Credit for Rip Van Winkle’s appearance goes to Aaron Unicorn, from www.mutantsandmasterminds.com/phpBB2

 

Gold Digger Chapter Two – Welcome to Southtown

 

Mitchell looked forward. Standing in front of him, was Lily Croft, in a typical Southtown High school uniform. A white collered shirt, and a checkered skirt. She was smiling nervously as she faced the class.

The teacher, Mrs. Norma Bates, or Norma for short, continued from where she left off. “This is Lily Croft. She’s a transfer student from Britain. Well Lily, why don’t you tell us a bit about yourself.”

Lily nodded. She cheerfully announced. “My name’s Lily Croft, and I’m the daughter of Laura Croft. I’m really chuffed to be here, and I hope we get along. Oh, and if one last thing…”

She reached behind her back and pulled out a large pistol. In a more serious voice, she continued. “And if anyone plans to mess with me, I have a permit to carry this on school grounds.” She smiled brightly again. “Any questions?”

Everyone in the class was staring directly at her. “Didn’t think so.”

Norma gulped. “Well, how about you sit next to…oh…how about Mitchell. His mouth seems to be hanging open the most.”

Lily nodded, and walked over to where Mitchell was sitting. She plunked down in the desk next to him. It was Study Hall, after all. She could afford to relax a bit. She turned towards Mitchell, and asked, “So, what’s this school like?” 

“Big…”

Lily cocked her head to the side. “Really? I didn’t think the school was that…wait…Are you referring to my boobs, or my gun?”

Mitchell shook his head. “You know, I’m really not sure.”

Lily sighed. “If you hadn’t saved my arse back in Iran, I probably would have thwacked you upside the head for that one.

“Thanks…I think.”

“You’re welcome…I think.”

“So, what’re you doing in Southtown. Or for that matter, America?”

“I don’t really know. My mom decided to move here for a while, well, actually, that I should move here for a while. It’s getting crazy in Britain, with a lot of reporters and stuff. She recently stopped some god of death from reincarnating, so she’s getting a lot of publicity. She decided that we, or at least I, should hang out here for a while. She’s not around much, but she’ll hang out here when she is…”

“Works a lot, huh?”

“I know. Hadn’t seen her for most of my life, and when I do, she’s hardly ever around.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re here. I really did like having you around. You seem nice. Plus, if it wasn’t for you, I might not have been able to get home for Bible Study…”

Lily starred at Mitchell. “You know, You really didn’t strike me as the religious type…”

Mitchell sighed. “I know. I’m not perfect. I’ll be the first to admit that I can’t keep my eyes off a good looking girl. But that’s as far as I’ll go, just looking. And only at what they’re willing to show.”

Lily put elbows on the desk, and turned even further towards Mitchell, giving him a perfect view of her front. “What do you mean, just what they’ll show…”

Mitchell began making funny sounds in the back of his throat. He wasn’t looking at Lily’s face. “Those.”

Lily looked down. “Oh…Anyway…” She smiled, and shook her head. “Will you stop that.”

Mitchell shook his head. “Sorry. I’m a bit repressed.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re telling me.” She then laughed a bit more.

Mitchell smiled, a broad, friendly kind of smile. “Glad to see that I amuse you. I like making people laugh.”

Lily turned back towards the front, but she still kept looking at Mitchell. “So, can you tell me about the school. Is it full of duffers, or is it really ace?”

Mitchell shrugged. “Well, due to the way it’s set up, if you’re in my first period class, you’re PROBABLY in all my classes. Also, most of the school is full of super-heroes.”

Lily blinked. “REALLY!”

Mitchell nodded. “For some reason, Southtown is one of the towns with the highest concentration of super-heroes, and villains, in the United States. This school is where most of the supers happen to go to school. Just sorta a tradition, I guess…”

Lily muttered, “Guess that’s why I’m allowed to keep guns on campus…”

“Yeah. Anyway, Norma up there, the study hall teacher, is just about the only teacher here without superpowers. She’s real nice though. Sometimes has trouble keeping the peace…”

A ball of fire flew over Mitchell’s head, and landed on the Teacher’s desk. Norma stood up. “Who through this fireball! Was it you, Magma? Or how about Spitfire?”

There were no answers. Norma stood up for a while, then sighed, and sat down. “I need an asprin.”

Mitchell gestured towards Norma. “As I was saying. Trouble keeping the peace.”

            Lily’s mouth had dropped open. Lily closed it. “You’re telling me!”

            Lily heard a ringing sound. Mitchell stood up. “That was the bell. Time for next class.”

            On the way out, they ran into Matt, who was talking with a girl who appeared transparent. He was just walking in.

            Lily asked, “Who’s the transparent girl?”

            Matt introduced the girl. “This is Debbie. She’s my best friend.”

            “Why’s she transparent?”

            Debbie explained, “I’m dead.”

            Lily opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. She then blurted out, “DEAD!”

            Debbie nodded. “Yeah. I died about twenty years ago, and I’ve been haunting the school ever sense.”

            Lily turned to Mitchell. “I take it this is considered normal?”

            Mitchell nodded. “Yep. But we have to hurry to P.E. Our P.E. teacher is pretty weird…”

            “Define ‘weird’”

            “He keeps a shotgun, and calls it a boomstick!”

            Later, after splitting up to change for P.E., Mitchell and Lily met in the gym.

            Lily asked, “Do guys and girls really both have P.E. together?”

            “Yes. There was big trouble in the basketball game we had a while back. That was when they decided that girls get to change to shorts during P.E.

            Lily looked down at her own shorts. “I’m glad too. I’d hate to exercise in a skirt!”

            Before they’re conversation could continue, they heard a guy whistle from behind them. They looked, and found themselves staring at a strong looking man, who looked like he’d been through a war. He had faded scars across his face. Also, one of his hands appeared to be made of a steel glove.

            The man turned to Lily and said, “My Name’s Ash. Ash Williams.”

            Lily interrupted, “That’s short for Ashley, right?”

            Ash seemed to get emotional about something for a second. He then turned to Lily, and got up right in her face. “Look, Tomb Raider Gal. Nobody Calls me Ashley, except my sister, and my girlfriend. And they’re both dead.”

            Lily gulped. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t know. How’d they die.”

            Ash turned to the side. “We went into a cabin, but we had no idea that it was cursed. We awakened an ancient evil, which attacked us. The Kandarans. They possessed my friends, cursing them to become evil zombie monsters, that can only be killed by dismemberment. And to top it all off, they took my hand! But I killed them. I killed them all. MUAAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!”

            Lily reflexively clutched onto Mitchell. “Scary.” She then realized she was CLUTCHING onto MITCHELL, and got off. Fast.

            Mitchell whispered in Lily’s ear. “Don’t worry. He’s harmless unless you’re a Nazi, Communist, Zombie, or Demon.”

              Ash, having finished laughing, straightened up. He addressed Lily, Mitchell, and the rest of the students in this P.E. class. “All right. Today, we’re going to play Dodgeball. I figure if I had to suffer, everybody else should. Now, if none of you are familiar with Dodgeball, it consists of you all throwing rubber balls at each other. If you get hit, you’re out. Any Questions?”

            A boy in the back raised his hand. “Will this hurt?” He then fell to the ground, hit in the nose by a dodgeball.

            Ash posed, his arm still extended from throwing the dodgeball. “Does that answer that?” He looked at the assembled students, who were all getting into small groups. He got out the case of dodgeballs, and opened them, scattering them on the ground. When students moved towards them, he raised his hand. “The game doesn’t start until I throw a dodgeball into the air, and it lands on the ground, or one of you catches it.”

            He pulled out another dodgeball, and seemed to get ready to throw it in the air. He looked at the students, and remembered that a large portion had super-powers. Like that one guy who can make Yu-Gi-Oh cards blow up, or the kid who can throw a pencil like a dart…

            He backed up. Then he remembered the kid who could throw bullets.

            Ash backed up to the edge of the gym. Then he remembered that the kid he gave a bloody nose was telekinetic.

            Ash threw the ball into the air, and ducked out the door. He slammed it, and sighed with relief. “Great. I got out of THAT game without getting harmed.”

            A zombie jumped towards him, yelling, “I’ll swallow your soul!”

            Ash glared at it, and popped it’s head off with a single punch. “Stupid demons.”

            He then walked off to get a beer from the teacher’s lounge.

            Back in the gym, all hell had broken loose. Mitchell had decided to shift into Hybrid form, mainly out of a desire to avoid getting hurt. Dodgeballs were flying left and right, thanks to the efforts of Speed, the world’s fastest kid. Plus, he had his five girlfriends backing him up...

            Lily, meanwhile, was avoiding dodgeballs thrown by a kid with a bleeding nose. Big thing was, the kid was throwing them using his brain to move them!

            The kid smiled. “You cannot stop the telekinetic powers of Headcase! I can throw ten dodgeballs to your one!”

            He fell over, a large welt forming on the back of his head.  Mitchell pumped his arm at his successful hit. Then he leaned far to his right side, nearly dislocating his back as a dodgeball flew form behind him. It missed him, and flew straight at Lily.

            Lily pulled out her pistol, and shot the dodgeball. It fell to the ground, out of air. She shrugged. “Whatever works.”

            She picked up a dodgeball, and pegged a kid, who didn’t look like he had any powers.

            Meanwhile, in the air, a teenager in a costume with a large W was dodging shots by a gigantic hand, controlled by a black kid down on the ground. 

            The flying teenager yelled, “You cannot stop the might of Captain Wonder, who has no relationship whatsoever with the mild-mannered Journal student, Clark Chapman!”

            The black teen rolled his eyes. “Puhleeze. All us brothas no tha’ you and Clark ain’t just homies, you be the same dog.”

            Captain Wonder tried to dodge a shot, but he was hit on the shoulder. He sighed, and flew down into the “out” section of the gym.

            Time flew, as the battle continued. Soon, Ash poked his head into the gym, and yelled, “It’s over! Who’s left.”

            The only students left standing were Da Hand, Speed, Mitchell, Lily, and three of Speed’s five girlfriends. Each of them was breathing heavily, clearly winded.

            Ash looked over, and said, “All right. All of you return to the locker room, and go change.”

            Lily and Mitchell separated, since Lily and Mitchell both had to change out of their P.E. Uniforms.

            They met back up in the hall. Mitchell turned to Lily. “So, anything happen while changing?”

            “Nope. Nothing much. Just saw some guy peeking through a hole in the wall, so I poked him in the eye. That, and some girl seemed to be eyeing me…”
            “That’s Pixie. She hangs around with Crush, in the Clique. Never mind her, she’s just a martial artist.”

            “Okay…You sure she’s not…”

            Mitchell shrugged. “I don’t know! She does seem to like Crush a lot, though it might be because she works as Crush’s bodyguard…”

            Pixie walked by, following Crush. Pixie was Japanese, and holding a large Bo staff, with openings at both ends. Crush was American, though she did look like she had some Swedish ancestry, and was an absolute knock-out. As Pixie followed her employer, Mitchell could have sworn he saw hearts in her eyes, and cherry blossoms flying through the air.

            Mitchell blinked. “Then again…”

            Lily stopped starring at the pair, and turned to Mitchell. “So…What’s our next class?”

            Mitchell shook his head. “Physics. We have Mr. Irons as our teacher. He’s a bit of a nice guy, but he does have a few quirks…”

            They walked into the class, and noticed a HUGE black man standing behind the desk. Each of his hands were big enough to cover Lily’s head. He was also EXTREMELY muscular. He was built like a tank, and looked like he might be able to lift one! There was also a large ball-and-chain on his desk.

            Lily sat down. She gulped, as the ground shook, when Joseph Irons sat down.

            Mr. Irons leaned forward, and looked at his students. “Hello. Since we have a new student, I will introduce myself. I am Joseph Irons. Other people might know me as the Iron Dude, one of our resident super-heroes.” He picked up his ball-and-chain. “This is my weapon. I’m called Iron Dude, however, because of the Iron armor I wear. It is ten times stronger than Kelver armor. Any questions?”

             Lily was sitting there, surprised. This was not what she expected from American Schooling…

            Joseph Irons began writing on the board. “Now, yesterday we were talking about Force, and Work. Now, Force is Mass Times Acceleration. Work is Force times Distance. Now, how much does my Ball and Chain weigh?”

            Mitchell raised his hand. “One Hundred Kilograms, sir.”

            Irons nodded. “Good. Now, when spun properly, how fast can it go?”

            Mitchell raised his hand again, “It can go 345 meters per second.”

            Irons nodded again. “Good. Now, we would…”

            Irons continued his little speech, explaining exactly how his Ball and chain would have an incredible amount of force, and it would probably kill anyone who hit it, including anyone who talked in class, or robbed a bank. As Lily watched, and took notes, she noticed that Mitchell seemed to answer almost all of the questions.

She walked with Mitchell to the next class. She asked, “Hey. How come you answer all the questions.”

Mitchell seemed confused. “I don’t know. I just answer the ones I know.”

Lily sighed. “You answered almost all of the questions! People will think you’re a know-it-all unless you give them a chance to answer.”

Mitchell seemed to think about it for a second. “I guess. I just never thought about it before…Anyway, here’s our next class, with Mrs. Hallard. She’s a bit weird, but I like her.”

Lily walked in, and saw that there was a women in the center of the room, wearing white robes, and holding a wooden staff, with a jewel in the center of the staff. She smiled brightly.

“Welcome, new student, to Mrs. Hallard’s English class. And your name is…”

“Lily…”

“Hm…Lily…interesting. I’ll call you Arwen.”

“But My name’s Lily!”

“Yes, but I will call you Arwen!”

“Why?”

“You remind me of Arwen!”

“That’s insane!”

            Mrs. Hallard turned, and walked over to Mitchell. She shook his hand warmly. “Nice to see you again, Bilbo.”

            Mitchell smiled. “Thanks.” Then he motioned for Lily to sit down on a desk nearby. As soon as she sat down, Mitchell whispered in her ear. “Mrs. Hallard’s a little bit kooky. She thinks she’s a mage, and she names people after Lord of the Rings characters.”

            Mrs. Hallard took a seat on a desk near the wall. Behind the desk was a large picture of Gollum, with a hand-written note on it, proclaiming Mrs. Hallard’s love for the actor. “I heard that. My hearing is very precise, thanks to my magical powers. Not only that, but I have the power of my Ring to aid me…”

            Lily blinked. “Your…Ring…?”

            Mrs. Hallard nodded. “Yes. It is my ring. It is precious to me, though I bought it at great price…”

            Another student made little crazy signs behind her back. Mrs. Hallard turned to the student. “Kaigu! How many times have I told you not to do that. And you’re one to talk, since you’re so obsessed with Godzilla!”

            Kaigu clenched his fists. “I’m not obsessed with Godzilla. I just think it’s the best movie ever!” His eyes turned red. 

            Mitchell whispered to Lily, “That’s Kaigu. Whenever he gets angry, he turns into a three hundred foot tall monster. He usually does it during this class…”

Lily began praying to as many deities as she could think off.

Kaigu took a deep breath, and his eyes returned to normal.

            Mitchell finished, “But not today, luckily. And I don’t think it’s wise to pray to Baal.”

            Lily glared. “Hey, none of them are real, so what’s the harm? Well, except for Anubis, and I’ve heard that he likes Mom…”

            “You’re Mom has some weird friends.”

            “Tell me about it…”

            Mrs. Hallard coughed into her fist. Lily and Mitchell smiled guiltily, and stopped talking. They then started listening, and class flew by.

            After class, Lily and Mitchell talked for a bit, mainly about some of their other adventures. When they reached the next class, Mitchell paused. He took a deep breath. “Okay. This next guy’s a little weird. Even for this school.”

            Lily glared at Mitchell. “Look. I’m related to Laura Croft. I’ve had to deal with being bounced from foster home to foster home, and orphanage to orphanage. Then, when I found my mom, I had to deal with ninjas, soldiers, and a few deities with the hots for Mom. Plus, I inherited most of Mom’s abilities to deal with stuff, like being out of it for months, when she was pregnant. ”

            Mitchell blinked. “How did she deal with that, anyway?”

            “She wrote a few novels. And the script to her movie. Haven’t seen it, though…Anyway, that’s beside the point. I’m just saying that I can deal with this. I’ve been able to handle this well, don’t you think?”

            Mitchell sighed. “Yeah. But this guy’s...well. You’ll see.”

            Mitchell opened the door, and Lily gaped in shock. On the teacher’s desk, was a brain in a jar. Not only that, but it was a brain in the jar, with an fake afro on top of it, and a medallion hanging off of it. Lily blinked. “Okay. This IS weird.”

            The brain turned on it’s rotating case, and looked directly at Lily. “Yo, wassup. You da new student, ain’t ya. My name’s Da Brain, and dis be my pad. I be the math teacher in dis place. Ya dig?”

            Lily blinked. “You’re a talking brain, who speaks Hip-Hop.”

            “Fo’Sheezy, Shorty.”

            Mitchell whispered, “He’s the brain of a powerful, telepathic, black guy. He used to be a rapper, till his body was destroyed in a car bomb. He’s sort of hard to understand. I’ll give you the notes, after class.”

            Lily staggered to her seat, still not completely believing this latest development. She thought to herself, Okay, Lily. Keep it together. It’s just a brain. Your mom once had to deal with being possessed, and finding Atlantis. Or, an Atlantis, anyway. Apparently, there’s another one out there too. Just don’t freak. You can handle this. Just try to listen to what he’s saying.

            Da Brain was saying something about Bling-Bling, Cheese, and Birds. Mitchell appeared to be taking notes. He seemed to understand what was going on, and was even answering a few questions. He was speaking hip-hop, too.

            Lily sighed, and began thinking some more.  “Gee. Mitchell seems smart. He seems smart, and strong. And he’s nice, and kind. Something rare. Mom usually goes out with meaner guys, but from what I’ve heard, that leads to trouble. Still I wonder if he…LILY! Stop those thoughts. You’re fantasizing about him! I mean, SURE he probably gets bigger proportionally in that hybrid…Okay. You can stop fantasizing now…”

            A voice in her head interrupted, “YO! What ya thinking about, sistah. AH! I see. Ya can’t understand my talk, can ya! I can fix that!”

            Lily jerked back, as a bolt of lighting seemed to fly out from Da Brain, and blast her head. She blinked, “What was dat stuff. It was PHAT, dude!” She shook her head. “Wow! I can speak Hip-hop. That’s bloody awesome!”

             Da Brain laughed. “Glad ya like it, Shorty. Now start taking some notes! Ya can’t snitch ‘em from da nerd, ya know!”

            Mitchell grumbled. “I’m not a nerd. Archeology, Diminsional sciences, Aura Magic, and writing fanfics are everyday hobbies for any well-adjusted teenager.”

            Da brain laughed again, then sent a telepathic message to Lily. “He’s a nice guy, ain’t he. Ya picked right in grabbing him. Quit thinking about it, and do what mammals do! Or take notes, if ya’re a chicken.”

            Lily blushed, then quickly began taking notes, and trying her best to clear her mind. Okay, stop thinking. Clear your mind. NO! NOT BRAD PITT! Stop. You’re not normally like this. Maybe it’s the pressure…STOP THINKING ABOUT Johnny dep!

            After a VERY stressful class for Lily, the bell rang, and she walked out, in a slight daze. She turned to Mitchell. “So, what’s next. A talking white rabbit?”

            Mitchell laughed. “Nah. The rabbit teaches Drama, which I don’t take.”

            Lily opened her mouth, then closed it. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

            A rabbit scampered past Lily, muttering, “I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date.”

            Lily’s left eye began to twitch. “Just…tell…me…what…we…have…next.”

            “Lunch.”

            Lily collapsed onto the wall, and slid down it, a smile on her face. “Finally. Something normal. A nice, normal meal, without any crazy super-craziness.”

            Mitchell looked like he was about to say something, but then he stopped. “Never mind. You’ll see…”

            Lily waited in line for her lunch food, and the lunch was even normal. The only thing strange about it was that they had pizza, and most of the food looked edible. Lily walked to an empty table, with a bit of a spring in her step, and with Mitchell beside her.

            Mitchell looked to Lily. “You seem happy.”

            Lily nodded. “Uh-huh. My mind can finally grasp something here. A simple, cheese pizza. Nothing strange about it at all…” She took a bite, and felt the greasy cheese slide down her throat. “And it even tastes good! I feel a lot better now.”

            Suddenly, she felt herself slide towards the other end of the table, away from Mitchell. She bumped against something. She looked up, and saw herself staring at a HUGE guy, who seemed built of muscle. She looked back, and saw that the entire table was bending towards this guy.

            The guy looked down at her. He was probably at least seven feet tall, maybe more. He smiled at her. “Hi. Name’s Mass. I’m on the football team. Sorry if I’m a bit big, but it helps a lot on tackles.”

            Lily began to make funny noises. Suddenly, the table dipped back the other way, and she bumped up against Mitchell. She looked at him, and saw herself looking at Mitchell’s fur-covered Were-cheetah form. Mitchell’s hands were touching the table, and he was mumbling something.

            Mitchell stopped mumbling, and the table straightened out again. Mitchell smiled. “Little spell I know. Increases gravity on a small area. Useful.”

            Lily managed to get a hold of herself long enough to stammer out a few words. “I…forgot you could shift. It’s a bit weird.”

            Mitchell laughed nervously. “Sorry. I kinda need to stay in this form, because I weigh a lot more. Otherwise, the table would shift in the other direction again.”

            Lily blinked. “Okay…”

            A girl sat down in front of Mitchell. She had long blue hair, and wore a half-tee, and jeans. She was accompanied by a thin Japanese Girl, who carried a long staff.

            The girl looked at Mitchell. “So, Nice to see you again. You thinking of my offer...”

            Mitchell shook his head. “No thanks, Crush. I don’t want any stolen SATs. I get good enough on my own.”

            Lily blinked. “Stolen…SATs?”

            The girl nodded. “You’re new here, so I’ll introduce myself. I’m Crush, this is Pixie. I’m one of the best of the bad. Me and my little Clique are some of the best kids here. You need SATs, Tests, Lunch money stolen, or somebody beat up, you call us.”

            Lily asked, “You’re a High School Bully Kingpin?”

            Crush nodded. “Yep. I also do some bigger stuff, but that’s another story. What, you thought all the kids here were friendly? Some of us are bad. Not all people with powers use them for good, you know. I’m so beautiful, men flock to me. And I have my friends. Pixie’s one of them, and we have a few others.”

            As if on cue, two girls walked in. The first was a tall girl, wearing a half-tee, and ripped jeans. She had magenta hair, and her skin appeared to be covered in some sort of pink shell. The second girl was quite short, with curly brown hair, and was dressed in a simple black skirt and blouse. They were escorted by what appeared to be a pink-and-purple robot. They sat down next to Crush. Crush nodded towards them. “The girl in the shell’s named Jawbreaker. She lift up a mach truck, and deflect energy beams. She can also take a bullet. Wallflower, the short girl, has an IQ of 200. She can also pass through walls, using a little device she built.”

            Wallflower piped in, “Don’t forget, I can fly too. Just not very fast…”

            Crush nodded. “That’s proven useful a number of times. And then there’s Boytoy…”

            The robot answered, “Ifrit Model X-59. I am a powerful transport device, capable of turning into any vehicle needed. I am armed with Lasers, and a Missle launcher. My armor is thickened against impact, and my strength is beyond human norms. I am programmed to serve Crush.”

            Lily blinked. “You have your own robot.”

            Crush nodded. “Daddy is very nice to me. He owns and operates one of the world’s best robotics companies.”

            Lily rolled her eyes. “So, you’re just one of those rich, spoiled…” Lily was cut off when Pixie pointed her staff directly at Lily’s face. The end of the staff began to glow with energy

            Pixie glared, “I am ex-Yazuka. If you finish your sentence, you will die. Please apologize to…”

            Pixie stopped, when she saw that Lily was holding a Glock in her hand, pointing it at Pixie’s head. Lily smiled, “Now, put down the staff, before I have to hurt you.”

            Pixie smiled, and disappeared. Lily blinked. She then heard a scampering. She turned around, and saw Pixie, doll-sized, standing behind her. Pixie was still pointing the staff at Lily.

            Pixie smiled, “Now. Put the gun down, and apologize to Crush, before I have to hurt you.”

            Lily sighed. “I should have stayed in England. Bunch of Bloody Duffers…Alright. ‘Crush, I’m sorry for calling you a spoiled…’” Lily said the last in as sarcastic tone as possible, then stopped with her apology

            Pixie returned to normal size, and asked, “Aren’t you going to finish?”

            Lily smiled, “Why should I? That was as far as I got!”

            A boy walked over to the Lunch table. “Well, that was interesting. I see that Sis picked a good bitch…”

            Crush and Pixie both glared at the boy. Crush sputtered, “WILL! It’s none of your business what I do with my friends.”

            Lily turned to Mitchell, and was surprised to see that Mitchell was simply eating his Pizza, in human form. She whispered, “Okay, why are you in human form, and is Crush really…”

            Mitchell shrugged. “I’m in human form because Jawbreaker and Boytoy weigh a lot. And for Crush’s sexuality…I have no idea.”

            Then Crush, Pixie, Jawbreaker, Wallflower, and Boytoy all got up. Lily and Mitchell then slid over, bumping up against Mass. Will laughed.

            Mitchell pivoted out of his chair, and turned to Will. They stared. Lily could feel the tension. “So, how’re things going.”

            Will smiled. “Fine. Heard you went to get the Sword of Omens. How’d that go.”

            Mitchell smiled , “I got it, for your information.”

            Will laughed. “Well. That’s surprising. Reports claim the sword was broken. So, were the reports wrong?”

            Mitchell gulped. “Well, actually…it is. I’m fixing it though, so it can be donated to a museum.”

            Will shook his head. “You’re an idiot. Donating it to a museum? If I was you, I’d keep it. My robots found proof that there was a sapient life-form in the pre-historic era. I got $10,000,000 from it.”

            Will walked off, laughing to himself.

            Mitchell growled in Will’s direction. “I HATE that guy. He’s stuck-up, arrogant, mean, and in it solely for the money!”

            Lily blinked, “What’s wrong with liking money?”

            Mitchell sighed. “Nothing, really. He just looks down on me because I don’t make much money from my stuff. I really just like finding out stuff, and tend to donate the artifacts. Though I have been looking at one possibly profitable artifact…”

            Lily leaned closer to Mitchell. “Tell me about this…profitable artifact…”

            Mitchell opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, a bell rang out.

            Mitchell’s eyes widened, “CRUD! We’re almost late for our next class…”

            He shifted into hybrid form, grabbed Lily under his arm, and ran off. Seconds later, he stopped in front of a door. He moved his arm, to look at his watch. Unfortunately, that was the arm Lily was under. She hit the ground with a large Plunk.

            Mitchell smiled, “Good news! We’re on time for history.”

            Lily got up, clutching her nose. “What’s so bleeding special about history, that you had to send me arse over elbows!”

            Mitchell opened the door for Lily. “See for yourself.”

            Lily stepped in, and looked around. All she could see was an old man sitting at the desk, sleeping quietly. He was a bit short, and had a stick of sugar-cane in her head. She glared at him. “Who the bloody hell are you?”

            The guy looked up at her. “Hm…do I know you…did King George send you…wait…what year is it again…oh yeah…you must be that new student…Lilac or something. Well, you just take a seat, and Ol’ Rip’ll tell you about history.”

            The rest of the students filed in, and took their seats, while Lily just stood there. “Wait…Rip…Rip Van Winkle!”

            Rip nodded. “Yep. That’s what they call me. I’m Rip van Winkle. You gonna just stand there, or take a…ZZZZZZ….er…sorry. Bit sleepy.”

            Lily blinked, and sat down next to Mitchell. “Rip…Van…Winkle.”

            Mitchell smiled, “Uh huh. Rip Van Winkle. He’s a great historian, and he knows a lot about a ton of stuff. Plus, he’s funny.”

            Lily looked at him. “He’s snoring.”

            Mitchell shrugged. “So he’s a bit sleepy. I like him. Though maybe we should get Screamer to wake him up…”

            Lily groaned. “Let me guess. She’s got the power to shatter walls and stuff by screaming.”

            Mitchell shook her head. “No. She’s just a girl who screams really loud. She’s called Screamer ‘cause her boyfriend says she…”

            Lily held up her hand. “I get it. You don’t have to say it.”

            Rip Van Winkle woke up, and staggered over to the front. “Well, I better get to teaching. Now let’s see. What I have already done. Let’s see. There were the Napoleonic Wars…Napoleon Bonaparte, now there was a general. Bit short though…zzz…snore….” He began to nod off, then shook his head. “Huh? Now where was I…Oh yeah, Napoleon. Well, he lost it big at Waterloo. Next came the American Civil War. Now that was a fight…”

            A boy raised his hand. “Excuse me, Professor Winkle. Aren’t you skipping some parts?”

            “Not from my point of view. Now, as I was saying, World War I…”

            Lily smacked her head down on her desk.

            Later on, after the class, Lily was muttering. A lot. Mostly about crazy narcoleptic redneck hillbillies.

            She turned to Mitchell. “Please, Please tell me that next class is normal.”

            Mitchell shrugged. “I don’t know.  What elective do you take?”

            Lily shrugged. “I think my mom signed me up for band. I play flute, been playing for years. In fact, there was this one time, at band camp…”

            Mitchell turned red, and surpressed a giggle. He failed, and fell to the floor laughing.

            Lily looked at him, “What? What’d I say?”

            Mitchell grabbed onto Lily, and used her legs to pull himself up. “Nothing. Just a movie I saw.” He fell to the floor laughing again. Lily blinked, and tapped a guy on the shoulder.

            The guy looked at her, “Yes?”

            “Which way to the band room.”

            The guy gave her good, concise directions. Lily got there, sat down in her seat, and pulled out her flute. She noticed that the band room was dark, with all the windows covered by thick curtains. She turned to the girl next to her, a short girl, whose feet didn’t even reach the ground. Lily asked, “Is the band teacher nice.”

            The girl shrugged, “She’s pretty nice. She’s a bit eccentric though. She’s actually a music star, and has a few records.”

            The door swept open, and a woman walked out. She was dressed all in blank, and her face was deathly pale. She turned to Lily, and Lily noticed the woman’s red eyes. The woman smiled, revealing long, pale white fangs. Lily felt some part of herself, deep within, screaming, “RUN! PURE EVIL!”

            The woman walked towards Lily. She grabbed Lily’s hand, and shook it vigorously. “Hi! Nice to meetcha. I’m Singara, the band teacher.”

            Lily’s mouth wasn’t working right. “I…I…I’m L…L…l…Lily.”

            Singara smiled. “Well, hello, L…l…l…Lily. I see you picked flute. A nice instrument. So, how are you doing.”

            Lily blinked. “Fine.”

            Singara stepped back. “Are you scared? Oh yeah, I’m still in make-up. I have a music video in the works, so I’m in costume. Don’t worry, It’s not like I’m REALLY a vampire. That’d be silly.”

            “Costume.”

            Singara nodded. “Yeah. A lot of artists today have little ‘identities.’ Rob Zombie’s a zombie guy, Marilyn Manson’s the Anti-Christ, Michael Jackson’s Peter Pan…”

            Somebody coughed at Michael Jackson’s name. Singara blinked. “Anyway, I’m a vampire. Well, not for real. It’s all an act.”

            Lily blinked. “Okay…”

            Singara walked to the front of the class. “Anyway, enough of that. We will play the B-Flat scale…”

            The class continued without incident. Soon, the bell rang, and school was over. As Lily went to put up her instrument, she noticed that Mitchell was hanging out in the back of the room, next to a xylophone.

            Lily put up her incident, and walked over to Mitchell. She asked, “So, you got to class all right.”

            Mitchell nodded. “Yeah. I stopped laughing after a minute or two, and got to class on time. So, what do you think of the band teacher…”

            “She takes the vampire thing WAY too far. I wouldn’t be surprised if she never goes out into the light of day.”

            “She doesn’t. Well, sometimes, but only when she wears sunglasses, and a BIG thick coat, and lots and lots of sunscreen…Sometimes on rainy days, though…”

            Lily sighed. “Well, at least school’s out, so I don’t have to deal with anything else. Any teachers here normal?”

            Mitchell shrugged. “A few. There’s Norma, and Aaron. Aaron’s our assistant  drama teacher. He’s real nice, but he’s having a bit of trouble with casting Romeo and Juliet. He’s trying to avoid blowing up the theater. Again.”

Lily groaned. She sarcastically replied. “Oh, that’s just GREAT…” Then she remembered something. “Hey, what was that project you mentioned at lunch?”

            Mitchell turned to her. “Well, I found some ancient texts on the Univeral History thing I downloaded. The actual file is video, but I managed to pull some of the texts out of the video. Problem is, I couldn't pull a translation. All I could understand was the word “ancient” and the word “powerful.” Can you speak Hebrew?”

            Lily nodded. “I’m fluent in just about every language on the planet. It’s a hobby of mine. I know an ancient Mongolian one that’s GREAT for cussing…”

            Mitchell smiled. “Great. You call your mom, I’ll get my…vehicle.”

            Lily blinked at the word “vehicle” but shook her head. She flipped out her cell phone. “Hey, Mom, I got a tip on a great adventure…yes, I’m at school…no, nobody hit on me…Mom, stop worrying…Where are you, anyway? Oh, Iceland. That’s always nice, very green. How’re things going…Mom, are those gunshots…Mom…MOM…oh, hi…who is this…aren’t you that arms-dealer guy…Why are YOU asking the questions, I’m not there…No, I’m NOT in Britain…What? The eye of Odin? Sorry, don’t know much about…What was that, I can’t hear you over the screaming…That gurgle sounds nasty…Oh, hi mom, I was just talking with that arms-dealer…hold on, the guy I’m riding with is driving…er…riding…up…gotta go!”

            Lily looked at Mitchell. He was in Hybrid form, riding up on what looked like a motorcycle, except for the fact that Mitchell was pedaling it, thereby making it a fancy Bicycle. Lily yelled. “Do I WANT to know!”

            Mitchell shrugged. “Well, I want to conserve gas, and I can pedal really fast, and my house isn’t that far away, so I always use a bike. The most energy-efficient thing on the planet is a human on a bike. And with my were-cheetah speed to add to it..."

            Lily sighed, and sat down behind Mitchell. “I’m gonna hate…THISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

            She grabbed onto Mitchell as the acceleration tried to push her away. She could see buildings, cars, people, all flying past her at high speed. She flew off her seat, barely able to keep a hold onto Mitchell’s stomach. His strong, muscular, six-pack stomach…Lily! Stop that!

            Then everything jerked to a stop. Lily got up, and staggered off the bike. She looked around, and noticed the world was spinning a bit. She looked at Mitchell. “That was the bee’s knee. That was the Dog’s BOLLUCKS! That was Past the dog’s bollucks. That was just plain bloody AWESOME!!!!!”

            Mitchell smiled. “Thanks. All I did was pedal.”

            Mitchell walked to his house, a simple, two-story house. It looked kinda expensive, though. Mitchell pulled a key out of his pocket, and opened the door. Lily stepped inside, looking around. It was your average, upper-middle class house. The entrance hall was pretty normal, except that it had a stair-way in the front, to connect the first and second floors. The stair-way twisted at a right-angle halfway through, to fit in the small space it had.

            Lily looked around, “Hm…reminds me of one of my foster family’s houses. My Mom’s is a lot better, though…”

            Mitchell, on top of the stairs, yelled down, “Thanks. I’ll make sure to tell Mom you didn’t like her house. She and Dad designed this, you know.”

            Lily blushed. “Sorry.”

            Mitchell shrugged. “I don’t mind. They might, though. Anyway, I got the program on the home computer.”

            Mitchell sat down on the computer, and loaded up a CD, labeled Universal Archive File. He called it up, and typed in a few words.

            A file appeared on it. It was a large screen of text, apparently written on browned paper, or maybe papyrus.

            Lily’s eyes widened as she read it. She wrenched the mouse out of Mitchell’s hands, and began reading.

            When she finished, her hands were tingling with anticipation.

            “This is…direction to the hiding place of the Ark of the Covenant!”

To be continued…