Hercules and the Modern Girl

River Styx - Part 2

River Styx - Part 2

After school was the start of Hercules's tutoring session with Daedalus, Hercules entered the classroom in time to see Daedalus rummaging through his stuff.

"Uh, Mr. Daedalus," Hercules raised his hand, even though the shop teacher wasn't looking at him. "It's me. Hercules. I'm for the-"

"We shall start at the beginning - you and I - the basics," Daedalus interrupted. He pried a blue tube off his head and tossed it aside. "Ah! Here!" Daedalus finally found what he was looking for, holding out a red baton. "Behold! The fundamental machine: the lever. Sublimely simple, say it with me."

Hercules pushed it away from his face in a dismissing fashion, "Got it."

"No! Say lever! Never mind!" Daedalus led Hercules towards the lever model, which was holding an anvil. "It's a working model. In the words of my close personal friend, Archimedes: 'Give me a lever long enough, a fulcrum high enough, a place to stand, and I'll kiss you on the nose.' He was a strange man, but now you see we can lift objects that would otherwise be too large or too- um, um- heavy."

Hercules scoffed and rolled his eyes at the ludicrous gadget. "Too heavy?" He walked towards the lever, lifting the anvil while placing his foot on the lever. "It's just an anvil. See?" He tossed the anvil that landed on the other side of the lever, throwing the boy in the air. Hercules screamed as he flew through the ceiling and the clouds, then crashed into the ground.

Icarus, Cassandra, and Natalie were chatting in the courtyard until they heard the crash. They ran towards the noise to investigate. They found a body size hole on the ground and peeked inside, just in time for Hercules to climb out with a sneering message for his friend. 

"That's it! I can't take this anymore! Icarus, I'm sorry, but I'm dropping your dad's dumb class."

"Hey!" Icarus put his hands on his hips, clearly offended. "Dadalus's class is not dumb! He's a great inventist!"

"Aw, Come on!" Hercules cried. "Those widgets of his are useless."

Icarus scoffed, "Widgets?! Useless?!"

Nattie smirked, happy that she hadn't left the schoolyard yet. "I sense a fight coming up. The hero-in-training versus the wacko. Who's gonna win?"

"Normally, I support the physically challenged," Cassandra grumbled, "but this isn't a bet I'm willing to wager."

Nattie turned to her friend with a bet in mind. "Five drachmas if Icarus manages to sucker punch him."

"Double for neither."

"Deal," Nattie shook Cassandra's hand.

~000~000~000~

Pain and Panic peered around the corner of the school hallway, watching the students leave the school. Was the education period finished for today? Why would some of the students be sticking around? There was always after school tutoring sessions, sports practices, and the occasional sit down in detention. Nattie should be in Herodotus's classroom by now, serving detention until 4:00.

They pressed their bodies flat against the wall as two students walked past them without notice or care.

"Um, Pain?" Panic whispered.

"What?" Pain asked with clenched teeth.

"Um... Why are we hiding when we could've easily changed our appearance?"

Pain blinked, taking back by that smart question, "I don't know, Panic. That would've spared us a lot of trouble and heart attacks, don't you think?"

"Exactly," Panic agreed. Even though they pointed out the obvious, their impish selves remained the same.