“To be fair, you might not technically be an Earther. I mean, of origin—most of them are.”

  “Excuse me? Of course I am.”

  “No reason to be offended. I’ve heard of others like you out there, though many would keep it secret.”

  “Like… me?” I blinked, wondering if she could be telling the truth and, if so, what that might mean. “Where?”

  Laurel smiled and shrugged. “Out there.”

  Before I could ask any more questions, the three girls from before showed up at the top of the stairs. The one who I’d knocked out appeared terrified, but the other two were livid.

  “Trouble already?” Laurel asked. “I hope you didn’t use powers against them?”

  “No.” Although, now that I was thinking about it, maybe I should have.

  “It’s a good thing. Strict school policy that states using powers against other students, whether for harm or mischief, is strictly forbidden.”

  “What if it’s in self-defense?”

  Laurel shook her head. “I’m afraid not.”

  “And your little trick with knowing things about people?”

  “It’s not really using my powers—it’s passive, see? Like you having ears and a tail—if you hit someone with your tail, that wouldn’t technically be using your powers.”

  “Ah, right.” I watched as the girls started heading down the stairs. Craning my neck, I turned to look for Ice. At least if they were going to come at me, I needed backup. I spotted her on the other side of the great hall, conversing with some of the ladies in blue.

  The three were approaching, others starting to notice and moving out of the way. I had no doubt about whether I could take them, but this was not the best route to finding my sister. Nor was it the optimal experience of living my dream of being a Supralines student. I could charm them, end it all by basically cooling them off, but had just learned that using powers against other students was a ticket out of there.

  Damn.

  Lights flashed—the crystals of the chandeliers flaring and then dimming, as a flurry of snowflakes circled the ceiling before bursting into a show of golden light that, as we watched, became a woman fluttering down to the dais between two statues of winged supers.

  “Headmistress Angeline,” Lima said, appearing next to me and grinning. “And she just saved your ass, I’d say.”

  “You saw?” I asked under my breath.

  “Watch them. That’s my only comment on the matter. Far as I’m concerned, nothing happened.”

  I nodded my appreciation, and diverted my attention to the headmistress, as everyone else seemed to be doing.

  “Welcome, upper-class members of Supralines Academy,” the headmistress started. “This marks a new beginning in your lives, at a time when you’ll not only be of age to actually participate in super heroics, but at a time in our galaxy when your skills might soon be needed. Reports of supervillains on the rise have been popping up on various planets and through various channels, and the Citadel is on high alert. They may indeed be recruiting in the near future, and some of you might even end up among their ranks.”

  Cheers erupted from the crowd, and Lima squeezed my arm as she said, “By Oram, that’d be a dream come true!”

  I nodded. Coming to Supralines was already my dream come true. Working with the Citadel would be more like… shit, I had no idea what it would be like because it seemed so far out of my reach. It was unthinkable. Impossible… maybe?

  Of course it was. We were here to find my sister, rescue her if necessary or drag her back screaming and kicking if she’d left of her own accord. Then it was back to the rogue life for me, trying to avoid the likes of the Citadel, if they ever bothered to care about such low lives as my kind.

  Still, seeing the excitement in Lima’s eyes and the curiosity in Laurel’s was enough to make me giddy. I could be excited for them, and still feel that sense of joy, even if my own station in life wouldn’t change.

  “But first,” Headmistress Angeline continued, “you must prove yourself here. Should you rise to the top, show that you have what it takes to truly put the super in superhero, you will have my recommendation to the Citadel. And with my staff,” she paused to gesture to seven teachers who were standing behind her, “we promise we will be able to make you the best super you can possibly be. When we are done with you, you’ll be a weapon of justice, the ultimate doer of good and destroyer of evil. But it all starts with you—you have to make that choice.”

  She didn’t even have to ask, the second through fourth years immediately bursting out in a chant of “We choose, we choose,” and then first years joining in, too. Ice didn’t, instead glancing around like she was too cool for this place, although I was in it full steam. At first, I was worried she’d give herself away, but noticed a few of her new friends weren’t chanting either. Apparently, she’d found the ‘cool’ kids, though I wondered how that all worked with being at a superhero academy known for never producing supervillains. I’d have to look up the ratio of neutrals to heroes later, or see if there was some cover up going to keep any students who went villain as a secret.

  “One last note,” Headmistress Angeline said, staring out at us, eyes piercing even from that distance, “there’s trouble even here on Junos. So be wary—should the command come, we’ll go into lockdown mode and you must do exactly as you’re instructed. For now, simply stay focused while being alert, since this is the first day of a new year.”

  In spite of all the excitement, I shared a look with Ice at the mention of trouble. She gave me a brief shake of her head, barely noticeable, and returned to watching with her new friends. My gaze returned to the show above as I noticed Laurel glance my way. Maybe she couldn’t read minds, but her powers allowed her to be quite intuitive and the last thing I needed was her realizing I was this trouble the headmistress spoke of.

  “And with that,” Head Mistress Angeline lifted her hands into the sky, “let the festivities begin!”

  The teachers behind her lifted their hands too, and then the show really began. I don’t know if they were using illusion powers or what, but the sky suddenly turned into a swirling cosmos, exploding with images of a great war—an invasion of Earth, the story of which we all knew well enough. Bursts of red light like fireworks went off and then the Syndicate Forces invaded Earth, but Earthers fought them off with the help of the likes of the man we now knew to be the great Elder of the Citadel, Hadrian. His face and a group of elders in the pre-Citadel days showed at a table, and cheers erupted. The legends and bedside stories surrounding these ancient heroes were the stuff dreams were made of.

  This was more than a three-dimensional projection, it was like it was really happening right before us. It was greater than anything I’d ever witnessed. Right before my eyes I watched the world’s first exploration through a gateway to the stars, and then time rushed forward to the colonization mission that had brought supers to the star system of Oram.

  As planets spun around our heads, I caught my breath and nearly let out a ‘whoop’ at the sight of two fourth-year supers flying above us, taking center stage and representing the two sides of the great war that had led to the establishment of the Citadel. We all cheered when the superhero wearing the robes and shaved head of Xin himself stood victorious, and then the teachers rose to represent the Citadel Elders, finishing the show with flashes of light and fake explosions, along with the Supralines song.

  The notes filled my bones like fire about to burst out, and if ever I’d felt I truly belonged anywhere, it was in that moment.

  “Welcome to Supralines Academy!” Angeline waved a hand and all the supers returned to their places. “Thank you for allowing us to help guide you to becoming the best superheroes our galaxy has to offer.”

  Cheers erupted from the older students, followed by the new arrivals joining in.

  “That’s our cue,” Lima said, nudging me in the side with her elbow. “Tour time. You’re with me. Wait here while I round up the others.”

  She headed off to grab Ice, while the three girls from earlier mad-dogged me and walked away for the time being. I had no doubt that we’d have trouble when we next met. Until then, I’d make the best of it and have a blast.

  I was about to see if Laurel wanted to chat or try to mingle, when I noticed Ice moving toward an exit and giving me a look.

  “Excuse me,” I said to Laurel, stepping out through the closest door and working my way over toward Ice through the outer hallways. When I found her, we ducked into a side room that was unoccupied—a classroom, it looked like judging by the seats all arranged to face the front. “What’s up?”

  “Before we get to into it, I noticed an attempted call from the guys. Thought we’d check in.” Ice pulled up the comms device hidden on her watch and nodded. “We’re clear?”

  I pulled back, checked the doorway, and nodded.

  With the small holo screen up, Silencer’s face appeared. “We have trouble here.”

  “You’re together?” I asked, curious as to how that had happened.

  A quick nod, and he explained that the other school had proved fruitless, so they were combining forces at Rocadium.

  “In what way?” Ice asked, and I stepped closer, not wanting to miss a word.

  “Nothing serious yet, but… troops showed up, asking some of the school guards if they’d seen anything unusual going down. Definitely related to outsiders breaking in—our little situation with the ship, I imagine.”

  “Damn,” Ice replied. “Meaning they’ll be here soon, probably.”

  “Exactly. Main thing—keep a low profile, even more so than you might’ve otherwise. That and move fast. The sooner we can get answers, the sooner we can get out of here.”

  “We can get the ship back?” I asked.

  Ice waved me off. “Let me worry about that part, or not worry. It’s a non-issue.”

  “Count on us,” Ice said, and signed off.

  I started off toward the door. “Which means we better not be missed or give anyone any reason at all to wonder about us. That tour’s about to begin.”

  “More of their Citadel propaganda.”

  “You don’t buy into it?”

  “Fuck no.” She stood, waiting for me to open the door. “What’d those super bitches ever do for us? They claimed they saved us all. I say some egotistical pricks decided to dictate how others should live.”

  “Wow.” There was a whole hell of a lot more I wanted to say to that, but I’d been around the guild my whole life, which was long enough to know what topics to not bother arguing. This was one, and ninety-nine percent of them were in this mode of fuck everyone but us. Not for me though.

  I took the lead, pushing through the door. Forget whatever she was saying, I couldn’t hide my excitement. I was about to get a tour of the coolest place to ever exist.

  9

  Lima had a group of almost a dozen of us, and other groups were starting off on the tours already. They all looked every bit the superheroes, ranging in all shapes and sizes, more diverse than I would ever have imagined. None had ears or a tail like me, but three in a group had small horns sticking up from their heads, one with a single horn in the middle of her forehead. I couldn’t imagine they’d had an easy time growing up, what with Earth lore of the ancient days—when they believed in Hell and demons and all that—still at least known in most circles.

  Everyone was excited, though it was obvious which were the students like me who hadn’t attended the junior school. They had eyes and smiles twice as wide as the rest, many being loners, or outside of the cliques already forming.

  Ignoring the elitist attitude some of the girls were already bringing my way, I focused on where the tour was leading us, taking it all in as best I could. This was a moment I never wanted to end. We passed great halls, walkways that led outside and up and around grand curving staircases of marble, and gardens of floating flowers and hanging trees the likes of which I’d never seen before.

  As we paused on a balcony to look over the various buildings and central tower of the school, I let the sunlight wash over me, the warm breeze toying gently with my hair. Bliss. We moved on, discussing past supers who’d set foot in these very halls, many more recent and ones I hadn’t heard about, but I still clung to every word.

  We had just moved past the dining hall when something hit me on the ass. I turned to see a small drop of water vanish. Another hit me and this time I saw it was clearly a small ball of ice, like hail, and would’ve hit my tail if not for me turning.

  “Nice of you to grace us with your beautiful asses,” one of the gals said, and I froze. All eyes had moved to my tail, and then a couple up to my ears. Fuck.

  “Trell,” Lima said, scolding.

  “Since when are we letting her kind in, anyway?” Trell’s taller friend added, earning a laugh from Trell.

  It wasn’t like this was unexpected, but I’d hoped it would wait until later. There were other supers out in the galaxy with animal characteristics, such as a couple that could shift into wolf form, and I’d heard about an Elder with cat features, but that didn’t stop the normal-looking supers from giving me a hard time. Out with the rogues it hadn’t been an issue when my adopted parents had been alive, but since their passing it had only been my sister looking out for me… and now that she was gone too, I’d had a fun time of getting into fights over my appearance lately.

  The worst part of it was always that half of the guys thought I was “sexy as fuck,” but also disgusting, in a sense. Like they looked at me and wanted to tear my clothes off, but also hated themselves because they had some worry that this was bordering on bestiality. The first guy who had taken a step toward acting on that impulse, however, had been high up in the guild and he’d made his move without my permission. When I was done teaching him a lesson, he was stuck in bed for a month and nobody else tried anything. I was safe, but the downside was many of them hated me even more after that, calling me a monster and similar bullshit.

  So pardon me if I didn’t take kindly to prejudice, but I was about to kick this little birdy’s ass. Or would have, if not for the way Ice was giving me the eye and Lima was defending me.

  Since I really wanted to be at Supralines, I pulled on everything I had to resist pummeling Trell in the face.

  “Apologize, or I’ll see that you spend your first day in with the Headmistress,” Lima said, squared off against Trell and her friend.

  It was clear both of the ladies thought they could take Lima, and since I had no idea what their powers were, I didn’t know whether she could or not. My gut said it would be great if they did try something, because then I’d have an excuse to throw down, but my mind knew that wouldn’t be for the best.

  Focused on my mission here and keeping a low profile, I said, “Don’t worry about it.”

  “There, you heard her,” Trell said. “No harm, no foul.”

  “Apologize.” Lima stood her ground, not even looking my way. “You have three seconds.”

  Everyone in our group was frozen, waiting to see what would happen. Even a couple of the teachers who had been starting to mill about and converse with students were looking over.

  Noticing this, Trell nudged her friend and nodded. “Hey, we didn’t mean anything by it. Our apologies.”

  “That so?” Lima asked, addressing the friend and getting a nod. “Good, then let’s get one thing clear—that shit doesn’t stand, not in our circle. I’m going to be your head girl, meaning you all are my responsibility. If I hear of any of this shit, I’m going to make sure you all suffer. Got that?”

  The girl scoffed, tossing her black hair aside with a wave of her head, and turned to Trell.

  “Show’s over,” Lima said to the next group over, who’d apparently paused to watch.

  At this point I was thinking I should’ve said screw the uniform and kept the dress or jacket. Better to be made fun of for wearing the wrong clothes all the time, right? But too late for that, and in all likelihood they would’ve made me take it off.

  In fact, the whole situation might not have really bothered me all that much if not for the fact that the headmistress passed a moment later and gave me a disapproving glance. As if the whole thing was my fault!

  Laurel stepped up to my side, wrapping her arm in mine. “Don’t let them get you down.”

  “Kind of hard sometimes,” I mumbled.

  “It is, but we’re better than that.”

  I turned to her, then looked down at our interlocked arms, and froze. Could she have known the effect this would have on me when she took the action? All thoughts of knocking out anyone were gone, along with the idea that the headmistress might be as prejudiced as the rest of them. All that mattered was this friend being here for me.

  “Shall we?” I said, and Lima gave me a nod, gesturing the group to follow her.

  Nothing about the situation stopped Trell and the other chick from giving me the stink eye, or me from imagining how good it would feel to gouge their eyes out while wrapping my tail around each of their necks in turn. Wishful thinking though, nothing more.

  Careful to not let anyone see, I let out just enough Charm to calm myself, and followed Lima with my arm in Laurel’s.

  “Cool trick,” Laurel said, quietly.

  “You saw?”

  “I don’t miss much.” Laurel glanced up, indicating her antennae, if you could call them that. “By the way, thanks for doing that.”

  “Doing what?”

  “Taking the attention away from me.” She grinned, giving my arm a gentle squeeze. “I don’t know, maybe I’m wrong, but I have a feeling that if you hadn’t absorbed all that negative energy, it would’ve gone my way.”

  I laughed. “Happy to be of service.”

  “Professor,” Lima said, suddenly stopping. We’d paused at an exit into a hallway with a lilac over it.

  A woman in professor’s gowns of pink and black had just stepped into our path, and was looking us over. She gave an extra smile when seeing Laurel, but not enough to be noticeable to the others, I figured. Except for Laurel, of course, since she didn’t miss anything. This professor was thin with long, black hair.