Penny
Ray, Claire, and I had bought the lair. Apparently it had been used by an evil supercomputer a while back, and now that they had removed it the place was just empty. It used to be a mining project, so we had plenty of room to work in. We started by cleaning up. Months of disuse had left the whole place a dust bin, and we spent days just getting that taken care of. After that I had the machine eat and recycle the furniture we weren't going to use, and then repairing the walkways and walls that had been damaged. It was a big project, but we were a good team for it, and we all enjoyed the time back together. We had grown into a family over the years, and it felt right to be together.
I felt almost no surprise when Nick showed up on that Oh So Fateful day. He had been over a few times before, Him and Claire bonding, and no doubt doing things that I would find morally questionable behind my back.
"Claire!" Nick Yelled from the lair entrance passage. " I have some good news for you three !"
" Oh goody! What did Santa bring this year ?!"Claire was in her " Cute and Harmless " character mode again.
"You three have an interview at the Lander HCP program. Their the most prestigious HCP in the country, though to be fair the others are just as good behind the scenes. "
Ray walked up from one of the back rooms or passages. " What is this good news I'm hearing about?"
"We have an interview for Lander!" Claire squealed.
"Really? I thought they were supposed to be the toughest to get into ? " Ray said.
" They are, but they also have a reputation for being successful with test cases, which you three are. You are unique, even for our world. They likely thought you had the best chance of success there. "Nick sounded professional as always, but that was not a surprise.
" Let's not get to excited you two. This is just an interview, and they may reject us yet. We just have to see where it goes. " I did my best not to stamp on their joy, but I also did not want to get their hopes up.
"Penny is right, it is just an interview, but it is a positive sign that they are considering you at all. " Nick remarked.
Claire looked as giddy as always. " What do the interviews usually go over? "
"Well, that was the second thing I needed to tell you three. interview may not be the best way of putting it"
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Hero name- Impact. Civilian name- Ariel baker. Meeting- HCP admission meeting.
Time – 2:17 AM. Meeting Attendees- Dean Ariel Baker
Control Professor- Samantha Jones
Focus professor- Esme Stone
Close Combat Professor- Carl Fletcher
Weapons professor- Sonya Cole
Ranged combat professor- Ramon Simmonds
Subtlety professor- Sean Pendleton
"Well Jessica was an easy yes. Who do we have next" Sean said in his usual semi-bored tone.
" Sam Thomas. Mid level strongman, seems to have good growth potential. No training to speak of, which makes the level he's at more impressive. " Ariel spoke with a professional, if tired tone.
The assembled professors looked over their files, and eventually Carl broke the silence. " Well, he has potential, but he'll need to train like a beast to make it out. I'll give him a chance. "
The others nodded, to tired to make much fuss over a rather standard freshmen.
"Next up, Bradley Taylor. No relation to Chad. Seems to have decent potential as a pyrokinetic. No training at all, which with his gift makes him far more dangerous. Sam, he'll likely fall on you, what do you think? " Ariel continued to lead the meeting, moving as quickly as she could.
" His stats are impressive. He may be great, with training. I do have to say that I'll boot his ass if he can't learn without endangering other students. "Samantha spoke with the confidence you expect of a seasoned hero.
"I would expect nothing less from my professors. " Ariel agreed.
" With that said I think we can take him on. He may be able to pull it off, he has the sheer power for it. " Samantha returned.
" Our next contestant is*drum roll* Michael !" Sean said while opening the next file off his stack.
" Leave it to Sean to somehow make this meeting more annoying than it already was. " Ramon grumbled.
Ignoring Ramon Sean continued to speak. " I think we've got a good one here. I've only known one other remote viewer, and she wasn't as good as this kid. Did the DVA brats ever get a classification on his power? "
"They did not, he is currently a class to himself. I must admit, he seems to have a strong gift, but subtlety is something that relies on more than just your power. He would have to make it through the rest of the course materiel to graduate, no matter how strong his ability is." Esme spoke this time, reminding the tired heroes around the table that she did, in fact, exist.
" I agree with Esme. " Ariel said. "He does seem to have a bit of training from his parents, but nothing that would get him into the program by itself. However, the potential is there, so I am in favor. Any objections?
The room stayed quiet. This was how it went most years. The DVA would weed out the obvious rejects, and then Ariel( or the acting Dean) would make another pass through. By the time the files got to the professors they were just looking for smaller details that would bar them from entry. Besides, it was really the freshman Hell Semester that was the true admission test. That was where the weak and unmotivated were weeded out from the strong. This was just picking out few that may have been missed.
"Alright. We will admit . Our next candidate is Judah Spencer. "
"A multi-species shiftier is always welcome in my focus class. If he can learn to harness his power he may be able to graduate. I would be happy to train him. The file does say that he only recently emerged. May I ask what caused such a late power bloom? " Esme asked, looking to Ariel, who had already studied the files in depth.
" He seems to have taken a fall, and transformed mid fall into a crow. Very rare for a power to lie dormant for all of that time, but he has control over his shifts, and it seems to have just been a fluke. " Ariel replied.
" The files say his shifts are significantly larger than their normal counter parts. Does he control that, or is it involuntary? " Carl asked the room.
"Involuntary. He may be able to change that, but for now all of his forms seem to be larger and stronger than their real counterparts. While a benefit in combat, it make some of his stealth options much harder to pursue. " Ariel said in response to Carl's question.
" Focus may be a good choice, but he may also do well in my class. A suped up elephant or bear could be a real threat. " Carl sounded genuinely interested, much to the chagrin of Esme.
"I still think Focus would suit him best, but we shall see. I say we take him into the freshman fold. " Esme said, glaring at Carl.
" I see that Carl is still trying to poach our candidates." Sean muttered, stirring the pot. "I'm still not happy about loosing Transmute's kid to the combat brigade. She had potential. "
Samantha rolled her eyes at that remark. " She is doing well in combat, and you know better than anyone that subtlety has a reputation. "
"For good reason too. " Ramon growled.
"Moving on. " Ariel said, cutting off the potential argument. " We got a nulifier this year that has some real potential. I think she would likely fall to you, Carl, so if you would be so kind as to look her file over? "
Carl did so, and the rest of the staff with him.
" Power dependence is a real problem for supers, but nulifiers often fall into the trap of thinking they don't have to worry about powers. Her gift is strong, if a bit limited, since it requires physical contact. Her biggest issue is going to be learning to think and fight, without falling into traps common to her lot. "
"I agree." Said Ramon, looking mildly interested for the first time in hours. " Nulls are a rare type of super, but they are their own worst enemy. I say we give her a chance to prove herself. "
" I'll give her a try, if you all don't have any issues ?" Carl said to the assembled heroes.
They all nodded and muttered agreements.
Sonya sent one of her tendrils out to grab the next file. " It looks like we have one for you Ramon. Blaster type, right up your alley."
Ramon, still looking the file over, nodded. " Possibly. He seems to have some good potential, but all of the candidates who make it this far have potential. I will take him if he can make it past the freshman trial. "
Ariel nodded. " I agree with your assessment, but keep a close eye on him. His shots have a lot of damage potential, and I don't want others caught in his crossfire. He has no formal training, so he is more likely to need watching."
"That's always true." Sonya muttered. " We got a surprisingly strong line of legacies this year, but most of our freshmen are untrained, and all the more likely to hurt someone. "
This was slated to be a strong class. The danger and excitement from Lander's Crucible still drew in the more danger seeking students, and it had a bigger effect on legacies looking to get the best training they could.
The night continued on, former heroes deciding the fates of hero hopefuls.
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"They want us to do what?!"I bellowed at Nick.
"They need to see that you three are still sane enough to be around students, and become heroes. You have to understand most people have issues after hero work, and you got into it much younger than anyone ever should. All you have to do is fight some robots, and prove you can keep your heads on straight. " Nick was as professional as always, not that that stopped me from wanting to clock him( insert superpower related pun) for this " Interview ".
"I get wanting to test us, but fighting robots with superpowers is a bit extreme for a school entrance exam ! " I was still a bit loud, but excuse me for not wanting to go fight robots at the crack of dawn.
"Penny, I'm sure that they have backup plans in place to prevent us from getting to hurt, or doing to much damage. This is an entire school for heroes were talking about. " Ray was calm, and that had always had a calming effect on me.
"Plus, this could be fun. Remember the robot virus back in school? " Claire said the words " robot virus" WAY to lightly for my tastes.
"I guess so. But I still think it's a bit much just for an entrance test. " I gave up the little fight I had left, preferring to just get it over with."Can you at least give me something to go off of? What can these robots do? "
"The're meant to emulate superpowered criminals. They can imitate all sorts of powers, and can have different levels of damage resistance, just like supers do. You're job is to defeat them, while not registering ""Kills"" on their systems. " Nick explained in a detached manner that STILL made me want to punch him a little bit.
"Do I get to bring my toys at least?" I growled
"Of course. The staff wants to test you, and what you do best is build gadgets. They need to see you at your full power, or the test is worthless. "
"I assume my powers will still work then? " Claire asked airily.
"Yes. You're not the first student with mental powers. They are built to respond just like a human would. "
"Well" I mumbled " I guess if we have to, then we do it well. Lets start making a game plan.
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I took stock of my toys. I had my teleport bracers, Vera, Brenda, my suit and light bike, the new aether blasters, the hover disks, the built in night-night gun, and of course, my machine. Claire had her usual setup, and I had given Ray an extendable baton, just in case he needed a boost. I had no idea just how strong these robots would be, but I knew we would be prepared for as much as we could.
We were standing in the "foyer" of our lair. Can a lair even have a foyer? I don't know, but oh well. We were in the entrance of the lair. Today was the day of our interview, or better known as the day a group of crazies forced us to fight superpowered robots to see if we could go to their school. I was still a little peeved about that.
We had gone over our plans, tools, and backup plans a dozen times. It was pretty similar to our normal plan, but I wanted to show off our best work today. Claire was on crowd control, I was ranged support, and Ray would be taking them down in close quarters. I loved watching my boyfriend fight. He moved and flipped like a dancer, but he had the power to make his blows hurts. I pitied the poor robots that had to go against him, and not me or Claire.
Suddenly a suited man appeared, dressed closely to 's day to day look. I still suspected that had work in the hero world, but he never brought it up, and none of the other people I talked to had mentioned what he did. The dark suited man stepped forward, and held out his hands. We knew the drill by now, and Claire, Ray and I stepped forward and grabbed onto him. There was a flash of smoke, and what smelled like sulfur, and then we were all atanding in what looked like the nicest gym on earth. It was huge, and had everything you could ask for. I saw climbing walls, weights, obstacle courses, and a pool. What I did NOT see were any windows, which was odd.
In front of us stood a group of men and women, all wearing grey masks, that seemed to be padded to help disguise their faces even more. On was covered in metal, another clothed in so many bandages and cloaks I thought they may have been a mummy. The rest looked normal enough. An older woman, hunched over slightly, looking for all the world like nothing more than an adorable grandma. By my guess she would be one of the most dangerous people here, since that was how superpowers always seemed to work. My mind flashed to Claudia, and I was even more certain that she was not one to be trifled with. Three men stood, clustered together, and they were all buff. Like, had to workout at all times just to stay looking that way buff.
Ray stepped forward, taking on the role of spokesperson. I trusted him to be more subtle than I could, so he usually took these jobs.
" Thank you for having us, all. I am Ray Viles, and behind me are Claire Lutra, and Penny Ack. I understand that we have an interview for admission today. " Ray spoke with confidence, his English accent giving his words even more power and poise.
Another woman spoke at that, coming in silently from behind where we were standing. " Hello. I am the Dean of this HCP, and I will be administering your test, with the assistance of the persons you see before you. Currently you do not have clearance to know my name, or the names of the others here, so I will go by Dean, and the others by Professor. "
She spoke with obvious confidence, but her voice was still gentle. She had no need to be brusque or loud because she, and the others here, all had power dripping off them. I knew that these were teachers that had much to share, and I wanted to learn from them.
Ray continued to act as spokes person. " Thank you for the opportunity Dean. What would you have us to do for this test? "
The Dean spoke, now having joined the professors at the front of the room. " Please follow us to the testing area. Today we will be having you all do some light sparing with what we call SIMs. They are robotic opponents designed to imitate superhuman abilities, and are used for training in the HCP. "
We all walked, following the dean, but with the professors at our backs. I knew it was likely to make sure that no one wandered off, but it still made me a bit uneasy.
The dean continued. " Today you all will be in one of our city simulations, and your job will be to work as a team, stopping a group of rioting SIMs, while protecting the civilian robots stationed around the area. None of these circumstances should require the death of any of your opponents, so we expect you to act as heroes, and not register any "kills" on the SIM systems. Normally we test students alone, but you three are said to have worked together, so we decided that this may be the best way to see your skills."
She finished shortly before we got to an elevator, which opened as we approached. " If you three would step inside this will transport you to your testing ground. "
I looked at my team. Claire had no trace of her "cute and innocent " character. Ray was even more resolute than normal, standing stiff at attention. I nodded, and led the way into the elevator.
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Penny
The elevator had let us off into a back alley, noises coming off from the left. I turned to the IM. " OK. We have a riot situation. I'll be picking them off from the sidelines, Ray, you need to jump in and draw them away form any civies down near the fray. Claire, you have mobility and strength, so you're going to need to carry off anyone stuck in the fray, or any injured. I'm sending Vera to back you up. "
With those orders I grabbed Vera from my suit and activated her. " Protect Claire, and stick with her, but keep your blasts non-lethal. "
She bobbed once, and floated behind to behind Claire. Ray was already making his way towards the commotion. I activated my hover disks, and gave a quick burst, putting me above the alley. I landed on top of the roof, and started running towards the riot. It was only a few roofs over, and once I got there I nearly froze. They had told us that there were robots down there. These were people. They had to be.
" Brenda, I need life signs down there, now !" I yelled, heart racing. I had been in worse situations, but this was not at all what I had expected.
"No life signs apart from the ever so lusted after Mr. Viles" Brenda told me.
I jumped onto the communication line between Ray, Claire, and I. " Guys, these robots are realistic. Like freaky realistic. Brenda confirmed that they are all robots, so do what needs to be done. I'll be backing you all up. "
Ray responded almost immediately. " Realistic is an understatement. I have about 8 down here, three seem to be strength fighters, but no clue on the others yet. Claire, what can you see? "
Claire broke into the line, voice steady and serious. " I have one civilian cowering in the corner of a shop door, two behind cars, and one under a truck. I think I just saw one of those bots throw lightning though, so be careful. They're not all brutes. "
"Ok team. You know what to do. "
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"They're tearing those things up." Carl muttered.
"Maybe, but these are set at a very low power level. " Sonya said. " Against a stronger setting they could easily be overwhelmed. "
" I agree, but how many of our freshmen can do as well as they are right now? Maybe a few legacies could hold up to that, but none of the kids we normally start off with. Plus these three are already working as a team, and doing a good job of it. Even our legacies struggle with that. " Carl continued to defend the Im.
Esme stood with them, watching the test closely. " The most impressive part is their teamwork. I'm reading their thoughts, and they all have a solid plan for their actions, and they know what the others are supposed to be doing. These are not the usual green supers we take into the freshman class. They're all smart, and thinking their moves through. That makes them far more dangerous than the average super. "
Ariel spoke next. " I agree. These three have powers that would get them into the HCP, but their minds are by far more dangerous. Thankfully they do seem to have some restraint. I have not marked one kill yet, and Ms. Lutra seems to be doing an excellent job of evacuating the innocents, while letting Mr. Viles do the up close work. "
The professors watched on, impressed with the students below them.
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Penny
My team was doing well. Claire had gotten three of her targets out, Vera taking down a robot that was shooting fire, and Ray was dancing with the other opponents, distracting them from the civies on the ground. I had dropped three myself, the night-night gun doing well against these targets. I knew from experience that the drugs it produced had no real effect on robots, so I assumed that the machines were calibrated to register the shots and shut down like a human body would. One target had managed to take two shots and stay standing. I assumed that meant some type of high endurance, so I switched tactics.
"Brenda, I need to to take down the guy who is tanking my shots. He is to dangerous to stay standing. Keep in non-lethal, but I need him down for the count. "
As soon as I had spoken a red targeting dot appeared on the jerk, and I felt the slight vibration from my aether cannons. In no time at all the dot glowed, and Brenda took the shot, while I was focusing on watching the battlefield. That was a mistake. This guy had already taken two shots, but I assumed the aether cannon would down him. A slight pop, and a shot went straight for the target I had requested. I barely registered the synthesized roar from the strong man, and he turned towards me. Apparently Brenda had made the shot too weak to put him down for the count, but plenty strong to get him riled up.
The strong man turned in my direction, and started running, apparently set on climbing the brick wall to my hiding place. I looked now, realizing that this was an issue. He began to storm my way, and then Claire broke into my audio feed.
"Penny! He is headed straight for a civilian ! Under the red truck! I can't get him!" Claire had been doing a god job, but no one was perfect. I looked down, took a step, and teleported. I knew where she was talking about, and I appeared there in a flash. I reached under the truck, the civilians face looking WAY to realistically terrified for comfort. I grabbed his arm, and stepped back once, appearing across the street on top of a different building. I dropped him there, and teleported back to my original hiding spot. The strongman was still coming, but I was not making a dumb mistake twice.
" Brenda, take him down. I want both legs off, but try not to aim for his vital parts. "I felt a little sick ordering Brenda to take a limb, but these were robots, so I couldn't feel too bad.
She came through for me, and this time the pop was much stronger. It worked too, the robot legs coming off at the knees as a shot to each severed them. I breathed a sigh of relief, then turned back to the fight. It was no longer much of a fight, Ray taking on the last two SIMs at once. I targeted on with the night night gun, and shot him down. Ray flipped, and hit the other in the back if the knee with a strike from his baton.
We were done. Now we just had to see if we had done well enough.
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"That was close." Sonya remarked as Penny grabbed the civilian and teleported them out of danger.
"It could have been closer. Hell, she pulled it off. " Carl said.
" It was close, but so far they have not lost a civilian, which is impressive. Very impressive. " Ariel sounded the same as always, but the professors around her knew that she was not one to give idle complements.
"It was a good save. They have done very well today. " Esme was still focused on the fight, but she was more than capable of holding a conversation and watching the show.
"It looks like Mr. Viles just took down the last one. " Sonya interjected. " I must say, I would like to have a shot at training that one. Maybe even the inventor, if she can learn to fight up close. "
" I agree with Sonya, Viles has potential. He moves with a lot of speed and precision, but he still has power to back it up. I'd like to see him in close combat come next year." Carl said to the group.
" Come next year? I assume that means you approve of his admission ? " Ariel asked the close combat instructor.
" Hell yeah. He has skills, and I want a shot at training him. He proved here that he know how to fight, and he knows better than to cause death with no purpose. " Carl replied.
"There he goes, always trying to poach my students. However I do approve of their admission. They all acted in accordance with hero principles, and I think they will do well. " Sonya said this while glaring at Carl, in what he hoped was a joking manner.
" I also approve."
" I agree with you all. I will check with the others once they are done downstairs, but I suspect that we will be admitting the three of them. " Ariel moved towards the door, and the other professors followed.
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Penny
We made it ! The Professors and the Dean had agreed to let us into the program, and I have to admit I was VERY excited. I had loved learning how to be a hero from my mom and dad, and this was going to be like that, but on steroids. After agreeing to let us into the program they had given us a small tour of the school campus, and they had everything down there. The gym was just the surface. We had gotten to see the obstacle courses, the shooting ranges, classrooms, the whole shebang. Even Claire looked impressed, which was never an easy task.
After a quick once over they had given us a small mountain of paper work each, and we had gotten teleported back to the lair. The paperwork was a new challenge, and it almost made me wish to go back to fighting robots. We had NDAs, release forms, medical releases, and soooooo much more. I had Claire and Nick look it over, but they both assured me it was on the up and up.
Once the paperwork was done things got a bit more interesting. One day Nick had shown up with a willowy man in tow. When I say willowy I don't mean lanky or thin, just long. He looked almost haggard, but he still walked with a sure step.
" Penny, Ray, this is professor Pendleton. He will be one of your teachers at Lander this year, and he is here to help lay down your cover stories. " Nick spoke with his usual professional snark.
"Nick! And who is this?! " Squealed Claire, in full cuteness mode, as she came running down the hall.
" As I was saying this is Professor Pendleton. He's here to assist in keeping your origins a secret. " Nick spoke to Claire with just a bit more fondness, I think. I may have been imagining it.
"Hello. I'm Professor Pendleton, and this is sort of my specialty. We've created three backstories for you all, which you will be expected to memorize by the time school starts. Since you three obviously have strong bonds we decided not to try and erase them, but to build them into the covers. " As Sean Pendleton spoke he produced three files, and handed them to Ray, Claire, and Penny in turn.
" Each of you will be folded into existing Hero families, who have agreed to chaperone you all. Ray, you have a pre-existing relationship with the Daniels family, so we used that. You are now the nephew of Sally Daniels, who you are staying with for family reasons. I go into greater depth in the file. Penny, you're being folded into Will's family. And Claire... Congratulations Claire, you are my illegitimate daughter. " He looked over to Claire with a smirk that would have put Nick to shame.
Claire's eyes narrowed for just a second before she squealed out " Daddy! " and ran, and jumped into his arms, grasping his neck.
Hugging onto him tight she said in a low voice" I saw that smirk. Two can play this game." Right before she kissed him on the cheek and jumped down.
Nick looked on in awe, something that I doubted happened often.
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Claire
I knew it had been Nick's idea. It just stank of his sense of humor. Well, I was going to have fun with this, since they had decided to have fun with me.
I put them through it. I think Sean would live to rue the day he had agreed to that plan of Nick's. 67 daddies, 4 kisses, and 17 hugs later I could tell that they had learned their lesson. I set about memorizing my file. Apparently Sean had had a one night stand before he went to prison, and I was the product of that. I just hope no one looked to closely at the numbers, because they had had to fudge my age a bit. Oh well, this was only in place in case some one went snooping. Knowing the company I kept someone would probably go digging, so I got to memorizing.
They had done good work on these papers. I wondered if Eliza had been involved. I was supposed to meet up with Sean today, and I wanted to be caught up on my backstory. Presumably I was reconnecting with my estranged father, and this would be a sort of daddy daughter bonding day. In reality Sean wanted to see what I could do. Nick had filled me in on majors and such. I knew that I would likely be learning under Sean's tutelage for the next four years. I also knew that I had a huge head start compared to most other students, and that meant I would be having slightly more class work, and a very different set of challenges. I'm not complaining though, I was happy to be learning from a master of the craft.
Ray was still training under Ettin, and he seemed to be making good progress. I had gotten Penny to start working out more, and she continued to drill on the practice range, honing her weapons skills. My training though was slightly different. With my paychecks from Nick I had invested in some good quality computer equipment, and was slowly setting my connections back into place. I hated having to start from scratch, but it was a good chance to challenge my self in a new environment. Nick also had me running regular gigs with him, and that was good practice, but nothing compared to running a real operation, with high stakes. What's the point in playing for no stakes?
I finished my work a few minutes before Sean was due to arrive, so I took the remaining time to primp. I may have taken a little longer than necessary, just to screw with him a little. You can't have men thinking you're be easily cowed.
I met Sean out in the entrance hall of the lair.
"Daddy! " I yelled. I may have taught them a lesson, but no need to let them forget it. "Where are you taking your little girl today? "
Sean rolled his eyes, visibly annoyed. " Today Claire I am going to have you do some tailing training. This is actually what I teach my first years, but today were going to change it up a little bit. "
" Oh? Do tell. " I said, dropping the act, and getting my game face on.
" Normally I have the first years try and tail me. Today though, I think I am going to try tailing you. You get a 30 minute head start, plus what ever equipment you can carry on your person. Within reason, that is. " He spoke with a practiced weariness. I knew better than to believe this act, I'd seen it before back home.
"That sounds like a good time. Where did you have in mind? "
"Where else do teenage girls, who are completely normal, and have no other motives, spend their days? The mall. " He managed to keep a reasonably straight face, but I knew he was laughing at me.
" Of course! I assume as my estranged father you will be bankrolling my shopping, correct?" I said with as wicked a glint in my eye as I could manage.
He blanched, slightly, at the thought of paying for my shopping spree. Good, can't let him have all the fun. " I was thinking more window shopping than actual purchases..."
I gave him my best pout, with just a hint of my power. " But daddy! I love shopping..."
His eyes shut immediately. I knew that would only hinder my power, not block it out completely. " Claire, power off. You should know better than to use a mental ability on your professor." He sounded more serious than normal, so I shut it down. No reason to piss him off before we even began classes.
"Fine. But I still want you to take me shopping. I mean, after all these years as an absentee father it's the least you can do. "
Sean groaned. " Get ready. This is still training, and I expect you to be able to perform. "
"OK!" I ran and grabbed my go bag, something that mom had drilled into me from a very young age. It wasn't ideal, but it would suffice for times when you needed to be out quick, or just didn't have time to pack a true kit. Inside was a basic makeup kit, a few bagged wigs, two changes of clothes, lock picks, sun glasses, hats, and a few more... "exotic" items.
"Let's hit the road! " I called to Sean. He looked, well, less than excited. I suspected he was looking forward to it though.
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We arrived at the mall, and Sean dropped me off, ostensibly to park the car, and meet me inside. In reality I was allowed a head start, and this gave us a ready built way to do that, without arousing suspicion. I power walked inside, eager to find a bathroom and get started. I had the option of hiding and trying to play out the time, but I knew that defeated the purpose of the exercise. Plus, it was likely he was skilled enough to find me anyways.
It was easy enough to find a bathroom, my power turned on just enough that no security was going to stop me for having a backpack. Once inside I dropped down in a stall and got to work. First off I wigged up. I loved my blond hair, but it was noticeable AF. I decided on a straight black bob, the exact opposite of my normal look. Next I threw on a light dusting of makeup, just enough to make me look like someone in their 20's, not an 18 year old. Then I changed into my outfit, a basic hoodie and jeans combo that was bulky enough to hide my shape. With that out of the way I slipped on some thick soled shoes, and a pair of glasses. Not my most effective work, but in this sort of situation I could live with it.
I left the bathroom, having stashed the backpack in the drop ceiling. Nothing like doing all that work, and having your stalker spot a familiar bag or accessory. I pulled out my phone, using the camera to check my back every now and then. I almost preferred having to tail a target. When you get to play hunter you have so many options open to you. You can use cameras, security tech, bugs, GPS trackers, and more. When you're the prey you have to do more work. I weaved in and out of the crowds, sometimes going into a store, sometimes just window shopping.
I'd been at it for a few minutes, and knew it was time to switch it up. I swung into a hot topic, and grabbed and oversize t shirt, a beanie, and some sweat pants. I payed, ducked into the fitting booth, and made my change. I sat in the booth for a few minutes. Sometimes you can trip a watcher up by just staying in one place longer than expected. They assume they must have missed you, and start looking away from where you went in, and Boom, you slip out. Sean was probably too good for that, but it never hurt to try out the tried and true tricks.
I made my move, and slipped out the door with a few other customers. Once back into the hustle and bustle of the mall I decided to head for the food court. I still had not made Sean once, and that was concerning. I knew that to be a teacher for sneaks you had to be good, but I expected to have at least seen him once by now. I got to the food court, still no sign of my stalker. I made a beeline for the pretzel maker, and got one with cheese. Everything, even covert operations, are better with cheese.
Still no sign of the professor. I sat down at a table near an anti-theft mirror and tried to read the crowd. It was pointless looking for someone who looked like Sean, he would guard against that. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the tall nerdy guy from the pretzel shop take off his apron and head my way. I groaned internally. I liked being a busty blond, but some days guys were just to much. This happened at least once a week. Some guy would come up to me, hit on me, and then get mad when I wasn't down to go out with him. I kept my eyes on the crowd while he made his way over. No reason to give the Prof an opening just because some dick bag had to flirt.
The dorky guy came and sat down in front of me. I gave him my best " I am to busy and way to out of your league " look. He still settled in across from me.
"Hello there Claire" said the all to familiar voice of Sean Pendleton. I'll admit I did a double take.
"What the hell!? " I gasped. Now that I knew it had to be him I could almost make him out under the glasses, fake acne, and ugly fast food uniform hat.
"Sorry to startle you, but I needed this lesson to make an impact. I'll be blunt with you. You're good Claire, really good. But you're not the best, and that means you're not ready for the hero world. In our line of work we have to be the best of the best, or we're dead. I needed to teach you that before we started classes, or else you likely would have found yourself tempted to ignore my lessons, thinking you were above what I could teach. " He sounded deadly serious, and that was a bit startling. I was used to hearing his usual bored tones.
" I get it. Or at least I think I do. I may have talent and skill but I still have room to grow. " I tried to give off as much honesty as I could, since he was right. I needed to be the best, and obviously there were still many better.
" Exactly. You have natural talent, and a god bit of training, but you're still only 18, trying to move into a world of much more experienced professionals. "
"Thank you for the lesson. Now though, you owe me a shopping trip! " I grinned at him, refusing to let the somber lesson ruin my mall trip
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Ray
When Sean got back to the lair I could tell from the dead look in his eyes that Claire had put him through it. The large amount of bags Claire was lugging in was another give away.
"We went shopping! " Claire yelled.
"We went shopping..." Sean groaned.
"You have my sincerest apologies." I said to Sean. I honestly was sorry, but I did have to stifle a giggle.
Penny came out from her workshop, took one look at Sean and said" She made you shop, didn't she?"
He nodded.
Claire said, with no hint of the malice glinting in her eyes" Well, after years of not showing up to birthdays and Christmases I think it's the least he can do. "
"Claire, be nice to your father. He was... Other wise engaged, and you know it. " I kept my smile at bay, but I did enjoy the joking a bit.
Sean groaned again. " I am going home, and treating myself to a well earned drink. "
With that he turned and walked out of the lair. I looked over at Claire, and she smiled up at me, the picture of innocence.
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Ray
I had been training consistently, preparing for the workouts of the HCP. Both Nick and Ettin had promised that there would be workouts, and that I would likely hate them for encouraging me to go into that line of work. I almost didn't take them seriously, but then I remembered every hero I had seen on this earth, and how every one of them was in freakishly good shape. Not just the hand to hand fighters. All of them. I doubled down on my training then. I had been in great shape ever since I had taken Penny's serum, but I knew from Ettin that I needed to be stronger, much stronger, to graduate. I had to take down people who had more impressive powers, and sometimes more training, and I had to do it while protecting my team, and the innocents around me. So I trained.
I had been spending a good chunk of time with Sally before we got the lair, but I had slacked off on that relationship of late. Today was going to be my last day before we moved to our dorms, so I wanted to see my " family". To be honest I felt like she was my real family, as she had been more loving in the past months than my own parents had ever been. I mentally added her to my family, alongside Penny, and Claire, and Misty, and Brian and Miss Ack. I knew that these people would go to hell for me, and that I would for them. That made them more family than blood ever could.
I had given Mr. Transport a call, and he had agreed to pick me up so that I could say good bye. I had made arrangements for a favorite restaurant of Sally's to deliver a feast for us all tonight, as I felt like a goodbye present was in order. I couldn't repay her, but I could show her that I was grateful.
Mr. Transport appeared, right on time, as usual. I grabbed his outstretched arm, and we disappeared from the lair.
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Penny
Today was going to be my last day at "home " before we moved into our dorms. It was amazing how the lair had become home so quickly. We had done a good bit of work on it, and over that time it had become my new home on this weird version of earth. Ray and Claire seemed to be doing well, but I still craved some time back with my parents and my other friends. I loved Ray and Claire, but I missed my version of earth.
I had been warned to start exercising again. Being an active hero back home meant a lot of training and exercise, but my job here was pretty easy. I had gotten ahold of some good equipment though, and had been putting my time in. I have to say, running on a treadmill is much less fun than running away from a crazed toast monster, and punching a bag was much less fun than punching out a villain. Still, I knew that being in shape was important.
I'd had an idea percolating around in my head for days now, and I wanted to get it built before I left my lab, and was away from all my tools and toys. Ever since we came into this earth my power had been... different. I honestly preferred this version. Now I got blue prints, but they were fewer and farther away from each other. The nice part was my new ability to get an idea of what it was,or what it would be. I could live with less inventions, if I knew for certain that what I was making would not end the world as we knew it. This new blue print seemed to be a melee weapon, at staff of some sort. When I looked at it I got flashes of people sliding, but I knew it had to be good. My brain had held onto this one for long enough that I knew it was going to be cool.
I looked over my lab, now outfitted quite nicely due to my paycheck from work. My eyes froze on a pile of gears I had started creating a while back. I blacked out.
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Penny
The three of us arrived at our new dorm with the usual small pop of Mr. Transport's teleportation.
The "dorm" really looked more like a house, and a nice one at that. I had seen dorm rooms before, and this was an easy step up. We were standing in the kitchen and living area of the house, and Ray seemed surprised as I was. Claire had her usual look of indifference, but that was a normal look for her.
Mr. Transport spoke then. " Welcome to Melbrook, students. This will be your home for your time in the HCP, however long that is. Your room mates will be arriving shortly, and your rooms are marked with a sign on your doors. They are all coded to your fingerprints. " Mr. Transport pointed to two doors off to the side, as he spoke about our rooms.
" Room mates? " Asked Claire, showing a bit of surprise that I knew most would never spot.
" Yes. There are five rooms in this dorm, and only three of you. Also, your chaperone will arrive once the other students are here. You may have already met her, but I will not spoil that surprise. " Mr. Transport spoke in the factual, no non-sense way that he slipped into while working.
" We shall be happy to add some new friends to our circle, and I am looking forward to this chaperone you speak of. "Ray spoke in his " face of the team" voice, with a helping of polite indifference, accent making it sound all the more impressive.
" Glad to hear it. I have other commitments today, but I hope you have a good semester. " Mr. Transport then disappeared, off to that mysterious job of his.
I turned and looked around the rooms, and decided that if I couldn't be at the lair, then this was a nice enough place to be stuck. Ray and Claire both looked happy enough, so I was satisfied. With that we split up, and started looking for our rooms.
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Stacy
Stacy Cole, going by Stacy Davies on campus, walked towards her new home on campus. Or at least she hoped she was walking towards her new dorm. The maps they gave the freshmen were a steaming pile of shit, and she had only visited her mom a handful of time here. Stacy was the daughter of Sonya Cole, the weapons professor for Lander's HCP. That wasn't something she wanted to advertise though, so she and her mother had agreed that she would go by her father's last name, Davies. She and her mother had a decent relationship, but her mom had always wanted to be training, and when she retired, she had moved cross country, something that neither Stacy nor her father had been happy about. When Stacy got her power she had hoped it would draw her and her mother closer together, but it had just shifted Sonya's focus from training herself to training Stacy.
On the upside Stacy had skills. No where near her mother, or another hero, but far above the average teen. She had also learned early on to develop habits that furthered her training and powers. She worked out daily, trained with weapons at nights, and worked on her power whenever she had time alone, usually in the afternoons. She knew that her perfect schedule was now going to be thrown into disarray, but it was for the best. These were the best teachers, and some of the strongest students around, and she knew she would grow here. She would graduate from here too, but that was down the road.
She continued walking towards another piece of new construction, this one slightly more worn than the new building from Lander's crucible, but still newer than the regular campus. Melbrook. A smaller, relatively normal looking house. This would be her home for the next four years, as long as she made it through the training Lander threw at their students. She had every intention of making it through the best they could offer.
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Jessica
Jess was used to a great many things, and a great many environments. She had grown up in the in the wilderness, and then she had traveled the world doing relief work. She had seen some truly awful things, in and out of her own country. She had seen the devastation of African villages after groups of super terrorists attacked. She had seen the horrors of super attacks in the inner city of New York and Las Angeles. She had witnessed entire towns destroyed after a powered had set off avalanches and mountain slides in Europe. But the attack on Lander made her realize that she was needed back home, and it was what drew her back into the hero world after wanting to be away from it for so long.
Jessica was an Ecomancer, and a damn good one. She knew it likely came from her aunts side, since Overgrowth was one of the most famous ( and dangerous ) Ecomancers to ever live. But growing up so close to the hero world had shown her the horror it offered, and she had decided that she wanted nothing to do with it. She had graduated high school, and immediately gone to work for one of the biggest super powered relief agencies in the world. They had been thrilled to land her, and had paid her a good wage. She had never used it, just saved it for a day she might need it. She had done years of work for them, her powers growing constantly, but the need for them never slowed. Horror after horror, Jessica had gone and had her plants rebuild buildings, seek and dig out trapped people, and she had grown hundreds of thousands of acres of food crops in countries affected by famine.
Jessica loved her work, but all the while she had the nagging urge that she could be doing more than just cleaning up the aftermath. She should be stopping the damn things before they happened. She had the power, she knew that much. But she never had the taste for violence. She believed in pacifism, something that her parents and their siblings had drilled into her for years. But after years more of seeing the products of pacifism Jessica had grown tired of sitting on the sidelines, and just cleaning up the messes. She wanted to be helping stop these people, before the need for cleanup ever arrived.
After the Lander attack she had finally broken. She could no longer hold onto the idea that pacifism was the only way, and she had enrolled at Lander. The school had a good reputation, and it was less likely that any of the students would recognize her via her aunt. She had also enrolled in the other HCP's, just in case, and she had been accepted into all of them. But this was where she wanted to go, and here she was.
She walked the campus, feeling the plant life around her. Cali was a gorgeous place, with plenty of green. She stared at her map, while still " seeing " through her plants. Plants had no eyes, but they were very in tune with the light sources around them. Being able to interconnect with her plants gave Jessica a sort of "vision" that had come in handy on many an occasion. It was rough, and much less useful at night, but it had saved her life more than once, so she always kept an "eye" out around her.
She finally came upon the house that was to be her home. Melbrook, she remembered. She knew that she was going to have roommates, and was looking forward to it. All her life she had been around family and community, and she was glad not to be alone for college. She took a deep breathe, and walked up to the door.
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Mary was looking forward to the new assignment she had been given, and she was just a bit excited to be going back to Melbrook, even under these new circumstances. She had missed the homey feel of the dorm that had been her abode for four years, and being a chaperone to a promising group of students seemed like a fun challenge. Even though the " official " reason for her staying there was to monitor the mental health of the "at risk" students she knew from her constant telepathic reading that the people in charge were also keenly interested in what could be learned about the alternate earth that three of her charges had come from.
The DVA, and the former heroes now in charge of it had been handling the revelation well. It had been suspected that the multiverse theory was accurate for years, and many of the powers seen in the world had melded with that theory. This, however, was the first concrete proof to be found for the theory. Her superiors wanted information, and she was a convenient way to get it.
The " at risk " program was something that she, and the campus doctor and psychologist, had been pushing for all last year. There were many students that had great potential, but were held back by issues they were not being treated for. Michael Clark was a prime example. A student with a good power, commitment, and talent, had been expelled after having a psychotic break and nearly killing another student during a test. Had his issues been identified early, and proper treatment implemented, he may have made a good hero. But he was just one more example of students not able to cope with the stress of the HCP.
Now Mary and Dr. Moran had the opportunity to interview the prospective students, and look into their backgrounds, allowing them to pick out potential trouble cases. This was a test run, a program that let those students train, but still get them the help they may need. Jessica, who had the pressure of a legacy on her, plus all the horror she had seen while doing relief work. Spectra, who had even more pressure, being the legacy of an active professor, and having some built up animosity towards her mother. And the three students from another earth, who had all seen the hard side of hero work far to early, and with far to little training.
Mary was here to make sure that these students kept up their mental health, graduation be damned.