enjoy it. But, something I can say, is everything works out in the end. If it didn't, well, we wouldn't have a story to tell, now would we?"
Audrey couldn't believe the man she had been assigned to assist.
He didn't show up the first day for training. The next day he arrived, sure, but at eleven forty-five p.m.
Then, he started taking the situation seriously and pushed the kids to their limits. Correction, he pushed the kids past their limits.
Audrey had many words to say to the once-great hero. Some were not so complimentary, but she still heard them rattling around her busy mind.
The teens had gone home that night, barely able to lift their feet. Rust was pressing them to the point of breaking.
A reasonable, optimistic side of Audrey was saying, "Maybe he doesn't know what he's doing, maybe he's forgotten kids can only take so much before they crack."
But the other side of Audrey, the side that was starting to understand people's true colours, could tell Rust was doing what he was doing on purpose. He wanted to break those kids. If they cracked and went home, feeling like this was far beyond them, then he could go home and forget the rest of humanity existed.
And, what was infuriating Audrey to the point she was pacing around the corridors of Hero High: Rust didn't care about anything.
He didn't care about the teens, he didn't care about people, he didn't care about Hero High, he didn't care about the future and he didn't care about himself.
The world ending, heroes dying out and humanity ceasing to exist didn't motivate him in the least.
Getting back to his life as a recluse did.
Rust was there, in the cafeteria, helping himself to leftover deep-fried pasta.
Audrey wanted to punch him. It took every fibre of her being to resist the urge.
She took deep breaths to calm herself down until she could at least unknot her facial expression.
She walked across the room, weaving around tables, until she was standing in front of Rust. She crossed her arms and cleared her throat.
"I heard you come in," Rust said, not looking up. He tapped his ear. "Super hearing, remember?"
"Well, good, then you'll hear every word I'm about to say."
Rust didn't turn around. "Is this going to be another lecture on how I should care more?"
"Listen, I know you don't care about anything. I get it. But that doesn't mean you have to run those kids into the ground! Hero Training is hard enough on them as it is, you testing their limits for five hours at a time is going overboard."
Rust rolled his eyes. "Kids these days. It was way harder in my day. I'm going soft on-"
"Don't give me that," Audrey interjected. "You are being harsh on them. It's not right. There's still a villain teacher at large in this school and if he catches on to what Mr Danger is doing by enrolling gamma accidents, we're all in big trouble. These kids are eager to learn and willing to take everything you throw at them. But be nice. So, yes, this is a lecture on how you should care more. I know you don't care about yourself or what happens to you. I know you lost your family, eighteen years ago. But you have to get out of this funk and realize that you have a chance to change things. Those kids are total outcasts. They have made no friends. They need someone to be on their side."
Rust didn't reply.
"If you can't be anything, then be on their side."
Audrey stalked out the cafeteria, grateful she had gotten all that off her chest.
She still felt something nagging inside her, though.
She turned around, stomped back and abruptly slapped Rust over the side of the head.
She didn't mean to hurt him, and she knew he wouldn't feel it as bad as a normal person would.
"What was that for?" a surprised Rust asked as Audrey again turned to leave.
"That was for being a jerk."
13
Rust had gone from totally unconcerned about their existence, to jam-packing as much training into as small a time as possible.
Jack wouldn't be lying if he said he was less then excited for another day of training torture with Rust Swift.
At first, it was exciting to get down to doing what they had moved six hours away from their home to do. But, what at first seemed like just a bit of hard work, turned out to be Rust's way of doing his job but at the same time making sure everyone knew he was not enjoying it.
Hours of flying and crashing, blasting targets with lazers, running hundreds and hundreds of laps around the gym in under two minutes while balancing two and a half hundred tonnes on his shoulders, and straining to listen to someone's singing in the shower (in Japan) had taken its toll on him.
His friends, likewise, were exhausted.
Caleb had bounced until he hit his head on the high ceiling, Ethan had turned into holograms until he couldn't hold a solid form for long without going fuzzy, Ty had shrunk so small, at one point no one could find him.
Bella had had a breakthrough, though. She managed to control her glowing to the point that she could light up in broad daylight.
The only problem was Bella still hadn't figured out how to stop herself from glowing in the dark.
On top of the hours of training they received, the teenagers had to endure the hurtful glares, sly comments and rude actions from the prejudiced students of Hero High.
Shoulders sagging from both pain and dread, the five teenagers stepped into the vast gymnasium, struggling to prepare themselves for the agonizing torture they anticipated lay ahead.
Standing in the middle of the court, arms folded across his chest, Rust watched the teenagers unenthusiastically drop their backpacks by the doors and drag their feet up the bleachers.
"Today," Rust began, speaking loud enough for his voice to bounce off the walls. "We're doing something a little different."
Immediately, the kids groaned.
"Here it comes," Ty said, sounding terrified, as he crouched on the floor with his arms over his head for protection.
"I think we've done enough training indoors but not enough training outdoors. Who agrees we take this party outside for a change?"
To be honest, the kids were getting sick and tired of the gym. Maybe it would be fun to go outside for a change...
So, the teenagers, Audrey and Rust left the air-conditioned school and stepped out onto the open playing field.
It felt good to be out in the sunshine, under the flawless blue sky, a soft summer breeze drifting past every now and then. The group was not alone. Sticking to a corner of the vast field, the school's football team practised for an upcoming away game. The coach's drill orders could be heard clearly all the way across the field.
"So, what are we doing today?" Caleb asked, his energetic spirit returning the moment the sun hit his tanned skin.
Rust slipped two fingers in between his lips and whistled, shrilly. The coach stopped giving orders and looked his way. Rust waved him over.
The coach, followed by his team, crossed the playing field to where Rust and the teenagers stood. Audrey left for the bleachers.
"This is Coach Hoffman," Rust introduced the serious, muscular football coach. "And this is his team, the High Heroes," he gestured to the team of teenage boys. Some were tall, some were short, some were broad and some were skinny. The only thing matching about the team were their blue and black football uniforms and bulky gear.
"Are we playing football?" Ty asked, uncertainly. He was useless at any sport that involved a ball.
"I'm training you to save the world, not win a touch-down," Rust informed the kids. "I just needed the team for an... exercise."
The kids exchanged glances, waiting for their punishment.
"We need to do a bit of teamwork training," Rust explained. "Not just for you, the team could use it, too. Who has the duffel bag?"
One of the football players threw a medium sized duffel bag Rust's way. The former hero caught the bag with ease. "It doesn't weigh that much, don't worry," he said. "Now, this is how we're going to do this thing. I
n simple terms, we have two teams, two goals: you boys understand that, right?"
The High Heroes nodded their heads, making their bulky helmets jiggle.
Ethan raised a hand. "Um, for those of us that don't play a sport, what do we do?"
"The objective of this exercise is to get this bag to your goal using any means possible. Use your powers, use your teammate's powers, or use a stick for all I care. Just get this bag to your goal first. Oh, and don't get killed."
"What's in the bag?" Ty questioned.
"You can find out, when you win," Rust said. "Now, play ball!"
"Isn't that a baseball term?" Bella asked with no reply as the two teams took their positions in the middle of the field, the duffel bag lying on the grass in the middle.
"Man, this is going to be beyond easy," Ethan said, an eager grin spreading across his face.
Man, he was beyond wrong.
As soon as Coach Hoffman blew his whistle, the chaos erupted like a prehistoric, angry volcano.
The High Heroes rushed at the gamma accidents, who stood, unsure of where to go or what to do.
Everyone was instantly tackled to the ground. Caleb was the only one left standing. How he had managed to avoid being pinned to the grass, he wasn't sure, but he could use it to his advantage.
"Get the bag!" Jack yelled to Caleb as he struggled to get the six hundred pounds of football players off him.
"Oh, right!" Caleb bounced away from the pile-up and lunged for the bag. He snatched it right out the hands of a running football player.
"Sorry!" he called over his shoulder and as he reversed direction and hopped away.
He steadied himself and prepared for a giant leap. He waited