by R. J. Ross
"Oh shut up and go in already," I say, pushing her into the panel. We head down the steps, and I'm so focused on not tripping and falling down them that I don't even realize there's a group of people standing at the bottom. It's a bit astonishing that I didn't I think as soon as I see them. They're quite an impressive group.
"Nico?" I hear Trent ask behind me.
"Boys and girls, meet your substitute teachers," Nico says, moving past our group to stand next to the line-up. "First off, my littlest sister, Skystep."
"SKYE!" Emily shouts, racing over and tackling the woman in question. "I thought you were undercover," she says, hugging her tightly.
"I got my cover blown," Skye says, shrugging, "but it's okay, I get to spend time with my FAVORITE nieces EVER!" she says, hugging Emily just as tightly. "Aubrey and the healers are in the dorms," she adds.
"Ahem," Nico says.
"Sorry, Nico, you can go on now," Skystep says. I know her, I think. She's a super villain, right? Maybe he brought her in for my training?
"Skystep is going to take over Blackjack's first hour," Nico says. I hear the guys behind me squirm slightly and dare to glance over at them. They look confused. "And I'm going to let her teach whatever she feels like telling you about—EXCEPT art," he says to Skystep.
"But—"
"No art. You suck at art. Tell them about all your trips into science."
"Okay!"
"You might be surprised to find out that Skystep has forgotten more about the physical sciences than most people will ever know," Nico says with a hint of amusement. "She knows anatomy, biology, and geology inside out."
"She's a certifiable genius," the large man standing next to her says. He looks a lot like Nico. "Trust me, I've scanned her brain."
"Awww, thank you, Pop!" Skystep says, hugging him.
"This," Nico says, moving on to the large man, "is Superior. He's going to be in charge of security and security training—especially for you, Trent. Since I dragged him down here, I might as well make him work."
"I just happen to be his father, as well," Superior says dryly, one large arm draped over Skystep, as if a retired hero hugging a super villain is a daily thing.
"This lovely lady is my mother," Nico says, heading to the next in line. The woman is almost as tall as he is, and almost as broad through the shoulders. If you've ever seen those muscular women that do the poses—well, picture that, but a LOT bigger. She has white hair and is wearing a pink t-shirt with kittens on the front. "Ms. Tatiana will be in charge of languages. Learning Russian will be good for you," he says to us. "And last in this group, but not least, is Doris. Doris will be going through the villain training classes with anyone that wants to join. She's lined up to be Skystep's partner-in-crime down south after the current situation blows over."
"So Mom's not teaching?" Emily asks.
"Liz is on Hall duty, now that she's back home," Nico says. "Now, you also have some new classmates—the healing class has come down, as well," he says as a group of teenagers come from behind them. "This is, for those that don't know her, Aubrey. She's the head of the healer training group. The others are Alyssa, Bobby, and Kirsten," he says, motioning to each of the rather normal looking kids in turn. "They'll be staying in the new dorms, only because I need to justify the massive mansion my parents decided to build for their temporary stay. The girls will be on the first floor, the family on second, the boys on third. Once my parents move out, we'll move them to the first dorms until we can get more supervisors."
"New dorms?" Sunny asks from behind us.
"We built a new building behind the older dorms," Superior says. "Are you awake yet?" he adds. To my surprise, I see Sunny's eyes widen.
"Grandpa! When'd you get here?" he asks, rushing past us to hug him.
"It's before nine, isn't it," Superior says dryly as he hugs the teenager.
"I'm surprised he even noticed the comment about dorms," Nico says.
"Your boyfriend is strange, Adanna," Elidee whispers to the other girl.
"He is not strange, he is just lazy," Adanna says, not bothering to whisper. "His brain doesn't actually function until nine in the morning, unless he's been sleeping outside."
"So… he's a Superior?" I ask, staring at the boyishly cute guy greeting the people in front of us. He's just, like, the epitome of "cute." Don’t get me wrong, I don't have anything against cute boys. I've just always preferred the tougher looking ones. But if he is a Superior, that makes him REALLY tough, right? He doesn't look it.
"He is." I look up, seeing Superior looking straight at me. "Sunny is the only elementalist in the Superior bloodline. He'll grow into the look," he adds with a glance at Nico.
"Not any time soon, though," Adanna says silently. I glance at her, seeing her eyes glued to the boy in question. There's a hint of a smile on her face—I get the feeling she likes how he looks. The romantic part of my brain (that I've been trying to kill) is squealing over just how cute that is. I shove it down. I'm a future super villain, darn it!
"So, since we've taken up our personal training time with introductions, we'll go straight to first hour," Nico says. "Skye, you know where your class is, right?"
"I'll show her!" Emily says, taking Skye's hand. "This is going to be awesome—but I always fall asleep during this class, so don't take it personally," she says.
"Oh, that's fine," Skye says cheerfully. "I'm awake WAY before my usual time—it'll be a lot of fun to force you to stay awake, too!"
"What?" Emily asks, pulling to a stop as Skye heads on ahead of her. "She just—that—"
Trent grabs her hand and hauls her along, saying, "Time for class, Em."
***
*Kansas City Zoo*
Hard Knocks, AKA Julian Kuro, pulls his sons to the side as yet another group of kids come to see the massive polar bear. "Don't block the way, boys," he says quietly.
"He's huge," Mitchell, his youngest, says. "His paws are as big as my head."
"He is," Julian says with a little grin. "But we need to get going soon—your mom will only tolerate us vacationing for so long, you know."
"It's educational vacationing," Jules says. He's only a year older than his brother, and barely a few inches taller. They're often mistaken for twins, since they look so much alike. "She said we had to write a report when we get back." Both boys make a face and Julian laughs.
"She IS a news reporter," he says. "She's big on bringing back reports. Now let's move on to the penguins!"
"Okay!" the boys say, starting off at a run. Julian starts after them, only to stop as the colors of the world start to skew. He looks around, his fists automatically coming up in a defensive manner.
"Now, now," a woman says from behind him, "is that any way to greet Mother?"
He turns, his hackles rising, his fist punching out. It's grabbed, stopped before it can even gain momentum. The woman standing in front of him reaches up, grabbing his jaw. "Who are—" he starts out. He stops, though, as he drowns in the most beautiful kaleidoscope eyes he's ever seen.
"Good boy," she says, the hand holding his chin letting go and patting him on the cheek. "Mother has a job for you."
He feels his head nodding all on its own.
***
The whispering behind me is a bit disconcerting. I mean—for one, isn't the school principal usually too busy to be in the classroom? But he's not the only one—the entire staff seems to be lounging in the air or on the ground behind our desks. And the ones whispering are Trent—who I'm positive is Kid Liberty, and Nico, himself.
"Are you sure this is smart?" Trent whispers without a sound. I only hear him because the wind picks up the vibrations his breath lets out. (It's an air manipulator thing.) He's standing next to the floating principal, a worried look on his face. "Not that we have anything against Skye, but from all I've heard, she's not mentally stable, and she's way more powerful than the class is. How do we know she won't go off and attack someone if they say the wrong thing?"
"She'
s a little strange, sure, but it's perfectly safe," Nico says. "Your girlfriend trusts her."
"Is she really a genius?" Trent asks.
"The further away from a hundred IQ you are, the more difficulty you have dealing with society," Nico says. "It doesn't matter if you're above or below. You see it a lot in supers, especially the high class ones like her," he explains silently. I dare to glance around, noting that only Adanna seems to have her head tilted slightly the way I do. She's listening in, too. "She's one of ours, now—it seems to help with that problem."
"Okay!" Skye says from the front of the room as she hops onto the desk. "I'm going to teach something super, super cool!"
"YEAH!" Emily shouts, cheering her on with arms in the air.
"How you phase through a table!" Skye says. Emily drops her arms.
"I am afraid it will not work for them, kitten!" Tatiana calls from the back. "It is a very special talent that is yours alone."
"Oh—but—they can at least try, right?" Skye says. "See, it's just a matter of vibration—all atoms vibrate at a distinct speed, right? So you just need to figure out the vibration speed! Also, you need to take into account there might be more than one thing—especially underground." Abruptly, though, she stops, frowning. "But last time I tried to teach that, it got me kicked out of school," she says after a second. "Then the men in white coats came and tried to dissect my brain—you won't dissect my brain, will you?" she asks Nico.
"Nope, you're good," he says.
"Skye, why don't you tell us about what you SEE when you're doing it, instead?" Emily asks, daring to glance back at the rest of us.
"Okay! I've seen a LOT of dirt." Then she stares at us. "Am I done?" she asks after a long moment.
"What ELSE do you see down there, Kitten?" Tatiana prompts.
"Um, well—see, I didn't go allllll the way through because I got bored pretty quickly," Skye says, turning to the board and drawing a lopsided circle. "See, this is the earth! It's not a real circle, it's sort of oval-ish-y, or so, and a lot of it is covered with water—which is fun to go under, too! But I'm talking about the dirt part right now. See, there are these layers to the earth, like this is the crust and this is the mantle, and the outer and inner core. For the most part, though, I stick to the crust. I once went lower, but there's nothing interesting there and it starts getting hotter the further down you go. And once you get through all the really dense rocks, you get to this plastic-y liquid—it's kind of icky. But in the crust you get all sorts of interesting fossils and underground caves and lakes and rivers! I've found entire dinosaur skeletons—I even brought one up and made it into a toy!" She looks over at one of the boys I haven't met and winks. "I'll let you guys ride it if you want!"
Wait—that's Justin, isn't it? My mouth drops open and I have to push it closed again.
"He's too young for her," I hear someone mutter silently behind me, "and not even close to her class."
"You're an elitist jerk, Father," I hear Nico reply equally silently.
"You can't tell me you approve."
"Sure I can't," Nico says, "but you're still an elitist jerk."
They aren't looking at the worried expression on Justin's face, or the way he glances back at them, and then over to another of the students.
This is better than a soap opera, isn't it? I can't help the little smile that threatens to cross my face—at least I can't until Adanna turns and looks straight at me, a thoughtful expression on her face. What is she looking at me for? Did I make a strange sound? Has she realized that I don't actually belong here, since I'm D-class? She turns back to the front after a second and I let out a silent sigh of relief. It's probably too soon to feel relieved, I know, but I don't have to deal with it until after class is over.
"Um, is there supposed to be homework assigned, or something?" Skye asks the people in the back. "I never actually got past freshman year," she admits a bit guiltily. "Can I still teach if I don't have a degree?"
"Huh, good question," Nico says. The entire class turns to look at him. "Well, since you're just a substitute, I don't think it's a problem—but if it makes you so self conscious, why don't I set up a… Super G.E.D. program? I'll give you a few tests and if you pass them, you're an honorary graduate of Cape High."
"Can Doris do it too? I bet she never graduated either!" Skye says excitedly.
"Sure, why not?"
Is he this casual about everything? He goes on before I can guess, "Of course, since it's a super high school, you'll have to do more than just some paper tests. Is that okay with you?"
"YES!" she says. "Will there be sparring involved?"
Nico looks over the classroom and I see several of them jerk, shaking their heads wildly. "Anyone back here want to spar with her?" he asks, looking at the staff group instead.
"I'd be happy to," Superior says, smiling.
"Anyone else?" Skye asks. She looks rather pale, now, I notice. I can't blame her.
"It'll be fun, Skye! Grandpa set up this game for me and Repeat one time—I never touched him, but it was still really cool," Emily says.
"We can play it like that, if you want," Superior says. "I take it that it'll have to wait until after school, though."
"Nah, we've already messed up most of today's schedule anyway, plus, the group in the field shouldn't be the ones having all of the fun, right, guys?" Nico says, standing. "Come on, everyone, time to place your bets!"
"My money's on Skye!" Emily says, chasing him as he heads out of the room. The rest of us get up, following at a rapid pace. I quickly fall to the back, letting everyone go on ahead. The only problem with that? Adanna falls back right next to me. "Your hearing, it's exceptional," she says silently. I'm so tempted to ignore it—if we were in my old school, I would have—but this is one of my new possible friends.
"I'm an air manipulator—it's not exactly hearing like you're thinking, I think," I say, feeling awkward.
"That's still very impressive. You will make a very sly super villain," she says, giving me a brilliant smile. "I look forward to seeing it." She's dating a Superior—one that's obviously well loved by the same guy who complained about Justin—THE Justin not being on the same level as Skye, right? I'm not stupid, I realize exactly what that means. If Superior approves of her, that means she probably outclasses me by a mile. Well, she would, wouldn't she? She's the daughter of Panther, one of the biggest names in super villainy in the world. Sure, he can't fly, but he has FOUR forms. Most only have three.
"Thanks," I say simply. I don't feel like explaining my lack of qualifications—ever. "I'm still considering it, though," I add a bit belatedly as we step out into the sun. I look up, my senses picking up on the breaks in the wind thanks to the invisible lasers. I can actually hear the almost silent buzz. That is a pretty terrifying thing to put over a school of teenagers. I wonder if it's even legal.
"Before we begin, be aware that you WILL run into the security field if you go too high," Nico says. "While it is a dome, keep to the top of the canyon, no higher. And since you're family now, I don't need to say this, but no vital shots. Other than that, it's up for you two to decide the rules."
"Tag," Superior says, disappearing and reappearing behind Skye. "You're it," he adds, tapping her on the shoulder before racing away. The grin that crosses Skye's face is almost blinding. She hops into the air and takes off, chasing after him so quickly that I can't see her anymore. Instead I turn, following the changes in the wind and TRYING to see them. After a moment I give up and look over at the others, seeing their heads turn left, and then right, following the fight far more easily than I can. They start cheering all of a sudden, only to groan, and I figure Skye almost got him.
"He is very happy with this," I hear Tatiana say. Her Russian accent is awesome. "You did good, Nicolas!"
"I didn't do this to make him happy," Nico says with a hint of amusement. "If I knew it was just going to be a game of tag, I would have thrown the kids into it, as well."
I would have DIED. I
am so glad he didn't do that. I look away as he glances over at me, not comfortable with the fact I was watching them. He might even know I can hear them. That is definitely awkward. The chase goes on for so long that I actually sit on the ground and pull out my phone to play on Facebook after a while. At least an hour or two passes.
"YEEEESSS!" The sudden bellow makes me jump, especially when the rest of the group starts screaming their heads off. I look up, seeing Superior floating overhead with Skye's fingertips touching his back. "I did it!" Skye says, shoving a triumphant fist into the air. "I tagged him! Just barely, but I did it!"
"She did it," Nico says, not even whispering. "That in itself should get her a Cape High diploma," he admits, glancing over at Tatiana.
"Oh, no, Nicolas, it is only to be expected of one of my children!" Tatiana says, waving it off.
"You adopted her," Nico points out.
"It does not matter! She is mine now! No back takes!"
"Mom!" Skye says, diving at the tank of a woman. "I did it!" she says happily as Tatiana catches her.
"You did very good, kitten! I am proud of you!" Tatiana says, not moving an iota from the impact. "Next, we will test your dramatic entrances!" she declares. "You ARE a super villain, are you not? It is all about the ridiculous drama!"
"Dramatic entrance class?" Nico asks. "Good idea. Who wants to be the hostages?" he calls out to us.
"Me!"
"I'll do it!"
"Can I bring in my doppelgangers?"
"What's the setting?" I turn, looking at all the very enthusiastic looking teens. Not ONE of them is saying no. If I say no, I'll look like a complete pansy.
"Let's do… the traditional bank heist," Nico declares. "Jennifer, consider this your first assignment—you get to be the teller lady."
I gulp, feeling a chill run down my spine. "I don't—"
"I'll be the super hero, if you want," Trent volunteers. "Unless you want one of you guys to do it?"
"Good question—Skye, would you mind taking a fall for an A-class?" he asks Skye.
