Lord Monty Fiske sat drinking his morning tea and smirking at the headlines of the local section of the Middleton Examiner:
"RUN OF BAD LUCK AT MIDDLETON HIGH SCHOOL" the headlines read.
The article recounted the events over the last week, and noted that Jinx, a member of Team Possible with bad-luck abilities, attended the school.
He put the paper down, and picked up the copy of the high school paper one of his monkey ninjas had obtained for him.
Under the "Rumors" section was speculation that Jenny Wheeler might be responsible for all the bad events.
His grin widened. Everything was going as he'd hoped.
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On Monday morning, Jenny noticed on the way to her locker that many of the students seemed to be avoiding her. Many looked through her, or away from her, and she caught several giving her dark looks.
She said 'hi' to several people she knew, and they responded, but seemed like they would rather be elsewhere.
At lunch, she sat with Felix, Kim, Ron, and Monique as usual. The kitchen was still closed for repairs, so everyone was obliged to bring their own lunch. Ron seemed rather distracted, and Rufus took the opportunity to raid his meal.
"Still have that same weird feeling, Ron?" asked Kim.
"Yeah, wish it would go away, or do whatever it's going to," he answered.
Just then Tara came up. "May I sit with you?" she asked.
"Sure, girl, take a chair," said Monique, motioning to the empty one beside her.
"Thanks," replied Tara with a smile, and sat down, opening her lunch bag.
"You've been hanging with us a lot lately. Why aren't you sitting with Bonnie?" asked Kim, mouth full of salad.
"We had a fight," said Tara, and started eating in a 'I don't want to answer questions' kind of way. The others took the hint, and resumed eating.
Jenny grinned as she looked around. "Hey, have you guys noticed the looks I'm getting?
Everyone seems to be afraid of me."
Kim looked at her sharply. "That's not something to be proud of, Jenny," she said.
Jenny's face fell. "Oh. Yeah. I forgot." At the looks the others gave her, Jenny got defensive. "Well, it's not easy to shake off years of being evil! I used to like it when people were afraid of me."
Just then the room lit up briefly with a bright white light, and a loud ZZZAAAPPP! followed by a scream. Kim was instantly out of her chair, ran over to the counter and vaulted it. A moment later as the others arrived, her head popped back up over the top.
"One of the electricians got nailed. Call 911!" she said, and ducked down again. "He's not breathing! Hurry!" she called.
Jenny pulled out her Jennunicator and made the call. "They'll be here in five minutes, Kim,"
she said.
"Okay," said Kim, in between giving the man mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
Mr. Barkin ran around the corner of the lunch counter and joined Kim. Everyone heard some odd noises, then a cough and the sound of inhaling. "That did it," said Barkin, "Good work, Possible."
"Thanks, Mr. Barkin," replied Kim, and stood up.
Moments after the still-unconscious electrician was taken out on a stretcher, every student in the room looked at Jenny. Some were fearful, others angry, some just puzzled.
"Whattaya lookin' at me for? I didn't do anything!" she shouted.
The students returned to their lunches, but Jenny kept getting dark looks.
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At gym practice that afternoon, Jenny sat in the bleachers, studying a new routine as Mrs. Finch put the other girls through warm-ups and maneuvers. Tara was sitting by Jenny, looking over her shoulder.
"Okay, I think I get it..." said Jenny softly.
"Looks pretty much like a cheer routine to me," said Tara.
"Really?" asked Jenny.
"Yeah, remind me to show you our routine book sometime. You might get some ideas," said Tara.
"Not me. I've long since learned I have no head for creating routines," said Jenny.
"Oh. Okay, then," said Tara. After a few moments, she said, "I do finally have a question."
"About what?" asked Jenny, still studying the drawing.
"Your days as a criminal," Tara answered, face turning red.
"Sure," said Jenny looking at her. She smiled. "It's okay, Tara, I'm not ashamed to talk about it to my friends."
Tara took a deep breath. "What did you want?" she blurted.
"Want?" asked Jenny, puzzled. She closed the routine book.
"As a villain. Fame, power, money, to take over the world?" she explained.
"Take over the world? Pfah. Who needs the headache?" Jenny answered, "I liked being notorious.
I liked the thrill of stealing what I wanted and using my hexes to destroy stuff. I was just having fun."
Tara started looking afraid. "Did you ever..." she gulped, "...k-kill anyone?" She scooted just a bit away from Jenny.
"Gods, NO!" exclaimed Jenny. "Never! Even at my worst I wouldn't do that! That's why they gave me only a ten-year sentence. I never seriously hurt anyone, but I did cause a lot of destruction."
Seeing the look on the blonde girl's face, Jenny said, "Tara, I would never hurt you or any of my friends. I've changed. Please believe me."
"I- I do, Jenny," said Tara, and held out her hand. "I trust you."
Jenny looked relieved as she took Tara's hand. "You're one of the few."
Just then there was THUNK! CRACK! WHAP! from the direction of the gym practice that got their attention. "Madison!" shouted Mrs. Finch. Jenny and Tara got up and ran over to the gathering crowd.
Jenny pushed through, and knelt beside Madison. "Maddie?" said Jenny. It was obvious the girl was badly hurt, as both an arm and a leg were at unusual angles.
"I've called 911!" said another gym squad member.
Madison opened her eyes and looked up at Jenny, pain plain on her face. "Jenny? Why?"
"Huh? Why what?" asked Jenny, taken aback.
"I told you you could have my spot on the squad any time you wanted it. You didn't have to hurt me for it..." said Madison.
"MADDIE! I didn't!" said Jenny, but it was too late. Madison was out like a light.
Jenny looked up into the horrified faces of the other gym squad girls and Mrs. Finch. Tara was nowhere to be seen.
Jenny stood up. "All of you don't believe..." she said, and the others took a step away from her. Tears appeared in Jenny's pink eyes.
"Jenny..." said Mrs. Finch, and Jenny looked at the teacher. "I-- I'm sorry, but that was a serious accusation. There will have to be an investigation, and until it concludes... I'm afraid you're suspended from the squad."
"Mrs. Finch..." said Jenny, tears pouring openly down her cheeks.
"I'm sorry, Jenny, really," said Mrs. Finch, and went to put an arm around her.
Jenny pushed her away, and ran to the locker room, crying.
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Ten minutes later Jenny left the campus, street clothes on and book bag in one hand dragging on the sidewalk behind her. Tears still trailed down her cheeks.
"Miss Wheeler? A word, if I may?" asked a cultured British voice beside her. She turned, a bit startled, to find a man in his forties with black hair standing there.
"Who are you?" she asked, dropping the bag and moving her fingers where he couldn't see. A faint pink glow appeared around her hand.
"I am Lord Montgomery Fiske, known to your comrades as Monkey Fist," he replied.
"Oh, yeah, I've read about you. You have that 'Mystical Monkey Power' like Ron has," she answered. The pink glow around her hand grew a bit brighter.
Fiske frowned briefly, but recovered. "Correct. And like your friends, I also keep tabs on my opponents. I find you very interesting, Miss Wheeler. You use a kind of magic that is rare in this world nowadays. And I observe it seems to be working against you."
"What do you know about it?" she asked, hexes ready to fly.
"Only what I read in the papers. All this bad luck at your school. People being hurt. Your schoolmates turning against you. It would seem to be only a matter of time before you're suspended or expelled," he said.
"I can handle myself. What's it to you?" she asked, starting to get angry.
"I wish to make you an offer," he said, "Join forces with me. Working together we can complete my quest to become the Ultimate Monkey Master, and rule the world!" He made a wide grin. "No one could stop us!"
"No," said Jenny, the pink glow fading from her hand. "I'm not interested. Go away and leave me alone." She picked up her book bag and started to walk away.
"Very well, then. But the day will come when you change your mind," he said, confidently.
Jenny dropped the bag again and turned to him. Her eyes glowed pink and she raised glowing hands that were ready, indeed eager, to hex him. "Are you threatening me?" she growled.
Fiske involuntarily took a step back. "N-not attall. I'm merely pointing out that if the current trend continues, you will see that the good side is not all it's cracked up to be. And on that day, you'll come find me."
The pink glow faded. "I doubt that. Now go away." She picked up her bag and turned her back to him. She walked a few steps, then looked back. Monkey Fist was gone, like he had never been there.