Chapter 1- Villain U vs. Superheroes Council
Dark Mayhem was always preoccupied of finding new students for Villain U at most three years before they fulfilled the age requirements for starting to study at the University.
'So which are the best candidates that are 15, at the moment?', Dark Mayhem asked his humpbacked servant in his usual cold voice, due to a voice modulator.
'I found three adequate enough for attending the University, master...', the servant said, almost whispering the last words.
After a moment of silence, Dark Mayhem lost his patience:
'Well? Who are they?', he asked.
The servant looked puzzled.
'Who, master?'
Dark Mayhem was now smoking furry.
'The candidates, idiot!', he cried out.
The humpbacked servant was now frightened to death.
'Yes, m-master, t-they are: Rodion Maskolovitch, Alexander Wozniak, from Poland and Maximus Thunderman.'
As the last name was said, Dark Mayhem's attention was officially captured.
'Did you say Thunderman? Like in t-h-u-n-d-e-r-m-a-n? The superhero?'
The servant quickly looked over some documents and handing them to Dark Mayhem, he said:
'Yes, master. Here is written that he is the son of Hank Thunderman, the superhero and has the following abilities-'
'Levitation, climate control...', Dark Mayhem read aloud from the documents.
After a short moment of deep contemplation, Dark Mayhem said:
'Oh, I think I have big plans for Max Thunderman... Oh yes, we have a new pawn in this war, a crucial one...', his words died in the deadly silence that fell over the place.
In the meanwhile...
'Alright, now let's start with session 235 on year 2014, highly esteemed superheroes.', Superman said, bored to death. 'Today we are going to discuss a very important matter: Max Thunderman.'
As the last words left Superman's lips, the murmurs from the talking superheroes died instantly.
'We all know that this child is very important, as he is a very powerful superhero, one that will soon outpace me in abilities that many of us can only dream of. Now, the problem is-'
'Excuse me, Sir!', a blonde superwoman interrupted Superman, probably being new in the Council. 'But why is Max Thunderman or and any Thunderman relevant to this Council? As far as I know, Hank Thunderman got retired after his recent failures and I correctly presume that his children aren't better either.'
All the heroes at the table looked to both Superman and the new superwoman, waiting for an ultimate battle, maybe, but it has never happened.
'I understand your reasons for being reticent towards the Thundermans, but let's not forget how good Hank Thunderman was in his times. Anyway, coming to young Max, we shall apply what we decided to, in 1999. So if-'
Now Superman was interrupted again by the blonde woman:
'And that is? I'm new here for God's sake!?'
Superman rose to his feet and started to walk slowly around the long table.
'Many of us know the weird circumstances of Max's birth, on 7 March, 1999. Now, Max and Phoebe, his twin-sister, are parted by 20 seconds only. Pitifully, this meant a lot of time, Phoebe being born on 6 March, 1999 at 23:59 and 40 seconds and Max on 7 March, 1999 at midnight. The fortune made that Achilles Comet started its journey at that hour sharp.', Superman said, taking a deep breath in order to make sure that everyone was listening. 'Now, we all new that Achilles Comet's main property is to derange our powers, but when a superhero child is born on the day of its arrival, it is possible to get many other abilities, that are identical with ours-as Superman said this, he tried to include the whole bunch of superheroes in a single gesture-and now, that Max reached puberty, we can test him in order to find his abilities and train in him to become the best superhero ever.'
'One problem, though!', a rather fat guy said, 'As far as I know, this Max is not an angel. On contrary actually, he was suspended twice from the Superhero School for vandalism, and breaking into the school's records, which are both, let's remember serious misdemeanours, according to US law. Lately, our scanners detected two unauthorised launches into space of two little rockets, not very big, they didn't require more then 1100 Newtons in order to be launched, but still. And guess from where were they launched? Max's residency!'
A long silence followed, interrupted in the end by Superman:
'I know that Max Thunderman is not the best example of being a good and responsible superhero, especially compared to his sister, but let's give him a chance. After all, we all were not the best either when we first started to discover our powers. So? Do you want Max Thunderman to come here?'
Exclamations and shouts of approval followed, proving Superman that he was still a good persuasive speaker.
At the Thundermans'...
'Yes?', Max answered his phone. 'Max Thunderman speaking.'
'That's what I expected. I am Dark Mayhem.', a cold voice said.
Max froze, due to both gladness and concern.
'This is not a joke is it?', Max asked, quieter.
'AM I A PERSON THAT JOKES?!', Dark Mayhem's cold voice boomed through the speakers.
'No, Sir, what I meant is-'
'I don't care what you meant!', Dark Mayhem interrupted Max. 'Now,', he said calming down a bit, 'what about coming and visiting Villain U? Maybe, in three years you will be one of our best students.'
Max couldn't help but giggle, although he was smart enough to put his phone away while he giggled and jumped without stopping.
'So can you come tomorrow? That is going to be on Saturday.'
Max cleared his throat and said coldly:
'It's a deal then, Sir!'
'Very well, then.', Dark Mayhem said, hanging up.
Max continued to jump around the room, not knowing that Billy, wishing to ask Max something overheard the whole conversation.
"Max is going to leave and go to Villain U?! But... But...", Billy thought, puzzled more than usual. He was sure of one thing though:
'Phoebe!', he yelled.
Some minutes later...
'Are you sure, Billy?', Phoebe asked really worried.
The young dark-haired boy nodded.
Phoebe took a deep breath.
'Alright, Billy, I'll tell mom tomorrow.'
'Tomorrow? But he has to go to that University, then!', Billy exclaimed near hysteria, but Phoebe didn't seem to observe.
'That's why I will move fast. Now go to bed and forget about it, OK?'
Billy nodded, dragging his feet wearily.
After he left, Phoebe could resist no more and burst into crying, sobbing loudly, whispering 'Why?' all the time.
But why? She couldn't understand Max. Why would he want to attend a villain university when he was a superhero. It's true, with some weird methods, and no ethics, he was, anyway. Phoebe still remembered how many times Max saved her by assuming the whole guilt or when he helped her to make it up with Cole... Phoebe couldn't forget these things and she will always knew that Max was a good guy...