Seltron Super Academy

[Skyfyre]

I opened my eyes instantly, the alarm clock blaring by my ears. This was the day, the big one. Throwing the covers aside, I pressed the off button on my alarm and swung out of bed. It's hard to stay calm, but I know that getting overly excited or panicked won't help. Besides, it's not like I haven't prepared enough for this day. My bags and suitcase lay at the foot of my bed, almost fully packed, save for the last few supplies I'd need to use this morning before packing them up.

Moving swiftly to the bathroom, I began my routine, brushing my teeth and getting ready. It's kind of funny, I realized; I haven't needed to brush my teeth, comb my hair, etc., ever since I got this power seven years ago. Still, these routines served a purpose. Namely, making me appear more normal and helping calm down others around me, like my parents. Almost 60 years into the emergence of powers and people are still unused to them. It'd be tragic if it didn't let me hide things so well.

I finished brushing my teeth and eyed a photograph I had taken with a couple of my friends from middle school. Well, that might be a bit much. 'Associates' or even 'groupies' might be a better term for them. Alysha, Maxine, and... Gretel, right? The three of them weren't 'bad' in any sense, but I couldn't help but feel like I had attracted them because of my powers and status.

I looked at the framed photo for a moment longer before putting it down and packing the last of my clothes. I doubted I'd talk to them after I was gone, but I had tolerated them well enough when we hung out. And if I'm being honest with myself (not like I can be honest with anyone else), I kinda like the aura of awe they hold around me.

Walking in front of a full-length mirror, I put on my outfit and gave myself a once-over. I stood at 5'6 feet, tanned, and had curly black hair with stormy grey eyes. I was wearing a pink top, a white skirt with leggings, and a matching white jacket with pink trim. A little girly, but I feel a bit girly today. Still, something felt missing, not quite right.

A ripple passed through my body, changing me from head to toe. Only slight changes; I like most of how I look, but I could do with a more 'adult' appearance. I gave myself a few more inches, sprouting up in an instant. Parents won't like it, but I'll be leaving now, so I won't have to deal with any complaints for a while. I lightened my eyes a shade or two as well, making them closer to light blue. The hair was a bit more drastic, but changing that up was commonplace. I made it grow out a bit to my mid-back and turned it blonde. Holding it up like a ponytail for a moment. I liked it, but tweaked it a bit more, changing it with another ripple that made it light brown. Cute, capable, and ready to take on the world... hopefully not literally, but if so, nothing I haven't managed before. Nodding at my new appearance, I smiled and headed down the stairs for breakfast.

"Hey mom, what's for breakfast?" I said to Willow Einsburgh as I entered the kitchen. It was a cozy kitchen, filled with signs of family and warmth, with Willow by the stove, flipping some bacon expertly as she moved back and forth easily around the dishes she was making.

Willow tossed me a half glance as she focused on plating the food. "There you are, Camila. I was worried for a moment that you'd be late for your first day," she chided.

Willow was a fair bit shorter than me, her auburn hair cut short with a bit of gray coming in at the roots, undetectable to most with how she dyed her hair. I wondered sometimes if Willow was jealous of her daughter for having the ability to never look old, to hide any signs of age as I saw the wrinkles grow slightly more pronounced on her over the years. Though given the ways Willow would sometimes quickly glance at circles or other iconography around the house when she saw me after a drastic change or would warn me to 'remain on the path of righteousness,' it was at most half that and half fear.

"I'm fine, Mom," I groused. "I had pretty much everything packed two days ago, and it won't be for another hour till I have to leave."

"I suppose so. I just want to make sure you didn't run into any trouble or forget anything and then have to leave in a panic." She finished moving the bacon out from the pan and onto a nearby plate. "Here you go, honey, triple of all your favorites - which is everything." Willow joked as she lay down the plates piled high with hash browns, bacon, eggs, pancakes, and scones at the small table in the kitchen. I did my best not to drool at the sight and looked up at Willow, smiling widely.

"Thanks, Mom, this is great!" I ate more than most due to my powers, but this was still a spread far larger than I could usually get. Looking up at Willow, I grinned and realized that despite the misgivings Willow sometimes had for me, the fears and concerns, she really cared for her daughter. Willow and her husband, Jarred, both worked hard to support me, even if they didn't always understand me (even the parts I did try and share with them). I felt guilty about it for a moment before digging into the food laid out in front of me. It was too late to do anything about that now, so it was time to focus on enjoying the food.

I'm glad to have this experience. Despite any friction we've had, she's shown me a good deal of love and guidance. Even if unnecessary for me, it helps give me a better idea of how to fit in as a regular student, which will be incredibly important.

One delightful breakfast later, I stretched back in my chair, feeling contented but still excited for the day to come. Willow and I hovered around each other for about ten minutes, getting our farewells ready, but it wasn't really the time for it yet, about an hour until the bus came by. I went back upstairs to 'finish packing my things' (1 minute) and played on my phone (all the other minutes). It was the latest SuperTech™ Cape type. Usually, I cared little for the 'latest and greatest' tech advancement, quite fine with my brick cellphone before, but it had been a gift for the latest birthday, which had only been a couple of days after my acceptance letter had come in.

At least it was very durable even while slim and advanced, something SuperTech™ prided themselves on - 'You could fight a demon or drop it soaring through the skies; SuperTech won't break!' as the slogan went. Comes with a sky-high price tag too, though. They actually seemed to deliver on their claims at least, even to my discerning eye. I couldn't find any spots of weakness, and even the touchscreen could fall on a pointy object from a couple of stories up (seen from videos; I'd never tried such a thing myself), and it never caused anything more than the lightest of scratches. I hoped they'd allow me to keep it with me at the academy.

Thinking about my acceptance letter, I picked it up from where it sat on my bedside table. 'You've been accepted to join Seltron Academy!' It read at the top of the page. The letter went on to explain how it was a school for Empowered individuals, to develop their powers, obtain a great education, learn deep moral values, blah blah blah.... It was a superhero school, basically. Seltron 'Super' Academy as it was already being called around the internet.

I tucked the letter into my pocket. It wasn't necessary or anything; I knew the school would already know who I am, obviously, but it still. This had been my dream, one of my biggest ones. Being a superhero was something I had hoped for since... I can barely even recall how long it's been. Since I was a kid at least.

Fiddling with my phone had me figure out a few features I hadn't paid attention to before, most of which were neat but not too interesting, like a 'calorie-burning tracker,' which was worthless thanks to my powers. I got caught up on the news around the world as well. My sites tended to be about Superhero and demon news, but I had a few focused on more general news.

Today seemed like a pretty calm day in the world, all things considered. A new virus was spreading about in Pantarion, which had some health specialists worried, but nothing too major yet, with few deaths for how virulent it was. Some minor skirmishes flaring up in the East, but details murky as of yet. I wonder how Mirashi's handling things over there. Last I heard, she was up to her old tricks thereabouts.

And of course, in the Sallian Empire. Why do we still use that name? It became a democracy decades ago. If I'm thinking something's behind the times, it has to be out of date. Everyone here was talking about Seltron Academy. Same for most of my superhero feeds; even the retirement of Hammer from the Miracle Squad barely made a blip with the news that had been surrounding the school in the past weeks.

I knew it was a big deal, but it was still surprising to see so much talk and speculation here. Almost no one knew where it was, for the safety of the students... which extended even to me, as the letter hadn't come with any directions, just the fact that there would be transportation to pick me up today. Even came with a non-disclosure agreement to ensure I wouldn't tell anyone about it afterwards. Heh, well, I can keep a secret; I've been doing so for almost all my life. If they ever find out the truth about me... well, I like living, so best to keep my true abilities under wraps.

I grabbed my bags and headed downstairs when I heard the front door open. Moving around the kitchen and through the living room, I saw Jarred Einsburgh, standing in his regular business suit. Jarred was almost as tall as I was, with salt and pepper hair and green eyes.

"Dad, I didn't think you'd be able to make it," I said. Indeed, we had all thought he'd be busy with work, so I said my goodbyes to him yesterday.

"Managed to get my coffee and lunch break moved around a bit to see off my baby girl," he said, opening his arms to hug me. I embraced him and then saw Willow standing behind him and hugged her too.

"Thank you guys so much. I love you, and I'm going to make you proud." I was certain of it; I'd be the best hero the world ever saw, bigger than even the Miracle Squad. And wouldn't that just grind that man's gears? To see me succeed where he failed.

I mentally shook my mind free of those thoughts, not wanting the hate of the past to taint this moment here. "We know you will. Now let's see if I can give you a hand with those bags." Jarred walked over and tried to heft my largest suitcase up, wheezing from the effort. "What did you fill these with, rocks?" He asked, bewildered at the weight.

I scratched the back of my head sheepishly, not having wanted to cause Jarred to throw out his back further (I could almost see the vertebrae in his spine shifting as he tried to manage it), but knowing that his fatherly pride wouldn't let me take it off his hands, even though I had packed them with only the thoughts of carrying them myself. I'm pretty happy with that motion, though. For some reason it's hard for me to portray 'modest and eager' correctly.

"Just a bunch of books and clothes, really. Mostly books, a lot of good biology and chemistry ones in there." Interesting fields on their own, but absolutely vital for my powers.

"Uff. I don't remember," he panted for a bit as he dragged the suitcase outside. "You having this many books," he finished, placing my suitcase down on the boulevard and looking tired but proud of himself. I don't really get that, as I could have carried them all by myself without breaking a sweat, but whatever.

Willow came up to her husband's side and gazed lovingly at their daughter. "Camila, we know you'll do great, and we'll always love you, but just... if anything, anything ever seems wrong to you about this place, you can come back to us right away. And let us know if you need any-" I cut her off by hugging her and Jarred.

"I know you worry, and I appreciate it, but really, I'll be fine. I've been open about my powers for years, and nothing bad happened to me then. This is supposed to be the safest, best school in basically the world." I pulled away from them as I heard the bus approaching. Finally. I turned to look at it.

It was... rather underwhelming, just looking like an ordinary orange school bus at first glance. Looking deeper however, I could tell it was pretty advanced. The wheel axis had additional stabilizers, the tires were thick, and though the frame looked normal to the untrained eye, I could tell it was far heavier duty than and tougher than most armored vehicles had. Even the windows were bulletproof, and all while looking completely normal. Anonymity while still keeping up protection, just for the bus designed to pick up the students to the school, the government really wasn't taking any risks here.

The driver stopped by their house and came out from the bus to take my bags. His clothes were a bit loose, but I suspected he had a fair bit of muscle there given how easily he moved the heavy bags to the storage area. Also, there was an odd bulge or two - odd as in a firearm or other concealed weapons, not anything else - so probably not an average bus driver (though it didn't seem like much would be 'average' with this school).

"Alright, it looks like it's time. I love you, I said again as I stepped onto the bus steps, waving goodbye to Jarred and Willow. They waved back, Willow somewhat tearfully, and I turned away, heading towards my destiny.

Spoiler: A/N:

Hello, and welcome to my new story. This story will be a bit darker than my Pokemon fic with plenty of mystery and action to uncover. If you like it, please consider becoming a member on Patreon to get early access to the next ten upcoming chapters, or Kofi (just to be kind). I'm going to try to avoid giving things away with this story to preserve some of the mystery, but everything should make sense in time. I hope you enjoy this story, thank you.

 

[Skyfyre]

The bus was already about half full, so I made my way to the back of it and found an empty seat across from a girl with wings. I would have sat beside her, but those feathery appendages actually took up a fair bit of room around her and might make it uncomfortable to squeeze in. Being polite, I introduced myself, extending my hand across the aisle as the bus started moving again. "Camila Einsburgh."

"Oh, hello! I'm Alexandra. Alexandra Herron, but you can just call me Alex." She took the offered hand eagerly at first but then seemed to hesitate right before shaking it, her grip and motions kind of weak.

"Then please, call me Cam."

"Sure thing!" Alexandra said with a big grin, turning around for a moment to look around at her surroundings. "Wow, I can still hardly believe that we're going to Seltron."

"It was a bit of a surprise, the announcement of the 'first' school for superheroes." At Alexandra's curious look, I explained. "Oh, sure, Seltron is the first official school for Empowereds, but there have been other programs to gather people with powers in the past."

"Really? Wow, I had never heard about those."

"Ehh, they didn't last that long and weren't as well publicized as Seltron has been." The understatement of this half century - Kintash's Empowered agency was still recovering from the disaster they had almost a decade ago with their program, and they had been one of the more stable eastern powers before then.

Outside, I noticed the bus taking some odd turns, seeming to enter a construction site. I raised an eyebrow at Alex, who just looked around excitedly, practically bouncing up and down in her seat, causing it to creak from the force. Very odd; the seats are just as reinforced as the rest of the bus. It must be related to the wings in some way as her power - no way Seltron would accept that obvious of a tell otherwise.

"Something interesting?" I queried.

"Just watch, it's so cool," she said.

I focused my attention back on where the bus was going and saw the road behind us being closed off by some 'construction workers' as we went further in. Once out of sight from anyone else on the nearby roads, the bus stopped. It stayed still for a moment before it started moving again- no, not the bus, but the ground. The road beneath us started sinking down, taking us underground several meters, sheaths of metal covering up the opening above them, leaving the bus in a dimly lit metal chamber under the ground, a few red lights on the walls.

A quick shift had my eyes and ears enhanced, pushing them to become more sensitive as I noticed the bus driver doing something, saying something. He whispered, "-elta, sockfish, major, 36, sentry," to something on his console, probably a microphone of some sort. There was a slight shift in the wall in front of the bus, something popping out and sending a blue light through the front window to scan the driver, likely his face or maybe a retinal scanner.

With those tests passed, the wall in front of us opened up, revealing another chamber, this one slightly brighter and rounder, with curved walls and ceiling making the place almost a cylinder. Hissing quietly at the new sound and light, I shapeshifted my eyes and ears back to normal. That was the major reason why I didn't just run around with super senses all the time- while I could enhance them (and did usually, at least a little bit), that mostly just made them more sensitive, which meant extra stimuli could be painful and suddenly disorienting. Still, usually not that bad, I must have made them a fair degree too sensitive.

Blinking my eyes clear of the stinging pain, I could see the place clearer. It was made completely of metal, like the former chamber, but even extending to the floor the bus drove onto. It was a platform of some type, with rings of white light extending around the walls and ceiling with a few prongs and other unknown instruments poking out from around the wall in between the rings. There were a few measurement readers at the sides, and in front of them was a... it was hard to describe, but it seemed like a large lump, maybe some kind of engine attached to a circular device pointed at the bus, taking up most of the space in front of them.

The walls behind them closed, and looking from this side, I saw a reddish-orange barrier they made up, blocking the way back. My Structural Analysis power could tell me a bit about how fortified the walls behind the machinery were, but I couldn't get any further details.

Suddenly, the lights on the sides dimmed, sparks arced between instruments sticking out on the walls beside them, and a blinding light built up in front of the bus before washing over them. A slight, disorienting feeling came over me, and I thought I saw... something, a flicker, but I couldn't make out what it contained. Then the light faded and the doors behind them opened, the bus backing out onto the lift.

"What was that?"

"Just wait, you'll notice it in a moment when we get outside," Alex said as the lift started taking them up, the overhead panels sliding away.

They were in a construction site again, but I immediately spotted the difference. Minute ones, this was still a closed-off construction site, but the buildings were different. The clouds had changed quickly, and the skyline was different. A hologram or illusion- the truth dawned on me quickly. "A teleporter," I breathed out, shocked.

"Yup! They got those teleportation rooms to send the bus around to pick all us students up. Isn't it great? A little wibbly-wobbly feeling at first - and honestly every time after too - but so cool!" She squealed in glee at the thought. "And the machines looked so..." Alexandra gushed about the teleporting rooms, but my mind could only focus on the implications behind this.

It makes more sense now why they had a bus pick us up instead of a cab to an airport so we could take blimp flights to a central location, but still. I hadn't thought that the Empire had technology this advanced. Power detectors are still too bulky to be portable after all. Could it be a ruse? Fake gadgets and tech that did nothing other than look pretty and a teleporting Super moved us all here? No, that's paranoid (which isn't wrong by itself) and foolish (which is wrong). The government has gone to great lengths to hide and protect those chambers. The disguises outside and the NDAs we all had to sign (that I, for one, actually read!) mean that we can't tell anyone about even the method used to bring us here, so they really don't want anyone to know about these.

A non-disclosure agreement could be fairly punishing, but these ones had been enforced by a Super under their control. Not even sure if she had a 'hero' name, but her power made written agreements literally binding; we couldn't tell anyone about this no matter what... Not that I had actually signed it with my true name, but I doubted these kids were as informed or properly cautious as I was.

I glared mildly at the kids up front talking about how they 'couldn't wait to tell their friends about how cool the school was.' If it was all just a show for school kids, they'd be unlikely to go to such lengths. Also, teleporting powers are rare. The only one I have is pretty situational even before it got weakened. Plenty of those powers, even at their full potential, wouldn't be able to do this, or at least not as subtly.

I cast my mind to the currently most popular teleporting hero, Starshift. A somewhat overblown name, but he came with a decently strong power, even if he'll never make the Miracle Squad or quite match up with any of the other top ten heroes. He could create 'gates,' circular disks in space that connected two points together. Strong enough for such a teleport, but everyone on the bus would have noticed it.

My first thought still isn't impossible, mind. With multiple heroes working together, they could do it, but I'm starting to think it's likely that the government really just made those chambers... and placed them all over the country... This is for way more than just moving us school kids around. This is huge. It gives the Empire great control and reach, the kind that, though they still wave the patriotic flag about, hasn't really been seen since its heyday two centuries ago. Especially if they have access to other countries. I shivered at the thought, immediately calculating rival nations and how likely this would be to ratchet up tensions between them...

"Cam?"

"Ah, sorry, Alex, I just got a little lost in my own thoughts," I said with a bit of a chuckle, affecting a suitably embarrassed grin and scratching the back of my head. "Let's see if we can figure out where we are now."

It was the River Province, though which of its two major cities I couldn't tell. The bus didn't stay there long, picking up a new student and carrying on. We chatted a bit as the bus moved around, picking up new students before it would go back to the site and teleport them to a new city, the bus filling up as the bus toured all around the country.

The bus had over forty students in it when the driver declared that we were heading to the school, and the bus descended into excited chattering from the students. Entering the teleportation chamber, there was the same flash and weird feeling. When the bus drove out, this time it came out not to a construction site but to a parking lot. Or something like it, while there were a few cars, there were ATVs, some bikes, and other vehicles more than there were cars here, as well as a sign for a blimp landing platform on the roof.

"Alright kids, this is your stop," the driver gruffly said (clearly not picked for his people skills). All of us got off, and standing in front of us was an older man with a short military cut, faded yellow hair. He had stern green eyes and bulging biceps crossed in front of him as he looked down at the class with his imposing 6'6 height.

Everyone else looked nervously at him while I resisted the urge to shake my head, not surprised by his appearance but still annoyed. I take it back; if this is what they were working with, maybe the driver was picked out for his personality.

"Welcome to Seltron Academy. I am Derrick Beachwood, one of your teachers, but you will call me Mr. Beachwood or Sir, am I understood?"

"Yes, sir," I said clearly, trying my best to keep the boredom and contempt out of my voice. Derrick had been a real pain the last time we met, though he seems to be a bit more laid back than then. Less angry too, but that's probably just speculation on my part; the circumstances are quite different here.

Beachwood's eyes flickered over to me as the first student to speak up, the others chiming in quickly after me as they realized the older man wanted them to respond in the affirmative. He only seemed to look at me with faint approval, not a hint of recognition on his face. First test passed. He looked at our group, seeming to think something over for a moment before muttering (or just speaking in a low tone, as it really wasn't that hard for us to hear him), "We'll work on it."

He spoke up louder to us students and said, "Follow me; I'll show you around the campus." Walking out of the covered parking lot, the students followed in a vague line behind him. I was near the front and the first to step outside and see Seltron in all its glory.

Lush fields of grass extended on either side of a well-tended, fresh dirt road leading out from the parking lot and to the school itself, with cliffs and beaches past them on either side. There were trees scattered about, a few clusters farther from small groves to mini forests. The sky overhead was a bright blue with a few clouds and... a shimmer?

Turning around as I stepped further out, I saw that the shimmering appeared in all directions of the horizon, up or around out to the ocean all around us. We were on an island, with some kind of field generated around the outside to protect it. Or trap us in, the wary part of my mind, that part that had let me survive this long, warned.

A few buildings, small metal hut-like things, dotted the sides of the path as we walked to the center. There lay the jewel of this mystery island: Seltron Academy, shining in all its glory, the sun's light reflecting off of the domed top of the large building.

I couldn't make out its full size from here at the bottom of the hill, but judging from the peak of the dome, it must have spread out over several kilometers. All in shining glass and steel, glittering brightly in the sun. At the front of it was the Seltron Academy 'SA' logo in red and blue, standing out brightly even this far away from the school.

Alex, basically summing up all our thoughts, let out a "Whoa."

Spoiler: A/N:

The second chapter and our first look at the school! If you want to find out more about this and my other stories, check out my Discord. And if you want to read ahead, I have a Patreon. Enjoy, and I'll see you all in two weeks!

 

[Skyfyre]

"You'll have plenty of chances to take it all in on the way there, so grab your things and let's start this tour." Mr. Beachwood (I made a mental reminder to call him that and not... anything else) said as he waved us forward. The bus driver had unloaded our bags to the entranceway, but it looked like we'd be carrying them at least a half mile to the school.

Much grumbling was had by many of the other students, including a scrawny boy in the back whining a bit too loudly. "Really? Why can't we just get a ride there?"

Beachwood just snorted, and I suppressed a twitch as he responded to the student's complaint. "Kids these days, always complaining. You'll need these muscles if you're to make it as a hero. Think of this as me giving you your first dose of physical education then." He turned and began walking, expecting everyone to keep up with their bags. Some of them dealt better than others with his sudden military-style physical training.

I had no problems, obviously. My shapeshifted strength enabled me to carry my suitcase around with ease, so I spent my time observing my new classmates as we trekked up. My thoughts about Alex's strength before were proven right as she had no problems carrying not only her own bags but also helping out others who were lagging behind and stacking up a few more bags on top of her own load. Just what is her power? I'm not seeing any feathers or anything involving her wings used to carry them. A transformation type perhaps? That would make the most sense; her wings do have a certain mythic feel to them, and it wouldn't be the first of that type of power here. I thought, glancing at our coach's back for a moment before moving on to the others.

A few of the kids used their powers to aid them, a girl carrying her bags in a suitcase of water, having them hover telekinetically above the hand of one boy, etc., etc. Most of them just seemed to struggle along as best they could, red-faced and sweaty from the exertion. The gravel path was bumpy and uneven, not the kind any wheeled suitcase could easily be dragged through.

"And you'll see a couple of supply houses to the sides. There are a couple of them all around the island, but only staff have access to them, so you lot don't need to worry about them." Not very structurally protected, I noted, especially in comparison to the extra tough metal bunkers scattered about.

"I'll mark off and take you to any of the places you are supposed to go, though I guess you can explore outside as much as you like when you aren't in class. Provided you follow curfew, of course." At the sounds of groans, he turned around and shouted, "Don't you complain! The curfew is for your own safety, and if any of you want to make it as superheroes- heck, as any functioning member of adult society one day, then you should be able to follow these simple rules."

As the person closest to the front, I heard him grumble about 'kids these days.' Ah, there's the Derrick Beachwood I know. Clinging so tightly to the idea that society is more than a false and crumbling facade and that everyone will and should follow 'the rules.' It seems that leaving the military for the private sector hasn't affected him that much.

We continued along the path to the school without much further talk or complaints, thankfully. At the end, students rushed around in the back, grabbing their bags from the pile they had set Alex to carry. None of them said anything or thanked her, but Alex still seemed to be smiling at them as she handed them back their things. Helping out someone else without credit or recognition is pointless. And even if she doesn't care about that, this will only make the others more reliant on you and less able to stand on their own.

Given the appraising look Derrick had on his face, I guessed he'd be judging them for this too, though he didn't feel like saying anything right now. Why bother? He can grade and judge us at any time, he doesn't have to make his displeasure vocal. Though the fact that he isn't shouting at us already shows he has a bit more restraint than I thought. Still, the level of strength Miss Herron showed, to not be sweating or tired now... in pure strength she may well be stronger than I am.

Turning my attention away from behind me, I saw the doors that lay before us. Massive, easily twenty feet tall and a dozen across. Reinforced glass, automatic sliding doors, with the swooping blue and red letters 'SA,' the logo of Seltron Academy, we had seen from a distance, standing out proudly over them. Overblown, but what isn't with superheroes? It is impressive and eye-catching, at least.

At the doors on either side stood two guards, each one decked out in fancy black armor with guns on their backs that almost looked futuristic (modular nozzles for different firing modes, slightly weaker than the rest of the gun, one of my powers told me). They had helmets on with opaque visors covering their faces. In their hands, they carried thin card-looking things, many of them stacked up.

"And here we are, Seltron Academy itself. The world's first school for Empowereds," Beachwood proudly proclaimed to the awe of most of the students. I bit back a scoff and eyed the guards warily. It's fine to tell a fellow student what's up, but I can't question or disrespect a teacher.

"The guards to your sides have the ID cards you'll need to move through and access Seltron's many facilities, so keep them on your person at all times. Take one from the stack and then follow me." The group broke out into a bunch of questions like: 'What if it gets broken?', 'What if I lose it?', 'Are these things tracking us? Why do you need to track us at all times?' etc., etc.

"Pipe down!" Derrick yelled at the group. "Argh, alright, listen up. These cards are extremely durable, so they shouldn't get broken unless you're trying to break them, which will lead to disciplinary action." At those words, Alex became ashen-faced and began to look very worried.

"If you lose it, well, you'll likely be in a lot of trouble, stuck in some rooms you can't get out of/into. I guess you'll have to suck it up then." He laughed for a moment before adding on "It'll be uncomfortable, but call one of the staff and we'll help you out. It should be a lesson for anyone who does, so again, don't be careless with them. Being here is a privilege, and you're going to have some basic standards to uphold."

"Finally, the guards and tracking of the cards are all here for your safety. This multi-billion dollar academy was set up to be one of the safest places in the world, and I hope you'll all be able to show the maturity to appreciate and understand that." Most of the class was nodding at his gruff words, won over to his point of view, but I just side-eyed them suspiciously.

He says they're here to protect us, but given the island already seems well and cut off from everything else in the world, it feels more like they're here to guard against us. Though, to be fair, some of the largest threats may well come from within.

With that done, the students were each handed a blank card, which we entered our names into. When all the registrations were complete, the cards flashed, accepting no further inputs and displaying our names and our faces. Looks like they're getting some mileage out of that photo I sent in with my application. With that out of the way, we entered the school.

The entranceway was huge, with hallways to either side on the first floor and stairs leading up to the railway-guarded second floor and exits there. It even had in the center an honest-to-goodness bronze statue of Quake I, the first major hero that had been killed. I still remember his death. How tragic it was, shaking the world and myself at the time. It's an odd choice in some ways to have this at the front of the school, but as depressing as his sacrifice had been, he did die quite heroically, saving a bunch of civilians and taking out the criminals that had mortally wounded him.

"Wow, Quake!" Alex exclaimed quietly, having taken the moment to step up beside me.

"I'm surprised you recognized him; he died over 55 years ago. And even amongst the heroes of that age, he wasn't the most exceptional. You must know your history."

"Yeah, but you knew it too, so are you just complimenting yourself?" I gave a shrug, and she just grinned. "Well, I'll take part of that praise too, I know my stuff." Alex said, puffing her chest out before deflating a bit. "Well, when it comes to superheroes anyway. I hope I'll be able to keep up with all the classes." That triggered a couple of other students worrying about the classes before the coach spoke up.

"Pipe down!" Dickless Derri- Beachwood. Mr. Beachwood, I mentally reaffirmed. He shouted at the class, which had burst into whispers and murmurs as they entered the sleek facility. As hilarious as it would be to call him the other thing, I'm pretty sure it would get me expelled. Not sure if it would be before or after he killed me, but best to stick to his actual name in either case, even in the 'safety' of my own mind. Hard to tell what powers are active here.

"I see you're all a bit excited; it looks like the journey wasn't nearly as tiring as I thought it would have been," he said with an evil gleam in his eyes. Many students gulped nervously before he chuckled and said, "But you could stand to get some lunch first. Follow me to your dorms and drop off your stuff, then we can start our tour off in the cafeteria." A weak cheer went up from that statement, and the class eagerly followed him to a long hallway with several rooms at the sides.

"Each room will have your names on them. Find yours, put your things down - except for your keycard! - and come back for lunch." There was much agreement as the group rushed out, looking for their new dorms.

I came across my room near the middle of the hall, the name 'Camila Einsburgh' in blue digital letters on the front of the door. The doors were odd, not seeming to even have handles, but opening up at my touch. Must be due to the fancy keycards we were given.

The dorm itself wasn't spacious, narrow, though long enough to not feel overly cramped, even without any windows. It had a bed in the right far corner, a mat for footwear, a small closet, and a chest at the foot of the bed to put her things. The room had a white/cool blue color scheme and very sleek aesthetics, really showing it off as the 'school of the future.' The residence also came with a door at the far end that led to a bathroom and a table near the front with a couple of chairs.

I was surprised about the chairs and the seeming invitation to invite others into our rooms until I caught a few black dots nestled in the corners of the room. Cameras, obviously. They don't seem to extend into the bathroom, thankfully, but they'll be something to watch out for. I made sure to keep a tight grip on my Disruption power. It could mess with recording devices up to a certain range, which might be useful, but definitely not to be used constantly within my own room. It would be too suspicious if only my cameras were constantly on the fritz.

Putting my stuff down, I went back out and followed the rest of the class to the lunchroom, which was surprisingly ordinary. It had the same sleek, futuristic aesthetic the rest of the school had, but it still had the standard trays and lineups and benches to sit at. Some of the meals are different from the others, probably to match up with dietary restrictions from the questions they asked in the application letter. That's a relief; I'll be able to get the extra food and nutrients I need for my power.

Sitting down by myself, I focused on getting through my meal quickly, as Beachwood seemed eager to continue the orientation. This really is good, in both amount and taste. Mhmm, I hope every meal is like this... and that I get to actually savor them in the future.

With the teacher breathing down our necks, the other students didn't have much time to gossip or chat. Again, I get this. We had plenty of time to talk on the bus, and we'll have plenty of time in the future to connect, this is mostly just nervous energy. I resolved to keep my 'grumpy old man' energy entirely internal, however much I agreed with Beachwood (a surprising thought).

The class wrangled up again, we began moving down the halls to the different classrooms, spotting the occasional guard as we went. There were a fair number of rooms for lectures, at least a dozen, though most of them were empty. One teacher, a middle-aged red-haired woman called Mrs. Sevrein, greeted us distractedly as she played around with a tablet and a projector to some frustration.

The classrooms were pretty bland, and it looked like someone noticed that, adding posters of various heroes to help spruce up the place... which conveniently happened to mostly be of superheroes, obviously (or that I knew to be), in the military or otherwise working for the Empire's government.

"Sooo... who's your favorite hero?" Alex asked me as we walked down the hallway to the field behind the school.

"Hmm, it seems like the school is certainly pushing us in a certain direction with their choices of books and materials." I said noncommittally.

"Not a fan of the 'camo-capes'?" She asked, and I gave a shrug. Truthfully, I've had problems with Independent, Corporate, and Camo heroes of all stripes. Not that it would help to advertise that. Most of those terms weren't exactly right, though. 'Camo cape' was used to refer to any Empowered working for the government, regardless of if they were in the military or not (though several found themselves pressured to work in or alongside the military), and being independent didn't mean you couldn't get some pay or support from the government. Bounties and some contracts were taken on by other heroes, even if they weren't committed full time to the government.

We didn't really go out to the field, but we got to see the large patch of grass where Coach Beachwood 'assured' us, "You'll get to enjoy plenty of my wonderful physical education classes out here often." The sinister undertone was somewhat undercut by the awe the students felt when he showed off the holographic projector system, turning the field into a variety of sports playing fields, marking the lines for football and baseball, making virtual nets for soccer, etc.

Heading back inside, this time we went through the halls and down in a large elevator. Not even it was large enough for all 40+ people to go down in one group to the basement, though. I made sure to go down in the second, smaller group to compensate for my extra mass.

Continuing on our previous conversation, Alexandra said, "I feel ya. I mean, I know we're going here and all, but I like groups like the Miracle Squad more." A group that was oddly absent in any pictures of heroes as we went, considering they were the most famous heroes on the planet.

"I like Homage!" A boy from behind Alex said, looking a bit embarrassed at his sudden intrusion into our conversation, not that Alex seemed to notice, turning around eagerly to engage with him. He wore a plain white t-shirt and jeans, with a red baseball cap on top of his scruffy brown hair.

"He's so cool, right?"

"Yeah, so versatile, and I love the way he beats down demons with their own powers!" He gushed about his favorite hero before offering his hand to Alex and me. "Sorry, I didn't introduce myself before, I'm Trevor Hawthorn." He shook both of our hands, and we introduced ourselves, though I noticed him wincing after shaking Alex's hand. She didn't seem to be upset with him or anything, not even noticing it, caught up in their talk of heroes.

"I totally get it, I love the Miracle Squad too," Alex said. "Control is probably my favorite hero ever. She's the leader of the team and always so poised and graceful and takes down the bad guys so quickly and efficiently." I did a quick double-check to make sure there weren't actual stars in her eyes with how much she was gushing over the superheroine.

Ugh, the Miracle Squad. Of course everyone loves them - they've been the gold standard of heroics for decades and decades. I might be slightly biased, and yes, they were formidable back in the day, but they've lost four of their founding members. I have no idea how that crone Control is still in the game, and it's only the ludicrous powers of Homage and Blueshift that keep people in awe of them. Though that might be why the Empire is funneling so much into Seltron. No legend can live forever, so why not try and build up the next one?

We trekked across the overly long hallway (truly, this is ridiculous) as Alexandra and Trevor gabbed about their heroes before turning to me. "So c'mon, who's your favorite hero? And don't say you don't have one; everyone has one who they think is the best."

Yes, myself, or at least I will be. Better than anyone currently. I have an awesome power, I've honed it for years and have tons of experience. I just need a little training on 'proper' heroism and the legitimacy this school will bring, and I'm golden.

I opened my mouth to say something distracting, trying to pick out an inoffensive, unintriguing 'choice' of favorite hero when we came to the mouth of the large chamber we were heading for. Any words died in my mouth, and I stopped cold at the sight of him, standing at the end of the hallway.

He stood proud, his spine straight and not bent a bit even at 65 years old, and though he had a cane planted in front of him, it was more as a symbol of his authority (and a hidden weapon, as I knew well) than any crutch. He wore an expensive grey pinstripe suit and tie with gold, round-rimmed glasses sitting over disapproving light blue eyes. His lips were flat, his entire posture stern and humorless, the same as he had been when we had last fought, over seven years ago now.

The man who had been my closest friend as I grew up.

The man I'd give up any chance of being a hero again to kill.

"Null."

Spoiler: A/N:

I know the intro takes a while to roll out, but we're starting to get to the real interesting parts of the story now. Let me know what you think, and feel free to check out my Discord to chat about it and my other stories, and if you want to read ahead (or just support me in general) consider subscribing to my Patreon or Kofi. Thanks, and have a great day.

 

[Skyfyre]

A ripple passed through my skin a moment later. The change would make me look awkward and stilted, but better that than revealing the true rage boiling under the surface.

Him? Him! Of all people, they got Gunther 'Null' Kiren to be the headmaster of the greatest attempt at a superhero school?! All the effort I've seen put in, all the expenses and equipment to make Seltron, wasted! Tainted by his-

"Wait, is that Null himself there?" Alexandra questioned, putting the pieces together after a moment. "Wow, you must be so glad; your favorite hero is right here!"

I was ironically saved from having to answer by the man in question himself. "SILENCE!!" His voice rings out over the group. "I look out at the first class of Seltron Academy and see disorder. Wasted potential. Perhaps, if you listen to me and your teachers well, you will gain the focus to hone your talents into something worthwhile. Or perhaps you won't make the cut, regardless of how hard we try to teach you. In either case, my name is Gunther Kiren, and I am the Headmaster of Seltron Academy. Now follow me," he finished as coldly as he began, turning away from the group and letting the class follow out from the hallways and further into the large underground structure.

It was a gym of some type, made entirely of a blue-gray metal, though there was something odd about the material that I couldn't place even with my Structural Analysis. We got out at the top, where a ledge surrounded the entire large room, with some stairs placed around each side to lead to the ground floor. At the very end, on the lower level, there were two doorways leading out of the room on the other side of the entrance.

Everyone in the class was nervous to speak up again after the headmaster's speech, so we marched in silence as he took us to the middle of the left side of the room, waiting until he stopped again. "This will be your training area, a modular room designed to test your limits as heroes and have the durability to endure any rigors your powers may put it through. Doubtless this will be proven false over the course of your years here, but I'm sure we will find some use for everyone here with it." He began typing something into a screen he pulled out from his pocket, and the room shook.

Looking around, I saw the ledges shift and spread out, making intersecting lines through the room, dividing the space below into four quadrants. Within the four quadrants, a differing number of 'blocks' seemed to rise from the ground, the same shifting metal twisting and forming to create obstacles within them. One of them had no blocks, and the other three had an increasing number. A few in the block to my left as I looked out, and a good smattering in the one to my right. The final one, to the right and farther away from me, was littered with them, so many to make tons of cover. The shapes varied more there, some even having the vague appearance of things like an overturned car and the like.

"Impressive, is it not?" Gunther asked rhetorically, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at him. Talking as if he had anything to do with the construction of the school. I can't fathom why the government hired him to teach us, but I know that Null had nothing to do with these technological wonders.

"We will test you greatly in this academy, and I expect you will emerge through the crucible with far more experience than you wandered in here with. To begin your testing, however, we must determine where you stand now. To that end, I have devised a small tournament to evaluate you." A small whoop went out from the students, and he whipped around to balefully glare at them, shutting up anyone showing any joy.

"Ahem, you will be fighting against each other in a tournament style, while I, Coach Beachwood, and the other teachers judge your skills and abilities. These fights will determine your starting grades, so take this tournament seriously." That sends the kids into a mild panic more than anything else he's said thus far.

"We will begin by splitting up the boys and girls into separate divisions-"

"What!?" Alex cried out in shock, and many of the other girls were making their displeasure heard too.

"You'll be in different divisions to ensure equitable testing. Boys are naturally stronger than girls, so this is the only reasonable way to do things." Reasonable? I thought he would have gotten better over the past few decades, but if anything, he's only gotten worse. At least before he was usually kept in check by Ph- I cut off that line of thought before it became too painful.

Most students grumbled but seemed to accept things; however, Alexandra stepped forward, not taking this for a minute. "That's ridiculous. I'm stronger than anyone here, and our abilities are supernatural, that's way more than any slight biological differences." Alex flexed slightly with her words, but Gunther looked unimpressed.

"You need to step back and listen to your elders, girl. This is the trial I've devised, and it's what you'll be doing."

I don't want to stand out, especially not this early or as 'actively defiant.' Still, letting him get away with this is wrong. Maybe I can throw him off kilter a bit... "Excuse me," I said, paying the slightest nod of deference to him that I could get away with and still get him to listen to her. "I can shapechange completely, so I could be a guy or a girl. What 'division' should I go into then?"

My comment was designed to put him off guard rather than be a legitimate question, and a surprise compounded it with an add-on by another person in the crowd. A slightly androgynous-looking person stepped forward and waved at him, saying, "I am a robot!" That more than anything seemed to stun everyone for a moment. For a 'robot,' they looked very humanlike; it was only my structural sense that gave me a hint as to a higher density than a human would normally have. Less than my own, but enough to make sense for someone composed of metal.

Gunther took a deep breath in, as if to shout at them, before pausing. "Fine," he said coldly. "It seems there are some issues you all feel strongly about. Never let it be said that I am not reasonable." Bullshit. "It will take a few minutes to get this change sorted out in the systems, but provided you're willing to wait, I shall change the sorting algorithm for your... unanticipated request. Go and get changed - boys to the left door, girls to the right."

To me he added, "You can pick whichever gender you wish to change, but for now, I insist you pick a gender and stick with it in regards to changing." Carrying on to the rest of the group, he said, "Uniforms can be found inside. The material will conform to your body, and the uniforms, at least, will be less likely to be destroyed during your fights." He turned away from the class and began typing on his tablet.

On the way to the changing rooms, the class began nervously chatting, everyone slightly worried about the level of destruction he implied. He's just trying to rattle them a little bit; kiddies like these won't have anywhere near the level of true violence in their fights to be anything actually worth worrying over. Alex tried to keep the good cheer up, though. "Ok, so Null, or, uh, Headmaster Kiren, I guess, is a bit behind the times, but he at least showed a willingness to listen to us, so that's a good sign, right?"

"I don't know," Trevor said doubtfully. "He was insulting us right before that." Turning to me, he added, "I know you like the guy and all, but I can't see why. Heck, I don't even remember hearing about him before." I resisted the urge to smirk at that, still aided in that by my previous shift. If there was one thing Null cared about, it was fame. Can't think of a better punishment for the guy, not after he threw us all away for that fame he wanted so badly.

"I mean... I think he was just trying to motivate us. He said we had potential, right, so he must just want to make sure we achieve it. Ah, that makes sense; you probably only read the Top Ten in superhero magazines and maybe a few hometown heroes too, right?" Alex guessed, surprising Trevor and to a greater degree, me. When he nodded, she continued. "Yeah, Null never made it big in the papers, but he's really an impressive hero in his own right. He's never lost a fight, even against the worst and most twisted of demons! I can totally see why he's your personal hero, Cam," she said with a winning grin.

The fact that she cares so much to try to twist Null's actions around to something seeming halfway decent for my sake is almost touching. Deluded, but touching, even if the irony has me wanting to facepalm.

"Huh. Wait, if he's so amazing, why isn't he more well known? I'd think a guy like him would be as big as any member of the Miracle Squad if that was the case," Trevor asked.

I took a deep breath. If I can't make it through this simple lie, then I'll have no chance of hiding my true identity throughout the next few years. I may have gotten myself into this dumb mess, but I can work my way out, and being a fan will help explain the knowledge I have of him. Before I could answer, though, I realized we were at the lockers. "Oh, looks like we're here. I can tell you more about him later."

As Trevor went off to the boy's side, Alexandra turned to face me. "Which locker do you want to use?" The question was simple, with no judgment or assumption in her tone, which was new for me.

"Well, it looks like I won't get to be as gender fluid as I would like here. I'm wearing a skirt now; might as well be on the girl's side."

Alex nodded, and we walked into the changing room. It's much like any gym changing room, though the room is spotless and the lockers seem to be more high-tech in their security, with hand recognition pads. There are a couple of private stalls to change in and some showers in the back. Each girl takes in the room as we go to our lockers, registering them to our hands and opening them up to reveal the uniforms inside. I made sure to make an entirely blank and featureless hand for my registry. With how much I shifted my entire body with my power, it would be too hard to remember and use a specific set of fingerprints each time I wanted to use my locker.

Each one contained a grey and blue jumpsuit, with the Seltron Academy logo emblazoned on the top right breast. As everyone donned our uniforms, some chatter was had about how they're 'too snug' or 'too bland,' but most of the girls are talking about the fights, a few feeling upset now or worried about how they'll fight against 'the boys' and glaring at me and Alexandra. Babies.

I wasn't worried about anyone so frivolous standing in my way to be a hero, but I noticed that Alex was having a bit of trouble with her uniform. It wasn't obvious at first, though, because she had gone to one of the private stalls to change.

"Darn thing- how am I supposed to-" she muttered. She must be trying to find a way for her wings to fit inside of the uniform. The uniforms do have a good deal of flex to them, however, I don't think they were ever designed to try to contain appendages like that. Her own clothes, I had noticed, had holes cut in them to let the wings go through. "Stupid wings! I can't even fly well with these things, she whined a bit before I rapped my knuckle against the stall.

"Can you de-transform to get the uniform on?" I asked through the stall door. Most powers that changed the body like that had a number of thematic traits they could give the user, but only while they were in that form, often called Transformer/Transformation powers because of it, 'transforming' back and forth between human and their other form.

"No, I- uh, I can't, uh... do that. My powers are always active, she said. I raised an eyebrow at that, not that she could see it. Well, there was always the possibility, especially with not letting anyone see her change- I swiftly discarded the idea. You'd have to be crazy to try that here. Excepting myself, of course, but I have advantages that no one else has in that regard, and even I recognize the risks here. It's unlikely, and more probable the girl just had some body issues. Huh, if she could transform properly, this uniform would still be a limiter for her power. I wonder if Seltron has any plans to deal with that.

"Alright then, toss the uniform over here, I'll make some adjustments." The idea of Null having any sort of consideration for someone else's body image was ludicrous. Clearly, I'd have to deal with the problem.

"Uh, ok," the winged girl said as she threw her uniform over. I looked it over, finding where I estimated the right spot in the back to be, before changing my body, the ripples passing through my hand and extending and sharpening a fingernail. Pulling the uniform taut, I moved to cut it... only to find that I couldn't tear through its threads, the enhanced keratin skittering off the surface.

"Sorry, looks like this is a tad trickier than I imagined; just give me a moment." If a nail won't do the job... I thought to myself while sending another change through my body. Holding my hand up, the ripples spread through to the tip of it again, but this time instead of strengthening the nail, the ripples peeled it off, along with the skin. Layers of skin and muscle peeled away like a banana skin to reveal the bone underneath, first of my index finger, then from the whole hand. The flesh shriveled back into the rest of my arm, and with a thought I congealed together the bones that made up my hand into a blade, one I made incredibly sharp.

Behind me a weak-stomached girl made retching sounds, something I dismissed with a shake of my head.

I made a new, smaller arm to stick out from under my stomach and give another grip to hold the uniform taut as I made my cuts. The bone edge sliced through it far easier, which I was glad about. I'd still have a couple options left if that wouldn't work, but most of them would be a bit eyebrow-raising.

With my work done, I tossed the uniform back over the stall. "Let me know if that works. The holes should be large enough for your wings, but I can make some more adjustments as needed."

Alex was silent for a moment and said, "Yeah, I think it should work." A few minutes passed as she put it on - Something I didn't envy. Shapechanging came with a lot of perks when it came to getting ready, and it seemed like Alex had extra difficulty there with her wings. Alex opened the door, wearing the uniform, her wings comfortably through their holes and able to stretch out as she left. Upon seeing me, she immediately tackled me into a hug.

"Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you sooo much!" She cried out while suffocating me.

"Urk- you're welcome, but aren't we supposed to beat each other up outside the change room?" I wheezed out, and Alex let go of me sheepishly.

"Whoops. Sorry about that, I don't know my own strength sometimes. I was really worried if I tried to make a hole in it, I'd just tear the whole uniform apart, so thanks again for fixing it for me." She twirled around to show off her wings (nearly clipping me in the process; I had to duck down to avoid the feathery bludgeons).

"Glad I could help."

"Wow, did someone throw up over there? I hope everyone's ok and not too worried for the fight." I looked over and saw the spot of bile. Wow, I thought they were just making sounds and grossed out a bit, not actually throwing up. If that's the level of fortitude most of them have, this will be easy. Almost too easy; I know I'm the best, but I thought there might be some challenge here. Although...

"What about yourself? How are you feeling?" Alex was strong; there was no doubting that. From what I've seen my new classmate casually do, Miss Herron might be tough enough to really push even me. Possibly so much that she could only be beaten by using everything I have at my disposal, no matter how disastrous that would be (not that I would for a silly class test).

Of course, power didn't mean much without experience. You could be the strongest person in the world, but if it's your first time in a fight, fear and worry would hold you down, or excitement would lead you to recklessness. But I saw nothing of those emotions in Alex's eyes.

"I'm hoping it will go well. The gym looks really interesting, and I can't wait to see the cool powers everyone has." Her calm words belied the fire in her eyes. She isn't just ready for this fight; she's eager for it. But not overly so, like she has experience fighting? Maybe, but that doesn't feel right. Whatever the case, everything Gunther had said to scare us only got Alexandra more excited. That and what I did - she's measuring me up as well.

"I'm sure it will; the teachers must have taken every precaution here to ensure our safety. I'll see you out there," I said as I entered a stall. My power's flexible and strong, in addition to the years of training I've put myself through to help maximize its potential. Still, even with how weak-hearted some of these children seem, not giving away information on my powers is too large a habit to break now.

Taking off my clothes, I let the uniform drop to the floor. Instead of putting it on, I sent a ripple through my body, keeping an image of the uniform in my mind. My skin expanded outwards, changing in color and texture in places until it formed a facsimile of the uniform on the ground. I was glad for the skin-tight nature of it; it made it far easier to replicate as clothing.

Technically, I could make myself look like I was wearing any measure of clothing, but 'like' was about as far as it got. If I didn't sacrifice the mass, it would have to be connected to the rest of me somewhere, usually several places, which could look... off. Getting the feel right was even harder, and then there was just the sensation of it being attached to me, which I could deaden, but that feeling was even weirder...

All in all, while my shapeshifting could be a replacement for my wardrobe, it wasn't practical most of the time (which is part of why my suitcases were so heavy, along with my textbooks). Here, though, that uniform would just get in the way as I changed to match my classmates in the 'tournament' Gunther set up. The material is too tough to easily tear through, and the precious seconds spent shifting around it could cost me a match if I'm not careful. I could just try and deal with it, but- no. I've got to shoot for the top; that means seizing every advantage.

With my faux uniform made, I stepped out of the change stall and put my clothes away in the locker before heading out into the bright light of the gym, ready to face the first trial on my path towards becoming a superhero.

Spoiler: A/N:

And we're starting things off with a small tournament arc, a bit of a classic start to a superhero story I know, but I hope it works well as an introductory here. If you want to talk about this or my other stories more, check out my Discord, and if you feel like supporting me I have a Kofi or you can become a Patreon subscriber, which gives you early access ten chapters ahead on this story. You can also let me know what you think in the comments below, thank you.

 

[Skyfyre]

The class had gathered in clumps around the sides, looking up at a huge holographic projection that showed the tournament brackets, though no names yet. I felt Null's gaze on me as I left the room, mentally marking me off in his mind even as he was busy with the tablet, changing the fight program.

It's unnerving how that man always seems to have such amazing awareness of his surroundings. To be fair though, it's really my fault he's that good. Gunther only had a 'sharp eye' back when we were kids; I was the one to push him far enough to have his current, almost preternatural level of awareness.

Tearing my eyes away from him, I looked around and saw that some more teachers had shown up. Gunther and Beachwood could observe all the fights by themselves, but it probably puts the children more at ease to see more eyes. Also, the other teachers probably want to get their own look at the class they'd be teaching.

I didn't recognize any of these teachers (which was a good thing, though not a guarantee we had never crossed paths before - plenty of them might have been in costume at the time we met). The first was Mrs. Sevrein, the teacher we had seen in our tour of the classrooms previously. She was a rakish, thin woman, dressed in a blouse and dress pants. Her black hair was down to her shoulders, and she seemed to be inspecting the students with a mildly inquisitive look on her face.

The second was a man in an outfit so garishly bright that at first I was convinced it was his superhero outfit, before realizing he just had terrible taste in fashion. It was bright yellow and blue shorts and a t-shirt, tight enough to reveal a fit body, with a 'swimmer's physique.' His light brown hair was shaved almost bald, and he was grinning widely at everything, waving to the students from across the gym.

The last was a younger woman, only a few years older than the students, her long auburn hair tied up in a ponytail. She wore a skirt and sweater, looking bored at everything (though there wasn't anything happening yet). She seemed to be chewing something, maybe bubble gum.

Going back up the stairs, I met up with Trevor and Alexandra, chatting about heroes. "...That sounds really cool. There weren't any heroes in my hometown, but it's a pretty small place. Oh, hey Cam. Ready for the tournament?"

I nodded. "I think I'm good to go. What about you guys?"

"Ha, I'm ready to take everyone on," Trevor boasts, pointing at himself. I could see the slight quiver to his lip, though. He's a bit worried about this but wants to look tough.

"Yeah. Oh look, they've got the matches up, Alexandra says, pointing at the screen above.

"Attention," the Headmaster loudly called out, bringing all talk to a halt. "We have made the... requested adjustments to the matches ahead. Now, I shall state the rules and then direct you to your appropriate arenas. These fights are first and foremost designed to test your skill, not endanger anyone. You are free to forfeit at any time, and if I or any of the other teachers feel it is necessary, we will step in to call your match off. The goal is to incapacitate or get the surrender from your classmates, not for you to kill each other. Any attempts at lethally hurting someone will have the match called off with disciplinary action taken."

"Our projectors will light up signals to start and finish matches in the center of each arena, in addition to us calling them out. Pay attention to these. After both participants have taken their places, we will commence the matches. Any attempt to strike before or after a match is called will disqualify you. Interfering in another's match will disqualify you and could disqualify any classmates as well. If you leave your arena for any reason after the fight has begun, this counts as a forfeit. Beyond that, I expect everyone to fight well and show us if you're worthy to be a student here at Seltron."

"Um, Mister Headmaster, sir," one short girl asked, waving her hand up in the air. He turned to glare at her, which the girl interpreted as permission to go ahead. "Can we use our powers in these fights?"

"What," he said after a long moment's pause. "In the Light's good name, would be the point of doing otherwise? I thought I had made it clear that these tests are for us to judge how fit you are to be here; what would be the point of holding back, Miss Clinton?" He asked rhetorically, not giving the girl, now looking on the verge of tears, a chance to answer before moving on. "Does anyone have any intelligent questions?" No one spoke up (even Beachwood looked a bit uncomfortably at that), and he clapped his hands together.

"Good, then you shall take your places." He began calling the students out to the quadrants, my name called out from the beginning. "Camila Einsburgh vs. Angelica O'Neil, fourth quadrant." The barren arena, no cover. Could be good or bad for me, depending on Angelica's powers/disposition. Color-wise, it was pretty bland too, with dull grey making up the floors and dark blue for the edges.

The girl in question had a heavy amount of makeup on her face, with her hair curled into blonde ringlets. She seemed to be uncomfortable in the jumpsuit the school had given her, plucking at it as she walked gracefully down the stairs to stand across from me, and I vaguely recalled her having a somewhat fancy dress to match her doll-like face before we got changed.

"Not a fan of the gym clothes?" I asked.

"No, many things here are more... distasteful than I had anticipated," she said, turning her nose up slightly at me. Well, if that's how you feel...

"Are both students ready?" Beachwood asked. We both nodded, facing each other. A green, holographic 'GO!' appeared in the center of the arena, and the fight was on!

I burst forward, legs pumping to push her quickly towards Angelica. The other girl was surprised at my speed, barely managing to dodge out of the way in time, but the large open space gave her plenty of time and warning to deal with it.

Angelica twirled to the side and said, "That right there is what I dislike about you. All brute force, it's so... tacky. Superheroes should be cute and elegant. Don't worry, though; I think I can change tha-" I cut her off, turning and whipping my arm forward, the limb extending forward to over three times its length to lash into Angelica, knocking her down.

"And you talk too much. Being a superhero is about winning, I taunted back. I at least know to stay on the move when I banter. Angelica reached up from where she was knocked down, managing to brush a finger by my arm as I pulled the lengthened limb back to me, just a fraction of a second too late. I felt a change go through me, not one I had initiated either. My body shrunk rapidly, and I could feel my insides changing along with the rest of me in a way that, even for someone with my power, felt incredibly odd and disconcerting.

The experience was something entirely novel; the feeling, sensory responses I had so learned from my regular shapeshifting were gone, replaced with a vague sense of... straw. And cloth. And buttons?! I craned my head up to look at Angelica, looming over my now six-inch-tall body. "There, aren't you better now? A cute little doll - though I don't know where your clothes have gone, they should have shrunk down with you." Glancing down, I realized my doll body was indeed blank, giving it a somewhat odd appearance. Because they were flesh to begin with, they just fused back with me. Oh well, not like that matters.

Reaching down, Angelica hefted me up, almost losing her balance at first. "My, aren't you the heavy doll," she muttered before turning to the coach above. "Coach, I believe I've-" I interrupted her words as I burst free from her grip, growing rapidly in size and punching the other girl in the throat.

"Wha- how? I turned you into a doll; you should be helpless right now!" She screamed out after coughing a few times.

"You turned me into a doll, never took away my shapeshifting powers," I said, turning the end of my arm back into a regular arm and not an eyeball (which was odd as heck to punch someone with, but a button made a better cap for it). Even 'maxing out' my size, I was only able to rise up to two and a half feet tall and still be proportional.

I capitalized on Angelica's shock fast, rushing her and attacking the other girl, climbing her body acrobatically to strike all over. She was overwhelmed quickly, the girl obviously having no form of self-defense training. Even then, the sheer size difference was a large advantage that let her hang in there for a bit, but not enough to overcome my experience. Each strike was maximized for pain and weakness, and soon enough Angelica called out surrender, a glowing red 'STOP' hologram appearing as the coach quickly called the fight off, though I had already started disengaging at Angelica's words.

"Can you turn me back now?" I asked, impatience tinged with a bit of worry. Angelica wasn't the best fighter by far, but even having some access to my powers, this 'doll form' weakens me greatly, far more than I'm letting on. The vast majority of my powers and tricks are useless in it or greatly diminished. My shapeshifting is weaker, and the material I can change is so vastly limited compared to my usual plethora of biological tricks. If I have to fight like this for the rest of my matches...

"Fine," Angelica said sullenly, and with a wave of her hand, I felt the power released and myself turning back to my regular size and body structure. Changing back was a little awkward and I made a few adjustments to make sure everything looked normal as I grew in size. The end result would surely look odd to anyone outside, but hopefully no more than someone usually changing from a doll back to a girl, my 'Seltron uniform' perfectly in place by the time I finished changing (all of which didn't take more than two seconds). Much better.

I gave a little curtsy to Angelica after I was back in my regular state. "There's nothing wrong with trying to look cute or elegant, there are even styles that try and use that; just don't let it get in the way of winning a fight," I offered. I'm too kind, but it's not like it hurts me to give a bit of advice to these kids. Truthfully, having a 'style' or 'flair' to her will help her get noticed as a hero, but that's all secondary to surviving. Angelica looked stunned for a moment before nodding and smiling.

"Yes, that is... good advice. I may have misjudged you, thank you for helping me."

I shook her hand, and we both walked up the stairs to the top section, taking a good look at the other fights going on.

Spoiler: A/N:

Here's the result of our first fight of the tournament. Wanted to show some of the funky interactions between diverse powers here. Let me know what you think of it and if you want, check out my Discord, and if you feel like supporting me I have a Kofi or you can become a Patreon subscriber, which gives you early access ten chapters ahead on this story.

 

[Skyfyre]

I leaned against the wall, looking down at the students fighting below. Clearly few of them actually knew how to fight, let alone how to fight effectively with their powers. Students would flail about (it looked like two boys with ranged powers actually got into a slap fight of all things) and throw kicks and punches so sloppy that it hurt. I've never picked up much by way of a coherent fighting style personally, but I've trained and practiced long enough to have decent form when throwing a punch.

Trevor slid up to me. "Hey Camila, how did your fight go?"

"Pretty well, which you'd know if you had been watching."

"Hey, I was watching... I just got a little distracted by some of the other matches when you got turned into a doll."

A flash of fire rose up from one of the quadrants, distracting everyone as the flames licked up to near the surface of the ledges many students stood on. Like that's any excuse; you should have more than watched, you should have had faith I'd win against such a novice brat! You should be eagerly dissecting my fight for any hint of a weakness in the hopes that maybe it would give you a chance! I didn't voice any of that, though, and just said, "I suppose that's fair. There's a lot going on, and we only meet up in the finals if we both make it there."

Trevor looked up at the board and saw I was correct. "Whoa, you're really thinking ahead in this, aren't you?"

I gave him a shark-like grin (aided slightly by my power). "I aim to win. Though it looks like I'll have some competition in that."

Trevor glanced at the board and then at the matches and saw my next potential fighters. "Oh yeah, look at those two go!" A dark-haired, scruffy guy named Kadir and a ridiculously large boy called Maximus (a name that really had me wondering if he had his legal name changed after getting his powers). Maximus looked like he was bursting at the seams; even with the flexible uniform, his muscles were so large. Particularly in his arms and shoulders, making muscle builders on steroids look tame, Maximus' strikes would shake the ground wherever he hit and leave small dents in the floor. As strong as he was, however, he didn't manage to land a hit on the lanky Kadir, who dodged around swiftly and, at times, would disappear and reappear behind his opponent's back.

"Kadir's going to win this," I declared.

"Oh? I don't know; Maximus only needs to land a single shot to win, and he looks pretty good at boxing."

"He's not bad," I said, the emphasis indicating it wasn't really a compliment I was paying him. "But he's not great either. And Kadir..." I watched the dark-haired boy step into a punch, slipping just around it and sending a jab of his own at a weak point in the front of the shoulder joint. The bigger boy flinched from it, trying to counter, but Kadir vanished to appear behind him, kicking his knee in. Hard to say where his fighting skill comes from, but his form might be better than my own.

"Right, I guess invisibility is hard to beat. Can't hit what you can't see after all."

I shook my head. "It's too fast for invisibility... I think. Probably teleportation. He actually knows how to fight and can be downright dirty too, which all helps, but the biggest thing that will let him win is the fact that Maximus is running out of steam." The muscled-out Maximus swung around wildly to hit Kadir but missed by a mile, his foe not even bothering to 'disappear' away, simply leaning away from the blow before rocking back in. Maximus let out a yell of frustration and punched several more times, but Kadir dodged them all, leaving him gasping for breath.

"Huh. Do you think you'll be ready for a teleporter then?"

The two students down in Arena 2 might be the best of the bunch currently fighting, but they aren't the ones that make me think of 'competition. Skill can only take you so far, and the strongest students will quickly learn to pair skill with incredible powers.' "I'm fairly sure I can handle it, but I was thinking more about her," I said, pointing over to Alexandra, landing down in the first arena, having forgone the stairs and just jumping down to it when she got called.

When her opponent arrived, a mousy, spectacled boy, the way too energetic and colorful teacher called out, "Alexandra Herron vs. Dryden Vor, begin!"

Alexandra, who had been bouncing up and down on her feet, rushed forward as soon as the word 'begin' left the teacher's mouth, jumping up, trying to rise over the obstacles to close the distance between them, only to misjudge the height needed. Her foot caught on the edge of one block, denting it and sending her tumbling in the air, though the deformed edge quickly shifted back to its undamaged state. Yet another sign of the technological advancement of Seltron.

Alex spread her wings out, trying to arrest her fall through the air, but only spun her further off course. The wind reached Dryden, however, and it buffeted him around, causing both of them to take a moment as they recovered and got up.

Alex rushed ahead, undaunted by her previous fumble, and readied her fist to punch him. Dryden held a hand up, and a wave spread out through the air from his hand. What was being sent out wasn't clear, but Dryden seemed to have confidence in its ability to stop Alex... right up until she burst through it without slowing down one bit. She threw a punch, but something odd happened at the last second, a weird twitch as she pulled her strike.

The punch was awkward and didn't land well, but that didn't stop her from sending him careening across the arena, smashing his back into the opposite wall.

"Whoa," Trevor breathed out. "I mean, that was cool and all, but is she really that strong? She didn't seem stronger than Maximus or anything."

"Far stronger, if that punch was anything to go by. I think she was holding back there." Not to mention how her endurance seems to be greater given how easily she carried the bags up.

"Youch, at least I don't have her till... oh, the finals."

"That's only she beats me," I haughtily added. Admittedly, even I can see how she might win against me, but still, gotta exude confidence.

"Right, well-" Whatever Trevor was going to say was interrupted by a teacher calling 'Mister Hawthorn' over for his first match. "All right then, wish me luck," he called out as he hopped on over to his fight against a girl called Stacey. I didn't, but he was too busy and far away to notice.

It was an interesting fight, to say the least, though they both looked somewhat ridiculous during it. Trevor had a translucent sphere spread out from him, noticeable by a faint shimmering light on its outside edge. The sphere covered most of the arena as he went to engage Stacey. Stacey quickly made duplicates of herself and started darting all over the place, but it soon became apparent what Trevor's power was: blindness, though through an unusual means. Such a thing might be expected to be a sphere of pure darkness, but this lets people outside see through. A lot of different tactical approaches there. At least it lets the teachers see and grade this match better.

Stacey was the girl who had questioned and been castigated by our headmaster for doing so, so I didn't have high hopes for her composure even before the fight began, but her performance there was pretty pathetic, bumbling around with her sight deprived from her, falling over an obstacle, and not even managing to get back on her feet.

Trevor, for his part, wasn't terrible, clearly in control of the fight from the beginning, but he also struck out randomly at the duplicates, not realizing at first how her powers worked and going after the duplicates rather than the real girl, even as his fists passed through the illusory copies. He hit one of them twice and flailed after some of the others before getting the real one in a chokehold, politely drawing back his weird blindness field before giving her a chance to surrender.

Crying out a forfeit, he let the girl go, and she whimpered away, scurrying out of the arena as Trevor released her. I didn't get what her problem was - he had barely been squeezing on her windpipes.

Trevor got back to the top and asked, "So, what did you think?"

Your punches were sloppy, you were easily tricked, there was no sense of tactics or learning from you, and only her own ineptitude allowed you to win that fight. I gave him a thumbs up and said, "You dominated that fight! Good job."

He rubbed the top of his nose. "Hehe, thanks."

Looking over at the loser of his fight, I saw Stacey was going over to the opposite corner of the room where a new person had arrived, a woman in a flowery dress. Janet Fontaine, 'Nursegirl.' Janet wasn't someone I had a particular problem with, but she had saved Gunther's life at least once (along with several other heroes over the course of her career), which made me less inclined to think well of her.

Still, she seemed to be quickly and efficiently healing any of the students hurt in the matches, her glowing hands waving over their wounds. I resolved to try to think better of the hero, especially since now she would be my ally (and teacher, as weird as it was to think that).

There wasn't much more time for me to watch Janet or any more fights as my own match in the second round with Kadir was called up.

Spoiler: A/N:

We get to see a bit more of Camila's analytical side here as she observes the fights. I know this chapter is a bit shorter than some but let me know what you think of it and if you want, check out my Discord. If you feel like supporting me I have a Kofi or you can become a Patreon subscriber, which gives you early access ten chapters ahead on this story, ten chapters ahead on Like No One Ever Was (my Pokemon SI), and six ahead on my other original story A Dreamer's Tale. Thanks, and I hope you're enjoying the story.