Not Your Villain (Sidekick Squad #2)(75)

A surly looking man shoves past Bells and gives him an annoyed look.

“That’s Michael,” Tree Frog whispers loudly. “His powers make it difficult for him to sleep.”

Michael glares at them over his coffee. “Just because someone dreams entirely about donuts, which, as you can see, we do not have!”

Breakfast is instant oatmeal, coffee, and fruits, and, after watching people help themselves, Bells shrugs at his friends, who are hesitating in the doorway, and just dives in, grabbing a bowl and making his own plate.

Bells doesn’t recognize most of the people until they introduce themselves and their codenames, but finds himself immediately endeared to them. Plasmaman, a man Bells has impersonated a few times during combat training, keeps trying to hide behind his oatmeal and finally shyly introduces himself as Cass. Bells eats his oatmeal slowly, trying to keep track of names and codenames and follow the threads of conversations.

His parents are talking to Chloe, and Bells shakes his head, watching his dad gesture wildly. “Just think about it, if we clear the eastern cavern, we would have enough space for a few trees, and we have enough solartech already…”

Bells hasn’t seen the entire headquarters yet, but they passed some of the underground gardens. He wonders how much of that was already happening and how much was his parents’ idea. Bells smiles; he’s always been proud of his parents, but it’s cool to see them being recognized by this talented group of people, too.

“Uh, hi. My powers are… direction.” Jess sounds hesitant, glancing at Emma and then back at the two men standing with Li Hua. “Kind of useful, I guess.”

Emma laughs. “Kind of? Jess is amazing, okay. She can know where anything is, anytime.”

Jess frowns. “It kind of has its limits? I mean, I don’t know how far and if…”

Over by the heater, Bells spots Victor introducing Brendan; Abby and her mom are wrapped up in conversation by the fruit.

“So wonderful to meet your lovely daughter at last,” Cass says, shaking Abby’s hand. “Gena’s told us so much about you!”

Bells can’t hear the rest of the conversation, but he can tell Abby is uncomfortable from the way she’s ducking her head. He wonders how much Genevieve’s told the other meta-humans here about what happened at the base. She must have told them about Orion and the serum, if she updated the Guild about the current threats and dangers.

Abby’s arms are folded; she shakes her head and then stares into her oatmeal bowl as if it contains all the answers in the world.

“This is so cool,” Emma says, next to him. “I just met some of the most famous villains from all over the Collective.”

Bells chuckles. “Really? I mean, you’ve only known me, like, your whole life.”

Emma rolls her eyes. “Okay, but you’ve only become a famous villain recently. I mean, these guys are legends!”

Bells nods; he doesn’t know most of the villains’ stories as well as he does the exploits of Master Mischief and Mistress Mischief, but they all follow a similar vein of silly pranks and generally being a nuisance to the local hero or heroes by stealing various artifacts and then getting “caught” by their heroes.

“Ugh, this is so awkward; these guys know so many stories about me because my parents have been coming here for years,” Abby says, joining them. “I believe they always thought I would actually get to be seen as a hero, but…”

“You don’t need your powers for that,” Bells says.

“I guess.”

Bells hasn’t seen the most famous villain in the Collective—Dynamite, from New Bright City, who’s gone head-to-head with Captain Orion so many times, but who vanished from the news just about when the League denounced Orion as a villain. Supposedly he’s in Corrections, but Bells has long since learned that who the League claims to be where isn’t necessarily true.

“Is Dynamite here?” Bells asks. According to the press, Dynamite is the Commander of the United Villain’s Guild, but Bells can’t imagine the man who threatened to actually hurt people with his powers eating breakfast with them.

“Oh, no,” Genevieve says. “He’s the only one of us who actually enjoys his role as the League’s lapdog. Thinks our little club is just for ‘whiners.’ He took his role as ‘villain’ too seriously.”

Tree Frog nods. “Yeah, no one’s supposed to get hurt.”

“The actual United Villain’s Guild—as you’ve seen—is our network. More of a support group,” Genevieve says. “We’ve welcomed Shockwave and Smasher, of course, now that they’re in the know, and they’ve been a great help, your parents, too, in getting meta-humans to safety.”

Bells nods. Right. Captain Orion’s experiments. He cracks his knuckles and he can see Abby set her jaw. Jess’ eyes are lighting up, and Emma is standing taller.

“Oh, yes, now that we’re all here,” Genevieve taps her coffee cup with a spoon.

“We’re here to welcome some new people to our headquarters in these trying times. If you haven’t already introduced yourself, feel free to greet our new guests.” She turns to the teenagers. “You can use your name or codename if you like. You’ll find we’re a mix, some people prefer only a codename or are comfortable with either.”