The Vespidian
Arc 8 Superficial
Chapter 8
My first photo shoot could have gone better, but it certainly could have been worse. I could have royally screwed the pooch, but there was some good stuff from what Benito said. Now was one of my snack breaks before we started up my classes. Not entirely sure which ones I will be doing yet. Mom, er Caroline, I gotta get in the habit of calling her that or else I will slip up and blurt it out. At any rate, she was sitting across from me looking over something on her laptop, while I munched away at some tasty catering food that was delivered to her office. This is the sort of thing I can get used to. Pulled pork with macaroni and cheese, absolutely finger licking good.
Caroline looked up noticing that I had not finished yet, “I am amazed you are still hungry.”
“I am always hungry. You sure you don’t want any?”
“Thanks, but I am fine,” she looked a little queasy.
Not sure what her problem is, “What are we doing next?”
“What are you good at?” she asked.
I shrugged, “I dunno. I guess we will have to find out.”
She pointedly stared at me, “Really? No idea where to start?”
“You are the expert here.”
“Can you sing? Dance? Act? You know, that sort of stuff.”
I tapped at my chin, “I have not really tried. My usual day consists of laying around watching movies or working out until the siren goes off and we go out to either punch villains in the face or pull people from fires and stuff.”
She rubbed her face in frustration, “I guess we will have to go through and find out.”
“Is there like a gymnastics thing? I am pretty flexible and can jump very high.”
She paused for a moment, “There is actually. Though I can’t imagine them being pleased with a Super showing them up.”
“Doesn’t that go for every class? Won’t they get jelly if I am better than them at anything?”
“I see someone has told you a few things. Yes, but that is to be expected. Supers are disdained in this business due to having unfair advantages.”
“Shouldn’t that apply to anybody with talent? I mean there are plenty of things I can’t do, while there are things that I can do and others can’t. You have to have a knack for it or the genetic disposition. It is like how black people have that extra ligament in their legs so they can run faster. I don’t hear anybody crying foul over that.”
“That is different than a super-powered person. Besides, a little bit faster doesn’t mean anything when people can literally run faster than sound. Just here in the city, we have Panther and then there is the fastest person alive, you know, The Fast.”
“Just cause he has a goofy name doesn’t mean the man isn’t a Rank 9. Show some respect the guy can run around the world in less than half an hour. But I get what you are saying. I am just saying that there is a natural talent involved.”
“Well, sure, I deal with that every day. There are those who are gifted and those who are not. I have crushed the dreams of many aspiring people simply because they were not good enough. But that is different. Supers are inherently different, you guys are inhuman in your abilities and that scares people. People want a level playing field, but when you have people just better at everything, then you have those that don’t think that is fair. Like last year we had a guy with Muscle Memory and he could master anything he saw after the first time he saw it.”
“So what they want everybody to be equal?”
“So they say... though I am unsure of how sincere they are about it.”
“That is just stupid. If we were all the same, then nobody would be unique, we would all just be mindless drones. The main problem would be that we are not equal. Some of us are just better at things than others. I mean hell, how can we all be equal when there are mentally handicapped people? You can’t just do a facelift to do away with that. You can’t make them smarter, so the only option on that line of thinking would be to make everybody else dumber to even the playing field. Nature intended for there to be diversity, there is no diversity if we are all the same. That is how a species dies.”
“So you think you are better than everybody?”
I shook my head, “No, where did you get that from? Look, there is always somebody stronger or better. To think otherwise is, well… hubris and will get you killed in my line of work. I am lucky, I can grow stuff back if I overestimate myself. I guess a civi would not understand the insurmountable walls known as Ranks. Highest I am going to be able to be is 6 in regeneration unless something drastic changes. My body can’t break that limit.”
“For us, there is a wall called Supers that we could never deal with. You are rather humble about your powers.”
“There is nothing really to brag about, I am like average for Supers. I know people who could kill me with a flick. I have gotten my ass handed to me on a silver platter enough times to know better. It is depressing really, I have all this power that normal people can only dream of, but it doesn’t mean shit.”
She said offhandedly, “Sounds like you are making excuses.”
My mandibles clenched and I had to hold back from slapping her, “What would you know about being a hero? Have your friends died because of a mistake that you made? Have you bled for this city, cried for it?”
Caroline seemed a little uneasy, looking away from me, “No, I have not. I was not questioning how hard your job is. It was more of a come on, buck up you are a hero right… sort of thing. Look, I don’t deal with your kind often, so bear with me on this. Everybody is different, so I need to find what best motivates you.”
“My kind?” I eyed her.
“Yes, Supers. I honestly don’t like you people, but I can see that there are far worse things than the Hero League out there. Like Glitter Kitten and the Mad Dogs for instance. I could only imagine what would happen if they were left unchecked. As much as you Heroes have failed me and my family I am not callous enough to hold it against you.”
I stared at her, this isn’t adding up. “What did the Hero League fail at?”
She crossed her arms, “Look, I don’t know you and I am not going to get into something that personal with you.”
It probably has something to do with me. I mean there is no way that it doesn’t. I don’t recall her ever being involved with Super stuff before I went missing. Although in this line of work she may have run across several, she did mention some guy with muscle memory. If she didn’t want to talk about it then fine, better for me. Less likely I will say something stupid and blow my cover.
“How about we do the gymnastic thing first?” I inquired so that she would not stonewall any harder.
“Ok, there should be a class starting soon. During your trial period, we will join the starting classes and figure out what, if anything, you are good at. If you are not good at anything then we will find something for you to do.”
I nodded, “Fine by me, lead the way.”
We walked along the campus hallways that connected the departments. The walls were smooth and muted in their color while the floor was made of some sort of polished granite or maybe marble. People wearing different uniforms walked intermittently through here. It seems that each department had their own dress code. I am starting to get a school rivalry vibe coming from this place. I don’t know who the navy blue skirted girls were, but they didn’t seem to like me or the green skirted girls for that matter.
It was not really that I was trying to ease drop on them, but it is hard not to hear their venomous whispers and insincere giggles. Oh god, did I just walk into a school arc? But, but I am not cute enough to be the main character… I don’t even have hair for fuck’s sake! This isn’t going to end up with the stereotypical bullying of the new kid, is it? Something tells me I am not a good target for that. Who the fuck would try to bully a seven-foot tall mecha suit anyway?
The further we went into this department the less diversity there was. Now there only seemed to be the green jogging suits and green school girl outfits. So then who were the blue girls? This was not their place so I wonder why they were hanging around? I suppose it doesn’t matter for now.
Our little journey stopped in front of an open door. Within the floor glistened from the polished wood and along the walls were handrails. There was an instructor wearing a frilly ballerina outfit whiter than snow. She was awfully cute with that tiara on her head. She had golden, semi-long hair down to her shoulders. She stood in the center, talking about something to the gathered students. They looked over at me since I had more or less become the elephant in the room the moment I ducked in passed the doorway.
Seeing as how everything in here had come to a screeching halt, I waved a little, “Hello.”
“Hello?” replied the Instructor looking between me and Mo- Caroline.
She answered the questioning look, “This is Mecha Fairy, she is currently Sponsored. You know the drill, Camille.”
“Oh,” smiled Camille clearly relieved. “A Sponsorship. Come in, come in. Do you have any experience with ballet?”
“Not really,” I replied.
“Before I forget, what powers do you have? So we can be careful, don’t want anyone getting hurt.”
“Strength, Speed, Endurance, Regeneration are the main ones.”
She put her finger to her mouth, “Quite the few you have there. Must be nice being so gifted.”
“It is not as nice as you might think.”
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“I am sure,” she smiled slightly… was that a smirk? Eh, something tells me I don’t like this person already.
She continued, “For now, stand over there and watch the lesson. Pay attention I will call on you to try some basic things out.”
I went where she had gestured, looming over the nearest boy in a green jumpsuit. He was about two feet away, inching ever further. Am I that scary? Well, I guess I should not expect much from a guy in dance class. Wait, but don’t football teams have their players do ballet to get better balance and stances? I mean Bronsonman basically dances all over the place while he beats people up and he is like the manliest man I know, well besides Boris. So clearly there is something to this. I could actually learn a lot from this stuff and apply it to fighting.
I looked away from the wandering eyes of the other students. They were having a hard time concentrating with me here. I know, I am tall, stop whispering about it over there. It was just best to ignore them and so I did. Camille tapped at her phone for a moment and music slowly trickled into the room from hidden speakers in the walls. It was violins and piano.
“Now class as I was saying we shall finish our stretches and then we will learn the Pas De Deux. It is the basis for most duets and even some solos. As you should all know preparations before workouts are key to avoiding injuries and increase your flexibility.”
She rotated her arms, loosening up the joints and back muscles. This was simple stuff and I copied what they did slowly windmilling my arms around. Next we stretched the legs one at a time in lunges that rotated the dominant leg. She stood, tiptoed on one foot and raised her other clear up straight and held it to her chest for about ten seconds before switching, repeating several times. Oh, now you are speaking my language. She seemed impressed that I was able to keep up. I am not particularly surprised since the suit looks clunky around the top. Some of her students needed to hold onto the railing or could not do it all the way.
She sat on the floor and so did everybody else. I followed along. She spread her legs in a V and then stretched her arms along one leg for a good thirty seconds before switching to the other. Come to think about it Molotov never really taught me warm=ups, only the exercises. I wonder why that is? I shook my head of those thoughts and looked around. It seemed that the next was simple sit-ups. I didn’t need a partner, I did this enough in my room all alone.
Now that all of the warm-ups were done everybody partnered off. Except me, there was an odd number of people in the room thanks to my appearance. I leaned against the wall watching them. This did not please Camille.
She snapped her delicate little fingers at me “Non, non, non. Your posture is terrible, have you been skulking about like the hunchback of Notre Dame? Stand up straight, puff your chest out, show your majesty like the great swan princess you are.”
Well, I have been crawling around in vents and a sewer, not to mention I have to duck every time I go through a door. Eh… this is getting a little weird. She called me a swan princess. What the hell even is that? Oooh is this that I am the ugly duckling, but will grow up to be a beautiful butterfly thing? I straightened up, towering over her and everybody else in the room. It felt good, seeing her have to crane her neck to look me in the face. She motioned and one of the students brought over several books.
“Balance these on your head for the rest of class.”
“My helmet is funny shaped though. It naturally curves up as you can see.”
She took a moment, looking over my suit before, pointing to the back of the crest where it fanned out, “Place them there and walk around the sides of the room.”
“What do I do if they fall?”
“Pick them up and start over. Do ten laps without dropping any of them. I will be watching.”
“I feel as though I am being singled out.”
“Non, non. This is a basic. If you don’t have good posture and balance, then how could you possibly perform? Besides, you are not alone,” she said, motioning to the far side of the room.
There were three people over there and each of them had books balanced on their heads. They wobbly walked along. I must have overlooked them since I had been ignoring the students up until now. I sighed and walked over, none of the books fell. I am over here with the rejects while everybody else learns stuff. Nothing to do about it I guess. They kinda looked at me like some strange animal.
My stride outpaced the others in the group by a large margin. In one case a single step was equivalent to three of theirs. I got long legs, what else can I say? I walked along to the music that everybody else was practicing their partnered dance with. It was fluttery, magical, whimsical even. I stared at Camille as she showed them what to do. She was graceful and majestic, this bitch knew what she was doing. The imagery of a fairy prancing on a pond with lily pads filled my head. Damn it, I want to be that fucking fairy!
I never took my eyes off of her, even when my head turned at strange angles for normal people. It was not any owl stuff, but it would still be pretty uncomfortable for normies. If I was not wearing the suit, then yes, I could spin my head around. Instead, I had to settle for walking at a slight angle to keep line of sight. I rounded the corner and almost bumped into the slowpoke at the back. Luckily, I have great peripheral vision and managed to sidestep in order to avoid her. My lapping caused her to jump and drop the books.
I stopped, unsure if I should lend a hand or not. This girl seemed like a nervous wreck and on the verge of tears. It was a bit pathetic and I bent over, picking up her books for her. With a clatter, mine fell as well… this is what I get for helping people. I sighed and placed mine back where they had been.
“Sorry,” she said mousily.
“Don’t worry about it,” I looked away from her.
I was mad, but it was my own fault for sticking my antennae into her business, so not her fault. I had some catching up to do if I wanted to actually learn anything today. Ten laps around this moderately sized room, can’t be that hard. I mean that lap took about thirty seconds. This time I only glanced at Camille when she was in front of me and concentrated on where I was going. Sure enough, this was not hard at all. I strolled around for the final pass having not dropped the books for the past five minutes.
“Finished so soon?” she asked, watching me, we were more or less making eye contact if there was not a visor in between.
“Yup.”
“Good, you can be my partner.” She said.
“Your partner? Am I ready for that?”
“It is easy, you will be doing the Danseur routine and watching my movements, then we will switch.”
“What is a Danseur?”
“The male partner.”
“Why do I gotta do the male routine?”
“It fits your build. Besides, I doubt anyone in here could lift you.”
… she had a point. Reluctantly, I nodded, “Fine. What do I do?”
“Simple just follow my lead,” she said, taking several steps away from me. “One and two and begin.”
All at once the music shifted and grew quiet. It started out with just the piano lightly tapping as though they were footsteps. She stepped in time with the beat, waltzing in hopping strides somewhat like a rabbit. Every third step she would jump high and spin several times before landing and swiping her foot along the floor in a full circle as the rotation came to a stop. She did this twice before ending up back where she had been at which point she bowed and looked at me.
“You want me to do that?” I asked.
“Yes, do you need help?”
“I will give it a try, not sure if I will get it right though.”
“This is a class for learning. I don’t expect you to get it right the first time.”
“Oh, ok,” I nodded.
The music started over and I gulped, alright here goes nothing. I stepped lightly, trying to keep in time with the meandering music. I covered more ground than she did each step more confident than the last. The third arrived and I hopped, scraping my head on the ceiling above. It created a loud grating sound that made everybody wince and shook the room. A few of the more elitist looking people were trying not to laugh. I barely even jumped too. It surprised me so much I didn’t even spin. I landed uneasily and my heels thudded on the hardwood, scratching it. I stared at the dent I put in the ceiling. Oh boy. I hope they don’t charge me for that.
She stood, watching me with a serious face and her finger tapping at her mouth, “I see, I see. This class is not for you.”
I scowled, “What do you mean. Look, I know I fucked up, but what am I supposed to do when the roof is a foot above my head? I will do better next time, so don’t kick me out. I am serious here, I wanna learn.”
She tutted a little, wagging her finger, “Non, non, you misunderstand Mecha Fairy. This class is not for you because you are better than these uncultured swine. You are truly gifted as unrefined as you are, I see the diamond ready to be polished. You need special lessons or else your wings shall never unfurl and you will never fly where you belong.”
Wait… what? I thought she hated me? Hey, calling people pigs is not very nice. I looked around at the students. This is not how to make friends, yeah, they all hate me now. About half of them looked shocked over the turn of events and the rest were giving me death glares. It seems being called swine insulted their pride. Don’t look at me like that I didn’t insult you, she did! Hmm, if I am getting special lessons will I even see any of these people again?
I didn’t really know what to do. Caroline had walked over and grabbed my hand, dragging me off to the side. She nudged me with her elbow, “I thought you said you were not good at this sort of thing.”
“I have never danced before… well, there was that one time, but it is a bit different. So how was I supposed to know? Besides was that even good? I hit my head and didn’t even land the jump. Is this something to be that happy about?”
She crossed her arms and looked me in the helmet, “I don’t know what you did, but I have never in ten years heard of Camille taking on a student for special lessons.”
“Wait, seriously? Why? I don’t get it. I was garbage out there, like a flaming dumpster.”
Camille appeared beside us, “You cannot fool my eyes. Mecha Fairy I shall make you beautiful.”
“Thanks… I think.”
“What is her schedule looking like?”
“We still have to go around the other departments. She might be good at other things, if she can sing too, then she might be able to steal Sunshine’s spot as the backup vocal in the hero idol group,” replied Caroline.
Camille asked, “Is she free tonight?”
“After seven I believe.”
“Can she come in for our first lesson?”
“Well, you up to it.” Asked Caroline.
“Sure, unless something comes up.”
“Bring her to the gym, I will be waiting. You can leave for now not much else we can do here.”
“Ok.”
We left Camille’s class and started along the long hallway. I got to thinking, “She was nicer than I expected.”
“Camille? She will work you hard, but if she is then that means she sees potential in you.”
“At least somebody sees it, I sure don’t.”
“You will be fine, what are dance lessons to beating up villains?”
“I see your point. Oh, so what was that about a hero idol group?”
Caroline just rubbed her face and sighed, “Do they really not tell you why you are even here?”
“I thought it was for the modeling.”
“The image campaign, remember?”
“Oh… wait we are doing an idol group?”
“Yes, there will be concerts and merchandise and autograph events. You will even be going around to different schools. Sunshine is currently doing voice training.”
“Who else is in this group?”
“Just you, Sunshine, and Ichigo.”
“So it is a trio? I think she should be the lead. People like her more anyway. Besides, we are friends so I don’t want to fuck her over.” It feels like I missed something there… my brain came to a screeching halt, “Did you say Ichigo?”
“Yes, that would be her stage name. Do you know her?”
I could hear Sub salivating in my head. Wait a minute, that isn’t drool at all! Hey, calm down you. Stop popping a stiffy for fuck’s sake, she isn’t even here!
Ichigo… You thinking what I am thinking?!
‘No, but I know what you want Sub. Look, just be normal, nonrapey Sub. Ok, ok, less rapey than normal Sub. We are going to be working with her.’
I know you want her as badly as I do. Don’t you want to hold her down and fill her with eggs?
‘Well, sure, but that is not the point! There is a natural progression to this stuff you know. You know, romance.’
When did I say not to seduce her?
‘Oh, you are being reasonable. Here I was thinking you wanted to just break into her room and pound her into a coma.’
Ohh, that is hot. That sounds way better than my plan. Let’s do it!
‘No. Bad Sub.’
It was your idea.
‘Doesn’t mean it was a good one. Just not now we can talk about this later.’
Fine, but remember you owe me. I want some action and I don’t care if you have to grovel and be her slave I want some of that fairy poon. Hell, I would be happy if she let us lick her toes.
‘I doubt she is that kind of person. You are a strange one Sub. When did you get a foot fetish?’
She just shrugged, Seems kinky.
‘Fair enough… alright, alright enough of this. Go back to whatever it was that you were up to.’
Caroline repeated, “Do you know her?”
I shook my head, “Not personally, though, I have seen some of her modeling stuff.”
“Ah, yeah, she is getting rather popular lately.”
“I am glad to hear that. Oh, so wait, if Sunshine is the backup, then Ichigo is the main singer?”
“That is correct.”
“She can sing? I didn’t know about this.”
“Oh yes, originally she was just doing modeling after I scouted her, but she took some classes and is among our top singers currently.”
“You scouted her?”
“My daughter was a fan before- eh… well anyway, she made the cut and has been thriving ever since.”
I knew that was a can of worms that I was not poking and ignored the obvious change in direction that the conversation had taken, “So why is she going to be working with us?”
“Dreamer originally just wanted you two to be a duo, Sunshine I mean. But Elliott wanted somebody with experience to more or less make sure that the group didn’t tank. We are putting too much money up to let it fail. This is her first group project so we are unsure of how it will go. It is a big break for her and you guys. Once you guys are grouped you will have to listen to her as well as me.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“Did you want to meet her for introductions?” asked Caroline.
I squealed with joy, “YES!”
She looked awkwardly at me, “Maybe some other time?”
I grabbed onto her shoulder, “No, no, you are not taking this from me. I want her autograph.”
She looked a little scared, “Alright, we will go once she has finished her vocal practice, besides we have to go over there any way for your testing.”
Ichigo, I am coming!