"All-righty students," Mr. Boy said in a chipper voice, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. "Settle down, settle down. I'm sure you're going to want to hear this!"

Will doubted this, but was paying attention.

"Now, as you are all seniors now,"

Will added his voice to the roar that filled the room. Mr. Boy grinned for a few seconds, letting them vent their excitement.

"Yes, yes," He said through a smile, glancing down at his papers as the celebration died down. "Very – very nice. Very – exciting. An exciting time. Now, as I was, as I was saying. It's time for each of you to be assigned a mentor."

Will was crossing his fingers for someone good. As in not his parents. Please, anyone but them. Of course he wanted someone good, someone like Thunderhorse, that would be awesome. He'd already begged for Ron Wilson – bus driver – but apparently he hadn't been an active super long enough to be a mentor yet. e'd a

"We will be distributing your mentors' names," Mr. Boy continued. "As you exit. The sheet will have their, their contact information, which you should use to – to – to contact them. As soon as, as possible."

His parents had already imparted too much life advice onto Will. If one of them were his mentor too, he wasn't sure he'd be able to take it. It would be like always being in school . . .

"So, if you would all line up in, in an orderly fashion to receive your assignments," Mr. Boy's voice rose. "In alphabetica-ca-cally order, please!"

A stampede thundered down the stairs towards Mr. Boy, and he shrank backwards as quickly as possible.

Will glanced around. Powers were only allowed in the gym – but they were right next to the gym. Same thing. He avoided the throngs of students, gliding down safely from the bleachers.

He was still stuck lounging back in the 'S's some time later, the line slowly inching forwards as he waited for his turn to receive the envelope.

"Hey, Will!" A voice shouted from up at the front. "Will! Will!"

Will craned his neck to find the source. Zach, already a head taller than most of the crowd, was bouncing up and down as if there were springs in the soles of his shoes.

"Guess what!" He demanded, jumping to Will's side and clapping a hand on his shoulder.

"What?" Will asked with an eager smile. "You get your mentor?"

"Yeaa!" Zach crowed. "And look! It's the one, the only – " He thrust the paper before Will. "Your dad!"

"Cool man!" Will crowed, high-fiving him. Even if he didn't quite understand the enthusiasm, he was glad his friend was happy, and glad that it probably meant his dad was out of the running for him now. "Now you'll get to spend even more time at my house!"

"I know, right!" Zach exploded. "Hey," he said, crouching down slightly and making every effort to bring his voice down to a whisper. "Do you think he'll let me see the secret sanctum?"

"I dunno," Will said with a wry grin, rubbing the back of his neck. "The last time someone let someone in there . . . things got a little crazy." He slapped Zach on the shoulder. "So I probably shouldn't say but – the chances are good."

Zach's smile itself seemed to be giving off laser beams. Will thanked the gods that he was safe from having to endure his dad as a mentor, and was praying he'd be half as satisfied with his mentor.

The line inched forward at a snail's pace. Finally, after 'Stewart, Lisa' walked away with the yellow envelope in hand, it was Will's turn at the table.

"Mr. Stronghold." Mr. Boy said, working to keep his voice appropriately professional.

"Hello Mr. Boy." Will said. "How was your summer?"

"Fine, just fine, thank you kindly." He replied, ducking his head several times. "And how have you been? How's your mother?"

"She's doing good." Will answered, nodding.

"Well, now, let's see." Mr. Boy said, quickly looking down at the stack of envelopes in his hand. "Here you go – William Stronghold."

Will took the envelope, flashed a wide smile, and said "Thanks Mr. Boy." The instant he stepped out the gym doors, he ripped the paper apart.

"Mr. Halfside."

As in Zach Halfside. Zach's dad.

Will had to concentrate on not letting his expression fall. Instead, it just kind of froze in place, awkwardly, not knowing what to do. He remembered, guiltily, how excited Zach had been to get his dad.

This was a good thing, Will thought to himself, trying to muster up half the level of excitement he knew Zach'd have when he found out. He'd said anyone but his own parents, right? And knowing Mr. Halfside, it wasn't like this was going to involve any difficult work.

It would be fine. It would be good. It didn't matter that he was, had been, a sidekick.

He shoved the paper into his backpack as he walked out into the hall, squaring his shoulders. So it wasn't the best situation. Oh well. He would deal. It definitely wasn't the worst either. And no, he wasn't disappointed.


The cafeteria was the same as it has always been – dingy tile, creaky tables, and mystery meat featuring prominently on the menu. But now, this was comfortable territory, a place where Will could and did slide easily into the seat Ethan had saved for him at their usual table. He'd realized it wasn't a jungle by now – or at least come to be used to it.

The freshmen clearly still saw a wilderness before them, standing huddled on the side, waiting for friends, nervously skittering away as upperclassmen brushed them out of their usual lunch spots.

God, was he glad to be done with that stage.

"So Will, I was thinking," Zach said as they settled in a their lunch table.

"Dangerous territory." Magenta quipped.

"I. Could be. Your manager." He grinned brilliantly.

Will grinned back. "My manager?" He asked, biting into an apple. "What do I need a manager for?"

"Save the citizen!" Zach blurted, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"No offense Zach, but I think I need a partner for Save the Citizen more than a manager."

"Exactly!" Zach's palm slammed down on the table. "Don't you see? Now that Warren's gone, there are going to be people clamoring to get in on that action! How are you supposed to choose? Who should you bother getting to know? Who can you pass over? Who'll give you the best deal? That's," Zach held up a hand to ward off any interruptions. "Where I come in. Your manager."

"Sure." Will said, chewing. "You're hired."

"YES!" Zach pumped a fist. "Okay, I'm going to have to ask you all to move – do any of you even have an appointment – give him room to breathe, jesus Christ Magenta you're crowding the man!"

"As if save the citizen needed to get any more hyped up." Layla said, rolling her eyes.

"Layla, you are entirely missing the point of the manager. My job is to manage the hype, so that Will doesn't have to deal with the stress!"

"I'm more worried about the stress of homework than of save the citizen. Save the citizen I handle. Statistics, I'm not so sure."

"I've heard Ms. Geffrey is a demon." Magenta said seriously.

"Oh come on Magenta," Ethan said.

"No, really." She insisted. "I hear she breathes fire."

"Literally?"

"Yeah. They called her the dragon when she was still fighting crime."

"Yikes." Will said, stabbing a fork down at his plate. "So, uh, study group you guys?"

"Definitely." Layla agreed with a grimace.

They all nodded their affirmation, but Will was sure he wasn't the only one who felt a wave of relief.

He honestly hadn't been sure if their study group would survive to senior year. Warren was gone, he and Layla were over and as a result incredibly awkward, and Magenta and Zach's on again off again relationship left the waters pretty murky.

He needed the study group. He needed his friends. H needed them all to make it through.


"Well son," The commander boomed, clapping Zach heartily on the back. "Did I luck out getting you as a mentee."

"Yes sir!" Zach exclaimed, his eyes glowing with pride and excitement.

"Now I'm going to let you know, right off the bat," He said, placing his hands on his hips and puffing out his chest. "I'm not going to let you off easy. You're going to have to work, probably harder than you ever have before. But," He leaned closer to Zach – who was nearly hyperventilating – and with a conspiratorial wink, said "if you put your all into it, I promise you, it'll be worth it."

He leaned back, self-satisfied. Zach stood there, stunned stiff, for several seconds. "Y – ye – es Sir, Commander!" He practically shouted, his arm spazzing into a version of a salute.

"Fine boy, good work." The Commander commended, nodding sternly. "I like your spirit! Now," He clapped his hands together. "I just have one question for you son. Just to make sure you're ready for everything that's to come next."

Zach's mouth had dropped open, as he stared at the Commander with complete and utter concentration.

"What are the four most sacred values of a super?"

"Dedication strength honor vigilance!" Zach shouted in one breath, the second the words had left the Commander's mouth, bouncing up, face ecstatic

"Exactly!" The Commander praised, swinging his arm and leaning back. "You are truly a catch Zach, truly. And most definitely ready." He walked over to the wall, taking a book off of the shelf. "I think it's time to show you the secret sanctum."

Zach fainted dead away.


The Strongholds and the Halfsides had always been close friends. Will had grown up knowing Zach, and Zach's dad had always been a friendly presence whenever he'd gone over to his house. He remembered him having kicked him and Zach off of the tv and away from video games once or twice, but other than that, he couldn't remember having born him any ill will or resentment.

The only thing was, it was like the saying went, like father like son. Knowing his dad, it was no mystery where some of Zach's personality traits came from. Will wasn't trying to be a snob. He was all for equal rights. He didn't care at all, he wasn't complaining about having gotten a sidekick as a mentor. He'd been the first to put his name down on the petition after Homecoming freshman year! It was just, he wasn't sure how much he was going to be able to learn from him.

Like right now, for instance, sitting across from Mr. Halfside in the grimy fast food joint.

On the one hand, things were going great, Mr. Halfside had paid for his lunch, and Will was a big eater. It was like going out for food with your cool uncle or something.

But, Will was also dreading having to write up the report about how Mr. Halfside was explaining his expertise in spinning nickels – with his hands two whole inches away.

Mr. Halfside's power was magnetism. The human refrigerator. This could have been awesome. No, it still was pretty cool. It was a commendable power. Only, he couldn't generate very strong forces. He was limited to, you know. Spinning coins without touching them.

"Well now Willie,"

That was another thing. Will had corrected him at least ten times by now. It was looking hopeless.

"This has been great, but we can't just have fun and games all day. Time to get some actual learning in, huh?"

Will straightened up, nodding emphatically. "Yes sir." He agreed. Should he get out a notebook? Was he supposed to be taking notes? If he knew Ethan and Layla, they would both be taking avid notes. He reached for his backpack, trying to slip out some paper without breaking eye contact, knocking a few things on the floor in the process.

"Whoops," He said, reaching to the floor.

"No need!" Mr. Halfside said, and with a flourish of his hand attracted the pen back up to the table with a snap.

Will grinned. "Thanks."

"Okay, so your turn!" Mr. Halfside said, grinning. Will grinned back, completely unsure as to the task. Pick up a pen? What? Great, he'd missed something already, he knew he should've been taking notes!

"Something small, using your powers, that can help someone out. It doesn't have to be anything big! Just like picking up a pen. Be creative!"

"Okay," Will said, nodding, scanning the restaurant.

Mr. Halfside nodded. "Our powers exist fundamentally to make the world a better place. So anything you can do to make someone's day a little easier – even the smallest thing – is a good step."

This shouldn't be too hard . . .

First off, super strength, flying, or both? Both, definitely, he answered himself. Next question – what to apply it to? There were a couple people waiting in line, but the cashier didn't really look like she needed any help. People were scattered around at different tables. He could fly them extra napkins? There was a lady mopping up the floor across the restaurant.

Perfect.

She dunked the mop back in the bucket of water, leaning over to reach under one of the stain-marked tables. Will flew over confidently.

"Allow me, ma'am." He stated.

She stared up, mouth slightly agape, at his floating figure.

Will leaned down to tip the table upward, thereby allowing her to continue more easily, without straining her back. Man, this report was going to write itself.

There was a sickening crunch, and Will looked down at his hands in alarm.

A curse flitted through his mind. The table was lifted up alright – a couple feet above ground now, along with the floor tiles he'd apparently ripped out along with it.

She was really staring at him, aghast now, backing away.

"It – it's okay!" Will assured her immediately. "I can fix this!" He glanced back over his shoulder desperately at Mr. Halfside, then turned back to the table issue.

He slowly lowered it back to the ground, trying to place it exactly back into the hole he'd just made.

How had he been supposed to know the tables were bolted to the floor? Who did that, anyway?

Will's feet clattered to the ground unsteadily. Well, it was back in its place … mostly. It was a little crooked, and the tiles were still crumpled and uneven.

"Alright, alright everybody." Mr. Halfside said, suddenly appearing beside him. Will felt as though he had shrunk to half his height. "Terribly sorry about all the trouble ma'am." He said, leaning closer to whisper quietly in her ear, scribbling something on a business card, and enclosing it to her. She nodded. "Super training, you know?"

"Yes." She smiled hesitantly at Will, who looked fearfully back. "A table broken by a Stronghold really isn't too much of a loss. Could you autograph it maybe?"

"Huh?" Will eloquently responded. "Oh – uh, sure."

"It's okay Will." Mr. Halfside said comfortingly as Will scribbled on the plastic surface in sharpie. "Most supers-in-training have trouble on their first tries."

Yeah! Will screamed in his head. But not him! Not anymore! He was a Stronghold! A double threat! This stuff was supposed to come easily to him! This was practically the only thing he was good at! And now he'd even managed to be shown up in this by a middle-aged sidekick!

"And sometimes the first, smallest steps are the hardest ones."

Deep breaths Will, deep breaths. He was fine. This wasn't like the beginning of Sky High. He had two powers. Two kick-ass powers. This was just a minor screw up. It didn't matter. Mr. Halfside didn't think it mattered.

"Come on Will, you ready to go?"

"Yeah." Will muttered.

He had been expecting to pass with flying colors. He'd expected Mr. Halfside to be the stunned one, quickly realizing he had very little left to teach Will.

Will was the first to admit that the majority of the time he was a screw up. With pretty much everything he just muddled through and hoped that his good intentions would make everything turn out alright. But just using his powers. Just a simple task, use your powers. That was supposed to be what he was good at. The one thing that he was good at. Why couldn't he even handle that?


Will slumped into a chair in the Halfside's kitchen, his head sinking into his hand. Zach and his own dad weren't back yet. He was glad that the first session was finally over, but honestly Zach was not the first person he wanted to see.

"Heya Willie, why don't you flip on the news? Want anything to drink?"

"Sure!" Will said, trying to inject some brightness into his tone as he reached for the remote. "Do you have any sprite?"

"Yes siree bob!" Mr. Halfside replied, pulling open the refrigerator. Will just smiled in response, not sure he could trust himself with more words in reply to that.

He'd already known that he'd have to deal with Zach gushing about what it'd been like to work with The Commander. Which was fine, except that The Commander was his dad, and honestly his dad fine, but he wasn't the greatest man to ever walk the planet and Will certainly didn't need to hear a list of all his virtues from his best friend.

And now, if Zach came back with a success story, which of course he would, Will was going to have to put up with that too, listening to how great Zach had been while he'd been a disaster. Of course he wanted Zach to do well. He just didn't want to have to hear about it and pretend to be happy for him when all he really wanted to do was mope about himself.

Will stared at the TV screen moodily – then his mouth dropped open. Warren. Warren was on the TV.

He leaned forward in his chair. It was unmistakably Warren, his grainy image, likely a cell phone video, flitting across the screen, grabbing a cat out of a tree.

Great. All of his friends were off being real heroes, while he couldn't even handle a simple homework assignment.

"Here ya go." Mr. Halfside said, setting the can down beside him.

"Thanks." Will said, not looking at him, still mesmerized by the screen.

"You know, I bet I'm related to her." Mr. Halfside said, seeing Will had been distracted by the TV.

"Ab – Frostbite?"

"Yep. You know – freezing, the human refrigerator? I wouldn't be surprised."

Will highly doubted this, but he nodded his head politely.

"So, how ya holding up?"

"Fine." Will said, scratching behind his ear.

"It's all about gaining experience."

"I already have experience," slipped out of Will's mouth. He winced, and looked hesitantly up at Mr. Halfside. "I just mean," he said, taking the soda can, "I've already saved the world. I thought this would be easier."

"We all have to move at our own pace. Maybe you've skipped straight on to the great things – and that's fantastic. But you shouldn't ignore the smaller things either."

Will nodded and took a sip. "Thanks."

"No problemo Willie."