This is a story I really want to work on and develop more than some of my others. No story is being stopped, I just work on what I want to work on. If you continue to read I thank you.
"I don't understand why I have to go to school here, Rey" Henry asks, annoyed at his mentor.
"Henry, it's simple" Rey, aka Captain Man, says slyly. "We have intel about teenagers supporting some of the local criminals. Those serpent brothers you faced for example".
"Intel?" Henry rhetorically questions.
"Just let me sound smart" Rey barks back. "Don't worry, your grades back home here will stay untouched. You don't need to take school there seriously, just fake it until you uncover something".
"So I have your permission to just act like a normal kid and not actually do school stuff?" Henry smiles while asking.
"Yes, enjoy it, but make sure you focus on the mission at hand. I can only keep you on a 'company field trip' for so long" Rey reassures.
"Understood" Henry replies. "I'll report to you when I have something".
"Good luck Kid Danger. I'm counting on you" Rey says before ending the hologram.
Turning off the watch Henry looks around the apartment he was given to house himself in. It was simple but pleasant. Rey didn't cheap out for once. The place was no five stars, but it was well-painted, smelled normal, looked clean and the power worked. Henry unpacked, he didn't know how long he would be in Pasadena, so he brought a lot of clothes along with his laptop, chargers, and extra gumballs to transform into Kid danger when needed. He was even given backup money to use for food and other necessities. This was a pretty serious undercover mission. Henry was starting to feel honored.
There was one thing on his mind. That blonde girl he saw when he took on those criminals. She seemed scared and yet strong willed. It was weird, but just something about her made Henry curious.
"Hehe, maybe I'll see her at school" he laughs to himself. "I need to blend in, talking to a girl would help". Henry thought about how he's been single for two years and never seen someone worth the effort. Someone he was truly interested in getting to know and trying to balance the super hero life with a romance life. He wanted to be with someone, but it was just so hard with how busy he could be.
"Well, I'm all unpacked. Tomorrow I'll go to school and see what I can uncover. The sooner I can get out of Pasadena the better" Henry says out loud.
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The next day Henry attended his classes but didn't pay much attention. This wasn't about actually going to another school, he needed to scout around and see who at the school could lead him to the new crime syndicate. Dressed in an open, orange checkered shirt with a blue striped v-neck t-shirt underneath and jeans, he stood casually in the empty hallway of his 3rd period as it was study hall and he was instructed to wait for a tour guide student.
A couple minutes felt like a couple hours as he began to uncomfortably shift his weight from one foot to the other. A fast and sudden tap on his shoulder made Henry spin around hands up in a panicked karate stance. His tour guide was a lean figure with long blonde hair and shining dark eyes. It was her, the girl he saw earlier in the week. She talked to him when he saved people from the serpent twins. And she is really cute.
"Hi, I'm your tour guide, sorry for scaring you" she says with a nervous little laugh. "The faculty didn't specify where they were having you go. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to meet you at this exit for the west one and of course I went to the wrong one first. Let me start again. Hi, my name is Avery, Avery Jennings, I'm 17 and I am your tour guide".
Henry was awe-struck for a moment. The girl that had been on his mind earlier and in his presence a few days prior is also at this school. Maybe this mission won't be so bad after all. Eventually the fact he hadn't spoken yet caught up to Henry.
"Oh, uh, yeah, well I'm Henry Heart, I am 18 years old, and I am new to your school".
"I gathered that you were new, since you know, tour guide" Avery says gesturing to herself.
"Um, yeah… right" Henry says. "Sorry, just a little nervous. But it's nice to meet you".
"It's very nice to meet you as well Henry" Avery says. "I feel like I know you from somewhere it's crazy".
"I get that a lot" Henry quickly replies. "I just come off, as a guy, that people know, but they don't really".
"Okay" Avery says a little puzzled. "Is your cheek okay? It looks burned?"
Henry puts his hand to his cheek remembering it got burned from his last mission and SHE was there to see it. It hadn't healed yet, shit. "Oh I was just resting her head against my hand while I was waiting for you, nothing to worry about.
"But you were standing straight up it seem-"
"Anyways how about that tour Avery, I'm looking forward to learning about this place and the people here".
"Alright, yeah let's go".
And so Henry spent the next hour exploring the school with this very smart and witty girl. She tried to make some puns but they fell flat but he in turn was able to get her to laugh. Something about Avery was just so charming, she seemed like a good person and Henry liked being around her.
Avery, on the other hand, couldn't get much of a read on Henry. He was a good listener at least, better than some of the mouth-breathers she had to sit next to in some of her classes Avery thought. He was well dressed and didn't smell bad. It just seemed like there was something a little off about this blonde teen.
Once they were done and about to part ways Henry interjected.
"Hey so, Avery" he paused for a moment gathering his courage. "Would you, uhhh, would you like to hang out with me later in the week? I'm new to Pasadena as a whole and I'd like to learn the town from someone I could trust".
"You trust me already?" Avery asks.
"I do. I can tell you have a good head on your shoulders and I'd like to spend more time with you. If you want" Henry says confidently.
Avery does her best to avoid blushing before saying "Yeah, sure, sounds like fun. I'd be glad to show you around the town. Why not later today actually? I have no extracurricular activities this afternoon".
"Sounds great" Henry says, handing her his phone. "I'll get your number and call you later okay?"
Avery puts in her number and says "It's a date".
Henry pauses, giving her a slightly stunned look.
"OH" Avery catches herself. "I just mean, mean that, mean that we made the plan to hang out and-"
"No, no" Henry cuts her off. "Really it's okay. It's a date".
They share a little moment of looking into each other's eyes before Avery says she needs to be off and scurries away. Henry chucks a victory fist in the air to celebrate things going so well so quickly. You seriously couldn't write stuff better than this.
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Henry called Avery later in the day and they met up in the evening. She took him around Pasadena and showed him the sites including the main mall, where a lot of restaurants are, the theaters, then Henry got her to agree to spend a little time in the town arcade. He bought them some credits on the card the place gives you and they played around.
Avery absolutely crushed Wheel of Fortune and to her surprise Henry was really good at getting the light to stop on the jackpot spot with the big red button. Then they found their challenge. Bucket o' Balls.
"So you just have to get as many of the 50 balls into the spinning buckets as possible?" Avery asks.
"I guess so" Henry says, looking at the instructions. "I assume there is a time limit so you can't just wait forever. Do you want to try it?"
"Sure" Avery responds. "I'll try anything once".
Henry swipes the card for 1 play and the timer appears on the screen. Behind the glass Avery starts tapping the button and dropping balls into the buckets. A couple hit the edges and she is stressing out. Avery is more academically competitive but she still wanted to show she could have fun. She was so focused on not missing out ever eventually the button stopped dropping. Looking up Avery realized she ran out of time.
"Oh oops" she says, finally destressing. "I ran out of time".
"It happens," Henry says behind her. He grabs her arm softly and says "You seem so tense though. It's okay to care but you should have fun with it".
Although her arm was clothed, Avery had to shiver from the electric nerves his touch sent through her before she said "Thanks, yeah I suppose you're right. Are you going to try?"
"Yeah I want to see how I do".
Henry swiped his card for another play and once the game said go he went fast dropping 3 to 4 balls per moving bucket before waiting. He was fast but calculated in his presses. Avery could see his eyes in the reflection of the game's glass, he was super focused but still smiling. Again, several balls per bucket, the continuous successful booping being audible. He finished with plenty of time to spare.
"47 of 50 collected wow!" Avery cheered. "You did great".
"I like games that you can win with quick thought and some skill rather than just luck" Henry says chuckling. "If that impresses you, then you should see how I play space invaders".
"Alright," Avery says. "Let's see you go to work, spaceman". Now that joke got Henry to laugh for real.
After some more games the card ran out and Avery said she needed to start heading home. Henry walked her to the corner of her block before they needed to go separate ways. Although things felt a little awkward they didn't just walk away.
"Thank you for showing me around" Henry says. "I had a great time, and I think I like it here in Pasadena".
"What would you say you really like?" Avery asks.
"Well there are some restaurants I like here, the arcade seems really cool, but mostly it's the people" Henry replies.
"The people, really?" Avery asks in an exaggerated way.
"Well person" Henry grins. "I'm glad I got to meet you and hang out with you Avery. I'd like to do it again sometime in the near future".
Avery could feel the color going to her cheeks. "Uh, yeah, I'd actually really like that as well. Okay bye for now" Avery says pivoting around and walking off.
"Cya around" Henry says with a soft wave. As he turns to walk in his direction Henry feels her hand around his wrist.
"Hey Henry".
"Yeah" Henry says, turning around.
A quick peck on the lips stops him from saying anything else.
"Thanks for today" Avery says with a serious and beat red expression before taking off home at twice the speed of before.
Henry happily laughs to himself softly and jogs to his apartment.
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Deep in an underground lair, the walls are pure metal and nearly as cold as a freezer. The 8 villains stood around arguing about what to do.
"This Kid Danger is of no threat to us" Foresight says. "I have no visions of him beating us".
"Then get your mind checked" Naga sneers. "He's more trouble than he seems".
"We will continue with our plans as scheduled" Mr. Gold says. "If the plan is work we need everyone on board".
"Then perhaps we deal with this boy before he tries to fuck up our plans" Morgana argues.
"Hmm, perhaps you're right" Mr Gold replies. "Then we'll have the expert deal with him. Drax, you know Kid Danger quite well don't you?"
The muscular blonde young man steps forward. "This time, I will crush Kid Danger" Drax grunts.
To be continued…
Next chapter some time will skip by and some real fun will begin.