Chapter 3

Julius POV

They were serving burgers for lunch, and for once school food wasn't a horrible brown sticky mess that they claim to be edible. But I couldn't enjoy anything at the moment despite my juicy beefy sandwich. You see after power placement 2.0 we were given our schedules along with our starting class rank. I turned out to be a class 4. As exciting as that was, I was still having a bad morning. Right after power placement we went to 3rd period, which for me was History and after that I had a class called PTPC or Physical Training and Power Control. Of course it wasn't all bad, The thing that had me down at the moment was the class outline.

You see, the class had three stages. The Physical, The Mental, and the The Battle, each one more difficult than the last. The first two would alternate through out the year. The Physical was a test of your physical capabilities such as cardio, weight training, speed, etc. The Mental was designed to test your will. You are given an impossible task that played on all your weaknesses and none of your strengths and was specifically designed to see how far you could go before you gave up. And last but certainly the most difficult was the part where they pit you against someone in your class for a one on one sparring match, to "assess" your skills, which was a lose lose situation. If you win, you've got a target splashed on your back for posers, people wanting protection and of course people wanting to take out the best to be the best. If, you lose people ignore you and label you as a loser, good bye social standing. When everyone complained about having to fight other people, Coach Speedy said that this was the essentially best way to figure out what you're capable of. The upside was that we only did the third stage twice a year, once at the beginning and then again at the end for a final grade.

Despite this uplifting piece of news, I still couldn't shake the melancholy and anxiousness that I felt. You see, I was lucky to go first and my opponent would be Mr. Danger himself. Viktor Rade. I finished my lunch and decided to get a good layout of the school, when I came across a kid being bullied. There was almost no thought as to what I should do.

"Hey," I called. The perpetrator paused mid-punch and looked up. When I looked him in his frigidly empty blue eyes, I wondered just what was going through this guy's head. He stood up and the other guy ran off. Good call. He ran a hand through his odd salt and pepper hair, part blond and part black.

"Well," he commented offhandedly, "there goes my post lunch entertainment." My alarm bells immediately went off. This sick bastard was torturing that poor kid for fun? I got in his face, so close I could hear him breathing. For a brief moment, I saw a flash of what looked like excitement in his eyes.

"I don't know what's going on in that contorted asylum you call a brain, but if ever meet under similar circumstances again, there will be no words to express my anger, only actions."

"You promise,"he sneered.

"Absolutely."

"Well, I see that the hero complex develops early in second generation heroes," he was fishing and I gave him nothing, "or not." he said conceding to my blank expression. "I guess i'll be on my merry way then. See you around, space cadet." What?

He left and the bell rang for physics. I raced off to the other side of the building hoping I wouldn't be late again. It seemed as though my locker was strategically placed to make me late for every class. However, I actually managed to make it to class on time. Unfortunately, the class was full.

"Mr. Grey, please find a seat so we can begin," the teacher droned.

I searched for a seat and saw one next to a dark haired brunette. Good enough for me and I sat down.

"Now that we are all present I can begin. Welcome to physics. While this is a super school, you must still have fundamental ordinary education in order to function in the mundane world. In case most of you haven't figured out yet, everyone's not cut out to be a hero. So this class will not only teach you to understand the workings of the natural world around you, it is also here as an option for a respected career field. The only thing you should know about me as a teacher is that I loathe having conversations with morons, so for today outline chapter one and then maybe we'll talk. Do this quietly or there will be a seat in detention with your name on it."

For the next 15 minutes, we all read quietly while Mr. Plow, our oh so lovable physics teacher, skimmed through Super Vixen Weekly. After I finished reading the chapter, I looked over at my partner. Her ocean blue eyes avidly floated over the pages of a worn copy of A Study in Scarlet.

"Hey is that any good," I whisphered.

"If this is your attempt at starting a conversation, go ahead and give up now because everyone knows that Sherlock Holmes, written the genius that is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is the greatest detective, fictional and non-fictional, ever to grace the pages of a book. Try starting with introducing yourself. I hear that's all the rage in Paris,"she droned.

"Well, my name is-"

"That was sarcasm,"she interrupted not looking up from her book, "I don't actually care what your name is. I just need to know one thing."

"Yeah what is it?"

"Are you a freeloader?" She looked me in the eye.

"What?" I am thouroughly confused.

"Are you the type to just let a person do all the work and then take partial credit if not all. If so, please say so now. I don't like wasting my time when I could be reading."

"Um, no," I answered.

"Good, I guess that's enough friendly conversation for one day," she said going back to her book. That was friendly conversation? I should probably avoid her bad side like the plague. The bell rang signaling the end of the day, and everyone raced for the exit. I walked to my locker feeling oddly content. I just completed my first day of high school without any major mishaps, forgetting the fact that I would have to fight Mr. Danger tomorrow, things seemed to be looking up. So when I got off the bus, I started whistling that horridly catch tune of Katrina and the Waves' Walking on Sunshine.

"What's got you in such a good mood," my mom called from the kitchen. The smell of spicy Italian spaghetti filled my nostrils and I unthinkingly gravitated to the kitchen.

"Oh nothing. I just had a good first day," I smiled,and she cocked an eyebrow

"Do I know her name?"she questioned. Oddly enough, sarcasm girl flashed through my mind.

"There's no girl. I just had a really good day. Where's dad?" I didn't get a chance to answer because my sister Lora ran into the room and immediately latched onto my leg.

"Hi JD. How was school? Did you have fun? What did you bring me? I missed you." I looked up at my mom.

"So much energy the little one has." I commented. Mom laughed.

"To answer your many many questions, Miss Lora Grey, School was great. I met new people. Yes I had fun, and no I didn't bring you anything this time." I was smart enough to remember to say this time. She loves gifts.

"Okay. You'll play bear family with me before bed, right?"

"Absolutely." I answered and she skipped out of the room.

Two minutes later the phone rang. Mom put the lid on the finished spaghetti, and picked up.

"Hello, Grey residence... Oh hey, sweetheart how are you... I'm great...yeah what is it... what...NO, Jack we are not doing this again...you promised...I don't give a damn about what they want... fine, I can see that you've already made up your mind, goodbye." When she hung up, she had tears in her eyes.

"Julius, make sure your sister gets something to eat." she swept out of the room. A few moments later, I heard the door slam. I made Lora a plate and put it in the microwave. Afterward, I went into the living room to wait for my dad, because I needed an explanation. I always hate seeing my mother cry, and especially when it's my dad that causes it. Half an hour later, he walked through the door. He had a tired grim look on his face, his black neck tie loosened with top button unbuttoned, which are usually tell-tell signs of a stressful day at the D.S.A. office. He took one look at my annoyed expectant expression,put his briefcase on the floor and sat down next to me rubbing his dark coffee brown eyes tiredly.

"How was your day kid?"

"Get to the point, dad." I was in no mood for pleasantries. He let a deep sigh, and said the last thing that I expected or wanted to hear.

"My superhero status has been reactivated. I'm coming out of retirement." After a few moments of shocked silence, I jumped out of my seat and stormed out the front door. 'I need to get away from this' was my last thought before I gathered all of the energy within me and pushed off into the late night sky.