Several days after enrollment, Matt and Roxy finally began attending their classes. Roxy was a little worried of being apart from Matt whenever their classes took them apart, but Matt could see that she was slowly getting accustomed to this world. Matt however was having a rough time. Though he seemed very calm whenever he ran into students or whenever he was brought into the conversation, Matt couldn't help but constantly worry about his promise to Synapse. He paused over every sentence careful what to say, scrutinized everything said so that his response would not seem out of place. He could tell that the other students found talking with him was awkward. Roxy was having the total opposite situation. After being thrust into such a safe environment, but almost forced to stand on her own, Roxy was too shy to even speak to anyone. Whenever she had a pause in her classes, she often went back to her dorm room if she couldn't find Matt. A few times she contemplated using her powers to talk with him in their minds, but she she was too worried of causing further problems. A few times she contemplated exploring Paragon near the school just to get familiar with the area but quickly dismissed the thought of travelling alone into a place she knew nothing about, at least not without Matt.
*****
Walking from his morning class to his next Matt couldn't notice just how many students attended the school. He couldn't even remember when he had seen so many kids with powers. Even just now, Matt watched as a kid blazed down the hall at an astounding speed. 'Its gonna take a while before I get used to using my powers freely' Matt thought as he rubbed the area around his neck where there once was a power restraining collar. He quickly had a memory of when he first showed off what he could do to a group of kids in the hallway. Teleporting all around the hall in the blink of a eye, even teleporting down to a burger joint that was a few blocks away from the school. Matt did well hiding the strain that little stunt pulled on him.
Glancing down at his schedule, Matt noticed that it was time for his history class. 'Finally a class that I know I need to pay attention to. The more we learn about this world, the faster we can forget about the other one.'
Heading down the hallways, Matt witnessed more students using their powers in normal everday situation. A girl walked down the hall with her books floating silently in tow. A small boy sat floating comfortably in the air while munching on a apple. Matt just shoke his head, 'Things are vastly different here.'
Turning the corner Matt came to the doorway to his class. The class was still getting organized so Matt just quietly took a spot near the back and got his notebooks out. Quickly skimming them, he found his place where he left out and got prepared for class. A lot of the students were still chatting and the teacher wasn't present yet.
'I just hoped I crammed in enough of the months worth of teaching I missed that I'll be caught up with the rest of the class. Guess we were lucky that we ended up over here near the start of the new school year.' Matt thought as he skimmed over his notes once more. The last three days were cram days for Matt and many of the students had most likely seen him with a textbook in one hand open and copying down notes with the other.
As Matt had finished getting his pen ready, the history teacher walked in. He was a balding gentleman in his late thirties, Matt roughly estimated. He stood about six feet and walked with a confident stride in his step. There was just something about this guy that Matt was initially drawn too.
"Alright class, take your seats." The teacher said as he set his briefcase down, "As you may have noticed we have a new student with us, go on and stand up. Introduce yourself"
Matt kinda stared for a moment like a deer caught in the headlights, "Uh.."
"Well go on, we do have lessons that need to be taught" The teacher further commented as he opened his briefcase and pulled out some papers.
Slowly Matt stood up, "Well I'm Matthew Cross, I've only been here for a few days now and-"
"That's good enough, take your seat." Turning to face the class, "I'm Mister Norris, now class where we left off was the beginning of the second world war..."
Matt slowly sat back down kinda and looked to his notes. 'Well... That was awkward. Oh well.'
After a while into the lecture, Matt realized that he wasn't behind the class, he was in fact now ahead. 'Hrm... Maybe I should checked with the teacher first instead of just going by the curriculum outline...'
"Mister Cross, would you mind telling me why exactly the decision was made to move super powered individuals to strike teams, as opposed to front line assualts in the coming years of the second world war?" Mr. Norris suddenly interjected midsentence as Matt was flipping pages in his notes.
"Um... Of course, just let me find it here in my notes..."
"And how can you do that Mister Cross if we haven't even covered that material?"
Still flipping pages began to stammer.
"I know your new here but try to pay attention. Now as I was saying class..." Mr. Norris began once again cooly.
'I didn't even have a chance to defend myself...' Matt thought as he finally came to the point in his notes with the answer, 'Probably best to keep it to myself for now.'
Time seemed to go by forever for Matt as he was taught things he already knew, more accurately things he had just learnt the night before, though fortune smiled as the class was finally dismissed. Though Matt was not so fortunate as Mr. Norris flagged Matt back inside.
"Remember students, I want that report by the end of the week." Mr. Norris said as he entered back into the room and gestured for Matt to take a seat. "Now, Matthew was it? I'm not sure where you originally came from, and its not my place to ask but its not a very wise thing to lie in front of the whole class on the first day."
"But I can actually show that I have notes in regards to your question, just let me get it out for you..." Matt explained as he pulled out his notebook again.
Mr. Norris let out a little sigh, his tone quickly changing back to the same he used while teaching, "Lying is not going to help any further Mr. Cross. How can you have notes on a subject that hasn't been taught yet, let alone on your first day?"
"Well I got a copy of the my class's curriculum outlines and did my best to caught up, I think I overdid it though on history..." Matt explained as he turned to the pages regarding todays lecture. Mr. Norris paused and examined the notebook, flipping a few pages forward and then back looking over the notes. He gazed back down at Matt.
"I'm rather impressed with you Mr. Cross, such iniative is not often found in students." Mr. Norris handed back the notebook after a lengthy pause he added, "I judged you wrong, I apologize, don't think that this will get you out of the report due at the end of the week."
Shuffling around in his backpack, Matt pulled out a small duotang and handed it to Mr. Norris, "I'd like to hand in my report early if I can."
Flipping open to the first page, Mr. Norris quickly looked it over, a few quick glances at a few other pages and he closed the duotang. "Very well done Mr. Cross, you seem to have the next week of classes already done ahead of everyone."
Matt gave a small smile but quickly hid it as Mr. Norris placed the Matt's report in his briefcase, "Don't think I'll let you off easy though Mr. Cross. Now hurry along. I wouldn't want to be the blame for you being late for your next class."
Quickly gathering his things, Matt hurried out of the classroom. Mr. Norris stood at the door and watched as Matt hurried down the hallway. He gave a small smirk and small shake of his head, "I'm impressed Mr. Cross. Very impressed."
*****
The rest of Matt's classes for the day were relatively uneventful, he was ahead in most of his classes, but not as much as he was in History. It was evident that the day seemed to go over well and Matt would have no problem keeping his schoolwork in check, now he just had to deal with another problem. Learning more about this reality. From what he had read in the textbooks so far, it looked like that super powered individuals were not persecuted as much as his original reality. They weren't viewed as a "resource" that needed to be further refined. Explaining this to Roxy would most likely help make her feel more safe in this world, Matt just hoped that Roxy's first day of classes went as smoothly as his own. He' d find out soon enough though as he waited patiently by Roxy's dorm room for her so they could go get a bite to eat.
*****
Roxy walked slowly down the hall looking at all the other students in quiet awe. She tried very hard to not focus on anyone so she wouldn't start hearing their thoughts, but occasionally she heard the occasional mental sound, 'What's for lunch today? I hope she's free this weekend! He likes who, oh I can't wait to hear more about that!'
Shaking her head clear of anyones elses thoughts, Roxy focused on just getting through the day. She really didn't like the fact that she wouldn't be with Matt most of the time but she knew that she would have to learn to getting used to being on her own now. 'This world is different Matt said, it definitely looks different so maybe it is safe here.'
Roxy's morning classes were pretty uneventful, she listened to the lectures, and took some notes, the usual school routine. A few of her teachers asked to talk with her after class to get her up to speed with the lessons. Other then that, no one else really interracted with her. Unfortunately Roxy couldn't eat lunch with Matt cause he had History scheduled at that time, so Roxy slowly made her way to the cafeteria after getting lost a couple of times. Looking around there weren't that many students in the cafeteria, so Roxy got her meal and found a small area by herself. 'The lunch lady was really nice. She didn't have to make me a whole new salad just because I didn't like red onions in the one being served.'
After finishing her meal Roxy got up and decided to try and get used to the school's lay out again. Wandering the halls, Roxy tried to make mental notes in her mind where each of her classes were, and other key places of the campus that she knew she would have to use day to day. By the time Roxy had found her way back to her dorm room she realized she quickly had to rush back to her afternoon classes. 'At least now I shouldn't get lost.'
Like her morning classes, Roxy's afternoon was relatively uneventful. She actually wondered if anyone even noticed her presence in the classroom aside from the teacher, though she quickly just assumed probably not since she made no effort to speak up. She couldnt' help but have her mind wander to other peoples thoughts and found that many of the girls kept thinking of various rumors they had heard or thinking about other things that Roxy found interesting. However, Roxy just didn't know what to say to these girls when class was over and everyone went on to their next class. 'Well at least today's done. Now I can go see Matt and we can get something to eat. I hope his day was good, he seemed to be really bothered by something but he wouldn't tell me... I know I shouldn't read his mind but I just hate it when he won't tell me.'
As she walked back to her dorm room, she felt a burst of energy as she saw Matt waiting by the entrance to the dorms. She ran and practically body checked Matt with her small body.
Regaining the air knocked out of him, Matt gave a small hug back, "So how was your day?"
"It was alright... The teachers are really nice, they said that I don't have to rush to catch up, and that they'll get me copies of the notes I don't have." Roxy said as he let go of Matt, "What about you?"
"Pretty much the same, the teachers seemed really impressed that I caught up to them so fast already." Matt explained as he and Roxy begain to walk down out into the quad area. "So what do you feel like for dinner?"
Roxy kinda rolled her head back in thought, "What do you feel like?"
"No fair, I asked you." Matt replied back.
"Well we had Pizza yesterday, and Burgers the day before that. I think we pretty much have sampled all the fast food in the areas near the school." Roxy commented as she shifted her bag around on her back.
"How about something we've never tried before?" Matt thought out loud.
"Like what?" Roxy asked.
"Well I noticed not too far from the school there is a sushi place." Matt replied, "We've never had that, and I heard some kids talking about it."
"Isn't that raw fish though?" Roxy asked giving a puzzled look.
"Yea, but there is also vegi rolls you can get and some other things too on the menu." Matt explained, "Besides, it'll be nice to see more of the city."
"Okay."
*****
"That was really good!" Roxy excitedly said as they got off the train and headed back towards the school campus, "Not gross at all like I thought."
"Yea, I'm surprised too. I kinda expected with it being raw there would be some yucky taste but its quite different. Aren't you glad we tried something different?" Matt said as the two of them walked down towards the school's entrance.
"Yea, I'm just surprised how so little can fill you up." Roxy replied as she patted Matt's stomach.
"Hey now, I ate what you couldn't finish." Matt chuckled as he batted Roxy's hand away.
The two of them slowly let their conversation die as they began to near the dorms on campus. Roxy walked up to the entrance to the girls wing while Matt hanged around outside. Roxy looked back puzzled a bit at Matt. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I've just got some homework to do..." Matt explained "Besides, I'm sure you have some work to get caught up on yourself."
Roxy kinda kicked the ground with the toe on her shoe. "Yea, I guess I do need to do that. I'll see you tommorrow for lunch?"
"Yea, I have no class scheduled at that time on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays." Matt replied, "Meet at the cafeteria?"
"Okay." Roxy responded. She kinda shyly looked around and then gave Matt a hug. "Night."
Matt returned the hug and watched Roxy slip into the dorms. "Night..."
*****
Quietly walking the halls and out into the quad, Matt shook his head, 'She's not doing well at all. This whole experience has been nervewracking on both of us... I just hope she finds some friends to help keep her mind preoccupied when I'm not around..'
Matt was hardly paying attention where he was going when bumped into another person. Quickly snapping from his thoughts back to reality Matt looked up at who he bumped into. "Ahh kid, ya gotta have sharper witts and faster reflexes then that."
"Synapse? What are you doing here?" Matt asked as he immediately recognized the man he bumped into.
"Came to check up on you two, make sure your doing okay." Synapse replied, "Putting in the little lady for the night I see."
Matt shook his head, "Its not like that... Well... I don't know."
"Ahh I see what you got here kid." Synapse commented to himself as he gestured to a nearby park bench. "Its only you two over here so its only natural that you two stick to each other, but just remember this kid, no one can remain a loner. Its friends that will help you overcome obsticles, otherwise you'll end up in a mess and be right outta luck."
Synapse patted Matt on the back when he saw Matt's shoulders slump. "Dont' worry about it kid, that's not why I'm here.
Matt looked over to Synapse puzzled.
"Come on kid, you still good with your teleporting thing there?" Synapse asked getting up giving a quick stretch.
"Yea, I guess... Why?" Matt asked.
"Follow me and you'll find out!" Synapse said as he began to blur away into the distance. Matt gave a huff and blinked out of the quad with a flash.
*****
A little while after the two initially started speeding down the streets of Paragon, Synapse came to a quick stop in the middle of a small hilly park. Matt immediately blinked nearby and wiped a bead of sweat away from his brow. He tried to hide his exhaustion but knew Synapse saw he was tired when he heard a small chuckle.
"Ahhh kid, don't tell me your tired already we haven't even started anything yet." Synapse said giving a smile.
Matt quickly stood up tall, "I don't know what your talking about!"
Synpase had a tough time holding back another chuckle.
A sexy female voice drifted out from the shadows near the two, "Who's this fine young man?"
Synpase shook his head, "He's too young you, so don't think it."
Slowly out of the shadows slinked a tiny slender red head, in a stripped skin tight outfit, which only seemed to further exaggerate her curves. "Hmmm, a shame."
Matt looked over confused beyond all belief at Synapse, not sure of what he should do exactly.
"Kid, this is Mynx, she helps me keep the streets clean here in Skyway." Synapse said as he nodded his head towards Mynx who was slowly circling around Matt.
"Alright, I'm confused, what's going on." Matt finally said after looking around for a bit.
"Simple kid, your gonna tag along with me on a patrol around the city tonight." Synapse explained.
"Patrol?" Matt said still puzzled.
Mynx gave a small sigh, "Are you sure he's ready for this? I mean he's still in his school uniform..."
"Yea and when you first hit the streets, you weren't wearing anything fantastic either. We all have to start somewhere, I'm here to help him along the way." Synpase shot back.
Mynx tooka quick step back and then slinked around Matt one more time before starting to head back to the shadows, "If you need me you know how to find me..."
Matt stood still confused at the whole situation going on.
"Do you know how to fight kid?" Synapse asked.
Matt gave a slight shrug with his shoulders, "I took a little bit of karate back when I was younger..."
Synapse gave a nod, "What about with your powers?"
"I don't know, I've never really used them that way..." Matt said shrugging.
"Eh, I'll guess we'll have to crash course it," Synpase replied as he took a look around, "Alright kid, just follow me."
*****
For what seemed like hours, Matt and Synpase headed all over the place in Skyway city. The two of them travelled throughout Vista Plaza and down into the Astral District withen only a few moments finding no unusual night activity. Matt was gettinga little tired, but Synpase wanted to see just how much he could push the kid. After hearing the report from the scientists on his power strength Synpase knew he would have to step in and help out Coach Waters on this one. The kid was going to have to pushed more then once every so often, no he needed to trained daily.
The Astral District was also dead quiet in activitiy in addition to Aerie Plaza. It wasn't until the two hit the Gruff Matt started to see what Synapse meant by going on patrol, the two raced past a group of cops putting the cuffs on some green skinned guys who had been left knocked out near a convience store they were robbing.
"Mynx has already been here kid, so lets go further south!" Synapse shouted as Matt flickered in just a few meters behind him.
Racing down one of the skyward overpasses, Matt could see from up here why this place was called Skyway City now. Down below there buildings all trying to climb up as high as some of the roadways that crossed through the city. Matt glanced back at the buildings that did and they just seemed to climb on forever.
Suddenly Synpase came to a stop and quickly gestured for Matt to keep quiet.
"You see that area of town further south?" Synapse asked. Matt gave a quick nod. "The locals call it The Land of the Lost. Lots of messed up stuff happens there all the time. Stuff Mynx and I work on keeping out of there. We won't worry about that tonight though. I already did a sweep earlier before I got you, and Mynx will most likely do another before sunrise. But take a look over there, that's Hide Park. I think we'll see some action there."
"Um Synpase what were those greenmen we passed earlier?" Matt asked as he looked down to the park below in the distance.
"Those are Trolls, well at least that's what they call themselves." Synapse explained, "That's what happens to you if you take way too much of this street drug called Superdine, terrible stuff. If I ever catch with the stuff I'll beat you fast even you coudn't dodge it."
Matt quickly backed away and clearly showed signs he didn't want to face Synapse. Synapse continued, "They think they own Skyway though, I guess they think it fits their gang name since in mythology books Trolls are always under bridges or some crap like that. All I know is, they are a real menace to this part of Paragon, and and the mess they made up in The Hollows..."
Synapse gave a quick spit to the curb as he mentioned The Hollows.
"So if there are any there we're gonna fight them?" Matt asked slowly.
"Now your getting it kid," Synpase said, "We aren't just gonna fight them though, we're gonna arrest them if they are breaking the law. If us heroes did that we'd be no better then them. Remember they are people too, just they decided to take a wrong path."
Matt gave a nod, "But I'm no hero."
"Not yet kid, not by a long shot, but maybe, just maybe you'll want to be one later on in your life?" Synapse commented, "No one is forced into this path, you choose it. Come on kid, lets go check it out."
*****
A cool breeze swept through the quiet park, rustling the tree leaves in the wind. Synapse and Matt slowly walked across the grass looking for any sign of trolls. Though it seemed that there wasn't even any wildlife in the park at this hour. "Its quiet kid... Keep your guard up."
Matt gave a quick nod and he looked around the park. It didn't seem like there was gonna be any activity here like the other sections of the city they had checked earlier. A quick snap of a twig and both Synapse and Matt spun around to see five trolls break out from the nearby bushes. Matt was caught totally in shock at what was happened and just managed to blink out of the way as one troll that was planning to tackle him soared through the air where he no longer was.
Synapse was easily taking on the other four and Matt had absolutely no idea what to do. Matt watched in awe as Synapse blasted one to the ground and the troll convulsed as electricity finally dissipated out of his body. All the while Synapse dodged their punches as if he was swatting flies. Another soared hard down into the ground as delivered a power electric charged punch right to the trolls jaw.
Matt regained his sense just in time to see the troll he dodged get back up and rush him. With his heart practically jumping into this throat, Matt gave a quick gasp and teleported just out of the way again as the troll made a swipe at him. Matt ducked to the ground just as that same troll spun around with his fist out. Matt had no idea what to do, he felt the adrenaline in his system but had no rational thought on what to actually do. The troll gave a large guttural chuckle as he reached down and grabbed Matt. "Me gonna smash you good, small one."
Synapse shot a glance over to Matt but was too busy with his own fight with the remaining two, that he couldn't break free to help, "Ya gotta use your power kid!"
Matt felt the heavy breath of the troll upon his face and gritted his teeth for the incoming blow, "You not see tommorrow."
An image of Roxy popped into Matt's mind and sudden rage boiled up withen him the minute he thought of leaving Roxy here in this world alone. A quick blinding glow came over Matt's hands as he stared back into the trolls eyes. "Guess again."
Winding back Matt delivered a strong right hook right to the trolls face and the troll lost his grip, Matt fell to the ground and quickly teleported back to his feet.
"Small one play? Good! Me like when they fight!" The troll bellowed as he got back to his feet. The troll immediately charged towards Matt, and swiped and air as Matt reappeared behind the troll and smashed a fist into the back of the trolls skull. The troll quickly swung around at nothing only to get to more quick jabs from behind in the sides. The troll went to swing around again only to swing all the way around hoping to catch Matt in his little game. Only to find nothing, that is till Matt came flying from above and smashed his fists into the trolls face on the way down.
"Small one hit hard! Not hard enough!" The troll bellowed spitting the blood from his mouth.
Matt blinked back behind the troll a little bit, "Not hard enough? Come on then, lets see what you can take!"
The troll seeing his foe quickly spun around and charged, only to suddenly go flying back as a huge blast of bright light hit him square in the chest, the smell of burnt hair wafted in the air as the troll slammed hard into the ground. The other two remaining trolls hurt badly by Synapse we're briefly blinded by the flash that immediately fell to the ground with two clean hits by Synapses fists. Walking towards Matt, Synapse glanced at the troll that took Matt's blast full on.
"He isn't..." Mat asked hesistantly.
"No no, kid. He's alive, though you sure thrashed him." Syanpse gave a chuckle. "You sure are one powder keg, I was worried there for a moment."
"I... I just froze and then suddenly reacted." Matt muttered trying to think over what just happened.
"Its like that for everyone. We all freeze at first, after a while, you'll learn to just trust your gut." Synapse explained, "You did good kid, hell you did great for having no real experience."
"I don't know..." Matt mumbled.
"Come on kid, lets get you back to the school. These guys won't be gone by the time I get back." Synapse commented as he looked at the five unconscious trolls on sprawled all over the grass.
*****
Blinking back into the Quad just slightly ahead of Synapse, Matt managed to catch his breath. Adrenaline wasn't pumping through his system as hard now, but he was still pumped up from his first fight now that he had a clear head. "So that's what you do?"
"Pretty much kid, pretty much." Synapse said with a smile, "But things aren't always that easy kid. You got real lucky there. If you hadn't reacted that troll woulda sent ya to the hospital and quick."
Matt gave a small sigh. Synapse walked over and gave him pat on the back. "But that's why you gotta work hard and learn what you can do. So you can handle the tough fights."
"I don't know, last time I used my powers here things well... exploded." Matt muttered remembering the destroied testing area in the Atheletics Building only a few days ago. "What if I lose control again?"
"That's why I'm gonna help you if you want." Synapse said confidently.
"Really? You'd do that?" Matt excitedly gasped.
Synapse gave a chuckle, "I'm not gonna baby you kid. You want me to help you, you have to make sure you keep an eye on that little lady of yours and keep your nose clean here at school. No failing grades, causing fights, and so on, or that's it. You got it?"
Matt gave a nod. Synapse let out a smile. "Alright kid then its a deal. First things first though, your gonna have to work on a hero name and find something more heroic to wear. School uniform just isn't doing it kid."
Matt couldn't help but laugh. "I'll see what I can do."
"I better get back and clean up those trolls, otherwise we'll be in trouble for littering. Get some rest kid, your gonna need it." Synapse said as he sped off into the night leaving Matt alone with his thoughts.
"Me, a hero?"
First Week
Moderator: Student Council
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Glowing Vigilance
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