"We are working with the authorities to provide them with all the information we can to help them locate the missing students. I must stress to you all that this is not a reason to panic. The three missing students, though reported missing on different days, did know each other. It's possible this was planned by them, and no foul play has taken place. Still, we called this school meeting so that the rumours wouldn't overwhelm the truth. You know what we know. Just to be safe, try not to go anywhere alone, and please report anything suspicious to either me or any of the other people you see here beside me.
If we're lucky, the missing students will show up, and everything will go back to normal, but until then, keep your eyes and ears open. If any of you have any questions, I'll be in my office in about fifteen minutes and more than likely for the rest of the day. You can all go back to class now. Just go on to fourth period from here. People who are on the first lunch period can go to the cafeteria. The bell will ring in seven minutes; please be where you're supposed to be by then," the Principal says and ends the meeting.
Everyone leaves the hall and goes to their rooms. Eve and Mark also make their way out of the assembly hall and walk side by side.
"What do you think about this, Mark?"
"About what?"
"... Weren't you in the same meeting I was?"
"Sure."
"What were you thinking about just now?"
"Food."
"I mean about the missing students. What do you think about them?"
"Bunch of dicks."
"Goddness, Mark! That's a pretty mean thing to say! I talked to Todd a few times. I mean, I can't speak for the other two, but he at least seemed nice."
Three students have been missing from school over the last few weeks, including Todd, who had an unfortunate encounter with Mark.
"Are you fockin' serious?"
"What?" Eve asks.
"Why do you think a wanker like Todd and the others would be nice to you?"
"I thi-"
"Because you're smoking hot, that's why. And that's all there is to it. You are confident, strong and hot at the same time; there's not much else that can compare."
"..."
"..."
"You know I'm dating Rex, right?"
"So what? That wouldn't stop them?"
"... Riiight. So, are you on your way to the cafeteria, too, or are you just walking with me?"
"I need to get some of that sustenance inside me. I'm famished as usual."
The two went into the cafeteria and grabbed some of the food. Mark, as he does, loaded his plate as much as possible. His eating habit has not decreased since he got his powers. He still kept to training, and while he truly had a sleeper build, he was jacked. His muscles were not as thick as his father's, but they were frighteningly close already, and he was still growing. He sits down in front of Eve and starts eating.
"Sorry if I made it weird back there. I just wanted to make sure you didn't think... you know."
"Weird? When did you make it weird?" Mark says between bites.
Eve was at a loss for words. Mark was truly strange at times. He was so open, and as he said, he had no filter. He called her strong, confident and hot and didn't even get red or embarrassed. No one else would do that and not find it weird when she tells them that she's in a relationship. He didn't even think about that and wasn't talking about himself. Still, she wasn't against his uniqueness. Not at all.
"Did you hear there was another mall bombing?"
"Is that what you asked Robot about, yesterday?"
"Yes. he is trying to figure out who's behind them, but the bombs are so powerful they are disintegrating all the evidence at the scene."
"That's what now? Two in less than three weeks? ... Hmm ..."
"What?"
"What, what?"
"You look like you were thinking about something. And please don't tell me it was food again."
"Nah, just a thought. It's unusual that the bombings occurred so close together."
"They were not closer than before. Why do you say that?"
"I mean close to the disappearing people."
"You think they are connected?"
"Eh, what do I know?"
After their lunch is over, they make their way towards their classes.
"If you want to swing by the 'secret lair', or whatever the boys call it, after school today, I'm sure Robot would be glad to see you. You never did get back to him on whether or not you were going to join the team."
"He never asked me to join the team. He just asked me whether you could count on me helping the next time the Flaxxans invade Earth. And I already said yes to that. I can't come today, though. I need to work."
"Burger Mart?"
"Yep."
"Isn't your father a semi-famous novelist?"
"Sure. But I'm also a black hole for everything edible, as you saw. I don't really need the money, and we couldn't afford it, but since I am the biggest consumer of food and he wants me to 'build character, ' I must do it."
"I think that makes sense, after seeing you eat today. Well, I've got to get to class. See you around."
"Sure."
.
Mark stands in front of the fries at Burger Mart and curses his metabolism. Why does he have to eat so much? But he also curses others. Why does his father have him work here? He remembers his father lying in the hospital and stops those thoughts. He thought about the three people missing in school. He did notice that there was a weird 'class' of students missing. As he told Eve, they were all dicks and that was all he could say about them. All of them didn't care about others and did whatever they liked.
"Grayson! Fries! We got customers waiting!"
"Coming right up."
"Coming right up?! Do you realise how long our customers have been waiting?! Don't you know that waiting customers aren't happy customers?"
"What about those who leave?"
"What?"
"Isn't it better they wait, instead of just walking out. I mean, then you would have to worry.
"You better worry that I bother to remember your pay on Friday!"
"Sheesh."
"Now, go take out the trash. I'll finish the fries! You're useless here."
"You wound me."
"Is that so? Well, tell it to the trash; that's where trashy work like yours belongs."
"Oh, brutal. You know what? I think I'll just quit instead. Keep the pocket money."
Mark walks out of Burger Mart and flies away. He flies home and dons his suit. He can use this time to train, and the best thing to do is to go out into space for the first time. He had come to the terrible realisation that the gym was useless for him. And that was a big punch in the gut for Mark. He loved the gym, and now he had to find better ways of pushing weights. That was also the reason he first approached Eve, since he saw her create many different things with her pink energy. Initially, he wanted to ask whether she could create weights for him, but then he surprisingly realised that he rather enjoyed her company. She had certain inhibitions, but he didn't care about them.
.
"So, Mark... what do you think of all this?" Eve asks the next day as they're eating lunch again. Mark hasn't told his mother about quitting his job, as she would not be happy.
"The food's atrocious. I thought we were in a cafeteria and not a hospital. And people call me barbaric."
"Heh, No, Mark. I'm not talking about the food. I mean, the mall bombings?"
"I'm against it."
"Haha, seriously, try to be serious for a moment."
"I am serious."
"So, do you have an idea on how to solve this?"
"There is nothing to guide us on where to start looking for clues in this matter. We're high schoolers, so unless I'm dressed in black and blue, I can't really do anything, especially not at school. A dog might be useful, though. To have it sniff out bomb tracks or whatever it is they do."
"I guess you're right. I mean, there are plenty of possibilities, but really nothing to point us in any direction."
*Sigh*
"You are smart when you want to be, aren't you? You're just acting like the big brute."
"Not really. I prefer my problems to have a face so I can smash them."
"It is true, the fighting is so much easier than the thinking part."
"It's the one I'm most, if not the only thing I'm suited for."
"Oh, come now. You're not that dense."
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it. So, I guess I'll see you in Mr. Hiles' class later?"
"That's the schedule, and I'll try to keep my eyes open until then."
"You mean to find anything suspicious?"
"No, so that I won't fall asleep."
"Of course, how could I not realise that? Hahaha."
And so, Mark made his way to class. History was not something he liked at all.
"... After trials set forth by the Lords, the father and uncle were put to death and buried under the arena. The father's head was severed and placed in a tree as a warning to others. One day, the father called a girl over to the tree. She complied when she was asked to hold out her hand. The father spit in her hand-"
... what the fuck? Needless to say, Mark fell asleep, willingly this time. The classes passed by rather slowly, and finally, it was time for Physics in Mr. Hiles' class. Eve was sitting at the desk next to him, and they whispered.
"Did you spot anything?"
"Mr. Ronald uses strange analogies, Fred said the word cardigan, most teachers have double-standards, some students carry like 40 pound backpacks while others just bring attitudes to class-"
"No, Mark. I mean about the bombings?"
"Ah, no."
"I'm sure you're all aware that mid-terms are in a couple of weeks. So I just want to remind you that this upcoming test can either help your bad grade or hurt your good grade. So please... study for this one, okay?" Mr. Hiles says to the class.
"What about you? Did you notice anything?"
"Nothing," Eve says.
"Excuse me, YOU TWO!" Mr. Hiles interrupts their talk. "Samantha Eve Wilkins, just because I allowed you to switch seats with Mr. Dunlap doesn't mean I'm going to condone you and your new boyfriend interrupting my lectures. Mr. Grayson, just because you don't allot enough time for talking when you two are alone doesn't mean you can make up for that in my class. Quite frankly, I expect more out of you two ... lovebirds."
"HAHAAHAHA"
"Hahahaha"
All the students start to laugh and look at Mark and Eve. After they finally finish, Mark starts to laugh.
"Hahahahahaha ... Oh, I'm sorry, are you done already? My bad. For the record, the beauty next to me has a boyfriend already. So get your facts straight before talking about things you don't understand."
"You had better watch your tone, Mr. Grayson. But you're right, I was jumping to conclusions, but the fact remains that you've caused me to waste the last ten minutes of my class today."
"That was because the prebubecent shits laughed for 8 minutes."
"Again, you better not use such language in my class again, or I'll have to take measures."
"I'll make sure to remember that, Mr. Hiles," Mark says and walks out of class with Eve. She doesn't say anything for some reason and is relieved when her phone rings.
"Oh, look who it is. Hey, Robot. What's up?"
[I've been using secondary operating systems to run checks on all employees of your high school. Teachers, custodians, bus drivers, everyone, and I - Hold on. *Booom* *Krak* As I was saying, I was checking the backgrounds and employment histories of the employees of your school, cross-referencing their information with the necessary knowledge needed to construct a bomb like the ones used in the mall bombings. I thought it might be a futile effort, resulting in nothing but dead ends. Thankfully, I was wrong.]
"What did you find?"
[Surprisingly, your Physics teacher, David Hiles, is a former weapons engineer for Globaltech, a military-sanctioned research firm. It's not definitive evidence of his guilt, but I'm 99.8% sure that he's the one you're looking for.
After I get off with you, I'm going to put in a call to the police and see if I can't at least get a squad car sent out to his house. I'm going to give you his address so you can check the place out before he gets home from school.]
"Uh huh, okay... bye." Eve ends the call.
"Are you going to tell me, or do I have to hire a private detective?"
"You're not going to believe this!"
"What?"
"I'll tell you on the way. C'mon, we've got to get changed. To the Cafeteria Dumpster!"
The two fly towards the address Robot sent them and arrive at Mr. Hiles' house.
"How do you want to go about this?" Mark asks Eve.
"As him questions, I guess... according to Robot, the police should be on the way. How dangerous could he be?"
"Well, let me go over the facts here. He created bombs and had them go off in malls. Sounds quite dangerous."
They land in front of the door, and to both their surprise, Mr. Hiles is already standing there, waiting for them.
"I didn't expect to get caught quite this early, and I certainly expected... more conventional authorities when the time did come..."
"..."
"Very well. Mark, Samantha... please, do come inside."
"How did you--?"
"Are you kidding me? You're not even wearing a mask."
"Impressive. I didn't realise it." Mark says, impressed.
"And you... How many people do you know that hang around Eve and have a constitution like yours?"
"You're right, I do look amaz-"
"Enough of this, Mark. Tell us everything, Mr. Hiles." Eve interrupts.
"Follow me, I'll show you to the fourth missing student. I assure you, I have no intention of resisting."
"Fourth?"
"Yes. One of them hasn't been reported missing yet."
"It's just through here."
"It?"
"Yes, it. I can't think of a more fitting segue into my confession... you see... it was the constant pestering and belittling from things like what you see before you that caused my son to commit suicide. My son's suicide resulted in my divorce, and my divorce led to me losing my job."
Mr. Hiles starts his villain monologue and opens the door. Behind the door, the fourth young man is lying on a table, with a bomb to his chest.
"What the-"
"I'll spare you the boring details. It's not the death of my son I'm avenging... that would be far too cliché. No... It's the destruction of my life that has me seeking revenge. It's the domino effect of pain and sorrow that these monsters create. Children spend too much time at the mall, attending parties, consuming alcohol, and playing sports when they should be studying and doing homework."
"Heavens, he talks a lot."
"What did you do to him?" Eve asks.
"What I did to all of them. I turned him into a living bomb, an instrument with which to enact my revenge... my revenge, my crusade to end the pain and sorrow caused by these 'popular' kids. And I can't think of a more appropriate end to my crusade..." Mr. Hiles says and opens his jacket, revealing another similar bomb strapped to his chest. "... than the death of two superheroes."
{00.00.50}
"Oh, dear, I must have started the timer too late after you got here. No matter, you'll have a few more seconds to-"
"You're still talking."
Mark grabs Mr. Hiles and shoots him into the sky, crashing through the house and flying south towards Antarctica.
"You were a dick in class today. I couldn't say what I wanted to because your giving me bad grades would only bother me even more. You know, it is very rare that a student gets to tell his teacher what he truly thinks about him."
{00.00.13}
"And you know what? ... I can't tell you anything. You have passed through my mind like the wind passes through leaves. I doubt I could say what you looked like if someone were to ask me tomorrow. And that, Mr. Hiles, is truly sad. I'm sorry it had to end this way, but it wouldn't have if you hadn't strapped a bomb to your chest and went all kamikazee on us."
{00.00.01}
"Farewell."
*CHA-THOOOOOOMMM!!"
Mark is pushed down into the snow by the explosion. The truth of the situation is quite sad if you think about it, and while he doesn't care about school, only as much as it helps him get through it, that wasn't as easy as it may have seemed. Mark understands Mr. Hiles's pain, and like him, he despises bullying. But he wouldn't go as far as to kill them. Mark flies back to Mr. Hiles' house, where the ambulance and police are already waiting.
"So, is it over?"
"Robot is coming by to do a sweep of the house to check for anything dangerous. I think the police will be wrapped up here shortly. You can just go home if you want. I'm going to leave after Robot gets here."
"Sure. See you in school then."