Academy for Heroes-In-Training

SLIM PARKER

He stood across from the academy, studying the many different heroes. He was searching for one in particular, a boy named Nick Copper. Rage seethed inside Slim at the very sound of the name. He would pay him back for...

Suddenly, a flash of blue. Slim jerked to attention and saw his nemesis shuffling throught the crowd, trying to reach the entrance. Suddenly, he disappeared for a second, and reappeared at the door. Slim grunted. He never would get used to the whole slowing down time thing.

Slim walked across the road and tried to blend in with the crowd. He saw a group of teenagers walking toward the door and laughing. He quickly went over to them and pretended he was part of the group. As soon as he was in the entrance, he walked toward the office. When he entered, the lady asked,
"Name, please." Slim smiled coolly.
"I'm already checked in," he lied. "I was just checking on a friend of mine, Nick Copper." Do you know where his room is? I haven't seen him in a long time." She smiled, although Slim could tell that it was a faked smile. She glanced down at the papers on her desk. "He's in room B15." He nodded politely and walked away. He highly doubted that Copper would recognize him. He had dyed his hair black, and his face had changed during the years. He stopped in front of the room and hesitated. He knocked quietly, then entered. Nick looked up in surprise from his perch next to the window.
"Hey there," said Slim. "Mind if I take this bed?" he asked. Nick shook his head. So far, so good.

AnnaBell nervously walked up to the front desk and waited for the woman behind the counter to finish with the person in front of her.
"Next." She called in a weary voice.
"Um, hello? I need to sign in." Her voice shook with anticipation.
"Name?"
"AnnaBell Crowell."
"Room A 14." I grab the key and dash off to my room. i find it empty with two beds. I place my bag on the bed on the right, and sit down next to it. I sigh; waiting to see who my roomate will be.

*imapoemperson: You don't seem to have posted a profile in the discussion thread. Could you do so before posting in here again? And if/when you do please make your future posts longer; the rule is 200 words minimum per post. *

Whatever misgivings Zeke had about this practical joke, it was the first he'd ever been so excited about since his first prank on Ken. He chuckled slightly, back against the wall, as he creeped closer and closer to his rival's window. The moon was the only light source available aside from the light streaming from Ken's window, so Zeke had plenty of cover.

He peeked into the room carefully. There didn't appear to be anyone in there - Ken must have stepped out for a snack or something. He raised himself from the ground and lifted one leg into the window. It was when his foot touched Ken's desk that the tremendous sound hit his ears. He fell forwards into the room and immediately plugged his ears with his fingers, eyes clenched shut.

The noise stopped, and Zeke's eyes opened slowly. Ken Robotnik looked down at him, no longer wearing his trademark grin.

"You, Zeke? Unbelievable," he muttered.
"You knew I was coming, then." Zeke replied. It wasn't a question.
"I had a tip-off. An anonymous tip-off," he added as Zeke opened his mouth angrily. "I can't believe you of all people would do something like this! Why? What mad reason could you have for vandalising my room?"

Zeke, ever the recessive type, couldn't bring himself to answer.
"Hmph. You can tell the Head of the Academy then. Stay there while I finish up here."
Ken turned back to his computer. Zeke continued to glare.

"You remember the last time I pulled a prank on you?" he said, surprising himself.
"Vaguely," Ken replied still facing his monitor. "You balanced a bucket of water on my door, and it fell on my head when I entered my room. Real original. I got so mad that I -"

Ken stopped abruptly. Has he remembered what he did to me? Zeke thought savagely. Ken turned and surveyed the hedgehog, then sighed.

"Go back to your room, Zeke."
Zeke was shocked. "What about the Hea-"
"Go back to your room."

Eden stood off down the hall, waiting. When he saw the hedgehog leave and disappear down the hall, he walked towards the room. Robotnik was sitting at his desk.

"Proved well founded, didn't it?" Eden asked.

"Yeah," Robotnik said. There was a shortness to his tone that Eden took note of.

"Well, then I think we agreed on something," Eden said.

Robotnik nodded and opened up a drawer on his desk. He pulled out the device and handed it to Eden.

"Pull the trigger to fire," he said. "Flip the switch beside the trigger to start retracting the line. It's that simple."

Eden looked it over, then put it inside his coat. "Pleasure doing business with you."

"Why did you do it?" Robotnik asked. "They didn't do anything to you."

Eden laughed. "Sympathy for him? From you? That's unexpected. But if you really want an answer, I needed the grappling gun. And they were technically violating a rule. I just took advantage of the situation."

Robotnik turned around. Eden left the room. Things were working out just fine. The grappling gun was the only thing he needed from Robotnik. Though it was the only option, it had left a bad taste in his mouth. Hopefully his involvement with him would be limited from now on.

Eden turned the corner and ran right into Aislara.

"So, you're the one who ratted those two out," she said, a self-confident smile on her face.

Kumo raised her head as Zeke opened the door. He was back early. "What's the matter? Run out of newspaper?"
She caught the look on his face, and her expression fell. "You were caught." It wasn't a question.
Zeke sat down on his bed with a sigh. "Someone must have tipped him off."
Kumo's expression hardened, and she stood to her feet. "Are you sure?"
"He was waiting for me when I climbed inside."
"Who told him? I'll rip their bloody arm off!" Kumo's fist clenched and she gritted her teeth, her jaw beginning to ache.
Zeke looked shocked. "Kumo! Calm down, I don't know."
Kumo sighed. "When I find out..." Her expression softened a little, and her shoulders relaxed as she turned back to the hedgehog. "Are you hurt?"
Zeke shook his head. "Ken didn't do a thing, just told me to go back to my room." He looked puzzled by this. "I was expecting a pummeling, but he just let me go."
Kumo nodded. "Good, or he would be at the receiving end of my sword." She sat down on her bed, still trying to decide who had ratted out her friend, massaging her jaw..
"Kumo?"
"Yes?"
"Remind me not to make you angry."

Normally, Aislara would have never taken to wandering around hallways when she had a private room she could read in, but with the recent arrival of Moco, she was about to go crazy with frustration -- the bird was raucous, and obnoxious. Plus, he'd recently taken to rooting about in Eden's bags and Aislara did NOT want to be in the room when her reluctant roomate got back.

So, instead she'd gone and sat on one of the benches in a main hallway. Gossip bounced off the walls like tennis balls and even Aislara couldn't help but catch some of it. Ear attuned especially to names she'd already heard, it was only reasonable that she'd heard gossip about Eden first, but that didn't help the feeling of guilt that was blossoming in her gut.

That blossom exploded when he'd rounded and corner and nearly ran into her. She honestly couldn't help that the first words out of her mouth were an accusation, but Eden didn't seem to mind. He nodded, as if he was not ashamed of messing with other students at all. Aislara shrugged and her eye fell on the grappling gun in Eden's grasp. His fingers tensed as he noticed where her glance was directed.

"It's mine," he said.

"Yeah, I realize that," Aislara responded, lifting one eyebrow, "I'm not interested in it, so relax."

An awkward pause ensued, and the two stood facing each other until Aislara's stomach let out a vicious gurgle.

"Uh, yeah, I think I'm going to... eat." She tilted her head slightly, as if bored, and some of her hair cascaded down over her shoulder, around the strap of the purple backpack.

"Since we're like, roommates, apparently," (here she growled inwardly, though she was attempting to adjust -- certainly Eden would be more pleasant than Moco?), "Maybe we should eat. Together. Like, to get to know. Or something. Or not. I'm just hungry."

The words tumbled amateurly over lips that were not accustomed to long bouts of conversation, so Aislara caught them by biting her lip and squinting her eyes slightly.

I looked over the new guy.

"So what you been up to spidy." I said with out dropping my book.

"Hod did you know." asked shocked.

"You got some web gook on your right sleeve, spidermans the only goo guy i know of. And your the only kid he has." I explained casually. "So what do you want." I asked now abandoning my book.

"I want info." He said slyly.

"What about."

"Stuff."

"Well then i might not know anything. And why do you need info on me, what you gonna do attack me. We're both hero kids."

"Yes but I'm not like my dad." He said. "And sense you give me what you want I'll be on my way." He then ;left the room and in a moment was replaced with a girl.

"I'm Kori." was all she said then got onto the far bed. Great i was rooming with a quiet one.

Thanks Bolt!

Kori St. Commons~

She had handed in her papers, and was just about down the hall when someone stopped her. "Do you need any help?" He said, his voice cheery. Ah, he was one of those types. "No," Kori said, and continued walking, but the persistent fool caught up.

"Are you sure? The academy is pretty tough to manouvre around," he said with a smile. Kori noticed the braces that gleamed on his teeth.

"I'm sure," Kori said, her voice rising slightly. She hated these annoying and persistent people. She hated a lot of people, actually, so she didn't quite understand how she could still get along with hero children.

The boy was starting to ramble on about nothing in particular. Kori stopped and took a deep breath. She felt a wave of cool flow through her body, and before she knew it she had faded into the shadows of the hall, and the idiot was calling out her name.

"Kori?" Befuddled her ran up the hall and rounded the corner. Once she could no longer hear him calling, she pulled her body from the shadows-- feeling the same sticky tug as always-- and shook herself before continuning up the stairs to her room.

She had her iPod in her ears and was listening to a song before she saw someone emerge from the room she was supposed to be in. A guy...?

Kori brushed past him and peered around the door. Again, another guy was sitting on a bed, a book beside him. He had short blonde hair, and blue-green eyes. "I'm Kori," She said, walking into the room before he even said anything else.

She placed her suitcase on the far bed, and plopped herself down with a sigh. It sure was nice to be off her feet.
- - -
Hope that's okay!

Slim Parker:

He stormed down the hallway, annoyed at Copper. How could he have been that stupid? He'd forgotten to check his sleeves after practicing with his web that morning. He stopped to think and leaned his back against the wall, running his fingers through his hair. Alright, the boss had told him to figure out weaknesses in the strongest and leading students. Slim had wanted to hit Nick the hardest, but he was too smart. He'd seen several students who looked pretty influential. He would befriend them and figure them out. He decided to head to the cafeteria. That was where the leading kids usually were.

He started toward the cafeteria, mulling over Nick. His mind traveled back to the incident.

At first, Slim had been a hero kid. He and Nick had been really good friends. But then, a spy had infiltrated the academy and had taken the spare bed in Slim's room. He was a villian's apprentice, as Slim was now. He had slowly turned Slim against the academy, planiting subtle lies and hate in his heart. One day, Slim tried to convince Nick to come away with him and train as a villian instead. Nick had turned him in, and Slim had to bust himself out of prison. Then, he had met Barringer and teamed up with him. Together they had come up with a plan to smash the academy. He would have been able to excel, if it hadn't been for Nick turning him in.

The sight of the cafeteria shook him out of his thoughts. Here we go, he thought.

Slim:
He entered the cafeteria and glanced around. The usual assortment of heroes were there, but there were two specific groups that Slim was looking for: those who led and those who followed. The latter would be his target. In a table near the front of the cafeteria sat two students. One looked Latino, with pretty eyes and long hair. The other had black hair and brown eyes that were never looking in the same direction for more than five seconds. These two were the type of students he wanted. He strode up to the counter and grabbed a small tray of food, then looked around, "looking" for a seat. He wandered casually until he ended up at their table. They seemed to be trying to have a conversation, but it was awkward and forced. Must have met not too long ago, he thought.

"Can I sit here?" he asked, abrubtly cutting their conversation short. The girl began to shrug an "I don't care" but before she could, the boy cut in.

"Why do you want to sit with us? Aren't there fifty other tables in this room?" He studied Slim suspiciously. Slim smiled disarmingly.
"Well, I could sit somewhere else, but you two seemed like the kind of people I'd like to get to know." He grinned at the truth in the statement. If this kid knew his true purpose, he'd have to find another way to bust himself out of prison. "So can I sit here?"

___

Aislara shot a glance at Eden that clearly said 'shut up'. Their conversation hadn't exactly been the most thrilling thing she'd participated in in her life. Some new opinions, besides paranoid rants, would definitely be welcome. She moved over on the bench to make room for the new-comer. There didn't seem to be anything particular about him, including his looks. He was good-looking, but nothing Aislara would jump at.

On that note, though, it seemed unlikely she'd jump at anything. Growing up mostly alone did nothing for the girl's socializing skills and she hadn't even begun to consider the possibility of relationships.

His smile is nice, though.

"I'm Aislara," she said before taking another drink from her milk. She didn't really want to talk, but no one else would introduce her if she didn't, so it was necessary.

"Slim," replied the boy with another wide smile. He extended his hand and Aislara hesitated a few seconds before taking it. Their handshake was slow and brief.

"Eden," said Eden. His introduction, though just as short as Slim's, had a rougher edge to it -- probably another defense mechanism. Aislara was quite certain the paranoia act was going to get old quickly and he was her roommate. Maybe if she found a decent friend, she'd have a quieter room to escape to when Moco and Eden got to be too much for her to handle. She waited for one of the guys to start a conversation.

Eden looked at Slim. He didn't trust him much, at all. Though this wasn't really a new thing. Eden didn't trust much of anyone he came across. He tolerated Aislara only because he had to share a room with her and didn't need her interfering in his business. The better she thought of him, the less likely she was to get her fingers in his affairs.

"So," Eden said. "What's your opinion of our classmates?"

The other kid looked around. "Eh, they're okay. I mean, they're nice people, but most of them seem just so hard to get to know."

"We're easier?" Eden inquired.

The other kid nodded. "Yeah. You seem that way, anyway."

Eden nodded and returned to his food. Something was afoot with this kid. Something suspicious.

Slim:

The guy was suspicious, he could tell. He'd best be on his guard. He looked over to the girl, Aislara, she said her name was.

"So you guys been here long?" he asked. She shook her head.

"Just got here. Little while ago. Like yesterday." She didn't talk like anyone he'd ever known. It sounded like she just wasn't used to talking that much. Maybe he'd picked the wrong table. Well, he'd make the best of it. He wouldn't dig for information until after he'd get to know them.

"So who's your hero ancestor?" he asked. Eden looked at him for a minute before replying, "The Taskmaster." Slim raised an eyebrow.
"The villian?" he asked.
"Yeah, what of it?" he snapped. Slim raised his hands.
"Nothing, just wondering." Aislara remained silent. "What about you?" he asked. She glared at her lunch.
"Forget it," she said. Slim detected a possible weakness. He stowed it away in his mind for later.
"And you?" asked Eden.
"Spiderman. He was my dad." he said. He hoped neither one of them had heard about the "incident". "Hey," he said, "you guys got an extra bunk in you room I can have? My room mate is related to Hulk, and the whole green thing freaks me out."

Zeke lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling and listening to Kumo's annoyed muttering. He wanted to know who'd ratted him out as much as she did, but... what would he do then? Get back at them in some subtle way, probably - taking the last doughnut at the cafeteria when he'd heard they wanted it or something.

Nothing like the legends Dad told me about my great-grandfather...

Zeke reached over to his bag and rummaged about in it.

Sonic didn't take that kind of thing from anyone...

He found what he was looking for, pulling a shiny blue gem out of the bag.

Especially the Robotniks...

Anger welled up at the thought of that name, but he suppressed it, as usual.

"Ooh! What's that?"
Zeke started, having forgotten Kumo was in the room.
"It's called a Chaos Emerald. It used to belong to Sonic the Hedgehog."
"Who?"
"My great-grandfather."
"Oh, wow."

They stared at the emerald for a while. Kumo eventually broke the silence.
"It looks as if it's got its own little light source inside."
"It kinda does, huh?" Zeke replied thoughtfully. "I dunno... they say these things are magic or something, but I've tried to do stuff with it and none of it worked... I still like it, though."

He put the gem on his bedside table.
"I'm gonna try and get some sleep... classes start the day after next, right?"
"Yeah."
He rolled over. "Cool... night, Kumo."