The Superhero Academy

"So what are your powers?" Miles asked Jason while putting sheets on his new bed. He was having to step on Jason's bottom bunk to reach his on the top, stretching over to fit the sheet over the corner.

"My powers?" Jason replied. "Oh, well, um... it's a long story. I'll tell you later."

"Oh, okay..." Miles said, a little taken aback. The people he had seen so far had been glad to share their abilities with him. Why was his new bunkmate any different? But it was his powers to tell about, so Miles let the topic drop. "So, there's a school here, right? That's why we're here. What did Lancaster call it? The academy?"

Jason smiled. "The academy, the Superhero Academy, Fandomania Academy, Brookings Academy. Whatever you want to call it. Basically it's a school. From what I've heard, we'll be learning to control our powers. But we'll have normal classes too."

"Normal classes?"

"Yeah, like Biology, English, the normal stuff you take in school."

"Seriously?" asked Miles. He hadn't thought about having to take his regular classes. "We just found out we're kids with superpowers—which is not even possible—and we have to take normal classes?"

"Yeah," Jason replied. "Supposed to make us feel more like regular kids."

"But we're not regular kids!" Miles exclaimed.

Jason put his hands up in front of him. "It's not the end of the world. Just education."

Miles toned down his voice a little. "Look, this place is pretty cool, but I don't want to stay here any longer than I have to. Okay? I don't want to learn normal things, I want to learn how to fight the people who are threatening me."

Jason nodded. "Fair enough. Hey, why don't I give you a tour of the academy?"

"Oh, uh..."

"Come on. That way you'll know how to get to all your classes."

"Okay then, let's do it," Miles decided, and followed Jason out of the cabin and toward the big building in the center of the semi-circle that was Fandomania.

Just as they reached the steps beyond the front doors, the doors swung open and a girl walked out. She had blonde hair and sparkling green eyes. She was pretty, with a slight body build. She was carrying a textbook under one arm and was twirling a pencil around in her free hand.

"Hey Jason!" she said brightly, seeing them walking up the stairs toward the entrance.

"Hi, Lilly," Jason replied shyly, stopping where he was.

"Who do you have with you?" she asked, her eyes flicking over to Miles.

"Oh, um, this is Miles. He's new here."

The girl stepped forward. "Nice to meet you. I'm Lilly."

"Miles," replied Miles.

"You'll love it here," she said, smiling. "It's already great, and we haven't even started school yet."

"Maybe that's why it's so great," Miles replied, and returned the smile.

Lilly laughed. "School will be fun, don't worry. Anyway, I was just getting some quick tutoring in there before it all starts, but I gotta talk to Elisa about something. I'll see you around, okay Miles? You too, Jason."

"She was nice," Miles said when Lilly had walked off and they had continued up the stairs towards the main doors.

"Yep," Jason replied. "She's nice to everyone. I'm not so sure she's even capable of being angry."

They walked on into the academy. It was an old building, and looked like it had been there for years. Miles knew this to be impossible, but every inch of it had the medieval feel. The hallways sort of looked like corridors, but with a slightly more modern feel to them. It was pretty strange. Jason explained to him that there were four floors in all. The first floor, which contained the cafeteria, some staff rooms, and other non-school-related things. The second floor, which held most of the class rooms. The third floor, which no student was allowed on, and the basement, where Jason suspected there was a room for training or something.

Jason showed him the different classrooms on the second floor, all stocked and prepared with all the materials needed for that class. The math and history room had textbooks and the science room had lab equipment. Just like you would see at any old, boring school in the country. Miles was walking towards the English classroom when a woman wearing bright green walked out.

"Oh!" the woman said. "You must be Miles!"

"This is Ms. Lukeson," Jason explained. "She's the English teacher here."

Ms. Lukeson smiled sweetly at him over her half-moon glasses. She had a flabby face that contorted up when she smiled, the veins on her small neck popping out. She was very tall and lean.

"It's nice to meet you," Miles said.

"And you, my boy, and you!" she replied. "I can't wait to see you both on the first day! Until then, I must prepare my lessons. Toodaloo!"

Miles watched her walk off, her huge smile not faltering for a second.

"What was that about?" he half-whispered to Jason.

"What?" replied Jason. "Oh, you'll get used to her. She just comes on a little strong at first, that's all."

"I didn't have teachers that nice at my old school."

Jason nodded in response. "Neither did I."

They continued walking down the second floor hallway until Miles asked, "Who are the other teachers?"

"Well, there's Mr. Turner, the math teacher and archery and combat trainer. Ms. Lisa, the history and foreign language teacher. Captain R, the power control and usage trainer. Oh, and you just met Ms. Lukeson of course, who teaches English and science. I think that's it."

"Captain R?" Miles almost laughed. "Is that his name?"

"It won't be weird once you see him," Jason said. "He's more like a military colonel that anything."

"Well, that'll be fun."

Jason laughed and they continued to move down the hallway. Miles wondered if this was going to be more like a school or a boot camp. He wasn't sure which he would prefer, either. Miles knew one thing, though. He was here to train. To be able to defend himself against Necron, or whoever wanted to use him. He didn't know how he was going to do it, but he had to in order to see his mother again. It was his choice to come here, and he wasn't leaving until he and his mom were safe. He couldn't leave. Because as long as those Necron people were after Miles, he would never be safe.