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 story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
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.
