I was awoken rudely this morning. Someone had replicated a collar that looked almost like mine and a pair of underwear that I’ve never seen before and hung them on the handle of my room door. There was also a note that said, “Busy getting laid, don’t bother.” Of course, the UCH has strict rules against that sort of activity among the students, and Snow and I obey that rule….even against our own urges. But, Coach Thrasher was not amused. He yelled the rules at me for about ten minutes and then stomped off. I didn’t say anything, knowing it would probably not have gotten through the barrage of yelling, but I could smell Green Scream all over that stuff being shoved in my face. I can handle some good-humored pranks, and even some rude taunting, but trying to get me in trouble is going too far. I don’t know what to do, but I'm going to do something.
Bark set down some weights and stood up to check his physique in the mirror. He really didn't need to lift weights, but he liked having bigger muscles now and then. Snow always noticed and that was enough for him. Right now the gym was empty; this early in the day, most students were still getting ready or eating breakfast. Bark had eaten and was waiting to head to the museum for his first class.
It came as a bit of a surprise that he heard clanking coming from another part of the gym. Someone else must have been working out. Following the sounds, he found a rather beefy man in brown and green tights and cape lifting weights. Bark had never seen this man before.
“Hello,” Bark's voice box greeted the other muscle builder.
The man put down the weights and looked around with deer-in-the-headlights eyes. “Oh, I'm sorry, was I not supposed to be using this?”
Bark smiled. “It's okay. The gym is open for everyone while class isn't going on in here.”
“Wow, is that dog collar talking for you?” The muscular man sat up and looked at Bark’s neck.
Bark resisted the urge to frown. “Yes, but it really isn't a dog collar. It's just a....collar.” He really didn't know what else to call it, but he refused to call it a dog collar.
“Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. I just thought...oh, how stupid of me.” The man’s nerves were as tight as Bark’s were when he first arrived.
Bark smiled. “It's okay. I'm sort of a dog. You must be new here. What is your name?”
“Uh...Arx.” It took a moment for the name to register.
Bark cocked his head. “Arx? That's an interesting name.”
Arx stood up, taking a moment to untangle his cape from the bench that was refusing to let him go. “Well, it's not my real name. My name is Colin, but I chose Arx because it means ‘stronghold’ in Latin.”
Bark smiled. “My name is Joshua, but everyone calls me Bark – which is an obvious hero name, I know. Why stronghold?”
Colin fingered around the neckline of his suit, not quite used to it yet. “Well, it’s sort of how I discovered my power. You see, I was in the military working in Afghanistan. There was a bomb and I jumped on it to save my unit. It exploded and I was thrown through the roof of the building we were in. But I wasn't hurt. The people attacking us fired round after round and they all just bounced off of me. I discovered I'm impenetrable. It saved my unit and they started calling me The Stronghold of the Military. So, I picked Arx. It's kinda cool.” There was a level of naivety about Colin, but also an obvious strength.
Bark nodded. “Yeah, it's cool. I got my name from my girlfriend. She said it was either Bark or Rover, and I'm glad she picked Bark.”
Colin was laughing now. “Yeah, Bark is better. Why did you let your girlfriend choose for you?”
Bark wouldn't admit this to most people, but this Arx seemed like he needed someone to be friends with. So, he told the story of how he was found by Snow and that she considered that since she brought home the dog, she should get to name him. Colin was astonished and mesmerized by the whole story.
“Wow, your girlfriend is THE Snow?!” He looked around to make absolutely certain that no one heard this but Bark. “Can you get me her autograph? I've wanted to ask her when I see her out in the mess and stuff, but, she's like famous and I...I just thought, you know, she's tired of people asking.”
Bark laughed and said, “Sure.” He could see that Colin was relaxing and Bark knew how tense and uncomfortable the first days here could be. So he conversed. “That is a nice costume, kind of classic. I like the little castle emblem on the chest.”
Colin looked down to his chest where there was a gray shield with a silhouette of a castle on it. “It's a stronghold. I'm glad I got to pick the colors and this emblem. I'm not so sure about having to wear this suit everywhere. I feel almost naked.”
Bark scoffed. “Naked! Look at what they make me wear.”
Colin snickered. “Okay, you win.”
Bark had a thought. “So, when I was transformed my muscles were bulked up. Did your powers cause you to grow big muscles too?”
Colin shook his head, then put his hands together and flexed his chest. “I was a body builder long before I got powers. I spent most of my off time in the military working out. That’s kinda why I'm in here today. It's comfortable.”
Bark was impressed. “So, uh, could you help me build bigger muscles? I know that I don't really have to work out that much, but I do like the way Snow looks at me.”
Colin gave Bark a knowing smile. “So, being almost naked does have its advantages.”
Bark looked away with a coy nod. “At times.”
Colin shrugged. “I could give you some tips, but I won't be here much longer. The general assigned me to train with the military detachment of the UCH in Australia. Apparently my previous experience in the military bumped me up a little.”
“Crud.” Bark’s collar stated and his eyes widened as he hadn’t meant to say that aloud.
Colin frowned, “Crud? Why?”
Bark explained, “I just thought we could be friends. I don’t have a lot of friends around here.”
“Really? You seem to be a nice guy.”
Bark huffed, “There are a lot of juvenile minded people here who see me as a target for teasing. Some days it’s like the only person who likes me and won’t be mean to me is Snow and Spark.”
Colin stood up and put a kind hand on Barks shoulder, “Listen, bullies make people feel very lonely. I bet you have more people who like you than you realize.”
“I bet you’re right.” Bark gave Colin a funny look, “Where did you learn all that?”
“I spent a summer working as a camp counselor. It takes some real people skills to get a whole bunch of kids working together and not killing each other.”
Just then a buzzer sounded in the gym and the computer announced, “Classes will begin in five minutes.”
Colin gasped. “Oh crud, I meant to find a map to the orientation class. I'm going to be late.”
Bark waved a hand at him, “Let an experienced student help. Come on.” They ran to get to the orientation classroom, which was on the other side of the station. Bark might be late to his first class, but he knew that Colin would feel worse about being late to the very first class of his UCH career.
***
“Okay, we're going into the museum now. I want you all to shut up and listen. I don’t want to have to talk over any of ya brats. Come on!” Red Fury wasn’t known for tact, but he was a good teacher. He inspired fear among his students.
Bark followed the crowd. Next to him was one of the reasons why he loved this class so much. Snow and Bark held hands and walked together like a couple of teenagers in the halls of their high school. Fortunately for Bark, Snow hadn’t taken the class yet and this gave them something to do together. Otherwise, they only saw each other during the training sessions and after class.
The class walked into a large, highly secure room that was designed a lot like an indoor zoo, only the wild animals here were weapons of mass destruction. Behind thick Plexiglas windows, highly charged force fields, invisible laser sensor nets, and hi-def video s
urveillance cameras were huge guns, gauntlets, and other devices that once wrecked the day of the on-duty superhero.
The first one that Bark and Snow could see was a bronze-colored pair of gauntlets that were covered in strange computer components. One could easily see long, thin cords with piercing needles on the inside. These gauntlets not only went over the hands and forearms, but they burrowed deep into the tissue to give whoever was wearing them more control.
“Move it, furbag.” Green Scream’s sour tone crept up behind Snow and Bark. The boy walked between them to break their handhold. He almost pushed Bark over as he passed to get a better look at the gauntlets.
Bark snarled and his voice box said, “Expletive disallowed.” This, of course, made Snow snicker. The device Dr. Stone designed would not let Bark swear, as that was against UCH station rules.
“Oh, don’t worry about him. He is just jealous that you have a girl.” Snow took Bark’s hand again and smiled at him to get him to smile as well.
Bark grinned and his voice box said, “I have the prettiest girl on the station.”
“Ugh, I think I am going to vomit,” Green Scream stated loudly.
“What the hell's going on over here?!” The grisly instructor had approached the group to find out who was talking while he was teaching.
Green Scream spoke before Bark’s box could get the words out. “They're getting all lovey dovey back here while we're trying to listen to you.”
Red Fury glared at Bark and Snow. “Pay attention or you won’t get to fire any weapons during the demonstration later. Now, let me finish about the Gauntlets of Hephaestus.” He walked back over to the first exhibit while Green Scream smirked at Bark. Red Fury explained, “Okay, listen up. These are the Gauntlets of Hephaestus; they were designed by Dr. Gore twenty years ago. They have the ability to bond with the user and give him or her the ability to control metal within a one-kilometer radius. These are extraordinarily dangerous, and they nearly caused a third world war. Fortunately they were stopped by Bastion. Now, onto the hallucinator. This device was used to cause several world leaders to hand over the control of their governments to…” He walked on to talk about the strange head-shaped device that had a huge ruby implanted on the forehead.
Bark and Snow moved on with the group, sticking to the back of the crowd.
“Hey, Bark, take a look at this.” Another student – and Bark’s roommate – waved them over.
Bark and Snow walked over to a section of the museum dedicated to the biological weapons. The majority of the items here were syringes filled with chemicals used for nefarious purposes. The cases were designed with even more protection in the event that what was inside broke and could potentially leak out and hurt someone. Bark immediately sneered when he saw what his friend Rich was pointing at.
“I didn't think they found any of that,” Bark stated.
“This was the only syringe left when they sifted through the rubble in Korea. Is that really what turned you into a dog?” Rich was highly curious about this strange liquid.
Bark shook his head. “Not exactly. The man who turned me into a dog used several other devices to help the process. That is an enhanced formula created by Dr. Khang to do the job without the need of the machinery.”
“What are you doing over here? We aren't studying biochemical weapons until next month,” Red Fury said, walking up behind the three students.
Snow and Rich both became nervous, a natural reaction to Red Fury’s presence. But, Bark was calm, collected, and angry. “Why did they bring that stuff here?” Though his voice box did not yell, Bark’s animated motions indicated his extreme emotion.
Red Fury looked down at the syringe and understood immediately. He waved at the rest of the class to join them. After everyone had gathered around the instructor spoke aloud. “This room is often referred to as the trophy museum, indicating that each item is a prize sought after. That's a bad notion. The repercussions of everything in here are far-spread and horrible. This simple liquid was designed to create the perfect soldier – a soldier for a dark, evil military. But, its only surviving subject is Bark. Its designers killed a lot of people in the process of attempting to perfect their mission, and Bark stopped them with the help of Snow and Instructor Spark. In the end, the only lasting effect was in the creation of a hero. Bark here is the only student at the UCH to have something in this museum about him. I hope you understand the importance of what I just said. His goal wasn't to put this here and we don't want to add trophies to this museum. These trophies represent success of heroes, but they also represent the destruction of property and, worse, the deaths of innocent people. Not one hero who brought something to this museum did so in pride or joy; it all came in with a heavy heart. Now, let's move onto the firing range.”
Bark stood there for a long time looking at that syringe. He heard everything that was said and understood it. How he hated that syringe.
Snow waited a moment for the people to leave before she approached Bark. “What is it?”
Bark closed his eyes. “I can still remember that day so clearly. All those innocent people injected with this. They didn’t ask for it, but I had to…” He had to gather himself against the pain of the memories. “I wish that much of my memory could be destroyed voluntarily. But, I guess I will have to live with it.”
Snow rubbed his shoulder. “It was a hard decision to leave them behind, but that was the only option.”
“I just wish I wasn't the one who closed the hangar doors, locking those people inside to die a horrible death. I killed them, and I don't even know how long it took them to die. What if they suffered? What if they called for help? What if their last thoughts were of the loved ones they would never see again?”
Snow laid her head on his shoulder. “I can't tell you what happened after we left. But, I do know what would've happened if we had let them roam free. They were no longer human; they were monsters driven mad by this serum. The UCH would've been forced to hunt them down one by one. Just imagine what their loved ones would have faced watching the authorities hunt down and kill them. It was a hard decision, but it was the right decision. All heroes have to learn that sometimes the hardest decisions fall upon us at the worst times. I can tell you it never gets any easier, but if we don’t make those decisions the world would be a much more dangerous place.”
Bark was quiet for a while, reliving that moment in his mind over and over. When he thought about it, he realized that it was the right choice. Then he saw a reflection in the glass that made his sorrowful face turn sour.
Green Scream walked up to them and shook his head. “What a load of bull crap. He acted like you were special. I bet I can put a more impressive trophy in here in the first year after I get the hell out of this school. And I won't have to turn into some mutt to do it.”
The sorrow mixed with rage already rolling around Bark’s mind made him want to slam this brat’s head into the glass. His fist was tight and he was just about to swing it when he felt a cold hand holding his arm down.
Snow looked at the green-haired boy. “Why don't you go bother someone else?”
Green Scream smirked at Bark. “How pitiful, defended by your girlfriend.” Before he could go on, he saw a look in Snow’s eyes that said she was willing to put him on ice, and he decided to find the rest of the class.
Bark, who had not made eye contact with his bully, took Snow’s hand and started walking out as well. “You know something, I don't mind having a girlfriend who can scare jerks like that. It's kind of fun. Though, I think I would rather break his jaw instead of letting you freeze him.”
Snow shook her head. “Unfortunately, if either of us truly hurts him, we can get in a lot of trouble. That's why he does this, you know. He bullies us because we really don't have much we can do to him other than tattling. Don't worry, guys like him dig their own graves. He'll get what’s coming to him eventually. We should just focus on doing well in class.”
***<
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A chime rang over the intercom inside several sections of the UCH. Basic classes were over and the students were now free to eat, relax, study, or head to special educational practices. Elective courses were offered so that students could expand their knowledge and/or skills. Snow used this time to work on her more advanced classes, while Bark utilized it to work with his Sensei.
“I can’t stand that green haired jerk He’s a – expletive disallowed,” Bark exclaimed as he and Snow walked through the UCH corridors.
Snow nodded and said, “Whatever you were trying to say, I agree. But, you have to understand that people have problems. Sometimes they don’t even understand why they do what they do. Maybe a dog bit him when he was a kid.”
Bark sneered. “Not funny.”
Snow shook her head. “You know what I mean. He might just be facing some kind of problem, and that causes him to lash out at you.” She always tried to see the better side of people.
“Well, I wish he would talk to a counselor or a shrink or something. I'm getting tired of it. The next time I hear a horrible remark about you or my tail, I'm going to break that oversized jaw of his.”
Snow stopped him. “What did that green-headed jerk say about me?” Her compassionate side vanished.
Bark smiled and gulped; he really didn’t want to repeat it. “Uh, just forget it. It isn’t important to talk about it. Let’s just say that he needs a good lesson in manners, and I'll teach it to him if no one else does, soon.”
Enemies and Allies Page 2