Sorry it's a short one. I have a hard time putting on paper what is running through my head. Tell me what you think and I'll be more inclined to make the next chapter longer.

CHAPTER 3

POWER PLACEMENT CONT.

Gym…

Boomer called the next name on his list. "Peace." He called. Those who were paying close attention could have heard a slight tremor in his voice. A murmur ran through the gathered group of parents. Some knew the name and remembered their own tortuous moments in high school thanks to the man who bore that name. Others shivered at the memory of a certain hero gone off the deep end. But more than anything there was curiosity.

All eyes turned to see a tall, slim woman dressed in a crisp business suit elegantly rise from the bleachers where she sat. She walked proudly and gracefully up to the platform. Her movements were precise and there was no mistake that there was power and danger hidden in her lithe frame. Her shoes made no sound on the gym floor or the metal steps as she mounted them. Her gaze was harsh and calculating. Boomer couldn't help but involuntarily gulp as she looked at him. "So that's where the kid gets it from." He thought.

"Your powers?" Boomer managed to stutter out.

Not wanting to give away all her secrets, she settled on the power that she had already used that day. "I shadow walk." Many in the crowd were surprised by her crisp accent. And all were confused at her words.

"That anything like teleporting?" Boomer asked, having never heard of it before he was confused.

"No." was her succinct reply. "I use the spaces between light and dark to step through space-time. It's a bit more complicated than your small brain can handle." There was an undercurrent of steel in her falsely sweet voice.

"Could you please demonstrate your power?" Boomer managed to stutter out. Her gaze was unnerving him.

She tilted her head, thinking of the most probable location of her son, and quickly ran through the complicated quantum calculations that would allow her to safely move through the fabric of space-time. Of course no one watching could know that. All they saw was her outstretched hand and the gathering shadows around it. When the pool of shifting shadows was sufficiently large she lowered her hand, briefly glanced at the crowd of parents and a pointed look at Boomer and stepped through the shifting shadows, head held high.

There were gasps of astonishment when she and the swirling shadows disappeared.

Homeroom 210…

"…For a general Kerr-Newman black hole of given mass, the electric charge and the angular momentum both have upper limits. They are constrained by a relation ensuring the existence of the event horizon. If this constraint is violated…" (Black Holes. Jean-Pierre Luminet. University of Cambridge. 1987. P158)

Warren was rather annoyed that his attempt to deepen his understanding of life, the universe and everything was interrupted yet again; this time by startled gasps and shrieks of fear. "Now what?" he thought.

He glanced up from his rather fascinating book to find his mother staring right back at him. Needless to say he was startled. But all the student population of homeroom 210 saw was a slight widening of his eyes immediately followed by a crinkling of his brow. "What are you doing here?" his deep voice was lined with slight confusion and had an undertone of panic.

"Demonstrating my powers." She replied glancing around the room. "That man is far too easy to intimidate." Warren raised an eyebrow at that comment.

"So that means you'll be leaving now?" he said hopefully. She returned her attention to her son.

"I'm not that embarrassing, am I?" she asked with a crooked grin, her eyes alight with mischief. He just stared at her. She daintily snorted. Well it wasn't really a snort, but it wasn't a scoff either, but it was dainty.

"Very well." She said. "Just remember, you're stuck with me for the rest of the day." She raised her hand to open another shadow window and stepped through.

Warren rolled his eyes and shook his head at his mother's antics. She was pissed at the local super community and wasn't too thrilled with the school district. She had asked him earlier this semester if he wanted to transfer out. After all, he already knew all he needed to know about the powers he was allowed to use at this school. That and the current curriculum did nothing to prepare a student for college with normal people, or survival in the real world for that matter. But she had been less insistent ever since he had mentioned the ever persistent group of freshmen that were doing everything in their power to invade his personal life. Funny that.

"T-t-that…t-t-that was…" some random student started stuttering.

Warren skewered him with his patent pending death glare, daring the kid to give away his mother's super identity. The kid looked like he was going to pee his pants. He swept his gaze over the rest of the room. Satisfied that none of the student population was going to comment on the occurrence, he returned to his book.

"If this constraint is violated – for example by the gravitational collapse of a massive star…" (Black Holes. Jean-Pierre Luminet. University of Cambridge. 1987. P158)

…

Homeroom 110

"Who do you think Boomer was yelling at?" Ethan asked.

"Can we like, play a different game?" Zack whiningly asked.

"Shut up and give me your 5." Magenta answered.

"I'm sure we'll find out soon enough." Layla said.

"Does anyone know what Warren's mom's super name is?" Will asked.

The entire room looked at him genuinely puzzled.

"I never asked." Layla said.

"She does look kind of familiar." Ethan said.

"Maybe that's because Warren looks like her?" Zack finally handed over his 5.

"No, he definitely looks like his dad." Will said, "I had to sit through a year book reminisce session with my parents and Gwen. The hair is different though."

"Do you think he dies the streaks in?" Magenta asked.

…

Gym

Of course she couldn't go straight back to the gym. She made a quick stop in her kitchen and picked up a bagel with cream cheese and a tall glass of orange juice, and then went back to the gym.

Boomer and the crowd of parents stood frozen with mild shock and confusion, staring at the spot where the swirling mass of shadows had been.

"What are you all staring at?" the question floated through the gym in an amused British accent.

Half the parent population gathered jumped and powered up, the other half nearly fainted of fright. They all turned in the direction the question originated from.

Mrs. Peace sat daintily on the bleachers, sipping a tall glass of orange juice. "My aren't you a jumpy bunch."

It took them all a moment to process what was happening. With blinks and shrugs those who had powered up, powered down, and Boomer cleared his throat trying to gather everyone's attention again. Once everyone was looking at him again, he managed to say; "Yes, well…Hero."

There was an awkward pause. Boomer looked down at his list.

"Mackalink" he shouted a little louder than other names. He was annoyed at being so easily cowed. Besides which, he only had 10 minutes to finish up the rest of them.