by Simon Archer
“This is my brother, Niji,” Akemi introduced.
Niji’s eyes locked with mine, then flicked over to Matt, then back to mine before he bowed deeply.
“Young Lord, it is, like, a total honor,” he squealed, then stood up excitedly. The chains on his bondage pants jingled as he moved. “You are even hotter up close, holy shit.”
“Niji!” Akemi scolded with a hard glare and a hiss. “Show some damn respect and stop talking like that. It’s gross.”
Niji rolled his eyes, then sighed as he deflated.
“It’s okay, really,” I assured them both. “You don’t have to worship me or anything.”
“Oh, but I would really, really like to,” Niji replied flawlessly. He looked me up and down and darted his tongue across his lips.
“Ugh, I’m sorry about him,” Akemi apologized on his behalf and shoved him behind her. “Anyway, I told him I’d introduce you, so I have, and now I’m leaving before my disgusting brother makes a total fool of us both.”
“Whatever!” Niji laughed, and I was surprised that it was actually a nice laugh, not forced like most of the people from the Brand I interacted with. “Have a nice day, Lord Nicolas! Bring your hot friend, and let’s party sometime!”
With that, Akemi dragged him away through the small crowd that had gathered to see the new students that we were entertaining this semester.
I stood dumbfounded. I didn’t know whether I was amused, confused, weirded out, or all of the above.
“That was… something,” Kara managed through a stifled laugh.
“He was charming,” Kristen added with a giggle herself, and she shot Matt an unidentifiable look.
“Shut up,” Matt hissed and looked away. Again, I ignored it. Twin telepathy and all that.
“Attention, everyone!” Triton’s voice boomed over the small commotion, and everyone fell silent, even the Brand kids were respectable enough to follow Triton’s commands. “For those of you that are with us from the Brand Academy, we welcome you to Valcav and Alexandria. I’ve convened with your coordinator, Miss Burke, and we will assign you to your rooms shortly. I then invite you all to join us in a celebratory feast where you will receive your class schedules, as well as your ride-along assignments for the semester.”
A smattering of claps and cheers rose from the students, then a hesitant bit of movement as if they were unsure whether or not Triton had finished with his speech. As it turned out, he was, and so the gang and I slipped away before I could be spotted again. I knew that staying behind was the lesser of two evils when it came to avoiding the fan club, but this was still overwhelming. I wanted to be revered as a hero like anyone else, but this was worship brought on by my father’s brainwashing.
Dinner was only an hour later, and we found ourselves waiting in the cafeteria with a lack of anything better to do than to play cards like we did when we were kids. It was strange to have the four of us back together without the company of Eric, Andie, and Aylin. It felt like no time had passed, but we were all somehow different, shaped by different stories and paths that our lives had taken us down.
“Will you still use Andie’s apartment?” Matt asked off-handedly.
I shrugged. “Maybe. I have a key. I’ll probably use it if I need to get away from rabid fangirls.”
“Or one overeager fanboy,” Kristen teased.
“Niji is a strange one, but he’s probably no different from any of us,” I countered. “He’s powered, I would imagine. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be here.”
“Did anyone catch what his power was?” Kara asked, but we all shook our heads. “I wonder what it could be?”
“We’ll find out soon enough,” Kristen replied and laid down a pair of kings.
Kara’s eyes turned wide, and she huffed as she glared at her from across the table. “Unfair.”
Kristen smirked, just as the turning of the food cart’s wheels caught our ears. The kitchen staff had started rolling out the feast, and from what my nose could tell, it was going to be good eating tonight. My stomach roared in anticipation.
Within minutes, other students starting filling up the tables and gathering in their usual spots, which didn’t really leave enough room for the Brand kids, despite there being an equal number of seats open. It became obvious that not everyone was so keen on having Lord Inferno’s minions in the making sitting with them.
I actually felt kind of bad for them. Most of the exchange students stood there like lost puppies trying to find somewhere safe. And then there was Niji, the only brave soul that picked an open spot amongst other Valcav Academy students.
He blended in like he was supposed to be there, and to my surprise, no one said a word. In fact, we watched as he inserted himself into conversations and others chatted him up and laughed like he had been a student there the entire time. It was fascinating.
“Maybe his superpower is people skills,” Matt commented as he stared at Niji from across the room with the rest of us.
“Something you could use a little of yourself,” Kristen jabbed.
Matt said nothing, just continued to stare at the new boy.
With Niji’s bold move, other Brand kids started to do the same, though they weren’t nearly as enthusiastic about it as Niji was. I was just glad that amidst the seating arrangements, no one got the bright idea to join us. Not that I wasn’t up for making new friends, I wasn’t going to be unfriendly with anyone, but I didn’t want to deal with the worshipping. Maybe I could talk to my dad about it, and he could set them straight. They would listen to anything he said.
“Before we begin,” Triton began, and everyone fell hush again, “I would like to introduce you to your new staff for the year.”
He started with the Valcav staff himself, Judgment, Mindbender, City Master, and Adelaide Jones. I noted that Gemma wasn’t amongst them. It must have been true that she had gone to the Brand, after all. I wondered why she would go without telling me, but I was confident that she had her reasons, even if they weren’t necessarily clear to me.
“Next, we have our guests from Inferno Island,” he boomed over the general wave of applause for the Valcav staff. “To my right is Maggie Burke, but you may call her Miss Magus. She will be temporarily taking over Amazoness’ classes while she is away.”
Although I was already acquainted with Miss Magus, though it was a name I didn’t think I’d ever heard before. I wondered if she was new to the staff there or if she simply chose to stay out of the limelight of being a hero. After all, not all supers became heroes or villains for that matter.
“And finally, it is an honor to be standing here with an old friend, though you may all know him as otherwise,” Triton continued. “It is with pride and confidence that I present to you Lord Inferno, who is here to supervise his students as well as assist in the field for ride-alongs.”
There was an uproarious cheer for Lord Inferno from the Brand kids, followed by his chant, “blessed be his name.” Most of the Valcav students balked in awe and shock, and as the cheers for him continued, Lord Inferno spread his cloak dramatically as he bowed and waved like a celebrity. I supposed he was, kind of, if being a mass murderer with the intent of taking over the world qualified one as a celebrity.
I rolled my eyes.
“With that out of the way,” Triton continued over the chorus of cheers, “I would now like to give out your ride-along partner and instructor. Each of you will be given an envelope with two names. The first one is your partner, the second is who your instructor will be. Please, take the time now to see who you’ll be paired with for the semester.”
As the room quieted, I crossed my fingers. Envelopes with our names on them were passed out by Miss Magus and City Master one by one, and I watched as students opened their envelopes, some of them excited, others not so much.
“Nick?” Kara turned, then looked down at the crossed fingers in my lap. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I replied. “I just don’t want to get paired with my dad.”
At that, Matt snorted. “That would just be the icing on the cake for you.”
“Can it,” I shot at him, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Lord Inferno himself had somehow rigged it so that I would be paired with him. It would be the greatest opportunity for him to show me how to be a ‘true Gateon’ or whatever.
That was when City Master finally came around to our table and handed us our envelopes. My fingers were wound so tight that it took a bit of effort to get them uncurled. When I did, my hand was shaking.
“Don’t forget that we have special training tomorrow,” City Master reminded us before he moved on.
We all nodded, and as soon as he was out of sight, we tore open our envelopes. I fumbled with mine a little, but when I finally got it open, I quickly unfolded the plain white card inside and sighed in relief. It wasn’t my father or anyone from the Brand for that matter.
“Hey, partner!” I grinned at Kristen from across the table who smiled back with a bit of relief herself. “Looks like we’re with Judgment.”
“He might be an asshole, but he can be a good teacher if you put him in his place,” Kristen assured.
“Who did you get?” I poked my head around Kara’s shoulder to see who she had gotten.
“I’m paired with Akemi and Triton,” she groaned. “What the shit am I supposed to do with this?”
I laughed at her quiet outrage and hugged her close. “Don’t worry. You know Akemi isn’t that bad, and Triton is also a really good teacher, probably the best.”
Kara sighed. “You’re right. I shouldn’t judge Akemi based on what happened at the World's Finest. It was a rough time for everyone.”
I glanced over to Matt, who stared red-faced at his card.
“What about you?” I asked, but he said nothing. If anything, his face only grew redder. “Hello? Earth to Matty boy.”
“Niji,” he mumbled.
I barely resisted a snort of laughter. “That… maybe that’s not so bad? Who is the hero?”
Again, Matt didn’t answer. Frustrated, Kristen yanked the card from his hand, then promptly dropped it onto the table.
“Lord Inferno,” she gasped out.
7
Waking up in my own bed seemed strange after having someone next to me for weeks. Kara was still around, of course, but she liked her space, as did I. Still, rolling over to find the other side of the bed cold and empty was quite jarring.
I stretched my arms over my head with a groan and lolled my head to the side to look at my desk. My homework from Miss Magus’s class was strewn across the surface, only half-finished. She was no Amazoness, but to my surprise, I found her class to be rather interesting.
Eric would have loved it. It was a strange mix of psychology and history that got my brain to think in ways I wouldn’t normally. It was like those new stream documentaries that got inside the head of a serial killer, only they weren’t necessarily serial killers. Everyone from my dad to Triton himself would be covered, as per the syllabus Miss Magus had handed out the first day of class. She claimed that there would be no personal biases when discussing each hero or villain, and so far, she hadn’t given me a reason to doubt her. In fact, she gave me hope that maybe this semester wasn’t going to be so bad.
I finally glanced at the clock and realized that it was only a little after two in the morning. Why hadn’t I noticed how dark it was? A second glance at the desk showed me that the lamp was still on. My sleepy brain must have equated the light to sunlight. No big deal. I could easily get more sleep. I rolled over with the intent to do just that when my phone started to buzz.
I reached for it and held it over my face, careful not to let it fall. I didn’t want to become one of those people with the embarrassing story of how they left a bruise on their face from dropping their phone. There were a few missed messages from Andie and Aylin and an image message from Eric that I hadn’t checked yet, but it was what was flashing on the screen that really drew my attention as my phone continued to vibrate.
Kristen’s number flashed on the screen alongside a photo that Kara had sniped of her during the World’s Finest. I didn’t even think she had my number. Why would she be calling me in the middle of the night? A booty call, maybe? I laughed a little at the thought of Kristen calling to ask if she could spend the night with me like we had when we were younger, only this would be a much different kind of sleepover, and there would be no Matt to get in the middle of us.
I swiped my thumb over the screen and answered, “Hello?”
“Oh, you are awake,” Kristen’s voice sounded surprised over the receiver. “I thought I was going to have to pound your door down to get your attention.”
I laughed a little and sank back into my pillows with a slow exhale. “So why the late call? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she answered immediately. “Judgment is about to send for us to go on our first ride-along. I thought I’d give you a heads-up in case…”
“In case what?” I asked.
“Never mind. Just be ready.” She hung up before I could question her any further. That was certainly… odd. Not unwelcome, but the whole exchange was strange to me.
I shook it off and got out of bed, taking her word for it that Judgment would be by soon to fetch me. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach in excitement. My first ride along was finally here. I was ready to show off what I could do in the field and step out of the public shadow that my dear father cast over me by switching sides.
No sooner had I gotten my uniform on was there a sharp knock on my door. I assumed it was Judgment on the other side, and I took a deep breath as I tried to conceal my excitement. After all, these were still real crimes with real lives at stake. Best not to show too much glee, right?
“Mr. Gateon,” Judgment’s voice came through the door, authoritative as ever, “let’s move. We have to--”
I cut him off as I swung the door open. Perhaps I was already a little overzealous. I stepped out of my room with my head held high all the same and awaited his instructions.
Judgment looked like he wanted to be anywhere but standing in front of my door in the middle of the night. Bags hung under his eyes, and his normal stoic face just gave off this vibe of mild annoyance.
“I see Miss Barbur has already spoken to you,” he huffed. “Come along.”
The tall man snapped his fingers, and though I wasn’t all too fond of being snapped at, I obeyed and followed behind him hastily.
The halls were empty at this time in the morning. The starkness of the walls and our footsteps echoing off the marble floor gave me a creeped-out sensation like I was breaking a rule by being out of bed. I supposed that I technically was, as there was a curfew, but that didn’t apply to students when they were out on calls with their semester mentors. At least, that was what I assumed.
“What’s the situation?” I questioned, hoping I didn’t sound overeager.
“There’s been an attempted robbery at the Garnet Branch of the Bank of Alexandria,” he explained plainly.
I paused and waited for him to continue. When he didn’t, I prompted him.
“Attempted?”
“As in they’ve only just entered the building and we’re going to be there to stop them before they can get out,” Judgment finished.
I screwed my face in confusion. Normally, it was local law enforcement that handled situations like that. They only reason we supers would get involved is if there were people like us involved.
“Does that mean what I think it means?” I questioned further, but Judgment held up a hand to stop me.
“I will give you a full briefing once we have acquired Miss Barbur,” he snipped.
Sighing, I folded my arms over my chest. Working with Judgment wasn’t on the top of my list of heroes I would have chosen to do my ride-alongs with. I would much rather have been working with Amazoness, but she skipped off to The Brand without so much as a ‘see you soon.’ Triton was my second choice, though it would appear that it was too much to
hope for as well. Regardless, I supposed it was still better than being stuck with my dad, but talking to Judgment was like talking to someone that was always annoyed with you even if you did something right.
I kept my lips shut tight as I followed him briskly to the girls' dormitories, where Kristen was presumably waiting. We stopped outside a door not far from where I knew Kara’s room was, but before Judgment could knock, the door opened. Kristen was, as suspected, dressed and ready to go.
“Good, you are ready.” Judgment, in all of his stoic glory, seemed pleased or at least as pleased as he ever looked. He didn’t wait for a response before he began his walk again, this time out of student housing.
Kristen and I followed hot on his heels through each swift and abrupt turn as he navigated through the halls expertly. I was fairly certain that we had drifted into parts of Valcav that I’d never seen before, likely because they were normally restricted for staff only. There were a few rooms that we passed that seemed familiar, maybe, but everything started to look the same after so long.
You could only decorate a door in a certain number of ways, after all. This wasn’t grade school. There were no apples with the students' names written on them hanging in the window or some other festive theme that was changed out from season to season.
I turned my attention back to Kristen. Her eyes were trained forward, focused on the back of Judgment’s head as though she were trying to read his mind. Could she? No, that was doubtful. Her telepathy thing only worked with Matt, and that was a twin thing more than it was a superpower.
Although, come to think of it, she did know to call me when Judgment was on his way to fetch me for our ride along. How was it that she knew? Judgment had seemed surprised to see that she was already ready to go. Either that or he was impressed. Either way, I had a sneaking suspicion that there was more to her warning call than it seemed.