"No, I'm serious. I got banned from League of Masters for an entire week, Brian!" Charlie yelled, drawing the ire of the few teachers condemned to hall monitor duty. With a bashful nod, Charlie resumed his conversation at a much quieter tone.
"What for? What could you have possibly done to anger your parents, golden boy? Your grades are so good I'm pretty sure you could miss every exam from now until the end of the semester and still pass all your classes." Brian looked at him with genuine confusion, as if grades were the only thing that merited a punishment.
In this case, it was a good enough excuse for Charlie's sake – he couldn't very well tell him, "Oh, I got in trouble for using my totally cool and totally illegal superpowers. But don't go telling your dad because then I'll get taken by the government." Yeah, like that would go over well.
"Well, you know that test I thought I got a B on? Turns out it was much worse than a B. I failed it, man. I guess I didn't spend as much time studying as I wanted to."
"As you wanted to?"
"Okay, fine, as I should have. Of course I had a million other things I'd rather have done than worry about hydrogen bonds." Charlie said, exasperated. He honestly should have expected Brian to pull something like that; he wouldn't be Brian if he didn't.
They passed by a group of football players, each of them roughhousing with each other. A couple of the athletes nodded to them as they passed, a perk of being Brian being as well-known as he was. "Any luck in the romance department?"
Out of the blue with that one. Charlie's head swiveled immediately to take in the hyena that had been his best friend. Brian was laughing so hard the boy's face was nearly as red as a tomato, and a particularly bright one at that. "Oh, you jerk. You know if I was half as smooth as you, I'd have my entire English class swooning," Charlie said, dejectedly. Spending as much time studying and training as he did, it didn't leave much time for socialization beyond the occasional League of Masters game he played with Brian.
"You know what, Charlie? You've got to come with me to one of these conferences my dad always drags me to. It's boring as hell when I'm alone, and with the two of us, I'm sure we'll find some way to make it fun," he paused, winking conspiratorially. "And, there's always a few chicks there."
So that was his angle. Not a big surprise, given how frequently Brian was out canoodling with the opposite sex, but it was impressive that he had manage to turn a business get-together into an opportunity to find a girlfriend. "I'll take a hard pass on that, Brian. The semester's not done yet, and there's always more to do during break. I'll have a lot of League of Masters to catch up on."
With a sagely nod, Brian agreed. "That's valid. Some other time, then. But I expect you to catch up to me by the end of break."
"Fat chance."
"You're right." The two boys laughed, sauntering into their Chemistry class, ready to face the aftermath of the previous day's test. Fortunately, the aftermath involved a simple worksheet that had almost nothing to do with chemistry and everything to do with Christmas. Mrs. Haywick really took mercy upon their souls, especially after that disastrous test. With this extra credit, the majority of the class would move up to passing the semester.
Charlie was halfway through coloring a particularly festive ion when the teacher's phone rang. When she picked it up, her gaze turned to Brian. Face covered in a mask of worry, she hung up the phone and whispered to him. A dark cloud descended on Brian, his facial features turning icy, a stark difference from the jovial atmosphere he had around him just moments earlier.
Waiting for the teacher to pass, Charlie leaned over to Brian, curious about the sudden shift in demeanor. "What's up, man?" he whispered.
"It's my dad. He's being held hostage right now," Brian responded, quietly enough that none of the students around them could hear anything.
"What?!" Charlie yelled, his voice drawing the attention of everyone in class. Suddenly aware of his own outburst, Charlie slouched into his chair. Once it had passed, he went back to Brian. "What do you mean?"
"It's a Traitor. He made it close to my dad while he was out of the office. Apparently, he's really powerful. He managed to hold off the entire Boston Security Office," anger laced these words, but Brian managed to keep his voice down.
"Twice in two days? Something's wrong here, man. Do you think they're targeting Boston for some reason?" Charlie asked, surprised that they'd be so brazen as to kidnap the mayor after their last attack had failed so terribly.
Brian shrugged. "I'm not sure, but all I know is that my dad is in danger right now. I'm supposed to sit here and wait it out, but I can't stand it."
At this, a loud blast sounded from somewhere nearby. Charlie's heart pounded; he didn't have a good feeling about this. Then, screams. Distinctly young screams. A yell. "Brian Webber! Come on out!" Charlie shot out of his seat along with half the classroom. Brian was among those standing, and he looked to the fire exit. It was a good idea, and clearly Mrs. Haywick was of the same mind.
And then the door to their classroom blasted open. The door took a couple of students with it as it crashed into the center of the room, groans coming from under it. A man enclosed in a mantle of fire stood in the doorway, directing an orb of flames at the students within the room. Frozen in fear, no one dared to make a sound, lest they be fried to a crisp.
The man's eyes caught onto Brian. "Ah, Brian Webber. You've got two options. You come with me, and no one here gets hurt, or you try to run and everyone here dies. Your choice, pal. You're coming with me either way," he offered, shrugging his shoulders at the end as if he could care less. This man, Charlie couldn't bear to think of him any other way, was younger than Charlie likely by a matter of hours. And yet, he spoke of murder as it was a regular Wednesday.
"Good God I fucking hate Hump Day," Charlie whispered under his breath, catching the attention of the arsonist. Thankfully, it passed quickly and the Traitor's full focus was back on Brian.
Brian trembled in fear, but he took a tentative step towards the superpowered would-be murderer. "Good choice, Brian." He reached his empty hand towards Brian, who approached with the speed of a snail that had just been awoken from a particularly bad nap.
Clearly, this man was working in conjunction with the Traitor that had kidnapped Mr. Webber. Charlie couldn't fathom what made them attractive targets, given that they didn't even work for the government at large, but it was obvious that they were. There was one other obvious matter. Charlie wasn't going to let this happen, not when he could do something about it.
He summoned a cube of dark matter from his backpack. It wasn't normally so inconspicuous, but given everyone's undivided attention on the rogue Super, it was pretty safe. Increasing its length until it looked like a limbo stick from a fever dream, Charlie sent it flying straight into the Traitor's shins. The man toppled over like a sack of bricks, the fire in his hands hitting the ground and scorching it. Charlie resisted the urge to grin. Returning the dark matter to its cube shape, he sent it flying at the Super's head, bashing it with enough force to knock him unconscious.
Well, that was easy.
Famous last words.