Chapter 4

After Beginners Fighting Skills was over, it was time for lunch. Megan met up with Henry again, and they looked at each other sheepishly.

"I'm sorry-" Megan began.

"I didn't mean-" Henry said at the same time. They smiled at each other, laughing lightly.

"So we're good?"

"Yes, we're good. Now, let's go get lunch!" They walked down to the cafeteria, and sat with a group of 1st year students. The cafeteria hierarchy was very easy to see- the 4th years sat at the tables near the gigantic windows, while the 1st years sat all the way down on the other side of the room near the trash cans and the cafeteria doors.

The windows gave an amazing view of space, and at the moment, they showed the curve of the earth spinning far below them. It was beautiful. For a moment, Megan closed her eyes, imagining herself in the Watchtower surrounded by the Justice League. That's what she wanted to do when she got her Heroes license, become a member of the Avengers or the Justice League, maybe even the X-Men. Her ability was inherited from parents, meaning it was a mutation, so she would be welcomed into the X-Men. But what she really wanted was to become a member of the Justice League. They were more exclusive, meaning that not just anyone could become one of them. She wanted to show the whole world that even a person with limited mental abilities could become a powerful force of good.

But for the moment, she was just a lowly first year, relegated to sitting near the nasty smelling trash cans.

Sitting at their table was the Valerie, a boy with spiky black hair, and a girl with long, flaming orange hair that fell down to her waist. The spiky hair boy identified himself as Carter, and the red read said she was named Jessica.

"Let's go around the table and tell our powers." Carter suggested, much to Megan's dismay. "I am technokinetic, I can take apart, rearrange, and completely just make technology much better than it was before. I know, my power is amazing, and I am incredibly handsome."

"Moron" Rolling her eyes, Jessica spoke up. "I can create these sortof portal things that allow me to travel anywhere I want to go!"

"Super strength- lame, I know." Henry said, looking a little embarrassed. They all turned to Valerie, but she didn't say anything. Shrugging, they turned to Megan expectantly.

"I-I'd rather not share mine." She said, looking really uncomfortable. "I just…" She trailed off, unable to give a really good reason for her recalcitrance.

"It's all right." Valerie spoke up for the first time. "I hate my power too."

"Thanks." Megan replied, giving the stocky girl a grateful smile. "I just don't want to be judged by my power. I want you guys to get to know the other parts of me that aren't super human."

"That's cool, but don't expect me not to guess your power for the rest of the year." Carter piped up, smirking.

The other two voiced their agreement, and Megan smiled around at them all.

"That's fine, but don't expect me to give you any hints or confirmation. I have an amazing poker face, I'll have you know." She then proceeded to keep a straight face. It lasted about 2 minutes, then the corners of her mouth twitched upwards and then she grinned outright. Everyone at the table laughed, and even Valerie gave a low chuckle.

RIIIIIING

It was time for their next class, and Megan was actually really excited for this one. She had been happy to find out that having a mental power made her eligible for some interesting classes very similar to a regular school's shop class. The only difference with these classes was that 1) it was filled with super geniuses and technopaths and 2) it involved inventing and building gadgets that a superhero might use. She had so many ideas, and she wanted to be able to build them all. She knew that the class would probably not provide all of the money and materials she needed to make most of her designs, but she could at least start on a few of them. She was also excited to show her designs to an expert and receive constructive criticism on them, as well as maybe getting to show off her rollerblade shoes to a technology appreciating audience.

She walked into the class, a grin lighting up her face as she noticed the blueprints from past students covering the walls, the teacher's desk at the front covered in a tangle of wires and machinery, and the door in the back of the room that was labeled: "Electronics lab." She was in heaven.

Being a technopath, Carter was also taking this class, so they found a seat at one of the tables large enough to seat two people. The class was comprised of a jumble of students from 1st to 4th year, some of whom had taken the class previously. That was another thing Megan liked about the class, it wasn't separated into levels based on the students' powers, it was simply open to any mental- powered student who wanted to take it. She would have been much happier if it had been open to physical- powered students as well, but that just wasn't how the school worked.

The teacher was a woman with messy blonde hair wearing an old t-shirt and a pair of raggedy jeans.

"I am Miss Dunlevey, inventor extraordinaire!" This earned her a chuckle from the class, but their smiles were wiped away when she continued, "I hope some of you newbies brought blueprints, because we are starting today." She said, mischievous smile on her face. "And I know that my returning students brought theirs, because they should know how this class works by now." She added with a hint of menace. Students started rummaging in their backpacks for their blueprints.

Seeing Megan look in her backpack, Carter whispered "You brought blueprints on the first day of class?"

"Of course." She replied "Didn't you?" But before he could answer, Miss Dunlevey pointed a finger straight at Megan.

"I see we have a volunteer, why don't you come up here and show us some of your blueprints?" She replied, a wicked gleam in her eye.

"All right." The usually shy Megan said with a happy smile. This is why she was taking this class, after all. She held up the blueprints for the rollerblade shoes for the class to see. "These are the Sneakerblades mark 1. I know, the name isn't amazing, but it'll do for now." Miss Dunlevey examined the blueprints with a critical eye.

"Hmm, these are very good for a first draft. I could give you some tips on how to improve the design. Maybe these could be your first project in this class."

"Oh, I already build them." She replied. "I will probably add a few features in future models, but I have a bunch of other plans that I'm really interested in working on."

The teacher looked skeptical, she had read this girl's file, she had a very weak power and it didn't really lend itself to inventing. Unless this girl was some sort of female Tony Stark, she found it hard to believe that she could actually build these shoes on her own. "You should bring them in to show the class sometime."

"I'm wearing them- I could show them to you guys now, but we would have to go out into the hall." Miss Dunlevey looked down at the plain white sneakers the girl was wearing, these were her first invention?

"All right then, class, looks like we're taking a little field trip into the hallway."

They walked into the hallway, gathering along one wall of the long and wide metal space. Megan looked down the corridor and decided that she had plenty of room to maneuver. Boy was she ready to wipe the disbelieving looks off of everyone's faces, especially Miss Dunlevey. She took three long smooth strides down the hall, and then leaped gracefully into the air as high as she could. From their vantage point to her left, the whole class watched as the futuristic wheels appeared on the bottom of the sneakers. Landing without stumbling, she skated down the hall, then pirouetted and skated back, coming to a rest in front of the dumbfounded class.

"So? What do you think?" She asked, modeling the shoes for the class to see.

"Well, I can see the rest of the class is going to have some competition this year." Miss Dunlevey said, her face split in a giant grin. "For your information, newbies, every year we have a competition to see who can make the best contraption, gizmo, or thingamabob. You, Megan, seem like you have as good a chance as any to win."

"Thanks!" Megan deactivated the wheels, and they all went back into the classroom.

"Unfortunately, we won't be able to look at anyone else's blueprints today because we have to take a… test. Follow me and I will lead you to the testing center." Something was off in her eyes, they looked glazed, and she was walking in a strange shambling gait that reminded Megan of a sleepwalker's. They followed her down the hallway, past where any of the students had ever been before.

"I didn't even really know this part of the school existed." A second year whispered. They stopped in front of an unmarked door and waited for their teacher to tell them what to do.

"Now, you all are going to step into this room one at a time, and take the test. Can I have Heather Aaron first please?" Miss Dunveley said vacantly. Heather, a tall brunette fourth year, walked up to the door. There was no doorknob, so she put her hand flat against the door and tried to push it open. The door scanned her handprint, then slid open, causing Heather to stumble forward. The students waited, but not for long because Miss Dunlevey called out another name. Soon, it was Megan's turn, and she pressed her hand flat against the door-

She blinked, looking around. She was back in the classroom. How she had gotten there, she had no idea. She looked around the room. All of the students and the teacher looked just as confused as she did. The last thing she could remember was the door to the testing room sliding open, but nothing after that. It must have been someone with mental powers. Megan thought. How else could my memory be wiped? She extended her powers as far as they could go and scanned the room for anyone who might seem suspicious. She was looking for someone who was calm instead of confused and frightened, maybe someone who was pleased and malicious, or even just having a good laugh at the other students' expense.

But everyone else was just as confused as she was. Even Miss Dunlevey was confused- she was standing at the front of the room shaking her head as if trying to clear it of cobwebs.

"Miss Dunlevey?" Megan asked. "Did we pass the test, or what?"

"I-I don't know… what test are you talking about? Also, how did we get back into the classroom? The Last thing I remember was standing in the hallway looking at your impressive invention."

'Well, you told us it was time for a test, then you took us to some room and we went in one at a time, then ended up back here somehow." Carter piped up.

"But, that's… wrong. There was no test scheduled for today. I'm sorry, but I will have to talk to the Headmaster about this." She picked up the phone and called the Headmaster's office. "Yes… yes… yes, sir, I understand. Goodbye." She put down the phone and looked down at the rest of the class with a relieved smile. "It was just a drill, to show us what might happen if someone came into the school and took over our minds. We're supposed to talk about ways that we could have handled the situation better, any suggestions?"

As the students around her shrugged, accepting this explanation easily, Megan continued to frown. Something about this just didn't feel right…

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