Jack Attack
He shouldn't have come to school today. He should have known better when he woke up feeling a little tetchy.
The hot water was taking too long so his morning shower was lukewarm at best, the last of the milk for breakfast had gone sour, he had stepped in the only puddle on an otherwise dry street which had soaked right through his shoe and into his sock, there had been two pop tests at school, and it was dodge ball during DE.
He had felt it, the anger. With every little thing that went wrong it gained a stronger hold on him.
He didn't like getting angry. He usually ended up doing something he'd regret later when his rage had subsided and rational thought took over again. Also, people tended to be afraid of him afterwards. He didn't like it when people were afraid of him.
He was a nice guy, dammit. There was no need for everyone to run away in terror.
It's why he tried so hard to be unimposing. But everyone has a breaking point.
He finally reached his limit during the break between classes. The final straw came in the form of a hulking shadow and warm breath at the back of his neck as the Minotaur snorted in derision at him.
"Of course this would happen today," he mumbled to himself. Then, more loudly, "Don't, just don't. I'm really not in the mood for this."
"What's the matter? Poor, little normie going to cry?"
Red consumed his vision and the snapping sound in his head drowned out the tortured metal screaming as he ripped his locker door off it's hinges.
The moment when the broadside of the destroyed locker door slammed into Manny's face was more satisfying than that time he beat Ghoulia on a test.
The other students froze in mid motion as scrawny Jackson Jekyll toppled the resident bully.
X
Manny backpedaled with the blow and took another to throat for his effort. He hit the ground, too dazed and confused to move out of the way when a foot planted itself in the middle of his chest. Manny found himself unable to move under the pressure of it.
The destroyed locker door slammed into the ground just above Manny's head, looking for all the world like a tombstone at his grave.
Manny's head was pulled up slightly by his nose ring and angry blue eyes filled his vision.
"Listen up and listen good," a voice like acid growled at him. "When I say I'm not in the mood, I mean it. Don't fuck with me anymore or next time I'll make hamburger out of you. Got it, Lunchmeat?"
A strangled whimper left Manny's throat and he gave as best a nod as he could before finally saying, "Yeah, I got it man. No problem. Whatever you say."
Manny's whole body was trembling. Those frightening, blue eyes continued to stare him down for a few more seconds before he was released.
Jackson grabbed hold of his locker door, pulling it free of the floor and scattering shards of tile and concrete in the process. A deep gouge was left in the floor, not but half an inch from Manny's scalp.
The human boy took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself, then looked around at the stunned and horrified faces of his classmates. Then at his broken locker and the mangled door in his hand.
"Fuck!" he said through gritted teeth. "Now I got to get a new locker. This day just keeps getting better and better."
"Just what is going on here?" the booming voice of the headmistress echoed through the halls and Jackson cringed, the rage draining from him and leaving him feeling exhausted. Another reason he hated getting angry.
"Everyone, get to class. It's all over now, there is nothing to see here." Bloodgood ordered. The students quickly finished gathering up their books and made a hasty exit. Manny scrambled to his feet and joined them.
Jackson tried to slink away with the crowd, but her steely voice stopped him dead in his tracks.
"Not you, Jekyll. You're to come with me to my office. I think we need to have a little chat." She had called him by his last name. Ouch. He was in so much trouble.
"Yes ma'am."
X
She hadn't taken her head off yet. A sure sign that she was being very serious. It was actually rather intimidating.
Jackson stared down at his sneakers so he wouldn't have to look her in the eye. Some part of him wondered at that. He was fairly certain real normal people would be more frightened by her when her head was off.
"You know," she began. "That floor was specially designed to withstand the pressure of a wide variety of monsters constantly stomping down it. It was tested to hold up under the combined weight of four giants without so much as a crack. And you managed to put a hole in it three inches deep with a piece of scrap metal."
He slunk down in his seat.
"I would say that it's impressive, really, but the damage is actually quite extensive and will be costly to repair."
He gulped. His parents were going to be mad. He had promised to try to keep it together this time.
"Also, there's the issue with fighting on school grounds. That alone is worth two weeks suspension, the threat of, what was it again, 'turning another student into hamburger' would normally result in expulsion."
He cringed again, waiting for the inevitable.
"But, considering your past history with Mr. Taur as well as this being the first, and hopefully only, outburst in an otherwise impeccable scholastics record, I'm willing to reduce the sentence to two weeks detention."
He perked up at that, the first smile of the day and words of thanks forming on his lips. She took off her head and rested it on her desk. He relaxed a bit and asked, "So, I'm not going to be expelled?"
"No. I will be calling your parents, however."
And once again he descended back down into the bleak emotional hole he had created for himself. He hung his head.
"Honestly, I was wondering how long you would manage to hold out. I didn't think you'd last as long as you have, from what I was told of your last enrollment at a public school."
"You mean, you knew this whole time?" He gave her a betrayed look.
"Of course I did. Your mother was very upfront about your families anger managment issues. She thought it best to warn me in advance so I would be better prepared for a worst case scenario."
"A worst case scenario? It's just an adrenalin boost, not a nuclear explosion."
She leveled him with a stare that made him look away again.
"Okay, so it might be a bit more than that and I may have overdone it a bit." The look intensified.
"A lot," he corrected. "I was having a bad day," he finished lamely.
"Be that as it may, that is still no excuse for such an outburst. Your detentions start tonight. And next time something is upsetting you, just come to me or one of your teachers. We are always here for the students, no matter what your unique needs are."
"Yes, Ma'am. I wouldn't have really hurt him. No matter how mad I was. I'm not like Mom. I do have some restraint."
"So it would seem. Now," she handed him a hall pass and absentee note, "go to the admissions office and see about getting a new locker, then head to class."
He accepted the pieces of paper and headed to the door.
"And Jackson." He paused. "Try not to loose your temper again. While the students might not be harmed, I don't know that the school would survive it."
"Yes, Ma'am." He sent her a mock salute and exited her office. Today wasn't such a bad day after all.
Author's Notes: I don't know, maybe just two weeks was a bit lenient. But in my defense, in the canon characters often get away with a lot worse.
One of my favorite classic stories is The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. So there are many things about the common interpretation that irk me. To set the record straight: Dr. Jekyll was a dick, the elixir did exactly what it was suppose to do, Edward Hyde was not a split personality and he didn't turn into the hulk or otherwise gain super strength. Having said that, Mattel clearly went with the very common misinterpretation of the character when coming up with Jackson and his family, so I'll play with want was given to me. I'll just pretend that the inconsistencies have to do with it be an inherited problem over many generations.
I like the doll characterization more than the webisode version, but I try to go for a mix of both in story. In any case, the doll dairies heavily imply his mom goes all She-Hulk whenever she gets really pissed off, but neither Jackson nor Holt are said/shown to possess that trait. Since they gave Holt the fire abilities, where did that other trait go, hmm? Ah, so many fun possibilities to play with when it comes to this character. I want to play with them all. I probably will.