Location: Wilbur and Hiro's Dorm Room
Friday came quickly. Almost everyone was looking forward to watching a movie. True, a lot of them have seen it, but it was a nice break from their training and school work and a good enough excuse to stay up past curfew.
"How many dates have you been on before?" Wilbur questioned as he watched Hiro throw his clothes out from his closet. The boy, was currently covered only in a towel wrapped around his waist.
"Is it obvious it's my first one?" Hiro looked up from his closet to Wilbur.
"Kinda is." Wilbur nodded. "You're worse than Tallulah during fashion week."
To say he was nervous was an understatement.
"What do people even wear on dates?!"
"It's a movie. Just wear what you usually wear. She's not going to care." Wilbur advised.
"And how may dates have you been on, since you seem like an expert?" Hiro frowned.
"A few. And can't your genius brain help you out or is love a topic that's out of it's reach?"
"I get robotics and physics easily. But girls?" He threw his hands in the air dramatically.
"Hey. You're already going on a date with her. You don't need to impress her. And be yourself. Violet's clearly into that. So why do you gotta try so hard?"
"Maybe because she's perfect and I'm not." Hiro sighed.
"She wouldn't have considered going out with you if she didn't think the same about you. So go and put a shirt on and go enjoy your date."
Even if Wilbur was trying to help, Hiro couldn't help the butterflies in his stomach. It was his first real date. He didn't know how these things went. Still, he was going out with Violet and it couldn't be different than the other times they've interacted? Could it?
"Speaking of dates, aren't you suppose to be meeting Penny in a few minutes?" Hiro reminded as he threw a shirt over himself.
"You worry about your date and I'll worry about mine." was all Wilbur said before rushing out the door.
Location: Violet and Penny's Dorm Room
"Can you believe that guy?!" Penny said annoyed as she paced around their room. Violet remained sitting on her bed, her head moving side to side, following her roommate and best friend.
"But I thought you wanted to go out with him?" Violet said. She would've understood if she was the one mad at Wilbur, but with the way Penny had been crushing on him, the invisible super wasn't sure she followed.
"He thinks we're going on a date. We're just studying. I know I said all dates are official, but this doesn't count. I only said that because you and Hiro clearly liked each other and were so oblivious to it."
"Isn't that technically the same thing?" Violet stated. "I mean you and Wilbur obviously like each other and you're hanging out together, alone."
"I..." Penny froze mid sentence. "Maybe I'm mad that he didn't ask me straightforward and used a bet to do it." she sighed and sat down on her own bed.
Violet got up from her bed and joined her. "You're making over a big deal over a science study date. And if you really want to get back at him for using your words against you, just ignore his advances and show him it's not a date date." Violet smirked. She grew up with two brothers and she knew that most guys would get annoyed if their actions didn't affect others.
"So what? If he makes a move I..."
"Push him away." Violet motioned. "Then he'll probably get the hint that he needs to try harder to go on a date with you."
Location: School Hallway
Both Wilbur and Penny met in the hallway leading up to the library.
"You ready for our date, milady?" he smirked, putting his hand against the wall, blocking the red head's way.
"Funny that you still think this is an actual date." Penny ducked under his arm and walked away with her nose in the air.
Wilbur blinked at her and ran to catch up. "Hey, you're the one who said-"
"I know what I said." She interrupted. "But in order for that saying to work, there needs to be mutual feelings between the two." she told him matter of factly.
"I thought we did like each other?" he asked confused.
"I suppose you thought wrong." she walked ahead quickly so he couldn't see her smirking and only saw her back.
"Why do I suspect the feeling that you're trying to teach me a lesson?"
"Think all you want, but this is not a date Wilbur Robinson." she glared at him. "It's simply two friends helping each other out with their school work. Nothing else. If you want a date with me, you'll have to do it the old fashion way and ask me straight up."
Wilbur smirked at Penny's words, which turned her scowl into a look of confusion. "So I take it you do want me to ask you out and you said that in order for it to be a date, there needs to be mutual feelings. So in conclusion, you do like me and I like you, therefore, this study date is in fact an actual date."
Penny looked at him wide-eyed. Why did he keep twisting her words around? She cleared her throat. "The mutual feeling may disappear if you keep this up." she crossed her arms.
"Why do you want me to ask you out, first? Not saying I wouldn't, but if you don't want to wait for me, why don't you just ask?"
"I..I don't know. Maybe because I don't know how to ask." She wasn't sure. True, she could've just asked him, but she thought it was his game to come in and ask her at the right moment.
"It's not that hard." he smirked. "All it takes is some courage and finding the right person."
"Okay. If that's all it takes why haven't you asked me?"
"Because every date I've ever been on never goes well. You know how it is, people know who you are and only know you from how you appear and that's the person they go for. Not the actual person underneath. Doesn't that happen to you?"
She supposed she could understand that. But as far as relating to him, not so much. "Honestly. No." she shook her head. "I've had a few admirers, but then I get the usual question of "why did you leave Bolt?" and it looks like that's al they care about." she rolled her eyes.
Wilbur placed his finger on his chin and nodded. "Since Hiro and Violet are going together to the movie. How about we accompany each other and you can decide if it's a date or not?"
"Are you asking me or afraid of rejection?"
"You could go alone without anyone's company"
"It's a date." Penny smiled.
"Now how about we get to our study date?" he placed his hand on the library door.
"Oh no." she placed a finger on his lips. "This is still not a date. You're just a friend helping me with my homework." she then removed her finger and walked in.
"As long as I get to spend time with you, I'll pretend it's not an official date." he shrugged and decided to go with it.
Location: School Theatre
He was sweating. Yup, definitely sweating. Was he shaking?
"It's a movie. Not your wedding day." Wilbur rolled his eyes. It seemed as if their pet talk earlier did nothing to ease his friend's worries. They were both sitting in the theatre, the girls had said they needed to do something first and left.
"I know. But it's the first time I've been to movie and was on a date."
"Sheesh. It's not as different as all the other times you've talked to her and been around her. And if you wanna hold her hand or something, let instinct tell you. Vi might be rough around the edges, but I can tell she's the type for cheesy, romantic stuff."
"And what makes you think that?"
"Okay, her brother told me. That's how she was with her last boyfriend. They were doing all those cheesy stuff. Hand holding, giggling in each other's presence. All that jazz."
"So you're saying I should hold her hand?"
"Only if you think you should."
After a few minutes the girls came back with popcorn and drinks.
"Can't have a movie without popcorn." Violet smiled.
"And drinks." Penny said, carrying those boxed cup holders that held their drinks.
"You even brought a packet of malteasers?" Wilbur asked, seeing the bag of chocolates Violet held.
"Yeah. Hope you don't mind I mix them into the popcorn? It's a family habit." she shrugged.
"Strange. But I think it's cute you have a family thing." Hiro smiled at her and it seemed to make her blush.
The two couples sat next to each other as the film began. As the film went on, Hiro found himself getting a bit more relaxed around Violet. She wasn't that much different. She was into the movie and he smiled when he saw her light up.
Even Wilbur and Penny were having a good time. They were having a little popcorn fight, that caused Hiro and Violet to move a little away from them, since the two were getting annoyed by the popcorn that missed their target and got them instead.
"Look's like you've got yourself a popcrown." Wilbur joked.
"Now that was cheesy." Penny rolled her eyes.
"You had one job. You were suppose to say it was popcorny." Wilbur feigned disappointment. That got him a couple of popcorns thrown at him.
The two probably got more popcorn on each other than in their mouths.
With the other couple. Violet remained intrigued with the film and Hiro continued to make glances at her. He lit up when she laughed at the funny parts. One scene they both reached for their malteaser/popcorn at the same time. Hiro pulled away awkwardly, nervously laughing and rubbing the back of his head.
Violet had simply smiled at him. He was nervous. She noticed how jittery he was during the whole thing. That's exactly how she felt on her first date. To ease him, she took hold of his hand, making him blink confused. She turned it over so his palm was opened and placed a few malteasers and popcorn.
"It's just me. Don't need to be nervous." she whispered.
Hiro looked at the food in his hand and then back at her smiling face. She was right. Violet wouldn't have decided to go out with him if she didn't like him and just because they chose to step up in their relationship, it didn't change who they were.
Hiro then smiled at her and popped the food in his mouth. Grinning. Violet had to hold back a laugh as she could see the stains on his teeth. There was even a kernel stuck between the gap in his two front teeth.
Location: Unknown
Movie night was a success. The four didn't dwell on being a couple much. As far as they saw it, it was just a first date. They continued hanging as friends and, well...none of them really moved their relationships forward. There were a few kisses on the cheek and moments alone together. But that was it.
Dash had heard of his sister's new boyfriend and while he thought Hiro was a huge nerd, he approved. But he did threaten Hiro that if he hurt his sister, he would run so fast around him until he stopped breathing. Hiro promised he wouldn't. But it was funny seeing Dash get jealous at Wilbur and Penny.
But while all the kids were enjoying themselves and also balancing out school work, none of the knew of the threat moving in, closer and closer each day. As far as they knew, they were safe.
So many young supers all in one place. It was all of the next generation of supers and it was all gift wrapped for her to take. No doubt the place would be full of security, but that'd be no problem for her.
Soon, all supers will pay.
Location: Division 1.6, Field Training, Sector B
Being a super meant your powers were both a talent and apart of who you were. To lose them would be like losing a limb and overusing them made you exhausted, like as if you were running a marathon. The more you used them, the better you'd get, but pushing yourself would have consequences. But for a bunch of kids still developing their abilities, it wasn't always easy to grasp that concept.
Fun times were over and know training was getting intense.
For the simulation, they were required to wear a sort of black padded suit. It made owing around easier and anyone with hair below their shoulders were told to tie their hair up. Violet had her hair up in a bun and Penny simply tied it into a pony tail as her hair wasn't long enough.
It didn't matter if they used their powers or not, everyone was struggling in today's lesson. The whole apocalyptic scenario was intense. If you were hit, you'd be ejected from the simulation and sent to sit on the bench and watch the rest of the class. You practically didn't want to be the first one out, but a lot of people were shot in the first second that they were spared from that shame alone.
Hiro, Penny, Wilbur and Violet hid behind some debris. Hiro was peeking up and saw masked soldiers taking each of their classmates out one by one. He then came back down and discussed strategies with his friends.
"All we have to do is survive until the timer runs out." Wilbur reminded. They still had a good ten minutes left.
"But we're suppose to go out and attack." Violet said.
"Let's be realistic though." Wilbur told her. "If we were in this situation in real life we'd hide and only attack if we have to."
"Tell that to Moran." Penny said. "He'd just call us cowards for hiding."
"This is the one time you don't suggest to simply take them out?" Violet turned questioningly to Wilbur.
"This is school." Wilbur said. "No one is really monitoring you in the real world."
"So you're saying that once we're out there, you're gonna kick first and forget about asking questions?" Violet said in disbelief.
"Pretty much."
"Guys! We can worry about real world scenarios later. Right now let's worry about passing this class." Hiro stopped the two before they'd argue more.
"Alright nerd. You're our unelected leader." Wilbur gave a two finger salute.
"I'd rather follow him than you." Violet said.
"Of course you would." Wilbur teased and moved out of the way before she could hit him.
Penny just rolled her eyes and then turned to Hiro. "Let's get back to working out that plan."
"You four!" Moran's voice echoed. "Quit hiding like a bunch of sissies and get out of there!" He ordered and their hiding spot suddenly disappeared, leaving them exposed to the enemy.
Violet quickly brought up a forcefield over them as the simulated guards began shooting them. "You better come up with a plan quick, cause I can't hold this up forever!" She said to her team.
"We're suppose to hold up until the timer runs out." Hiro said, trying to process something.
"Oh sure. I'm sure Violet wouldn't mind holding a field up for another five minutes." Wilbur sarcastically.
"Couldn't...even if I wanted to." Violet said through clenched teeth. Moran was purposefully making the guards stronger.
"Just hold it a little bit longer." Hiro told her.
"Okay. But make it quick."
Hiro turned back to Wilbur and Penny. "How real are your illusions?" Hiro asked, eyeing Penny.
"Real enough that they can feel it. But it's just in their heads. After a while they'll start to feel fine again."
"Does that work on simulated people?" Wilbur questioned.
"They're designed to be like real people. Meaning if we inflict pain on them, they'll feel it." Hiro explained. "Anyway, Penny try create an illusion that makes them feel vertigo. They'll lose balance and it'll give Wilbur a chance to short circuit their weapons. I'll try to use my powers to trap them. That should hold them out until the timer runs out."
"Great plan, but are you sure you can pull this off? You can barely lift a pencil without getting a headache afterwards." Wilbur said.
He was getting better at using his abilities, but he was still struggling with them as well. Wilbur was exaggerating with floating pencils giving him a headache. He got over that, but if it was a large object, then yeah, a headache was definitely going to hit him hard.
"I'll... manage." He told them, but they didn't fail to notice he hesitated.
"Guys!" Violet yelled.
"Okay. Now!" Hiro ordered and once Violet let go of her forcefield, Hiro pulled her out of the way and Penny sent an illusion only visible to the guards and soon they were swaying back and forth, then finally falling to the ground.
"You're up, Wil." Hiro said.
Wilbur cracked his knuckles and sent bolts electricity through the ground and towards the guards. Blowing their guns out and anything else he could. He made sure to avoid the grenades and anything else that could set off a large explosion.
"Weapons out." He announced.
"Are you sure about this?" Violet asked Hiro and he didn't fail to notice the concern in her voice.
"It's only class, Vi."
"A class that forces us to use more than our full potential." She reminded.
"I'll be fine." He told her, but he was trying more to reassure himself.
"It's look like they're coming to." Penny said. "It's now or never, Hiro."
Hiro released Violet and got up. He used the surrounding debris and formed a sort of cage around the guards. Already he was starting to feel shaky, but he needed to do this.
"Hiro!" Violet called out. "Don't push yourself!"
"Call off the simulation!" Wilbur called out to no one in particular, but he was sure Moran could hear him.
Not wanting to see him struggle anymore, Violet threw a small forcefield his way. It wouldn't hurt him much, but it would knock him out of the game. "Sorry about this." She said, clearly not wanting to do it, but he was pushing himself and if she didn't do anything soon, he'd definitely pass out or worse.
Hiro fell to the ground and disappeared. The rocky cage he formed crumbled down and since the guards already recovered they didn't hesitate to throw a grenade their way. As soon as the smoke cleared, they were back in the simulation room.
Looking at the timer, they still had a second left. So close.
"I didn't realise I had a class of sissies." Moran said. "The Division 0.9 did way better!"
"Couldn't you see he was struggling?!" Wilbur spoke out, gesturing to Hiro, who looked pretty exhausted.
"You speaking without permission, Robinson?" Moran glared at Wilbur.
He bit his lip. He was mad that the guy was pushing everyone's limits. They weren't soldiers. This class was fun, but now it was getting way too much. Especially for his friend. He knew Hiro was struggling with using his powers. He didn't have their advantage of knowing about their abilities and were able to learn how to control them.
"If you have something to say, please do." Moran allowed him.
"No sir. I spoke out of line. I won't do it again." The guy wasn't worth it and he knew it would only get them in more trouble if he did.
"Just so you all know. Everyone of you failed today's lesson." He told them. "None of you made it to the objective. Your goal was to survive the whole hour in the simulation. We will keep on doing it until you all survive the apocalypse."
That sure made them bummed out. It was hard the second it started. The ones who lasted longer were either smart enough to hide fire, got lucky and had some shield protecting them from the first string of fire or they were stronger with their powers. Hiro had survived as long as he did because he teamed up with his friends and all of them were pretty confident with their abilities. Of course he did throw the occasional attack, but they were small compared to what they could do.
"Dismissed." Moran said, ending the lesson.
Violet had ran to Hiro the minute she saw him after the simulation and came to his side. His nose was bleeding and he quickly wiped it with his sleeve. He gave one quick glance at Violet and then turned away. She knew he was hating her at the moment.
Wilbur came over and helped him up. They were exhausted and glad it was the last lesson of the day. He pitied whoever got them first lesson tomorrow because he knew they were going to be exhausted and Wilbur was glad they did their homework straight away because he wouldn't be able to focus on it tonight.
Location: Violet and Penny's Dorm Room
They had removed their uniforms and changed back to their regular clothes. Penny immediately dropped onto her bed and sighed. "Relaxation at last." It would've been better if Bolt was here with her, but she was thankful for a comfortable bed. Made sense after their last lesson of the day.
"I'm not sure I'm in the mood to relax." Violet walked past and headed to the bathroom, undoing her hair and washing her face.
Penny sat up and looked towards the unlocked door of their bathroom.
"You did what you had to. He would've been in the nurse's office if you didn't put him out." Penny assured.
"I know I had to, but the look on his face. He looked upset."
"He'll get over it. Hiro will eventually understand why you did it."
"But I can't keep doing it. Eventually he'll have to push his limits. What if it is our only option in the real world?" She groaned and sat forcefully on her bed.
Penny got up and sat beside her friend. "Don't be so dramatic. That's my job. I'm the actor here, remember?" She joked and managed to get a small laugh out of Violet. "And don't let Moron get to your head. He seems to think we'll be going solo, but we're a team. We stick together."
"I think you've been spending too much time with Wilbur if you're starting to refer to sergeant as Moron."
"Doesn't change the fact that he is his alternate name sake."
Since day one of that class, everyone adapted to calling him that name behind his back. The guy was harsh. While all them knew he was use to army protocol, he didn't always seem fair. Today was an indication. It wasn't a mystery Hiro struggled with his abilities. He was only able to hold himself in half the time they could. Maybe less, but that kid was stubborn.
"Maybe I should go talk to him? Just to see if he's okay."
"Curfew is still a few hours away. So I don't see why not. Plus, he's probably pretty bummed out about all this." Penny said.
Location: Wilbur and Hiro's Dorm Room
"Dude, you okay?" Wilbur asked as they entered their room.
Hiro didn't answer. Super classes weren't like robotics. He understood how a robot worked easily. But himself, it just didn't work.
When he received no reply, Wilbur didn't try asking or initiating further conversation. He knew there wasn't really much he could say.
"I think I'll just clear my head." Was all Hiro said and left the room before Wilbur could remind him of curfew. He hadn't been walking long when he saw Violet heading his way.
"Hey." She forced a smile. "Got a minute?"
He currently had all the time in the world, but there was that part of him that didn't want the girl's company.
Violet didn't seem to wait for an answer. "Hey, I'm sorry for what happen earlier." she spoke out.
"I failed because of you." he said. "People like me don't fail."
"That's why you're mad at me? Maybe you forgot, but I threw everyone's grade at the cost of you, including mine." she fought to hold back the tears that were forcing their way out.
"I didn't ask you to. I could've handled it."
"That's where you're wrong!" she blurted out. "You were one second from passing out and if I didn't knock you out first, you would've failed anyway, but you'd be sent to the nurse's office. So if you want an apology, I'm sorry you failed one class, I'm sorry I thought more about your wellbeing than a mark on a piece of paper!" Violet yelled.
"It would've been better if I never was a super. I had a normal life before this. Things were finally working out for me, then this whole super thing ruins it."
"Sorry this whole thing interrupted your normal life. But you should be grateful you had a normal life. None of us ever had that. You have no idea what it's like to know that what makes you special, the whole world hates you for it. That if you slip up, you're forced to start over. You got what we wanted. I get it, it sucks that you found out the way you did, but at least you didn't have the worries we had growing up." she finished.
Maybe normal was a huge understatement. Especially for him. What normal person excelled so much in school that they graduated in their early teens and then attended college, becoming a powerless superhero. He was a superhero, but he didn't have powers. He just used his smarts, then again, his smarts were apparently superhuman the whole time.
"Don't turn this into a sorry excuse to tell your deepest desire to be normal. You've never been normal, so you don't know what it's like." It wasn't until he finished, Hiro had realised what he said. She was trying to help, but he made it seem like she was making it about herself.
"I..." he stuttered.
"Don't bother." she shook her head.
"I didn't mean it like that." he tried to tell her.
"I know exactly what you meant. So shut up before you say anything else." with that Violet walked passed him, not even looking back. Hiro watched after her and he felt worse when he saw his other two friends there. They had apparently been there the whole time.
"Come on, guys. You know I didn't mean to..."
"Hey, what do we know, we're not normal." Wilbur threw his hands up and followed after Violet.
Hiro turned to Penny and she looked like she was about to say something.
"I know you didn't mean it to hurt, but it does. Especially for Vi." She said to him.
"She's not going to forgive me, is she?" Why would she? He knew there was a part of Violet that desired to be normal and he just threw that into her face. Oh, he was a great boyfriend. Not.
"She'll get over it. Give her some time."
"I always do this. I let my emotions get in the way and I do something stupid and hurtful."
"There's your reality check. Normal, super. We all do stupid things. We hurt people. Everyone thinks we're all so different, when we're not. Yeah, we got these skills beyond the normal human being, but that's about it. Deep down, we're all the same." Penny placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's also human nature to forgive."
Hiro glanced up at her and gave a small smile. "I guess you're right. But..." he looked down the hall where Violet went down. "...I don't think now's the time to find her. I'm the last person she wants to see."
"Then tell her tomorrow. She'll coming running to her superHiro." Penny teased.
Hiro was about to comment on that nickname when the lights suddenly began flickering and large sounds were being made above them. It was still a bit early for lights out. Even the usual patrol guards hadn't come out to make sure everyone was in their rooms. Something was wrong.
AN: CLIFFY!
Two chapters on here. I did upload the previous chapter earlier on Wattpad. Sorry, I took my time here. But hope you enjoy.
And the Malteasers/popcorn mixing thing. It's a thing between my family and I. I had too.
Since I left a clue about the villain on Wattpad, I'll do it here too.
The villain has some relation to one of the minor characters in one of the four's films.
Read, Enjoy, Review!