Waking up twenty minutes before she had to be at the School, Sara tore around the house like
a dervish, choosing to wear a fairly classy pantsuit that made her look slightly older than what she
appeared to be. *Some times I hate looking like I'm only 22, especially because I'm 27. Oh well, at
least I'll be able to piss off some people...* She had gotten dressed and had placed all the requisite
books on biology in one of her bike's saddlebags in less than ten minutes, and had enough time to
have a slab of toast before breaking every speed limit between her house and the School. Parking her
bike, and activating the charge generator to discourage thieves or vandals, she ran into the school
carrying the bag with all the books.
Skidding into the main office, she nodded to the receptionist, who was still blowing smoke
rings, grinned and waved at the vice-principal, and discreetly knocked on the door to the Principal's
office. "Who is it?" was heard from the other side of the heavy oak door, and Sara replied truthfully.
"Alright, come in." Sara opened the door to see the principal sitting in his leather swivel chair, and
was faintly surprised to see a young black-haired teacher sitting in one of the two other chairs in the
room. Sara scrutinised the teacher, noting the glasses, the thin hands, and the very baggy clothes. Her
scrutiny was interrupted when the young man stood up and offered his hand. "Hi. My name's Adrian
Seidelman. How are you doing?"
Sara stammered a reply, caught off guard by how much Adrian resembled one of the orphans
that lived in her memories. "I-I'm sorry, but you resemble one of my friends from a long time ago.
Did you ever have relatives that lived in Canada? No, never mind. Just some idle curiosity. So, what
class do you teach?" Adrian smiled lightly and nodded towards the door as the principal gave both
people folders loaded with papers. Sara let herself be ushered out of the office, and as Adrian and she
squirmed through the throngs of students, they still managed to carry a conversation. "So, how long
have you been working here?" Adrian shrugged as he dodged three small students that charged down
the hall. "About three and a half years. Classes have become a lot less hectic because most of the
worst students have either graduated or been transferred to 'less dangerous' schools."
Sara snorted at that one, then had to dodge into the middle of the hall to avoid being nailed
in the ribs by a student's backpack, accidentally brushing across Adrian's shirt sleeve. Adrian pulled
away from the point of contact, and Sara paused, confused. Shrugging it off, Sara continued on to
the room she was going to take over, and privately entertained thoughts of how to keep the students
occupied in class. "Oh yes, one of my friends showed up last night, and said that you'd like to talk
with me for a while after school." Adrian nodded, then pointed at the room opposite of the stairwell.
"I'll be able to talk at lunch hour, but right now I have to make sure that nobody has managed to
destroy the class. I'll see you later."
Sara nodded and walked over to the class that she was taking over, avoiding a cluster of thugs
standing around Lori. Opening the door to the classroom, Sara instantly noticed that Lucas was
sitting in the chair behind the teacher's desk, apparently waiting for her. "So, why are you sitting
around here? I thought you've been reassigned to chemistry." Lucas smiled, then pointed at a stack
of textbooks and other random paraphernalia. "You'll need most of those books in order to survive
your first day. Also, I think you should've worn a suit of bomb squad armour instead of what appears
to be silk." Sara chuckled and pulled a deck of cards from a pocket in her coat. "Don't underestimate
me. You saw what I am capable of two days ago. I think I'll be able to keep the kids in line."
Lucas nodded, then decided to vacate the seat before Sara used one of the cards on him.
"Okay then. Just don't come running to me when they blow up the desk." Sara shooed him out of the
room by flipping three cards around between the fingers of her left hand. "Git ye gone little boy, or
I'll have to hamstring you. I'll see you at lunch hour." Lucas grinned and walked out, allowing Sara
to put her coat in the small closet, and leave her bag there as well. Just as she sat down in the chair,
the bell rang, allowing a swarm of students to invade the classroom. Some of them stopped cold,
wondering if they were in the right room, but entered after checking the number on the door. After
the morning announcements were out of the way, and the anthem was over and done with, Sara
finished the attendance form, gave it to a student to put in the office, and leaned back, waiting for the
second bell to ring so she could get down to business.
As if her wishes would be totally granted, the bell rang and the students filed out, most
looking like they were going into their version of hell. *Poor kids, almost a month into the curriculum
and they get a change in teachers. Their loss, my gain.* Sara flipped through the folder that the
principal had given her, and was slightly surprised to find detailed dossiers on every student in the
subsequent classes. *Heh. Lori will be in the first class, and I think that those thugs surrounding her
will also be in here. If they disregard what I say, well, there's always the physical evidence on me.
Hello, this person may be interesting. 'Hazel Smith' eh? Lemme see, sporadic attendance, disappears
for up to a week at a time, and shows amazing intelligence and insight into other people's actions
when she does anything at all. Okay, I might be dealing with a problem student here.*
Sara looked up as a cluster of students squeezed into the room, looking like they were either
half-asleep or utterly apathetic. After the cluster squeezed its way into the desks, Erin Cheng walked
in, smiling and bright-eyed, and perched on a stool in the back of the class, binder open and sitting
on her lap. Sara waited until everyone had found a seat, and then looked up from the folder and
glanced at each student in the room. "Okay kids, before you ask, I'm your new teacher. Lucas has
been reassigned to Chemistry, so some of you will manage to laugh as he accidentally creates
nitroglycerin and blasts a hole through the wall."
Sara let everyone laugh at that one, then called the class to order. "Now, because I'm
somewhat unfamiliar with your curriculum, today is basically 'question the rookie day'. So, how do
you want to pester me?" Sara sat back, looked at the class, then pointed at Erin as she raised her
hand. "Okay kiddo, shoot." Erin glanced at the rest of the class before speaking. "Well, I'm probably
the only person who knows something about you, so I think you could tell the class a bit about
yourself." Sara looked at the class, and seeing the looks of agreement, sighed slightly and nodded.
"Okay then. Lemme see, I was born in Canada, led an utterly uneventful life until university, and had
to deal with a sickness that sidelined me for several months. I never truly recovered from that, and
that's why I'm so damn thin.
"Oh yes, I've managed to travel through most of Europe, Asia, and the Americas for the last
four years because of my previous job as a biologist. Any other questions?" The class remained silent
long enough to hear an echoing rumble come from the chemistry classroom, allowing Sara to excuse
herself. Sara walked over to the chem room, and opened the door just in time to be met by a faceful
of chlorine gas. Coughing and gagging, Sara pulled her shirt up to cover her nose and mouth, and
went inside to see if anyone was in the room. She soon found Lucas lying beside a beaker, so she
grabbed him by the scruff of his coat and pulled him out of the room.
She went back in and opened both windows before dropping the beaker that was still
producing the gas out the window, allowing it to shatter on the pavement below. Turning back to the
rest of the classroom, Sara used the emergency eye wash station to get any remnants of the gas out
of her eyes. Then, after making sure that Lucas was alive, she went back to her own classroom.
Looking in, she threw six cards at the two students that were arm wrestling in the back of the room
near the python. "Hey kids, eyes front. Now, before anyone asks anything about what happened, I'll
tell you. Lucas, being the dumbass he is, managed to produce a beaker of chlorine gas. Naturally, I
had to save his ass and disposed of the toxic stuff.
"By tomorrow, he'll be back, and somewhat worse for the wear." Sara returned to her seat
behind her desk, then sniffed at her shirt sleeve. "Well, dammit. I guess I'm going to have to burn this
because the gas has managed to totally wreck the fabric. So, any more questions for me?" Lori stood
up and wiggled her hand in the air. "Okay teach, here's one for ya: How much wood could a
woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?" Sara smiled and waved Lori down. "Thirteen-
eighths its body mass per hour. Any other dumb questions?" Lori looked slightly flustered due to the
flip answer given to her, so she went into a quick conference with her three friends. One of the
students who had been arm-wrestling, and currently nursing a nicked finger raised his hand.
After Sara nodded at him, he pulled one of the three cards from the laminated top of his desk
and showed it to her. "Just wondering, but how are you able to throw cards like that, and how old
is this one? It looks like those death card props from Apocalypse Now." Sara flipped another card
around the knuckles of her right hand for a few seconds before responding. "I said that I was
sidelined by a disease, but what I didn't say was that it was bad enough for me to be hospitalized for
about two-thirds of that time. I learned how to express my displeasure at the Canadian medical
services non-vocally by using a deck of cards to terrorize the nurses I despised.
"Those cards however, are not props, but an actual deck of Death Cards from 'Nam. They
were for the Second Airborne, but were never used because they pulled out only two weeks into their
tour. I would love to have the cards back at the end of class though, and instead of detentions, people
will have to run the risk of being cut up by those edges." Sara let the class pass the cards forwards,
then wondered how long the rest of the day was going to take. Glancing at the clock, she saw that
first period was almost over, so she let the students out a few minutes early. After the students filed
out to get snacks from the vending machines, Sara walked over to where she had propped Lucas up
against the wall, and woke him up by dropping a thermos full of hot chocolate into his lap.
"Ooof! Who did that? Why am I out in the hallway?" Sara bent over and snapped her fingers
in front of his face for a few seconds, then sat down on the opposite side of the hall. "Well, I did that
in order to wake you up, and get something in your system to counteract the chlorine gas you inhaled.
Also, you're in the hallway because somehow you were stupid enough to produce enough chlorine
gas to knock you out. The only reason why you're still alive is because I pulled your ass out of there
before you suffered irreparable damage to your lungs." Lucas coughed experimentally into his hand,
looked at the resultant mess, and shrugged.
"Well, that really sucks. I was planning on tampering with your bike, just to make people
wonder what your machine uses for fuel. I guess it didn't go as planned." Sara kicked Lucas' shin and
chuckled. "Well, considering that if you touched my bike you'd have been knocked out for about ten
minutes. After all, only I get to tamper with my machine. Now, because you admitted that a prank
had backfired, I may as well tell you what my current prank is." Lucas took a swig of the hot
chocolate, grimaced at the bitter flavour, then took another swig. "So, what is it?" Sara grinned. "I
laced the chocolate with Ex-Lax. Have a good day."
Sara got up and walked back to her classroom, chased by a flurry of swear words from Lucas'
general direction. *Heh. That was too easy. Too bad for him, especially because I didn't do anything
of the sort. Maybe I should do something along the lines of vehicular mayhem. I really don't like the
fact that his car is unicolor. Maybe I'll use my bike to give it a racing stripe down the middle.* Sara
relaxed, and let the rest of the day's routine slide by like water around a stone until lunch hour rolled
around. As the last class of the morning left, Sara leaned back, cracked her spine, and walked down
to the school yard.
Arriving in the yard, she saw Lori and her pack of goons trying to extort money out of several
younger students, so Sara walked over and let her shadow fall over Lori's back. "Y'know, I really
think you should be somewhere else Lori, especially because Lucas is also watching." Lori grumbled
a bit but gave the students back their money. However, one of her lackeys turned to Sara, jabbed his
middle finger in the air and yelled. "Well, fuck you too bitch!" As he finished speaking, he swung his
hand forwards, trying to clout Sara in the chest. Sara automatically sidestepped the blow, and as she
dodged the swing, she grabbed his arm and used his momentum to flip him over her hip and land flat
on his back on the pavement.
Sara kneeled down beside him and looked into his eyes. "You made a big mistake. Now, go
inside and explain to the principal how you got a two-day detention." Sara stood up, helped the boy
up, then spun him around once and shoved him towards the front door of the school. Lori looked like
she was going to spit razor blades, but remained silent when Sara shot her a glare. "Lori, keep your
minions under control, or I'm going to have to systematically wreak havoc on your so-called gang."
Sara then walked over to where Lucas was leaning against a tree, eating an apple. When she arrived
under the canopy of orange leaves, Sara sighed and sat down on a bench near the large trunk.
"Please, remind me why I tolerate those morons. I can't believe that boy. Trying to throw a
punch at a teacher is not high on the list of self-preservation." Lucas finished the apple he was eating
and threw the core towards a squirrel that was begging for some food. "Well, I think you tolerate
them because you want to be a good teacher and not show any favouritism. Also, Sam always tries
to throw his weight around. You're the only person smaller than him who beat him that quickly.
Everyone else has either failed or taken several minutes.
"Actually, I think many teachers would like to learn some martial arts of any form in order
to keep the really rowdy students in their place. Heck, even I'd love to try out something like that."
Sara nodded, then smiled. "Well, if the teachers agree, I'll start up a mini school for teaching the
teachers something like Aikido or Karate." Lucas grinned and shook her hand, allowing the ring
buzzer to work its magic. "HEY! Lucas, that was cheap. I haven't done anything to you, except make
a false implication about Ex-Lax."
Lucas smiled, then took off the buzzer. "Okay, I admit that it was slightly cheap, but I have
to wonder what you're planning to do next." Sara looked at him cooly, letting her eyes measure him
up. "As mentioned, I'm going to see if the other teachers would like to learn some self-defence. To
be honest, I don't think you'll ever get past a yellow belt in any professionally operated Dojo." Lucas
grimaced at the candid explanation of his apparent skills, then brightened up as he saw Adrian
Seidelman walking towards him.
"Well, if it isn't the one person almost every student likes. How're you doing Adrian?" Lucas
rubbed his right hand through his hair, then smiled slightly. "Hello Lucas. It seems that our newest
teacher has managed to not only save your life from a beakerful of chlorine gas, but has also caused
some nasty ripples in Lori's gang. How is it that someone who probably weighs a hundred pounds
sopping wet managed to utterly defeat Sam in less than three seconds?" Sara grinned and let Lucas
talk. "Well, apparently, our friend here has enough knowledge of the martial arts to be capable of
some very fast moves that ended with Sam flat on his back with her fingers about to squash his
windpipe."
Sara shook her head slightly and chimed in before Lucas embellished too much. "Actually,
Lucas, I used his mass and momentum against him. He just flipped over, landed on his back, and I
gave him a warning and two day's detention for attempting to assault a teacher. That's what
happened, nothing more or less." Lucas grinned sheepishly at his embellishments, then saw something
at the other side of the school yard, near the parking lot. Excusing himself, he walked into the lot,
leaving Sara and Adrian alone. Sara motioned for Adrian to take a seat, then leaned back, allowing
her spine to crack in three places. Ignoring Adrian's wince of pain, Sara finished the stretch, then
leaned forwards and poked at a small nick on the palm of her hand.
"So, how's school life treating you?" Adrian was studying Sara with his eyes, despite the fact
that they were obscured by a pair of oval sunglasses. Sara shrugged and glanced at a group of young
students pointing at her and giggling. "Well, it could always be better. After all, I haven't gotten an
accurate 'read' on the students in my classes, but some of them are somewhat interesting." Adrian
chuckled at Sara's tone of voice, but was cut off by the bell. Sara grimaced, then stood up. "Well,
time to put my nose in front of the grindstone again. I'll see you after school.""Okay then, just let me
tell you where the Caf‚ is." Adrian pointed out the directions, then walked into the school. Sara also
walked into the school, went back to the classroom, and waited for then next group of victi- er,
students.
Within two hours, she nearing the end of her mental fuse when the last class finally left.
*Whew. I'm glad that's over. Well, time to take up Adrian's offer, but he said Five in the afternoon,
and it's only Three. Well, I may as well clean up this place, and check on Lucas' classroom.* Sara
cleaned the few critter cages, gagging on the stench from the corner where the lab rats had been
hiding for the last few weeks, then put some old books away. She then retrieved her cards from where
they had landed, and walked over to the chem room.
Looking inside, Sara saw a thin haze of smoke floating around the ceiling, so she took a deep
breath before walking in. Looking around, she saw an almost-totally destroyed workbench, with
some sort of liquid dripping from the badly corroded ends. *Gross. I'm not even going to touch that
one* Sara walked around the desk, careful to avoid the globs of acid that were slowly eating through
the floor. "Dammit Lucas, what did you do?" Sara walked over to where she heard a muffled groan,
and dug through the heap of textbooks until she unearthed Lucas. "Well, it seems that you've
managed to get dangerously close to another Darwin award my so-called friend."
Lucas groaned as he slowly regained consciousness, so Sara dragged him into the hallway and
held his nose for a few seconds to wake him up. "What?" Lucas grumbled slightly as he stood up and
staggered around slightly before finding his sense of balance sitting on one of the benches. Sara
grimaced as she pointed at the remains of the bench. "Looks like one of your experiments decided
to retaliate against the desk. C'mon, let's get out of here before the janitors come running." Sara and
Lucas walked downstairs, scribbled their names on the teacher's sign-out sheet in the main office, and
walked into the parking lot.
Sara disarmed her bike's charge generator and started it up. Shouting to be heard over the
engine's growl, Sara asked Lucas which car was his. He pointed at the red sedan on the opposite side
of the lot, and shouted something about her already knowing which one it was, so why the
confirmation? Sara let her actions respond to Lucas' question, and drove through the lot to in front
of Lucas' car. Turning her bike, she then drove directly over Lucas' car, and smoked her tires on the
way, leaving a straight black line going down the middle of his once-bright red car.
Sara drove past Lucas as he ran to his car, and ignoring his very loud cry of anguish, she tore
out of the lot to her house so she could drop off most of the extraneous stuff that she thought she
wouldn't need. After dropping off the pile of books, Sara checked the time, saw that she had twenty
minutes, and decided that there was enough time to change into something that didn't smell like
chlorine. *Damn Lucas for being stupid enough to try a prank like that. Well, I may as well try to
remain sane as long as possible so I should go for that invite now.* Sara finished changing into her
normal clothes, then drove back to the Caf‚.
Walking inside, she saw Lucas and Adrian sitting at a table, looking out the window at the
giant statue, still visible even in the growing darkness. Sara walked over and tapped Lucas on the
shoulder. "G'day Lucas, Adrian. Sorry about the alterations on your car, but I do think that it looks
cooler with the new racing stripe down the middle." Lucas growled slightly, but calmed down when
Adrian gestured towards the empty seat. Sara took the seat, and looked at the massive open space
in front of Lucas. "So, what are you planning to eat? A wild aurochs?" Lucas grinned, but shook his
head. "Only my usual meal." Sara chuckled at that, and wondered what his average bill per day for
food was.
Adrian had ordered a burger and fries, and Sara went for the grass steer sandwich and a bottle
of Dragon's Breath. While waiting for the order, Lucas regaled them with a relatively funny story
about one of the things Lori did to a teacher she had absolutely despised. After the food arrived, Sara
noticed that Lucas was going to tuck into a plateful of spaghetti, two burgers, a small mountain of
fries, and a half-pitcher of beer. Raising an eyebrow, Sara glanced at Adrian, and stage whispered
"That's his usual? No wonder he looks like a pregnant beer-barrel." Adrian, hearing this, tried to keep
from breaking out in laughter and nearly choked on the fries he had just started on.
Sara tried out the sandwich and found that it was actually pretty good, but nowhere near what
her mother could do with the same materials. Still, she finished off the sandwich, and her beer at the
same time as Lucas finished off his last fry. *Gah. I really have to wonder how it's possible for
someone to eat like that and not choke. Well, it's going to be one of Ripley's Believe it or Not
sometime.* Lucas leaned backwards in his seat, causing it to creak dangerously before turning his
attention to the nearby TV, which was playing another of the constant soccer matches.
Sara watched with a little interest, mainly because she had a greater interest in hockey.
Focussing on Adrian, Sara managed to cause him to bust out laughing by theorizing on Lucas' ability
to eat so much without having a stomach the size of a small building. Sara saw Lucas wince, and
looked at the instant replay on the TV, just in time to see one of the home team's players get booted
in the groin by what appeared to be the Incredible Hulk in a soccer uniform. *Ouch. He's not going
to get up anytime soon* Sara shot a glance at Adrian, who was also watching the replay, and noticed
that he didn't so much as blink at the impact.
*Okay, either Adrian has nerves of stone, or he's not what he appears to be. Naahhh... I really
doubt that.* Sara ordered another beer, and as Lucas continued to shout at the TV, Sara continued
to talk to Adrian. As darkness fell over the city, the three people talked about their pasts, and some
plans for the future. Eventually Sara looked at her watch and mentally swore. *Wow. It's already
Eight-Thirty. We've been talking for almost three and a half hours. I really should go home and
continue on my little plot to make my students have fun in class, even while learning.*
Sara leaned backwards in her seat, making Adrian wince at the impending pop, but Sara
relaxed slightly before the point where that could occur and put her hands on the table, palms down.
"Well, I really need to get home so I can finish the revisions to the curriculum." Sara nodded towards
Lucas, then after nearly being knocked from her seat by a negligent wave, she shook hands with
Adrian and left a small stack of bills to pay for the meal. Adrian saw that the small heap was made
up of Canadian currency, so he quickly counted it and raised an eyebrow at the final count.
Sara had already walked out of the Caf‚, and Adrian soon heard Sara's bike roar out of the
parking lot. Adrian looked at Lucas as he roared at the soccer players and thought about what Sara
had said during the conversation between them about one of Lucas' stranger escapades.
Meanwhile, Back in Jose's Mansion
The large double doors to Jose's room were knocked open by a sliding body, startling Jose from the
porn magazine he was reading as the poor victim flashed into vapour. A shadowy form stood in the
doorway, then walked into the room, revealing long brown hair, what looked like an armband made
of a grey metal covering the right forearm, and wearing a long black trenchcoat. Jose smirked at the
sight, then bowed mockingly. "Welcome, M-17. It seems you've managed to work out your
frustrations about being called from your mourning, so let me give you-kkk"
Jose suddenly shut up as M-17 rushed up to him and grabbed his throat. "I will never stop
mourning. Now, if you want to retain your ribs, I recommend you never bring that subject up again."
M-17 let Jose go, and let him massage his throat to get his breathing under control. "Well now, I
want you to pull bodyguard duty on the Twentieth of this month. I'm going into the city to try and
make an agreement with some bounty hunters and some of them are known as being, well,
unbalanced. Also, after the bodyguard duty, I want you to find this person and capture or kill her."
Jose showed M-17 the security photo of Sara, then smiled when she nodded and crushed the picture.
"Consider her dead."
a dervish, choosing to wear a fairly classy pantsuit that made her look slightly older than what she
appeared to be. *Some times I hate looking like I'm only 22, especially because I'm 27. Oh well, at
least I'll be able to piss off some people...* She had gotten dressed and had placed all the requisite
books on biology in one of her bike's saddlebags in less than ten minutes, and had enough time to
have a slab of toast before breaking every speed limit between her house and the School. Parking her
bike, and activating the charge generator to discourage thieves or vandals, she ran into the school
carrying the bag with all the books.
Skidding into the main office, she nodded to the receptionist, who was still blowing smoke
rings, grinned and waved at the vice-principal, and discreetly knocked on the door to the Principal's
office. "Who is it?" was heard from the other side of the heavy oak door, and Sara replied truthfully.
"Alright, come in." Sara opened the door to see the principal sitting in his leather swivel chair, and
was faintly surprised to see a young black-haired teacher sitting in one of the two other chairs in the
room. Sara scrutinised the teacher, noting the glasses, the thin hands, and the very baggy clothes. Her
scrutiny was interrupted when the young man stood up and offered his hand. "Hi. My name's Adrian
Seidelman. How are you doing?"
Sara stammered a reply, caught off guard by how much Adrian resembled one of the orphans
that lived in her memories. "I-I'm sorry, but you resemble one of my friends from a long time ago.
Did you ever have relatives that lived in Canada? No, never mind. Just some idle curiosity. So, what
class do you teach?" Adrian smiled lightly and nodded towards the door as the principal gave both
people folders loaded with papers. Sara let herself be ushered out of the office, and as Adrian and she
squirmed through the throngs of students, they still managed to carry a conversation. "So, how long
have you been working here?" Adrian shrugged as he dodged three small students that charged down
the hall. "About three and a half years. Classes have become a lot less hectic because most of the
worst students have either graduated or been transferred to 'less dangerous' schools."
Sara snorted at that one, then had to dodge into the middle of the hall to avoid being nailed
in the ribs by a student's backpack, accidentally brushing across Adrian's shirt sleeve. Adrian pulled
away from the point of contact, and Sara paused, confused. Shrugging it off, Sara continued on to
the room she was going to take over, and privately entertained thoughts of how to keep the students
occupied in class. "Oh yes, one of my friends showed up last night, and said that you'd like to talk
with me for a while after school." Adrian nodded, then pointed at the room opposite of the stairwell.
"I'll be able to talk at lunch hour, but right now I have to make sure that nobody has managed to
destroy the class. I'll see you later."
Sara nodded and walked over to the class that she was taking over, avoiding a cluster of thugs
standing around Lori. Opening the door to the classroom, Sara instantly noticed that Lucas was
sitting in the chair behind the teacher's desk, apparently waiting for her. "So, why are you sitting
around here? I thought you've been reassigned to chemistry." Lucas smiled, then pointed at a stack
of textbooks and other random paraphernalia. "You'll need most of those books in order to survive
your first day. Also, I think you should've worn a suit of bomb squad armour instead of what appears
to be silk." Sara chuckled and pulled a deck of cards from a pocket in her coat. "Don't underestimate
me. You saw what I am capable of two days ago. I think I'll be able to keep the kids in line."
Lucas nodded, then decided to vacate the seat before Sara used one of the cards on him.
"Okay then. Just don't come running to me when they blow up the desk." Sara shooed him out of the
room by flipping three cards around between the fingers of her left hand. "Git ye gone little boy, or
I'll have to hamstring you. I'll see you at lunch hour." Lucas grinned and walked out, allowing Sara
to put her coat in the small closet, and leave her bag there as well. Just as she sat down in the chair,
the bell rang, allowing a swarm of students to invade the classroom. Some of them stopped cold,
wondering if they were in the right room, but entered after checking the number on the door. After
the morning announcements were out of the way, and the anthem was over and done with, Sara
finished the attendance form, gave it to a student to put in the office, and leaned back, waiting for the
second bell to ring so she could get down to business.
As if her wishes would be totally granted, the bell rang and the students filed out, most
looking like they were going into their version of hell. *Poor kids, almost a month into the curriculum
and they get a change in teachers. Their loss, my gain.* Sara flipped through the folder that the
principal had given her, and was slightly surprised to find detailed dossiers on every student in the
subsequent classes. *Heh. Lori will be in the first class, and I think that those thugs surrounding her
will also be in here. If they disregard what I say, well, there's always the physical evidence on me.
Hello, this person may be interesting. 'Hazel Smith' eh? Lemme see, sporadic attendance, disappears
for up to a week at a time, and shows amazing intelligence and insight into other people's actions
when she does anything at all. Okay, I might be dealing with a problem student here.*
Sara looked up as a cluster of students squeezed into the room, looking like they were either
half-asleep or utterly apathetic. After the cluster squeezed its way into the desks, Erin Cheng walked
in, smiling and bright-eyed, and perched on a stool in the back of the class, binder open and sitting
on her lap. Sara waited until everyone had found a seat, and then looked up from the folder and
glanced at each student in the room. "Okay kids, before you ask, I'm your new teacher. Lucas has
been reassigned to Chemistry, so some of you will manage to laugh as he accidentally creates
nitroglycerin and blasts a hole through the wall."
Sara let everyone laugh at that one, then called the class to order. "Now, because I'm
somewhat unfamiliar with your curriculum, today is basically 'question the rookie day'. So, how do
you want to pester me?" Sara sat back, looked at the class, then pointed at Erin as she raised her
hand. "Okay kiddo, shoot." Erin glanced at the rest of the class before speaking. "Well, I'm probably
the only person who knows something about you, so I think you could tell the class a bit about
yourself." Sara looked at the class, and seeing the looks of agreement, sighed slightly and nodded.
"Okay then. Lemme see, I was born in Canada, led an utterly uneventful life until university, and had
to deal with a sickness that sidelined me for several months. I never truly recovered from that, and
that's why I'm so damn thin.
"Oh yes, I've managed to travel through most of Europe, Asia, and the Americas for the last
four years because of my previous job as a biologist. Any other questions?" The class remained silent
long enough to hear an echoing rumble come from the chemistry classroom, allowing Sara to excuse
herself. Sara walked over to the chem room, and opened the door just in time to be met by a faceful
of chlorine gas. Coughing and gagging, Sara pulled her shirt up to cover her nose and mouth, and
went inside to see if anyone was in the room. She soon found Lucas lying beside a beaker, so she
grabbed him by the scruff of his coat and pulled him out of the room.
She went back in and opened both windows before dropping the beaker that was still
producing the gas out the window, allowing it to shatter on the pavement below. Turning back to the
rest of the classroom, Sara used the emergency eye wash station to get any remnants of the gas out
of her eyes. Then, after making sure that Lucas was alive, she went back to her own classroom.
Looking in, she threw six cards at the two students that were arm wrestling in the back of the room
near the python. "Hey kids, eyes front. Now, before anyone asks anything about what happened, I'll
tell you. Lucas, being the dumbass he is, managed to produce a beaker of chlorine gas. Naturally, I
had to save his ass and disposed of the toxic stuff.
"By tomorrow, he'll be back, and somewhat worse for the wear." Sara returned to her seat
behind her desk, then sniffed at her shirt sleeve. "Well, dammit. I guess I'm going to have to burn this
because the gas has managed to totally wreck the fabric. So, any more questions for me?" Lori stood
up and wiggled her hand in the air. "Okay teach, here's one for ya: How much wood could a
woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?" Sara smiled and waved Lori down. "Thirteen-
eighths its body mass per hour. Any other dumb questions?" Lori looked slightly flustered due to the
flip answer given to her, so she went into a quick conference with her three friends. One of the
students who had been arm-wrestling, and currently nursing a nicked finger raised his hand.
After Sara nodded at him, he pulled one of the three cards from the laminated top of his desk
and showed it to her. "Just wondering, but how are you able to throw cards like that, and how old
is this one? It looks like those death card props from Apocalypse Now." Sara flipped another card
around the knuckles of her right hand for a few seconds before responding. "I said that I was
sidelined by a disease, but what I didn't say was that it was bad enough for me to be hospitalized for
about two-thirds of that time. I learned how to express my displeasure at the Canadian medical
services non-vocally by using a deck of cards to terrorize the nurses I despised.
"Those cards however, are not props, but an actual deck of Death Cards from 'Nam. They
were for the Second Airborne, but were never used because they pulled out only two weeks into their
tour. I would love to have the cards back at the end of class though, and instead of detentions, people
will have to run the risk of being cut up by those edges." Sara let the class pass the cards forwards,
then wondered how long the rest of the day was going to take. Glancing at the clock, she saw that
first period was almost over, so she let the students out a few minutes early. After the students filed
out to get snacks from the vending machines, Sara walked over to where she had propped Lucas up
against the wall, and woke him up by dropping a thermos full of hot chocolate into his lap.
"Ooof! Who did that? Why am I out in the hallway?" Sara bent over and snapped her fingers
in front of his face for a few seconds, then sat down on the opposite side of the hall. "Well, I did that
in order to wake you up, and get something in your system to counteract the chlorine gas you inhaled.
Also, you're in the hallway because somehow you were stupid enough to produce enough chlorine
gas to knock you out. The only reason why you're still alive is because I pulled your ass out of there
before you suffered irreparable damage to your lungs." Lucas coughed experimentally into his hand,
looked at the resultant mess, and shrugged.
"Well, that really sucks. I was planning on tampering with your bike, just to make people
wonder what your machine uses for fuel. I guess it didn't go as planned." Sara kicked Lucas' shin and
chuckled. "Well, considering that if you touched my bike you'd have been knocked out for about ten
minutes. After all, only I get to tamper with my machine. Now, because you admitted that a prank
had backfired, I may as well tell you what my current prank is." Lucas took a swig of the hot
chocolate, grimaced at the bitter flavour, then took another swig. "So, what is it?" Sara grinned. "I
laced the chocolate with Ex-Lax. Have a good day."
Sara got up and walked back to her classroom, chased by a flurry of swear words from Lucas'
general direction. *Heh. That was too easy. Too bad for him, especially because I didn't do anything
of the sort. Maybe I should do something along the lines of vehicular mayhem. I really don't like the
fact that his car is unicolor. Maybe I'll use my bike to give it a racing stripe down the middle.* Sara
relaxed, and let the rest of the day's routine slide by like water around a stone until lunch hour rolled
around. As the last class of the morning left, Sara leaned back, cracked her spine, and walked down
to the school yard.
Arriving in the yard, she saw Lori and her pack of goons trying to extort money out of several
younger students, so Sara walked over and let her shadow fall over Lori's back. "Y'know, I really
think you should be somewhere else Lori, especially because Lucas is also watching." Lori grumbled
a bit but gave the students back their money. However, one of her lackeys turned to Sara, jabbed his
middle finger in the air and yelled. "Well, fuck you too bitch!" As he finished speaking, he swung his
hand forwards, trying to clout Sara in the chest. Sara automatically sidestepped the blow, and as she
dodged the swing, she grabbed his arm and used his momentum to flip him over her hip and land flat
on his back on the pavement.
Sara kneeled down beside him and looked into his eyes. "You made a big mistake. Now, go
inside and explain to the principal how you got a two-day detention." Sara stood up, helped the boy
up, then spun him around once and shoved him towards the front door of the school. Lori looked like
she was going to spit razor blades, but remained silent when Sara shot her a glare. "Lori, keep your
minions under control, or I'm going to have to systematically wreak havoc on your so-called gang."
Sara then walked over to where Lucas was leaning against a tree, eating an apple. When she arrived
under the canopy of orange leaves, Sara sighed and sat down on a bench near the large trunk.
"Please, remind me why I tolerate those morons. I can't believe that boy. Trying to throw a
punch at a teacher is not high on the list of self-preservation." Lucas finished the apple he was eating
and threw the core towards a squirrel that was begging for some food. "Well, I think you tolerate
them because you want to be a good teacher and not show any favouritism. Also, Sam always tries
to throw his weight around. You're the only person smaller than him who beat him that quickly.
Everyone else has either failed or taken several minutes.
"Actually, I think many teachers would like to learn some martial arts of any form in order
to keep the really rowdy students in their place. Heck, even I'd love to try out something like that."
Sara nodded, then smiled. "Well, if the teachers agree, I'll start up a mini school for teaching the
teachers something like Aikido or Karate." Lucas grinned and shook her hand, allowing the ring
buzzer to work its magic. "HEY! Lucas, that was cheap. I haven't done anything to you, except make
a false implication about Ex-Lax."
Lucas smiled, then took off the buzzer. "Okay, I admit that it was slightly cheap, but I have
to wonder what you're planning to do next." Sara looked at him cooly, letting her eyes measure him
up. "As mentioned, I'm going to see if the other teachers would like to learn some self-defence. To
be honest, I don't think you'll ever get past a yellow belt in any professionally operated Dojo." Lucas
grimaced at the candid explanation of his apparent skills, then brightened up as he saw Adrian
Seidelman walking towards him.
"Well, if it isn't the one person almost every student likes. How're you doing Adrian?" Lucas
rubbed his right hand through his hair, then smiled slightly. "Hello Lucas. It seems that our newest
teacher has managed to not only save your life from a beakerful of chlorine gas, but has also caused
some nasty ripples in Lori's gang. How is it that someone who probably weighs a hundred pounds
sopping wet managed to utterly defeat Sam in less than three seconds?" Sara grinned and let Lucas
talk. "Well, apparently, our friend here has enough knowledge of the martial arts to be capable of
some very fast moves that ended with Sam flat on his back with her fingers about to squash his
windpipe."
Sara shook her head slightly and chimed in before Lucas embellished too much. "Actually,
Lucas, I used his mass and momentum against him. He just flipped over, landed on his back, and I
gave him a warning and two day's detention for attempting to assault a teacher. That's what
happened, nothing more or less." Lucas grinned sheepishly at his embellishments, then saw something
at the other side of the school yard, near the parking lot. Excusing himself, he walked into the lot,
leaving Sara and Adrian alone. Sara motioned for Adrian to take a seat, then leaned back, allowing
her spine to crack in three places. Ignoring Adrian's wince of pain, Sara finished the stretch, then
leaned forwards and poked at a small nick on the palm of her hand.
"So, how's school life treating you?" Adrian was studying Sara with his eyes, despite the fact
that they were obscured by a pair of oval sunglasses. Sara shrugged and glanced at a group of young
students pointing at her and giggling. "Well, it could always be better. After all, I haven't gotten an
accurate 'read' on the students in my classes, but some of them are somewhat interesting." Adrian
chuckled at Sara's tone of voice, but was cut off by the bell. Sara grimaced, then stood up. "Well,
time to put my nose in front of the grindstone again. I'll see you after school.""Okay then, just let me
tell you where the Caf‚ is." Adrian pointed out the directions, then walked into the school. Sara also
walked into the school, went back to the classroom, and waited for then next group of victi- er,
students.
Within two hours, she nearing the end of her mental fuse when the last class finally left.
*Whew. I'm glad that's over. Well, time to take up Adrian's offer, but he said Five in the afternoon,
and it's only Three. Well, I may as well clean up this place, and check on Lucas' classroom.* Sara
cleaned the few critter cages, gagging on the stench from the corner where the lab rats had been
hiding for the last few weeks, then put some old books away. She then retrieved her cards from where
they had landed, and walked over to the chem room.
Looking inside, Sara saw a thin haze of smoke floating around the ceiling, so she took a deep
breath before walking in. Looking around, she saw an almost-totally destroyed workbench, with
some sort of liquid dripping from the badly corroded ends. *Gross. I'm not even going to touch that
one* Sara walked around the desk, careful to avoid the globs of acid that were slowly eating through
the floor. "Dammit Lucas, what did you do?" Sara walked over to where she heard a muffled groan,
and dug through the heap of textbooks until she unearthed Lucas. "Well, it seems that you've
managed to get dangerously close to another Darwin award my so-called friend."
Lucas groaned as he slowly regained consciousness, so Sara dragged him into the hallway and
held his nose for a few seconds to wake him up. "What?" Lucas grumbled slightly as he stood up and
staggered around slightly before finding his sense of balance sitting on one of the benches. Sara
grimaced as she pointed at the remains of the bench. "Looks like one of your experiments decided
to retaliate against the desk. C'mon, let's get out of here before the janitors come running." Sara and
Lucas walked downstairs, scribbled their names on the teacher's sign-out sheet in the main office, and
walked into the parking lot.
Sara disarmed her bike's charge generator and started it up. Shouting to be heard over the
engine's growl, Sara asked Lucas which car was his. He pointed at the red sedan on the opposite side
of the lot, and shouted something about her already knowing which one it was, so why the
confirmation? Sara let her actions respond to Lucas' question, and drove through the lot to in front
of Lucas' car. Turning her bike, she then drove directly over Lucas' car, and smoked her tires on the
way, leaving a straight black line going down the middle of his once-bright red car.
Sara drove past Lucas as he ran to his car, and ignoring his very loud cry of anguish, she tore
out of the lot to her house so she could drop off most of the extraneous stuff that she thought she
wouldn't need. After dropping off the pile of books, Sara checked the time, saw that she had twenty
minutes, and decided that there was enough time to change into something that didn't smell like
chlorine. *Damn Lucas for being stupid enough to try a prank like that. Well, I may as well try to
remain sane as long as possible so I should go for that invite now.* Sara finished changing into her
normal clothes, then drove back to the Caf‚.
Walking inside, she saw Lucas and Adrian sitting at a table, looking out the window at the
giant statue, still visible even in the growing darkness. Sara walked over and tapped Lucas on the
shoulder. "G'day Lucas, Adrian. Sorry about the alterations on your car, but I do think that it looks
cooler with the new racing stripe down the middle." Lucas growled slightly, but calmed down when
Adrian gestured towards the empty seat. Sara took the seat, and looked at the massive open space
in front of Lucas. "So, what are you planning to eat? A wild aurochs?" Lucas grinned, but shook his
head. "Only my usual meal." Sara chuckled at that, and wondered what his average bill per day for
food was.
Adrian had ordered a burger and fries, and Sara went for the grass steer sandwich and a bottle
of Dragon's Breath. While waiting for the order, Lucas regaled them with a relatively funny story
about one of the things Lori did to a teacher she had absolutely despised. After the food arrived, Sara
noticed that Lucas was going to tuck into a plateful of spaghetti, two burgers, a small mountain of
fries, and a half-pitcher of beer. Raising an eyebrow, Sara glanced at Adrian, and stage whispered
"That's his usual? No wonder he looks like a pregnant beer-barrel." Adrian, hearing this, tried to keep
from breaking out in laughter and nearly choked on the fries he had just started on.
Sara tried out the sandwich and found that it was actually pretty good, but nowhere near what
her mother could do with the same materials. Still, she finished off the sandwich, and her beer at the
same time as Lucas finished off his last fry. *Gah. I really have to wonder how it's possible for
someone to eat like that and not choke. Well, it's going to be one of Ripley's Believe it or Not
sometime.* Lucas leaned backwards in his seat, causing it to creak dangerously before turning his
attention to the nearby TV, which was playing another of the constant soccer matches.
Sara watched with a little interest, mainly because she had a greater interest in hockey.
Focussing on Adrian, Sara managed to cause him to bust out laughing by theorizing on Lucas' ability
to eat so much without having a stomach the size of a small building. Sara saw Lucas wince, and
looked at the instant replay on the TV, just in time to see one of the home team's players get booted
in the groin by what appeared to be the Incredible Hulk in a soccer uniform. *Ouch. He's not going
to get up anytime soon* Sara shot a glance at Adrian, who was also watching the replay, and noticed
that he didn't so much as blink at the impact.
*Okay, either Adrian has nerves of stone, or he's not what he appears to be. Naahhh... I really
doubt that.* Sara ordered another beer, and as Lucas continued to shout at the TV, Sara continued
to talk to Adrian. As darkness fell over the city, the three people talked about their pasts, and some
plans for the future. Eventually Sara looked at her watch and mentally swore. *Wow. It's already
Eight-Thirty. We've been talking for almost three and a half hours. I really should go home and
continue on my little plot to make my students have fun in class, even while learning.*
Sara leaned backwards in her seat, making Adrian wince at the impending pop, but Sara
relaxed slightly before the point where that could occur and put her hands on the table, palms down.
"Well, I really need to get home so I can finish the revisions to the curriculum." Sara nodded towards
Lucas, then after nearly being knocked from her seat by a negligent wave, she shook hands with
Adrian and left a small stack of bills to pay for the meal. Adrian saw that the small heap was made
up of Canadian currency, so he quickly counted it and raised an eyebrow at the final count.
Sara had already walked out of the Caf‚, and Adrian soon heard Sara's bike roar out of the
parking lot. Adrian looked at Lucas as he roared at the soccer players and thought about what Sara
had said during the conversation between them about one of Lucas' stranger escapades.
Meanwhile, Back in Jose's Mansion
The large double doors to Jose's room were knocked open by a sliding body, startling Jose from the
porn magazine he was reading as the poor victim flashed into vapour. A shadowy form stood in the
doorway, then walked into the room, revealing long brown hair, what looked like an armband made
of a grey metal covering the right forearm, and wearing a long black trenchcoat. Jose smirked at the
sight, then bowed mockingly. "Welcome, M-17. It seems you've managed to work out your
frustrations about being called from your mourning, so let me give you-kkk"
Jose suddenly shut up as M-17 rushed up to him and grabbed his throat. "I will never stop
mourning. Now, if you want to retain your ribs, I recommend you never bring that subject up again."
M-17 let Jose go, and let him massage his throat to get his breathing under control. "Well now, I
want you to pull bodyguard duty on the Twentieth of this month. I'm going into the city to try and
make an agreement with some bounty hunters and some of them are known as being, well,
unbalanced. Also, after the bodyguard duty, I want you to find this person and capture or kill her."
Jose showed M-17 the security photo of Sara, then smiled when she nodded and crushed the picture.
"Consider her dead."