Villain School (11 page)

The heroes all snorted and guffawed. I ran up to the princess, ready to grab her and dash, but we were interrupted by one of the boys.

“Hey! There he is!” he said, pointing at me and Wolf. I recognized the purple-and-yellow costume: Aero-boy. I took a step back as the other hero boys all turned to look at us. “That's the one I was telling you about. Hey, show my friends how you can create talking animals with your mind.”

“Uh,” I said.

There was a tense moment of silence. I knew Jez couldn't save me this time because the cafeteria was flooded with sunlight. Then Wolf ripped off his hood, revealing his furry ears and snout.

“Ta-da!” he said. All the boys gasped, and the entire lunch room went silent.

“See, Aquinator? I told you! Pay up!” said Aero-boy, holding his hand out to another hero with a dolphin on the front of his costume.

“Uh, Ileana,” I said, tapping her shoulder.

“It's
Power Princess
, if you please,” she said.

“Okay.
Power Princess
, we need to go. Now.”

Just then a voice I'd been dreading came over the intercom. It was Deven.

“Attention, heroes! Our school has been infiltrated by villains! This is not a drill! They are posing as heroes and are dressed in costumes. Be on the lookout for a dark-haired boy with a glowing red weapon.”

I tucked the crystal ball farther beneath my cape.

“And also be on the lookout for a wolf boy and a girl who can turn into a bat.”

Jez squirmed under my cape, and beside me Wolf's eyes grew wide.

“They may also be traveling with a blond girl known as Princess Ileana.”

“Hey,” Aquinator said, frowning at us. “What did you say your name was again?”

“Time to go,” I said, grabbing Ileana's hand and running for the nearest exit.

“I was wondering if you were ever going to come find me!” Ileana said as we raced down the hall. She was kind of ticked off.

“We had to go after the crystal before we lost it. Besides, judging by the group of drooling heroes around you, it looked like you had things under control.”

“You didn't know that! For all you knew I could've been in some prison being tortured!”

“Can you two argue later?” asked Wolf. We'd just rounded a corner, and this hallway wasn't completely empty. I motioned for everyone to slow down.

“Just act natural,” I whispered to Ileana and Wolf. Jez was still fluttering inside my cape.

Most of the heroes were in the cafeteria, but a few had finished eating and were roaming the halls,
and now we also saw teachers emerging. With Wolf hidden once more inside his costume and Jezebel out of sight, I hoped we would look just like any other heroes and would escape notice until we found a place to hide and regroup. My hopes were dashed when a teacher stopped us.

“Did you hear the announcement?” she asked.

She was really skinny with sharp cheekbones and a pointy nose. Her pink costume had a bee on the front wearing a crown with “Queen Bee” written beneath it. She also wore a matching pink eye mask with glasses over the top, which looked kind of ridiculous, but I didn't want to risk underestimating her. Who knew what superpower she might have?

“Yes ma'am,” Ileana said.

“Well, we're checking everyone. Name and superpower, please,” said the pink woman.

“Uh,” I stammered.

“Power Princess,” Ileana said. “I can talk to flying animals.”

The pointy pink woman looked at Ileana skeptically over the top of her glasses.

“Really? I don't recall seeing you in my classes,” she said.

“I'm new,” said Ileana.

“And you can talk to flying animals? Let's see it, then.” The pink woman flashed a fake smile.

A strange humming noise began to rise in the air. The teacher closed her hand into a fist. When she opened it, a swarm of bumblebees materialized.

Wolf and I took a step back as the swarm grew bigger.

“They only obey me,” the woman said with a self-satisfied smirk that would not have looked out of place on a villain teacher.

I wondered if all heroes were so snotty, but as the swarm expanded the thought was driven from my mind. I worried that Ileana wouldn't be able to demonstrate her “superpower” on the bees. I knew she could talk to birds and dragons and even cat-a-bats, but bees?

Ileana closed her eyes and began humming, then the hum morphed into a kind of buzzing. The bees continued to swirl in the air. They showed no signs of obeying Ileana.

“What's the matter,
Princess
?” the pink woman taunted. “Can't control my bees? You know what I think?” she asked as Ileana continued her buzzing sounds. “I think you're those villains that everyone's looking for, and you're about to feel the sting of the Queen Bee!”

I moaned. Why did heroes always have to use corny lines like that? A thousand bee stings seemed painless compared to superheroes' jokes. But then, the humming
of the bees changed. The Queen Bee looked momentarily confused. Then Ileana opened her eyes and smiled wide.

“You know what I think?” Ileana asked. “I think you need to learn how to treat
real
royalty.”

Ileana raised her hands and like a giant plume of smoke the bees all flew together, obeying Ileana's will. The swirling bees suddenly turned on their “queen.” She backed against a wall and held up her hands defensively. “No,” she said. “Wait! I'm allergic to bee stings.”

“How ironic,” Wolf said from beside me.

“You better get running, then,” Ileana said. “I'll give you a five-second head start.”

The Queen Bee glared at Ileana.

“I am a teacher, young lady!” she said.

Ileana smiled. “One. Two.”

The Queen Bee stopped glaring and fled.

“Five,” said Ileana, and the swarm of bees flew after their “queen.”

A few heroes had witnessed the spectacle, and I knew it was time to go.

“Nice job,” I said, “but we have to find somewhere to hide.”

We took off once more down the hallways. More and more kids were staring and whispering, and a few
pointed. Our cover was blown, and any second one of the heroes would catch us. When we reached the boys' corridor, I spotted the bathroom where we'd broken into the school.

“C'mon,” I said, opening the door. Ileana and Wolf followed me inside.

“Hey!” a little kid said, pointing at Ileana. “You can't be in here! This is the boys' bathroom!”

“Beat it, kid,” I said. Then I recognized him. It was Invis-a-boy, the young hero Deven had picked on earlier.

“Y-you are those villains, aren't you?” he asked. He was growing kind of hazy and translucent along with his gray-and-white superhero costume. I was worried he'd go completely invisible, and then we'd have a problem. If he escaped, it wouldn't be long before he told someone where we were. I had to think fast.

“Hey! You're Invis-a-boy,” I said. His eyes widened in astonishment. Apparently he wasn't used to being recognized. I started to form a plan. “Guys! Stay back! He's a very powerful superhero!”

Ileana played along and backed up, but Wolf said, “What?”

I elbowed him. “Oh! Yeah. Right!” he said.

“Please don't hurt us!” Ileana said.

“Y-you've heard of me?” he asked, standing up taller and becoming a little more solid.

“Uh, yeah. All the villains know about you,” I said.

“That's right,” said Ileana. “You're supposed to be strong and brave and, uh … good. Maybe you can help us.”

“Why would I help villains?” he asked skeptically, his voice sounding very young.

“We're not the villains!” I said. “Well, I mean we are, but we're not. We're just—”

“Deven Do-Good is the villain!” said Ileana.

“Deven?” Invis-a-boy whispered, looking around as if his tormentor might appear suddenly from a bathroom stall.

“He kidnapped my dad,” I continued. “We need to rescue him. We don't want to hurt anybody. Not today, anyway.”

“That's why you're here?” asked the timid superhero.

“We despise Deven,” Wolf added. “He's just a bully and a jerk.”

“He
is
a jerk!” said Invis-a-boy. “He's always picking on me! Wait. How do I know this isn't a trick?” Maybe he wasn't as dim as he looked.

“Because,” Ileana said, removing her eye mask and batting her eyelashes at Invis-a-boy, who gulped
and backed up nervously, “I'm trusting you with my, um, secret identity. My name is Princess Ileana Alexandra Veldina Nicolescu, and I need your help.”

Inside my cape, I heard Jez's little bat voice say, “Oh brother.”

“B-but we're not supposed to tell
anybody
our secret identities!” Invis-a-boy said.

“I know I can trust you,” said Ileana.

Tiny snickering erupted from inside my cape. I discreetly thumped Jezebel.

“Hey!” she squeaked, but the snickering stopped.

“Wow,” said Invis-a-boy, clearly amazed. “Nobody's ever trusted me with their secret identities before!” Then he stood up tall and puffed out his chest. “H-how can I help you, fair maiden?”

I had to hide a smile. Ileana was
wicked good.

“Um, can you keep people away from the bathroom for a while?” she asked.

“Of course, Highness!” he said, taking Ileana's hand and kissing it. Then he opened the door to stand guard outside.

“And if you see Deven coming, let us know,” I added.

When Invis-a-boy was gone, Jez came coughing and sputtering out of my cape and transformed back into a girl.

“My armpits don't smell that bad!” I said.

“No, this time it was Ileana making me gag,” Jez said. Then she mimicked Ileana's voice, “
I'm trusting you with my secret identity. My name is Princess Ileana-Airhead-Porridge-for-Brains, and I need your help.
”

“Hey, it worked, didn't it?” Ileana asked. “I need to wash my hand.” She held the hand Invis-a-boy had kissed in front of her like it was infectious and walked over to the sink.

“I don't think ugly washes off,” Jezebel said.

“Have you ever tasted soap?” said Ileana, balling up her sudsy fist.

“Cut it out, you guys. We don't have time for this right now,” I said, pulling out the crystal ball. “We have to find my dad and get out of here.”

Everyone gathered around; the red glow of the crystal lit up our faces as we gazed into it.

“Show me where my father is,” I commanded.

The crystal glowed brighter. A picture formed. It was the hero school gleaming white in the morning sunlight.

“Duh,” Wolf said. “We know that!”

“Show me how to
find
my father,” I commanded again. The crystal went blank. It wasn't always reliable, and it seemed to pick the absolute worst times to be stubborn. I thought maybe my dad had infused some of his own personality into it.

“Great,” said Jezebel. “Now what?”

“Maybe you're asking it wrong,” Ileana said. “Let me try.” She took the crystal from me. “Show us Master Dreadthorn's prison.”

Again the crystal remained dark.

“You broke it,” Jezebel said. Ileana glowered at her.

“I did not.”

“Did.”

“Not!”

“Okay!” I said. “This isn't helping!”

“Sorry,” Ileana said. Then she brightened up. “Hey! Since we're here anyway, we can try again to find out who your mom is, Rune.”

“What?” I asked. “No.”

“Why not?” said Wolf. “Don't you want to know?”

“I—I don't know,” I said.

“Well, I do,” said Jezebel, and she took the crystal. Before anybody could stop her she said, “Show us Rune's mother.”

I held my breath. I didn't realize until that moment how much I wanted to know this. For a few seconds, the crystal was dark, and I thought it wouldn't work. Then it filled with glowing red smoke. The smoke parted to reveal a woman's face. It was …

“Queen Catalina!” said Wolf.

“No, you useless piece of glass!” Jezebel said, shaking the crystal ball with fury. “I said
Rune's
mother! Not Ileana's. This thing
is
broken.”

“It will be if you keep shaking it like that. Here, let me try,” I said, taking the crystal. “Who is my mother?”

Again the queen's face appeared. I sighed. Maybe it really was broken.

Princess Ileana took the crystal from me. “Who is
my
mother?” Queen Catalina's image remained in the crystal. “Okay. Who is my
father
?”

I waited for Ileana's father to appear. I'd only met King Vasile Nicolescu once last semester while I was on my Plot, so I wasn't sure I'd even remember his face. When the face did appear in the crystal, though, I
definitely
recognized it. And it wasn't the king. It was …

“Master Dreadthorn!” said Wolf.

“Can you do anything besides state the obvious, Wolf?” Jezebel asked irritably. Wolf's ears drooped.

“I think we've confused it,” said Ileana.

I took the crystal back from her. “Show me my father,” I said.

My dad's face remained. I could see he was chained in some kind of cell, but I couldn't tell where. Next to me, Ileana was muttering to herself.

“It's definitely broken,” said Jezebel.

“It's right half the time,” Wolf offered.

“Wait a second,” Ileana said. “It can't be!” She held out her hand for the crystal. I could see her trembling.

“What's wrong?” I asked as I handed it to her. She looked at me for a minute like she'd never seen me before. Then she cradled the crystal in both her hands.

“Show me my brother,” she said.