Copyright © 2009 Stephanie P Lions

Chapter 4: The First Day of School

Most of the new super kids were clueless as to their location, with the exception of April, Crystal, and Tommy. Nothing seemed to be different about it. The halls were still red and Mrs. Reed's class was still where it was that morning. Suddenly, Mrs. Reed's door swung open, almost hitting April between the eyes.

"And don't even think about running in the halls!" she yelled after a frightened kid who was now fast walking. She looked straight at April. It was the same menacing glare from that morning, too. "You're late."

April opened her mouth to say an excuse, but thought better of talking back to a teacher, and closed her mouth to a firm, pale line. Fortunately, Mittens told the story of the day's events for her. He told Mrs. Reed about the puffs of smoke and how everyone was about to become super heroes. When Mittens finished the story, Mrs. Reed's glare still looked pretty menacing.

"Then you should be over there," she pointed to a peculiar looking door. It was rainbow colored and seemed to grow bigger and then contract to a smaller size as each second passed. "Good luck, as I see you will need it, especially if you aren't brave enough for this simple challenge."

She gave one last, icy look to each individual member of the team. It might have been her imagination, but for a moment, April thought that Mrs. Reed's glare had lingered on Crystal, but then again, it was probably just her imagination.

Mrs. Reed went back into her class as soon as she finished her glaring. April stared at Mittens. Why would he tell Mrs. Reed, a normal person with an extremely bad attitude and no extraordinary powers whatsoever (other than strictness) about their super powers?! To April, this day was getting stranger and stranger by the second.

"Who wants to go first?" Hoppers inquired. He looked at the kids, "Oh, come on. It's not hard at all! You just have to concentrate." Still, no one responded. "Ok, I'll go first."

Hoppers looked straight at the door. His ears started to spin around in circles, like a helicopter. He flew a couple of inches above the ground and flew directly at the door. The door was just his size as his body when he disappeared to the other side of the peculiar door. Everyone was shocked, except, of course, the talking animals.

The other species thought that it would be good to show the rest of the team how to do it. Either that or they just wanted to brag. They went in perfectly.

Ferry, the last, was the only one who told the children what they were really supposed to do. "Look directly at the door and fly towards it. If you're brave enough, it will let you in. In the event that you're not, you will be transported back to your house with no memory of what has happened. If you choose not to go through at all, the same consequence will be happen." Then Ferry went in, leaving them to choose who would go first.

"I'm the team leader, so I guess I should go first." April volunteered once the silence began to feel too awkward for her to stay. No one really wanted to go that badly, so no one complained about April's courageous decision. April concentrated on the door. Then she focused on flying. She lifted off into the air and headed directly at the door, just as Hoppers had done. Right when April expected to crash into the colorful door, she went through to an entirely different hallway. She looked behind her. Where the door should have been, there was just blank wall. That's strange, but I really should try to catch up to the animals, she thought.

Right when she was just about to run after Ferry, Tommy popped out of thin air and fell on top of her. April and Tommy blushed. "We should probably try to catch up with Ferry." April said. Hoping that she did not sound nervous, she ran, leading the way. Tommy followed her without a moment's hesitation.

April ran alongside Tommy, pretending to be slower than she actually was. April didn't want Tommy to think that she thought that she was better than him, so she refrained from using her super speed. They ran for an excruciatingly long five minutes when Diane and Diana appeared.

"The animals must be really ahead." Tommy said. He wasn't troubled by the never-ending run.

"Actually," Diana began.

"They're over there." Diane finished for her sister, both girls panting from the hard-core running.

April looked in front of her and saw that Diane and her sister were correct. Mittens, Ferry, Chimpy, and Angel were talking to a big rhinoceros. The rhino's name is probably Rhino or Billy, April hypothesized. She was very good at guessing the names of people and animals, and that was not a super power.

Sure enough, the rhinoceros turned and said, "Hi, April, Tommy, Diane, Diana, and Crystal. I am Mr. Rhino, the principal here at Friendly Middle for Supers"

April turned around and saw Crystal huffing and puffing. She never was much of a runner, April thought. It was true. When April and Crystal were five years old, April had challenged Crystal to a race, a long race. April had beaten Crystal too badly for words! While April was at the finish line, Crystal was less than half way there.

"Hi Mr. Rhino, do you know where the nearest water fountain would be?" April asked politely. She knew that Crystal needed water after she finished running like that.

"Why, over there. But how to get the water to squirt from the faucet is for you to find out." Mr. Rhino said mysteriously.

April was unnerved by this statement. What fountain takes concentration to actually use?

"Come on, Crystal, let's go get you some water." Crystal nodded. April and Crystal slowly walked to the water fountain, but they then noticed that there was nothing to push that would make the water come out. April was speechless, and Crystal wouldn't talk so that she could keep what little energy she had left.

April thought and thought. She examined the water fountain several times in ten seconds. After scouring every molecule of surface in the front, she looked at the back. There was a speaker and microphone craftily disguised by the regular grey color surrounding the fountain. And bingo was his name-o, April thought to herself.

"Water," April said clearly into the microphone that was just next to the speaker.

"Name?" the fountain asked in a mechanical voice.

"Crystal," April said confidently.

"You have twenty seconds, Crystal." said the speaker on the fountain.

Water came out of the fountain and Crystal drank happily out of it. She was really thirsty this time, April thought once the twenty seconds were over. They strolled back over to Mr. Rhino.

"That was the most delicious water I've ever tasted in a school, Mr. Rhino." Crystal exclaimed, water dripping from her chin.

"It should be, Crystal," Mr. Rhino said enthusiastically. "It's the closest thing you will ever get to pure water in any school. And it has a database of everyone in the world and your favorite type of water. Why else would it ask for your name?"

"Yeah, but you could have just told us. It wasn't that big a deal."

"You're right, April. It wasn't a big deal. So get over it," April was taken aback by the anger in Mr. Rhino's tone. Then, looking at the rest of the group, he continued in a business-like fashion. "You all will start the first grade of super school tomorrow. Yes, that includes you, too, Holly and Maria."

Yet again, Mr. Rhino was right. Holly and Maria were right behind April, standing straight and tall. They don't look like they just finished running after us, and I would have heard them coming with my super hearing, we all would have. Even if they flew over here, we would have heard their clothes in the wind, April thought suspiciously.

"Well, you guys better get your sleep for tomorrow," Mittens said sternly."You have to be here at seven o'clock sharp. No excuses except for an illness, which I'm sure none of you will get."

Everyone left. That is, everyone except Mr. Rhino, Mittens, Maria, and Holly. Crystal hesitated, looking at the tiny group sternly before leaving. Tommy also was reluctant to leave without his little sister. Ferry stood by Tommy and April waited next to the group, wondering what was going on. Slowly, Mr. Rhino turned to the three super heroes and glared.

"Leave," he said so darkly that Tommy, April, and Ferry turned around and ran out of the school without looking back. By the time thy finished rushing out of the building, Friendly Middle School was out of sight.

"Didn't you think that was weird?" asked April when everyone finished gasping for breath. "I mean, Mittens didn't start acting like that until just now, and Holly and Maria didn't make a single sound until Mr. Rhino mentioned them. And Mr. Rhino is just so mysteriously creepy." April shivered. She still could see Mr. Rhino's glare, an almost hypnotizing glare.

"Well," said Ferry. "Mittens has always been unpredictable, and so has Mr. Rhino; it's in their nature. But usually they're never ever angry, just unpredictable. That's why I agree that something weird is going on. The problem is, we're the only ones who noticed anything. Crystal may have seen something as well, but she sure didn't run out of the building like we did, so, yeah, we're the only ones."

"You're probably right," Tommy said. "Oh, by the way, I have a question for you, Ferry. Are we allowed to tell our parents that we are super heroes?"

"You get to decide that," Ferry said. "I told my parents when I found out that I could speak English perfectly and could do other interesting things that no normal ferret was capable of. They were always supportive and kept dinner warm for me. But, then again, I am only a humble ferret, not a human."

"Well, let's go home," April yawned. "I'm pooped."

…

That night, April decided to tell her parents that she was a super hero in training. Her mother was so proud that she had a super hero daughter, and her father asked if he could get an example, just to be sure. So April flew around the room and used her bow to track down her older brother, Dan, who was in college. Then she super quickly got pizza to celebrate the special occasion. In addition to the scrumptious cheesy meal, her parents also surprised April with an incredible surprise. April screamed in delight as she stared at the beautiful cell phone that her parents handed to her. But before April could start downloading her friends' numbers, her parents reminded her that it was for EMERGENCIES ONLY!

After supper, April brushed her teeth, put on her pajamas, and said good night to her parents, as usual. As soon as April's parents closed the door, Mittens popped in. However, instead of coming through the door, Mittens simply poofed into her room without a single knock. He looked awful; a horrible shade of orange was covering his body, and his usual brown stripes were covered with black dots. Mittens took a step towards April with his paws outstretched like a zombie, his claws out and ready to tear up anything that came between him and his prey, and right now, it looked as though April was his prey.

April jumped out of bed, her sense of danger warning her to get out of the room as quickly as possible. Normally, she would have screamed for her parents, but because Mittens was supposed to be a super cat, not a regular one, April worried about what his powers could do to normal people.

Thinking quickly, April ran to the farthest corner of the room, wondering what could have possibly caused Mittens to behave this way. She couldn't think of a good explanation. Maybe he was a spy for the enemy, April thought. But, no, that can't be true. He's been helping the good guys for too long. Well, why don't I try to x-ray him? Maybe that will help.

What she saw was pretty normal, except that Mittens' brain seemed to be out of order, for when one looks at a brain with x-ray vision, they notice that all the working areas are red and the parts that are out of function are grey. The cat's brain was a dull black with a closed sign hanging on the front. Someone must be using my poor cat's brain, April thought sourly. She decided to worry about that later; right now she had to get out. Suddenly, she was moving in quick circular paths, uncontrolled by any movement she made; she didn't even have time to get into her super suit! Make it stop, she thought.

And just as April thought this thought, the spinning ceased. Unfortunately, the halt was so abrupt that April landed right into a wall, and it wasn't a cushiony wall either. She looked around, and she saw something that looked very much like an evil lair. April was too weak to get up, for crashing into a wall is not a fun experience. Then she started spinning again and flew into another wall. So this is my cat's super power? Apparently it's useful, thought April after being thrown for the third time.

Now April was a girl with a sense of humor, even in bad predicaments, so no matter how bad she felt or how bruised she became, there was only one thought that entered her mind. I wonder if this is what it feels like to go on those spin around rides in the fair. If that's the case, then no one will ever see me there any time soon. As that thought ended, she was tossed once more in the direction of a wall that was right next to an open door.

When she saw this, April forced herself to get up and run through the opening before the spinning got to her. She didn't want to hurt Mittens because she knew he wasn't hurting her on purpose, but she also didn't want to get injured anymore, so April aimed reluctantly at the furry feline. However, right before April had the energy and courage to strike Mittens, Holly appeared. At first, April was relieved, until she saw the look in the Holly's eyes, blank, dull darkness.

Holly glared at April with her eyes. While April's eyes, mind, and energy were diverted, Maria stalked up from behind April and lunged at her, hitting her in the stomach as hard as she could. April doubled over from the hit and heard a terrible noise that made her want to shiver. With dread, she realized that it was her groaning. However, the pain was so intolerable that, ironically, April barely felt it, only the feeling of being sick stuck in her mind. Now all I need is Mr. Rhino ramming into me, she thought bitterly. You probably guessed that what she thought would happen. If you did, congratulations! You were right! Unfortunately, you were right.

April fell to the ground as the rhino's nose connected to her back, feeling hopelessness overwhelm her. Just as she was about to lose her consciousness, and her cool, April felt a little bulge in her pajama's pocket. With that bulge, hope, sweet, comforting hope, came back into her system. April was so happy that she had decided to sleep with her cell phone for the first night of having it.

With the last ounce of her strength, April dialed Crystal's number, hoping against hope that Crystal would, for once, pick up the phone. After the third ring Crystal answered the phone with an annoyed hello. She liked her sleep and didn't enjoy being deprived of it for any reason. Even though she knew she was trapped, April ran away from her pursuers at light speed. She spoke fervently as she ran.

"Crystal, call Tommy. Trace this call. Most importantly, HELP!" April exclaimed, hanging up the phone, putting it in her pocket, hoping that Crystal knew how to trace a call, and running into a wall that seemed to come out of nowhere. April saw that her friends, now enemies, were somehow gaining on her. April tried to think around the searing pain that simply demanded for her complete attention. Wait a minute, what am I standing here for? I can fly, she thought. April braced herself and flew higher than she had ever flown before, even higher than the ten foot wall in front of her. She actually felt relaxed in the air. The breeze was probably waking her up.

April flew over the wall, turned a corner, and relaxed for a moment. She wondered if Holly, Mittens, and Maria could possibly fly as fast and high as her. The fact that she could probably out-fly every member of her team gave her confidence. Then she saw a silhouette of a somehow familiar figure that looked like a cross between shark and human.

"Hello," The strange the figure said. Before April could blink, the outline of the figure went back and forth between shark and human. Suddenly, April was hit with the realization of who it was. Wait a minute, thought April. This guy looks exactly like…

"Mark!" April exclaimed in surprise. "You're a land shark?! No wonder I thought you were a shark at first, when you were entering the school!" April knew all this for certain that Mark was a land shark because she had once read a three hundred page book on the species. Land sharks were a special type of animal that were extremely dangerous on encounter and could change from shark to human at will. They were also said to have other special abilities of their own.

"And good-bye."

With a powerful eyebeam, Mark shot April out of the air as though she were no more than a puny fly. While April was falling through the air, unable to control any flight patterns, Tommy and Crystal flew in. They nodded at each other and went into action, as they had planned. Tommy flew after April with mighty speed, faster than a speeding bullet. He caught April right before she hit the ground, which would have seriously injured her if not for Tommy's aid. April couldn't resist looking at Crystal, her best friend. She was glaring at Mark, and Mark was glaring back at her, although with a little bit of fright mixed in. April leaped out of Tommy's grasp in an attempt to help Crystal with this new foe. Just as she had gone ten feet away from Tommy, the hypnotized minions started their surprise attack on him. As April looked back, she knew what she had to do, even though she despised the thought. She gathered up all her energy and blasted Mittens, Holly, and Maria away from Tommy. Although she had held back a little when charging for beam, April felt deprived of her sleep. Exhaustion always put April in a sarcastic mood. So, thought April bitterly and derisively, he can call on mindless help whenever he wants to. How nice. For him.

Then, what appeared to be another land shark showed up next to Mark, awake and ready for battle. This one seemed to be feminine. She yelled, "I see that you have met my friends, but now it is time that you've met me, smarty-pants. My name is…."

Hmm. Mark rhymes with shark. So her name might be...

"Landy?" April guessed before the villainous villain had time to finish her sentence.

"Correct." Landy shouted with a sneer, and blasted April and her friends' (excluding the hypnotized ones) out of the sky.

"Ok. No more nice guys. Let's show them what our powers can really do!" April exclaimed as she stood up. Acting before she could be hit by any other attack, April ran around in circles. When she noticed that this gave her the advantage of elusion, April decided to use her laser beam, being sure to hit everything and everyone but Crystal and Tommy. Tommy became microscopic and searched the lab for a way out while Crystal morphed into a cheetah and ran around in circles, causing a sort of tornado to spiral around the enemies.

"Guys!" Tommy yelled as he returned to normal sizing. He was pointing to a large air vent that, for some reason or another, April hadn't noticed. "Let's go!"

Crystal and April stopped attacking for a moment and flew towards the open air vent. They didn't stop flying until they were relatively safe in April's room, panting and gasping from the experience.

…

The next day, which was the first day of super school for April and the gang, went pretty well. Other than the fact that April still hurt all over from last night and Holly, Maria, and Mittens were nowhere to be found, every thing was peachy keen! As soon as they had time alone, April, Tommy, and Crystal informed Diane, Diana, and the animals what had happened the past night.

The classes and teachers on the super side of the school were much nicer than Mrs. Reed, the sweetest of them all being Mrs. Candy. She taught everyone's favorite class, Controlling Your Powers. If you controlled your powers throughout the whole class, an incredibly easy task in April's eyes, Mrs. Candy would give you a delicious piece of candy. The weird thing was, no one knew exactly what flavor it was. It seemed to be a mixture of chocolate, strawberry, and caramel for some, and a combination of blueberries and vanilla for others.

Mrs. Pow taught April's second favorite class, "Fighting with Your Powers". Practically everyone who entered that class passed with flying colors, literally!

At the end of the day, every student had to use all their super-strength to carry their homework. April was one of the special students who were somehow able to complete all their homework before the school day ended. However, every student had to do special exercises when they got home so that they could control their powers better as they advanced in their studies. Of course, with her super speed, April was able to finish all this in no time at all. So she called together Tommy, Diane, Diana, Angel, Chimpy, Ferry, and Hoppers for an important meeting. They happily agreed. No one wanted to be alone when those rampaging used to be friends showed up.

April didn't have to wait very long for her friends to arrive. The last to show up was Chimpy, arriving a little over twenty minutes after the call.

"Now," April began, "I know that we have only started to unleash our super powers, but I believe that it is time that we start doing good for the citizens of the world. I already signed my name up on the bulletin board and I need a team. So, since you are my actual team, I need to know if we're all in this together. Raise you're hand if you want to do this." Everyone immediately raised their hands. As they did this, April said the exact same thing they were all thinking. "Awesome! This will be great training. Stay here and I'll go get the sleeping bags in case you want to stay over. There's a phone downstairs to call your parents. I'll be back in a flash."

With that, April left the room at hyper speed and got all the sleeping bags that she needed. The night was so peaceful, that no one could have guessed that they were being watched.