Ditto Ditto by R.J. Ross

him a bit blankly as he heads up to the panel, pressing his hand against it and heading inside.  He never even looked at the blonde, did he?  “This is the first time they’ve actually been this far apart,” Trent says, draping his arm over my shoulders.  “He’s taking it a bit hard, not that he’ll ever admit it.”
    “Now we’ll just scan you and get your stats put into the computer,” I hear Nico say.  I glance over to where he’s standing in front of Keliah with his phone in his hands.  She’s staring over at me, a dark expression on her face.  Trent looks at her, and then looks at me, frowning slightly.
    “How, exactly, did you make an enemy when she’s not even been to the school before?” he asks me silently.
    “She was at the pool, remember?” I whisper back.  “She’s annoying.”
    “She’s also Falconess’s daughter, right?” he asks as we get in line to go into school.  Nico’s taken over the panel, showing Keliah and Falconess how to get inside.  I’m stuck behind Zoe, who promptly turns around and joins the conversation.
    “So why are you being so over-protective of Jack, anyway?” she whispers to me.
    I turn bright red as Trent looks at me.  “So that’s what you were doing?” he asks.
    “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I say, lying through my teeth.
    “You were practically bearing your teeth,” Zoe says.
    “Because--“ I start out, reluctantly about to explain.  Thankfully Max decides to show up for school about that time, wearing his mask and a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.  He lands (still one of the very few that can actually fly) next to Zoe, looking at me and Trent curiously.
    “Am I missing a vital plot point?” he asks.
    “You spend way too much time acting as a super villain, man,” Trent says dryly.
    “Sorry, yeah, I was working last night,” Max admits, yawning loudly.  He looks around.  “Who’s the blonde?” he asks, not bothering to lower his voice as he tugs off his mask.
    “Falconess’s daughter,” I say.  “The bigger blonde is Falconess.”
    “She’s going to be tutoring Em,” Trent says.
    “Huh,” Max says, frowning slightly.  I look over at Trent, curiously.
    “If he was working last night, were you?” I ask him.
    “Nah, he’s been setting up a massive scheme for a while now,” Trent says.  “It takes a lot of ground work--heroes don’t have to bother with that part of the job unless they’re the thinking type and go up against the clue leaving villains.”
    “There are clue leaving villains?” I ask, looking over at Max.
    “It’s an old style, but it’s got some charm,” he admits, shrugging.  “Or for the more difficult to deal with villains it can set up a nice running plot--I bet they’ll teach Ace some of those skills sooner or later.  Panther’s an expert at it.  Then again, Panther’s an expert at all the classics.”
    “Fanboy,” Trent drawls.
    “When a guy is that good at what he does, you gotta admire it,” Max says, pulling out his wallet and showing his Panther fan club card with pride.
    “Papa will appreciate the fact,” Adanna says as she heads for our group, a sleepy looking Sunny in tow.  “He’s quite fond of your work, as well, Max.”
    “Yeah?  Then what was that crack about at the Mega movie?” Max asks, earning a wicked smile from the beautiful black girl.
    “Oh, he’s fond of it, but he’s also territorial.  It’s nothing personal, of course,” she says, waving a hand, “but you’ll still be dealing with him soon.”
    “Can super villains take out other super villains?” I ask.  “I mean, according to Hall rules?”
    “Sure,” Max says, “under rivalry rules.  So far, though, I’ve not run into a villain that takes it seriously.  There are usually too many heroes to juggle to bother with the competition.”
    “It was nice knowing you,” Trent says, placing a hand on Max’s shoulder with a fake look of sympathy.  Max shoves the hand