"Well. Since you're here, why don't you four introduce yourselves? Tell the class your names, Talents, and something else about you." Ms. Stern's strained smile was all I needed to see to identify the dynamic she expected to have.
The leader handed her things off to a minion before taking center stage.
"I'm Jemma Stone. You might know my mom as the leader of the Star Sapphires. My Talent is Diamond Cutter, and yes, it can cut through anything. That's all I'm going to say so you can learn about me on your own."
The Star Sapphires. Oh yeah, they were a squad of glittery idols/heroines. I'd never fought them myself, but I did bribe a hero with tickets to one of their shows. Wouldn't they be pushing thirty about now?
I understood then that Jemma wasn't just money, she was a legacy hero. Technically, I was too, but that was hopefully going to be a temporary situation...
"Thank you, Miss Stone," Ms. Stern said, before gesturing an invitation to the other three girls.
The next girl who takes the spotlight has rainbow hair so bright it feels like an abuse of my eyeballs just to look at her. "I'm Opal Rockwell. I sing and dance and do idol shows on the weekends at the Bardrock Stage. My hobbies are writing music and archery and playing the lyre and guitar and drums, and..." She had all the energy I'd expected out of the youth, with a big, brash smile to match.
Ms. Stern cleared her throat. "Your Talents, please."
"I got a bunch of General Talents, but my talent is called Rock Band, and it's easier for me to show instead of tell," she said.
"As long as it doesn't disrupt the class," Ms. Stern sighed.
Opal gave a big grin and stomped. "All riiiiiight!" Suddenly, there wasn't one Opal but four, each with a different hair color taken from her head, appearing out of shimmering, multicolored clouds. The real Opal was still where she had been, and the clones joined her and crossed their arms before she let her Talent disappear in another puff of iridescent clouds. "Phew," she declared. I noticed a tiny amount of sweat on her forehead.
"Thank you, Opal, please take your seat."
The next girl up had long, straight, orange-pink hair and purple eyes. "I'm Morganite Shale. My talent is Depression.
What the hell? Depression isn't a Talent, it's a state of being!
Someone made the mistake of laughing, and Morganite slowly looked at them. I could feel something about the room start to weigh down on me, but it ended as soon as Ms. Stern said, "Well! Is there a hobby you have that you'd like to tell us about?
"No," Morganite said, before walking to her empty seat and taking it.
I couldn't help but guess that her talent had to do with weight. And then I noticed that her hair and clothes, despite being in a room with air circulation from both above and below, were not moving.
Is she weighing herself down?
Before I could analyze further, the last girl came up. She was the one Jemma handed off her bag to. The rather androgynous girl had short, sky-blue hair with white tips and eyes of ocean green. She also had the most normal name in her squad.
She seemed the most shy, and I couldn't recall if she had given me the stink-eye along with her friends the other night. After a bit of encouragement from Ms. Stern, she said, "I'm Coral Elkhorn. Um... but you can call me Cory...
Interesting...
"My Talent is..." she muttered something so low even I couldn't hear her.
"I'm sorry, could you say that louder for the class?" Ms. Stern said.
"It's... Bu-..."
"Just say it already!" Mel shouted, stamping her foot a little.
"I-It's Bubbles! I just make bubbles, okay!" With nowhere else to go, Cory retreated to her seat and covered her head.
"Thank you, Cory," Ms. Stern wrote down a note in her tablet. "Now, if everyone will switch on their desks, I'll get you oriented with the Standard Information and Testing interface, or SIT for short.
I heard a sound and looked to find Opal staring down Mel. "I don't like you," Opal said to her. Morganite and Jemma likewise stared Mel down.
Well at least she's up front about it. I make a note about the four girls' dynamic. My guess is they were raised together, if they're all the same grade and are practically already a team because of their parents. (I pulled up the Star Sapphires right after Cory sat.)
Cory might seem like the weak link, but I doubted she'd have made it to this class if there wasn't more to her Talent. Never underestimate something just because it seems lame.
After a walkthrough of the SIT Interface and how to link it with our mobile devices, Ms. Stern switched out with a middle-aged man named Mr. Reaves, who had a gaunt face and rugged disposition to his facial hair, who launched into his lesson after a quick introduction. The presentation was complete with his own stunts, and he spoke with an intensity that made it almost seem like he was there. So it wasn't boring, at least.
Then came Language Arts. Mr. Reaves swapped with an enby teacher named Ta On'yomi Rikudo. They were very passionate about their introduction of the art. Fiona, Olivia, and, unexpectedly, Opal all seem to reciprocate On'yomi's enthusiasm.
As On'yomi's lesson begins with an introduction to the history of the English language, I tune out and focus on the next battleground, where the class dynamics will truly be sorted and organized.
Lunch.
But it's as Fiona and I leave the classroom, our weekend catches up to us.
"Ah, Carver sisters, I understand you had quite an exciting weekend. Please come see me at my office after your classes are done," Principal Armitage smiles at us in the hallway before turning and walking up the hall at a leisurely pace.
"I hope it's not about the incident at the mall," Fiona says obliviously.
"I'm pretty sure it is," I reply.
"But why?"
"Because no good deed goes unpunished."