A Whateley Academy Story

Brief Glimpses 3

By Morpheus

 

This is a collection of vignettes which focuses on various background and supporting characters, giving a brief glimpse into each of their lives.

 

When it Rains it Pours

Whateley Academy, Thursday Dec 20^th, 2007

“Do you have it?” Emily Tran asked, ignoring the rain that drizzled on her, in spite of the fact that she was currently inside the tunnels and out of the weather.

Emily cautiously glanced down the tunnel in both directions, making sure that nobody had followed her. Her friends and dormmates in Poe always kept a close eye on her and rarely ever let her out of their sight. She could always count on someone being there, watching her and making sure she was doing all right. And while that could be reassuring, there were also times when it was a serious problem.

It hadn’t been easy for Emily to arrange this meeting, nor for her to sneak out of Poe without any of her minders catching her. She didn’t want to waste this opportunity by letting any of her well-meaning friends catch her now.

“Yeah, I’ve got it,” Bunsen said as he made his own nervous glances at their surroundings.

Bunsen was one of the shorter boys on campus, though still taller than Emily herself. His head was not quite bald, having a heavy coating of stubble. He also happened to be a dealer and one of the main suppliers on campus for the Dylans. At the moment, he was wrapped up in a large coat which protected him from the cold outside and the rain inside. The rain that Emily had brought with her.

Emily spared a glance overhead, where a dark cloud settled up along the roof of the ceiling, courtesy of her powers. It rained on her, just as it always did. Most people complained about her personal rain cloud, though Emily rarely had the energy to care about it.

“This will make you feel good,” Bunsen said as he handed her a small package. “I guarantee it.”

“Okay,” Emily responded quietly.

She quickly tucked the package into her coat, then turned and started making her way back to Poe. Her friends would be looking for her soon and she didn’t want to make them worry too much. She made them worry about her far too much as it was.

When Emily reached her cottage, she found several other Poesies were gathered around near the entrance, excitedly talking about their plans for Christmas vacation. They all seemed excited and happy, though Emily couldn’t quite relate. She wasn’t even sure that she even remembered what those things felt like.

“And I was thinking of starting a training team or something,” Iron Rose said as she talked to Hippolyta. “All members of the sisterhood…and all good at fighting.”

“That could be interesting,” Hippolyta responded with an approving nod.

Iron Rose grinned at the older girl. “I was thinking, we could call ourselves the Valkyrie.”

“Good name,” Hippolyta replied. “But we already have a girl named Valkyrie on campus, so it could get confusing.” Then she grinned and added, “But I can think of a good alternative…”

Then the two of them paused as they saw Emily trying to quietly move past. “Hey, Downpour,” Rose greeted her. “How are you today?”

“I’m fine,” Emily answered quietly. She resisted the urge to pat her pocket and the package that was hidden inside while hoping that one day, those words might actually be true.

Home

Home Montanna, Sunday Dec 23^rd, 2007

“This place is so strange,” Darqueheart commented as she looked around the town of Home from where she stood on the sidewalk. “Norman Rockwell meets Frank Kafka.”

On the surface, Home looked like an old-fashioned small town, the kind that didn’t really exist anymore…if they ever really did outside of nostalgic memories. There were only a couple dozen buildings in town, at most, and all of them looked nice and quaint, as if they’d been decorated to fit the style of a Norman Rockwell painting. And then, just to throw things off, people with GSD were walking around out in the open.

“Hello, Sapphire,” a seven-foot-tall tree woman called out, waving to Sapphire who stood beside Darqueheart.

“Hello, Mrs. Henderson,” Sapphire responded with a wave. Then once the tree woman had continued on her way, Sapphire explained, “Mrs. Henderson runs the gardens that grow most of our vegetables.”

“I assume she has some kind of plant power,” Darqueheart said curiously.

Sapphire nodded. “Yes. She grows plants.”

Darqueheart took another look at her surroundings and was once again reminded of Whateley. The public part of Home was this quaint little town, but most of the actual town was hidden underground. Visitors and outsiders rarely got to see the real town or the people who really lived there. It was just like the school, with the tunnel system and the red flag days.

“I wonder if this place was inspired by Whateley,” Darqueheart mused aloud. She wouldn’t have been surprised since some of the founders had probably gone to Whateley.

“I don’t know,” Sapphire answered the rhetorical question, pulling her blue scale cloak around her. “But we do have tunnels here, so…maybe?”

Darqueheart nodded at that, then abruptly said, “We should probably go back inside. It’s pretty cold out here, and not all of us are exemplars.”

A minute later, they went into an alleyway and descended the stairs into the tunnels below. Darqueheart had been here for a couple days already, and she was still surprised by how large and spacious the tunnels and caverns were. Unlike with the tunnels at school, she didn’t feel claustrophobic in the least.

It didn’t take long before they were back in Sapphire’s family home, where Darqueheart had been staying as a guest for the holidays. Sapphire’s sisters, three cute little snake girls immediately surrounded them.

“Hi, Darqueheart,” Ruby exclaimed excitedly.

“Hi, Sapphire,” Opal added.

Then as one, all three of the little snake girls demanded, “Did you bring us any treats?”

“We were only gone for an hour,” Sapphire told her siblings with a sigh.

Darqueheart fought back a smile and failed. “Well, we did find THESE…”

She held out her hand, revealing the candies that she and Sapphire had bought at the store. The three little girls snatched the treats up in an instant and were gone before Darqueheart could blink.

“Are they speedsters?” Darqueheart asked her friend.

“That would be terrifying,” Sapphire agreed with a visible shudder. “Fortunately, none of them have manifested yet.”

“Yet,” a new voice announced with an exasperated sigh.

Darqueheart looked up to see Sapphire’s mom slithering into the room. Ebon Scale was an enormous snake woman, with black scales and a tail that had to be forty feet long. The woman would have been absolutely terrifying if she hadn’t been so nice.

“Those three are enough of a handful as it is,” Ebon said with a shake of her head. “They’re always getting under tail, so I can’t imagine how much worse they might get when they manifest.”

“At least they have Sapphire as a role model,” Darqueheart offered, only to have Ebon laugh.

“My little Sapphire was every bit as energetic when she was their age,” the large snake woman said with an amused look. “You should have seen the time she decided she was an anaconda, and tried to wrap around nearly everyone in town. Most of the time, she could only wrap around their legs or tails.” She swished her own tail for emphasis.

“Mother,” Sapphire protested with a look of horror.

“Oh really?” Darqueheart asked with an evil grin. “Tell me more.”

“Don’t you dare,” Sapphire hissed.

Sapphire’s mother seemed even more amused by that reaction. “Fear not, I will keep your secrets…for now. However, I reserve the right to share the story should you bring home a romantic suitor.”

Sapphire nearly choked at that while Darqueheart burst out laughing. “At least she gave you warning.”

“Yes,” Sapphire agreed. “I will not bring any boyfriend home. Ever.”

“Monkeywrench will really miss out,” Darqueheart commented, only to see Sapphire blush.

“What about you and Chris?” Sapphire quickly demanded before her mother could jump on that comment. “Aren’t you a couple now?”

“I’m not quite sure what we are yet,” Darqueheart admitted, knowing that if it hadn’t been for her black skin, she would have been blushing furiously. “We’re still…figuring things out.”

“This all sounds quite interesting,” Ebon said, giving the girls a look that suggested she was a predator about to strike upon a juicy morsel. “But first, I will get us some treats of our own…”

A short time later, Darqueheart had a mug of hot cocoa in her hand and a plate full of cookies in front of her. Ebon Scale was coiled up nearby, looking quite happy. Darqueheart smiled at that, pleased to see that even someone as scary looking at Sapphire’s mom could have a nice family and a somewhat normal home life. That gave Darqueheart hope for her own future.

Dinner Conversation

Chicago Il, Monday evening Dec 24^th, 2007

“Can you please pass the potatoes,” Edward Garrett asked.

The teenage boy looked around the dinner table, which was currently packed with his extended family members. The annual Christmas Eve party was always an important affair, and everyone was dressed-up because of it.

Edward adjusted the sleeve of his jacket, trying not to think about how uncomfortable his suit and tie were. None of his old clothes fit quite right anymore, not since he’d manifested. However, he didn’t want to ruin everyone’s fun or come across as whining so he just smiled and pretended that everything was perfectly fine.

“Here you go,” Uncle Roger announced as he set the bowl of potatoes in an empty space on the table between them.

“Thank you,” Edward told his uncle.

While Edward scooped some potatoes onto his plate, his uncle gave him a curious look. “I hear that boarding school of yours has quite an extensive curriculum,” Uncle Roger finally said. “Do they have any classes on law?”

“A couple,” Edward answered with a polite smile. “And last month, we even had an MCO agent show up on campus to give a seminar on our legal rights and responsibilities in regards to the MCO.”

Uncle Roger blinked at that. “That is…surprising.”

“Indeed, it is,” Aunt Maggie said from the other side of Uncle Roger. “I wouldn’t imagine such an organization would be welcomed at that school.”

“It was surprising,” Edward admitted with a faint chuckle.

“Well, that does sound useful though,” Uncle Roger continued pleasantly. “The road to becoming a lawyer is a long one, so it pays to start your education early.”

Edward gave his uncle a polite smile at that, then carefully said, “I’m afraid that I’ve chosen a somewhat different career path.”

“Oh?” Uncle Roger responded with a note of disapproval in his voice. “Your father will be horribly disappointed if you don’t follow in his footsteps. You know how much he wants you to join his practice.”

“I’m afraid that my talents lay elsewhere,” Edward explained, keeping a polite smile on his face as he did so. “These days, I’m focused on a career in engineering.”

“Engineering?” Uncle Roger repeated in surprise.

“Chemical engineering, to be specific,” Edward continued with a sincere grin as he got into the subject. “I’ve already developed an industrial grade lubricant that works better than anything on the market, and it’s completely biodegradable. In fact, it breaks down completely just a short time after being exposed to air, making environmental cleanup fast, easy, and inexpensive.”

Uncle Roger nodded at that, only looking interested once Edward had said ‘fast, easy, and inexpensive.’ “I see…”

Edward nodded as well, keeping his enthusiasm for the subject contained as he focused on the elements that his uncle would care about. “Once I work out how to scale up production, I’m confident that my lubricant will become quite profitable.”

“Profitability is important,” Uncle Roger agreed with thoughtful look. “Just make sure you patent everything.”

“Oh, that won’t be a concern,” Edward assured his uncle. “My lubricant is completely proprietary and can’t be replicated by anyone else. I’ll have a monopoly on supply.”

Uncle Roger’s eyes widened a little. “Very good. Let me know when you’re ready to set up your business and licensing. I can help.”

“For a fee,” Edward pointed out, knowing his uncle quite well.

“Of course,” Uncle Roger agreed pleasantly.

“Starting a business won’t be easy,” Aunt Maggie warned. “Especially not with your disability.”

“It isn’t a disability,” Edward responded with a forced smile. “It’s GSD, and not really any different than Aunt Maya’s wonky eye.”

Aunt Maggie stiffened at that. “You know how sensitive Maya is about her eye…”

“Of course,” Edward replied, allowing a little wryness to slip into his tone as he gently called out Aunt Maggie’s hypocrisy. “I’d never be rude enough to say anything about it to her.”

Several hours later, the party was over and everyone else had gone home. Edward let out a sigh of relief, thankful to be away from his extended family. His aunts, uncles, and cousins were always stressful to deal with, and that had only become more true since he’d manifested. Sure, they were usually polite, but polite didn’t always mean kind or friendly.

Edward closed the door to his bedroom and immediately took off his jacket and tie. “I can finally get out of this monkey suit,” he exclaimed as he casually tossed his tie across the room. “And it isn’t even the fun kind.”

A few seconds later, the dress shirt was tossed aside as well, revealing the t-shirt that Edward had been wearing underneath for the entire party. The front of the t-shirt had the logo for the band Brass Monkey. Edward didn’t really care for their music, though he definitely liked the logo on the shirt. It was a picture of a metal monkey holding a guitar in his hands while his tail was wrapped around a grenade.

“I can’t wait to get back to school,” Edward said with a deep sigh while scratching his furry arm. “Where I can really be myself again.”

When it Rains it Pours 2

Vancouver Wa, Tuesday morning Dec 25^th, 2007

“Merry Christmas,” Emily’s mom exclaimed.

It was late Christmas morning and the entire family was gathered around the tree, ready to open presents. Emily gave her presents a blank look, not feeling any real desire to open them. The whole thing just felt overwhelmingly pointless. Most things did.

While Emily sat back, her parents and older brother Tommy eagerly opened their own presents. Her grandmother, however, sat back as well, complaining the entire time in Vietnamese, as she often did. And while her grandmother could speak English, she rarely bothered to do so, more out of stubbornness than for any other reason. Emily could actually appreciate that.

“Come on Emily,” Tommy urged her impatiently. “Open your presents.”

Emily gave her brother a flat look, then slowly turned to her presents. She didn’t feel any enthusiasm as she opened them. Socks. Pants. A necklace that she would never wear. None of it mattered.

“I felt a rain drop,” Emily’s dad said, quickly giving Emily a worried look.

Emily looked overhead and saw the whisps of a cloud starting to form along the ceiling, threatening to turn into her usual rain cloud. With a little concentration, the cloud faded away, or more accurately, was pushed away. She knew that the cloud was still present, just higher up, floating over the house rather than inside of it.

“Do you think you could at least keep it in theme?” Tommy teased her. “I mean, at least make it snow in here instead of rain.”

“Thomas Tran,” Emily’s mom stated, making her brother deflate a little. “Leave Emily alone. You know she’s trying.”

“I know,” he muttered in response, though he still gave Emily a look of resentment.

Emily wasn’t bothered by her brother’s attitude. She was familiar with it. She expected it. He’d never quite forgiven her for the accident after she first manifested, when she made it rain heavily in the house and had accidentally destroyed some of his belongings.

At Whateley, Emily had learned to control her powers to a degree, enough so that she could push the cloud away when she bothered to do so. That was why she was able to stay in Poe instead of being assigned to Hawthorne. That was why she was able to stay in a room with Breakdown rather than in some sealed up swimming pool.

“I have a buche de noel ready for dinner,” Emily’s mom announced. “It will go well after the hot pot and roast duck.”

While everyone else began to talk about their plans for dinner, Emily absently touched her pocket and the lump she felt inside. She’d bought this from Bunsen before leaving the school, but she hadn’t actually used it yet. It just hadn’t felt important.

Emily slowly stood up and walked to the door, pausing long enough to grab a rain jacket. Then she stepped outside, only to immediately feel the rain pouring down on her. She didn’t react to the familiar rain. Instead, she walked out into the middle of the yard and then just stopped and stood there.

The weather was gray and overcast, but there was a much lower cloud, one that was directly over her head. This was the one generated by her power, the one that continued to rain on her and which had earned her the codename of Downpour.

After some time, Emily finally reached into her pocket and pulled out the package. She opened it up and dropped a round pill into the palm of her hand. Without even bothering to look at it, she swallowed the pill.

“Anything to end this,” Emily whispered to herself. “I don’t want to do this anymore.”

The drug hit far more quickly than Emily would have expected, and she felt the effects almost immediately. She gasped at the strange feeling that flooded through her brain. Her heart raced in her chest. And until that moment, she’d been almost certain that the drug wouldn’t really do anything.

Emily noticed the rain abruptly stop, and she looked up at the ever-present cloud that floated overhead. As she watched, the cloud broke apart and faded away, vanishing into the mist it had come from. She gasped at the sight, then turned her attention to the clouds even further away, the natural ones. To her surprise, even those clouds began to move.

Tears began to pour down Emily’s cheeks as she stared at the sight above. She couldn’t quite comprehend was she was seeing…what she was feeling.

“EMILY!” her mom exclaimed as the woman ran across the yard and put her hands on Emily’s shoulders. “Emily,” she asked in a worried voice, the same worried voice she always used with Emily. “What’s wrong? Are you all right?”

Emily stared down at the pill bottle in her hand and at the label that was printed out on the front.

ANTIDEPRESSENTS- DEVISOR GRADE

-FOR USE BY REGENERATORS, EXEMPLARS, AND MUTANTS RESISTANT TO NORMAL DRUGS

-DIRECTIONS: TAKE ONE PILL BY MOUTH EVERY TWELVE HOURS.

“I...” Emily whispered as tears of relief and awe continued to run. “I can see the sun.”

Side Effects

Columbus Oh, Saturday Dec 29^th, 2007

“Your hair looks awesome,” Traci stated.

Lina Samhurst blushed at that and ran a hand through her hair, which was shoulder length, brushed back, and most importantly, was bright blue with heavy green and purple highlights.

“Thank you,” Lina responded. “It’s a side effect of my power.”

Traci blinked and stared at Lina for a moment, looking almost as though she’d never seen Lina before. Of course, that wasn’t true since they’d been friends for years, though admittedly, this was only the second time that Traci had seen her since her powers manifested.

“Your powers give you cool hair?” Traci finally asked.

Lina smirked at that and wryly said, “Among other things.”

Traci blinked again. “Well, your hair is pretty awesome… Most people would have to pay a fortune to get their hair done like that.” Then Tina added, “You said that your hair is a side effect, so… What exactly is your power?”

“That…is a little difficult to explain,” Lina answered with a frown.

With that, Lina leaned back in her chair and looked around the room as she considered how to answer. This room wasn’t familiar to her, so every detail was something new. She could have easily gotten distracted just by looking around.

“Your new house is pretty nice,” Lina told Traci as she tried changing the subject. This was the first time she’d seen Traci’s new house since their family had moved. “And I really like this game room. It’s got a lot of room.”

“It is kind of cool,” Traci admitted. “I mean, at least having a game room like this is. Deacon wants to decorate it all up like some kind of castle or dungeon so he and his friends can make it their D&D room.”

“It would probably be a good space for that,” Lina agreed. “But kind of a waste too. There are so many other things you could do with this space, like, making it a private movie theater.”

“Awesome,” Traci said with a nod of agreement. “But now that you’ve changed the subject, maybe you can go back and answer my question. What kind of powers do you have?”

Lina let out a sigh, disappointed that her ploy hadn’t worked. “They’re not very impressive,” she finally admitted. “Basically, I’m just an avatar.”

“What does that mean?” Traci asked.

“Let’s see,” Lina mused as she ran a hand through her hair. “It’s sort of like being possessed…but not. Avatars can sort of bond with different kinds of spirits, and those spirits can give us powers. In my case, my spirit is a peacock, and my powers are mostly useless. And they come with a few side effects.”

Since Lina knew that Traci was going to ask about those powers, she stood up and moved across the room. Then with a well-practiced twitch of will, she activated her powers. An illusion of a giant peacock tail formed behind her, looking impressive but not doing much more than that. Traci’s eyes were locked on Lina, unable to look away even if she could think about doing so.

“That’s my power,” Lina said as she deactivated her power and let the peacock tail fade. “I can sort of make people want to stare at me.”

Traci giggled at that. “You’ve got a taunt. Like some tank in a game.”

“Something like that,” Lina agreed with a sigh. She’d heard that comparison before.

“And what about the other side effects?” Traci asked with a grin. “I mean, besides your hair. You said you had a couple.”

Lina nearly rolled her eyes. Traci often came across like some kind of bimbo cheerleader, but she was actually pretty sharp and could be hard to distract.

“I get these…urges,” Lina reluctantly admitted. “I get these urges to show off and get attention. Fortunately, they’re not too strong and I know other avatars with way worse side effects.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad,” Traci mused thoughtfully before flashing Lina a grin. “Unless you happen to be shy.”

“Yeah,” Lina agreed, hoping that Traci didn’t ask about any other side effects. The side effects that she hadn’t mentioned were the ones that she did NOT want to talk about. “It’s pretty annoying for an introvert.”

Just then, three boys burst into the game room, each of them raising their voices as they competed to talk over each other. Lina immediately recognized Traci’s older brother Deacon, and she assumed that the other two boys had to be his friends. All three of them appeared to be around fifteen or sixteen.

“Hey,” Deacon exclaimed upon seeing them. “We’ve got the room now.”

“Ladies,” one of the two other boys exclaimed. He had dark hair and an obnoxious smirk. “Or you can stay and keep us company.”

The third boy, who had blonde hair, elbowed the dark haired one. “I’ll take the one with the weird hair.”

“Okay then,” the dark haired one said. “I’ll take…”

“That is my SISTER, Jack,” Deacon pointedly reminded his friends.

“Come on, Eddie,” the dark haired boy, Jack urged the blond one. “We need to impress the girls while we can.”

Then before anyone seemed to realize it, Jack pulled his pants down and revealed his penis. “It’s pretty big… You won’t find anyone in school bigger than me.”

Traci gasped. “Hey…”

“Hey,” Eddie protested, quickly getting in on the act and pulling his own pants down to flash them as well.

Deacon stepped in front of them to block them from Traci’s sight. “Cut that out,” Deacon exclaimed. “Try that with some other girl, but leave my sister alone.” He glared angrily at his friends.

Lina was shocked by their behavior, and even more so when she felt her avatar given urges begin to stir. Sometimes, those urges were nice and quiet for a good period of time, and at other times, they liked to act up. Unfortunately, this was one of the latter times.

Before Lina was fully aware of what she was doing, she was already standing up and pulling down her own pants. “If you guys want to have a dick measuring contest, I want to join in too…”

The three boys all turned to stare at Lina and her now exposed penis, their mouths dropping open in shock. Traci actually moved over so that she could see as well, and she let out a loud gasp.

“I think I win,” Lina announced with a smug grin. She was noticeably bigger than either of the exposed boys. “Yeah, I definitely win this one…”

“What the hell?” Deacon blurted out.

“No way,” Jack exclaimed. “She’s got a dick and it’s bigger than mine…”

Eddie quickly pulled his pants back up. “Is she a boy?”

“No way,” Jack protested, looking at Lina’s chest. “It’s obviously some kind of fake…”

“She’s pranking us,” Deacon agreed with a look of simultaneous relief and annoyance.

The three boys were obviously embarrassed about the situation and quickly hurried out of the room, muttering more excuses. Lina just pulled her pants back up and collapsed on the nearest chair, turning bright red as she did so.

“I am SO embarrassed,” she cried out.

Traci stood there, hands on her hips as she stared at Lina. “What in the world was THAT?”

Lina hesitated a moment before sighing in defeat. “Another side effect.”

“Another side effect?” Traci asked blankly. “But that was… You’ve got a…” She paused, turning just as red as Lina.

“My spirit is a peacock,” Lina explained with a wince. “Not a peahen. It’s a boy, so he gives me boy parts and makes it so that I like girls now.”

“No way,” Traci gasped.

Lina nodded sadly, too embarrassed to look at her friend. “Side effects.”

She took a deep breath, bracing for the worst. Diedre, who’d once been an even closer friend than Traci, had totally freaked out when she found out about Lina’s extra bits. Years of friendship had ended in an instant.

“Well, I’m not into girls,” Traci said as she sat down next to Lina. “Or even girls with boy parts…”

“Understandable,” Lina responded with a weak chuckle. She was a little stunned by how well Traci was taking this. “And besides, I already have someone I like back at school.”

“Okay,” Traci said, looking Lina over again before giggling. “I want to know all about her.”

Lina stared back at her friend, remembering the way that they used to gossip about boys that they liked. She giggled at that and nodded agreement. “Sure.”

Lost Self

Sacramento Ca, Sunday afternoon, Dec 30^th, 2007

“Are you okay, Cindy?” a voice asked.

Cindy Jones blinked, then looked at Jenna McCormack, who’d been her best friend since second grade. They’d grown up together and had practically been inseparable, at least until Cindy had manifested as a mutant and went away to Whateley. That had made it hard for them to remain close, but they still tried to keep their friendship going.

“Sorry,” Cindy apologized after moment. She blushed, self-consciously. “I guess that I’ve gotten so used to everyone calling me Sylver that I almost forgot my real name.”

Jenna laughed at that. “And THAT is the problem with the whole superhero identity thing.”

Cindy winced at that, then quickly looked around to make sure that nobody had overheard Jenna’s comment. They were out in public, walking down a sidewalk, so being overheard was a definite risk.

“Don’t say stuff like that in public,” Cindy warned her friend. “That can completely ruin a secret identity…”

“Sorry,” Jenna apologized, though she didn’t seem too bothered by it.

Then Cindy deflated and let out a long sigh. “I guess I’m not really a superhero…and it looks like I never will be.”

Cindy winced, feeling the familiar ache in her heart. It was the overwhelming disappointment of having had her dreams completely crushed. Jenna’s reminder just brought it all back to the surface again, though it was never actually far away.

“I’m sorry,” Jenna exclaimed, this time meaning it.

“It’s not your fault,” Cindy told her with a forced smile.

“I know,” Jenna responded with a sympathetic look. “But I still feel for you… I mean, I know how much you wanted to be a superhero, and you even had those awesome powers…”

“And then, BOOM,” Cindy spat out. “Burnout. All my power gone.” Then she corrected herself. “Well, almost all of it. But it’s not like I have enough left to do anything with. In fact, I’m not even sure why I’m still going to Whateley.”

Jenna gasped. “But you love that school.”

“But I don’t fit in there anymore,” Cindy whispered, tears forming in her eyes. “I used to be in the Future Superheroes of America, but now I’m just an Underdog. I’ve turned into a joke.”

Just then, the window in a nearby storefront exploded in a spray of glass as a costumed figure jumped out. The costumed man was lean and wiry, wearing an orange and blue costume with a domino mask over his face.

“What the…?” Cindy gasped as she stared at the man in shock. It wasn’t his actions that surprised her, but his hideous costume. “Did Jericho make that?”

Cindy had been through costuming class, and she’d even taken another costuming class last year during winter term. It only took her an instant to recognize that this man not only had a horrible sense of fashion, but he also had a cheap and homemade looking costume, which marked him as some kind of rookie or wannabe.

“NEXT TIME,” the costumed man yelled back through the window, “DON’T MAKE ME ASK TWICE.”

“THIEF!,” someone from inside the store yelled. “HELP. I’VE BEEN ROBBED!”

“I AM THE ELIMINATOR,” the costumed man yelled as he waved around a weapon that Cindy immediately recognized as a devisor ray gun. She’d seen countless similar devises at school. “ANYONE WHO GETS IN MY WAY GETS ELIMINATED!”

The Eliminator emphasized his words by firing his gun at a nearby parked car. The side of the car smashed in and glass exploded out from the window. Cindy immediately pushed Jenna down to avoid the flying debris.

“Watch it,” Cindy snarled in anger, worried that her friend had nearly been injured because of this guy.

Cindy knew that before her incident, she would have jumped in to stop this rookie villain. It would have been easy too, just use her telekinesis to disarm him, then hold him upside down in the air until the police arrived. But now… Now she couldn’t lift much more than a can of soda, which made her powers practically useless against even someone like this.

The rookie villain turned to glare at Cindy, puffing himself up a bit as he did so, and demanding, “Do you know who I am?”

“Just leave us alone,” Jenna demanded as she got back to her feet.

“It seems that I’ll have to make an example or two,” the Eliminator announced.

With those words, the Eliminator fired several more shots from his gun, hitting a parked car across the street and then one that had been driving past. The moving car slid to the side and crashed.

“Some kind of concussion blast,” Cindy muttered.

A moment later, the Eliminator pointed his weapon straight at Jenna. He had an almost manic grin on his face, the same kind of expression that Cindy had seen on some of her classmates at school. This was the same expression she’d seen on kid’s faces when they finally had some power for the first time in their lives, and it immediately went to their heads.

A cold chill ran down Cindy’s spine and she felt a heavy lump of dread settle into the pit of her stomach. This lunatic was about to shoot her friend… He was about to kill Jenna.

“NO,” Cindy cried out.

Cindy reached out with her powers, as weak as they were, and yanked. The gun flew out of the Eliminator’s hand and hit the sidewalk a short distance away. She gave another mental push and this time the weapon slid to the side, going underneath a parked car where it couldn’t be easily reached.

“What the…?” the Eliminator gasped in surprise.

For a moment, Cindy just stood there, surprised at herself and what she’d just done. Then she smiled faintly, realizing that for the first time since she’d lost most of her powers, she didn’t feel scared or overwhelmed by the idea of fighting someone. Instead, she felt…determined. She might be weak, but she wasn’t helpless. She wasn’t useless.

“He won’t touch you,” Cindy told Jenna, who was just staring with her mouth open. Then she glared at her opponent and announced, “My name is Sylver Stryker, and YOU are going down…”

“You stupid kid,” the Eliminator exclaimed as he charged at her, swinging his fist.

Cindy laughed at the clumsy punch, easily blocking it and stepping to the side. She reached out with her telekinesis and grabbed an empty beer bottle that was laying off to the side, and then she sent it flying right into the Eliminator’s face. There was a crunch as the man’s nose broke and blood began to spurt out.

“You really aren’t very good at this,” Cindy said, stepping forward and punching the Eliminator in the solar plexus. She stepped back and then swung her leg, sweeping his leg out from underneath him. As the Eliminator hit the ground, Cindy smirked. “You’d never make it in BMA…or even costuming. Let me guess, you bought that gun off some devisor, then decided that having it made you a unstoppable.”

“What a joke,” Jenna added. “LOSER.”

Cindy backed up and looked around for more ammunition to throw at her opponent, then paused when she heard the nearby sirens. She saw the flashing lights, far too close for her comfort.

“Come on,” Cindy exclaimed, grabbing Jenna’s hand and hurrying away. “We don’t want to be here…”

Cindy had always fantasized about this moment, about being a superhero who handed off a captured villain to the police. She’d always imagined them looking up to her as the superior crime fighter, treating her with respect and awe. However, she’d learned that the real world didn’t work that way. If she faced the police now, without even so much as a costume, it could only lead to trouble. It was best to avoid that kind of thing for now.

“Wow,” Jenna exclaimed once they were far enough away. “That was…exciting.”

“Yeah, it was,” Cindy agreed as she flashed her friend a grin.

Jenna stared at her in surprise, then cautiously asked, “How are you feeling?”

Cindy considered that for a moment before answering. “Honestly, I feel great. I feel like… I almost feel like my old self again.”

Left Behind

Crystal Hall, Friday afternoon Dec 28^th, 2007

“Read ‘em and weep,” Boojum announced as he slapped his cards down on the table.

Boojum grinned, knowing the effect this had on most people. He was tall and gaunt, with extremely pale skin, glowing red eyes, claws and sharp teeth. Most people were intimidated by his appearance, even a lot of his classmates, and he was fine with that. It was better than being bullied.

After taking a moment to enjoy the moment, Boojum looked around the table at the other people playing cards with him. Bunsen, Iron Rose, and Porcelain. Normally, none of them hung out together, but this was Christmas break and not everyone got to go home for vacation, so they’d been hanging out with whomever was available. Although none of them would admit it aloud, this was a lot better than being alone for the holidays.

Boojum tried not to think about how much he regretted not going home for Christmas. They each had their own reasons for staying on campus. Not being able to afford an ‘unnecessary’ plane trip, not having a home to go back to, or in his case, having a home and a family who tolerated him…but not wanting to get them into any more trouble. If any of their new neighbors caught so much as a glimpse of him, it would likely be that whole lynch mob situation all over again.

“An impressive hand,” Porcelain commented, giving him a grin of her own.

Her white ceramic face cracked and shattered, forming a wide jagged grin that looked every bit as intimidating as his own. In fact, after what he’d seen Porcelain do during her combat final, she was even more terrifying. Just a few weeks earlier, and he never would have suspected such a thing of the ‘fragile’ girl everyone knew. Or thought they knew.

Porcelain set her own cards on the table. “I believe my hand beats yours.”

“I’m out,” Iron Rose exclaimed with a sigh.

Boojum looked her over, though he was careful not to look as though he was doing so. Rose was kind of hot, in an ‘I’ll gladly kick your ass’ kind of way, not that she’d appreciate him telling her that. He got the impression that she didn’t appreciate that kind of attention from any guy. In fact, he suspected that she would have preferred that kind of attention from the ladies instead. As far as he knew, Rose wasn’t out of the closet or anything, but she definitely gave off some of those butch lesbian vibes.

“I’m out too,” Bunsen said, scowling as he did so.

Bunsen was an odd one, as far as Boojum was concerned, in spite of being the most normal looking person in their group. He was short, a bit overweight, and he had his head shaved down to stubble. Unlike Rose, he wasn’t really bald, but more…lazy. From what Boojum knew, Bunsen just didn’t want to bother with the time and effort it took to wash his hair and comb it. Typical devisor attitude.

“Then it appears that I win this round,” Porcelain stated before reaching over to collect her winnings, a small pile of Christmas candies.

“So, how’s your project going?” Boojum asked Bunsen.

The devisor gave him a suspicious look. “It is going well…”

“What are you working on?” Rose asked. Her tone made it clear that this was more politeness than real interest.

Bunsen seemed to puff up a little under the attention. “Well, I am the best biochemical devisor on campus…”

“Jobe,” Boojum coughed, earning a glare from the devisor.

“I couldn’t have anyone think that Shine could possibly beat me with my own specialty,” Bunsen continued.

“Booze,” Boojum stated with a grin. “He’s making booze.”

Bunsen gave him a look of annoyance at the interruption. “Yes, I am making booze. Specifically, I am working on absinthe, with enhanced hallucinogenic properties.”

“Absinthe?” Porcelain asked.

Rose gave Bunsen a curious look. “Are you sure that Absinthe will like that?”

“The drink and our classmate are two different things,” Bunsen protested. “She doesn’t have exclusive right to the drink just because she named herself after it.”

“True,” Rose agreed with a smirk. “But I’ve seen how interested you are in her little green faeries, so I doubt your choice is coincidence.”

Bunsen hesitated for a moment before deflating a little. “Very well. She did inspire my current project, at least a little.”

“Is it ready to try?” Boojum asked a little eagerly. He quickly glanced around, making sure that no faculty members were within earshot. “I’ve never tried absinthe before”.

Rose gave him a skeptical look. “Have you ever tried any alcohol before?”

“I’ve had beer,” Boojum bragged. “And bourbon. And tequila…”

Of course, he’d only stolen small sips of these things and had never had a full drink, but that was beside the point. They didn’t need to know the details, only that he’d tried the stuff.

“The first batch is almost read to try,” Bunsen admitted, suddenly looking self-conscious. “I normally let the Dylans test stuff like this first, but since most of them are gone…”

“Will it be ready for a New Year toast?” Rose asked curiously.

Bunsen sat there with a thoughtful look on his face for a moment before he nodded. “Yeah… It’ll be ready.”

“Awesome,” Boojum said with a broad grin. “New Year is going to be a blast. Now, whose turn is it to deal?”

Not a Superhero

Santa Fe NM, Saturday Jan 5^th, 2007

“How did I ever get in this mess?” Mina Maxwell complained. “I’m not a superhero…”

“No,” the man behind Mina said. “But you are the only one who can do this.”

Mina turned to look at the man, a superhero known as Adept. Adept was tall and athletic, wearing a blue and white costume with silver accents. As far as she knew, Adept was some kind of exemplar paragon, one of those people who pulled off the whole super soldier type of hero.

Then her eyes went to the other two superheroes who stood back a little further. One was Wallbreaker, a huge man in a brown and tan costume. His sheer size and bulging muscles practically screamed that he was a brick. The other person was a petite Mexican woman with a green and gold costume, named Fuerza. Mina knew that she was some kind of energizer but not much else.

“The Anti-Doctor’s doomsday weapon developed a leak before he could deploy it,” Adept explained for the third time. “killing him and all of his henchmen. They didn’t even have a chance to activate his containment failsafe.”

“No big loss there,” Wallbreaker added.

Adept nodded agreement, though his expression remained grim. “Unfortunately, the weapon is still leaking, and the Anti-Doctor’s entire lair is contaminated. Even worse, not only is this toxin extremely lethal, it’s also highly corrosive. It eats through any protective equipment…and through the lair itself. It won’t be long before it breaches containment and spreads.”

“People will die,” Fuerza added. “And if the wind spreads it…”

“A LOT of people may die,” Adept agreed. “We’ve already lost one hero who tried going in…”

Wallbreaker nodded. “He had on a gas mask, protective suit, and everything.”

“We need YOU to go in and activate the Anti-Doctor’s containment, Filter,” Adept told Mina, using her official codename, the one that almost nobody ever used. “Your powers will let you do what we can’t.”

Mina gave a reluctant nod, but couldn’t help asking, “But how did you even know about my powers? I mean, it’s not like I’m famous or anything.”

“We know people who know people,” Adept explained. “And when we asked some of those people if they knew any solutions to our problem, your name came up.”

“You were the closest possible solution,” Fuerza. “And time is essential, so if you would…” She gestured to the large door that blocked the villain’s lair, and which currently sealed the place into quarantine.

Mina went through the airlock and stepped into the villain’s lair. All she saw was an extremely long corridor running off into the distance with a thick green fog filling the air. She mentally reached for her power, her PK shell, making sure that it was active.

“That looks totally disgusting,” the girl said, remembering Miasma’s attack during the combat finals. This gas looked just as gross and nasty. “I am SO thankful for my power…” Then she paused to reconsider. “But if I didn’t have my power, they wouldn’t have sent me down here in the first place…”

Mina took a deep breath, not at all worried about the thick green gas. Officially, her PK shell was about as weak as a shell could be, but it could do things that most PK shells couldn’t. Her shell was REALLY good at filtering out anything that would hurt her. Sure, bullets and punches could get through without a problem, but when it came to things like viruses or poison… Well, she didn’t think that any PK was better at dealing with them than she was.

In spite of the fact that the heroes had warned her about time being limited, Mina hesitated and looked around. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all…dissolving. There were pits and holes everywhere, as though acid had been sprayed over every surface.

“Wow,” Mina gasped, her eyes going wide. “They weren’t kidding about this stuff eating through things…”

After taking in her surroundings, Mina decided that she really had to help. There was no way that she was going to let this stuff get loose if she could do something to stop it.

“I’m not a hero,” Mina announced as she reached up and adjusted the cute pink ribbon that was tied in her hair. Then she knelt down and pulled up her socks, each one bright and cheerful in color, though they didn’t quite match with each other. “But I can do this.”

With that, Mina began walking down the hallway, keeping an eye on the floor so that she could avoid stepping into any of the holes. They were all over the place, making Mina almost feel like she was walking through a giant piece of Swiss cheese.

Before long, she ran into a body, or what was left of one. There was a skeleton with the remains of a superhero costume and gas mask. This had to be the hero that Adept had mentioned, the one who had attempted to do what she was doing now. She shuddered at the sight but continued walking deeper into the lair.

Mina found more bodies, but they were in even worse condition than the first. There was almost nothing left of these bodies except pieces of bone, and she probably wouldn’t have recognized what they were if it wasn’t for the bits of slowly dissolving metal that were scatted about. She could recognize items that had once been knives and guns, but which were about as pitted and corroded as if they’d been under the ocean for a hundred years.

At first, Mina had been afraid that she wouldn’t be able to find what she was looking for, but she quickly realized that this wasn’t a problem. The entire lair seemed to have been built into the shape of a T, with a single large corridor going down the middle while smaller rooms came off the sides. At the end of the corridor, it split into two directions, each going off at right angles.

“And that has to be it,” Mina announced, seeing a large metal canister down one of the branching corridors.

The canister was a metal sphere about ten feet across, with several tubes and cables coming out of it and connecting to various machines nearby. However, what really marked this as being what she was looking for was the hissing sound and green gas that was leaking out of one of the cables, right where it plugged into the sphere.

Mina held out the radio that Adept had given her and announced, “I found it.” There was no response. She had been warned that the radio probably wouldn’t work inside the lair, but they’d given it to her anyway. She tried calling out a couple more times before giving up. “I guess I’m on my own.”

She looked around and spotted another old body, one that looked a bit different than the others. This one was just as dissolved as all the henchmen had been, but there were bits of armor around it, ones that marked it as having once been the Anti-Doctor.

“You had a really stupid name,” Mina stated emphatically. “And a really ugly costume… Maybe you should have gotten yours designed by Jericho. He’s a total fashion genius, and I bet he could have made even you look good.”

Then Mina spotted what she’d been told to look for. A console off to the side of the sphere which had a large switch on it as well as a giant red button. Whatever this console was made of, it seemed to be immune from the gas’ corrosion effects, just like the sphere and all of the other equipment. She looked the whole thing over and then stared at the big red button, not sure if it would be a good idea to push it.

“I bet Melissa wouldn’t hesitate,” Mina mused as she thought about one of her classmates back at Whateley. “No, she’d definitely push it…even if she didn’t know what it did.” Then she paused and considered for a few more seconds before a broad grin spread across her face. “I’ve always wanted to push a big red button…”

Mina went up to the console and looked it over, remembering what Adept had told her about activating the failsafe. All she had to do was pull the big switch then push the big button. It was extremely simple, the kind of thing that any of the gadgeteers and devisors at Whateley might have added to their inventions for the ‘cool’ factor.

“More like nerd factor,” Mina said with a giggle. She looked at the Anti-Doctor’s body and said, “It was only like, fifteen feet away from you too…”

With that, Mina pulled the switch and heard a clicking sound from inside the console. She looked at the big red button one more time before slamming her hand into it. A red light on the console immediately began flashing, causing Mina to jump back in surprise. Adept hadn’t warned her about that.

Suddenly, the ground beneath the giant metal sphere began to shimmer and glow before it suddenly opened into some kind of portal. Mina had seen that kind of thing before when a devisor at school was showing of his teleportal gun, which opened wormholes from one place to another. She thought that this must be the same kind of thing, especially since the giant metal sphere fell right through the hole and vanished, pulling all the connected cables and devices down into the hole along with it.

Mina barely had a chance to blink before it was all gone, but the portal didn’t close. Instead, it remained open while a wind seemed to blow out of the portal. No, Mina quickly realized. The wind wasn’t coming out of the portal, it was going in. The portal was sucking in all the air.

“Oh,” Mina exclaimed, watching for several seconds as the thick green gas started to flow into the portal.

A moment later, Mina turned and ran back towards the exit as fast as she could. If that thing was sucking up all the air, she didn’t want to be anywhere near it. Sure, her shell could block out all the poisons, but it wouldn’t do any good if there wasn’t any real air to breath as well.

Mina saw that the green cloud was all being pulled back towards the portal, and by the time she reached the door, there was no longer any of it around her. She looked back the way she’d come, then shook her head and hurried out through the airlock.

“I did it,” Mina exclaimed as she stepped out of the lair and saw the three heroes standing there. “I did what you said and a giant portal appeared and swallowed everything up, even all the gas.”

“Good,” Adept said with a look of relief. “The portal should drop it all into a pocket dimension, then seal it all away for good.”

“We’ll still want to quarantine this place good,” Wallbreaker said. “Until we can get a proper cleanup crew to go over everything.”

“How did you even know about that failsafe button?” Mina asked.

“The Anti-Doctor had someone else build that part,” Adept explained. “Someone who specializes in installing self-destructs and emergency failsafes for villains.”

Wallbreaker added with a chuckle, “Someone who also leaves good notes.”

Mina nodded at that. “I guess that’s good then.”

“You did a good job, Filter,” Adept said, putting a hand on Mina’s shoulder. “Today, YOU were the one who saved lives.”

“That’s awesome,” Mina exclaimed with an excited grin. “Wait till I tell everyone at school…” Then she paused for a moment and deflated. With an exasperated sigh, she said, “Nobody will believe me.”

A Bitter Drink

Saturday evening Jan 5^th, 2007

The large man was hunched over at the bar, staring down into his glass of beer. He was broad shouldered and stocky, with a build that had once been strong and powerful, though that had faded long before. His red hair and beard were shaggy and unkempt, heavily sprinkled with grey that showed his age, though not nearly as much his tired eyes and worn expression.

“Everything,” the man grumbled to the patient bartender who’d heard it all before. “She took everything from me.”

“Women can do that,” the bartender said sympathetically.

The large man looked up and fixed the bartender with his eyes, “Twice. She did it TWICE. The woman is a damn demon.”

“That is rough,” the bartender commented as he began pouring a drink for another customer. “You aren’t the first man to come here after a rough divorce, and you won’t be the last.”

“Divorce?” the man repeated, blinking in surprise before he burst out in a sharp bitter laugh. “If only it was something like that.”

He was about to say something else when another man sat down on the barstool right beside him. The large man frowned suspiciously at that. There were plenty of other seats open, so why did this guy sit right next to him?

“Roland Williams,” the newcomer said, calling the large man by his name.

“Who are you?” Roland demanded as he looked the newcomer over.

The newcomer looked to be in his thirties, with brown hair and a week’s worth of stubble on his chin. He was wary, with eyes that kept scanning the bar as though looking for threats.

“My name is…Jack,” the newcomer answered with a faint smile. “I wanted to talk with you because we have a few things in common.”

Roland snorted at that. “Do tell.”

“Like you,” Jack said carefully, “I was once a respected superhero. And like you, a certain someone humiliated me…destroyed my reputation…and ended my career.”

“Ha,” Roland responded with a snort. “We’re hardly the only ones.”

Jack smiled at that, though it wasn’t a friendly one. It was almost predatory.

“You have that right,” Jack responded with a dark chuckle. “And that is exactly why I’m here. You see, I represent a small group of individuals with similar stories involving this same individual. You even know one of them, the Crimson Kid. And, we have decided that you would make the perfect addition to our little group.”

Roland stared at Jack suspiciously. “And exactly what kind of group are you talking about?”

“Our name explains our purpose,” Jack answered as he slowly stood up and set a business card down on the bar between them. “We call ourselves the IRS.”

“What?” Roland asked. “You collect taxes?”

Jack chuckled at that. “It stands for the Imp Revenge Squad.” Then he began walking away, adding, “Give us a call.”

Roland stared down at the business card, scowling intently as he did so. There was a phone number on the card, handwritten, but nothing else. With a shake of his head, he finished downing his beer, slipped the card into his pocket and left the bar.

Once Roland was outside the bar, he pulled out his phone and made a call, though not to the number on the card. As soon as the other end picked up, he stated, “They’ve made contact.”

 

The End…for now