The SVE Club

1. Dynamidas

Mrs. Hayes sat at her desk, reading a paper stamped with the word 'confidential.'

It was beyond her why the paper was confidential, though. The information on it was pretty mundane, besides the bold tidbit at the bottom of the page. She quickly glossed over the paper. It was a transfer form for a new student named Midas Aldridge. It was all very basic, stating that he'd been homeschooled for most of his life until a couple of years ago. Mrs. Hayes squinted to read a small footnote at the bottom of the page.

*Note: Possesses a certain 'talent' that tends to put others at risk. Unpredictable and unstable, approach with caution.

    The principal looked up from the information form. So many unanswered questions. Why was there no contact information for the boy's parents or his previous teachers? What was this 'talent'? It excited the principal. Who would imagine that a student who had gone to International School of Heroes, or ISH, would end up at Cherokee North?

    "Mrs. Hayes?"

    The principal was shaken out of her thoughts. She regarded the assistant principal, Miss O'Brian. "Yes, Lisa, what is it?"

    Miss O'Brian frowned. "It's the new student. He's here. But he's refusing to come to the office. He speaks in the most... irreverent manner, I must say."

    "That's alright," Mrs. Hayes said, standing up. "I want to meet him myself anyway. It's not everyday we get a student from ISH. Isn't this exciting?" She began quickly gathering up the paper on her desk and organizing them into neat piles.

    Miss O'Brian cringed slightly. "I'm not sure he's what you're expecting, Mrs. Hayes. He's a little... off to say the least."

    Mrs. Hayes began walking towards the office door. "First off, would it hurt to call me Madison? After all, I call you Lisa. And second, Cherokee North is all about celebrating differences. However 'off' the new student is, we will welcome him to our school just as we would any other student." She gave Miss O'Brian a winning smile before quickly leaving the room.

    "Wait, Mrs. Hayes! Mrs. Hayes!" she heard the assistant principal shout after her. She chuckled and shook her head as she kept walking. She was fairly confident that she could handle any student, even one from International School of Heroes.

   The halls were bustling as they usually were in the morning. It was halfway through the second semester and everyone had gotten into the school's rhythm by now. For a brief moment, Mrs. Hayes felt bad for the student that was starting so far into the school year.

    Some of Cherokee's friendlier students greeted the principal as she walked past. Others nudged their friends and said things like, "Incoming." 

    Mrs. Hayes turned the corner and saw a tall figure seated on a chair in the hallway. He was dressed in black from head to toe, she noticed, and even his hair was jet black, making his skin look quite pale in comparison. He was hunched over and seemed to be in deep thought. This must be Midas.

    He was drawing stares from the other students, though, and those who met his eye seemed to look away quickly and walk on. Most were giving him a wide berth.

    "Midas?" Mrs. Hayes called softly as she continued walking towards him. The boy turned to face her. Upon seeing his face, Mrs. Hayes froze.

    The boy wore a mask. It was black and fitted the contours of his eye and upper nose area. It obscured almost half of his face, but holes made his eyes visible. But it was not just the mask that had made Mrs. Hayes' blood run cold. The glare that came from behind the mask was lethal. It was the glare of someone that was in a silent, fiery rage, just waiting to explode.

    However, being as unflappable as always, Mrs. Hayes forced herself to smile and rushed forward to greet the new student.

    "It's so good to finally meet you Midas," Mrs. Hayes said excitedly, extending her hand to shake. "I have heard so much about you and your previous school."

    Midas just stared at the principal's hand before she nervously retracted it.

    "Did your parents drop you off?" Mrs. Hayes asked, looking around in hopes of finding an anxious parent to go along with the troubled teenager.

    "No," Midas answered, his voice surprisingly cool and level for someone who looked so angry.

    It figured. Mrs. Hayes nodded thoughtfully. "Well, I'm Mrs. Hayes, the principal. If you have any questions about the school feel free to ask. I know you haven't exactly had a lot of experience with public school. And Cherokee is a bit of a departure from ISH, isn't it?"

    The boy looked her straight in the eye. "At ISH, every locker would be on fire by this time in the morning."

    Mrs. Hayes stared at Midas, her mouth half open, her eyes unblinking. Was he- was that... a joke?

    Mrs. Hayes cleared her throat. "Well, um, it was nice meeting you Mida-"

    "Dynamidas," he interrupted.

    The principal wasn't sure she had heard correctly. "I... I'm sorry, what was that?"

    "Don't call me Midas. I'm Dynamidas. That's what they called me at ISH."

    Mrs. Hayes blinked. "Uh... Sure. Yeah. Okay. Is there a reason why they call you... that?"

    "Everyone in the Hero Program has an alias," Midas said impatiently.

    Aha. The mask, the costume, the nickname. Now it all came together. It made sense that an exclusive hero training school like ISH would want their students to have alternate names. In a world where super heroes are in high demand, these heroes must have another identity. It seemed a bit strange to Mrs. Hayes, however. The boy was no longer being trained to become a superhero. Why use an alias when everyone already knew his name?

    Mrs. Hayes glanced at her watch. Her eyebrows shot up. "Class is about to start. You're in Mr. Lee's homeroom. Do you want me to walk you there?"

    "No."

    Mrs. Hayes nodded stiffly. "Welcome to our school, Mi- I mean, uh, Dynamidas. I hope everything goes well for you."

    He said nothing.

    "Right. Okay. I've got an important... thing. To do. In the office," the principal muttered. Midas glared at her. "Alrighty, bye now."

    If running in the halls was not against school code, Mrs. Hayes would have sprinted all the way back to the office.