Chapter 31 - Forty Two Million Dollars

Art by NeverCatchMe 

The next day, shortly after I arrived at Ellen's castle, I heard a knock on the door. "I'll answer it," Vanessa said as she got off of the couch in the break room and headed downstairs.

"Vanessa, I'm not so sure that's a good idea," Percy said as he followed her. Out of sheer curiosity, I hopped off the couch as well and followed Percy and Vanessa downstairs.

The two of them bickered all the way down the staircase. When we reached the door, Percy pulled the door open, and our guest entered the castle.

"You know, I've always wondered about those creepy ghosts hanging around outside your castle," Declan said to Percy, ignoring Vanessa and I. "Is this castle haunted or something? You know that I have terrible luck with haunted places."

"Yes, you've mentioned that before," Percy said. "Jay put the souls of the damned there. Ellen said it had something to do with 'atmosphere.'"

"How did you get here so fast, Declan?" Vanessa asked. "We weren't expecting you until later today."

"Oh, hi there Vanessa," Declan said. "I didn't see you there. I used my space-time manipulation powers, obviously."

"He means super speed," Percy said.

"I know what he means," Vanessa said, clearly irritated.

"It's nice to see you again, Vanessa," Declan said. "We haven't talked very much lately."

"You and I both know exactly why that is," Vanessa said. "I want both you and Percy to remember that this meeting is purely professional. We'll just ask you a few quick questions, and then we'll send you on your way."

"That's too bad," Percy said. "I was really hoping that Declan could stay and watch the ending of The Fault In Our Stars with us. We never did finish that movie last night."

"I refuse to spend any more time with Declan than necessary," Vanessa said.

"That kind of hurts my feelings, Vanessa," Declan said.

Vanessa didn't respond. She paused for a few seconds and then said, "Can we please just get to work?"

"Just give me one more minute," Declan said. He quickly pecked Percy on the lips and then said, "I think I'm ready now."

Vanessa rolled her eyes and led the rest of us back upstairs as Declan looked around the castle in wonder. "Do you guys really have a personal chef?" he said at one point. "That's so cool. Once I get that raise that the Academy promised me, I should do that in my base."

It was those constant reminders that Declan was on the opposite side of the war between the Academy and the rest of us that drove me crazy. I didn't care about his pretentious comments or his obsessive need to open up his phone and see if he had any new emails or his continuous flirtations with Percy. Knowing that Declan was a superhero - one who flaunted his status as a superhuman, at that - made me nervous throughout the day.

We decided to meet in the break room, where Terry and Harper already were. "Is that a pool table?" Declan said excitedly as we entered the room.

"Yes," Vanessa said. "Can you please focus?" She sat down next to Terry and gave everyone a surly look.

"What's up with Vanessa?" Harper whispered to me after I sat down next to her.

"Declan's her ex-boyfriend, and he cheated on her with Percy," I said. "That's the short version of the story, at least."

"Why would Vanessa date Captain Fedora?" Harper asked.

"I told you that was the short version," I said. "I'll tell you the rest of it later."

"So why did you invite me here exactly?" Declan asked.

"We want to know where the Academy is," Percy said. "Do you know?"

"Of course I do," Declan said. "Once I turned eighteen, the Academy stopped erasing my memories of its location. That's what happens to all of the Academy graduates."

"Where is it then?" Percy said.

"I can't tell you," Declan said. "That would violate the Academy's security. They're relying on their superheroes to keep the Academy's location a secret. Why do you need to know anyways?" None of us were willing to answer that question. "I'm not telling you then," Declan said after several minutes of awkward silence.

Percy pulled out his notepad and the Reality Pen and began to write. All of a sudden, a huge pile of cash appeared in the break room. "Would this convince you?" Percy asked.

"How much money is that?" Declan asked.

"Forty two million dollars," Percy said. "That has to be more than what the Academy is paying you, right?"

"Yes, it is more than what the Academy is paying me," Declan said. He paused for a few minutes, thinking over his options. Bribery surely wasn't the right choice here, but maybe we would have to make some wrong choices if we wanted Declan to tell us where the Academy was.

Finally, Declan made his decision. "I'm not telling you anything," he said. "No amount of money could ever convince me to betray the Academy like that."

"I told you this wouldn't work," Terry said.

"So did I," Vanessa said.

"Let's just let Declan go," Terry said. "We'll have to find some other way to figure out where the Academy is."

"By tomorrow?" Percy said. "I doubt it. Mr. Russell only visits the Academy a few times a year, and Declan is our best shot at getting some information on the Academy."

"I don't think so," Vanessa said. "He just refused millions of dollars because he didn't want to betray the Academy. What else can we do?"

"Maybe you're right," Percy said. He sighed and picked up the Reality Pen again, and the pile of money was gone just as quickly as it had appeared.

"It's a shame," Terry said. "Declan, do you even know what the Academy has done to us? There's a reason why all of us want to destroy it."

"Of course you want to destroy the Academy," Declan said bitterly. "You're supervillains - I'm sure this is all that you ever wanted."

"We're not just doing this for fun," Terry said. "There are better ways to entertain ourselves."

"Like TV Tropes!" Percy interjected as he chomped on a Red Vine.

"Shut up, Percy," Vanessa said.

"Why are you doing it then?" Declan asked, seeming genuinely curious.

"I truly believe that San Urbano would be better off without the Academy," Terry said. "Maybe we can't destroy all of the Academies for the Research and Education of Superpowered Individuals, and maybe some of the other Academies are helping the superhuman community instead of hurting it, but our city would be better off without the Academy."

"I don't get it," Declan said. "The Academy's done nothing but help me. Isn't it the same for all of the other superhumans?"

"Not exactly," Terry said. "I was locked in Solitary Confinement for over a year because I happened to have three powers. They thought that I would overpower the teachers and other students if I was allowed to live and learn with everyone else."

"I had a similar experience," I said. "After the Academy found out what my superpowers were, they were afraid that I would steal someone else's soul, so they put me in Solitary Confinement."

"That's terrible, but it was for the other students' safety," Declan said.

"No, it wasn't," I said. "The Academy punished us just because our powers were different. They could have kept the other kids safe without locking us away."

"So the Academy was awful to you two," Declan said. "What about everyone else? What about all of those superheroes who would be out of a job if the Academy was gone? What about all of the normal people who would be in danger?"

"It's not just those two," Percy said. "I was only in the Academy for two weeks, but they put me in Solitary Confinement at the end of my stay there. It was one of the worst experiences of my life."

"The Academy treated me like a villain after I saved a child," Vanessa said. "They said that I should have gotten their approval first, even though I was helping normal people, exactly what the Academy claims to support."

"I watched the Academy kill someone," I added quietly.

"Wait, what?" Declan said. "I get that you're all fed up with the Academy, but I've never heard of them killing people."

"It was right after you got your superpowers," I said. "You were the intern who fell into that vat of hydroglosseide, weren't you? You weren't born with your powers like you say that you were."

"You're right," Declan said. "I used to be an intern at the Academy, but that kid is dead now. I'm Captain Fedora now."

Percy nudged him and said, "Stop being so pretentious."

"So what's your point, Jay?" Declan asked.

"The Academy threw a few of us superhumans into the same vat of hydroglosseide to test its effects," I said. "I survived, but my friend Dean died from it. The Academy knew that it was a dangerous experiment, but they did it anyways. We're all done being treated like lab rats, and that's not even mentioning what happened to my mother."

"What happened to your mother?" Declan asked.

"A team of superheroes from the Academy killed her," I said. "She did nothing wrong, but she refused to work with the Academy, so they murdered her in cold blood."

"The Academy is worse than I thought," Declan said.

"We don't need them to keep us safe," Vanessa said. "We superhumans are perfectly capable of organizing ourselves. Even if the Academy didn't exist, there would be enough of us fighting crime to keep the true supervillains in check."

"That's probably true," Declan admitted. "We do have a surplus of superheroes at the moment, but it's always good to have a team."

"The Academy murders innocents and makes children suffer," Terry argued. "We need to get rid of them, so I'll ask you one more time. Where is the Academy?"

Declan kept his mouth shut for a few more minutes, but he eventually said, "I need more time to think this over."

"That's fair," I said.

"Can I get back to you tomorrow?" Declan asked.

"Sure," I said.

"We don't have time for this!" Percy exclaimed. "Mr. Russell is visiting the Academy tomorrow!"

"We knew that this might happen, Percy," Vanessa said. "Honestly, I didn't think that we would even get this far. He is a superhero, after all."

"Did you need anything else from me?" Declan asked.

"No," Vanessa said before Percy could say anything to the contrary.

"Great," Declan said. "I'll head home then. Have a nice rest of your day." Declan ran out of the castle at super speed, leaving the five of us alone to wonder what to do next.

The next day, Declan approached me at work. "I think I've made up my mind about telling you where the Academy is," he said.

"What did you decide?" I asked.

"I can't believe that I'm saying this, but the Academy is in Southwest Square," Declan said, loud enough for the whole newsroom. "It's in that building on the corner of Rosemary Way and 6th Street."

"You didn't have to say that so loudly," I whispered to Declan.

"I don't care if the whole world knows that I'm Captain Fedora, Jay," Declan said. "I'm sick of hiding beneath all of these secret identities. Captain Fedora may be nothing more than a mask, but I'm not really a mild-mannered reporter either. If I'm going to betray the Academy, I might as well be myself for a little while."

Despite Declan's rant, most of the newsroom didn't seem to be paying any attention to us. Most of the other reporters were still glued to their computers as the two of us plotted like real supervillains. However, Vanessa noticed us and came over to talk to Declan and I.

"Declan, why don't you meet us at the castle after work?" Vanessa suggested. "We can go over the plan one more time, and then we'll go to the Academy from there."

"Sounds like a plan," Declan said.

As promised, Declan arrived at Ellen's castle shortly after work. He got there long before we did, and by the time we found Declan, Percy, Terry, and Harper talking about the attack in the break room, it was nearly six o'clock. Vanessa, in an attempt to avoid her ex-boyfriend, ran off to grab her crossbow, while I listened to the conversation.

"What do you mean you guys don't have real costumes?" Declan said, all dressed up in his purple and green suit and his black fedora.

"Jay stole my soul three years ago and I just got it back," Harper said. "I never had an opportunity to get a superhero costume."

"I've just never bothered," Percy said.

"If I'm going to a part of this team, we should do this like real superheroes," Declan said.

"We're plotting to undermine the largest organization of superheroes in the city," Percy reminded Declan.

"We should do this like real supervillains then," Declan said.

"Where are we going to get these costumes that you're suggesting?" Terry asked.

"There's a costume warehouse that the Academy uses," Declan said. "It has all kinds of costume items that we could use."

"Can you take us there?" Harper asked.

"Of course," Declan said. "We could even go now."

Declan ran to the castle gates at super speed, while the rest of us lagged behind. After some bickering, the other five members of the team decided that I should drive them to the warehouse. I reluctantly agreed to it, and Declan directed me to the warehouse while The Killers played on the radio.

I parked next to the warehouse, and Declan unlocked the door for us. Inside, there were shelves and racks filled with all kinds of clothing, accessories, and even a few more practical items, like weapons. It was all quite impressive.

Of course, my friends went wild in there. Vanessa picked out a stylish cape and high-heeled boots, while Percy personalized each of his costume items using the Reality Pen. Even Declan, who already had a costume, made all kinds of recommendations and dug through a box of masks, tossing a black domino mask at each of us.

I couldn't get into something as frivolous as costumes, but even I managed to find a sleek black costume, and I did decide to wear the domino mask that Declan had given me. It was a little bit strange that Declan was my teammate and not my enemy now, but the team needed him. We couldn't even find the Academy without Declan.

When everyone was finished, we walked out of the warehouse and returned to the car. As I started up the car, Declan started giving me directions to the Academy. At last, revenge for what the Academy had done to us was within reach.