Assignment 13.1: School Daze
Monday, September 1st, 2087
El Sueño Imposible, Metro City
"Well, here we all are once more. Summer is over and its back to the daily grind," Rheeci leaning back in the booth with a look of despair on her face.
She, Penny, Linc, and Eli were all dressed in the blue and gold Riverside Prep uniforms with their bags at their sides. Kayla, Bridgette, and Will were there as well, though school uniforms were notably absent. Most of them were seated at a booth eating their breakfast, except for Will, who was busy bussing tables and only paused occasionally to talk.
"Oh, its not that bad," Penny replied.
"Said the girl who got to spend her summer jumping from city to city taking on exciting missions," Kayla replied.
Penny laughed. "It was just Las Vegas and Seattle."
"Exactly!" Kayla threw up her arms in dismay. "The rest of us were stuck here in dullsville with nothing to do, and now we have to go back to school!" She leaned back in dismay and cast her glance over at Will. "Why don't you have to go again?"
Will came over and snatched up several empty glasses as he answered. "Mama signed me and my sisters up for an online K-12. It's kind of like homeschooling; we take lessons online and turn in assignments online. Since it's all online, we're pretty much allowed to do our work when we want, just as long as we get it in on time."
"Man, you are lucky," Linc commented. "I would kill to not have to go in for school. How do you sign up for that sort of thing?"
"It's not as easy as you think," Will replied. "You pretty much have to have an extenuating circumstance to qualify."
There was an awkward pause as the others tried to decide if it was appropriate or not to ask what the extenuating circumstance for the Cortes family was. However, they decided against it, as they knew the answer likely involved Claw or Talon.
Instead, Eli got up and slung his backpack over his shoulder. "We'd better be getting on if we don't want to be late," he said. "See ya!"
"By, guys!" Bridgette called out as she and Kayla took a different direction.
"Adiós," Will called back as he continued clearing the tables.
Almost as soon as the others had gone, Bianca came out from the back room. "Entonces, ¿a dónde se fueron tus amigos?" she asked, noticing that her grandson was alone.
"Tenían que ir a la escuela, abuela," Will replied. "Sus clases comenzará pronto."
"Sí, sí, sí, sí, está bien," Bianca replied, giving a nod. "Luego me olvidé el verano había terminado." She then turned and went back into her office.
The conversation over, Will turned back to clearing the table and wiping it down once the dishes were gone. He was in the midst of this work when a group of young women came into the restaurant. "I'll be with you in a minute," he called back, thinking they were here to get a table.
Instead, they rushed over. "Oh my gosh, it is him!" one of them, a tall, curly haired blonde squealed. "Here! Here, take a picture of us!" Will could hardly respond as the girl pulled him next to her. Her friend, a shorter redhead, squeezed in next to them, the third girl, who was pudgy and had strawberry blonde hair, snapped the photo.
"Uh, what's going on?" he asked, trying to regain his understanding.
"Wait, so you mean you're not William Scolex?" the first girl asked.
Will shuddered when he heard his birth name. "No! I mean, yes. I mean, it's complicated." He shook his head. "Wait, why do you know about me?"
"Haven't you seen the latest issue of Teen Scene?" the strawberry blonde asked. She pulled out her phone to show him. "You guys are all over it!"
To Will's dread, he saw she was right. Pictures, not only on him, but of Penny, Bridgette, Link, Eli, Kayla, and Rheeci were plastered on page after page of the gossip rag. He had no idea how this had happened, and he had the sinking suspicion that this was only just the start. "Oh, boy," he muttered under his breath.
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It wasn't long before the others started to notice their newfound attention, too. Kayla and Bridgette had only just arrived back on campus when the craziness started. They had been chatting by the lockers when they were approached by a Freshman girl. The girl had been walking the hall with her cell phone in hand, and she was quick to glance between it and the two older girls, who had yet to take notice.
Letting out a squeal, she rushed of. "Hey, you're some of Penny's friends! What are you doing here?"
When they heard the question, Kayla and Bridgette gave the girl a confused look before exchanging similar glances. "Uh, going to school," Kayla replied. "Why do you ask?"
"Only because you're totally superheroes!" the freshman said, speaking louder this time, which attracted more attention. "You guys totally saved that amusement park! I read all about it in Teen Scene!"
"What?!" Bridgette asked. "Let me take a look."
The Freshman handed over her phone, which was already opened to a picture. It was of the two of them, along with Penny, Eli, Linc, Rheeci, and Will, standing at the fountain in Adventure Kingdom. Underneath read the caption Team Penny Gadget entering the park on the day of the incident.
"I don't remember this picture being taken," Bridgette commented, and she had a sinking suspicion this wasn't the only problem.
She handed back over the phone, but by that point, the interaction had already attracted attention. They were swarmed on all sides by various classmates who had read the article, or at least heard of it, and were eager to meet two of Team Penny Gadget.
"Oh, dear," Kayla muttered as the two of them were surrounded on all sides.
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Penny and the others hadn't even boarded their train by the time trouble found them. They had just gotten their tickets and were headed to the trained when a man approached them. When he spotted Penny, he froze. "Hey! It's Penny Gadget and her team!" he exclaimed. "Penny! Hey! Over here!"
His words echoed out through the stations, and a large number of fans swarmed in to join him. Thankfully, not everyone in the station joined in. Not even the majority did. However, there was still a large number of people who came in the rush, making it difficult for the four teens to make it to the platform.
"I understand you are excited," Penny tried to call out, "but we really are in a hurry, so if you could just please-?"
Her plea was cut off by a sudden cry of a dozen different voices. This clearly wasn't going to work.
Thankfully, however, they were soon approached by security. The suddenly forming crowd had blocked more people than just the four from reaching their train, a more than a few complaints had been called in. The security guards were able to scatter the gathered crowd, and the four teens hurried as fast as they could, only just barely making it to their train before it left.
"Geez," Linc, muttered once he had taken his seat. "What was that all about?"
"Uh, I think it's this," Rheeci said. She held up her phone to let the others see.
It was a top ten trending news story list that mentioned all the different topics that were currently popular. At the top was a link to the Teen Scene website, highlighting bolded words the read Teen Scene's own Jessie Harbain gives tell-all exposé on Metro City's own Penny Gadget. Learn about Penny's adventures, friends, and Latino bad-boy heart-throb.
"What!" Penny said, calling up the link her own phone. "How did she get this information? And what does that mean, bad-boy heart throb? They don't think I'm with…Talon, do they?!" She looked like she was about to be sick.
"I don't know," Rheeci admitted. "Teen Scene is selling the article, so the link only goes to a place to buy it."
"All I know is that I didn't say anything," Linc said.
"Me either," Eli agreed.
"But there are pictures of us in here," Penny murmured as she went over the add. "As much as I hate to give money to a company like that, we have to find out what they wrote about us." With some amount of hesitation, she downloaded the article and started to read it.
Like most of the stories sold by such publications, is was primarily sensationalist drivel. However, there was just enough truth to be disconcerting. They had correctly identified all seven of the kids, as well as supplying pictures of them, to fill out the article. That said, there were still some major inaccuracies.
"Wait, Will is supposed to be the bad boy?" Rheeci asked, giving a look. "Did they actually look at him?"
"Ugh, not again," Linc groaned. "They have it marked down that we made the Gadgetmobile, bro."
"Why is that one annoying?" Rheeci asked. "Sure, it's not true, but it can't be embarrassing."
"It's not," Eli replied, "until you get a thousand questions about how it runs, what its made of, requests to do something similar. These people can be nuts."
"I can't believe this!" Penny exclaimed. "How on Earth could someone get all this information on us. I never spoke to anyone at Teen Scene."
"Me neither," Rheeci chimed in.
"A few people came to the house, but Mom chased them off," Linc commented.
"Kayla, Bridgette, and Will aren't here," Penny said, "but I don't think it was them. This would have hurt them just as much."
"And the author marked their source at anonymous," Eli said with a sigh, "so there's no telling who it was."
Penny sat for a few moments in silence, playing with the end of her pig tail. "There's nothing we can do for now," she said after a moment. "We'll just have to put up with it while we're at school. After school, we should be able to go to W.O.M.P., and they'll be able to help us find the answers."
At that moment, the train pulled to a halt, and the people started to unload off of the train. As they kids left and headed towards that school, it soon became clear that even more people had read the article here than had at the train station, and they were soon swamped once more.
"Remember!" Penny called out as they were forced to separate to get to their classes. "Not one word until we can get to W.O.M.P.!"
"If we live that long," Linc muttered under his breath.
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W.O.M.P. HQ, Metro City
"Another boring day at the office," Fidget muttered as he slumped on the ground next to Brain. The dog, since he now had official K9 licensing, was allowed to stay in the office, and had opted to do so while Penny was at school. This was a relief Fidget, who would have been left completely without companionship otherwise.
Since the discovery of their abilities, Digit had taken over the duties of most of the smaller paperwork items, and Gadget, as usual, was busy finishing up the longer reports. As a result, neither of them had the time to carry on conversation, and Fidget, who had finished the small amount of work he was given, was bored.
"You know what, Brain?" he said, reaching over and stroking the dog's head. "I know it's good there's no attack anywhere and no danger, but I wish there was something we could do. Something to spend some time on."
Brain, who had been trying to take a nap, peeped open one eye to glance at Fidget before going back to sleep. If he was just going to be a sounding board for letting off steam, he didn't have to be awake for it all.
Fidget didn't seem to notice that he was speaking to himself. "Just something simple, you know," he said. "Like a protection gig somewhere. That would be pretty neat."
"You know, if you have time to sit around and complain, you could do something to help," an annoyed Digit called over from the table where he was working.
Fidget leaned up and turned to look at his twin. "You told me you didn't want me anywhere near your work."
"I don't want you anywhere near my unfinished work," Digit qualified. He then pushed over a stack of finished papers. "If you want something to do, take these down the hall to the transporter. They'll be wanted down in C.I.A. pretty soon."
Fidget sprang to his feet at the recommendation. "I'm on it! Is there anything you need me to do, Inspector?"
"Hhmm?" Gadget looked up from his computer screen, a little dazed from the trance-like state report writing usually put him in. "Oh, uh, no, Officer Fidget, I'm fine. Thanks for asking." He then turned back to his work.
Now that he had something to do, Fidget snatched up the pile of papers and hurried out to the main desk. He had to extend his legs out a bit to be seen over the edge of the desk, but that didn't bother him. "Good morning, Cheryl," he called out in a chipper voice.
Cheyrl looked up and frowned. "Morning," she returned, though her tone didn't match her voice. "What do you want?"
"I'm here to have these sent off to the C.I.A. station," he replied, laying down the stack of papers. "I hope it isn't too much trouble."
"It's a living," Cheryl said, and she picked up the papers to go fulfill the order.
When she had left, Fidget stayed around, waiting for her to come back, when the elevator door opened. Out of it came Hymie, who had a rolled-up magazine in one hand. He scanned the waiting room area, and when he spotted Fidget, he hurried over. "Fidget Gadgetini," he called out. "Can I speak with you for a moment?"
Fidget gave a small start when he heard the call, but he smiled when he saw who it was. "Oh, good morning, Hymie. I didn't see you there. Sure, I can talk."
"Good. I have just read something that has left me greatly concerned," Hymie replied as he came over. When he arrived, he unrolled the magazine on the desk. "Have you seen this week's edition of Teen Scene magazine?"
"No," Fidget replied, giving an odd look. "Hymie, you are aware that is a magazine for teenage girls, right?"
"I am aware that is the primary demographic, yes," Hymie replied.
"OK, so then why do you have a subscription to it?" Fidget asked, pointing out the address printed on the back of the magazine.
"A young woman came to my apartment and told me that I was not living unless I had a subscription," Hymie replied. "She seemed quite in earnest, and I do like to live, so I signed up." He gave a small frown. "The people of your time need many subscriptions to live. I have also had to sign up for Fisherman's Weekly, Bowling Today, The Single Mother's Helper, and All About Cats. It is a very complicated world now."
"Hymie, that was just hyperbole," Fidget stated. "You don't need to-wait, is that Penny on the cover?"
Hymie nodded. "Indeed. I was concerned when I saw her on this morning's cover as well. That was why I came here. I wanted to verify with the Inspector if the things this periodical is saying are true."
Fidget wasted no time and started flipping through the pages of the magazine. "Some of them are, most of them aren't," he stated. "That's the way it is with rags like this. However, a lot of people believe these papers, so this could mean trouble." He rolled up the magazine again. "We had better go see the Inspector."
They hurried down the hall to Gadget's office, where inside Gadget and Digit were finishing up on the day's work. "Officer Fidget, you're back, good," Gadget greeted. "We're just about finished with today's paperwork and are getting ready to send the rest in."
It was then that he noticed the other visitor. "Oh, good day, Agent Hymie. How are you?"
"Rather concerned, to tell you the truth," Hymie replied. "Has Penny ever spoken to a Teen Scene magazine?"
Gadget screwed his face up as he thought back on the answer. "Well, no, not in the interview sense. I do believe a reporter from that magazine did come in and try to interview Penny, but we told her we weren't interested. There's no need for her to show up in a gossip rag like that."
"Inspector, I don't think they respected your wishes," Fidget said, and he spread the magazine on the desk for all to see.
"What do you mean?" Gadget asked, and he turned to look at the evidence. In a moment, his expression changed from confusion to mild anger. "What."
"I became aware of the topic of the magazine this morning," Hymie said as Gadget picked the magazine up and started scanning it. "If what they write in this is true, then Penny and her friends have been getting into far more trouble that previously supposed."
"These are most certainly not true," Gadget stated, and his voice had gone unnervingly level. "Penny knows very well she's not allowed to date until she's eighteen."
"I was more concerned about the rumors of her crime-related activities," Hymie stated. "Though, I do suppose a fourteen-year-old who had had at least seven boyfriends would be troubling."
In a moment, a hand popped out of Gadget's hat, and it scrunched up the magazine before pulling it in. "The only thing I know is that I'm going down to that office right now to have a word with the person in charge!"
"What about the paperwork we just finished?" Digit asked.
"Alright," Gadget amended. "First I'll quickly turn in that paperwork, and then I'll go down to that office to have a word with the person in charge!"
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Teen Scene HQ, Metro City
"Harbain, I swear, you struck gold with that Penny Gadget story!" Thomas Thompson, the chief editor of Teen Scene declared. "We haven't sold this many copies of an issue since Tina Malone flipped her lid on live television!"
"It was really no problem, sir," Harbain replied with a smile. "I just got an anonymous tip with a pic about those teens and it went off from there."
"Well, keep it up!" Thompson said with an approving nod. "At this rate, we may even break the million-copy limit!"
At that moment, the buzzer rang, and the voice of Suzy, Thompson's secretary, came through the line. "Sir, there's a group of people here to meet you."
"I don't have any appointments today," Thompson replied.
"They don't have appointment," Suzy replied. "However, one of them is a cop."
"A cop!" That did startled Thompson. "Why would a cop be here? We haven't done anything illegal…that they know of."
"He says he's Inspector Gadget, sir," Suzy replied.
At that moment, the voice on the other end changed. "Now listen here, sir," Gadget stated firmly. "I and these good folks want a word with you. Now, you could either cooperate and let us in there now, or I'll go down to HQ and get a warrant and come in here myself, with or without your approval!" It was clear from the tone this was not a bluff.
"Alright, Suzy, let them in," Thompson called back.
In a moment, the office room was swarmed with people. Along with Gadget, Ella Washington, Alyssa Tran, Mary Gellanchen, Maybelle Tomblin, and Margarita Cortes-Scolex all stormed in. Most of them were talking at once, so it was kind of hard to hear what they were all saying. What was not hard to understand, however, was the emotion behind the words.
"Alright, alright!" Thompson called out, trying to get them to quiet down. "Now what this all about!"
"Who the heck do you think you are?!" Ella said first, stepping up to act as spokesman. She slammed a copy of the magazine down on Thompson's desk. "You've got some nerve, publishing a story about our children without getting our consent!" The others immediately joined in her outrage.
Thinking he caught on to what the outrage was, Thompson raised his hands. "Alright, alright, I think I see what the problem is. Well, I'm sorry, but a story's a story, and this one is bigger than anything we ever could have found. These kids are amazing!"
"But it wasn't your business to call attention to them!" Margarita snapped. "My poor son had to leave work early today because he kept getting swamped by people!"
"And my daughter and her friend needed to be placed in a separate class so as not to be a distraction!" Mary added.
"Where did you even get these pictures?" Mrs. Tomblin asked. "Some of these are downright creepy!"
There was another mass of mingled outrage. Thompson was starting to become concerned for his own safety, especially when an arm snaked its way out of Gadget's hat to hand him his copy of the magazine. The editor did not want to think of anything else that might come out.
"Now, now, everyone," he said, raising his hands in a defensive posture, "we haven't done anything wrong. All photos were taken in public, not private, and the stories posted came from trustworthy but anonymous sources. Isn't that right, Jessie?"
Harbain had been watching the whole situation with some amount of fascination, and when her name was pointed out, she gave a grin and stepped forward. "I can verify this myself. I received the tip shortly after the whole Adventure Kingdom fiasco, and I've done my homework before posting everything. I can guarantee everything I wrote is the truth."
"It was not, and what truth was there was truth you had no place in revealing," Gadget responded. "Didn't you wonder why on earth W.O.M.P. wasn't allowing any interviews? It's because we didn't want all this to come out! Penny's already getting far too much attention from the public as is! She didn't need any more."
"And you had to draw connections between Will and M.A.D.!" Margarita added. "He's done nothing of what you are implying, and he's already suffered enough bullying because of his family ties."
Jessie gave a contempting sniff. "I don't see what your problem is. So your kids are famous now? Every kid dreams of that! And as for the ties to M.A.D., well, if his brother already went, then it's only a matter of time. Maybe I just gave the public an early warning for the inevitable. You really should be thanking me."
There was a shaky moment of silence as Margarita Cortes-Scolex's face went a deep shade of red. She then lunged at Harbain, forcing Gadget to hold her back. "Te doy una hostia que te visto de torero!" she snarled.
"Alright, alright, we've already settled everything we're going to settle," Thompson said. "Now how about you all get out of here before I have you arrested for trespassing."
The adults left, but they weren't happy. They were just going to have to think of some other way around this.
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M.A.D. Castle, ?
Talon was in a very good mood at the moment. He had recently been recruiting for new members of M.A.D., and things had gone off very well. Most of the new recruits had been brought back and were in the midst of training, so that meant he had a short time off.
He entered into the fair sized common room the teen Cybers often lounged in. "Hey," he said as he dropped down onto the couch. "Anything new happen while I was gone?"
"Our little tip to Teen Scene finally paid off," Joltwave answered. She was sitting by the computer, and had pulled up the online version of the article.
Seeing the contents, Talon gave a smirk. "It's about time. We gave Harbain that tip ages ago. I was starting to wonder if she forgot about it."
"Nope, she remembered alright," Syreen responded. She then gave a snort. "I don't know where she got a lot of this stuff from, though. Some of this stuff is pretty wacky."
"Like what?" Talon asked, his curiosity peaked.
Drillbit smirked. "Like the idea your pansy brother would ever be a ex-member of M.A.D."
Talon stayed silent, as he was too busy scanning the magazine. "Huh, this article is very thorough," he commented when he came near the end. "Reveals where they live, work, go to school." He gave a small laugh. "Nothing we didn't already know, of course, but if people thought that this was protected information…"
His eyes opened wide, and a large, cruel grin spread across his face. "You know, this just gave me an idea." He then straightened up and hurried off.
"Where are you off to?" Wildfire asked.
"I'm going to get Dr. Claw's approval to carry out an idea of mine," Talon responded. "Shouldn't be too hard, though. It's got everything he prefers in a mission."
To be continued…
AN: I am not a native Spanish speaker, and what knowledge I have is pretty weak. I used a site called Reverse Contexto, but if someone who does speak Spanish wants to correct my writing, I would be pleased to hear from you.
