Super (Fail)

In Which He Loses His Popularity

1: In Which He Loses His Popularity

"Are you excited for the test?" A girl, Cynthia, asks Alex, a smile on her face, "No doubt you'll have something amazing." The test she spoke of was a test for abilities in middle school. They'd test your fighting skills, test your intellect and lastly, test for abilities. Your results on all three determined if you are a Civilian, a behind the screener (BTS for short), a sidekick or, the best of the best, a hero. But everyone knew that your power determine everything.

Alex shrugged shuffling his way to the boy's locker room, "I know my powers will be cool and everything so I'm not very excited. How about you?"

"Oh, I'm very excited." Cynthia started to nod excessively, "My mom says that the chances of me having both hers and my father's powers are very high." Alex neared the room, slowing his pace so she could keep talking. "It'll be cool to have plant powers and earth manipulation."

"Very cool." He states with a firm nod, "I'm going to get dressed."

"Oh. Right. See you on the field, Alex."

"Same to you."

She skipped off. Alex entered the locker room, getting pats on the back and congratulations, even before the test everyone was sure he'd be amazing.

"Man, we decided that when you get your power we'll take you out to eat. My mom said it was okay." Alex nodded, pulling his shirt over his body. For a 7th grader, he had a toned and muscular abdomen. His muscles rippled and flexed with every movement. His mother, the hero Push, was adamant that he work out consistently. She claimed, "If you get my super strength I want you to be ready."

After pulling on his gym uniform, he and the rest of the 7th-grade boys headed out to the field, a super high tech room with white tiled floors and walls. A professional BTS was volunteered for this day. Alex looked up and peered into the big window. He saw a woman with blonde hair, goggles, and a lab coat, standing above the control panel, her gaze on the gym teacher who would give her a signal when he was ready.

"Alright, listen up!" Their gym teacher was a former professional hero named Ghost. He could phase through walls and people, turn invisible and possess bodies. He was injured in a battle against the Seventh Sanctum along with Retro Man and Fart Rocket, throwing him out of the hero game forever. Alex's father and mother also fought alongside them as teens, branding their names into the hero hall of fame at a young age. His father never shuts up about it.

"The test is going to either be very hard," He stared hard at Bastian, a chunky kid with glasses who was born from BTS parents, "Or very easy." He stared at Alex a smile on his face, "I'm rooting for you, kid." He gave him a pat on the shoulder before continuing.

"So here's how this works." He started pacing slowly back and forth, his hands behind his back, "We start this test and you fight. I will be testing you all on three things." He suddenly stopped and held up his fist, "Strategy."

One finger.

"Skill."

Two fingers.

"And lastly your ability." His final finger was raised. "You get points depending on the robots you kill. Flying robots are 3 points since they are hard to get without an ability. Wall-climbing robots are 2 points and you can get one point for floor robots. Now before you ask, for you late bloomers we luckily have developed a serum that will allow you to unlock your powers. For that reason alone, abilities will be graded not so tough. If you think you can lie your way to an easy ability grade think again. This serum can give power as well as take away. If you already have your power unlocked and you take it, the chances of you losing your power are very high. We haven't exactly worked that kink out yet. Understood?"