The Facilities are life sized models of different environments one could find themselves in while performing hero duties. The school used them for the entrance exam, and for training exercises that needed such a space. My class stood in front of the massive doors with 4 painted on them, as Mx. Eyes walked in front of us to look us over. “Interesting costume choices for all of you, but I won’t judge you for them without reason. For example, Ms. Ptakochka, why the Sailor Scout look?” Mx. Eyes gestured towards me and I straightened myself out.
“Teacher, it yells that I’m a girl, while the short skirt allows for great mobility for my legs and the very short sleeves give mobility to arms. It’s reinforced fabric so my vital organs are protected somewhat from direct attacks.” I eased up and Mx. Eyes noded.
“Noted.” They then opened the doors with the press of a button and ushered us in. “Now, today’s exercise is going to teach you about random team ups. And we’re going to do this with a Heroes versus Villains scenario. I got two boxes here. First you draw a partner, then you draw together if you’re going to be a villain or a hero in this exercise, including which round you’re in. And after that, you just line up and follow the scenario. Villains protecting a nuke stashed away in a safe house, heroes trying to disarm it or the villains. Either capture the villains or pap the nuke to end the exercise. Each round is 15 minutes. If the timer runs out, Villains win.” They pointed towards the two boxes and had us start picking through them.
It was interesting to see that James and Jessica got picked as the heroes. James had kept a tight lip on his powers after revealing them to me, probably thinking I was trustworthy. I saw Jessica pop a couple pills in preparation while James was stretching. their costumes were interesting. Jessica went for a very streamline aerodynamic look with some armor reinforcement, especially around the spine and neck, while James… James was just wearing an unassuming school uniform. No proper badge or brand on it, just a blazer over a shirt and some shorts. It was interesting it included a ribbon instead of a tie, so it resembles something closer to a girl’s uniform, but without a skirt. I raised my eyebrow at his choice, and he mouthed “after school” at me. The kid I got paired up with though? Jazz. She was the girl who could turn her arm into a canon and shoot anything out of it. Her costume looked like a mix between a cute dress and sci-fi armor. And turns out, The two of us were the villains to James and Jessica. When Mx. Eyes saw me draw the slot, they had shaken their head and said “I would completely get it if you ended up as one, considering everything that’s happening. Sometimes a villain is a hero operating outside the law. Often because they were mistreated by it. Don’t let this exercise get to you, though.”
Me and Jazz were now standing in the safehouse with the mock bomb. The clock hadn’t started ticking yet, so the two of us had some time to strategise. “So, I know Jessica gets pumped up on caffeine I’ve seen her popping those pills before running, but what’s James’ deal?” Jazz asked, loading her arm with some soft balls.
“You ignore him. That’s straight up the easiest way to word it. You can look at him, see him, realise he’s there but he turns on his power, and boom, background noise. Doesn’t even show up on cameras. I have a hypothesis though, on how to deal with him, possibly with Jessica. James specified sight, but not sound, and well…” I twitched my ears a bit, and Jazz nodded. “I need you to not walk around though. A speedster and a blank spot, I figure they’ll just try to walk right into here and touch the thing. But, if I can listen for them, who knows. Could work. Do you have nets to throw by chance?” Jazz looked at me as she starting loading up the last ball, shaking it a bit.
“This is a capture or stall situation on both sides. Of course These are nets.” She smiled at me and I raised my thumb, before I stood still and closed my eyes. Jazz moved to a good vantage spot by the sounds of it, her armored boots having a solid thump to them, probably to help with keeping her grounded while firing. An alarm sound played, letting us know the exercise had begun.
I heard the clicking of James’ shoes. The formal school uniform clogs had a hard heel that echoed throughout, unfortunately for James. I heard him approaching. Jessica’s rubber soled shoes weren’t to be heard at all, probably because of the plan James formulated. I stood there, the only sounds in the room being my and Jazz’s breathing, and the echo of James’ clogs. Soon enough the clogs had reached our floor. I jumped towards the sound, without warning, grabbing onto the fabric of James’ blazer, before picking him up in a princess carry. “I’m gonna throw James into the air, so even if you don’t see him fire in the air, okay?” I yelled towards Jazz, before throwing the figure I was holding. I heard the shunk of Jazz’s cannon, and a thwump on the ground, I opened my eyes and saw the net on the ground, a figure within it. “You should ask for noise cancelling footwear when you get an upgrade, James.”
“I probably should, shouldn’t I Andrea.” James chuckled and sat there, and I closed my eyes again. It didn’t take much longer for me to start hearing the swish of someone running. The screeching of rubber on the floor. As I stood there waiting, I heard the sound fast approaching. I raised my arm and spun around, meeting my target. I aimed my strike upwards so as to have Jessica lose her traction, and another shunk of the cannon arm followed. I looked at the two parcels sitting in front of us.
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“So… want to play 20 questions until the timer runs out?” I asked the two of them as I picked them up and put them against one of the pillars in the room, for a more comfortable position, before sitting down in front of them.
“Sure, why not.” Jessica shrugged, Jazz sat down next to me and we wasted time until the alarm blared again.
“Whoops, looks like we’re now irradiated waste. Good attempt though.” I stood up, Jazz removed the nets and stored them and I shook hands with the hero team.
Turns out me and Jazz were pretty much the only villain team in the exercise to succeed. The small twinge of pride I felt was definitely balanced against a somber realisation. The thoughts if I would have done as well had I been on a hero team got into my head, before Mx. Eyes snapped me out of it. “Ms. Ptakochka. What got you the win was your quick thinking, effective use of powers and knowledge of your opponents’ abilities. I do not want you feeling down or defeated because of a silly exercise. I want you to feel proud you did good today.” They patted my shoulder and looked me in the eye. “I’d like to extended an invitation from my husband and our girlfriend for a dinner. If you could ask your mother if the two of you would be available, the three of us would appreciate it.” They smiled at me and I had to take a second to process everything.
“Okay wait a sec a husband and you two have a girlfriend together okay that makes sense but why are you inviting me and mom over?”
“I like to know my students better. And to be completely honest we were invited as well, by a third party. Said third party asked us to keep their identity a surprise.” I nodded at their reply.
“I’ll… ask mom I guess. When would it be happening?”
“Friday evening, around 7 pm.”
“So, tomorrow?”
“That is correct.”
“Well… okay. Thanks for the invite, Mx. Eyes.”
I made my way to the locker rooms to get to changing. Only the third day and I didn’t feel awkward showering with the girls or changing with them. And now that I had my own locker, it was even less awkward.
“So what did you talk about with Mx. Eyes there, Andrea?” Amy asked from another corner of the showers.
“They invited me and mom to a dinner party they’re going to. That a mysterious third party is hosting.” I answered as I stepped in and made my way over to one of the free shower heads.
“Oooooh fancy, got anything fitting to wear?” Cynthia asked, and I sighed.
“Nah, not enough time to properly build up a wardrobe you know. Got the school uniform and like three casual outfits, that’s it.” I rubbed my shoulder before turning on the water.
“Sheesh, Andrea, how do you live?” I looked towards Cynthia, who had a concerned look on her face.
“Well it’s not like mom knew I was a girl for 14 years and bought me clothes for that you know. She found out when I was in middle school. And I was still closeted back then, so.” I turned back and focused on showering, hearing a couple pity awws and agreeable murmurs. School was already finished for the day, so after finishing up in the showers and locker room, I found myself waiting outside the school for a certain someone.
“There’s a nice little café near the school. I haven’t been there myself but the reviews are solid.” I nearly jumped out of my skin when James snuck up on me and spoke.
“God, James, slow down on your powers would ya, spooked me right the hell out.”
“I figured you’d hear me approaching. I know the eyebrow raise you did at my costume, and you’re a safe person to talk to. I’d like to talk over some tea and sandwiches, if that’s alright with you. My treat.”
“Yeah that’s more than okay, lead the way James.” He nodded and started walking, so I followed.
The place was quite quaint, had this sweet look to it like something out of a romance manga, like a slice of life or what have you. Wooden tables, a couple booths, the decor warm and sweet. The two of us sat down, grabbed the menus and looked through quickly. The tea selection was massive and I kind of got vertigo from it, but food wise it was just one page with three sandwiches. We were approached by a girl wearing glasses, whose hair looked like a gentle blue flame… scratch that it pretty much was a gentle blue flame after a certain point. We ordered and she walked off, as James looked at me.
“I’m Agender.” He blurted out. I blinked in surprise at how blunt it was. “My powers make me a blank space, but I had felt like other parts of me were missing. Blank. I figured out one of those was gender.” I nodded at…
“Should I switch pronouns, your name, do you want to keep it under wraps?”
“You can use any pronouns for me, and any variation of my name. James, Jim, Jimmy, Jamie. I don’t get dysphoric about it. Small fortunes, I figure, considering your situation.” I nodded at his answer, as the waitress set our teas down and shortly thereafter brought the sandwiches.
“So the costume choices?”
“Deliberate. School Kids are easy at blending in. I looked for neutral uniforms, and found that shorts and a ribbon work well enough. Thanks again about the shoes though, never figured me stomping around would be my one weakness. You should consider maybe adding some shin pads and bracers to yours, though. Small armor padding that still fits with the aesthetic. Throw some Wonder Woman into your Sailor Moon look.” James took a bite of the sandwich, and I wrote some notes down on my phone.
“Maybe I’ll do that Jamie.” I starting munching on mine, as we sat there quietly together. I looked up the reviews for the place that James mentioned were positive. Of course The Strangely Charming Café would get them, when it’s an LGBT+ café.