Warning: Brief scenes of violence. Nothing too bad though.
Disclaimer: I still own nothing.
Also I apologies if this one has more grammar/spelling problems than normal. I wrote with just about no sleep.
The last week of Beca's summer vacation was not going as originally planned. Instead of relaxing and getting ready for her senior year she was quite busy keeping her city safe. In the past week Beca had run into two burning buildings, stopped a mugging, interrupted three separate grand theft autos and saved a cat from a tree. The thing that those superhero movies never mention is just how exhausting hero work actually is. She was dreading how she was going to keep up when she had to attend school for seven hours a day plus homework. On the bright side the week went really fast. Turns out being a superhero means that you were rarely bored and time seemed to just fly by. Before she knew it the first day of school had arrived and Beca was not exactly happy.
"Go away. Need sleep."
"Come on Beca you've only got one more year and then you're done," Dr. Conrad had stormed into Beca's room when the teenager had refused to listen to her alarm.
"I think superheroes should be excused from school. I save lives regularly, surely I've earned some brownie points." Beca slowly sat up in her bed and ran her hand through her unruly hair.
"Not with the police, and I really don't think you want the truancy officer coming after you," the doc commented. And it was true, while the media was eating up Beca's exploits the police were less than thrilled having a masked vigilante running around their city.
"Do they even still have truancy officers any more? That seems like something from the seventies, like rotary phones and the word groovy." Beca smirked as Dr. Conrad just glared at her.
"Watch it young lady or I'll give you the 'back in my day' speech."
Beca face morphed into a look of horror, "No please, anything but that." She hopped out of bed and hurried to pick her clothes out from the closet. She pulled out a blue plaid shirt and some well worn jeans. Beca never really dressed up for the first day like some kids did. Most of the time her criteria for acceptable clothing was whether or not it smelled. Abigail just shook her head and left the room. Beca quickly followed her as she thought she smelled bacon wafting up the stairs.
Sure enough Stacie had prepared a feast, bacon, eggs, waffles, you name it and it was probably there. Which was great news to Beca, ever since she started being a hero she had lost nearly twenty pounds. At first she had been rather happy since she finally managed to shake off her stubborn baby fat. But her joy was short lived when her two super geniuses freaked out about the sudden weight loss. Apparently losing twenty pounds in a week, especially for someone in Beca's situation, is extremely unhealthy. So now Beca was on a strict diet, although her "diet" would send anyone on weight watchers into a jealous rage. Beca needed to consume roughly half her own body weight every two days in order to keep both her nanites and her body happy. This meant that she could eat as much bacon as she wanted.
"Hey Becs just so you're aware Chloe offered to drive us to school," Stacie said as she pulled more waffles from the waffle maker. Beca nearly choked on her eggs and Stacie shot her a grin. "That's not a problem is it?"
Beca managed to swallow her eggs and took a sip of water before answering. "No, why would that be a problem?"
"Well considering how much your body has changed you should be worried about blowing your cover," Abigail said. She hadn't been too happy when Beca neglected to tell them about her sudden change.
"Oh that, she already knows," Beca said in such a nonchalant manner that the other two turn and glared daggers at her. "Not the superhero stuff. She asked me about the sudden weight loss and I managed to make up an excuse about wearing baggy clothing all the time."
Dr. Conrad was still giving her a dubious glare but Stacie seemed to be okay with it. "We're just lucky that the kids at school hardly noticed you before so if anyone asks you can just say you joined a gym or something."
"Thank you so much for reminding me of my pathetic social status," Beca said.
"That's not what I meant and you know it. Besides, a little anonymity is good for you, can't have anyone figuring out your secret identity now can we," Stacie put another full plate on the table before sitting down and digging in herself.
"She has a point Beca, if anyone figures out who you are then not only are you at a higher risk but so is everyone you know." Dr. Conrad had a point and Beca acknowledged that with a simple head nod.
"Speaking of everyone you know, where has Fat Amy been all summer? That girl is a riot," Stacie asked.
Beca shrugged and reached across the table for a third helping of eggs. "She said something about going back to Tasmania to visit her grandmother. She said she'd be back before the start of the year but I haven't heard from her in a while."
"She'll probably show up to school. I get the feeling that Amy's not exactly the type to check in. And why do you two insist on calling her Fat Amy?" Abigail asked.
Stace and Beca just glanced at each other before answering at the same time. "So twig bitches like us don't do it behind her back." Dr. Conrad just stared at the two before bursting out laughing.
"You two need to keep that girl around. She sounds like a great friend." They were interrupted by a knock at the door. Stacie got up and opened the door to reveal Chloe standing on their porch with a bag thrown over one shoulder. Beca felt her breath hitch as she saw the blue and white checkered dress that Chloe was wearing. The redhead looked beautiful and Beca was having a little trouble processing. She really needed to get a handle on herself if she was ever going to function around her neighbor.
"Hey Chloe, we were just finishing up breakfast. Come on in," Stace stepped aside and let the redhead into the house.
"Hello everyone." Chloe as always had a smile on her face and was way too happy for the first day of school.
"All right red, how are you this chipper?'' Beca asked. "You're not high are you?" Beca had to struggle to keep a straight face as Chloe gave her a death glare. Well as good as a death glare as she could muster, a glare from Chloe was the equivalent of being attacked by a puppy.
"No Beca I am not high. I'm just excited to start school."
"Why?" Beca couldn't understand wanting to go to school. School to her for the past three years was a minefield of avoiding the jerks that tried to pick on her. She doubted Chloe would have that particular problem.
"Because silly, education is important. Plus I'm excited to join that a cappella club with you." Beca cringed at Chloe's statement since she knew that Stacie would sink her teeth in and keep her from backing out.
Stacie's head turned so fast that Beca was a bit concerned that she might have gotten whiplash but if she did it didn't slow her down. "You're joining the Bellas?! Since when?! I've been trying to get you to sign up for months but you always turned me down."
'And there it is,' Beca thought. Too bad all that came out of her mouth was random stuttering.
"I mean if I knew all it took to get you to try out was a cute redhead then I would have found one weeks ago," Stacie said Beca's face turned roughly the same shade as Chloe's hair. She turned to look at Chloe and was both relieved and concerned to see an amused grin growing across her face. Deciding that flight was a better option in this situation, Beca strode quickly out the door and made her way to Chloe's car. She then hopped into the back seat with Chloe's little brother who was playing some sort of handheld video game.
"Sup," was the only greeting Beca got and she immediately preferred this Beale to the one still in the house.
"Sup," yup one word answers were definitely more Beca's style. She turned and watched as Chloe and Stacie left the house giggling to themselves. As Stacie climbed into the passenger seat she tossed Beca's messenger bag into the backseat.
"You almost forgot that shorty. Don't want to forget stuff on the first day." Stacie turned back around and lowered the vanity to touch up her makeup.
Chloe got in behind the wheel and turned the key. "All right everybody got their seatbelts on?" Beca saw Charlie roll his eyes and she knew she liked the kid. Still they all managed to buckle up and Chloe took off towards the school, with occasional directions from Stacie.
After about a fifteen minute drive Chloe pulled into the parking lot in Stacie's assigned spot, senior perk. As soon as the car stopped they all got out of the car and made their way towards campus. Barden was a relatively large school although its size was a bit of an illusion. The campus housed the grade, middle and high schools all together so in actuality there were three schools instead of one. Charlie peeled off from the girls after Chloe gave him a hug and wished him a good day.
"All right Chloe you should have been given a packet that lists your schedule and assigned you a buddy for your first day," Stacie said. "So who'd you get as a chaperon?"
"Uh let's see," Chloe rooted around her bag and pulled out a large manila folder and pulled out a piece of paper. "It says here her name is Aubrey Posen. Do you guys know her?" Beca groaned while Stacie nodded her head a little too enthusiastically.
"If your guide is Posen then I'm out of here," Beca said as she shouldered her bag. "I'm not going to stand around to either be berated or watch Stacie try and get in her pants. Catch you guys later." Beca then made a beeline for the doors before either girl could protest.
She took the familiar path to her locker and sighed with relief. She had been worried that the lockers would get switched around this year but thankful she got to keep the one she's had since sophomore year. There wasn't necessarily anything special about this locker, except if you popped the paneling off the side the empty adjacent locker doubled the size. Beca shoved her stuff inside and turned to head towards her first class when she was lifted up into the air by an overly excited Tasmanian.
"Shawshank it's soooooo good to see you again!" Amy was never one to be subtle. She held onto Beca for a solid minute, despite the colorful protest, before putting Beca back down on the ground. Amy held Beca at arms length and studied her with a quizzical eye. "What happened to you shortstack? Did a dingo eat your stomach or something?"
Beca just rolled her eyes. "No Amy, a dingo did not eat my stomach. I just lost some weight, that's all."
"Is this because of that surgery thingy you had before I left?" Amy, despite all her eccentricities, could be rather astute at times.
Beca turned away to keep any of her usual ticks from showing on her face. "Uh kind of, but I think most of it comes from living with the Conrads. They eat a bunch of healthy shit over there." Beca hated lying to Amy but they had all agreed that the less people who knew the truth the better.
Amy cringed."That's just wrong. Isn't there something in your constitution about cruel and unusual punishment?"
Beca just laughed and shook her head at the blonde's antics. She really had missed her big friend. The two made their way to their homeroom and took their usual seats. They sat there talking until Beca looked up and saw Chloe walk into the classroom in all her glory.
'Damn it Mitchell get your act together.' Which wasn't too hard since the sight of Aubrey walking in behind the redhead sobered Beca up rather quickly. Not quickly enough that Amy didn't notice the heart eyes that Beca was giving the new girl. Amy went to make a comment but was stopped by the teacher speaking up.
"Posen this isn't your regular homeroom."
Aubrey turned to the teacher to explain herself. "Sorry Mrs. Howard, I was just showing Chloe to her homeroom."
"Ah, a new victim, ey? Welcome to my domain." Mrs. Howard held her hands out as a grand gesture but Chloe just giggled and nodded her head. Everybody loved Mrs. Howard since she always managed to make her classes fun and if Beca remembered correctly she was the teacher in charge of supervising the a cappella clubs. So at least Beca had that to look forward to when she signed up. The bell rang and Aubrey excused herself to head to her own homeroom. "Take a seat anywhere Chloe."
Chloe looked around the room and spotted Beca. She made her way over to the shorter girl and took the seat directly in front of Beca. "Hey Beca, is it cool if I sit here?" Beca nodded and returned the smile that Chloe shot her. The moment was ruined when Amy leaned over and stuck her hand in between them.
"G'day mate, name's Fat Amy." Amy said with a grin. Beca was pretty sure she had never heard Amy use that phrase before.
"Hi I'm Ginger Chloe," the redhead reached forward and gave Amy a hearty handshake. Beca could barely hold back her laughter at Amy's shocked face. The blonde was used to people being confused by her introduction and taking great joy in explaining the reason. Chloe however hadn't missed a step and turned the conversation back around. After a moment to process the shock Amy turned back to Beca.
"I like this one," she stage whispered and Beca just nodded her head. Chloe beamed her brilliant smile at the two of them and the three fell into easy conversation for the rest of the period. The rest of the morning became a bit of a blur since Beca was on her own for most of her early classes and she couldn't be bothered to pay attention on the first day. Soon enough the lunch bell sounded and Beca met up with Amy on her way to the cafeteria. She was looking forward to hopefully spending some more time with Chloe at lunch but her hopes were crushed as they walked through the cafeteria's double doors. Stacie, Aubrey and Chloe were all sitting at a table but that wasn't the problem. The problem was the guy sitting next to Chloe. Tom Henderson, grade A douchebag that went out of his way to harass Beca.
Stacie saw Beca and Amy enter the cafeteria and gestured for the two to join them but Beca just shook her head and turned towards her regular table in the back corner. She caught Stacie's confused look but she missed the concerned one Chloe gave her after her back was turned. Beca sat down and let her food tray clatter onto the table startling Amy.
"You all right Beca?"
"Ya I'm fine," Beca didn't really feel like explaining and Amy knew not to press when Beca got into one of her moods. They were eventually joined by the rest of the "outcasts" of their school. Benji the nerdy kid who always got picked on because he was into magic tricks and comic books. Jessie who was their resident theater nerd. Cynthia Rose and her girlfriend Denise, who weren't necessarily shunned but the two never seemed to sit anywhere else. And finally there was Lilly who had somehow managed to sneak up on them without anyone noticing.
"Wow Beca you look great," Jessie of course. Beca knew that he had a crush on her but nothing she did could get him to stop trying. Luckily he wasn't the pushy type so most of the time Beca just ignored him and eventually he would give up.
"Ya, no I wouldn't try that today Jess," Amy warned. "Beca's got some lady troubles to deal with."
Beca cringed at her friend's words. She knew that Amy was referring to Chloe but to everyone else it sounded like she was on her period. CR and Denise shot her sympathetic glances and Lilly mumbled something none of them heard. Jessie gratefully backed off and Benji was too busy pulling what looked like a gerbil out of his shirt to pay attention. Beca glanced over towards Chloe's table and saw that the redhead was starting back at her with a confused look on her face. Beca just shook her head and turned back to her bland school food.
The rest of the day was downright awkward. Chloe was in every single one of Beca's classes but unfortunately so was Tom. Beca tried to sit next to Chloe but Tom always seemed to grab the seat first, sneering at Beca when Chloe's back was turned. What made it worse was that Chloe seemed receptive to Tom's advances. She would laugh at his stupid jokes and from where Beca was siting at the back of the class it looked like Chloe was flirting back.
By the time the final bell rang Beca was practically chomping at the bit to escape. She managed to make it to the parking lot before anyone else could catch her and she took off running. Before she knew it she was well within the city and she stopped in an alley to catch her breath. She focused and let the nanites form her protective armor, her day had sucked and there was no better distraction than beating up some bad guys. She leapt to the top of one of the buildings that formed the alley and took off in search of some action.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Beca flinched a little at Stacie's voice, she had grown used to her friend just popping up in the earpiece she always wore but it still surprised her every once in a while.
"Not really. If you want to help find someone for me to punch," Beca slowed as she waited for Stacie to check police scanners and nine one one calls. The two had become a rather effective crime fighting team with Stacie providing support. She had even taken the moniker of Merlin to fit with Beca's King Arthur theme. Now if Beca needed to talk to Stacie while in a more public setting no one could find out their identities from Beca dropping a name by mistake.
"Two blocks due east, someone called in a mugging." Beca didn't bother with a response, she just took off running. She closed the distance in no time and dropped from the roof into a dark alleyway. She looked around but didn't see anything out of the ordinary.
"You sure this is the place Merlin?"
"Your GPS puts you right where the call said the crime was," Stacie reported. Beca continued to move down the alley and stopped when she heard a whimpering noise.
She pushed a few dumpsters aside and saw someone with a hoodie pulled over their face. She knelt down and tried to approach the victim but before she could reach them the person lashed out and shoved Beca into the wall. It took Beca's brain a second to comprehend what had happened and by the time she looked up she was grabbed by the neck and held in the air.
"So you're the fool that hag tricked into this. Can't say I'm impressed." The voice was rough and filled with static. Beca looked down and struggled against the iron grip. The person holding her didn't even look human. His face and arms were covered with a shifting red like substance that looked like it could be sand...or nanites. Beca began to put up more of a struggle but her attacker wasn't letting go.
"You don't know who I am, do you? Not surprising, that bitch sure does love her secrets." Beca didn't know who this mystery man was talking about but if she didn't escape soon the nanobots protecting her neck were going to give and then she would be in serious trouble.
"Beca what's going on, your vitals just went through the roof." In addition to Beca's location the nanites gave Stacie a constant rundown on Beca's vital stats just in case.
"Well you may not know who I am but I do know who you are Beca Mitchell." Beca felt her blood run cold as this abomination said her name. How could he possibly know who she was? There were only three people in the entire world that knew. She didn't have time to think about it as the hand around her throat started to tighten. The training that Lilly had put her through kicked in and she managed to loop her right leg around the monster's arm and brace her left foot against his shoulder. Before he could react Beca twisted her entire body and the grip on her neck loosened just enough for her to escape. She fell to the ground and immediately lashed out with her feet, sweeping his legs out from under him.
Beca jumped to her feet to follow up her advantage but this guy was just as quick as she was. Ten long whips made of nanites uncoiled from his fingers and before Beca could dive for cover he started flailing his arms. Beca's armor managed to absorb some of the blows but it wasn't long before she felt the nanites being ripped from her body rendering them useless. Then she felt a stinging pain in her left shoulder where one of the whips got through her defenses. The pain quickly grew and it took all Beca had to not pass out. She dove to the ground to try and escape the terrible onslaught but he just kept attacking. Eventually the armor around her left leg was destroyed and a massive gash was torn into the flesh on her thigh. The blows stopped coming and she managed to hear the insane cackling coming from above her.
"Now you will give me what's rightfully mine!" But as the attacker reached towards Beca's head her right arm shot out. Beca managed to put all her strength into shooting a tether to the dumpster still sitting next to them. Once her nanites grabbed the side of the dumpster she flung it with everything she had. It crashed right into the madman and Beca heard a sickening thud from the impact. She tried to stand up but the pain in her leg caused her to collapse again.
The last thing she heard before passing out was Stacie calling her name.
I'm open to suggestions for the bad guy's supervillain name.
