Adam and the gang entered the gym through the propped open outside doors, following a few others also dressed in the gym clothes. He walked ahead of Thalia. He didn’t know why her comment tripped him up. He agreed with her that he was never cut out to be a superhero. He had never even really considered it. There was just something about hearing that she had come to the same conclusion.

  Inside, one side of the bleachers were folded out and most of the class was already gathered, by the looks of it. About a dozen feet away from the bleachers, wide mats rested on the gym floor.

  Standing off to the side were two figures: One, a short woman who looked young, dressed in an athletic outfit. Her hair was dyed bright bubblegum blue. The other next to her was a mountain of a man, well over six feet, wearing a dark grey polo shirt and elastic shorts. Not only was he tall, but he was very muscular. The fabric of his shirt was strained by each muscle on his torso, especially his biceps. Only his belly was starting to show a bit of softness. His fine hair was swept back and went to his shoulders, dark but streaked with grey. He was in his fifties maybe, but clearly stayed in top shape. He had a serious, grim face, with eyes that surveyed the gathering students critically. As he crossed his arms, Adam noticed that his right hand looked to be entirely mechanical. Metallic digits drummed against his opposite arm.

  Something about the man bothered Adam. He felt like he recognized him from somewhere. And nowhere good.

  As if he could sense his stare, the man turned and looked at Adam. The eye contact was chilling. His stomach dropped, as did his gaze. He wondered if that’s what a mouse felt like when the shadow of a hawk loomed over it.

  The four of them took their seats near the front of the bleachers, off center to the right.

  Adam turned and craned his neck a bit to take in the cohort. This was the first time Adam was really seeing all of his new classmates gathered together in full lighting, not just during a crowded and dim presentation or off exploring campus or milling about at a party. He saw some familiar faces, like Annabelle from last night, and his roommates. Most people he still didn’t know. Most looked like normal teenagers.

  There was one guy sitting off to the side who was pretty big, both tall and wide with fat. His gym shirt was extra large and still didn’t contain the bottom of his belly. He had a big forehead and a prominent underbite. His forearms were dense with hair and as thick as tree trunks. Whenever he shifted, the bleacher underneath him groaned. Other than him though, it seemed the class of Rosewell Academy could pass as any other private academy student body.

  Adam wondered about how all of the people around him had come to get their powers. Many of them were probably Ultras. His great-aunt Alyssa had been the one in the family most interested in studying superpowers. She had theorized that in successive generations, an exponential number of humans would be born with the ultra-gene, a genetic mutation that gave them superhuman abilities. Maybe this batch of teenagers was proving her correct.

  People stopped trickling in within the next five minutes. The young woman went to close the gym doors while the man in the polo walked up to stand in front of the class. A clipboard was tucked under his arm.

  A faint creaking sound caused Adam to glance up. There was a small balcony tucked out of the way near the ceiling of the gym. Headmaster Knapp had entered through a door, followed by a few other staff members. Agent Dodds was among the group. They must have been there to observe what the students were capable of.

  The man in front of them spoke in a booming, authoritative voice.

  “So. You’re all they have to offer me for this school’s very first class.”

  He paced in front of them, slate-gray eyes hard as they roamed up and down the students.

  “I won’t bother opining about how soft and unprepared you all look. That’s why they brought a professional like me in, to harden you. Because if I fail in my job to prepare you, you will fail in yours. And let me tell you, the world out there does not hand out second chances. When you fail out there, people die. You will die. And the world will move on.”

  He looked up to the balcony, at the overseeing staff, before looking back to them.

  “The powers that be believe that all of you have the potential to be heroes. Quite frankly, I’m here to dispel that lie. The world may be desperate for new heroes, but that doesn’t mean anyone gets a free pass here. Ideally, a few of you will be broken under my tutelage. You will go home disabused of any dreams of becoming—”

  He paused suddenly. Adam glanced up. The headmaster was holding a hand to her ear.

  The man grunted.

  “Let’s start over. My name is Elias Dixon. You will call me Coach Dixon.”

  He gestured to the young woman who had come over to join him.

  “This is assistant coach Riley Burch. Together, we will be your primary instructors for gym, AKA power performance. Our goal, for as long as you’re here, will be to push your physical limits, make sure you are using your abilities to their fullest potential, and ground you in the fundamentals of moving and fighting as a hero.”

  A student raised his hand. Coach Dixon clearly wasn’t happy to already have a question.

  “Yes?”

  The boy stood. Adam hadn’t seen him before. He had short hair cut in a flattop, and wore a pair of rectangular glasses.

  “Hello. My name is Marcellus Cunningham. It’s a pleasure to be here. My question is this, and forgive me for being blunt: are you not the infamous assassin known as Superslayer?”

  “Ho-ly…” Adam said under his breath.

  That’s how he recognized the man. It was him. The Superslayer. Adam had seen his mugshot in the news when he was arrested. Far more often, he had seen Superslayer’s red and white ballistic mask that was shown whenever he was believed to have committed another assassination. He was the guy damn-near every superhero was afraid of before Invasion Day.

  The crowd was dead silent at the question.

  The coach narrowed his eyes and smirked.

  “That’s right. In another life, I was Superslayer. The man who always got his target if he was paid enough to. The cape collector. The internationally-feared killer himself.”

  Unsure murmurs passed through the crowd. Adam looked over at Thalia. They were thinking the same thing. He couldn’t possibly be teaching them.

  Marcellus, still standing, wavered.

  “Follow-up question, again, being blunt… are you qualified to teach us how to be superheroes?”

  Coach Dixon sneered. “Well, Marcellus, firstly, I’m not here to teach you how to be a superhero. That’s for you to learn in a classroom, where your soft little professors can fill your head with inspiring speeches about the power of your heart, and the common good, and all that lovey-dovey crap. And once you’ve put on your little costume and you’re out on the streets getting all that precious knowledge beaten out of you by someone who can crush cars like soda cans, you can fall back on my training to survive. That’s what I’m here to impart on you. And yes, I’d say given my decades of practical experience, I’m fairly qualified.”

  “Okay…” Marcellus sat back down.

  Coach Dixon turned his sneer to the class at large. “To get ahead of any more time-wasting questions, I’ll tell you a bit more about myself. I got a little careless a few years ago, and our wonderful friends at BASTION finally managed to catch up to me. They offered me the choice between spending the rest of my life in solitary confinement, or using my skills to prepare the next generation of their precocious little heroes. I chose this track after they agreed to throw in a weekly beer supply. As for my abilities… well, you may know that I killed primarily with guns and blades. But that isn’t what made me the Superslayer.”

  He tapped his temple with his mechanical hand. “What made me special was my mind. See, I was modified to think a lot quicker than the average person. I can analyze micro-movements of the body and quickly recognize patterns. I can anticipate an entire fight in the opening second. I usually use this to exploit weaknesses, but in your cases, I’ll only need to watch you train for a moment before I can show you how to improve, to best leverage your unique strengths. That’s why BASTION wanted me. I can do in a day what other coaches couldn’t do before you graduate.”

  Adam looked up again to the faculty. Some of them muttered among themselves. Maybe it was dissension about hiring a supervillain, which apparently, they were indeed aware of. The headmaster and Agent Dodds were expressionless.

  The coach raised his clipboard.

  “Speaking of watching you, that’s what we’re going to do today. I want to get a sense of what you all can do. And I want you each to witness each other as well. It’s good to start with a mutual understanding of where you fit in the pecking order. Maybe it will inspire some of you to take my lessons seriously. Here’s how this is gonna work: I’m gonna call your names two at a time, and you’re going to meet on the mat here. Introduce yourself if you want, I don’t really care, then show off your power. Preferably on your classmate. Only rules are, nothing lethal, and no bone breaking. Yet.”

  Lauren and Thalia both turned and looked at Adam, sitting in between them. Adam glanced at them both.

  “What? I’ll be fine.” He tried to sound confident, but he could feel his pits growing damp. He probably looked damp. He tried to stay positive. “Maybe my powers will kick in when I need them. Besides, I’m sure I’ll get paired with someone friendly. A real pushover.”

  Coach Dixon cleared his throat. “First up: Adam and Earl.”

  The huge guy Adam had noticed earlier stood, leaving an indent where he had been sitting. He cracked his hairy knuckles as he chuckled.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  “I’m gonna like this class,” he rumbled.

  Adam hung his head. “Fuck…”

  Thalia patted him on the back. “We’re right here supporting you. Just give it your best. Remember to curl up into a ball if he hits you. No one will think less of you.”

  Adam groaned as he stood. “Let’s just get this over with.”

  “You got this, Adam!” Lucy cheered.

  Adam went to stand on the mat across from Earl. The other student towered over him. He grinned, showing his yellow and overlapping teeth. Earl’s nose was crooked and flat. Adam would hate to meet whoever was able to break it. His eyes were practically shadowed, recessed in his sloping skull.

  “I’m Earl van Suther,” the boy announced. “And they’re gonna call me Ogre. Power is, nobody can beat me in a fight ‘cept some of my family. When I’m a hero, nobody’s gonna attack my block. They’re all gonna see what I do to the first guy who tries it.”

  He balled his meaty hands into fists.

  Adam turned to the students, doing his best crowd grin. He did a small wave.

  “Hi everyone. I’m Adam Atlas. And I know what you’re probably thinking. Do those Atlases have powers? No, not really. But sometimes I can… sort of see stuff. I get these flashes. Or I did, once.”

  “Great,” Coach Dixon said flatly, from behind the mat. “Let’s get this going, I don’t have all day.”

  Adam turned to him. “Does he have to hit me, or can we skip that part?”

  “Someone needs to demonstrate something.” The coach blew his whistle.

  Earl immediately began lumbering toward Adam. Not knowing what else to do, Adam locked his knees and put his arms up over his head.

  He waited for the hit to come. He didn’t have to wait long. Adam crumpled as a blow struck his torso. All of the air fled from his lungs. He flopped like a ragdoll onto the mat.

  Somewhere, distantly, he heard a collective oooooh. At least they were sympathetic.

  Adam rocked back and forth on the mat on his side while Earl raised his fists like a heavyweight champion, as if he had accomplished something. At least the hit didn’t seem nearly as hard as it could have been. Nothing felt broken, just horribly bruised.

  Coach Dixon walked over to Adam. “Please don’t tell me I need to call the nurse over on the first damn skirmish,” he said down to him.

  Adam tried to hold up a finger. His face was pressed deeply into the mat.

  “No… I’ll… just…”

  Thalia stood and trotted over to help Adam up. She put his arm over her shoulder and helped him limp back to his spot. They sat down together gingerly.

  “That was way unnecessary,” Thalia said, gritting her teeth. “Someone outta teach that Earl what a real fight is like.”

  Adam was curled into himself, clutching his ribs. He wasn’t really thinking of payback, just trying to will the pain down. “Yeah… totally…”

  “That was brave,” Lauren told him. “You definitely got a bad draw, but you did it. If you need us to find the nurse, let me know.”

  Adam looked over at her. He attempted a smile. “Thanks.”

  The next matchup was already underway. Terry Yang vs Rueben Kidd, as they introduced themselves. Terry could bend and channel light. Rueben could shrink at will. They played a little game of tiny Rueben running around the mat while Terry tried to tag him with a beam of light from his finger. It didn’t take long to hit him.

  “Wow!” Reuben marveled as he grew to full size. “These gym clothes shrunk perfectly with me! I was kinda worried about that part.”

  “Your clothes are made of metamaterial,” Coach Dixon said. The spiel sounded pre-prepared. “It’s a government-patented design that should be able to hold up to 99% of potential power usage. Eventually, your costumes will be made from the same material.”

  A girl from the crowd spoke up. “When are we getting our costumes?”

  “When you earn them, which certainly isn’t today,” Dixon answered. “Next: Jay and Ernest.”

  The matchups continued. Once his gut pain reduced to a dull throb, Adam was actually glad he went first and got his over with. Now there was no anticipation, and he could enjoy seeing what his classmates were able to do.

  Jay vs Ernest was pretty one-sided, as Ernest could generate ice and Jay could apparently phase matter that he touched out of physical reality. Ernest tagged him with an icy bolt that burst apart into glittering frost as it knocked Jay onto his butt.

  Next was Lucy vs Ike, one of Adam’s roommates. He had seemed nice enough in the few times they had talked so far. Despite looking kind of geeky with his big glasses and goofy smile, he was absolutely ripped. He shared with the class that he was an experimental super-soldier created by the US government.

  “My mom needed money, so,” he mimicked giving a shot. “They gave her a little bit of special serum while she was pregnant with me. And now here I am!”

  For equipment he brought a simple combat knife which he wore at his hip.

  After Lucy introduced herself, she reached into her pocket as Ike took a defensive stance. She shot her hand forward, and vines uncurled from her grasp. Ike tried to dodge, but some of the leafy strands caught his legs, tripping him up. The vines began climbing up his frame, but he was able to unsheath his knife and begin hacking at them. Lucy moved her fingers as she concentrated, but was unable to regroup the vines before Ike sprang out and deftly somersaulted towards her. He launched forward and grasped Lucy around the waist, then lifted her into the air and spun her around.

  “Hey! Put me down!” Lucy giggled.

  Ike set her down and bowed for the audience. As a prize, Lucy formed some of the vines into a crown and placed it on top of his head.

  Thalia got to go next. She took the mat with a skinny boy with a short, trendy haircut. He had a mischievous face. Thalia pulled the Wildstone out of her pocket and showed it to the class as she explained her family’s history with it, maybe for a bit too long. Not one to be outdone, the boy, Benedict, revealed a pair of bat-like wings that suddenly appeared behind him.

  Wildstone in hand, Thalia crouched low onto the mat. Adam could tell when she was channeling a great cat. She sprung at Benedict, but he disappeared at the last moment.

  “Did I forget to mention I can turn invisible? It’s how I can hide my magnificent wings!” he said with a mocking titter.

  Thalia stood and focused for a moment, tilting her head. She suddenly sprung backwards and struck the heel of her palm into something solid. Benedict reappeared as he tumbled backwards.

  “You wear too much perfume,” she informed him as she offered a hand up.

  “It’s cologne,” he grumbled.

  A few more fights occurred in which Adam wasn’t too familiar with either student. A boy named Billy with telekinesis went against Ingrid, a rather mousy-looking girl who was an apprentice mage. She tried to get out some sort of spell, but Billy lifted her off the ground with an outstretched hand until she very quickly complained of getting sick.

  After that was Nathan, from the bar last night. He was a bit cagey about himself, including what his powers were. His dueling partner was a beautiful young woman named Lyra, who was apparently an Atlantean.

  Adam knew about the existence of Atlantis through his family, though actually seeing one of its people came as quite a surprise. Most surprising was how human she looked; maybe there was a faint shimmer of scales on her sun-kissed skin, and maybe some gill lines on her neck under bleach-blonde locks, but overall she was human at first glance.

  Nathan tried to concentrate on something, but evidently was not successful before Lyra blasted his face with water stored in a pouch on her belt, then knocked him off balance with a leg sweep. Lyra offered him a hand, but Nathan picked himself up and went back fuming and dripping wet as Lyra tilted her head.

  Edward, who was another young mage, summoned a flock of ravens to harass Jonas before he could get close enough to attack with a quarterstaff.

  A boy named Kenny moseyed up to the mat to meet a crimson-haired girl named Harper, who said her name so quiet Adam could barely hear it. Lauren leaned over and mentioned that she was one of her roommates.

  “Now, my power takes a second to kick in,” Kenny said with his arms raised. “So if you could just help me out and focus on my eyes for a moment—”

  Harper went stiff and fell backwards. When she touched her own shadow, she seemed to fall into it and disappear.

  Kenny looked around. “What the hell…?”

  Harper rose out of his shadow without making a sound. With one hand, she grabbed the back of his head and pulled him towards her. The other hand produced a blade that looked to be made of solid shadow and held it against his neck.

  “WOAH WOAH WOAH!” Kenny cried. “Please don’t kill me, I wasn’t gonna do anything bad!”

  Her shadow blade disappeared as she pushed him forward and walked away. Kenny did his best to return without shaking.

  Thalia’s shy roommate Mary was called up against a tall, freckled girl named Cleo. Cleo’s powers were immediately evident, as she began swirling pebbles around her hands while casually chewing gum. Mary was a bit harder to read. Adam still didn’t know what to make of her. She didn’t say much about herself earlier, or now. She seemed petrified to be the center of attention. Adam hoped the rocks that were gonna be thrown her way didn’t hurt too bad.

  Cleo flicked a couple of stones in her direction. In one fluid motion, Mary dodged them by jumping to the side and landing balanced on one hand. She righted herself, Cleo looking annoyed.

  Mary raised her arms, which both split down the middle, through her hands. It immediately became clear why Mary seemed a bit uncanny: she was some sort of automaton. Her insides were gears and pistons, which clicked as two lengths of corded metal shot from her arms. The cords arced and curved inwards, meeting to wrap around Cleo. The girl squealed as she was bound up tight and toppled onto the mat. Mary quickly receded the metal ropes back into her arms and sealed them, the seams disappearing.

  “Interesting,” Coach Dixon muttered as he scribbled something.

  Adam hadn’t noticed it before, but now that she was in her gym clothes, he could see Mary’s joints had overlapping segments that betrayed her artificial nature.

  Thalia leaned over to Lauren. “Are you getting nervous? You’ve got to be up soon.”

  Lauren shrugged. She didn’t seem fazed. She was a hard person to read.

  “I’m sure it’ll be fine. Adam’s was definitely the worst so far.”

  “You can say that again,” he said, rubbing his stomach. He’d need some ice tonight.

  “Megumi and Vivian.”

  Two girls took the mat. Megumi had dark, untamed hair and some heavy black makeup around her eyes. She wasn’t big, but she looked like she wasn’t a stranger to fights judging by how she stood at the ready. Electricity sparked around her clenched fists.

  Vivian took the time to turn and introduce herself. Her hair was a silvery-white color, which contrasted against her honey-brown skin. She smiled widely.

  “Hi everyone! It’s so nice to meet you all and see what you can do. I’m Vivian. A little bit about myself, I’m half human and half Ollyrian. I mostly grew up on the planet Ollyria, but I’ve gotten to take several trips here to Earth as I’ve grown up and I’m so excited that I get to learn to be a hero here!”

  Adam’s jaw genuinely dropped.

  Sentinel and Stargazer were both part Ollyrian. They were widely considered to be Earth’s greatest and most powerful heroes. Despite both looking human, they had streaks of the same silver-white hair that Vivian had entirely.

  Judging by the excited murmurs through the class, this information wasn’t lost on some others. Marcellus stood. “Weren’t Sentinel and Stargazer both Ollyrians?”

  Vivian pointed at him. “That’s a great question! Yes, they both had Ollyrian DNA. Though technically, they were humans infused with it at some point as adults. No one is really sure how it happened, apparently. I’m a natural hybrid. My dad was an astronaut, he went through this wormhole— it’s a long story, I’ll tell you guys later if you’re interested. But yes, I have the same powers as those two. I can fly, I’m basically invulnerable, I’m really strong. I can even travel through space!”

  Coach Dixon gave a low whistle. “Sentinel and Stargazer were some of the only superheroes I never even entertained the idea of going after. One of them alone would have thrashed me with both hands behind their back. I guess we know who’ll come top of the class.”

  Vivian put her hands together as she looked a bit hesitant.

  “Yeah… there’s just one thing? We Ollyrians are actually so powerful that our culture practices complete pacificity. We kinda went through this phase where we conquered a lot of the galaxy just because we could. It’s a big shame. So, I’m not actually allowed to hit anything unless it threatens my life. And there’s a pretty high bar for that.”

  Coach Dixon seemed unimpressed. “I don’t recall Sentinel and Stargazer having such a limitation.”

  Vivian rubbed the back of her head. “Yeah, well, apparently, they had some sort of special exemption with the Ollyrian government, I guess because they were fully human, and Earth citizens. I was raised in the culture, so I gotta follow the rules. Sorry.”

  Coach Dixon shrugged. “Alright. Megumi, it sounds like you can hit her as hard as you want with no resistance."

  Megumi smiled. “Gladly.”

  She stepped forward and unleashed a bolt of lightning directly at Vivian. Adam had to avert his eyes, it was so bright. An afterimage streaked across his vision.

  The stream of electricity lasted several seconds. When the crackling stopped, Adam dared to look up again. Megumi stood there, hunched and panting slightly.

  Vivian floated several inches off the ground. Despite being just hit with a solid stream of plasma, she didn’t look any worse for wear. Her hair stood on end like it was filled with static. She touched one of the white strands with her finger and laughed.

  Megumi gritted her teeth and grunted, apparently affronted that her attack hadn’t even tickled.

  “Alright you two, clear off. You can all stare at the girl from outer space later on. Next is… Lauren and Reagan.”