Billy walked down the hallway, it was unremarkable, boring. He was still irritated that this was necessary. He had done everything that Bad Horse had asked and still he had to go through this stupid test. He was famous and more importantly he was feared. What could a simple month-long test tell them that a murder and defeated nemesis could not?
His eye caught the door number he was looking for 21B. He knocked but no one answered. He tried again, still nothing. He discreetly looked up and down the hallway and knelt in front of the door. He got out the lock-picker. It scanned the keyhole and attached itself to the knob. It started making loud grinding noises, then started to smoke. "Hey, stop that." He said quietly, checking up and down the hallway again. He pried the lock-picker off the door and was momentarily blinded by the scanning mechanism. Before he could see what was wrong the lock-picker had fastened itself to his face and was clamped down on his tongue.
"aaahng ahha mma!" he exclaimed as he tried to pry it off. His finger hit the off button and he was able to pry the thing off of his face. "Ow!" He re-attached the lock-picker and was able to unlock the door; it swung open to reveal three women arguing. They stopped abruptly and stared at him.
"It was...ah…open?" he stuttered. The woman leaning against the couch was frowning at him when he entered but at that the corners of her mouth twitched, she made a real effort not to laugh but she was soon clutching her ribs.
"Awww, stop laughing Diana! He's just a little ELE henchman." Said one of the girls on the couch.
"I am not a henchman! I am Doctor Horrible! I have a PHD in horribleness!" The girl leaning on the couch had stopped laughing but at that the remaining woman started to giggle.
"Is horribleness even a word?" she asked. The leaning girl smacked her lightly on the head and walked towards Billy.
"I'm Diana, goddess of the hunt, but when I'm at home I'm called Rhia, my friends were just leaving." She said, glaring at them. It was then that Billy noticed that one of the girls on the couch was in full superhero uniform. On her chest was her superhero name. "Tuls?" he asked. "Read it backwards." She said with a wink and left.
He reversed it and blinked hard several times. "…oh." He said. Rhia snorted. "My friends can be hard to handle for someone new to the Fighting Mutant League."
"I'm not part of the FML. I'm here as a part of a training program. I am here only to learn how the enemy thinks. That's all I don't want to be friends and I don't like the fact that we have to be roommates. I don't want your friendship, I don't want your speeches about how awesome being good is, and I don't want to hear about how bad it is to be evil! I would, however, love a bathroom right now." He said.
"That door there." She said, pointing. "You do realize that you're not really here just to learn, right? They want to know if there's a chance that you may not be as horrible as you seem. They wouldn't want you to change sides halfway through training." He gave her the cold shoulder in response and walked towards the bathroom, he missed her slowly shaking her head.
When he came out of the bathroom she was waiting for him. "Want the tour?" she asked. "uh… sure." He responded. He looked around his temporary home for the first time. The walls were painted a light green, the couches and recliners in the main room were a darker green. There was a TV against one wall and one wall was a huge, single window with a huge green curtain on one side. She motioned for him to pick up his bag and led him through the yellow kitchen and into the hallway. The hallway was more of a Y. She pointed down the branch on the right. "My room's on the end, the one before that is my office." She pointed to the right. "You're down here." Again, she led the way. There was only a single room at the end of the hall.
Billy cautiously opened the door. The room was a pale blue color; the only furniture was a bookcase against one wall. "You're going to love this." Rhia said. She walked over to the bookcase and grabbed one of the shelves, she pulled it towards her slightly and there was a popping sound. The whole bookcase shifted. He gasped; he almost cried he was so happy. "Is that… a secret bookcase doorway?" he asked, his voice shaking. She nodded.
"I've always wanted one of these…" he put his hand on one side of the bookcase, took a deep breath and opened it. Inside was a fully equipped lab, complete with whiteboard. "I…uh… I might be able to survive here after all." He admitted.
"You'd better survive." Rhia said, "Aguta would have my head, she said if I broke another trainee I'd owe her a new one."
OK Billy, be careful here. She obviously wants to make you uncomfortable with that breaking trainees comment. So which is it going to be? Ask about the trainee and maybe get a warning or ask who this "Aguta" is and get some serious answers. Aguta. "Who's Aguta?"
She smiled slightly like he passed the test and answered, "She's the mentor/commander of my section of the FML. Her hero name, Aguta is the Inuit gatherer of the dead, as in she's cold as ice and can leave you pushing up the daisies faster than anyone else I know."
"She sounds like she'd make a better villain than superher- aaaack." Rhia had him by the collar of his shirt. "Aguta is one of the greatest heroes we've ever had. She's a hero because she knows the difference between right and wrong. Over the next four weeks I will show you exactly why we go through hell to undo whatever new hell you guys in the ELE have unleashed." She let Billy go and he massaged his neck. Unsure of what to say next after such an outburst he went with, "Do you want to order some pizza? I'm starved." She blinked, "Hawaiian, get it from Alfredo's, they're the best around here."