A/N: Wow! I got like three reviews like really quick! Thank you very much!
Chapter Two: School Boy Blues
Austin sat at the front of the class in his second grade home room. He was intent on making himself known at this school, as he hadn't at the last two. One he had attended while in preschool, the other grade one. In both, he had sat at the back, too shy to say anything and meekly did his work a long with the other students. However, when he had seen the attention lavished on one of his friends by his father for being incredibly outgoing and smart, he decided that that was what needed to be done.
So, here he was waiting patiently for the teacher to arrive so that he could show just what kind of a student he could be. When the woman finally arrived, he pulled the apple he and Helga had so carefully picked out that morning from his knapsack and placed it on the edge of his desk, giving the teacher a toothy grin.
The wrinkled old hag glowered at him, picked a ruler and whacked him over the hand. He snatched his hand to his chest and frowned up at her. "Do you know who my father is?"
"Young man, I don't care if he's the Prime Minister, I will not tolerate such insolence in my classroom!" Her eyes narrowed and she looked down her nose at the boy.
Austin, sufficiently cowed, looked down at his desk. The teacher, quite satisfied with having terrorized him, walked up to the chalk board and began writing in stiff, neat strokes as she spoke to the class.
"I am Mrs. Evil. Yes that's right Evil. If you so much as snigger I'll beat your bottoms so black and blue you won't even be able to stand up straight. You will adress me as ma'am, when I speak to you and will otherwise remain quiet unless noted. When I call upon you to answer a question, I expect you to stand up smartly, and give the answer followed by ma'am. Is that clear?"
Everyone in the class stood up, save Austin--who had decided then and there that he hated Mrs. Evil and wasn't going to do a thing for her-- and answered smartly, "It is clear, ma'am."
Mrs. Evil, having not turned from the black board, hadn't seen Austin's defiance. Feeling quite a bit heartened at having got away with it, he began to plot against the woman. He had had his plan all worked out and then she just had to come and ruin it. Well, Daddy certainly couldn't miss his getting detentions. And if that was what it would take to get attention, then that is what he was going to do.
The very next day, Austin came to class early again. Making sure no one else was around, he took out the jar of super-adhesive he had found in the shed. It actually said shelled peanuts on the jar, but when he had opened it to see, he found that it was glue. There were other sorts of things in there that weren't what they seemed, and he felt a bit guilty for prying. Daddy had said that under no circumstances was anyone allowed in there. However, this was important, and he stifled the guilt as he imagined the look on the hateful teacher's face.
Austin then took himself out of the room and into the bathroom to wait, not wanting to be the first one in the room. Then, when he felt a sufficient amount of time had passed, he walked out into the hallway just as Basil Exposition--a really smart (if a bit dull) kid in his class--came by.
"Hullo Basil!" Austin said heartily, "How are you today?"
"Hm? Oh you're Austin Powers right? I'm just fine, and you?" Basily gazed at him with trusting eyes.
"Well, I'm in a better mood than I was yesterday. First day nerves I guess."
"Yes," the other boy agreed pleasantly.
When they got to class, two other boys were already there, and Austin felt a bit of relief. He didn't want the teacher to think that Basil had been in on it with him. And he knew Mrs. Evil would know exactly who had done it. He took his customary seat, almost unable to stand the suspense of waiting.
The old hag walked in, her wrinkled face twisted in a grimmace of disgust as she looked out at the four students who had come early. She walked over to her desk and simply stood behind it, waiting for the rest of the class to arrive so she could begin. Austin had to fight to keep himself from squirming in anticipation. Being sent to the principle's wasn't actually a good thing, but Daddy couldn't just stay gone if he kept getting into trouble, now could he?
At least, that's what he dreamt last night. He had been having odd dreams all his life, even though he only remembered certain parts of them. Like his father telling him that he would have to stay home to make sure he stayed clean. Of course, the voice sounded more like his own than like his father's, but that was just because it was a dream.
Finally, his wait was over as the rest of the students filed in solemnly. Mrs. Evil watched them take their seats and then she picked up her chalk and began writing this days arithmetic problems on the board. She put the chalk down and turned towards the class. Or rather, she tried to put the chalk down. The adhesive had done its job, adhering the chalk to her hand.
With a menacing frown, she tried to pry it off, but only succeeded in getting her other hand stuck to it. Then, she tried banging it on her desk, but her hands stuck fast to that too; he hadn't been stingy with the glue. She sat down in her chair and began pulling as hard as she could, to no avail. Of course, he had also put glue on the chair, so that when she tried to get up, she couldn't do that either.
By that time the whole class was in an uproar, pointing and laughing at the mean old bat, as they realized that she was in no position to stop them. Austin made sure he grinned at her in just the right way, so that even if she didn't know before she would certainly know now.
"Stop it this instant! Settle down class! I demand that you stop laughing!"
Later that day, Austin pouted as he glanced over at Helga. She still hadn't spoken to him, not since she'd come to pick him up from school and told him to go to his room and not come out until supper. It wasn't fair really, he hadn't wanted her to be mad at him. His dad was supposed to have come and got him, not her. He had hoped for a while there, that she was making him wait until Daddy got home, so that he could scold him, but after a while he realized that wasn't going to happen.
"I'm sorry Helga," he said in his smallest voice.
This seemed to do the trick as she released a sigh. "Austin, I'm very disappointed in you! You know better than to act like this."
Austin hung his head in shame, and then looked up defiantly. "Yes well, she deserved it! She hit me yesterday when I tried to give her an apple. And she's just a mean old hag. She shouldn't even be teaching!"
"Austin! That's no way to talk about anybody. And even if it were the case, that's no excuse for what you did, much less for going into your father's shed. You know no one is allowed in there. I know I'm not your mother but..."
"No you're not. So stop acting like it!" Austin got up and ran to his room, ignoring her pleas for him to come back.
After a while he felt bad about it, and decided he would apologize to her first thing in the morning. It wasn't her fault his father wasn't doing things right. And he didn't even remember his mother. He often forgot that he even had had one. At one point he had even asked Helga if she was his mother, but she had laughed and told him that she would never go through childbirth if she could help it.
Feeling slightly better about it, he also knew he couldn't give up. And with that thought, he fell asleep.
****
Jareth grinned as he recalled the days events. The experiment was working out just fine. He had quite a bit of control over the subconscious mind of the boy. And that was more dangerous than Persan realized. Still, he couldn't quite shake the feeling that he was playing right into the other's hands. That he was doing exactly what Persan wanted him to do.
He pushed that disturbing thought aside with another thought. He was very proud of his younger self. He had been quite resourceful, thinking up that prank all on his own. Of course, it was himself, so he really shouldn't be so surprised. Even if he was too dependant on how his father and that Helga woman thought of him. It must be a mortal side-effect.
Now, to keep things going. He placed all his thoughts of encouragement on the thought of not giving up. And then he projected an image of Nigel Powers. "I'll be there, don't worry. After all, I have my reputation to uphold. I've got to keep my boy out of trouble."
****
For three months Austin's pranks continued, with Helga looking more and more disappointed in him, and still no father around. He did manage however to get rid of Mrs. Evil. The old witch had broken down into sobs while in the principal's office, right after he had again got off with only a warning and being sent home early. Then she had stiffened her spine and looked directly at him with red rimmed wrinkly eyes and said, "I'm going to get you Powers, if it is the last thing I do."
He had later learned that she had died of a heart-attack while visiting her son and grandson in Belgium. He did have a bit of a guilt trip over that for a while, but then he remembered all her viciousness and her terroristic acts. He didn't feel any guilt anymore, only a relief that she wouldn't be acting on her threat. She had probably forgot all about it anyway.
After that first three months, Austin became known as the Schoolyard Prankster King. His pranks never got quite as bad as those he pulled on Mrs. Evil, but they were still incredibly funny to those who weren't victims. Even those who had been, laughed when someone else got his or her share. The only two people who were safe from him, in fact, was Mrs. Henderson the principal and his best friend Basil.
Nigel Powers still avoided him.
Chapter Two: School Boy Blues
Austin sat at the front of the class in his second grade home room. He was intent on making himself known at this school, as he hadn't at the last two. One he had attended while in preschool, the other grade one. In both, he had sat at the back, too shy to say anything and meekly did his work a long with the other students. However, when he had seen the attention lavished on one of his friends by his father for being incredibly outgoing and smart, he decided that that was what needed to be done.
So, here he was waiting patiently for the teacher to arrive so that he could show just what kind of a student he could be. When the woman finally arrived, he pulled the apple he and Helga had so carefully picked out that morning from his knapsack and placed it on the edge of his desk, giving the teacher a toothy grin.
The wrinkled old hag glowered at him, picked a ruler and whacked him over the hand. He snatched his hand to his chest and frowned up at her. "Do you know who my father is?"
"Young man, I don't care if he's the Prime Minister, I will not tolerate such insolence in my classroom!" Her eyes narrowed and she looked down her nose at the boy.
Austin, sufficiently cowed, looked down at his desk. The teacher, quite satisfied with having terrorized him, walked up to the chalk board and began writing in stiff, neat strokes as she spoke to the class.
"I am Mrs. Evil. Yes that's right Evil. If you so much as snigger I'll beat your bottoms so black and blue you won't even be able to stand up straight. You will adress me as ma'am, when I speak to you and will otherwise remain quiet unless noted. When I call upon you to answer a question, I expect you to stand up smartly, and give the answer followed by ma'am. Is that clear?"
Everyone in the class stood up, save Austin--who had decided then and there that he hated Mrs. Evil and wasn't going to do a thing for her-- and answered smartly, "It is clear, ma'am."
Mrs. Evil, having not turned from the black board, hadn't seen Austin's defiance. Feeling quite a bit heartened at having got away with it, he began to plot against the woman. He had had his plan all worked out and then she just had to come and ruin it. Well, Daddy certainly couldn't miss his getting detentions. And if that was what it would take to get attention, then that is what he was going to do.
The very next day, Austin came to class early again. Making sure no one else was around, he took out the jar of super-adhesive he had found in the shed. It actually said shelled peanuts on the jar, but when he had opened it to see, he found that it was glue. There were other sorts of things in there that weren't what they seemed, and he felt a bit guilty for prying. Daddy had said that under no circumstances was anyone allowed in there. However, this was important, and he stifled the guilt as he imagined the look on the hateful teacher's face.
Austin then took himself out of the room and into the bathroom to wait, not wanting to be the first one in the room. Then, when he felt a sufficient amount of time had passed, he walked out into the hallway just as Basil Exposition--a really smart (if a bit dull) kid in his class--came by.
"Hullo Basil!" Austin said heartily, "How are you today?"
"Hm? Oh you're Austin Powers right? I'm just fine, and you?" Basily gazed at him with trusting eyes.
"Well, I'm in a better mood than I was yesterday. First day nerves I guess."
"Yes," the other boy agreed pleasantly.
When they got to class, two other boys were already there, and Austin felt a bit of relief. He didn't want the teacher to think that Basil had been in on it with him. And he knew Mrs. Evil would know exactly who had done it. He took his customary seat, almost unable to stand the suspense of waiting.
The old hag walked in, her wrinkled face twisted in a grimmace of disgust as she looked out at the four students who had come early. She walked over to her desk and simply stood behind it, waiting for the rest of the class to arrive so she could begin. Austin had to fight to keep himself from squirming in anticipation. Being sent to the principle's wasn't actually a good thing, but Daddy couldn't just stay gone if he kept getting into trouble, now could he?
At least, that's what he dreamt last night. He had been having odd dreams all his life, even though he only remembered certain parts of them. Like his father telling him that he would have to stay home to make sure he stayed clean. Of course, the voice sounded more like his own than like his father's, but that was just because it was a dream.
Finally, his wait was over as the rest of the students filed in solemnly. Mrs. Evil watched them take their seats and then she picked up her chalk and began writing this days arithmetic problems on the board. She put the chalk down and turned towards the class. Or rather, she tried to put the chalk down. The adhesive had done its job, adhering the chalk to her hand.
With a menacing frown, she tried to pry it off, but only succeeded in getting her other hand stuck to it. Then, she tried banging it on her desk, but her hands stuck fast to that too; he hadn't been stingy with the glue. She sat down in her chair and began pulling as hard as she could, to no avail. Of course, he had also put glue on the chair, so that when she tried to get up, she couldn't do that either.
By that time the whole class was in an uproar, pointing and laughing at the mean old bat, as they realized that she was in no position to stop them. Austin made sure he grinned at her in just the right way, so that even if she didn't know before she would certainly know now.
"Stop it this instant! Settle down class! I demand that you stop laughing!"
Later that day, Austin pouted as he glanced over at Helga. She still hadn't spoken to him, not since she'd come to pick him up from school and told him to go to his room and not come out until supper. It wasn't fair really, he hadn't wanted her to be mad at him. His dad was supposed to have come and got him, not her. He had hoped for a while there, that she was making him wait until Daddy got home, so that he could scold him, but after a while he realized that wasn't going to happen.
"I'm sorry Helga," he said in his smallest voice.
This seemed to do the trick as she released a sigh. "Austin, I'm very disappointed in you! You know better than to act like this."
Austin hung his head in shame, and then looked up defiantly. "Yes well, she deserved it! She hit me yesterday when I tried to give her an apple. And she's just a mean old hag. She shouldn't even be teaching!"
"Austin! That's no way to talk about anybody. And even if it were the case, that's no excuse for what you did, much less for going into your father's shed. You know no one is allowed in there. I know I'm not your mother but..."
"No you're not. So stop acting like it!" Austin got up and ran to his room, ignoring her pleas for him to come back.
After a while he felt bad about it, and decided he would apologize to her first thing in the morning. It wasn't her fault his father wasn't doing things right. And he didn't even remember his mother. He often forgot that he even had had one. At one point he had even asked Helga if she was his mother, but she had laughed and told him that she would never go through childbirth if she could help it.
Feeling slightly better about it, he also knew he couldn't give up. And with that thought, he fell asleep.
****
Jareth grinned as he recalled the days events. The experiment was working out just fine. He had quite a bit of control over the subconscious mind of the boy. And that was more dangerous than Persan realized. Still, he couldn't quite shake the feeling that he was playing right into the other's hands. That he was doing exactly what Persan wanted him to do.
He pushed that disturbing thought aside with another thought. He was very proud of his younger self. He had been quite resourceful, thinking up that prank all on his own. Of course, it was himself, so he really shouldn't be so surprised. Even if he was too dependant on how his father and that Helga woman thought of him. It must be a mortal side-effect.
Now, to keep things going. He placed all his thoughts of encouragement on the thought of not giving up. And then he projected an image of Nigel Powers. "I'll be there, don't worry. After all, I have my reputation to uphold. I've got to keep my boy out of trouble."
****
For three months Austin's pranks continued, with Helga looking more and more disappointed in him, and still no father around. He did manage however to get rid of Mrs. Evil. The old witch had broken down into sobs while in the principal's office, right after he had again got off with only a warning and being sent home early. Then she had stiffened her spine and looked directly at him with red rimmed wrinkly eyes and said, "I'm going to get you Powers, if it is the last thing I do."
He had later learned that she had died of a heart-attack while visiting her son and grandson in Belgium. He did have a bit of a guilt trip over that for a while, but then he remembered all her viciousness and her terroristic acts. He didn't feel any guilt anymore, only a relief that she wouldn't be acting on her threat. She had probably forgot all about it anyway.
After that first three months, Austin became known as the Schoolyard Prankster King. His pranks never got quite as bad as those he pulled on Mrs. Evil, but they were still incredibly funny to those who weren't victims. Even those who had been, laughed when someone else got his or her share. The only two people who were safe from him, in fact, was Mrs. Henderson the principal and his best friend Basil.
Nigel Powers still avoided him.