GRADUATION
by SANDEFUR
June, 2009.
"Parents and families, friends and alumni, good morning and welcome to the 2009 Sky High graduation ceremony!"
Principal Powers pauses for the light applause. What a glorious start to this greatest day of the school year. From the top of the steps in front of the school, she looks with favor at the 100 cap & gown clad seniors in the first row. It was hard to believe that these confident young men and women were the same group of nervous boys and girls she met in September of '05. In row after row behind the seniors was colorful group of guests. By tradition, heroes and sidekicks (both active and retired) were all in costume. But there were plenty of non-supers present—most of them parents of the graduates.
"For those of you unfamiliar with Sky High tradition, after receiving their diplomas, the graduates will remove their cap & gowns and reveal for the first time their new superhero names and costumes. We ask that there be no photography at that time as the rules of secret identity protection begin at that moment."
Powers briefly points upward and the crowd's gaze follows. Above them are four of Mr. Medulla's floating security spheres that would make certain everyone followed the rules.
Powers continues, "And now it is my privilege to welcome our first speaker, senior class president, Layla Williams."
The crowd of guests stand and offer polite applause, but her fellow seniors enthusiastically cheer for their elected leader. Will Stronghold briefly takes her hand and kisses it.
"Nervous?" he asks.
"Terrified."
Will looks into her eyes with genuine love and respect. "You'll be wonderful."
Layla smiles and mounts the steps to take her place behind the lectern's microphone. She clears her throat and looks over the very large crowd. Why did she ever run for this stupid office? Still, the warm smiles of her friends and her parents were encouraging. She could even make out in the very back row a thumbs-up from Warren Peace, who was making his first visit to Sky High since his own graduation two years ago. Too bad he was with his superhero partner, Freeze Girl. Layla has never liked the tall, aloof blonde, and she can't imagine how fire and ice can work so well together.
"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming today, and I especially want to thank my fellow seniors for the honor of serving them this year as class president. As our four years at this honored institution draw to a close, we look back fondly on our days of hard work, growing maturity, lifelong friendships and even a great deal of fun. Of course there were those moments that were definitely not fun, starting with our freshman confrontation with Royal Pain…"
No sooner were her words echoing through the school's sound system than when the 'grounds' of Sky High began to shake. In the very center of the crowd, the lawn begins to crumble as a large hole starts to appear. Numerous people scurry away as a steel cylinder rises from the hole. Quickly, a team of experienced heroes form a defensive line that consists of Will's parents (The Commander and Jetstream), Layla's mother Lady Fauna (a large flock of birds begin immediately appearing in response to her summons), Laserman (Zack's father) and Sonic Boom. After a shout of "Comets away," Principal Powers (a.k.a. Comet Girl) joins Jetstream overhead in the form of glowing star energy. The six heroes wait patiently, ready to give a very unfriendly greeting to whatever steps out of that cylinder.
The cylinder splits in half and out steps a robot—one that is familiar to The Commander. It is an exact copy of the one he destroyed four years ago on Will's first day at Sky High, only this version is no taller than an ordinary man. The robot speaks in an easily recognizable voice…
"At last the time has come. The time to destroy Sky High forever!"
"Royal Pain?" The Commander asks.
"It is I, Royal Pain, and if my calculations are correct, today is Will Stronghold's graduation day, which means The Commander is also here. Therefore, my original plan must have failed, and I am either dead or in the federal supervillain detention center. Now it is time for my Plan 'B'. Behold assembled superheroes, the instrument of your destruction!"
Several heroes in the crowd chuckle, for most have faced killer robots at one time or another, and this particular version looks far from intimidating. The Commander responds…
"You must be joking. I easily defeated the giant version of this robot. Do you really think…"
"No doubt The Commander is at this moment babbling about how easily he will defeat this robot, but don't bother, you big oaf. This is merely a recording as the robot is not interactive. It has a simple programming: to kill all of you and to destroy Sky High. Shall we begin?"
With that, the robot steps forward, its' mechanical pincers snapping ominously. The Commander shrugs and responds with a powerful fist slam to the top of the robot's head. The device shatters and tumbles to the ground. Laughter and applause follow The Commander's ridiculously easy victory…until the new development. Twin ripples of shimmering energy appear on either side of the fallen robot, and instantly a pair of fresh new robots form into existence. They resume their march toward the crowd.
Laserman steps forward. "Obviously this requires a more precise technique."
Beams of intense laser energy shoot forth from Laserman's hands, and the two robots are sliced down the middle. As the various pieces fall, the two are now replaced by four new robots. The crowd of spectators are becoming nervous at this growing trend. Comet Girl (Powers) lands and resumes human form…
"Perhaps obliteration is the answer?" she says as she blasts one of the advancing robots with a ball of energy sufficient to render it into dust. However, even as the robot disappears, two more take its' place, and now five robots are coming closer.
Powers shouts, "Boomer, buy us some time! Everyone, we will form a defensive line at the far end of the tarmac. Start getting the civilians to safety!"
Instantly, various heroes spring into action. Ron Wilson, bus driver, grows to giant size and begins arranging several buses into a line that has the edge of the airborne school on two of the three sides of a triangle. Numerous sidekicks, trained in crowd control, efficiently herd the non super powered civilians behind the buses. Meanwhile, Sonic Boom steps forward…
"SSTTOPPP!!!" he yells in an unbelievably powerful voice. The five robots are sent tumbling away, but one is sufficiently damaged to cause the duplication effect. Six robots advance.
Lady Fauna now commands her birds into action, and the obedient animals endlessly flutter their wings in front of each robot's single electronic eye. The robots at first try to swat away the annoyance, but the birds are too swift. Then the mechanical menaces raise their arms in front of them, and an electric current passes between the arms. Nearly half of the birds are killed. Alarmed by the loss of her friends, Lady Fauna orders the rest of the flock away, but in doing so she is momentarily distracted. The closest robot advances and swings its' metal arm. Lady Fauna ducks, but not quickly enough. A glancing blow causes a blood-gushing scalp wound, and she collapses to the ground.
"Mom!" shouts an alarmed Layla. Running toward the scene, she doffs her cap & gown, revealing her new identity of Earth Mother. Using her power over plants, she causes two trees to instantly spring up on either side of the robot that is threatening her mother. The robot is crushed between the trunks of the growing trees, and it is destroyed. Duplication occurs, and now there are eight. Layla curses her stupidity as Jetstream swoops in and flies Lady Fauna to safety behind the line of buses.
The robots speak in unison, again with Royal Pain's voice: "By now you have realized the futility of resistance. But please, continue to try. Your failure only increases my army!"
Freeze Girl and Hothead (Warren) arrive on the scene. The blonde superhero points her hands at the robots, and a blast of super cold turns all of them into ice cubes. For a couple of moments everyone pauses, hopeful of the results. But, the energy glow in the robots' eyes fade away followed by the duplication effect. Now there are sixteen.
Warren comments, "Way to go, ice for brains."
Freeze Girl retorts, "I don't see you coming up with any hot ideas."
"Let's try this." Warren says as he emits an enormous amount of flame. Instantly, a wall of fire surrounds the robots. "Hah! Let's see them try to get through that!"
At the line of buses, Mr. Medulla and All American Boy stand guard. Jonathan asks, "Will fire contain them?"
Medulla replies, "On the contrary, this is an ill-advised tactic for the robots have no self-preservation programming."
True enough, all 16 robots walk through the fire and emerge on the other side as charred rubble. Another duplication occurs, and now there are 32. By now all of the seniors have arrived in their new costumes, led by Captain Stong (Will) and his new sidekick, Zackattack.
"What do we do, Will? I mean...Captain."
"Join the others behind the defensive line along with the other sidekicks. Position yourself on top of one of the buses. We may have need for your special power." Will replies as he rushes to join his father.
Zack heads for the line of buses, followed by several other sidekicks. The very last to head that way are Ethan and Magenta, who have made a mad dash to Medulla's lab and have gathered every type of ray gun they could get their hands on. However, their approach to the defensive line is cut off by a couple of robots.
As the machines charge the two sidekicks, Magenta shape shifts into a guinea pig, and Ethan into a slimy puddle of ooze. The two robots miss their targets and crash hard into each other. Duplication occurs, and now there are four of the menacing robots on top of the helpless sidekicks.
"Maybe we are going about this all wrong." says a voice from above.
It is Ron Wilson, still in his giant form. He reaches down and gathers the four robots in his hands. Ethan and Magenta take advantage of the rescue and rush to the defensive line. Meanwhile, Ron is careful to contain the robots without damaging them. Ron smiles as his strategy seems to be working. Below him, Captain Strong shouts a warning...
"Ron! Remember the electricity..."
Too late. The four robots activate their electrical defense, and Ron is stunned by a force sufficent to kill a normal man. Ron collapses to the ground, crushing the four robots in the fall, who then duplicate. The eight new robots crowd in on Ron, who is unconscious and has shrunk to normal size.
With amazing speed, Jetstream flies in and plucks Ron from the ground--almost making the escape free and clear, but one of the robots manages a glancing blow. Jetstream screams in pain as a gash on her leg begins to bleed profusely, but she bravely completes the rescue. The Stronghold men, enraged beyond all reason, automatically respond with 'earthquake punches.' Dozens of robots are sent sprawling and are heavily damaged, which causes a massive duplication. Will and The Commander each groan in dismay at their mistake.
Behind the defensive line, Principal Powers is directing the treatment of the wounded using the first aid kits from the buses. She addresses All American Boy...
"Jonathan, we need to evacuate the wounded and the civilians. Problem is, we don't have enough fliers to get everyone out of here, and Ron was the only bus driver present."
"If you're asking if my hero support graduates are up to date on evacuation techniques, then the answer is yes. They have all qualified on our air buses. Unfortunately, we don't have enough runway for a take-off."
"I'm sure either of the Stronghold men can launch the buses clear of the school so they can activate their rockets. Organize two of the spare buses for an immediate evacuation, and pick your best students for drivers."
All American Boy nods his acknowledgement and begins the effiecent loading of two buses with civilians and the wounded. Meanwhile, out on the battlefield, Warren has finally connected with his best friend...
"Will."
"That's Captain Strong, Hothead." Will replies with a grin.
"Right...Captain. Anyway, I've got an idea. Ron may have been on the right track. Can you withstand the electrical discharge from a couple of those robots?"
"Uh yeah, as long as I don't have to endure it too often."
"Then grab a couple and we'll try out my idea."
Captain Strong shrugs and seizes the two nearest robots. They struggle and strike the young superhero repeatedly, but Will manages to restrain them without inflicting damage. Finally, the pair resorts to their electrical defense. After absorbing all of their electrical energy, Captain Strong releases the robots and staggers back. Immediately, Hothead fires a blast of flame at one of the robots, which is burned to a crisp. To everypne's surprise, it doesn't duplicate. Warren then fries the second robot, but it does duplicate.
Laserman notes, "Good thinking! After they use their electrical defense, the robots are too drained of energy to use that duplication trick."
Hothead responds, "Yeah, but they recharge in only a couple of seconds."
The Commander says, "My son and I can restrain a couple of them at a time, but after enough jolts of that much electricity, we'll be out of action too."
At that moment, Layla steps forward. "Then maybe Earth Mother can be of help."
Pointing her hands at the ground, Layla causes massive vines to pop up out of the soil and ensnare six of the closest robots. After a prolonged struggle against the tough, sinewy vines, the robots use their electrical defense to kill the annoying plants. Momentarily, they are drained of energy.
Instantly, The Commander and Captain Strong each smash one of the robots while Hothead and Laserman destroy the other four. None of them duplicate.
"Yes," shouts The Commander, "now we have them on the run. Earth Mother, do it again!"
Layla repeats the strategy and captures the next half dozen robots in her plant's vines. But this time they react differently. The six immediately give up their struggles and their robot eyes darken as the duplication effect occurs. A dozen new robots advance on the heroes.
Warren mutters, "Damn, they adapted to the strategy."
Laserman calls out, "Time to retreat."
The other heroes reluctantly admit the wisdom of this action and begin withdrawing to the defensive line. As the last of the heroes enters the area behind the buses, Principal Powers shouts...
"We need to find a way to stengthen this line."
Freeze Girl reponds, "Allow me."
Climbing to the top of one of the buses, Freeze Girl uses her power to create an ice wall ten feet thick on the outside of the defensive perimeter. The robots have now arrived in mass, and immediately begin smashing at the wall of ice. Freeze Girl, weakened by her enormous expenditure of energy, begins to sway from exhaustion. Quickly, Zack is at her side.
"Jodie!" Warren calls out in concern for his partner. Carefully, Zack lowers Freeze Girl into Warren's arms. "You crazy ice cube, you never will admit your limitations."
"Look who's talking..." Freeze Girl murmurs before fainting.
As Warren rushes Freeze Girl to the first aid station, others on the wall are trying ways to stop the robot assault. Medulla fires a shrink ray at a couple of the machines, but as they begin to diminish to tiny size, they detect the power loss and activate their duplication. Four more full size robots take their place. All American Boy tries a force ray pistol set at its' lowest setting, but it only manages to push the robots back a few feet.
"I don't dare use a higher setting, or I'll damage the machines and they will duplicate."
Medulla replies, "I know, and nothing else seems to be working. If only I could analyze an active model, I might be able to come up with an effective counter measure."
The carbon copy kid, now known as Mr. Chameleon, speaks up. "I've been close enough to the robots to try that. Let's see if I can replicate more than people..."
With one moment of intense concentration, the new superhero transforms into an exact copy of an enemy robot. For a moment, everyone waits to see if the newcomer is hostile, but the Chameleon robot waits passively for Medulla's exam.
"This is wonderful, but I will need my equipment. Mr. Stonghold... I mean, Captain Strong, can you fetch my electronic analysis kit from my lab? It's labeled Kit #17."
Will reponds,"Back in a second."
Will flies away, and it is exactly nine seconds before he returns with the kit Medulla has requested. Medulla opens the chest plate of the faux robot and begins his exam.
Powers calls out, "Hurry Medulla, the robots are almost through the ice wall. If they break through, I'll have to order a complete evacuation of the school."
Captain Strong comments, "Then it is all up to Zackattack."
Laserman dubiously questions, "Up to my son? How can his ability to glow help us?"
"Let me show you." Will reponds as he grabs Laserman and flies him up to the top pf the bus where Zack is standing next to Boomer.
"Hi Dad, come to see my big moment?" Zack asks.
Laserman replies, "I didn't know you were capable of a 'big moment' Zack."
"Sure Dad. These last four years I've been working with Mr. Medulla and Mr. Boy on ways of improving my power. Instead of releasing my energy in a slow, steady glow, I can now release it in one intense burst. Watch."
Will asks, "Ready for your part, Sonic Boom?"
"It's why I'm up here kid, " Boomer replies as he adresses the mob of robots. "HEY YOU STUPID ROBOTS, LOOK UP HERE!!!"
The robots automatically glance up toward the source of the challenge. Zack steps forward and opens his yellow cape to reveal a highly reflective lining. After a moment of intense concentration, a half second burst of concentrated light is emitted like the world's biggest flashbulb. The robots are all blinded and abandon their assault on the ice wall as they flail about helplessly.
Laserman, beaming with pride, grabs Zack and gives him a big bear hug. "Did you see that? That's my boy! He's a hero...a real one!"
Choosing to ignore the implied insult, Zack returns his father's hug. Captain Strong suspects this is an all too rare of an occasion for his sidekick. However, the celebration is cut short when Boomer calls out, "Oh, no!" They turn back to the robots and see that all of the blinded robots have stopped moving and are shutting down. An instant later, they all duplicate and twice as many as before resume their assault on the defensive line.
Principal Powers sighs heavily. "Okay, that's it. Everyone to the spare buses for an immediate evacuation!"
The Commander responds, "We're giving up, just like that?"
"Of course not, but we have done all that we can in the here and now. Once we are the ground, we will reorganize and put out a call for more heroes to come and join the fight. There must be some way to stop this menace."
Medulla interjects, "Perhaps I have found a way."
Powers and several other heroes crowd in around Medulla and the faux robot. Powers asks, "What have you got, Medulla?"
"Just what I expected. Not even Royal Pain has the technical expertise to create matter out of nothing. She has incorporated someone's living D.N.A. into the robot's reproduction unit."
Layla says, "I'll bet that's her friend Penny's D.N.A."
"Correct, er, Earth Mother. However, by using human D.N.A., Royal Pain has introduced an inherent risk of rebellion and mutation in these robots. It is the nature of human beings to be rebellious, and Royal Pain must have known this. She would have taken counter measures for the last stage of her plan."
The Commander says, "I thought her plan was to simply kill all of us and destroy the school."
"And leave herself trapped behind bars? No, the next phase will be a march on the federal supervillain detention center by her robot army. After they free her, Royal Pain would want to go into hiding, and that wouldn't include taking an army of potentially rebellious robots with her. So, she has incorporated into their programming an irreversible shut down command sequence."
All American Boy comments, "But that command sequence could be any combination of letters, numbers, words and symbols. It could take months to decipher."
Captain Strong responds, "No, I'll bet it has something to do with her massive ego. Something like: Royal Pain is a genius."
Medulla checks the monitor he is using in analyzing the shut down sequencer. "Interesting. There was a partial response from the shut down device. That was close."
Layla says, "Maybe, Gwen Greyson is a genius?"
"No, there was the same level of response, but no more."
The Commander says, "Wait, when I went to school with her, her real name was Sue Tenney."
"Yes, let's try that. 'Sue Tenney is a genius'."
Instantly, the faux robot transforms back into Mr. Chameleon. "Wow, that was a weird experience, even for me. When you said that phrase Mr. Medulla, I could feel myself slipping away. I knew I had to switch back or perish."
"My apologies, Mr. Chameleon. I should have realized the risk I was putting you in. However, now we have our answer."
Boomer adds, "Which means it is up to me."
Sonic Boom returns to the defensive line where the last of the ice has been shattered. The robots are now begining to smash their way through the re-inforced school buses. With a look of distaste on his face, Boomer shouts, "SUE TENNEY IS A GENIUS!!!"
Everyone watches with great anticipation, but nothing new occurs. The unphased robots continue to draw nearer. Principal Powers remarks...
"It failed. We have no choice. We have to leave now!"
All of remaining heroes run for the air buses, all except one. All American Boy advances on the robots, and just as the first bunch has broken through, Jonathan Boy concentrates for a moment and every single one of the robots stops dead in his tracks. They collapse into piles of metal junk, and this time there is no duplication. It is over.
The other heroes return to the scene and crowd in on All American Boy, staring at him in amazement.
The Commander asks, "Jonathan...how?"
"I remembered that Royal Pain is a technopath. She controls technology with her mind. She wouldn't have to give a verbal command..."
Medulla adds, "Of course! She would shut down the robots with a mental command. The only reason our experiment with Mr. Chameleon worked is because despite his appearance, he always remained an interactive human, so he heard and understood the command. And All American Boy's superpower is telepathic interaction with electronic devices. He was the only one amongst us who could have done this."
Will calls out, "Three cheers for Mr. Boy!"
With great enthusiasm, the assembled heroes comply...
X X X X X
Epilogue.
A week later, the delayed graduation for the class of '09 takes place. All of the broken and deactivated robots have been cleared away, and all damage to the school has been repaired. The injured are all on their way to a rapid recovery, and have joined the joyous celebration. The many speakers get their chance to give their very similar speeches on: 'the future awaits/anything is possible'. The new heroes repeat the traditional ceremony of removing their cap & gown outifits and revealing for the 'first' time their new names and costumes. The last speaker for the day is Will Stronghold (Captain Strong), who reports on his recent visit to Royal Pain's cell...
"Needless to say, our least favorite villain was mightly put out by the failure of her 'Plan B' to destroy this school. I am happy to report that the news of her failure completely ruined her day." (Laughter from the crowd.) "Really though, she should have known better. If she had simply buried her robot in its' steel casing outside the supervillain detention center, she could have easily defeated the security systems there and made good her escape. But her foolish pride insisted she start here, on the very day when the greatest number of assembled heroes was assured. In her warped mind, that was the only way to proceed in order to prove how much greater she is than all others. Thank God the one manual Royal Pain has not read is the one that says, Pride goeth before a fall."
The crowd gives Captain Strong and the other assembled senior graduates a rousing, standing ovation. While they are accepting these accolades, Will wonders if he did the right thing in not telling the crowd the one chilling remark made to him by Royal Pain as he left her cell...
"Will Stronghold, what makes you think I don't have a Plan C?"
THE END. PLEASE REVIEW.
(Footnote: I first wrote of All American Boy's telepathic link to electonic devices in my story, THE AMERICAN WAY. I speculate that this is Jonathan Boy's superpower from the alternate opening scene on the Sky High DVD. The Commander and all American Boy are helplessly chained prisoners of Royal Pain. Jonathan asks if he should call for back up. The Commander assures his sidekick that he has the situation under control. However, in the next scene, Jetstream receives an emergency call from the mayor on her red cell phone, and she flies directly to Royal Pain's hideout to save-the-day. Clearly, it is implied that All American Boy did send out that call for help, and since he was chained, the only way it could have been done was by a telepathic link, probably to electonic devices like phones, radios and computers. Anyway, that's my guess.)