Skylar Storm was feeling down.
She wouldn't show the world, though. She'd act as if she didn't mind living without powers. She'd act lie she was fine. But she wasn't. she had no idea how much she depended on her powers. Sure she still possessed her fighting skills, but being powerless meant not being able to do stuff anymore. She had no idea how much she had relied on her strength and the power to fly, or to turn invisible. These were disadvantages.
Yet, Skylar Storm was a fighter. So, she would not give up. She just had to adapt to this new situation. She knew there might not be a cure immediately, but she knew that it would come eventually. So for now, she just had to learn to live without her powers.
She adapted rather easily and had decided to go to that Normo school where Kaz and Oliver went as well. she'd be stuck on Earth for a while, and why not learn more about the planet she regularly saved? Why not try and blend in until the doctors of the Mighty Med found a way to restore her powers?
Today was the tenth day of Normo school, and she now only realized how hard it was. Teenagers did have a hard life, she already knew that, but she didn't know school gave these kids a hard time. Unless you liked studying and some school activities, you really had a hard life. At least, that's what Skylar thought.
Today was the tenth day of Normo school, and the first day something exciting happened. well, if you could call it exciting. The staff had decided that some classes of her year would attend a performance by a woman who recited famous poems. They told the students about the event, adding this would be a great opportunity to actually hear them by a professional.
When they told the news, Kaz had just sighed and concentrated on his comic book while Oliver didn't look too happy either. Skylar, on the other hand, was excited. She had researched the American Normo culture, and she did find some beautiful poems. And now their teacher told them they would watch a one-hour show with only poems. That's just great! Now Skylar would learn more about poems and how they are supposed to be recited.
The teachers guided the teens to the gym. There stood a tribune, so the performer would be standing and facing the crowd properly. Around 200 people fitted in the gym when all seats were taken and the additional chairs were filled. Skylar was one of the few who actually looked forward to it, being one of the few students to wear a smile as she sat down in the tribune. Kaz sat on her right, Oliver on her left. Gus and Jordan were around here somewhere as well, but she couldn't see them. The students were talking to each other, not caring about what was to come.
"I am so excited!" she started, "Who do you think he'll be reciting?" she got an immediate answer.
"I don't know who and I don't care." Skylar glared at Kaz for his answer. How could he not enjoy poems? They were special, full of love or hate, powerful, almost perfect! But Kaz was Kaz, and since they were meant to emotionally move you, he didn't care much about him. He even sneaked in a comic book to read during the performance!
"Connie," Oliver began, "he or she will probably perform many poems written by different poets. Although I think the performer will choose for some less famous poems." The lights dimmed, the conversations stopped and a woman walked on the only space not occupied by chairs. This woman was around thirty, and she looked good. She had long, wavy black hair and she had the nicest smile ever. Her green eyes looked at the teenagers.
Skylar looked at Oliver, who frowned. "She looks familiar." He eventually whispered.
"Who cares?" Kaz said, "We just gotta pretend we enjoy this for one hour and we can go back to other boring classes." Skylar didn't respond – she patiently waited for the woman to start talking, to start reciting great poems.
"Welcome, everyone," her voice was crystal clear, almost melodious, "I am Cassie and I will perform some poems here, but you already knew that. Now, I know not all of you appreciate poetry, but I will ask you to remain silent during the whole act. That way, you do not only respect me, but also those who wish to listen." She nodded and the lights went out. A spotlight was placed on Cassie and she looked at the crowd again.
Then, she began to speak.
It might be difficult to understand, but Cassie wasn't only reciting poems, she was creating a miracle. She was able to have everyone on the edge of their seat. Everyone listened very attentively, ever silent, afraid to miss a single word. She also moved everyone emotionally. Whenever she recited a sad poem, they would almost cry, feeling sad. If it was a humorous poem, the teens were holding in their laughter. She really was a special woman, because she could make all students feel sad, happy, angered, afraid and ashamed with only using her words.
When Cassie announced her show was over, the students demanded she would recite one more poem.
One of those students was Kaz. Believe it or not, but Kaz shouted the loudest. Skylar's mouth fell open. Kaz was one of the students who would rather sleep, but he didn't because of that Cassie, who looked like she was very flattered because they asked for more. To Skylar, this was very suspicious. She turned around to tell Oliver something was wrong, but he too wanted to hear more.
There were only four others who thought something was wrong.
"Thanks, guys!" Cassie said, "There is nothing left to say, but I have one poem. I wrote it myself and I hope you guys like it. It's called the 'Poem of Darkness'." That was enough. There have been enough hints and now she grabbed her backpack. She had her headphones with her, and when she had them on, she couldn't hear anything anymore. Which was a good thing, because Cassie started to recite the Poem of Darkness.
It looked and sounded like a poem, but it was an incantation, mostly performed by Cassandra Queen, a villain without alias, who had tried to awaken her master from his slumber. Until now, she hadn't succeeded because heroes always came after performing the incantation, thus not getting into the trance. Her master, the Lord of Darkness, originally from the same dimension as the Demon Brothers, required a sacrifice to come back to Earth. And those who had listened to the incantation, the Poem of Darkness, were the people who were sacrificed to the Lord of Darkness. They literally had to be swallowed by the darkness before the Lord of Darkness could return.
The students and teachers were easy prays for Cassandra Queen, and she always used the same method.
The incantation was a short one and soon, everyone who heard it was in trance. Skylar quickly took the headphones from her head, just in case she would turn on the lights. But she wouldn't, for she was a servant of the Darkness and would avoid turning on the lights. This gave Skylar a chance of getting closer while the innocent Normos were in a trance.
"Humans!" Cassandra's voice rang through the sky, and Skylar snuck closer to her, off of the tribune, coming closer to the ground and closer to the villains. "You have gathered here today to fulfil your destiny: to bring back our Lord of Darkness to your pathetic world. Your sacrifice will be commemorated as a deed of great value! Stand up and greet the Lord of Darkness!"
Skylar Storm stood up, just as everyone, not further than ten yards from Cassandra. "Don't do what she says!" Skylar yelled, knowing they would only listen to her voice. It was a good attempt, though. And she did what she wanted to do. She drew Cassandra's attention, and with her focus away from bringing her master back, she couldn't finish the process.
"How are you not in trance, human?" Cassandra asked angrily, and with that last word she pissed off the Calderan teen.
"I'm not human." Skylar said, "I'm Skylar Storm." And she stood in her pose. Three seconds, it stayed silent and then, Cassandra laughed. She was laughing with Skylar, with her attempt to face a full-fledged villain, as the weak Normo she was now.
"Skylar Storm? You dare defy me? You are a Normo!" Skylar nodded.
"I may not have my powers anymore, but I am still a hero!" Cassandra was distracted by the superhero who lost her superpowers. She looked at the confident teenager. Did she think she still had her powers? Did she really think she could beat a servant of Darkness? She then really was a fool, or she just was too stubborn to admit she couldn't take out villains until she was knocked into the superhero hospital with critical, almost lethal wounds.
"You, a hero? Don't make me laugh. You're a nobody." Skylar let her guard down, just for one second. She then stood firmly back in her fighting stance. It was her voice, Skylar realized. Cassandra had a powerful voice which almost made her believe like she was a nobody. In the meantime, Cassandra continued to talk, thinking she was the hero sent to battle her. "You're not a good fighter! Everyone, especially me, can defeat you within mere seconds. You will be defeated, and now you're a human, a Normo, I might repeat the incantation so you can be sacrificed as well."
Her mental defenses were weakening as Cassandra continued talking. She noticed Kaz and Oliver sitting on the tribune, staring to an unknown point in front of them. They had fallen for the incantation just like everyone else. She could join them. it was so easy – just take down her mental defenses and she wouldn't have to worry about being weak anymore. She shook her head Why was she doubting her place? She should be down here fighting the villain, not sitting in the tribune and giving up like a Nor- like a coward!
Cassandra smiled evilly. "Your defenses are weak, Calderan. Just give up. It's the easiest thing to do." The villainess put all her power in those sentences, and she broke Skylar Storm. She felt how she lowered her hands, and she tried to force them back in position. Nothing happened, not even when she put all of her power in it. Skylar's hands wouldn't move.
It was over. She had won.
Cassandra smiled. "And now, to finish the ceremony." The villainess faced the people again and ignored Skylar and everything behind her. That way, she didn't see how a hero did enter and how he shot a stun ray to her. The villainess, who had no idea what was going on, fell on the ground and lost consciousness, breaking the trance with all students, who were surprised to see Titanio and a student standing next to the unconscious Cassie. Kaz and Oliver immediately realized what had happened to them, but they pretended to be surprised – a hero in the gym, how often did that happen?
"Thanks for helping, Skylar said," Titanio said, shaking Skylar's hand.
"But I didn't do anything! I just talked to her and she… she…" She didn't want to talk about it. She didn't want to relive the moments when she actually thought she was a nobody, even though those thoughts were told to her by Cassandra. But Titanio didn't want to hear that and he shook his head.
"you did do something. You distracted her. That's a very brave thing to do. If it weren't for you, everyone in this gym would've been dead by now. Because you distracted her, I had enough time to come here and take her down. Congratulations, Skylar; you're the real hero today."
Skylar almost couldn't believe her ears. What did Titanio say? A few seconds later, she realized how important she was, still. She was needed, even if she didn't have her powers. They needed her. Without her, all these innocent Normos would have been dead.
Skylar Storm was still a hero. And people would know what she had done today.
Skylar wasn't feeling so down anymore.
Hey guys! Here's another Mighty Med one-shot! I have no idea where that idea came from and I'm not certain if you guys do this, but just pretend they have to do this. I also hope you enjoyed this one-shot. I definitely had fun writing it. See you guys next time!
-Writer207