"Dammit, it's hot," James muttered, walking out into the courtyard. The sun was beating down, and his arms were slick with sweat a mere two minutes after leaving the air conditioned history classroom. "I need to sit down," he said to himself, scanning the scorching yard for an empty bench. Sighing with relief, one was vacant to his left, underneath a shaded tree no less. Taking a seat, he pulled out a water bottle, drinking deeply and looking to see who his neighbor was.
The girl was deeply entranced in her music, which seemed to be some sort of electronic funk. "Uggh," he mumbled, saddened by her poor choice in music.
"Excuse me?" she said, turning to examine him. Despite his first impression, she was actually rather pretty, albeit in an exotic manner.
"That's what I thought," she replied, smiling dangerously.
"Uhh, yeah...." James took another drink, before leaning back and starting his homework. "Nice day, don't you think?"
"Yes," she replied absently.
"Ummm..." James paused, not wanting to be awkward. "I'm going to go now." Dammit, he was awkward.
"Okay. See ya' around."
"Yeah..." He stood up, rather awkwardly, and walked to his motorcycle. Climbing on, he drove to the local McDonald's, his stomach rumbling. Tired, he sat down next to his roommate, Roberto. "What'd you get?"
"Double counter pounder. Delicious." The Italian was clearly savoring every bite.
"Cool." James watched as he finished the burger, then rose and walked to the line. It was short, as 2:45 was not prime time for lunch, and he soon reached the front. Having no idea what to get, he stood for a while, inspecting menu.
"Excuse me?" James was startled out of his thoughts. He turned to the speaker, and recognized the girl from the bench.
"Yes... Sorry, I didn't catch your name," he said, turning toward her.
"Zora. And I was wondering what a 'Big Mac' is."
James looked at her strangely, uncertain how someone couldn't know what a Big Mac was. "It's a... Are you messing with me?"
"No! I'm just not from around here." She looked defensive.
"Um, okay." He turned back to the menu, uncomfortable. "It's a burger with some sort of mayo-tasting special sauce. It also has a lot of toppings." He squinted, reading the entry. "Tomatoes, pickles, onions, and such."
"Oh, cool. Thanks." She turned back to the line, ignoring him once more.
He turned back as well, ordering a double burger. He had taken his first bite, when he nearly dropped it. A loud, piercing noise tore through the restaurant, hurting James' ear.
"What the hell is that?!?" James yelled, joining many others in their outrage.
Zora turned to him, raising her voice to be ears over the blare of the sirens. "I don't know. I think it's coming from the university."
Be smooth. BE SMOOTH. "I, um, have to go. Again. Now." That's not very smooth...
"Okay?" She looked at him oddly, but he was gone before she could say anything more. Finishing his burger, he leapt onto his motorcycle, racing to the school.
Jumping off, he reentered the courtyard, scanning for the source of the noise. It was loud in the McDonald's, on the otherwise of campus. Here, it was unbearable, burning into his ear lobes. "Fire?" he screamed, asking no one in particular.
"I think so," Roberto said, appearing next to him.
"Why did they make the fire alarm so LOUD?" James said, half angry and half annoyed.
"Safety...?" Roberto responded weakly. "I don't know. It's rather annoying."
"Yea-" He paused. "What the hell is that?" he asked, pointif to a prone form on the ground.
"I... Don't... Know." Roberto looks closer, examining the boy, as it was clear now it was a boy. "I think he's... Sleeping."
"Huh." James contemplated it for a moment, before shrugging. "He was probably really tired."
"I don't think so..."
"Yeah, whatever." He stood still for a while, staring at the body. Suddenly, James collapsed, his knees buckling as the ground shook.
"What was that?" Roberto exclaimed, still standing.
"I have to go..." He walked away quickly, ensuring not to run, and went into a bathroom. Pulling his mask out of his bag, he slipped it on, and concentrated, seeing his body disappear before his eyes.
James ran down the hall, bursting through a door and coming out into a classroom, seemingly a physics room. Jumping a desk (it's good to have superpowers), he ran into another room, then out into a new hall. Sticking to the sides, he muttered "Shade," watching as his shadow hardened into a solid being, and stood up. It had taken the form of a heavyset man, which James guessed mocked his fastfood splurge he'd had recently.
"Very funny," James whispered. "Now go investigate." Shade nodded, stealing of down the hallway. James blinked, and the form vanished, only the soft pad of footsteps reminding, though those too faded before long. Unwilling to wait around, he continued moving down the hallway after Shade, heading towards the stairs. The beeping of the alarm still remained, so James let off a little Darkness, creating earplugs. "That's better," he mumbled.
He nearly fell over in fright when Shade materialized right next to him. Without waiting for him to recover, the shadow pointed downwards, then motioned around. "The building is falling down?" No, that didn't make sense. Shade walked up to him, pointed at the ear plugs, then at him. "Superpowers? Superheroes?" Shade shook his head at the first, but nodded emphatically at the second. Once more, he looted downwards. "The heroes... Are downstairs?" Nodding, Shade reattached as his shadow.
The pair made their way down the corridor, checking in random windows as they went. The entire building was deserted, and the only noise was crashes, emanating from the rooms, born of the tremors running through the institution. Finally, they reached the top of the stairs. James removed his ear plugs, shored up his invisibility, and started down the steps.
As he worked his way down, the noises grew louder, growing deafening. James wished he hadn't removed his plugs, but he needed all his senses alert for... Whatever he found down there.
"What was that?" James heard a voice call out in the darkness. "I thought.. Someone bumped into me."
"I didn't," voices called out in the darkness.
Sighing, James uttered a word, and his inivisibility peeled back. "It was me."
"Super?" the masked man asked.
"Yep."
"Let's do this." The guy, his body changing to become brighter, was in a group of three others. A clear rip-off of Iron Man led the charge, backed by a flaming girl and a man with arms coated in fire. The five of them came out into a large workspace, inhabited by... a giant robot.
"What the f**k?" James yelled, startled by the massive humanoid shape. It seemed to be making a... mini robot. Or something else. He couldn't quite tell, as the thing was moving quickly, and the pile it was creating of parts wasn't exactly in the best order. Scattered around were various workbenches, littered with half finished projects and destroyed engineering assignments.
"Well, it's a giant robot," said Irony drily, before lighting it up with dual wrist-mounted lasers. The being stumbled, before swatting the suited man aside. Laughing, the massive vaguely bestiality hero rammed the robot, sending it stumbling further back. More supers burst in, but James didn't wait for them to strike. Forming a dagger of Darkness, he dug it into the left side, exposing wires and panels. The effort nearly forced him to his knees, and he retreated, going back out into an ante-chamber. Resting for a moment, he decided to close his eyes. Before long, he was asleep.
C-R-A-S-H
A metal head appeared in the wall above him, waking him violently. "GAH!" he screamed, terrified. He lashed out, encasing the head in Darkness. The effort exhausted him, but he wobbled out into the main room, dispelling the prison as he went. He arrived just in time to see the robot power down, and the supers flee the scene. Following them much more slowly, he made it to the top well after they all disappeared, save one guy still salvaging scraps of the robo-death.
Limping to the door, he saw some guy standing outside, on the steps. It took a moment before it registered as one of the superheroes who'd helped him in the basement. He seemed to he shouting something to the cro- Oh no. He wouldn't. Please tell me he wouldn't.
He reached the door, invisible, and opened it, slipping out onto the steps. "I have taken care of everything. You cowards can go back inside." James' temper rose. Not only was this man revealing their existence, he was taking all the credit! Not wanting to further confirm his claims of super heroism, James opted not to become visible, but instead snuck up behind him. Pulling back, he slammed his fist into the back of the 'hero's' head, before running away.
Returning to the bathroom, he pulled off the mask, stuffing it into his pack. He fell then, exhausted from his exploits. After dozing for a moment, he rose, opened the door, and headed out to face the world.
Next mission probably this Friday, 10 PM my time, as always.
