Gamma Accidents #1: Journey

showed me the footage, the pictures, the reports... it broke me, honestly. He told me I couldn't be trusted any longer, removed as a member of the Board of Hero Education and Training and stripped me of my hero status. I ran away, somehow avoiding death. I don't know why I was so determined to stay alive when I was so convinced I had nothing to live for.

  "Most stories like this have the hero wake up with amnesia. Not me: I remembered exactly who I was. Ever since then, I've been trying to forget, trying to leave it behind and pretending it never happened. I found a city on the other side of the country, took a job as a low-paid mechanic, found a small apartment in a crummy downtown area and just lived every day, wishing I knew what happened, but at the same time, trying to forget everything. I never consciously used my powers, I never made friends and I never really spoke to people. I felt guilty for my team's demise, guilty for the fresh ban on gamma accidents and the destruction of a city."

  Jack let out a low whistle. "That sounds real bad," he said.

  "It is," Rust agreed. "And I've managed to forget it for the past decade... until I saw you kids. The way you work together, the way you trust each other, the way you take care of your friends... it reminds me of my team."

  Rust stood up to leave. "I've done everything I had to," he said. "Now, I'm leaving."

  Jack felt like he should protest, but didn't say a word.

  "Keep trying with the landing, you'll get it right eventually. I couldn't land properly until I was eighteen. Don't let it bother you: there was a time when you couldn't walk, in case you can't remember. And take care of your team: never give up on them and never lose the bond you kids share."

  Rust made his way to the exit and stopped for a moment. "I'll be seeing you around, kid," he said to Jack.

  "Sure," Jack said, simply.

  With that, Rust left.

  "Well, that was intense," Darren the janitor said. Jack whirled around to see him leaning on his cleaning cart, watching the farewell like it was a free movie.

  "I thought you had left?" Jack said.

  "Oh, no, I just had to get a new sponge," Darren said, showing Jack his new sponge. "I lost the other one down a toilet."

  Jack rolled his eyes.

  "You can do it," Darren said, softly.

  "Sorry?"

  "You can lead your team on your own. You're a true hero, I can tell. You've got hero genes in you, boy."

  "Thanks," Jack said. He made his way to leave but stopped short. He doubled back. "Oh, yeah, about the basketball hoop..."

  Darren waved him away. "I saw it. Don't worry, it's not the first time that hoop's been mangled. Go home, I know how to fix it, but next time, would you fly and crash outside? Not only is that then the gardener's problem, but it'll hurt less if you crash into grass."

  "Duly noted," Jack said.

  18

  Jack and his friends drove to school the morning after Rust's departure in silence.

  Rust made it clear he didn't want to train the kids, right from the moment he met them. But... they thought he had changed.

  Jack stopped by the entrance and turned to his friends. It was time to break the solemn silence. "Look, even though Rust is gone, the reason we're here hasn't changed," he said. "We were brought here to find out which one of the teachers is secretly training young villains and that is exactly what we're going to do."

  The triplets and Bella exchanged looks. Ty sighed. "Where do we start, chief?"

  Jack smiled. The five of them huddled together like a football team.

  "Okay, so this is how we're going to do it," Jack began. "We'll split up: the triplets go together and Bella, you with me. We'll each tail a teacher, watch them and wait for anything unusual. If we see something, we contact the other team and get them to join us. How's that sound?"

  "Just one question," Ethan said. "We have classes... are we going to skip them?"

  "We were brought here to weed out a mole," Jack answered. "They didn't bring us here to join the student body. Nobody's going to notice (or care) if we skip class."

  Ethan shrugged. "Well, okay then. Who are we going to tail?"

  "Why don't you three go after the math teacher, Mr Beta. Bella and I will try Professor Darkins, the science teacher."

  Caleb punched the air, enthusiastically, a huge grin of delight and determination spreading across his face. "And the Gamma Accidents are off!"

  A few students making their way to class glanced in their direction.

  Ty reached up and pulled his brother's arm down. "They already see the invisible neon sign on our foreheads," he said, cynically, "let's not announce it, too."

  The thought of observing a teacher, even in clandestine fashion, did sound rather boring. And it would have been so, if it hadn't been the ex-mad scientist now teaching high school super science.

  Professor Darkins provided hours of amusement as Bella and Jack watched him: sitting at the back of the classroom, staring through the window while sitting in a tree outside or even peeking through the holes in the air vent guards as they crawled on hand and knee in the ceiling above the classroom.

  Professor Darkins was enthusiastic, excitable, engaged, larger than life but eager to listen to his students. He couldn't just state something: he had to demonstrate it, too. This meant explosions, mini fireworks and elaborate drawings on the blackboard.

  "If this guy is a villain, I think I'll cry," Bella said, clearly stating how much she liked the quirky teacher.

  "We don't get to choose who's evil and who's good," Jack told her with a knowing smile.

  Professor Darkins was about to break class for lunch, when Jack's cell phone vibrated. Thankful he had remembered to switch it to silent, he answered.

  "Ty, what's up?" he whispered, suddenly aware of an echo in the air vent.

  "Jack, I think we have something. Can you and Bella meet us in the car park, like, yesterday?" Ty replied.

  Jack looked to Bella, who was leaning in close to hear the conversation.

  "Sure thing," Jack said and hung up.

  Bella's brow knotted. "Please tell me we're not flying express."

  "I won't tell you, then," Jack said, picking Bella up and zooming out the air vents, into open air, over the school and landing, softly, in the car park.

  Bella, eyes shut tight and clutching Jack's neck until he couldn't breathe easily, was slightly terrified.

  Jack set her down, and she looked at him, puzzled.

  "Where did you learn to land like that?" she asked, amazed.

  Jack smiled and shrugged, feeling rightly proud of himself. "I practised last night for hours until I got it right. Cool, right?"

  "Right," Bella said, still astounded. She had known Jack for as long as her memory could stretch back, and never, never, had he managed to stick a landing so expertly.

  "Can we get to business here?" Ty asked, impatiently. "We really don't have all day."

  The triplets stood, side by side, in front of Bella and Jack. Caleb's left leg was jittering, an absentminded habit he seemed to have been born with. It usually meant he was excited, more so than usual. It also told his friends there was about to be some action.

  "Okay, so what is the business?" Bella asked. Her eyes widened. "Did you find something on Mr Beta?"

  "Not exactly," Ethan replied. "I mean, besides the fact that the numbers fourteen and seventeen are going to be attacking me in my dreams, we saw nothing sinister. However, we did discover something suspicious five minutes ago."

  "What?" Bella prodded.

  "Well, you know how the teachers stay on school grounds during lunch?" Ty said. "Mr Beta apparently doesn't. Ethan and I stayed inside the classroom and sent Caleb off to dig up some dirt, considering everyone likes him so much."

  Caleb grinned, pleased with himself.

  "So, while I, as a holographic book, and Ty, as a speck on the blackboard, tried to see or hear something odd about Mr Beta, Caleb was gathering rather valid information from the lunch ladies."

  "You'll be amazed at what those
lunch-ladies know," Caleb said.

  "Well, what did you find out?" Bella questioned, almost frantically.

  "Oh, yeah, that. It turns out Mr Beta leaves school grounds every day at high noon-"

  "Ethan and I can attest to that," Ty added. "We saw him dart out of the classroom the moment the bell rang."

  "It seems that this has been a routine of his for the past four years," Caleb continued. "He leaves and returns an hour after classes should've resumed."

  "How has no one noticed his absence before?" Bella mused.

  "Helga suspects he hacks into the schedules and manipulates them so there is no math class until after he gets back."

  "You know it's bad when he's on a first name basis with the lunch-ladies," Ethan commented, making Ty and Jack laugh.

  "What are we doing standing around and talking? We have to find out where he's gone," Bella said, urgently. "When did you say he left the classroom?"

  Ty consulted his watch, as if it held any answers. "Considering he's not a speedster, he should only be reaching his car... now."

  The teens instantly whirled around, scanning the car park for the teacher of interest.

  "There!" Caleb announced, pointing directly across the car park to a dark green Land Rover with mud-splattered tyres. A tall, lean man in his late twenties with thick, dark hair, wearing thick, dark rimmed glasses, frantically looked around him as he nervously fumbled with his keys, found the right one, unlocked the vehicle, slid inside, reversed out the parking and sped out the parking lot in little more time than it took you to read this paragraph.

  "After the maths teacher!" Jack declared.

  He didn't have time to completely formulate a plan, let alone relay