Free Sunny Daze by R.J. Ross Page A

blankly.  “What--”
    “Retired supers.  I’ve got an entire faculty of them, remember?  They reach a certain age and decide to hang up the cape, settle down with either each other or a much younger norm, and set up shop in the real world.  It turns out that Superior knows several of them.”
    “I see…  I wish you good luck in your search, Nico,” Pan says, leaning back slightly and watching with amusement as Cubby rides on Sunny’s shoulders, chatting happily about cartoons.
    “Now tell me how Sunny’s doing.  His mother and grandmother have been bugging me about it since the moment he left.”
    “Every single one of the boys has gone to see him since the base building happened.  They’re scoping out the biggest competition but he’s completely oblivious,” Pan says.  “My son has already set up a massive defense system in the tree they’re sharing--Cubby loves him almost enough to make me jealous.”  He smiles slightly as Nico lets out a laugh.
    “They do realize Sunny’s not going to be a super villain, don’t they?” Nico asks.
    “Sure they do, but that won’t stop him from playing the game I--” Pan stops, turning and frowning as he looks towards the west.  “There are people in the forest,” he says quietly, “two… three of them.  I didn’t hear them arrive.”
    “Really,” Nico says, “that’s interesting.”
    “That’s what I was thinking, as well,” Pan agrees.  “I’ll get back to you soon.  Tell your ladies not to worry, Sunny will be perfectly fine.  It’s the others that will have the most difficulty.”
    “Why’s that?”
    “They know each others’ weaknesses.  Sunny has only his lack of confidence going against him.”
    “That’s exploitable, too,” Nico admits.  “Bye, Pan.”
    “Goodbye, Nico.”  Pan closes the phone as he crosses the forest silently, staying in the shadows of the trees as he spies on the ground.  There are two children and a rather large man in the middle of the forest with no form of transportation.
    Just what is going on here?
     

CHAPTER FOUR
    “So where’s lunch?” Jack asks as they all reach the RV at the same time.  There’s no sign of Pan.  I even head to the RV, peeking in.  “I’m starving.”
    “He’s not here,” I say with a shrug.  “I’ll go raid the fridge for some hotdogs, you guys set up the fire.”
    “Sounds good,” Max says, although there’s a strange look on his face as he looks around.  “I guess I should be collecting wood, huh?”
    I head inside, looking around one more time before heading to the fridge to dig out lunch supplies.  Soon Pan’s absence is completely forgotten as we cook our hotdogs.  At least it is until he walks into the campsite, frowning thoughtfully.  “You’ve already started?” he asks us.
    “We were hungry,” Jack says.
    “True, it’s past lunch time.”  And that’s all he says as he gets his own dog and starts to cook it.  I can’t help but feel a little confused by this reaction.  Something’s not right.
    “So where were you?” I ask as casually as I can manage.
    He hesitates for a moment before speaking.  “There are norms in the forest.  I’m not sure if they’re camping, or what, but I suggest you try to avoid them.”
    “Who?” Max asks.
    “Two twin boys about twelve and an older man.”
    “Twins?” I repeat.  “I’d like to meet them.”
    “We’re avoiding norms, remember?” Ace says.  “That means no introductions.”
    Max is frowning slightly, and I can tell he’s thinking.  This time I don’t bother to ask.  Look, I know I should avoid norms, but I’m not like the other guys.  They won’t recognize me as being a super, right?  And I’ve always wanted to meet another pair of twins!
    I should probably change my shirt if I plan on going to look for them, huh?  Then again, this is the second day I’ve worn this shirt, I should probably change it regardless.  In fact, now that I think about it, I could