It was a dark and foreboding morn when trouble came to Winslow High. The dark clouds that hung over the city of Brockton Bay did not bode well at for the natives of that fair city, as they threaten to call forth heavy drops of rain that would be more rightly called a torrent of water from the heavens.
Naturally, I had brought my umbrella with me to school because well, common sense dictates that if the sky looks like it's going to pour down copious amount of water, then one should be prepared for it. I was hardly the only one to do so.
Still, as I made my way to school at a brisk jog, I was startled by the way that I felt good.
That my talk with dad over the weekend had gone well, with him studying my business plans with a keen eye. He had even made notes and corrected some of my assumptions.
But if everything went well, it was quite likely that Weaver Clothier or some variant on that name would be incorporated this weekend.
As I approached the school, I was surprised to see several PRT vans and cars parked in the streets outside. Still, hadn't there been those posters last week? Something about Wards dropping by to do their annual anti-bullying thing and talking to students to get them to join the Wards if they were parahumans?
I guess that meant that today was it, I hadn't really been paying attention to things, really. Not with the things I was involved in. Sure, I still putted around in class, but things were looking up. My world was getting better, which was a reasonable explanation for how distracted I had been lately.
And given that Sophia had been missing, the bullies had pretty much stopped due to how uncertain they were. Without a leader, there was no direction to that lumbering beast.
Still... the day looked to be interesting as I recalled the previous times the Wards and Protectorate had dropped by. It wouldn't be the same old, same old.
I kept my bag with me out of habit even as I filed into the gym and sat down in the chairs marked for my class. One by one, my classmates as well as the other students filtered into the gym.
The ringing of the bell cut silent the low murmuring of students chitchatting. And the lights flickered about in the gym before focusing on the members of the wards and protectorate walking on to the stage. It wasn't all of them, because that would leave openings for the villains on the show and tell days at the schools in Brockton Bay as well as everywhere else where they hold such events.
I could see Vista in her blue and green dress. I remembered her as being the most senior Ward and the one that was most fun at the previous school visits. Until Clockblocker joined, and there he stood in his clock themed uniform. There was the cheering as Assault and Battery as they both walked on to the stage.
The appearance of Miss Militia got whistles and more cheers from the guys. As did Kid Win surfing in on his hoverboard, I had to roll my eyes at that, boys loving guns and their toys. Before amending to include anything that looked maturely female as I recalled how they had cheered for Miss Militia and Battery.
The appearance of Shadow Stalker as she dropped down from the shadows in the ceiling before standing with a flourish had me blinking, if Sophia was in the wards... wouldn't that mean that she was Shadow Stalker? She was the right age, and had the general build for that cape. But hadn't she been missing since she ran away?
There was a wooooo from various fans as Shadow Stalker flicked from shadow to flesh before staying in her human form. I had to admit that she had style.
Still, with the introductions out of the way, we got into the boring talks about drugs being bad, gangs being bad, what being a parahuman working for the Protectorate was like, as well as what to do and not do if you suddenly gained super powers. For my part, I had my notebook out and sketched the costumes that the heroes were wearing as well as possible modifications.
It was clear to my keen eyes that while the Wards did wear bodysuits and such, some of them... such as Shadow Stalker and Vista were wearing effectively normal outfits that were armored up. As opposed to actual protective armor that doubled as costumes.
Eventually, the talk was done and we were allowed to leave for our classrooms, the wards and heroes of the Protectorate would go around, have talks with assorted classes, touch base with the local youths. Very standard for such events.
Still, as I settled in computer class, I couldn't help but post on the Parahuman Online forums about which capes were at my school doing the Cape day talk. It was a perfectly human thing to do, after all. I was fairly certain that I wasn't the only one to be doing this. A fact borne out as I looked at the forum post updates.
"Miss Hebert?" I blinked and looked up at Mrs Knotts from my computer.
"Yes?" This... wasn't normal. Mrs Knotts didn't usually say a thing when an advance student played about on the internet.
"There are people asking to see you," She said with a shrug. I blinked and looked past her at the door to see Battery waiting outside.
That got another blink before I quickly shut down the browser, making sure to clear the cache and cookies while doing so.
As I stepped outside, I was surprised to see that she wasn't as tall as I had expected her to be. "Erm... hi?"
"Miss Hebert? I do apologize, but could you come with me?" Battery spoke up with what had to be a gentle smile under her mask. At least, it looked like a smile. "We won't take too much of your time."
I could feel the surprise from my classmates at my being pulled out of the class to talk with a Protectorate cape. My reply was almost mandatory, really. How could I say no to one of the heroes of Brockton Bay? "Oh... of, of course."
With that, we walked towards my doom. For they must have worked out that I had joined the Undersiders or that perhaps I was a parahuman... or...
I squished my thoughts as they ran in circles.
All too soon, we were inside the meeting room that the faculty used for visitors.
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Goblin Queen | Masks can be troublesome
Worm / Exalted
