“Let me be perfectly clear here kid, your sister’s power is worthless.  Trust me, I’ve been a Hero for as long as the League has existed, I know what I’m talking about.  No one is going to take her as a sidekick, not even DSMIR.  And we both know what happens to Unregistered Supers who aren’t taken into the League or DSMIR, don’t we?” Jack Frost

I nodded fearfully.  I didn’t want my sister to end up with the dangerous people.  With the villains.  He smiled.

“So, I want to make a little deal with you.  Sign this piece of paper, become an agent of DSMIR, reject Magnificent Mind’s attempts to make you his sidekick, and I’ll take your sister in.  I’ll even adopt her, give her a family, I know you and her have always wanted that much.  Wouldn’t it be the brotherly thing to do to give your sister a future she can never reach by herself?” Jack Frost

I stared at the paper and pen he had put on the desk in between us.  

“I can help my sister if I sign my name on the paper?” Adrian

He smiled.

“You can.” Jack Frost

I picked up the pen and had my name on the paper the moment he was finished, and I couldn’t help but growl in frustration at my former childishness.  The dream version of Jack Frost, a Hero who could create and control ice, turned and laughed at me in victory.  The real me, the me that was banging on the glass separating me from my foolish child self.  I was only nine years old when I made that deal, nine.  

I would never have thought that the Heroes were fighting tooth and nail to get her as a sidekick.  I only found that out later, when one of the ones who lost to Jack started complaining about it in my vicinity.  Sometimes I wish that I could tell my sister about what he did, but whenever we talk she’s just so damn happy it hurts.  I could never tell her, I could never ruin her perfect family, even if I’m not a part of it.

The scene changed, it was probably during my second year as an active agent in DSMIR, going by my shaved head.  That was a phase.  I was also crying in a corner, curled up in a ball.  Ah, this was right after I found out, isn’t it?  I sigh and fall back from the glass, this is a nightmare, the more I struggle the more futile it becomes.

“You could have had a family too, Parasite, if you weren’t such a damn idiot.  I mean, what kind of Super wouldn’t want your sister as a partner?  She makes us all more powerful, and she only gets better and better.  You?  All you can do is hurt people, remember how much you would hurt your sister?  How you kept her from playing, how you kept her from making friends?  Don’t you remember?!” Jack Frost

I can’t wait till I get to wake up.  Hearing myself sobbing in a corner just makes me feel pitiful.

******

I snort as I wake up, blinking my eyes blearily.  I look around, I’m in my bed.  Damn me was that one hell of a nightmare.  At least it started getting enjoyable near the end.  Since when did I dream of jello monkeys fighting jedi polarbears all voiced by Sean Connery?  I mean, even I was voiced by Sean Connery.  

I then turned my head to look at the television I seem to have left on.  I was about to turn it off, but the new broadcast on it caught my attention.

“--And thanks to the efforts of the Heroine, Boost, a team of rookie Sidekicks was saved.  The team attempted an unsanctioned attack on a drug ring stationed in Los Angeles.  The team was beaten and on the ground, but with her timely appearance, she managed to not only rescue them, but also capture the local ring leader.  Truly, this is the stuff of our Heroes, ladies and gentlemen.” Reporter

The television then showed images of my blue costumed sibling quite literally saving the day.  I smile, sis really has become what we always dreamed of being.  A real life hero.  Sure, she’s technically still a sidekick, but that’s just because she’s still a minor.  Hell, these days people call her the “Queen of the Sidekicks.”  She’s a Hero in all but name, and if Magnificent Mind is to be believed, which he is, then she even attends meetings with the Hero team she Sidekicks for.  

And then I start laughing my ass off, oh this is just way too damn good!  One of the Sidekicks she saved was that one chick, can’t remember her name, she had pink armor and was a weeker for Captain Blowhole.  Anyways, she was part of the rookie team!  She must have just become a member of the League if she’s still a sidekick.  

I turned the TV off soon after and got ready for work.  Today, I’ll start officially training the fresh meat.  Hopefully one of the PTs already told everyone that I’ll be taking care of training from now on.  

See, the way the training department works is, you have one person in charge of macro-training, that is all of the big assignments like training missions and testing days.  Under the macro-trainer are the personal trainers, the PTs.  They are all specifically chosen to have meshing personalities with the Super they’re meant to be training, it’s like putting a track coach for the track team, it works a lot better than putting the basketball coach for the track team.  The PTs make sure everyone is improving their physical conditions and are pushed towards pursuing careers in either the League or DSMIR.  

That’s part of the reason why Dr. Palmer creates profiles for everyone, so that we can get proper trainers for them.  

By mid day I’m in the commons, and watch as people start pouring in through the doors in the back.  Everyone has at least cautious looks on their faces when they see me, so my speech and the fight I finished a few days ago did their duty.  Thankfully, from what I understand, being feared is just as useful in my new position as it was in my old one.

Eventually everyone was in their seats, and thankfully silent.

“So, you all probably found out that I’m no longer the Warden, instead I’m now in charge of all of your training programs.  If nobody told you, here it is.  So, today, we’re going to be introducing one of your new best friends for the next twelve months.  If you’ll turn your attention to the screen behind me.” Adrian

I pressed a button on my clicker and activated the thing I’ve been working on for the past few days.

Behind me, the screen burst into life.  It showed a long series of names, going from one to twenty.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“This, ladies and germs, is the eligibility board, your new best friend.  This shows you your probability of getting inducted into the League of Heroes.  As you’ve probably noticed, there are only twenty slots.  Suffice to say, not all of your are going to become Heroes.  Most of you are going to become DSMIR agents, and again, anyone who isn’t gonna spend a while with me.  You should also remember, that these are probabilities, the guy in the number one slot may very well get traded for the bottom of the barrel, so remember that you can always look more appetizing.  Constant improvement will help with that.  Questions?” Adrian

Someone in the back rose his hand.

“Yes?” Adrian

“Why are their only twenty slots?  There’s a lot more than twenty Heroes out there.” Man 1

“Good question.  The thing is, only twenty Heroes this year have registered to take on Sidekicks.  Not everyone out there want’s to take on the inexperienced, and those that do usually already have their own sidekicks.” Adrian

Another hand.

“I thought that Heroes had to have train a Sidekick at least once every five years or something?” Man 2

“The people in this room aren’t the only Supers out there who want to join the League.  A lot of Heroes prefer to take in former DSMIR agents, others help out with the Sidekick teams, meaning only a few decide to dip into the recruitment pool that is the Compound.  Last question.” Adrian

This time, it was a girl.  She had a bored expression, no that’s not right, it’s more like an apathetic one.  Odd.

“Why are we already ranked?” Girl 1

“Hmph, what, wanna be with the cool kids?” Teenage Boy

She turned around and addressed the idiot who looked like a football player.  If memory serves he’s number seven, and he was also the one with the blue protective aura from the other day.  Justin?  I look back and confirm, yup, he’s a Justin.

“No, you idiot, it’s because I’m ranked number five and I don’t have a clue what my power even is yet.” Girl 1

The response nearly made me laugh, simply because he realised at that moment that she was actually pretty.  So, if her rank is five, that means her name is Caroline, Caroline Kent…

I swear if she has enhancement abilities I am going to hurt God for his lack of imagination.  I will hurt him brutally.  I think the only reason that I didn’t notice that earlier is because I pulled an all nighter two days ago.

“Hah!  Your names Cara Kent!” Squeakers, Squeaky, whatever the hell I called him last, the dough ball!

“Shut up Squeakers!” Man 3

“MY NAME IS BRIAN!” Squeakers The Eternal Squeak

Damn peanut gallery.

“Squeakers, the last time you tried this, you shat on my floor.  Next time you shit yourself you’re running a mile a day.  And you, stop acknowledging the attention whore!  Now, as for why you’re already ranked, the answer is simple.  Remember what I said during orientation, it’s all about being powerful and pretty for induction, hence the predetermined slots.  And before you all go nuts, I had Osus run all the data on that front, so I’m not being biased.  And power usually makes more of an impact than looks alone.” Adrian

Actually that’s a bit of a lie, Osus did about ninety percent of the work, but it required a baseline listing, which I provided.  Other than that, it was mostly Osus’ work that created this, but I still had a fairly influential part to play.  

“Sexist.” Woman 1

It was spoken in a mostly subdued tone, but I couldn’t help but agree slightly.  The list was using a straight male as the baseline, so of course the majority of the rankings were women.  That’d change in the future, of course.  Power is usually more appealing than looks because of the mask, hiding distinguishable features, etc.  I was a little surprised at how she said that despite how I was clearly favoring the women, but maybe this one is a legitimate feminist, and believes in gender equality.

“Girls are prettier than guys, so why are men on the list?” Woman 1

Hahhh~, of fucking course.  Dash my hopes for gender equality, why don’t ya?  At least wait till I’m out of earshot.  

Thankfully for her, it would seem I was the only one who heard that comment.

“So, next, all of you are going to be meeting with your personal trainers.  They’ll be in charge of getting all of you in decent physical shape, or better shape, whatever the case may be.  Last names A-F, go over there…” Adrian

I then started dispersing the crowd, putting everyone in their own neat little spaces to make it easier for the PTs to find them.  The whole process took longer than I’d have liked, but it could have been worse.  When it was all said and done, and the whole room was filled with mostly mindless chatter, I clapped my hands to get everyone’s attention.

“Now, onto some closing matters.  Firstly, as I’m now in charge of training all of you, I’m technically no longer the warden.  I do not know who is going to replace me on that front, all I know is that they are going to be powerful, and you shouldn’t piss them off, I’m looking at you Squeakers.  Secondly, you all know those computer terminals in your quarters?  Some of you have used them some of you haven’t, it doesn’t matter, they’re for your personal use, however, Osus does actively monitor it.” Adrian

At this, I could see some people look disgusted or pale faced.  After all, they now think that their every little action is being watched by the entire compound.

“Other than that, it is private.  The only way I would be able to view it is when Osus sees you doing something potentially dangerous for yourself or others, and alerts me as such.  Nobody, and I mean nobody, is watching you.  And Osus?  She’s not an AI, she’s not intelligent enough to have opinions of people, so calm down.” Adrian

Most of the people in the room did as I instructed, but a few still looked uncomfortable, those ones are either smarter than the rest or have things to hide.  I was telling the truth, my clearance doesn’t allow me to invade their privacy, however, I do have a degree of control over what Osus deems as “Dangerous.”  But it’s not like I abuse that, I just use it on certain things I deem self important.  

“Thirdly, beginning next month, your combat training will begin.  It will switch daily with your Superpower training.” Adrian

This was more for the PTs than the Trainees.  A flaw I saw in the scheduling my predecessor created was a fatal lack of combat and weapons training.  I’ll be rectifying that.

“Once we begin combat training, there will be mandatory duels scheduled to occur every two weeks.  They will help to keep a constant gauge on everyone’s rank.  The first half will be dedicated simply to non-powered combat ability, while the second half allows for the use of powers.” Adrian

That got some bobbing heads and a few disbelieving looks.  Ah, yes, the divide between sensibility and a lack thereof.  Just wait until those pale faced people turn into combat addicts.  Dr. Palmer seems to think that Superhumans all have a greater disposition to violence, and I’d have to agree.  

“Finally, every two months there will be training missions.  These missions will interchange regularly between solo missions with oversight from a volunteering Hero, and team missions which are usually led by Heroes.” Adrian

That got the Trainee’s attention.  How unsurprising.  Everyone has been taught over the ever since the mid nineties that the Heroes were like Gods among men, the celebrities that celebrities drool over, and I just told that they’d be working with them.  

I can’t wait until that sense of veneration turns into disappointment once they realize that Heroes are people too.

And people are annoying as shit half the time.  

“Welp, all of you are now going to begin your training regimens, which are according to what your PTs decide.  Start stirring trouble, and I will put you through hell, understood?  Great, see ya!” Adrian

I quickly made my escape.  Despite all of my training and utter lack of fear in the face of death, I’ve always been terrible at being the center of attention for more than fifty strangers when my mind is bereft of negative emotions, like anger, or annoyance, or anger, or fury, or anger.  

I have a lot of anger in my system, alright?  It’s not like it’s my fault, anyways.

In no time at all I’m walking back to my suspended home by way of the catwalk.  I hear one of the Convicts start knocking his cube in a rhythmic way, but I don’t pay it much mind.  None of the Supers in here have anything similar to a sound based power, and I would make quick work of it otherwise.  

I still air on the side of caution, and before I even get inside my home all of the convicts in their cubes are unconscious or wishing they were.  As I enter, I stagger.  Oh yeah, that may have been a mistake.  The rush…  I shake my head, and take a look in a mirror.  My skin has turned sinister, a deathly white, the scar on my cheek almost looked like it was dribbling puss, and my sunken eyes glowed with a green light.  I shook my head again, I’m not a monster.

...yUo ARe...

I’m not!  I let out a grunt as I hit the wall by the mirror, pain striking at my eyes and instantly tears are pouring out of them.  When my sight had cleared up, I was normal looking again.  Just a normal looking human, that’s right, not a monster.

I heard a faint giggle, and I whirled around, looking everywhere, but seeing nothing.  I ended up just shaking my head again as I fought off the after effects of using my power.   

I slumped down against the wall, wiping my forehead clear of the sweat I hadn’t realized had already started trickling down my forehead.

This is going to be a long night.