Sub-Heroes: Boombox

School Days, in a School’n daze, Chill’n and Ill’n at what the teacher says. Hope’n, that the homework, will go a ways, Tell’n my old’s that it’s not a phase. Edu-my-vakation by DJ Dee Dub Released 2013 A great many years earlier in happier days with fresher eyes and innocent heart, when having buddies and an Ultra Hero pencil case was cool, my only fear was being late for the next History class. School… There is not much I enjoy about school, and History is right up there with Maths and Mondays. Boring long winded explanations of events with pointless statistics and dates have to be memorised to the day. The Industrial Revolution, Civil War, World War One, World War Two, including the continental isolation that followed. How this isolation brought us to be the technological leaders of the free world with fax machines, small cabinet size computers and even smaller phones, no bigger than a house brick. It’s the mid two thousands’s and we are living in a technological age of wonder, there is also a brand new device called a Bio-watch that some of the richer kids at school wear, if I keep harping on about it, my parents might buy one for my birthday. Anyway, if there is a way to make historical events interesting, my teacher did not know it. The second siren rings out and I still have a few yards to go to the classroom. Damn that second siren, it’s all the excuse Mrs Morse needs to single me out for being late. ‘Mrs Morse’ however, is not her real name. It’s really Mrs Dash. When one of her students found out that her first name was Dorothy or Dot, then it didn’t take long to put ‘Dot’ and ‘Dash’ together to come up with the Morse Code reference. I try to walk into the fully seated classroom as casually as I can, my empty chair standing out in the crowded room. Thankfully Mrs Morse is scratching up some notes on the blackboard and her back is turned, with any luck I can make it to my seat unnoticed and… “Young Master Hammond, I’m glad that you are able to grace us with your presence on this fine and otherwise delay free day, don’t bother sitting down.” Mrs Morse’s back is still turned to me. There’s no escape now, I put the white flag up and try to appeal to her sense of mercy. “I’m sorry Mrs Mor… Dash, I was on my way here but Mr Stokes told me off for running in the quadrangle, he held me up.” I already know that this excuse is not going to fly. “And whose fault is that?” Mrs Dash speaks between chalk scratches while the rest of the class look at me with wide eyes, all thankful that they are not in my shoes and enjoying the entertainment of my ridicule. This is the question I was looking for, one that lets me fain guilt in the hope that my perceived humiliation will be enough for Mrs Dash and she will let me sit down. “It’s, mine I suppose.” “Yes, yes it is Master Hammond, now as penance you may stand at the door and let me know when you see our guests arriving.” Mrs Dash turns to me with a wry smile. “Guests?” I ask both for myself as well as the rest of the class. “Yes, you will know him when you see him.” Mrs Dash now turns her attention to the rest of the class. “Now students, what can you tell me about this word on the board?” I crane my head around from the classroom door to see the board, and the large word written upon it, under todays date is ‘Ultra’. Hands raise quickly like a fast germinating crop, as it’s a word that we all know well. “Lesa, what does it mean to you?” Mrs Dash points at my pigtailed classmate with her chalk dusted hand. “It’s a word that’s used to describe someone who is physically, like, above normal,” Lesa chirps. “Partially correct,” says Mrs Dash. “But it’s more than simple physicality isn’t it. Corbin, what do you have to say?” I’m sure that Corbin would have had a good answer ready if he wasn’t pulling faces at me. Corbin is skinny for his age with unkept hair the colour of dirty straw. His school shirt is always untucked and ignoring his face pulling, we have been friends since the first term. Despite my current isolation from the class I feel embarrassed for him as he’s taken by surprise by Mrs Dashs question. “It’s when people can fly and fight and help others?” “Partially correct again,” but his time Mrs Dash is cut off mid-sentence by a voice and shadow that had quietly walked up behind me. “Actually the young lad is quite correct, in a manner of speaking.” I spin around to see a large man towering over me, it only takes a few seconds for me to recognise him and a few more to believe that he is actually here. “Oh!” exclaims Mrs Dash, “Boys and Girls, I would like to introduce, The Admiral.” “How are you doing son?” asks The Admiral as he shakes my hand like a machine and walks past me into the classroom. I’m-never-washing-that-hand-again! There are two other men in dark suits and glasses who position themselves outside of the classroom door but it’s The Admiral who has our full attention. Unlike the men outside, he is wearing a grey business suit which makes him look older than how he appears on TV. His grey hair is combed straight back that same way it always has been from the earliest news reels when it was much darker of course. But unlike those news reels and later appearances on TV, he is not wearing his white and gold suit. I suppose that a business suit makes sense now, given that he had been retired for quite a while. “I’m fine Sir, Mr Admiral.” I stutter. The Admiral strides to the front and centre of the classroom, beaming his smile back at the students like a lighthouse signalling to ships. Mrs Dash explains, “We all know that the Ultra Division tryout will be here in a fortnight, so The Admiral has agreed to visit some of our classes beforehand to let us all know what is about to happen.” I’m stunned, standing at the door looking at the surreal image of a full blown Ultra Hero here, in my otherwise completely boring History class. “Mr Oscar Hammond, you may sit down now.” Mrs Dash’s command gives me a moment to pick my jaw up off the floor and clumsily stumble to my seat, dodging chairs and the school bags tucked roughly under them. I don’t want to take my eyes off The Admiral, not even for a second in case I miss something. I take my seat next to Corbin, who has long since stopped pulling faces and is as transfixed as I am. This is the first year of high school for both Corbin and me. Since we both came to Monolith City from different lower schools, it made sense that we had quickly become friends amongst this sea of strangers. “Well, now,” booms The Admiral in an authoritative voice that would send shivers down the spines of criminals, “Can anyone here fly?” We all look around the room curious and hopeful that someone else would put their hand up but no one does. “Okay, does anyone here have Ultra Strength?” Aside from a few giggles, no one responds. “Excellent, because if anyone had said yes…” The Admiral pauses for effect and then continues in a slightly deeper tone, “… I would know that you were lying.” The Admiral claps his hands together, ensuring that everyone is awake, including in the classes around us. “It’s like this junior citizens, Ultra Powers start out quite small, hardly noticeable but they can be developed over time. No one simply wakes up one morning, floating above their house with a car in each arm.” There are a few more giggles from the class at the absurd mental image. The Admiral plays this up by closing his eyes and then pretending to wake up with his arms outstretched. He then turns his head side to side at the invisible cars with a look of comic amazement. “Whoa!” says The Admiral, “Who parked these here!” to the laughter of the class. I suppose we are not used to a Hero being, well, funny. “Now let me explain what we will be doing and why we do it.” The Admiral then takes a spare chair from the front of the class and casually sits down, his tall frame looks awkward in the smaller seat but it does not bother him. He looks up at the ceiling as if he was contemplating where to begin his next sentence. Then he looks back out to the class but his face has changed from his initial friendly casual look to something more serious. “A few years back we had a new recruit, a strong kid, lets call him Toby. He and I had a little rivalry going on where he would try to break my records during Ultra-Training. You see, we use special training techniques to measure what new Heroes can and can’t do. He excelled in strength and speed but we were only learning the limits of his Ultra Powers. He was so proud and confident, we all thought he could be my equal one day.” The Admiral pauses as we all remain silent, spellbound and waiting on his every word. Even the starry eyed Mrs Dash doesn’t blink. “But, Toby must not have known his limits.” The Admiral looks down at the ground and forces a fake smile. “Toby was a good kid and we were good chums, the day he died will forever be scarred in my memory.” Mrs Dash forgets where she is for a moment and in a rarely seen act of genuine emotion she asks aloud, “What happened to him?” The Admiral looks up and continues. “One day, as we were out training in the field we heard the screeching of brakes and the dull thud of a nearby car accident. We both ran towards the sound and found that two cars had hit each other head-on and were wedged together across a train track. There was only the two of us, so we both instinctively ran to different cars and between us we were able to force their crumpled doors open. I managed to save an older lady who was driving one of the cars and Toby saved a young man and his infant son from the other. But the man’s wife was jammed in the car with her legs pinned between her seat and the cars dashboard. Now Toby knew that we didn’t have much time and that a train could arrive at any minute. He was fast and strong, but does anyone know what Toby did not have?” The Admiral pauses waiting for one of us to respond, no one dares. “What he did not have, was any training for this situation. He did not have a clue as to how to safely remove this poor woman from her car… and then we saw the train. Toby knew that he was special and he was brave, a bravery I have lived my life since that day trying to emulate. But without the right training he did the only thing he thought he could do, he stood in front of the train. His mind was made up and he was going to put his Ultra Powers to the ultimate test. The engineer must have seen the wrecked car and tried to slow down but there was not enough track left for him to do so. The train… ploughed into Toby, and Toby ploughed into the train. Bracing himself against the sleepers he held his ground and the engine compressed against his unmeasured strength, but he could not hold it for long. His feet gave way and the carriages then ran straight over the top of him and into the poor lady’s car.” The Admiral shakes his head slightly and continues. “Now I won’t go into the details, but it turned out that Toby’s extraordinary strength was not matched by his resistance to the impact, both he and the lady did not survive.” The Admiral straightens himself up in the chair, “All Ultra Heroes need to know their limits. Understanding what we cannot do is often the most critical thing to know. This is why, in two weeks’ time some other Ultra Heroes will be back here at Monolith City High to watch over the Ultra Tryouts, who knows, maybe there’s someone in this room who will be the next Admiral.” The Admiral smiles genuinely at us and we all applaud. There’s the briefest moment when I allow myself to imagine what it would be like to be Ultra Powered, the strength, the training and the fame, oh the fame. “So how do we test you, does anybody know?” asks The Admiral. Corbin puts up his hand, “Sir, it’s a combination of strength, endurance and um… thinking tests right?” “Mental Capacity test, that’s right,” corrects The Admiral, “We know what the average strengths should be for any age group so we test folks over a few days to pick out some likely candidates, then we go on to the Tryouts which are a public event where you can all cheer on your favourites. Has anyone here been to one of these yet?” Not surprisingly, we all keep our hands down as it’s our first year in high school, however Mrs Dash raises hers with a smile, “I’ve been to most of them.” “Good for you!” booms The Admiral. “They are a glorious event and it’s not too uncommon for there to be a few surprises amongst the competitors, sometimes it’s even a surprise to themselves.” “We had a senior, young Miss…” Mrs Dash puts her hand to her head for a moment as if she had a sudden pain, “Anyway, a senior was selected two years ago wasn’t she?” asks Mrs Dash, with her smile returning. I have never seen her sustain a smile for this long, I’m surprised that her skin has not cracked yet. “Yes, a young lady was selected from this school and she is going quite well at the Academy,” The Admiral says cautiously. “She is a good example of what we will be looking for. Initially this young Miss ranked quite low in her strength tests, noticeably low given her average muscle mass. So we thought we would put her under some pressure in the Tryouts. She was running last in the hurdles when the young lass clipped the top of one, but rather than falling, her foot floated straight through it. She was so determined to finish the race that she didn’t notice. We had to play back the film of her race to her before she believed us.” “Yes,” says Mrs Dash cautiously, “What was her name again?” “We cannot disclose any specifics now Mrs Dash, we don’t need to remember her real name. But she is a good example of what we are looking for.” The Admiral stands up from his chair and stretches his back. “Now before I go, does anyone here believe that they might be successful in the Tryouts?” Corbin and a student called Billy put up their hands. They both look at each other for a moment and then Billy snorts a short laugh, “Being a dork aint an Ultra Power.” Normally a large part of the class would join him, but with The Admiral in the room, no one is that brave. “You might be surprised how often intelligence is overlooked as a genuine Power. We will be testing for that too,” The Admiral looks squarely at both of them. I’m not sure which person his comment was aimed at, I hope it was a dig at Billy. Corbin may be a good friend, but he can be a bit of a dork. “Now before I leave you, does anyone have any questions?” Hands shoot up like rocket ships and The Admiral points at Lesa. “Yes, young lady?” “How much can you lift?” Lesa excitedly asks. “I was able to tip over a German Tank in my younger days and as the years have gone by… I’ve only become stronger.” He winks back. “How does it feel to have Powers?” A student called Mark asks from the back row. “No different to how I felt before. That’s why these Tryouts are important, you may not know when they develop and we would hate for any new Ultra Hero to accidentally harm anybody or themselves.” A tall girl called Shannon sitting next to the classroom windows asks, “How about your family, do your parents have Ultra Powers?” “Good question and I have to answer this carefully. One of the first rules of being an Ultra Hero is that we must not talk about ourselves too much. We cannot share information about our family and friends and under no circumstances can we ever tell anyone our real names. So to answer your question as best as I can, our scientists believe that there may be a genetic link and Powers have manifested amongst family members. The funny thing is these Powers are not always the same or even remotely similar. In my case, I will share this. My younger sister developed Powers, but they are very different to mine. She also works for the Ultra Division but in more of a management role rather than fighting crime directly.” The Admiral looks back at one of the men guarding the classroom door and nods. “I have to go now children, thank you for your time.” After shaking a few hands and signing autographs, including one for me, The Admiral leaves our class with one last message. “Okay kids now be strong, be safe, be the Hero and don’t forget your Go-Juice.” I hear him say quietly to one of his guards that Mrs Morse needs to be praised, or something like that and then he is gone. I will never forget this day, the day I met the greatest Ultra Hero and the fastest History class in, well, all of history. [4 Years and 3 months until Detonation.]