Unwanted Heroes

chapter ten: a unique orientation pt. 2

"So we just jump?"

Sharmila looked at Al, who looked more or less calm at the fact she asked two thirteen-year-olds to jump off of the roof of a very tall building.

"Yes. Jump," Al repeated for about the third time. "Just try to jump at the top of the train station's building and use your powers to stick a safe landing."

Shyama let out a short, sarcastic laugh. "Oh, yeah, totally. Let's just land on our face! Our eyes will cushion the landing. Future vision and hawk eyes will totally help us not break every single bone in our bodies," he drawled, gesturing wildly at the ground and their eyes.

Sharmila pursed her lips. There goes Shyama and his tactic of using sarcasm as a defense mechanism, she thought. It's no wonder he gets into weird situations like this because of that.

Al seemed to ignore his sarcastic rant, grinning all the way through. "That's the spirit!" she said cheerfully.

"Al, please don't make them jump," Kem squeaked out.

"Yeah, Al. Don't make it another situation where I had to catch rojo with a frying pan shield," Mar added.

"Mar, sssshhh!!!" Fin hushed Mar, who was already grinning mischievously. "That was my first time! I'm better at it now!"

"The sound you made when you hit the pan was hilarious."

"No, it wasn't."

"It was."

They continued back and forth like this for about two minutes before Kem shot a quick zap of static electricity at them, the sudden pop making them shriek.

Sharmila wanted to know the story of the frying pan shield. She hoped she would, granted she lived from the height of the fall.

"We need them to do this," Al said decisively. "Kem said he needed someone to test out the grappling hook feature. Why not the newbies?"

Shyama squeaked. "So Sharmila and I are just your guinea pigs?" he yelped, his voice gaining higher frequencies as he voiced his disbelief.

"Just now you sounded like one," Mar said quietly, earning an elbow to the ribs from Fin.

Kem nodded proudly. "Listen carefully, you two," he declared, "I'll explain how it works. Just point your hand at the desired position and clench your fist. The motion sensors in the gloves will send the actual hook down to the desired area and you just sorta...jump.

"The retractable cables will get you to the place you shot the hook at and that's that!" he finished, his electric blue eyes filled with enthusiasm.

His enthusiasm filled Sharmila with some confidence that everything would be alright.

"I think I'll try it first," Sharmila declared.

"Sharmila?!" Shyama yelped. The poor boy looked like he was going to faint right then and there. He clutched at his heart as a small droplet of sweat ran down his cheek.

"That's the spirit, Shar!" Al grinned widely. "Now just follow Kem's instructions and you'll be a-okay!"

Sharmila nodded nervously. Fin flashed her a thumbs-up and Mar gave her a proud smile. Shyama was just ten seconds short of passing out.

Getting up on the ledge, Sharmila pointed her arm at the roof of the train station.

A hook shot out of the glove, trailed by an electric blue holographic beam, which was probably the aforementioned cable that Kem spoke of.

"H-Here I go," she said nervously, giving a nervous sideways glance at Shyama.

Shyama let out a garbled sound that was a mix of "be careful" and "oh god if you die I'm going to kill you."

Sweet irony.

Sharmila felt her feet leave the solid ground of the ledge and an immediate rush of air whooshed through her ears.

She let out a loud whoop, something she felt like doing on a whim. It matched the mood and the excited feeling that tingled at her fingertips.

As soon as she neared the ledge, she positioned herself to land on her feet, but instead landed in a somersault.

A split second feeling of triumph rushed through her veins. I'm soooo cool! she squealed in her head, bolting up from the somersault to recover a standing position.

Bap!

Sharmila immediately regretted her enthusiasm as soon as her face came in contact with a brick wall.

~•~•~

"How's my sister doing?" Shyama asked, his eyes squeezed shut and his back facing the direction of the ledge.

"She's doing just fi--oh. Cheese balls," Fin uttered underneath his breath.

"What is it?" Shyama asked, his voice filled with dread.

Fin winced and sucked air through his teeth, a grimace spread throughout his freckled features. "Um...you know how on some buildings there's this little shed thing that's the way to the roof?" he described to Shyama.

Shyama nodded slowly and wordlessly.

"She landed just fine, but..." Fin made a strained sound, which only increased Shyama's dread. "...she kinda bumped into that shed thingy."

Shyama could feel the color drain out of his face. "What's it made out of?"

"Brick."

The world immediately went black and a resonating thud echoed in Shyama's ears.

A/N: Orientation day is soooooo fun!

I hope you enjoy this chapter, you sweet potatoes!

I'm planning to write a side book that accompanies this with side stories of random shenanigans these six children would definitely get into.

Thanks for reading!