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The intimidating part was that, for all intents and purposes, it looked like a just a normal gym. The same type of gym that Laura had spent all 13 years of her education running laps and trying not to trip over dodgeballs in. Frankly, she’d expected something a little grander. Bulletproof glass. Vibrant logos. Flame resistant everything.
Still, that didn’t make it any less intimidating. The boxing ring didn’t help. Or the giant boulder suspended over the ring.
Popping up onto her tiptoes, Laura scanned the couple dozen young adults in the room. Most were already grouped up, talking quietly to a couple of other people. The perks of not having lived ‘off the radar’.
The superhero community was fairly close-knit, most of these university freshman had probably known each other since they were young. Hero picnics. Mixers. Laura had always been so jealous when the Kirschs had headed off every year for the hero retreat.
She’d begged her Dad to let her go with them, once even going so far as to angrily yell at him that ‘that’s what mom would have wanted’. He still hadn’t let her go and the look on his face was enough to keep her from ever asking again.
Now, she was almost thankful. If nobody knew who she was then she wouldn’t embarrass her mom’s memory when this all went horribly wrong. Only Kirsch knew who she was supposed to be, what genetics had said she should be, and who she actually was. Kirsch had always known and he wouldn’t blab.
Growing up, Laura had always imagined this day very differently.
“Alright newbies, line them up!” One moment the boxing ring was empty, the next a slightly overweight man with a whistle and baseball cap was yelling down at them. Brief wisps of smoke coming off his clothing.
“Teleporter,” one of the kids next to her said in a hushed whisper as they turned towards the ring.
The man scowled down at them and tapped his clipboard against his leg, “It is my distinct lack of pleasure to welcome you to your first day here at Silas University. I’m Coach Luce. Head of Career Guidance. Welcome. Welcome. Blah. Blah. Read your orientation manual. Pressing onto more interesting things, it is my distinct pleasure to inform you that my decision in the next few minutes will shape the entirety of your time here at Silas.”
“Your completely unbiased and totally not arbitrary decision,” someone snarked from the crowd.
The coach glared down at them but seemed unable to locate the backtalker. Laura spotted the girl, careful to keep her in her peripheral as the Coach scanned the students. The girl was a strange type of gorgeous. Like someone had hung a bunch of leather on a Greek marble statue. Her features were classic with black hair and a jawline that could cut glass, but she was decked out in tight, dark jeans and a black leather jacket. Her smile was a cocky as they come and Laura couldn’t believe that the coach hadn’t spotted it.
WIth a final glare at the students, Coach Luce continued, “It’s the same thing every year. A bunch of freshmen who think that they’re the hottest thing to walk these halls. Some of you want to be heroes. Some of your want to be villains. But you’re all convinced that you’re going to be the next Captain Defender,” Laura’s heart gave a twinge as he continued, “and not a sidekick because you’ve got superspeed or atomic vision or ten different powers or freaking bone claws. Well it all starts here kids, where I decide if you’re hero material or not. Snark,” he gave the crowd a once over,” is not putting you in my good books.”
Laura glanced over at the girl again. She was examining her nails and drawing nail polish on with a sharpie.
“So let’s get rolling. I call your name. You get up here. You show me your power. I decide if you’re going to be a hero or not. You avoid whining.” Coach Luce consulted his clipboard then shrugged and pointed at a bubbly brunette girl in the crowd, “You. First.”
Thankfully, Kirsh had warned her about this. Laura had a plan. It was going to be fine.
The brunette walked confidently up the stairs and smiled at the coach, “Hi. I’m Sarah Jane.”
“Power?” Coach Luce crossed his arms.
Sarah Jane smiled and took a step to the left. Or the right. It was hard to say as suddenly there were two Sarah Jane’s looking down at the crowd. Both grinned and waved.
The coach nodded and made a note on his clipboard, “Sarah Jane, Personal Physical Powers - General - Duplication.” He pointed towards the right side of the gym, “Hero.”
Laura fisted her hands in her pockets, looking at the floor as the Coach scanned the room for his next victim. She hardly paid attention to what was going on in front of her. Rehearsing her plan, her words, over and over again in her head.
She vaguely heard something about an omni-linguist, techno-path, and a girl who could make people pass out by touching them. As to be expected there was some brief chatter around a boy with superspeed plus dermal armour. Any kid with one of the big ‘three’ powers was going to raise a fuss, not to mention having multiple abilities. Laura just kept reciting her speech in her head.
“That’s really it?” Laura looked up at the coach’s disgusted tone. In the boxing ring was a short-haired red-head shrugged at the coach. Between their fingers was a tiny spark of electricity.
“I don’t suppose that little spark packs a punch?” The coach asked.
“Actually,” the redhead said, “I just do electricity. I can’t generate full lightning. But really, small stuff is way more useful for everyday applications and if you take a look at the actual volts generated it’s significantly better for control and consequences to have a small consistent force than-”
Coach Luce cut her off, “Lafontaine, Classical Elements - Electric Manipulation. Barely. Left side of the room.” Laura winced. Kirsch had once called it ‘the reject side’.
“Um, excuse me sir?” every head turned to the voice from the crowd. A curly haired ginger stepped forward, rubbing her hands togethers, “Do you really think that a one time scenario in a confined environment is really the best scenario for examining effectiveness?”
Lafontaine’s eyes went wide as she started shaking her head widely at the girl who had spoken up. The coach glared down and with a poof of smoke was right in her face, “Are you questioning my decisions?”
The girl seemed to quail slightly. The coach didn’t give her time to recover, “I didn’t think so. Guess what? Your turn.” He poofed back up onto the stage, shoving Lafontaine to the left side of the gym.
“I don’t use my powers.” The curly hair ginger said. Now even the dark haired gorgeous girl was paying attention, popping the lid back on her sharpie and looking up.
“Excuse me?” The coach said.
“I prefer not to use my powers.” The girl repeated.
The coach paused for a moment then looked down at his clipboard, “Name?”
“Lola Perry si-” she started.
“Sidekick!” The coach shouted. Perry looked between the coach and Lafontaine then she scuttled over to the left side of the gym.
The coach sighed and rubbed his head, “let’s try and get back on track here people. Perhaps someone who can actually do something impressive?” He scanned the students again. Laura’s fist tightened when his finger landed on her, “You. Front and center.”
She wove through the thinning crowd, not needing superhearing to decipher the mumbles.
“Never seen her before. Can’t be a legacy.”
“What’d ya think? Too small. Looks like a healer maybe.”
“Five bucks says she fell into a bucket of acid and is a total newb.”
The three steps across the ring seemed endless as Laura paused at the edge of the mat. She gritted her teeth and raised her head high, forcing a small smile across her face. If her mom could move buildings, she could certainly do this.
She walked past the center of the mat where everyone else had stopped and made her way over to the coach. She gave the smile that she’d practiced in the mirror and bobbed her head respectfully, “Sir.”
“Name.” he said.
So far so good. Everything was following the script in her head.
She brightened her smile, “Laura Hollis sir.”
The room buzzed as the students tried to figure out if they knew any heroes, villains, or sidekicks with the name Hollis. She knew they didn’t. Her mom had never given her married name to anyone but the Kirschs.
“Alright Hollis, what do you have for us?” Coach Luce gave her a once over, “I’m getting an ESP vibe. I don’t suppose you’re one of those empaths are you? Haven’t seen one in a while.”
“No sir, actually I-”
He cut her off, “Danger Intuition then. Hold on.” Before Laura could get a word in, he pressed a button on the small box in his hand and a series of tennis balls slammed her in the back. She dropped to her knees under the force of the first two, the action saving her from balls 3 - 7. Laura gasped to try and catch back the air knocked out of her lungs. Not in the plan. Not in the plan at all.
The coach frowned down at her, “you’re hard to get a read on Hollis. Jumping all over the place powerwise. I’m usually better at this. Hold on. I’ll get it. Don’t tell me. It’ll ruin the challenge.” He squinted at her, “dimensional transportation? Shapeshifter? Animal morph?” Laura finally caught her breath when Coach Luce’s face light up and he said, “Of course. Classical water type.”
Laura immediately found herself with a face full of water. She held her breath on reflex and backed out of the spray. Water dripped down her face as she climbed to her feet, pushing off the ground and glaring at the Coach.
“If you would just let me explain instead of hitting me in the back and spraying me in the face on a hunch,” the words exploded from her, “I don’t have any powers.”
The room went graveyard quiet.
“You don’t have any powers.” The coach picked up his clipboard.
Laura flicked her wet hair out of her face and drew herself to her whole 5 feet 4 inches, “Yet.” She said, “I don’t have any powers yet.”
Coach Luce took a small step back from her, paused and then started flipping through the pages of his clipboard.
The room was still silent. Laura knew she must look a sight. The tiny girl. Soaking wet with her shirt clinging to her skin, hair matted to her head, and goosebumps forming in the cool air. She forced herself to look over the crowd at her classmates. None would met her eye, everyone looking away when her gaze drifted to them.
Except the gorgeous snarky girl. She met Laura’s gaze boldly, arching an eyebrow and continuing to stare. Suddenly the girl dropped her eyes, only to rake Laura’s body with her gaze before returning to the staring contest and giving Laura the sauciest smirk.
Laura ignored the urge to cross her arms over her wet chest. The girl’s smirk only grew. She started weaving through the crowd towards the ring.
Coach Luce’s snort broke the silence, “Very funny Hollis.” He tapped the page on his clipboard, “says here that you’ve got one superhero parent?”
Laura nodded, “My mom.”
“Well then,” the Coach grinned at her and shook his finger, “We all know that means you have to inherit one superpower. Not like the unpredictability of two superhero parents. You had me going for a moment.” He chuckled and Laura’s heart soared. Maybe she didn’t get to give her speech but it was still going to be fine.
“I’ve figured you out Hollis,” the Coach said, “you’re holding back because you’re modest. I knew I could smell potential on you.” Laura nodded along with the Coach’s head bob, “Well it’s time to shine kid. No need be embarrassed about having super strength. People love the big three.”
“What!” Laura’s eyes went wide, “No! I don’t-”
Coach Luce pressed a button. Laura shrieked and dived to the side, knowing that she’d never actually get out of the way of the boulder but desperate to try anyway. She covered her head with her hands, briefly taking the time to wonder if anyone had ever died on the first day before.
“Well now cutie,” a female voice drawled it’s way into her head, “you look a little silly crouched on the floor there.”
Gingerly, Laura popped her head up realizing that if she was going to be dead then she’d already be a pancake. Laura flinched backwards as she caught sight of the boulder hovering just a few feet above her. Looking up for a string she found nothing, then directing her gaze downward she found the gorgeous snarky girl smirking down at her and holding the boulder above her head like it weighed nothing.
With one hand.
“Close your mouth cupcake,” the girl said, “or Coach Bozo here might try and spray poison in it to see if you’re resistant.”
Laura slammed her mouth shut as the Coach started spluttering.
“You know,” the girl said absently to the room, “In a room full of people who are dying to show off the gifts genetics gave them, it seems perfectly logical to drop rocks on the one person who says they don’t have any powers.”
“Now see here kid,” the coach rounded on the girl, “you dare challenge my learning methods.”
“Oh no,” the girl interrupted, “I think the most effective way to instill fear in a student body is to murder or maim someone on the first day. It makes for much more complacent lessons, don’t you think?” She tossed the boulder lightly in the air and caught it with her free hand.
“You think you’re hot stuff kid?” Laura shuffled to her feet as the coach slowly turned red, “just because you’ve got super strength doesn’t mean you can get away with saying whatever you want.” He whipped out his pen like it was a mighty weapon, “I’m writing you up for detention right now.”
“Um sir,” Laura interjected, “she did just save my life. Isn’t that the whole point of a hero?” Laura barely caught the twitch in the girl’s face at her words.
“She deliberately interrupted my teaching methods,” the coach said, fumbling through his papers, “and she does not get away with back talking to a teacher.” He nearly dropped the clipboard in his haste to identify the girl.
The girl let the stone fall to the ground with a bang, “I’ll save you the trouble for hunting me down. I’m Carmilla Karnstein.”
If Laura’s declaration of no powers had silenced the room, the name Karnstein buried it. The coach’s head jerking up to stare at the girl.
Even Laura knew the Karnstein story. One of her mother’s friends, Lolita Eisen, had married Richard Karnstein. The couple had met here at school. She had superspeed. He had superstrength. They were not only one of the few pairs of heroes but they both had Big Three powers. They seemed set to be the most heroic couple to ever exist. Then Richard Karnstein had apparently gone hardcore villain. Murdering thousands and destroying cities for months before he was finally tracked down.
A lot of heroes had died fighting him.
“Karnstein,” Coach Luce hissed, “I see you inherited your Father’s strength.”
Carmilla shrugged as though the whole room wasn’t boiling with tension, “Didn’t have much say in the matter.”
“And,” the coach continued, “his preference for ignoring the rules and people in authority.”
“Only when the rules are stupid fabrications of power hungry has-beens.” Carmilla said. Laura barely held in her gasp at the girl’s gall.
“Sidekick!” the coach roared at her, “I’m not letting a villain anywhere near the hero stream even if they’ve got superstrength.”
Laura bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut tight. Then she opened them and said, as calmly as she could manage over the butterflies in her stomach, “Sir, I was under the impression that rules of Silas prevent any student or faculty member from biasing against a student based on the actions or accomplishments of their parents and that students are to be judged for power placement solely on their power potential.”
Even Carmilla was staring at her in shock. Laura straightened her spine and continued, “In addition, sir, as it is my understanding that Carmilla has two powered parents, and having two powered parents means that either a child has no powers or more than two, shouldn’t she be given the opportunity to share her second ability?”
The coach’s juglar was bulging at a frighteningly fast pace as his gaze drilled into Laura.
She smiled. Ignoring her cower and run reflex.
“It’s invulnerability,” Carmilla leaned back against the boulder, “in case anyone is wondering.”
Lafontaine spoke up from the side of the room, “That gives her a 10 rating.”
A 10 power rating. Anything above a 10 and above out of 12 was a guaranteed hero placement.
The coach looked about ready to swallow his tongue. He stammered. He waffled. He flipped the pages on his clipboard until he finally ground out the words, “Karnstein - Enhanced Physical Skills: Enhanced Strength. Karnstein - Personal Physical Powers - Invulnerability.” He spat out the last word, “Hero.”
Carmilla looked absolutely delighted in the worse way with the turn of events, “Actually, I think I’ll stick with sidekick.”
“What?” The word seemed to come from all sides of the room.
“Well, having experienced this hero thing first hand it just seems so exhausting,” Carmilla’s smirk was out in full force, “And I was under the impression that any student at Silas could request a removal from the hero stream for the sidekick stream at any time.” She inclined her head towards Laura, “Right cutie? You’ve clearly read the student manual.”
Laura was screaming at the girl in her head for dragging her even further into this. Laura shot her a glare.
“Fine,” the coach snapped, “all the better. Karnstein - sidekick.” When he turned to her, the coach’s gaze seemed to hit Laura right in the gut, “and take your friend here with you. See if her words can keep from failing out of even the sidekick stream without any powers. Sidekick. Hollis - Powerless.”