-Monday-

"Cunningham, just what in the juice are you doing?" Howard asked, slightly annoyed by his friends antics.

Randy was jumping at every noise, hiding when anyone walked past, and was generally a nervous wreck. Like that wasn't suspicious enough, he had his hood up.

"Don't you remember? I never went to Mac's lesson after school! He's gonna kill me," moaned Randy.

They finally made it to their dorm where Randy could relax. Neither of their other roommates had showed up yet.

"Why don't you skip class then?" Howard suggested. Skipping certain classes, or school, wasn't a big deal to him. His parents didn't care, so if there was a big test he didn't study for he just wouldn't go. Middle school was a simpler time…

"This school is messed up! Gym is a death trap and you didn't even see what happens to Quadrant 4 kids! Do you remember what used to happen when teachers caught you skipping class?" Randy was pacing the room, waving his arms around to emphasize his point.

"Eh, I got detention."

"That's right!" Randy grabbed Howard's shoulders. "Detention! Have you seen how the others react when someone says that word? There, they probably water board the kids!"

Howard disentangled himself. "You need to calm the juice down. Look, you can't avoid Mac forever; tell him what happened."

"I know what I'll do!" Randy continued as if he hadn't heard, "I'll wear this and he'll never see me." He stripped down to his underwear, and then pulled on the ninja mask.

"You brought that here? And what are you doing, have you lost your mind?" Howard was a little concerned about his friend wearing something that came from the Sorcerer in the school. If someone found out, he'd be in trouble for sure.

Randy replaced his clothing, including the hood; however, it was obvious that he was wearing the mask.

"See, now I can disappear if I see Mac between classes," Randy said, mentally congratulating himself on his brilliant idea.

"Buddy, I know you are not as well versed in the art of style as I am, but even a complete shoob could tell you this is a bad idea. If I met you in a dark alley, first I'd be scared, and then I'd laugh at how ridiculous you look."

Randy checked it himself. Using the camera on his phone, he confirmed that it was a bit much. He was the spitting image of a bank robber. Combined with the shadow from the hood, the dark mask made his blue eyes stand out startlingly so. Then the red lines made him look angry.

"You're right," Randy conceded, "but I'd rather look ridiculous than meet Mac an hour before I need to."

The plan worked well in the hallway, albeit a few students were confused why they ran into what appeared to be empty space. In class, Randy pulled the mask above his mouth and he kept his head down. Teachers were too busy trying to quell disruptive students who were using their budding powers to mess classmates to worry about a moody teen.

Miss Zingwald was the most preoccupied of the teachers. For English (or whatever language was native to the student) in Basic Studies, she took them for their first trip to the library. The librarian once again reminded Randy of a hippie. Despite his laid-back appearance, the librarian had the power of Contract Bestowal, meaning any deal with him was binding. His only rule was "be quiet" and if the rule was broken, he could basically own your soul. Libraries suddenly got a whole lot scarier.

They never encountered Mac though. Randy was feeling lucky by the time lunch rolled around, but not lucky enough to remain visible.

"How am I supposed to eat lunch alone? Everyone will think I'm a looser!" ranted Howard. "Great, now it looks like I'm talking to myself fantastic."

"You're not alone! I'm still here y'know." Randy would have been more annoyed if he wasn't so nervous. Teachers usually ate in the teachers' lounge, but someone had to keep an eye on the hormonal super-powered teens. This job fell on staff who were equipped to handle brawls, like Coach Green or Mac.

Howard rolled his eyes, letting his gaze wander across the room while he munched his hotdog. "Hey, there's that girl you like."

"Huh?"

Howard nodded towards Debbie. She was sitting at a table with other 2nd Quadrants, though she wasn't interacting with them.

"Her? No way! It's not my fault she keeps showing up."

"Mind if I ask her out then?" Howard asked with a wink. "It's not often I find a girl who's shorter than me."

"Whatever, bro." Randy turned back around in his seat… only to find himself a table's width away from Mac Antfee. Startled, he fell backward, bringing the chair down with him.

Mac's gaze did not waver from Howard.

"Tell your punk friend that he still owes me a one on one training session." Mac's voice was low, dangerous. Then he looked at the spot on the floor where Randy should be. "After class, not a minute later."

As he walked away, Randy up righted his chair. "Did you see that? I swear he looked right at me! I wasn't visible was I?"

"Nah. No way he could've seen you. Hey, are you going to eat those pickles?"

The rest of lunch went by far too quickly. Mac never looked their way again, but it did not stop Randy from being suspicious.

Randy did not wear the ninja suit with the gym uniform since he couldn't avoid Mac any longer, but he did hide the mask in his pocket.

It was the hour he had been dreading all day… and it got worse. Coach Green was waiting in the middle of the gym, suggesting that today he would be directing a signature deadly game. Instead of his usual white sports jacket, he wore a blue jersey.

"This is so bruce! Usually Mondays are something dumb, like no-power Frisbee or something," said Howard. He had been really getting into full-power games. Howard was the only one in the class who could fly and it often gave him an edge.

"Yes, wonderful," Randy replied dryly.

"Alright class, who here has played capture the flag before?" Coach Green asked. A few students raised their hands. "Well you're in for a treat today. Hit it Mac!"

Mac was as the gym controls; on either side of the gym, structures like castle battlements grew from the floor. They rose about two stories up and a small flag on a pedestal was barely visible at the top, red on one side, blue on the other.

"There is a slight twist to this game of capture the flag…"

"Go figure," Randy muttered.

"Normally this game is played outdoors and the flag is hidden, which we cannot do at the moment. Therefore, to make it more challenging, it will, of course, be full-power and…" he waited for the cheers to die down, "and we will be your defenders!"

Mac appeared on the furthest battlement with a red jersey on.

"Bash, you're a team captain and Morgan, you're a team captain."

Bash hooted and pumped his fists; Morgan said nothing but looked pleased.

Coach Green divided the teams, unlike last time, and it was much fairer. Bash had Rachel, Braedon, and Bucky, to name a few. Randy had pretty much given up on learning anyone else's name. Morgan had Doug, Reginald, and Howard.

Coach Green was preparing to call the next name. It was getting down to the last students and Randy crossed his fingers that he would be on Morgan's team.

"Abigail, with Morgan."

There were three left, including himself. He still had a chance…

"Randy, with Bash." Coach Green passed him a blue jersey.

Or not.

"Aw c'mon Coach! That Leftover can't do squat!" Bash complained.

Green was furious. "Bash, I don't care who your father is, so help me, I will not have you using that word to describe your classmates!"

Everyone except for 4th Quadrants and Howard snickered. Randy squared his shoulders, walking over to his team he stood as far away from Bash as possible. Howard gave his friend an apologetic glance.

"I'll defend for Bash, Coach Antfee is with Morgan," said Coach Green. "Get to your sides!"

The class quickly divided. The teams were almost the typical brains versus brawn. Bash, Braedon and Green had the advantage of size and/or strength. Morgan and Mac were physically weaker, but they were brilliant strategists.

Randy chuckled. Howard would belong more on his team with Bash.

"We're gonna hit them hard, bash their brains out, and win, got it?" Bash had called for a group huddle. Like Randy, Rachel was disinterested.

"You seem like a nice guy, you don't deserve what that bully called you," she said hesitantly.

"Me? What, um, really?" Besides his roommates, no one actually talked to Randy. It was a pleasant change.

"Really," she confirmed. "Everyone has special abilities, whether they are Super ones or not."

Randy noted that she was a very upbeat, positive girl. Her voice was a little high and squeaky, and her pastel colored clothes made her appear younger than what she probably was.

"I have powers," he sniffed. "They wouldn't let anyone into the school who didn't." It was a half-truth.

"That's not what you said on the first day."

"Ah, well— what are your powers again?"

"Zoolingualism, though I've only been able with talk to cats so far… Look what my Uncle got me!" Rachel pulled a small cat figurine out of her pocket. "It's Egyptian, symbolizing the feline goddess Bastet! Squee!"

A cheer rose from the red team. They broke their huddle, spreading out according to the plan they made. Randy wished he were on the same side as Howard.

"Hey look!" Bash exclaimed just loud enough for the team to hear. "The Leftover found a girl to protect him!"

Randy, Rachel and Bucky were the only 4th Quadrants on the team so the other seven found Bash's invective hilarious. Randy smoldered. He was already unpopular enough as it was!

"Ha! Funny, Bash, considering that the last time I saw you you turned trail and ran when the shortest girl in the school just looked at you!" It was the best Randy could come up with at the time. The lengthy sentence took Bash a few seconds to comprehend.

"Did not!"

Coach Green blew the whistle to begin the game, oblivious to the exchange.

"Just stay out of Bash's way!" Bash retorted, referring to himself in the third person as he often did when he was angry. "No one will be gettin' that flag except for me."

"Oh yeah? Well I accept that challenge!" Randy blurted. Rachel gasped, but the rest laughed.

The red team's offensive players were approaching, plus two suits of armor undoubtedly controlled by Morgan. The blue team activated their powers and rushed off haphazardly. Low-level kids remained behind, making a poor defense.

Rachel's cat statue grew into an extremely large, live cat that was tan with black spots. It attacked the armor, distracting it for a moment. One poor blue team kid was so nervous that he melted, literally becoming a pool of goo on the floor.

The teams clashed in the middle of the arena. The red team's focus was on Bash the hulk and Braedon the giant; Howard was in Tengu form, beating his wings in their faces. Bash and Braedon would have easily broken through the lines if not for two things: someone on the red team had created a force field, blocking the opposing team's entry, and then, metal pillars rose out of the floor. The chaos was more than enough to keep unwanted attention from Randy.

Randy hadn't challenged Bash out of mere bravado, he had a plan and that plan depended on stealth. Tugging the ninja mask on, Randy traversed the warzone invisibly. He ducked behind pillars to avoid being trampled or hit and he tripped anyone on the red team when they came within his reach.

Mac was looking rather bored on top of the fake battlement. No one had come close enough to fight him, or so he thought. Randy hadn't done so well on the climbing wall, but the suit made scaling the pseudo rock castle as easy as using an elevator—not that the castle had one of those.

It was all too simple; Mac was watching the fighting, so Randy could grab the flag, unmask, and pretend like he had been visible the whole time. His hand was almost to the flag when the defense instructor tensed. Mac did a 180, swinging his fist at the same height as Randy's face. Randy ducked and rolled just in time. What just happened?!

Mac was relentless; the apparent lack of an opponent did not seem to bother him. The unexperienced student was outmatched and eventually Mac's hearty kick to the gut knocked Randy to the ground.

He gasped for air, barely able to maintain enough concentration to remain invisible. Randy expected Mac to look triumphant, instead he looked almost… distressed.

The battlement shook as a giant body landed on top of it in one bound. Bash snatched the flag, unknowingly taking advantage of the defender's distraction. A buzzer rang and the columns and partial castle began to sink back into the floor.

The blue team cheered.

Randy stood up and punched the wall in frustration. He had been so close!

"Come out wherever you are Ran-turd!" Bash bellowed. The class looked around, unable to find the disgraced Level 12 anywhere.

Randy quickly transformed, noticed only by Mac who was unsurprised.

Not everyone had noticed that the game ended though, Howard and Braedon were still duking it out. Howard was on top, unrelentingly trying to peck at the giant's face. Braedon's hands were circled around the demon bird's neck, the only force keeping the pointy beak at bay.

Coach Green broke the fight up as effortlessly as a parent separates bickering children. It was almost comical to see an average sized man picking up a bird four times his size.

Figuring he could slip into the locker room while heads were turned, Randy tried to slip by Bash, but luck was not on his side.

"There he is!" Bash boomed, shrinking to his usual six foot self. He boxed Randy in against the wall, the red flag pointed at him menacingly. "Bash is gonna shove this flag right up your—"

Mac cleared his throat. "I'm going to have to stop you right there, because runt here owes me a chat in my office."

The class collectively 'ooed' in the annoying way groups tend to do when someone might be in trouble. Bash found this prospective punishment sufficient and hassled his victim no more.

Randy tentatively sat down in a plain wood chair facing Mac's desk. Sports memorabilia lined the walls; every available shelf had signed balls and trophies, and every empty patch of wall had a poster of a famous player.

Mac Antfee did not sit down. His back to the student, he picked up a small framed photo from a shelf. Only after a moment of silence did he return to his desk, with the picture, and sit down.

"That was a ballsy move you pulled."

Randy started, he hadn't expected Mac too be so civil. "What?"

Mac continued as if he hadn't heard. "I suppose you're starting to figure out, that being in Quadrant 4 sucks ass."

This was true, but Randy had a hard time following the conversation. "It does, but why do you care?"

"Cuz I was in the same boat you are: unloved, unhappy and unappreciated. You have to do whatever it takes to get ahead. I get that." Mac's voice was firm, angry. It ruined the illusion that this may be some sort of uplifting pep talk.

"But why-"

"Level 10! After all I did for this school I'll never be better than that!" Mac gritted his teeth. "You think you're so special, using the mask to switch Levels. Well, you know what? That mask took everything from me!"

Patting the pocket with the mask involuntarily, Randy realized that Mac could somehow see through the invisibility. Randy no longer had to say anything to keep Mac talking, the man was in the mood to rant.

"When I came here in the nineties, I had a best friend. His name was Finn Jacobs." Mac slid the picture across the desk. One of the young boys was unmistakably Mac, his orange hair was hard to ignore. The other was plain looking, but somehow familiar. They both wore wrestling uniforms. "We both started off in Level 12. We both were supernaturally good at hand-to-hand combat, with one difference- Finn used an artifact."

Randy took out the mask, rubbing the smooth material between his fingers. Mac eyed it hungrily, but did not reach for it.

"All was well. We were on the wrestling team together- back before it was banned because too many kids died- and we were equally matched. He had better skills, but I could see the future." He sighed. "Then the school found out what the suit could really do. He rose in Levels until we hardly saw each other anymore."

He almost seems like a normal, caring human being, Randy thought. He too worried that Howard would move on without him.

"Not like I care, the point is that the mask invites trouble. You must have heard the history about the Sorcerer. Back then, they all tried to excuse his actions," Mac adopted a high pitched, mocking tone, "'poor little Tim had powers greater than he could control, just went out of his mind he did. He's just confused'. Bull crap!"

Mac knew who the mysterious ninja was! And the Sorcerer! Finn Jacobs and Tim…

"McFist Senior though he did such a good job of paying off the upstart. He resurfaced when I came to the school as a student… The most normal looking of his bunch were recruiting under the guise of liberation. Principal McFist is doing his best, sure, there may be some rules but those are for the safety of the school. If Tim wanted to make his own school, then he should have done that instead of tearing ours apart," Mac said forcefully.

Why would the Sorcerer be so bent on destroying the school? Randy did some quick math. He'd been attacking the school for over 30 years. That's a little obsessive.

The defense trainer continued. "My best friend, Finn Jacobs, was swayed by their fancy talk- traitor. We met a week later on the battlefield. He tried to convince me to defect, but I refused. We fought, neither gaining the advantage over the other, until…" Mac looked off into the middle distance. "The Sorcerer had trained him in the dark arts. He tore apart my mind, leaving me unconscious for months. Thirty kids were taken that day."

The two sat in silence; Mac relived the betrayal and Randy contemplated the significance of Mac's story. None of the teachers ever said much about the Sorcerer except that he was evil. Randy hadn't wanted to accept it at first without proof- the only thing worse than not having a dad, was having one that turned people into literal monsters for his army.

But, it's true.

And the ninja, who works for the Sorcerer, has Theresa.

Mac broke his reverie. He stood up and led Randy to the door. "Choose your side wisely."

a/n: I can't believe i finished this! 3 months is a long break... Thank you for all the wonderful reviews :) While you're waiting for the next update, I recommend not-a-cop's The Sentinel and The Ninja AU. It's p great and for the non heidiham shippers, give it a chance it is so much more than a shipfic. See ya next time!