Watching enough Avengers and X-men would prepare me for this next chapter. Ignoring the fact that my entire body is in turmoil due to the excessive amounts of physical activity I've been doing for the last week, I am going to sit up and type up this chapter before my ideas flee from me. I am so scatterbrained, it'll probably happen before I even finish this author's note – God forbid. Anyhoo, I have no idea what's going to happen in this chapter. I have a general idea of what's going to happen throughout the entire story, but when it comes to getting to that end point, I am admittedly a hot mess just waiting to implode; one of the things to love about me though, right? I hope you all enjoy this new chapter.

~Rolyn~

"Lost the battle, win the war. I'm bringing my sinking ship back to the shore."

Chapter Three…

Lara pushed the door shut quietly behind her. The automatic lock clicked into place as she stepped away and approached the staircase to the second floor. The house was dark and empty like always. The eerie stillness that enveloped the suburban home never really bothered her though. The floorboards creaked under her feet as she took the stairs two at a time. She rounded a corner at the top only to pause when she noticed something out of the ordinary.

She knew for sure that when she left earlier that morning, she had left her bedroom door closed. Usually a little thing such as her bedroom door being barely cracked shouldn't bother anyone, better yet a seventeen year old, but considering the circumstances, no one could blame Lara for her stuttering heartbeat. She approached the door slowly, careful to avoid the squeaky spots in the worn floorboards in the hallway as not to make any noise and alert whoever tampered with her home.

She pressed her palm flat against the door and pushed it open slowly.

"You should know by now that you can't sneak up on me, Lara."

Green eyes narrowed briefly while amber ones curved closed as a mocking smile pulled at the man's lips. He stood from his seat on the edge of her bed that was covered in faded, pilling sheets and she took a cautious step back into the hallway only for her to step back on someone's foot. Lara jumped away from the new person, her shoulders tensing and the windowpanes rattling in response to her minor scare.

"Bryant," Rich said in a barely scorning tone. The green eyed boy perked a brow. "You know better than to frighten poor Lara. You remember what happened last time?" Rich sighed exasperatedly with a shake of his head.

"Mm, whatever." The young man referred to as Bryant shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest. He took a step forward, forcing Lara to do the same and move fully into her room so she was trapped between the two men.

"What do the two of you want?" Lara said lowly. "You said you'd leave me alone if I finished that last job. You shouldn't be here."

"I know what I said, Lara, but you have to believe me when I say I tried my very best to stay away." Rich said folding his hands in front of him. Lara watched him warily, knowing that despite the man's calm and friendly tone, he had an ulterior motive. He was just that kind of guy. She had no pride in running with his type, but he approached her with an offer she couldn't really refuse. "You see, I'm risking a lot by approaching you, am I not? You are such a powerful, intelligent girl, Lara." he practically cooed as he approached her. The windows rattled again; a silent warning. Rich paused his approach and laughed once behind closed lips.

"If you know how risky it was to show up, then why did you?" she inquired, her green eyes narrowing. She tried her best to come off as intimidating, but it simply wasn't in her nature. She had such amazing, life altering power at her fingertips; power she knew Rich could never match and always seemed to covet, but he held something over her that made her still feel weak and inferior.

"We've been friends for a while, haven't we Miss Morris?" Rich began.

"I wouldn't say that." Lara grumbled.

"Well we're prone to helping each other out and I believe that this is what friends do; they help each other out and support them." Rich breathed as he waved his hand nonchalantly. "You've been so helpful and supportive to me, Lara. My gratitude is boundless. Now I know with our last run together, I had promised to leave you be. I understood when you said you wanted out and I managed to stay away for these long three months, but I am afraid I need your assistance once again."

"No."

Rich's brow furrowed briefly. "Such a hasty answer. You haven't even heard me out."

"No." Lara repeated a tad bit firmer. "I told you I was done and I am. I'm not helping you hurt people anymore." she shook her head, pushing back memories of the past work she had done under the instruction of this man. She had found that they had this argument before. She'd say no, he'd persuade her by any means necessary, even if it meant hurting her in the process, but there was no way he could do that anymore. "There is nothing you can say to me, take away from me, or do to me that will make me help you."

"Ah, Lara…" Rich chuckled. "That is where you're wrong."

"I could kill you where you stand you arrogant bastard." she growled. Behind her, Bryant shifted. Rich looked to him over the seventeen year old girl's shoulder and shook his head so barely it went unnoticed by the redhead between them.

"By all means, Miss Morris, do what you think you must. It will only prove that everything preconceived about you is true and that I trained you well." Rich's tone of voice had shifted into a condescending hiss that was enough to make the redhead flinch. He smirked inwardly, relishing in the fact that someone so powerful feared him so visibly. "Now, are we going to continue with the run around or are you actually going to hear me out?"

"What do you want with me?" she said meekly.

Rich outwardly smirked now, barring his oversized canines. "I just want to send you to school."

"Will you stop doing that? It makes you look weird." Drew clipped as he nudged May slightly on the shoulder. May turned her bright blue eyes on him and narrowed them into an intense glare. Until the color had been returned to her eyes, her glares had been intense, now Drew was hardly fazed by them.

It was the methods they used to give May's eyes their luster back that essentially had her looking weird. She, like many other members of their team with quote-unquote, deformities, was given an image inducer designed by Max. The point of the image inducer was to alter their outward appearance with holographic technology eons before its time. The futuristic piece of technology could be identified amongst their team as a Hayden Monogram pin that was nestled on the collar of the polo shirt they wore as part of their uniform.

The image inducers were absolutely necessary with what they were doing. People would question how she was able to see although her eyes were as useless as a dead dog. There was minor controversy over the matter amongst their team; most of the complaints about changing the way they looked came from Alex and Rolyn who both had the image inducer due to the color of their eyes and hair. Alex had claimed everyone would look weird if thy very things that made them outwardly unique and special were taken away.

It was the way May blinked at least thirty times in a single minute that made her look weird, in Drew's opinion. The brunette never really had he need to blink before, but for the purpose of trying to appear normal, Marina advised her to blink every once in a while.

"Sorry, but I'd rather look weird than have people question why I never blink." May chided right back. A little sympathy would be helpful. His physical alteration didn't require him to be aware all the time. He was given his image inducer and that was the end of it; he didn't have to worry about anything else minus every other worry he's had since his parents passed away. Drew's green hair had been turned an ashy blonde color and while his eyes seemed an almost unnatural shade of green, they remained as they were.

Blonde or green, he still looked good and he was certainly getting his fair share of attention as they walked down the hall.

A school hall. A school hall with other kids their age…teenagers; some of who could be hiding a gift they saw as a burden.

May didn't think she'd ever find herself back here…She was actually in school. It was almost surreal. After everything they'd done and been through since Washington, this seemed too normal for them. Everything seemed so different since the last time she was able to walk down a marble hallway surrounded by peers talking and catching up with friends about the happenings of their summer vacations.

"I forgot just how loud teenagers are." Drew murmured as his eyes narrowed for a fleeting moment. May perked a brow. The halls were loud with laughs, shouts and squeals alike, but that was nothing different than the ear splitting explosions that they encountered in basic Orb training. "I mean their thoughts." he elaborated. She'd like to think he read the confusion on her face rather than read her mind. "It's like they're all thinking in booming voices."

"Well no one really has volume control in their heads because they don't think anyone is reading them." May pointed out in a hushed tone. "Why don't you turn the telepathy off for a while?"

"I'm fine." he reassured. May stared at him for a moment with artificially colored eyes before shrugging her shoulders. She wouldn't press the matter. "We just need to get through this day without any mishaps. I want to save that for at least the second week of school." he joked dryly.

May nodded. "Of course." she responded sarcastically.

The first bell sounded and all the teenagers clogging the halls of Mountain Academy began to disperse. May turned her head towards Drew wondering where they would go now. Despite her having the ability to see with telekinesis, she still lacked the ability to read, thus meaning reading her schedule for the first semester was out of the question. Luckily she had been placed in a class with at least two of her team members by her side at a time. Her first class was technology with Drew, although, like every first day of school, they were required to gather in their homerooms for a half hour before proceeding with classes. May wasn't sure who she shared a homeroom with.

"You look lost." May observed, having sensed the pinched look that pulled at his features. Drew glanced at her briefly. "Don't you know where our homerooms are?"

"It's not that. I'm not exactly used to school, seeing as I have been homeschooled my entire life…and being surrounded by so many normal people can be slightly unnerving." Drew admitted. May nodded in understanding. She knew Drew had a minor issue with normal people seeing as normal people constantly oppressed them and it was normal people that created them…a normal person also took his parents from him indirectly.

"I've been to school before." she said. "I'll show you the ropes."

"I don't need your help Director's daughter." he said sharply. May tried her best to look undeterred by his brushoff.

Instead, the brunette pursed her lips at the nickname Drew had bestowed upon her a month after they received their assignment to basically assimilate into society. Everyone had been given names. Rolyn was Fury, Patou Arc Angel, Dawn was Wind Rider and so on. Drew refused a name but jumped at the opportunity to give May an awkward, yet befitting title. It wasn't as cool as a codename like Arc Angel, but there was no way May was going to complain. She didn't want to come off as an unsatisfied child.

"I was just offering to help. You don't have to be all ignorant all the time and act like you can take on the world on your own." May breathed, shooting him an indignant look. Drew rolled his eyes at her.

"I'm not taking on the world; I'm taking on High School. I think I can manage." he smirked at her and May rolled her eyes. "Your homeroom is two doors down from mine so I'll drop you off and then hopefully someone will be there to help you handle things from that point on."

"Whatever…" the brunette grumbled as she crossed her arms over her chest. Drew laughed once behind closed lips before going in the direction of the nearest staircase. Their homeroom was on the second floor.

They walked the rest of the way in silence and Drew basically guided May into her homeroom class. It wasn't necessary, but since they were partners in just about everything now, he had to maintain their cover. May had little argument when Marina had insisted that they act as a couple as to throw off suspicion as to why Drew would sometimes read to her or have to guide her through certain things, but Drew had claimed that May was more than capable with her telepathy and future sight. Marina had ignored his argument.

"See you in a little bit," Drew murmured to her. May nodded, bid him a farewell and even through in a sweet smile just for the sake of the role he and she were supposed to play. Picking up on this, Drew smiled back with fondness not so much fabricated as it was genuine shining in his eyes. It didn't matter though. May would never be able to tell. He poked her on the nose just for good measure before going on his way to his own homeroom.

"Holy unicorns and cherub poop; is that guy your boyfriend?" Someone hissed right next to the brunette's ear. May flinched and turned her head in the general direction of the voice. Her automatic reaction was letting her telekinesis crawl over the girl that had leaned over her desk to get to May. The brunette could only describe the girl as …a child. She had apple doll cheeks and big eyes May would never know the color of. Her short hair was pulled into two pigtail and she was no taller than Alex who was only five feet. "He was h-o-t-t! Hot! I give you my kudos new girl."

"How'd you know I was new?" May tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. It was a new school year; she couldn't have really stood out against the rest of the students. The girl grinned.

"You weren't here last year…that and I checked the records of all the incoming students." May blinked in surprise at the girl's grin turned crooked. "The names Kyle Nestle. Yes like the brand, but no, I am no way related to the owners. I am a future PI hence why I need practice now. Breaking into the student archives was child's play though."

"Kyle…that's an unusual name for a girl." May observed.

"I've seen more unusual things." Kyle snorted. May swallowed wondering if the girl was referring to metahumans. "So you live with the rest of the newbies, right? I saw that you all had matching addresses and you seem to be paired off like the Cullen family in that movie with the sparkling hot guys. You're not vampires, right?"

In the three minutes May had known Kyle she had come to the conclusion that the girl was a talker. It was like her mouth ran on water.

"Look at me, being all rude. I didn't even give you the chance to introduce yourself." Kyle grinned again.

"May Maple…"

"Hmm, MM…Like M&M's!" Kyle laughed boisterously. May couldn't help but crack a smile. For a second she forgot who she was, why she was there and what her motives were. For a second she was just the new girl talking with an eccentric fellow classmate. For a second she was Earth's standard of normal. She found this surprisingly refreshing.

She wondered how Kyle would feel if she knew about her abilities.

"So, you live at that memorial house right? The one they built in honor of that rich guy who died a couple months back? Does that mean you're an orphan?" Kyle prattled on.

"Attention students; welcome to a new school year here at Mountain Academy. We hope that this new school year will be a great one so let's all work together to make that happen." A voice boomed over the loud speaker. "You will be called down to the auditorium by grade in the next five minutes for a brief assembly regarding new regulations due to new regulations set in place by the government."

May's expression fell. She had a bad feeling when it came to the government and their regulations.

"Ugh what a waste! I don't see why this matters! Just leave the metahumans alone!" Kyle began to babble again, but this time her words had leeway in May's mind. "I mean get the bad ones, leave the others alone. You know how awesome it would be to have super powers and be some kind of hero? I'd be like Wonder Woman or something – yea, that would be so awesome!"

"How do you know what they're going to talk about has to do with metahumans?" May inquired.

"What part of future PI did you not understand?" Kyle retorted flatly. "The principle is just going to prattle on about matters that don't even concern her, or the government for that matter."

May smiled. She really liked Kyle…

"Junior year students can begin to make their way to the auditorium."

May stood to her feet and nudged her backpack under her desk. Kyle followed her example and stuck close to the brunette as their homeroom class began to line up at the door. May had a feeling that Kyle didn't usually have people sticking around long enough to hear what she had to say which lead to the sudden clinginess. Maybe it was the suppressed telepath in her giving her this little tidbit of information, but either way, May made a small promise to not snub the other girl with the short hair and the little girl face.

The auditorium was already more than halfway full and teeming with teenagers when May's class finally arrived. It didn't take long for May to sense everyone around her. One thing she loved about her improved telekinesis was that it was painfully accurate nowadays. Not a single person was unaccounted for. Going over everything was qualified with her lack of sight. May could sense where Jason and Rolyn were. They probably shared the same homeroom. She could feel Misty sitting towards the front with a bored expression. Ash was a couple of rows back. Patou and Ian sat close towards the back, Patou talking quietly in his ear while he smirked. Drew was two rows from where she stood towards the back of the auditorium.

"Ooh, there's your really hot boyfriend!" Kyle gushed as she grabbed onto May's arm. As if Drew heard what the girl said, he turned his head slightly, looking at the pair out the corner of his eye. His lips upturned at one corner before he turned back to face forward. May bit the inside of her cheek as she felt an untimely blush creep up the back of her neck. Kyle started to giggle so she must have noticed.

"Everyone, I need you all to take your seats quickly and refrain from talking so we can move through this quickly. We don't have all the time in the world,"

'That's Principal Sholle…and an avid anti-metahuman activist.'

May didn't ignore the telepathic message sent from Drew and focused her telekinesis on the woman standing at the podium situated on the stage. The woman was well past her prime but still looked like she had a bit of spark in her. She sported a bun so tight that May even cringed when she sensed it. She guessed that the tight bun was what held up the woman's face which was set in a stony expression. May was never one to judge anyone by their looks or in this case, social views, but this Principle was easily placed on the list of people she'd be avoiding.

May took a seat in the last row. She was the only one. It wasn't like she had issues with seeing…despite the fact that she was blind. Her method of sight actually gave her excellent vision along with the disability of being colored blind. Kyle didn't hesitate to plop down in the tattered cushioned, fold out chair next to her.

"Welcome everyone…welcome," Principal Sholle addressed the mass of students gathered along with their homeroom teachers. Special teachers such as art teachers, gym teachers and the occasional security guards stood at the end of practically every row. All of them watching over the crowd and hushing the intermittent talkative teenager. "I'm sure you are all excited for a new year and let's all try our best to make it a great one."

A kid coughed into the slightly awkward silence.

Principal Sholle cleared her throat. "The issue we are about to discuss is a sensitive subject that some of you should already be aware of. The metahuman issue has been around longer than most of you. Luckily we have dedicated officers such as the MCF to keep a watchful eye out for these threats and they handle them swiftly and accordingly."

Rolyn rolled her eyes and slumped in her seat. Jason turned towards her, whispering calming words to her before reaching for her hand and lightly interlacing their fingers.

"We want you all to be safe," The principle went on. "We want you all to not have fear of whatever horrible instances that may come up due to metahuman outbreaks. I'm sure we are all aware of the havoc they wreaked that caused a national tragedy no more than three months ago and we are all more than aware of the situations even our school has faced when it comes to these super-powered menaces. We want to avoid that and since studies prove that metahuman abilities manifest between the ages of thirteen and seventeen, we have required that all students enrolled must sign a legal documentation agreeing to these terms,"

May narrowed her eyes.

"If you see anything out of the ordinary with a peer, you are to report it immediately. If a peer is showing signs of having the metagene, you report it immediately. If a peer mentions the metagene in an unnerving manner, you report it immediately…"

May clenched her hands into fists on her arm rests.

'Stay calm. It'll be fine.'

May could tell that Drew's words weren't just for her.

"This is bullshit…" Ian grumbled.

"Shut up." Patou hissed as she slumped in her seat.

"If you fail to comply with these terms, you will be punished with suspension, expulsion or you may be handed over to the proper authorities. If you are reported and, God forbid, you harbor the metagene, you will be handed over to the proper authorities." Principle Sholle scanned over the entirety of the gathered students. Her eyes narrowed briefly before her too intense to be genuine smile returned. "That will be all. Have a wonderful first day students."

Oh, that was a bit of a struggle…I typed the first half at least three times before finally finding the flow I wanted. Things are going to start not only connecting to the prologue of this story but the end of the previous one, Monster. Hopefully things go a little more smoothly from here on out. The image inducer is a piece of technology I got from X-men evolution. They had Kurt wear one in the form of a watch and while he looked normal, he was still fuzzy and still only had three fingers and people knew that if they toughed him. Same thing applies here and I totally disclaim that. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.

Feedback would be much appreciated.

~Rolyn~