Primary Lecture Hall

The Academy

El Lee sat in the rigid plastic seating of the lecture hall, holding a steaming cup of tea in both hands. The healer had mended his wounds, a concussion and three broken ribs, but his head still threatened to either split in half or crawl off his neck curl up under a desk and tell the world to “bugger off.” He and Sharon, by virtue of having shed their clothing before any fighting, were two of the few in the class that were not dressed in plain grey sweatsuits. Next to him sat Laura, inspecting the two pairs of holes in her AC/DC t-shirt.

“That bastard, I really liked this shirt. The first concert I ever went to.” She stuck her index finger through one of the sets of holes and frowned. Even in a baggy sweatsuit, her gymnast’s build was evident: short stature, wide shoulders, and a narrow waist. How was a girl so young in the program? He had seen her regenerative powers so knew she had talent, but there was a minimum age of eighteen to get into the Program.

“I’m eighteen, Elvis.” Laura dropped the ruined shirt in her lap and smiled at El, meeting his eyes. El realized with horror that he had been staring.

“Oh! Sorry, um, was I...was um sorry.”

Laura giggled,” Relax, I’m used to it. My power decided that this was the age it would regenerate me to. Haven’t aged a day in almost four years.”

To Laura’s right sat Drew, furiously working on a large tablet. His goggles rested on his forehead and his index fingers flew over the tablet’s display. El raised his head to get a look but was lost in the rapidly changing technical schematics Drew was working on. The last member of their team, Sharon, was sitting with her eyes closed. Periodically her head and shoulders would slightly move, and her hands twitch. It made El think of someone shadowboxing.

“You ok there Big and Stoney?” Laura’s tone was light, the apparently ever-present grin on her face. Sharon opened her eyes and turned to answer, but before she could the hall doors opened and Instructor MacDonald walked to the podium with strong, confident strides.

“Alright people, let's get in our seats and focus.” The black jacket of his suit was unbuttoned and his tie was loosened. “What happened in there?” MacDonald waited and several hands were raised, Drew’s was certainly not one of them. “Mr. McCoy, what do you believe?”

The selected student stood, he had been the one to turn to steel. “We got our asses kicked is what happened.” There were a variety of reactions in the class from chuckles and nods to soft comments toward neighbours. The general consensus seemed to be agreement.

A girl in the back spoke up next,” I split off from my team, didn’t wait for them to go in. I didn’t even see who took me out.”

Another female voice spoke up next,” Count yourself, lucky girl. He used me to blow up a gas station around my team.”

The boy sitting next to her laughed. “On the positive side, we know they employ two really good healers. Although I didn’t think to discover how my flesh smells when it cooks. As much as it hurts me to say this I am swearing off bacon for a while” His teammate mouthed a “sorry” and was rewarded with a chuckle and a one-arm shoulder hug. El wondered if team building by way of a communal beating was the goal of this exercise.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“All of these are true statements,” MacDonald said from the front of the lecture hall. “There are a number of reasons we started things off this way today. There are lessons that need to be learned, and we don’t have long to do them. First, realize that this was a reality check. Before today the majority of you had never encountered someone stronger than yourselves.”

After a pause of twenty seconds, which felt far longer to El and many others in the audience, Instructor MacDonald spoke again,” This was not to deflate you or crush your little egos people, merely to reinforce that you are not ready to fly into a bank robbery being carried out by metahumans or to stand before a rift and hold back what comes out.”

MacDonald raised his voice, projecting his next words with a level of volume and commitment that surprised many. “But you WILL be. Those of you that make it through this program will be strong enough. You will be brave enough. You will be clever enough. You will have the heart to carry on with broken bones, burned flesh, and viscous wounds. You will pick yourselves up and fight because others are depending on you. You all have that in you. My mission, and that of the other instructors whom you will meet starting tomorrow, is to help you find those qualities.”

“Now onto some rules and logistics before I let you go for the day.” With a click of a remote control cradled in his hand a PowerPoint kicked to life on the screens behind MacDonald. El let out a soft sigh, it seems the Instructor was a teacher after all, not just a sadist who sent them into a meat grinder on the first day.

Olympus Hall

University of Calgary

El followed Sharon through the door and into the apartment, they would all share for the first year of the program. Since El was the last of them to arrive in town Sharon volunteered to drive him over while the other two went for food. The furnished apartment had a small kitchen next to the entrance, and a slightly larger eating and living area just beyond that. Sharon led El down a hall with doors on both sides, pointing out the washroom on the left and which bedrooms had already been spoken for in the right.

“The last door here is yours, well by virtue of being the only one left. All of them are the same though. Get yourself moved in. I’m going to shower while we wait for the others.”

El stepped into his room and set his duffel onto the single wide bed. There was a small closet on one wall and a desk next to the bed. The best part was a wide window over the bed, it faced the west and allowed him to see the Rocky Mountains in the distance. Since he only had one bag it only took him twenty minutes to unpack his things and arrange them in the closet.

El put leaned over his bed and opened the window only to be greeted by a cacophony of voices and the sounds of a multitude of cars. He slide the window closed with enough haste that he initially feared he had broken the glass. Who the hell would think cities would be so noisy? How was anyone able to sleep here? He could even hear the noises through the closed window.

“Yo people, we come with pizza and beer. The conciliatory meal of the defeated.” Laura’s voice carried down the hall and drew El’s attention away from the prospect of never sleeping again. In the main room of the apartment, Laura had deposited several large pizza boxes.

Drew was placing bottles in the fridge. “And pop too, in case some don’t drink.”

“I got impaled today mon ami, I am drinking tonight.”

El took some pizza on a plate and took a bottle of Moosehead Lager from the fridge. He sat on the old couch, joined by Laura. Drew sat on the easy chair and Sharon pulled a wooden chair over from the dining table, El noticed she had a water bottle instead of a beer.

Sharon set her plate on the small coffee table and looked at her teammates. “Ok, people, as cheesy as it sounds life story time.” Laura groaned loudly, causing Sharon to turn to her and fix her with a broad smile.

The shorter girl chewed several more times and then swallowed,” Oh I just volunteered to go first didn’t I?” Sharon nodded, her still damp hair clinging to the sides of her face.