To the reviewers: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chapter for your good reviews. I don't share my writing a lot so it's always a confidence-booster when I hear that someone actually liked what I wrote. Keep reviewing! You give me inspiration!
To moondust0109: You will be able to understand everything without having watched TT. I only mentioned TT because a few similarities pop up now and again.
Author's Note: A lot of the movie's characters didn't have proper names. In some scenes in this and following chapters, I've found myself wanting full names for some of the characters. So, I've substituted the appropriate part of the actor's real name, or a corruption thereof.
Disclaimer: Disney owns all characters and whatnot from the movie. I own things not from the movie.
"Two"
"Power Placement?" Erin asked, a little apprehensive as she and Principal Powers began walking. "What's that?"
"It's a simple procedure that we use here at Sky High to gauge what role, Hero or Sidekick, a student is best suited for," she replied.
"How do you decide?"
"Based on the student's powers. You'll have to demonstrate your power and the extent to which you can use it."
Demonstrate my power? Erin thought to herself. That wasn't exactly something she was looking forward to. While most kids liked their powers, Erin absolutely hated hers. But not because it was "stupid" or "lame" or "weak." As far as she could remember, she'd only used her powers two times in her fifteen years. Both times she'd fallen unconscious and had woken up to find that her mom had decided that they would need to move to a different town.
"So you'll be deciding?" Erin asked.
Principal Powers chuckled. "No, no. That's Coach Boomer's job."
"Coach Boomer?" Erin said as they approached the doors to the gym. Principal Powers pushed the doors open and led Erin inside.
The gym was impressive, it's high ceilings and large windows giving it an air of grandeur like some kind of cathedral. The walls and rafters were hung with blue banners trimmed in white, trumpeting the athletic victories of the school in bold orange letters. The clicks of Principal Powers' high-heeled shoes echoed on the laminated wood floor as they walked to the center of the gym and stood on the Sky High emblem emblazoned on the floor.
"Coach Boomer is our athletic director here at Sky High," Principal Powers said. "He'll be out in a moment to conduct your Placement."
Just as she said this, the clang of doors being pushed open and the crash of them falling shut echoed through the gym. A middle-aged man dressed in a track suit and aviator sunglasses and carrying a clipboard with several papers on it strode into the room. If that's not a midlife crisis, Erin thought to herself, then I don't know what is.
"Speaking of Coach Boomer, here he is now," Principal Powers said, gesturing in the man's direction.
"Thank you for the introduction, Lynda," Boomer said, bowing slightly as he approached. "This the new recruit?" he asked, tilting his head in Erin's direction.
"Erin Nyes just transferred into our sophomore class, yes," Principal Powers said, smiling at Erin. "And I'll thank you to not call me Lynda during school hours, Bruce."
"My apologies, Principal Powers," Boomer said, putting special emphasis on "Principal."
Principal Powers smiled brightly. "Well then, I'll leave you to your work. Good deeds and good luck to you, Ms. Nyes," she said, turning to walk out.
"Thanks," Erin managed to say, turning her head slightly around to watch her walk out. When the principal had disappeared through the doors of the gym, she turned back to face the coach.
"Now then, let's get down to business, Ms... Nai... Nai-ee..." he began, squinting his clipboard. "How do you pronounce it?"
Erin sighed heavily. Her name had always been a problem in every school she'd gone to. She'd developed two ways of resolving the problem: the first, and preferred, way was a simple demonstration of the proper pronunciation of "Nyes" using common, everyday objects and words; the second, less preferred but arguably more fun, way was a simple demonstration of the effects of bone on cartilage. Have to opt for number one here, Erin thought to herself.
"Knee," she pointed exaggeratedly at her knee, "is," she said flatly, being careful to not turn the "s" into a "z."
"Nyes, got it," Boomer said, scribbling on his clipboard. "Let's see it then. Power up."
"Umm..." Erin said, scratching the back of her head. "I'm not sure that that's such a great idea..."
"What's the matter, little lady?" Boomer said, his voice carrying undertones of condescension. "Don't tell me you don't have any powers."
"Oh, no! No, it's not that it's just..."
"Well then, if you've got a power, let's see it."
Erin sighed. Looks like there's no way I can get out of this one. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, letting the power, the strength, the life of the earth, the sky, and of all the cosmos course through her body. With her mind, she pulled all of that energy into herself and concentrated it in her heart. She felt the power grow, and when it had grown to fill her entire body, she released it, let it step off to the side and stand beside her.
"Hmm... Interesting," Boomer said, trying to mask the impressed tone in his voice. "Very interesting."
Standing next to Erin, almost touching shoulders with her, was now what appeared to be an exact copy of the fifteen-year-old girl, only that all the color had been drained from the copy's body and had been replaced with shades of black and gray, save only the eyes which glowed with a brilliant white. Erin herself still stood stock still, her eyes shut lightly, a faint grayish aura swirling about her, and only the slight movements of her chest to signal that she was indeed still alive.
"What do you call that?" Boomer asked.
"I call it astral projection," the shadowy image responded. Boomer reached forward slightly to touch the image's shoulder, only to step back quickly, shock across his face, when his hand went straight through it. "It's not tangible, if that's what you're wondering," the image said, slightly annoyed.
"Can you do anything else with it, then?"
"I can make it invisible," the image said, disappearing briefly and quickly reappearing, "walk through solid stuff," it continued, walking straight through Boomer's front and then back through his back, "and it's entirely silent," it finished, stamping its foot and not making any sound.
Boomer nodded. "That all?"
"One more thing. Watch my body," it instructed. The image walked around to stand behind Boomer while he watched as Erin herself slowly began opening her eyes. Just as she did, her body jerked itself to life, as if someone had pressed fast-forward on the giant VCR of the world, quickly moving through the exact same motions the image had taken to merge back with it. Boomer whirled around and stared, slightly incredulous, at Erin who now stood behind him.
"Very impressive, Ms. Nyes," Boomer said, nodding his head in approval. He scribbled a note on his clipboard and handed her a small sheet of paper. "You're a Hero. Here's your schedule." He checked his watch and then glanced at the gym's wall clock. "And it looks like you have just enough time to catch your second period."
"Thank you, coach," Erin said. Boomer only nodded and began walking back the way he had come. Erin walked out of the gym, heaving a sigh of relief. Her head was spinning and she felt slightly nauseous. She always felt like throwing up after using her power. But separating the soul from the body tends to do that to people.
At least I'm still conscious, she thought. And he didn't make me go any further.
