reddened.
"For those of you that do not know it, there is a group of heroes that did more than save our lives and our school this night," Urban continued. "This band of heroes proved themselves and proved a point. They were the very subject I spoke about before the chaotic events of this evening unfolded. Gamma Accidents. Whether you know it or not, whether you accept it or not, these kids saved us all."
Urban lifted his gaze from the crowd and sought out the kids in question. He gave them a little nod, and the five outcasts stepped forward.
"Some are born with greatness," Urban said, indicating to a group of hereditary and hybrid heroes. "Some strive for their own greatness, some have it thrust in their path and some go looking for trouble in toxic waste treatment plants and end up with powers," Urban raised an eyebrow in the direction of a band of Toxic Waste Punks. "Gamma Accidents fall under none of those categories. They are not born with their abilities and they have been, for countless decades, considered far from greatness. They have no control over what happens to them. It's truly an accident.
"This group of Accidents have proven themselves. They have proven that it does not matter how we get our powers," he smiled at Jack, "or what power we have," he smiled at Bella, "it's purely how we use them.
"These kids were born to be the ones to pave the way to change. To show us that we need to look deeper than prejudices. True, they were not born with their powers. You can argue this was all just one big accident, and you'd be correct, my friend. However, sometimes, it is not the accident that should worry us but what we do with what that accident leaves behind that really counts.
"Hence, from this day forward, gamma accidents are no longer banned. I want to train and educate them along with hereditary, mutant, hybrid and toxic waste supers. And, we have many empty seats to fill in our classrooms now."
The heroes in the crowd shrugged, consulted it and nodded, eventually.
"All agreed? That's good," Urban said, beaming from ear to ear. "I was going to do it no matter what you people decided. Let's celebrate with another round of coffee, shall we?"
The Gamma Accidents met up again.
"So, I guess that means tomorrow we're going to Hero High!" Bella declared, smiling with uncontained glee.
The smile spread to her friends. "I guess it does."
The ground began rumbling.
"Charles Fitzgerald, the threat is past, you don't have to protect us!" Caleb yelled.
"That's not Charles," Ethan said, worriedly.
The same thought passed through everyone's mind at the same time.
"Caleb, what did you do with your bomb?" Ty questioned.
"All drains lead to the ocean, right?" he said, innocently.
He was proved wrong the next minute when the school everyone had fought to save exploded, bricks shooting like projectiles high into the sky, bits of glass raining down on the assembled crowd of supers.
Classrooms were flattened, the cafeteria was devastated, the gym was crushed, the auditorium was levelled and the lockers were just twisted pieces of metal.
Once the rain of debris had ended, everyone saw what was left of their beloved school.
A lone toilet stood in the middle of the rubble, completely out of place in the disaster zone.
"You are never watching Finding Nemo on your own again," Ty said to his brother, simply.
"Sure thing," Caleb said, staring blankly at the lone toilet.
"You know, this is probably not the right time to mention this," Bella piped up. "But... woo hoo! Now we get to sleep in late."
Epilogue
The Gamma Accidents returned to their summery, coastal hometown, Crashton.
Bella was swamped with hugs from her brothers and sisters and parents the moment she stepped foot on the driveway of her home. She laughed, joyfully, as she was greeted by her ragtag mob of a family. Saving the day could never rival coming home to a loving, big family.
The Sweets now had their resident nightlight back.
The triplets' parents were happy to have their sons home. Their home had been too quiet, too still, too uneventful without them.
Having Ethan, Ty and Caleb back at the dinner table immediately increased the noise in the Black household by seventy-eight percent.
As soon as they arrived in Crashton, Jack continued riding. Alone on his motorbike, he rode along a quiet road that hugged the coastline, the scent of the ocean mingling with the salt air.
He had to think. There were so many things to think about, so many things to sort out and so many things to put to rest. That weekend held so many revelations, his head needed clearing before he could decipher them all.
He rode as if he wanted to find the end of the road. Going all hours of the night, into the dawn, he rode through.
After he settled his thoughts, he realized just how far he had gone. He was miles away. So far away, there was no way anyone could reach him ever again.
It was time to turn back.
He was only a few miles away from home when he passed a familiar white van, parked along the side of the coast road.
Realizing what that white van signified, Jack turned around.
Rust leant against the hood of the slightly beat-up van, waiting casually for the teenager.
"Just thought I'd let you know," Rust began, "of some new developments."
Jack removed his helmet. "What developments?"
"Like, your grandfather is now detained in a super secure prison," Rust said, counting them off on his fingers. "Like, Urban managed to lift the ban on gamma accidents officially, so now we can start saving the world again without people playing Whack-a-Mole on us every time we pop our heads out the ground. Like how I've had a peek at the new plans for Hero High, version 2.0..."
"And...?" Jack prompted.
"Oh, you're gonna love this," Rust said, smiling. "Urban said that, to encourage good relationships with gamma accidents, the new Hero High should be built in a hot-spot. He consulted me again and we both agreed that, in honour of you and your friends, Hero High 2.0 should be built in Crashton."
"Are you kidding?" Jack asked, a grin starting.
Rust spread his arms out wide. "Oh, how I've missed the sunshine here. Now we can have training sessions on the beach, too. You'll need underwater training, it makes for a well-rounded out hero education."
"You mean, you're still going to train us?" Jack asked, hopefully.
Rust shrugged. "Until you learn how to dodge all bullets, Bella can control her hard light, Ethan becomes a true shape shifter, Caleb learns to splat like putty and Ty figures out how to grow giant... eh, why not?"
"That means you'll be hanging around for a while," Jack raised an eyebrow.
"Considering recent developments, Hero High is going to need a new history teacher," Rust said. His eyes sparkled as he grinned. "Who better than a legendary hero to teach it?"
It was very late when Jack returned home. He entered the suburban house to find a lamp turned on in the living room, a photo album open on the coffee table and his mother waiting up, her eyes heavy with sleep.
She didn't jump off the couch when he entered the room. She had never been an emotional person.
"You've been thinking, haven't you?" Alison asked. She sounded tired, at peace and yet concerned all at the same time in a way only a loving mother can sound.
Mothers often worry about their children, but Jack could not remember the last time he had been a cause of deep worry to his mother.
His conscience pricking him for having run off without as much as a goodbye, Jack settled down on the couch opposite his mother. There were some things he wanted to discuss with her and some things he needed to tell her.
Ask anyone and they will tell you the beginning is always the hardest place to start. It's the only place to start, however.
Jack plunged in and explained the encounter with Wepaynar to his mother. Alison sat and listened to every detail, not interrupting once.
Jack awkwardly and sadly told his mother ab
out how her father killed her husband.
Alison was quiet, contemplative and blinking heavily with exhaustion. She realized Jack was waiting for her response to his outpouring of information.
"To be honest, I think I'm too tired to react," Alison said, rubbing her eyes and yawning. "I grew up around heroes and villains, gadgets and jets and, although I never went to Hero High myself (having no powers and no special skills, they would never accept me), I understand it all. I knew gamma accidents were hated, distrusted and so many well-revered heroes held strong opinions against them. Dad hated gamma accidents with a passion. It was a misunderstanding, but he perceived it as total injustice. Over the years, that feeling festered into bitter prejudice. I saw it change him from a hero with deeply entrenched principles, into a man who wanted nothing more than to rid the earth of all gamma accidents. He thought he would be doing the planet a favour."
"How did you and dad get together then?" Jack asked.
Alison sighed and closed her eyes, happy memories playing like movies behind them. "Wrong place, right time: that's how I like to think of it. It was actually the day G-4 went rogue. Eighteen, nearly nineteen years ago. I would have been killed if it had not been for John swooping in and saving me and my mother. My dad was far from happy about that. I knew he hated John Painter. But I wanted to know the truth. I wanted to find out who was right and who was wrong.
"Long story short, your father and I fell in love, married and you and Rosie came along. Looking back, we should have thought things through better but I can't regret what we did. We ran away, eloped, and found