Not Your Villain (Sidekick Squad #2)(47)

Carlos brightens as he spots her, and Emma jumps at him and hugs him round the neck. He laughs and picks her up, spins her around, and whispers something in her ear.

From: Emma 3:23 pm

!!! he wants me to meet his parents

From: Emma: 3:24 pm

i’ll see you guys later at abby’s?

To: Emma 3:34pm

NO WORRIES. HAVE FUN





Ch. 9...





The makeshift gym at Abby’s home is much smaller than the gym at the training center. There are two treadmills, a set of free weights, padded mats, a pull-up bar bolted into the ceiling, barbells, and several machines Bells doesn’t have names for.

“Cool, did you build all this?” he asks, tracing his fingers over a leg press.

“Yeah!” A smudge of grease on her forehead, Abby stands next to her work. “It’s not a lot of tech, but you guys wanted to train, and…”

“It looks great, Abby,” Jess says. She ties and re-ties her ponytail. “I don’t know about this, you guys. I know that you said we should train, but I thought I’d be practicing my powers? I really, really think I can almost tell how far away something is.”

“That’s good,” Abby says. “But we need to be in shape, be prepared for the worst that could happen. What happens if we meet Captain Orion again and the only thing between us and being captured is how fast we can go?”

Bells nods. Part of Meta-Human Training is general physical fitness. They have high standards; everyone must be able to hold their own in a physical fight.

“All right, I’m ready!” Brendan bounces into the room and puts his hands on his hips. He’s wearing a bright yellow T-shirt and shorts and a matching headband. “Okay, Bells, what’s first?” He struggles to pick up a dumbbell.

“Uh, let’s start small.” Bells takes the weight and puts it back down.

Jess has a lot questions about what type of exercise is most efficient, and then Brendan wants a snack, and then Abby’s MonRobots make grilled cheese sandwiches, and then they eat, and then there’s a discussion about exercising after eating.

Abby glances at her security feed to see a lone car coming through the canyon. “Hey, that’s Emma. Didn’t you say she was busy?”

“I said she’d be late,” Bells says.

A door opens and shuts. “Helllooo, where are you guys?” Emma calls out, and then throws open the door to the gym. She’s wearing her old volleyball uniform and her hair is tied up in a ponytail.

Bells asks, “What happened to meeting the parents?”

“We did that! It was great! And now I’m here. Let’s get to work!” She strides to the mirrored, cushioned floor area and reaches for her toes.

“Good idea, Emma,” Abby says. “Jess, this is our warm-up for every volleyball practice. It’s very straightforward.”

The energy in the room changes now that there’s direction. Some of the stretches are a little different from what he’s done before, but Bells follows along, stretching his arms, then dropping into a lunge.

“Nooo, I don’t like it,” Jess says, still stuck in the first stretch. “I can’t touch my toes.”

“Flexibility gets better the more you practice,” Abby says, grinning. “It’s a good start. Come on, do this one.”

Jess grumbles but lets Abby guide her through it.

Brendan’s DED chimes. “Oh, hey! This is great! I’m going to follow up on this!” he gives them a thumbs up and darts out of the room.

“He find something?” Jess asks. “Your dad?”

“Maybe. Or the so-called Resistance. Whatever it is, he’s gonna need to decode it,” Abby says.

“Partner stretches! Come on, Bells.” Emma wiggles her toes, and Bells mirrors her, props up his feet next to hers, and extends his arms. They link hands and pull, stretching forward.

Next to them, Bells is pretty sure Jess and Abby are just holding hands.

“All right, we worked out,” Jess says. “Let’s do something else?”

“Nope. That was stretching. Now it’s exercise time!” Abby leads them to a station with plenty of weights. “All right, I can show you a few things to help strengthen your core and…”

“Oh, I know this one!” Emma says, starting a few reps.

Bells does too; he’s got his own routine. Simon likes to lift weights, and there’s a set at home. “I’ve got a plan I’m used to,” he says.

“Okay, good,” Abby says, nodding at them. “That’s a relief. I think Jess needs like, step-by-step instruction.”

Jess is standing by the weights, holding a pair of five pound weights, and just staring at the wall.

“I do!” she calls out.

Emma glances at Bells, and they share a laugh. Jess is the least athletic of the three of them; she never liked sports.

Bells does a few reps and talks with Emma and then switches to the treadmill. Emma does squats until she joins him on the other treadmill.

They run in companionable silence and watch Jess and Abby.

“No, it hurt; my arms, they’re, like, screaming at me to stop—”

“Come on, Jess. You did two; do one more. You got this—”