ponytail.

“Finally!” Patricia exclaimed when one of Dark Lothario‘s henchmen let Lola into the room. “You gotta get me out of here.”

“I can’t,” Lola lied, knowing that she could, but what good would that do. “Are they treating you okay? You look terrible.”

“They treat me okay as in food and bathroom, but that’s about it,” Patricia scowled. “I want a shower! I want clean clothes, and this TV only gets in PBS! Look, break me out and I’ll make it worth your while. My father has friends in high places--you wont be charged--”

“I would if I could.”

“I’m not happy,” Patricia said, her bottom lip quivering.

“I’ll see what I can do.”

*****

Glory listened to the clanking of Righteous’ gold armor as they walked through the West side, following behind Valkyrie. It was cold and there was no one around, proving that Acropolis’ criminal element had enough sense to go inside when it snowed. “I’d love to get my hand s on that Mistress of Minds,” Righteous said.

“She’s not that good looking,” Glory snapped, annoyed with the cold, with the lack of suspects. She wondered if the other groups were having any better luck. She picked up her pace until she was a few steps in front of Righteous.

“Oh, I don’t care about that,” Righteous said. “It’s what she does--the way those cops just stood frozen in their place. Mind control,” he clanked with a shiver. “It’s the worst thing you can do to a person.” Glory stopped, and Righteous, peering into an empty window, ran into her. “Hey!”

Glory spun around, looking at Captain Righteous in a completely different light. “It is the worst thing,” she said. “I completely agree.”

*****

“Why--” Gasp. “Didn’t we--” Gasp. “Get a person with super speed?” Lawrence tripped and nearly sprawled across the pavement. Torch, also struggling to keep up, stopped next to Lawrence and glared at the guy they were chasing. Stone almost had him, but the guy was small, fast and wiry--much better at maneuverability than the heavy, clomping Stone.

Torch held up his hand and closed his eyes, and Lawrence nearly yelled when a small explosion erupted from the dumpster their guy was about to climb over. He yelled and fell backwards, giving Stone a chance to catch up and grab him by the collar.

“That was amazing! When did you learn how to do that?” Lawrence asked Torch as they jogged to catch up.

“I dunno. I’ve just felt calmer the last few weeks. I have more control.”

“Good job, Torch,” Stone told him when they reached the dumpster. Only the garbage had been burned, the dumpster intact, and Stone had the henchman shoved up against it.

“That was the coolest,” Chameleon’s voice said from somewhere, and Lawrence caught some movement as a brick colored figure stepped closer.

Torch shrugged. “No big deal.”

“It is a big deal,” Stone said. “Did it occur to either of you to use your powers?”

“What was I supposed to do?” Chameleon asked. “If you hadn’t started chasing him without warning I could have gotten ahead and grabbed him as he tried to run. I do best in stealth situations.”

Stone nodded, seeming to accept her excuse. Lawrence, however, did not have one. He should have thrown a garbage can at the guy or something. The Golden Swami would have been able to lift the guy up by the ankle and leave him hovering until the others caught up. “I’m sorry,” Lawrence mumbled. “I didn’t think about it.”

“Well, next time, think.”

“Excuse me,” the henchman interrupted, “but I don’t have all day. So if you could just beat whatever you want out of me and give me a ride to the hospital, that would be great.”

“I’m teaching,” Stone told him.

“I bet you’re a wonderful teacher,” he laughed. Stone slammed him against the dumpster again. “Ow!”

“This is Ratface Jones,” Stone explained to them. “He’s the smallest of the small fry, but he likes to be around people more important than he is.”

“Pleased to meet you kids,” Ratface said. “Lets make this easy. I don’t know nothing about Dark Lothario, okay? I’m too low to shine his shoes.” He glanced at Stone. “You know it’s true.”

“Who said anything about Dark Lothario?” Lawrence asked.

“Who else would you be looking for? Like the man said, I ain’t important.”

“C’mon,” Stone said. “I’m sure you can give me something.” Stone’s punch to Ratface’s stomach made Lawrence wince. Being hit by the Granite Man had to be worse than a normal fist. “Try again.”

“I’m outta work, Boss. Times are hard, and you know I‘m not the most popular guy--I think it‘s because when I was a kid--”

“You’re babbling,” Chameleon said. “Can I hit him?”

“Be my guest,” Stone said, stepping aside but still holding onto Ratface.

“C’mon, don’t be like this--” Chameleon went for his face, hitting him dead on in the nose hard enough for his head to bang up against the dumpster behind him. “Ow, okay? Ow. That’s enough. If I knew anything I would tell you.”

“We know you work for the Mistress of Minds,” Stone told him. “You were caught on video with her when she took over the police station.”

“A one-time gig. C’mon Boss. She doesn’t like henchmen. She likes minions, you know? Zombie types that hold on to her every word. That chick is into control, you know? I’m not exactly her type. The chick may be hot, but she’s a cool customer. Doesn’t like surprises. She does, however, let me shine her shoes if I ask nice…”

Stone let go of him. “You’re useless. Get out of here.”

“A pleasure doing business,” Ratface said to him. He turned to Chameleon, who was beginning to fade into the background again. “You did a wonderful job hitting me. And fire-kid? I’ll tell Inferno to watch out for you.”

“Great,” Torch replied, and Ratface scurried off.

“Did we learn anything?” Lawrence asked. “How do you know when he’s telling the truth?”

“You’ll start interrogation techniques next semester,” Stone told him. “You’ll learn to tell the difference between a lie and a truth. Come on. Let’s get out of the cold. I’m disappointed in you, KP. You should have done better back there.”

Lawrence walked back a the rear of the group, both ashamed at being called out in front of everyone, and disappointed in himself too. Stone was right. He could have done better.

*****

A/N: Sorry for the lateness with the second half of the chapter. It's been a long weekend. (and not in a good way)