LeftOvers - How to Become a SuperVillain and Take Over the World

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"I think that's our escort," Annabelle said. She pointed towards a tall, dark woman in a well tailored business suit. The woman was walking towards us, briefcase swinging at her side.

Yesterday, each one of us had received a memo from the office telling us to meet up here with enough clothes and amenities for a week. And so a few hours ago we met up here, in front of the school's administrative building.

The silence was awkward as we waited from something to happen, even Clarence was beginning to fidget and tap his fingers in rhythm against the bench he sat on.

I didn't know what we were expected to do, or for that matter what to bring for a week long stay anywhere. Still, I packed a few changes of clothes in my backpack and some of our course books, just in case. My other toys I had on me, or maybe in me. English doesn't combine well with superpowers. All four of us had bulging backpacks piled up to one side, where Lillian could keep an eye on them while reading through some harlequin romance she had brought with her.

She looked up from the book as the woman approached and stopped a few metres away from our group. I heard her muttering under her breath, "About time."

"I am Agent Linda Evans of Crawford Security," The woman said. "Are you all ready?"

I raised a hand, as though to ask a question in class. "Ready for what, exactly?"

Agent Evans looked me up and down. "You'll be debriefed on route to the transport. Follow me."

We scrambled as Agent Evans spun on a heel and began walking away. Soon, all four of us had shouldered our bags and were jogging to keep up with the agent's long stride. "I understand that this is your team's first mission?" the agent said.

"Yes ma'am," I replied.

She nodded, then waved a keycard at a flat panel set beside the entrance to the building. The door slid open. "Then I might need to cover a bit more than I had thought."

"Cover more about what, exactly?" I asked.

The inside of the building was one long corridor, white walls bathed in fluorescent light that went on for quite a ways. Just how big was this place? It looked rather squat from the outside.

Five pairs of feet clacked on hard cement floors as Agent Evans answered. "As you should be aware by now, selected teams from the student roster are given low-priority missions. These are supervised by both the Crawford staff, and by fellow students. As a group of first-years, your duties will most likely be background work. Guard duty, information extraction, warding. Things that won't put you in any great risk, but that will allow you to see Supers at work." She looked at us over her shoulder. "At no time and under no circumstances are you to disobey a direct order. Doing so might cost you your lives."

"Won't that interfere with our classwork?" I asked.

Surprisingly, it was Clarence that answered. "No, not really. You get credits for these missions, and exeption on homework, and you're expected to keep up with the classwork either via video lessons or by following some assigned reading. If you're behind on your work, they'll usually tutor you to help you catch up after."

"Well said, Mister Harrington," Agent Evans said. She stopped before a simple doorway and opened it. "Follow me."

The room, or rooms, were rather huge. Definitely bigger than anything that could have fit into this stubby building. The three sections I could see were separated by half-wall broken up in places wide enough for a car to drive through. The walls were covered in posters and calendars, tool boxes lined some parts and couches that looked like sidewalk discards were pushed up against the walls. At least three different stereos were playing at the same time, filling the room with a discordant mix of bad dubstep, pop and some old orchestral piece.