Zoom, Academy for Superheroes: Part 1

The A Team

"They say she's in the class A team, stuck in her daydream, been this way since eighteen. But lately, her face seems slowly sinking, wasting, crumbling like pastries. And they scream, the worst things in life come free to us."

-Ed Sheeran

жжж

Before Jack even opened his eyes, he was fully aware that he now found himself back in the very place that he hoped and believed he would never be forced to return to. Blinking away his subdued internal anger and bracing himself for whatever he might find upon opening his eyes, the image of Dr. Grant's overly enthusiastic face was brought to his attention, though the things that the older man was saying were admittedly ignored as Jack observed his vaguely familiar surroundings.

Though Jack could feel the rage simmering inside of him, he knew that he was in fact powerless in this situation. This was the government he was dealing with, they believed themselves to be the ultimate power. So, he let Grant talk on and on about whatever it was that would come next as Jack was lead down a nearby hallway. Where they were going, he didn't know. Jack was surprised to see that not much had changed since the last time he'd been there, the hallways seemed hauntingly familiar. Through Grant's endless words, Jack learned that he would be part of the adjudication panel for judging the candidates of this new team as well as training whoever they decide on.

Right before the suffocation of what was happening could overcome him, Jack and Grant were joined by a woman who was struggling to keep up to the two men with her petite stature and heeled-shoes. Initially, Jack believed this to be a stranger, and was therefore confused as to why she was talking as if she knew exactly who he was and what she was doing here. It wasn't until she tripped over thin air and fell to the ground at his feet that he realized it was Marsha Holloway from what must have been earlier that day.

After helping her up off the ground with a roll of his eyes, he took a step back and took in her new appearance. Her previous glamour was attempting to be hidden behind her thick glasses and oversized lab coat, but she was clearly the same person. "Do you have an inner-ear problem?" He said in sarcastic disbelief, not forgetting his distaste for this particular woman even if he did find himself uncontrollably attracted to her all the same.

Before any kind of argument could break out between the two of them, Dr. Grant reintroduced her as the leading psychologist of Area 52 in the realm of metaphysical studies as well as human psychology and a bright smile spread across her face. Jack could tell by the stars in her eyes that she had some very high standards for him. He personally couldn't wait to disappoint her. After this one encounter, Jack smirked as he believed that he had her completely pegged. She was one of those infuriatingly optimistic people with the naïve idea that certain people are much greater than they truly are.

Jack felt like a bit of a robot as he walked between the two scientists while Grant continued to talk. He most definitely did not belong here, maybe he did at one point – or he thought he did – but not anymore. Jack was naturally skeptical, it was who he was as a person, but the trauma that he'd experienced in his life had only added to that and made him now utterly impossible to deal with. He knew that he would be the undoing of at least one or two people here at this facility, and he was looking forward to seeing just how far he could take his apathetic attitude before people started breaking.