Chapter Text
Fucking Mondays. Ohio grumbled, taking a long drink from his coffee. He ignored how his mouth burned, the need for caffeine far outweighing the pain from the scalding liquid. Ugh, why does he have to have classes this early on a Monday? To be fair, it was currently 10:30 am. And normally, he had no problems with the current schedule. But he had just got back to Capital City at four in the morning. Taking into account the time it took to leave the Airport, travel back to Barnaby’s apartment, and also navigating the various death traps in the apartment complex, courtesy of Morgan, Ohio has only gotten three and a half hours of sleep.
But it was all worth it. He had left for the Bamazon Thursday, having been tipped off that Morgan was after an artifact in Northern Ecuador.
The two raced through the temple, dodging various traps and solved every puzzle, and in the end, Ohio James collected the artifact first, triumphantly returning it to the Indigenous people of the land.
The locals allowed him to examine the artifact, answering most of his questions.
Of course, the locals also insisted on thanking him, a feast that had lasted into the night. Hence his exhaustion.
Had Morgan retrieved Relic first, Ohio would have been home yesterday with a plan to Raid Morgan’s apartment later on. Which, to be fair, Ohio already has a plan in the works. But there is already a steadily growing list of things he needs to recover from Morgan.
Which leads to now, his first class of the week. A small class, consisting of only nine students, and one teaching assistant. They’re a good bunch, for the most part. All bright eyed and eager to learn. Except for William, who was already asleep at his desk behind Marcus and Riley. Hell, even Karen was focused on the lesson. Though, that might be because she is the current Gremlin sent by Morgan to keep an eye on him. Last semester had Gus in his class. But that’s a story for another time.
With eight of the nine student’s eyes following him, he continued on with his lecture. The effect super powers had in society.
God, Ohio just wanted to go back to sleep.
Once said lecture was finished, he passed the paperwork to Henry, his teaching aid, to hand out to the class. Henry was new this year and eager to prove himself. His major being Archeology and a minor in Sociology.
Now, onto the next portion of class. The debate.
He then sat back and let the students debate amongst themselves the Pros and Cons of how the Japanese regulated Quarks. Seeing as it was a month and a half into the semester, the class didn’t need him to guide the debate anymore. They immediately began to talk.
Cynthia, the top of the class, passionately led the group, with Wendy agreeing with everything she said. Cynthia was an American. She moved to Central City, her Superhero uncle having agreed to sponsor her tuition.
He was aware that Wendy only joined the class because Cynthia did, but she maintained a B minus average.
He hasn’t decided if the two would become a Hero Duo, date, or Both. A common debate between a couple of his coworkers.
Marcus, however, was vehemently insisting his point. Ohio had plenty of Marcus’ in his class before. Always believing they know best. A type of arrogance that no doubt stemmed from graduating early, as well as a childhood of being the son of a Superhero. Not that many of the other students knew that last thing. Safety reasons.
Karen took her textbook and impressively whacked both Cynthia and Marcus in one swing. “You are both arguing over different points. Ya morons.” Karen may have been sent to spy on him, but she maintained a solid B plus grade. He had to give it to Morgan’s Minions, they always gave it their all.
Roger redirected the focus of the conversation, “Guys, we can’t ignore how the tight restrictions of Quarked people has led to increase in Villain activity.”
Ohio still feels guilty for not looking into Rogers’ disappearance last year. But the boy has shown great resilience. Last year, Roger was a C minus student at best, having only taken the course when his mother pressured him to follow in his father’s footsteps. Once he safely made it back home, he took a semester break. He then bounced back with a burning fire. Now contending for first place with Cynthia and Marcus. Ohio was proud of the boy.
William woke up at some point and was half-heartedly throwing out a comment here or there. Ohio wasn’t too upset. William was only here for the credit. He wasn’t the first. And Ohio doubts he will be the last.
Riley sat off to the side, double checking their audio and video recordings. Due to their Dyslexia, Riley recorded all of their classes to go over later. Once they were sure everything was running, they jumped in with their thoughts.
As Ohio glanced around the room, he noticed that one student was not participating. Channing. Ohio held in a groan. Channing attended a class for the past three semesters. Ohio was almost tempted to label him a stalker rather than a fanboy. Once he made eye contact with Channing, he jerked his head in the direction of the rest of the class. Channing gave a salute and turned around. Ohio couldn’t hold back an eyeroll.
And lastly was Tiffany. A girl from the 1400’s. She fell through a space/time crack when she was 13. With no one other than Alex having a strong enough time travel ability, She decided to stay in the future. The doctors devised a plan to slowly improve her immune system to be able to handle the current diseases and pathogens. With careful monitoring, and weekly check ups, she settled into the 21st century. She decided that a Sociology class would be a good way to learn about today’s society. Fair enough.
Good, everyone is participating.
From his drawer, he pulled out a worksheet packet for chapter seven and gave it to Henry to make copies of. The homework he was going to hand out today. Chapter seven went over how Christianity changed Ireland.
Once Henry left, he pulled out the homework his students handed in today and began grading it. After he got through three essays, he was seriously considering taking a nap.
“YOU STUPID MOTHERFUCKER!” Karen’s voice broke through his concentration. He looked up just in time to see said Gremlin tackle Marcus.
Ohio jumped up. He barely made it around his desk before Cynthia and Roger pulled Karen away.
“Come here, you bastard!” Karen screeched as she attempted to lunge forward. Channing and Wendy jumped in to help after she almost broke free.
Marcus, was cowering behind Riley, who has yet to get out of their chair
“Stop!” Ohio said loudly, catching the attention of the room. “Karen, get a hold of yourself. You are not a child, you are supposed to be a reasonable, civilized adult.”
Karen flinched. To anyone else in the room it sounded like a normal reprimand, but Ohio knew that Karen would pick up on that he was reminding her that she wasn’t supposed to be a Criminal right now.
Ohio nodded to the four holding Karen. The group hesitated for a moment, then one by one let go of her arms. She folded them against her chest and glared at Marcus.
“Now.” Ohio said firmly, “Does anyone want to explain to me what is going on?”
“That crazy bitch attacked me!” Marcus exclaimed angrily.
“Oh like you didn’t deserve it!” snarled Karen.
Five voices all started talking at once.
“She clearly doesn’t belong here!” Marcus sneered.
“Marcus was saying some pretty mean things.” Wendy tried to explain.
“I have everything recorded, Professor James.” Riley said, holding out their laptop.
“It was wild, Professor Ohio James, Sir!” came Channing.
“Karen overreacted,” Roger spoke up, “But a little understandable.”
“All right, enough.” Ohio broke through the cacophony. “One at a time.”
There was an uneasy silence as they all waited for someone else to speak up.
Ohio huffed and pointed at Roger.
“Well sir,” Roger began, “We were talking about how Japan had to change a lot of their architecture because of how excessive their mutations are, and Karen, well…”
Cynthia continued, “Karen asked if their excessive mutations extended elsewhere, because she was down for that.”
“Yeah,” Marcus interrupted, “Showed everyone what a filthy-”
“Dude chill.” William spoke up for the first time.
“Yeah,” Channing agreed, “It’s not even that big of a deal.”
“Okay,” Ohio broke in before they could get started again.. He was silent for a moment, gathering his thoughts together.
“Okay,” He repeated himself. “From what I’ve gathered, Karen made a sex joke and Marcus insulted her?”
“Basically.” Cynthia said sheepishly
Ohio sighed deeply and pinched the bridge of his nose. He already had a headache from his exhaustion, and now this?
“Okay,” Ohio looked around the room, all had sheepish expressions. Except Karen and Marcus, who were both fuming. And Henry who looked confused. When did he get back?
“All right,” Ohio spoke to the room. “All of you return to your seats and read chapter seven. Karen and Marcus, stay after class. Roger, please send me a copy of your recordings.”
The students stood still for a moment, then slowly made their way back to their desks.
Ohio dropped into the chair and rubbed his face with his hands. Maybe he should have let Morgan get the Artifact. At least then he would have a decent amount of sleep. What he wouldn’t give to be curled up with Barnaby on the couch right now.
Ohio waved off Henry with a “Later.” then picked up his phone to check the time. There was still 25 minutes left of class. Shit.
Ohio was about to put his phone away when he got a notification that made his blood run cold.
A text from Alex.
OMW with Morgan, be there in a few.
“Oh fuck.”
Alex, here? The man is the last thing you want around volatile and rash, barely out of their teens, students. Hell, he’ll probably kill Marcus as soon as the arrogant boy breathes.
Time to evacuate.
“Um, all right, class. That’s it for today.” He spoke aloud. “I’ve got an associate on the way to meet me here quite soon.”
He looked up to see their confused expressions.
“So if you just want to close up your textbooks and run for your lives.”
The class laughs. Maybe he wasn’t making his point clear enough.
“No I’m not joking! RUN!”
They sit in silence for what feels like way too long before, all at once gathering up their belongings and bolting at the door. Only Cynthia and Roger glance back at him in concern.
Karen is the only student who doesn’t leave immediately. She’s quite pale as lingers by the door.
Once she meets his eyes, she mouths the name ‘Alex?’ not daring to say it out loud.
Ohio gave a nod.
With a serious nod of her own, Karen marches after her classmates.
“Professor James. What’s going on?” Henry asked, his face was a mixture of concern and confusion.
Steeling himself, Ohio turned back to his desk and pulled out the homework he was just grading.
“Here.” he hands the essays to his Assistant. Ohio began leading him to the door. “I’m having a… guest here in a few minutes. Don’t let anyone else in. Call the heroes if you must, but be clear that we should NOT be interrupted.”
“Professor James?” Henry asked, fear evident in his voice.
“Everything should be fine.” Ohio said. “My Nemesis is on their way. And they are bringing their… Friend.”
“What?” Henry whisper shouted.
“Everything should be fine.” Ohio reaffirmed. “My Nemesis has a strict no-killing rule, and their friend will most likely respect that. Hopefully. As long as we are not interrupted. Best way to get through this with no casualties.”
“I don’t…” Henry trailed off, looking lost as Ohio kept trying to explain.
“Now,” Ohio said as he held up his phone. “They warned me they are on their way, and if I’m right that means they just want to talk.”
“W- what? Bu- bu- Professor?” Henry stuttered, it reminded him of Barnaby. God, Ohio hoped he wasn’t wrong about this. He hoped he’ll be seeing Barnaby again.
Speaking of which, he sent a quick text to Barnaby to let him know what’s going on.
“Keep calm, be respectful,” Ohio pleaded. “And please, keep everyone else out.”
Henry could only give a shaky nod, tears starting to pool in his eyes.
As the Assistant turned to walk through the door, Ohio put his hand on his shoulder.
“I’m sorry you got dragged into all of this.”
Henry gave a wobbly smile, nodded and went out the door.
As the door closed, Ohio took a deep breath.
This should be fine.