Not So Super

Chapter 1

Somebody help him!

He's going to fall!

A small crowd had gathered near the base of a tree, leaving a cynical space around it - just in case. A boy, maybe six years old, was clinging to a branch about fifty feet up. It was hard to imagine how he'd even got up that high; the branches up there were so spindly, they were having trouble supporting the kid's weight.

Across the street stood a high school boy, watching. He saw the anxious looks in the crowd and heard the pitiful wails of the little kid. But the boy across the street didn't move. He wanted to, sure. But he just couldn't. It wouldn't even be that hard, he told himself. All he'd have to do is just fly up there, grab the kid, and set him back down on the ground. He could be done in less than three minutes. Still, he did nothing.

A branch snapped, crashing to the ground. The kid let out a terrified shriek. His hand slipped, and it looked like he would fall any minute. He screamed, reaching frantically for the branch over his head. He managed to grab it after a few tries, but his feet still kicked helplessly through the air. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find a foothold. His hands continued to slip, and he was quickly tiring out. Finally, when he couldn't take it anymore, the kid fell.

He plunged towards the ground at an alarming speed. The whole crowd gasped. Someone screamed. The little kid was only a few feet away from the ground when someone snatched him up. It happened so fast that it almost didn't seem real – someone had flown from the roof of a nearby building, swooped down, and scooped the kid up in his arms.

Look! It's The Hawk! someone shouted.

The Hawk gently set the kid down on the grass and turned towards the crowd. He gave a short wave, his eyes twinkling under his mask. He flew back up into the air, hovering over the roof he'd come from. A second figure backed up towards the edge of the roof, stopping only inches away from The Hawk.

Is that The All-Seeing? a woman swooned.

It sure is! someone else confirmed. What are they doing here?

Suddenly, a green light shot out from across the roof. The Hawk and The All-Seeing jumped in opposite directions, narrowly avoiding the beam. The Hawk flew up into the air, and The All-Seeing began ducking and weaving, seemingly fighting something that wasn't there.

What's he doing? someone asked.

I can't see anything up there!

It must be something invisible. Infra-red, maybe. a shaggy kid near the front said.

Or something really fast. his friend added, nodding.

It can't be infra-red. an older man told the boys, as the masked figure on the roof dodged left. If it was, he wouldn't be able to see it.

"Of course he can! He's The All-Seeing!" the first boy rolled his eyes. Don't you know anything?

"The All-Seeing can see invisible things. That's why he's called The All-Seeing in the first place." the friend snorted.

The crowd continued watching the roof. Suddenly, The All-Seeing leaped forward, arms outstretched. He lunged for something at the middle of the roof. Following his lead, The Hawk dove down from the sky. The two converged on the spot within seconds. The All-Seeing made a swift grab at something about shoulder height. There was a flash of light and a cluster of sparks sprayed the ground at his feet. Whatever he'd pulled at had shorted out – a machine of some kind. A third man now appeared on the roof along with the heroes.

Several people on the ground screamed. Others stared silent, their faces turning a kind of ashen grey. The whole crowd seemed to freeze. Finally, someone asked in a shaky voice, Is that...Toxxin?

It was as if that one sentence had brought them all back to life. Everyone began talking at once.

Since when could Toxxin turn invisible?

It must have been that machine.

It can't be Toxxin – he’s in jail.

But that’s definitely his mask!

I heard he escaped last week.

That’s just a rumor.

Obviously not – he’s standing right there.

The crowd watched in horror, desperate for The Hawk and The All-Seeing to catch the man in the green mask. Now that he was visible, he didn't stand a chance. The Hawk flew quickly around Toxxin, causing him to turn. As he did, The All-Seeing grabbed him from behind, quickly subduing him. The heroes made it look so easy – as if anyone could catch supervillains. It made the crowd feel safe, less powerless somehow. But deep down they knew the truth – they needed superheroes.

With Toxxin safely captured, The Hawk and The All-Seeing allowed themselves a few minutes to lean over the roof's edge and wave reassuringly at the people below.

I love you, Hawk! a woman screamed.

I knew they could do it. a round-faced college kid was saying. Still, he couldn't help looking around, as if to make sure Toxxin didn't suddenly appear behind him.

Yeah. Toxin never stood a chance. a young girl confirmed, nodding.

The Hawk and The All-Seeing waved to the crowd one last time before vanishing to the far side of the roof, Toxxin firmly in tow.

The crowd continued to marvel at what they'd just seen – The Hawk and The All-Seeing together, in their city. It was obvious that this was the highlight of their day – maybe even their entire lives. Only one person wasn't talking excitedly about it. Across the street, that high school boy still stood, feeling incredibly guilty.

Chapter 2

Only losers got transferred to Phoenix Academy.

This was a mistake, it had to be. Dean knew there was no other explanation – and he wasn’t the only one who felt that way. The room buzzed with annoyance; every single person sitting here wished they could be somewhere – anywhere – else. All around him students talked impatiently. Dean sat quietly, chin to his chest, tearing absentmindedly at the corner of a page in his notebook. Just like everyone else, he was silently praying that it was all a mistake. He’d get a phone call telling him he could go home, back where he belonged.

Dean looked around at the students sitting with him. There were about two hundred or so crammed into a room that would normally be considered full at around half that. He shifted uncomfortably in his fold-up metal chair, trying to see if by some miracle, someone he actually knew was in the room with him.

He didn’t see anyone. Not that this really surprised him. This school was only for the worst of the worst, and no one had struggled last year like Dean had. He pretended it didn’t bother him, and who cared what school he went to anyway? But when he’d gotten that pale blue envelope with its gold-stenciled lettering, he hadn’t known what to do. He’d known, without even opening it, what it meant: he had been recommended for a transfer.

When his parents got home, the letter was waiting for them, unopened, on the kitchen table. He could picture their reactions: his mom worriedly rereading the note while his dad did his best to keep his face neutral. Dean heard them talking down the hall. He could tell by their tones that they were talking about him, but he didn’t bother to leave his room.

Finally, they came to him, knocking on his door. They assured him that this was a fine school – it had turned out some excellent students. But Dean could still see the worry on their faces that they weren’t quite able to hide.

Not seeing anyone from his old school in the auditorium hadn’t been a big surprise for Dean. It was just that he’d really been hoping to know at least one person from his old school, to know that he wasn’t the only one who had been forced to come here. But he was. He tried to console himself, to remember that everyone here had been made to transfer too, but it didn’t help much.

Still, he tried to be positive; he might not have seen anyone he knew, but at least it didn’t look like a total loss. He’d seen a lot of nervous faces as he looked around, which helped make him feel a little better. And there was one face in particular that had caught his attention. A girl with a long blonde ponytail was sitting two rows down and about fifteen chairs away from him. Dean couldn’t help but notice how pretty – no, beautiful – she was and found himself hopping she would be in his class. At least there was something good about going here, he thought. But he still wasn’t very optimistic.

A thin man with graying hair walked past the open curtains on stage and made his way over to a podium that had been set there for the orientation.

Good afternoon. he said into the microphone. He waited until the students had settled down before continuing. "I’d like to be the first to welcome you to Phoenix Academy High School.

"I know we have students here from around the country. So in order to accommodate everyone, each one of you will be staying in our dorms regardless, of how close you actually live to our campus. You’ll each have one roommate and four additional suitemates. Room numbers are in the packet you received when you came in, and after we’ve finished with the orientation, you’ll each get a chance to go to your rooms and meet your roommates. But for now, I want to tell you all what you can expect from your school year with us.

"The actual school schedule is pretty standard – I’m sure most of you had very similar schedules at your previous schools. You’ll all be required to take the standard high school courses – math, English, history, science. And, of course, you’ll all have training to help hone your superpowers. However, unlike the schools you came from, there will be extra emphasis placed on your training while you’re here. I know that most schools around the country treat training as merely a standard class with about twenty to thirty students, but we feel that a more...personalized approach is necessary. So because of that, you’ll each be in groups of five.

Let me assure you that each group was carefully selected, and since we get at least one student every year who asks, let me tell you right now that no, you will not be able to change your training group. No exceptions.

The man continued on, telling the students all about the school and how he hoped their more specialized courses would be a better match for them than what they’d had previously. He spent over forty minutes talking about things that Dean already knew. After all, Phoenix Academy was famous – but not because it was a school that everyone wanted to go to. It was more of a last chance type of school.

Everyone going here was a senior – that was all they catered to. Dean was sitting in a room full of not only his graduating class but the entire school. And everyone was here for the same reason: they’d all flunked out of their junior year. This was their last chance to graduate; if they didn’t improve, they wouldn’t graduate at all.

Dean tried to listen, but he had a hard time concentrating. Instead, he sat there, following along vaguely with the bullets in his packet while most of his attention was focused on feeling sorry for himself. It wasn’t fair that he’d been sent here; it wasn’t his fault. He’d done his best at Clark High – he’d even gotten a 4.0 both semesters last year! He’d hoped that would be enough to make up for his one tiny little problem, but it hadn’t. He’d failed one stupid class. It wasn’t even an academic class – just gym. But it didn’t matter. Failing that class is what landed him here, at Phoenix Academy High School.

As the man up front continued to drone on, Dean found himself looking around at the other students and wondering why they were all here. What were their problems, and were they anything like his?

Chapter 3

Dean was glad when the orientation was finally over. He grabbed his notebook and the packet they’d given him and headed out of the room as fast as he could, deciding to go find the dorms. There was a map of the school in his packet that Dean glanced at, but he really shouldn’t have bothered. Almost everyone else was going to the dorms too, so all he really had to do was follow the crowd.

The building was painted in the school’s colors – pale blue with yellow trim. Dean sighed to himself. It was bad enough that he was going here in the first place; now he had to live in an ugly building too. The gate leading into the building had been propped open to accommodate all the students moving in, but Dean had been assured at the orientation that it would normally be locked at all times – for safety reasons. After today the only way to open it would be to slide his student ID card through the reader on its side.

Once he passed through the gate, Dean found himself in a long hall, rooms on one side, a courtyard on the other. Dean followed the numbers, glancing at each door as he went. When he reached the end of the hall, he saw that there were four doors off to the left, while the rest of the hall continued on to the right. A quick glance told Dean that his room was down the short hall on the left.

The door was wide open, so Dean stepped through it and into his new home for the year – Suite 9. On the left, there was a small living room with two somewhat threadbare blue couches and a TV in the corner. On the right was an open door leading into a small bedroom. The small black letter nailed over the door told Dean that this was room C. Since Dean was in room A, he continued through the suite and down the short hall. The hallway dead-ended in two separate bedrooms. Room A was on the left.

Dean walked through the door and into a room with two narrow beds and two desks. Just inside the door was the suitcase Dean had checked in before orientation. He grabbed the handle and started to lug it over to the beds. The far bed already had a large suitcase at the foot with a spikey-haired kid standing over it, so Dean decided he’d take the close one.

Hi. the kid said when he saw Dean. I’m Alex.

I’m Dean. he replied. Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you too. Alex said, coming over to shake Dean’s hand. Dean shook it and thought he felt a slight buzz run up his arm as he did. He wondered if it was just his imagination, or if Alex was playing some kind of really stupid trick. He was going to ask him about it, but since Alex didn’t seem to notice anything strange, Dean decided just to let it go. For now. If it turned out Alex was some kind of horrible prankster, Dean would bring it up then. I took the far bed. Alex told him. I hope you don’t mind.

That’s cool. Dean said, not really caring which bed he took. Alex turned back to his unpacking as Dean threw his own suitcase on the bed. He looked around for a dresser, finally finding one stuffed in the closet. He was just starting to put his shirts away when someone came through their door.

Hey, guys.

Dean turned around and saw a lanky kid with sharp features and a huge grin leaning up against the doorway.

Hey. Dean said.

I’m Brian. the kid said, still grinning. I’m in room B – just across the hall. I just thought I’d come by and say hi.

Nice to meet you. Alex said from behind Dean, causing him to jump. He hadn’t even realized Alex had come over.

So where are you guys from? Brian asked.

Florida. Alex said. You?

Nevada.

That’s not too far. Alex said, nodding slightly.

Yeah. Just a couple hours. So how about you? Brian asked, turning towards Dean.

Here. Dean told him, trying not to sound too bitter; it had actually been one of the things that had really bothered Dean. He could get used to the fact that he was stuck going here, but why did he have to stay in the dorms? He lived less than an hour away; couldn’t he just drive to school like a normal person? He really couldn’t imagine anything less fun than being forced to share a room with a complete stranger – especially for a whole year in a school full of misfits.

Really? In the city? Brian asked, surprised. When Dean nodded, Brian asked, So why are you staying in the dorms?

Beats me. Dean shrugged grudgingly. "It was one of the rules – ‘all students must stay in the dorms.’ It doesn’t matter how close you live."

Well, that sucks. Brian laughed. They sure do have a lot of rules around here, don’t they?

A loud thud came from the room next door, cutting Dean off before he’d