[IC - Take 2] Sky High 2: Original Sins [PG-13]

[Lady Celeste]

RATING INFO :: This RP is rated PG-13, and may contain content such as the following:

--> Action/Fantasy Violence
--> Relatively Mild Language
--> Partial Nudity
--> Some Drug/Alcohol Use
--> Crude Humor

2

Original Sins

Spoiler: Short Summary 

It's the beginning of a new school year at Sky High: the sophomore year of Will Stronghold, son of legendary heroes The Commander and Jetstream. It's been several months since Will and his friends thwarted the villainous plans of Royal Pain at last year's homecoming, and much has changed in the status quo at Sky High since then. Thanks in no small part to the efforts of the Hero Support students (a.k.a. "Sidekicks") who'd helped to save the school, the earlier favoritism shown to the Hero class as opposed to the Sidekick class has been corrected to provide more equitable treatment for both classes. Some divisions and other issues still exist, as is typical for any high school, but all in all things are starting to look up.

But while Will and company eagerly prepare for the new school year, a new threat is already brewing. Villains from all over the world are gathering in Egypt, summoned by a mysterious benefactor to take part in the grandest evil scheme to date.

A scheme involving the world's very first super villains.

Spoiler: Full Plot 

Spoiler: Kemet (Egypt) - 13th Century B.C. 

Long ago, under the reign of Ramesses II, the ancient kingdom of Kemet enjoyed great cultural and economic prosperity, and to this day Ramesses is hailed as one of Kemet's greatest pharaohs. Odji, one of the pharaoh's foremost high priests, was a highly respected figure in the royal court, and enjoyed a close friendship with the royal family that afforded him considerable political influence in the kingdom. As time went on, however, Odji's high status slowly led him to become arrogant and corrupt, and he secretly aligned himself with Apep, the spirit of chaos and darkness, in exchange for the limitless power that they each craved: Odji over the land of Kemet, and Apep over the mortal world. Odji and his mistress, the concubine Neferet, went on to learn the dark arts from Apep, who blessed them with a vast array of dark powers. They became the first super villains, and began preparations to conquer Kemet in Apep's name.

Only Khnumhotep, one of the pharaoh's many sons, suspected Odji and Neferet of plotting against the kingdom, but by then it was too late. Using their new powers and Odji's political influence, Odji and Neferet managed to take over the capital city of Pi-Ramesses in a single night and take most of the royal family hostage, with only Prince Khnumhotep and a small group of loyal citizens managing to flee the city in time. Once in control of the capital, Odji and Neferet kept their end of the bargain and proceeded to spread Apep's influence throughout Kemet, allowing Apep to reign virtually unchallenged in the mortal plane.

While seeking refuge in an abandoned temple, Prince Khnumhotep discovered an ancient set of manuscripts, from which they learned how to unlock hidden powers within ordinary mortals such that would transform them into supernatural beings. Using the information from these texts, Prince Khnumhotep blessed himself and his resistance fighters with incredible powers, and likewise bestowed these same powers on others who joined their fold. Together, they became the first super heroes.

And so, over the course of many great battles, Khnumhotep and his rebellion clashed time and again with the dark forces led by Odji and Neferet, before the war ended with a final one-on-one battle between Odji and Prince Khnumhotep in the palace throne room. Prince Khnumhotep won the duel, ending Odji's reign by driving a sword through the villainous pharaoh's heart, while Neferet fled the city at Odji's request.

But the story did not end there, for with his dying breath, Odji placed one final curse on Prince Khnumhotep:

My death shall one day be undone
within this very room
when he who mixes your blood with mine
shall raise me from my tomb.

Only then did Prince Khnumhotep realize that Neferet had been carrying Odji's child when she had fled Kemet, but all subsequent efforts to find her proved fruitless. Meanwhile, the newly-reinstated Pharaoh Ramesses II ordered that Odji's body be burned to ash in a desperate attempt to stop his curse from coming to pass, but the body was stolen by Odji's loyalists before it could be destroyed, never to be found since.

Spoiler: Maxville, USA - Present Day 

In the centuries that followed, the reign of Odji and Neferet gradually faded into nothing more than a distant memory, barely remembered, if at all, by even the most knowledgeable of experts. But one Heroic History teacher at Sky High refuses to forget. Having paid close attention to the recent villain activity in Egypt, he has sensed the imminent fulfillment of Odji's curse and is already doing everything in his power to try to prevent it.

We can only hope that it's not too late.

[Lady Celeste]

(Mood Setter)

Tau finished packing his briefcase just as the last download to his flash drive was finishing up, then ejected the drive and slipped it into a small compartment on the inside of the briefcase. Immediately after breakfast, Zahra had excused herself to finish packing and leave food for Cheetah, so Tau immediately took the chance to finish his own preparations for today, including downloading a copy of today's article from Al-Ahram.

*meow*

Looking down, Tau noticed just in time that Cheetah was walking up not too far behind the wheels of his chair.

"Crazy cat..." Tau chided, promptly scooping up the cat just as Zahra entered.

"There you are!" Zahra sighed heavily, approaching them. "Sorry about that, Uncle; Cheetah has a mind of her own sometimes."

"Well for her sake, I hope she doesn't make a habit of it; I might have run her over with the chair if I hadn't seen her just now." Tau commented wryly. "Did you make sure to leave everything she needs?"

"Yes, and everything's packed. I was just about to walk to the bus stop."

"Good, good." Tau nodded. "Now Zahra, before you go, there is one thing I wanted to discuss with you."

"What is it?" Zahra asked, and noticed as her uncle's expression took on a visible seriousness.

"We've already talked about Power Placement yesterday; what it is, what you'll have to do..." Tau began to explain. "I think it would be best if you only showed one power today. That's all the instructor will ask of you."

Zahra nodded, a slight smile working its way onto her face. "Oh, no showing off too much, right?" She asked, with a small laugh. "Fair enough. It's not like they'd let me bring Cheetah in for Power Placement anyway."

"That's true; I forgot about that." Tau said wryly, realizing that Cheetah had just heard that and was probably getting ideas. If that cat decides to sneak around the school grounds... "Anyway, I have a few things to take care of before school starts, but I'll see you later today."

"Okay, so I'll see you then!" Zahra said, exiting the house with a wave.

"Enjoy your first day!" Tau waved back, watching from the window as Zahra made her way to the bus stop. Waiting until she was safely with the other approaching students, Tau then prepared to leave for school himself, just as a breaking news bulletin was being announced on the radio:

"This just in, folks: the Commander and Jetstream have done it again, having just stopped a rampage downtown by a large crocodile-like creature…"

---

Zahra, meanwhile, soon arrived at the bus stop and waited. Tempting as it was to use the tree at the corner for practice before Power Placement, she quickly decided against it, especially since it was too out in the open.

[Thelonewanderer]

(Scott Jackson: Titan)

Buzz...Buzz..Buzz

Waking up, Scott hit his alarm, turning it off. Rising into a sitting position, Scott noted he had enough time to get in a shower and eat breakfast before school.

After eating and showering, Scott headed down into his basement/garage/workshop. Hitting the lightswitch, one would see a car, his Dad's, a few workbenches, and in the back, hanging on a corner, was Scott's armor system. Getting into was easy enough. After about ten minutes, Scott was armored, minus his helmet which was stored in his backpack and ready to head out.

Walking out the garage door, Scott had a holo-emitter flicker into life, making him look simply like a bulky looking teenager, instead of a teen wearing powered armor.

Once at the bus stop, Scott noticed a new face there. Well, wonder how the freshie will place? he thought to himself.

[Ushima]

Michael stood on the roof overlooking the scene below as a lizard monster was carted off, probably to some super secret maximum security prison, he guessed. Already work was being done to clear up themes caused by the rampaging mutant crocodile...thing. Construction crews were assessing the damage and making estimates for the cost and other workers were moving debris. "Certainly made a mess of things." Michael muttered. "Most I ever break is windows." Turning away from the ledge he walked to the other side before jumping off the building, his body turning into lightning, landing in a crouch in an alley.

Standing up he shoved his hands into his jean pockets and walked out onto the street, away from the scene. His pace was casual as his eyes scanned the streets for his target. Not that it was hard to find. A large coffee cup sign on the front of a building. Pushing open the door Michael was please to see that it was a slow day, only being third in line. After a few minutes of browsing the large menu it was his turn. "What can I get for you?" The girl behind the counter asked.

"I'll have four breakfast sandwiches, three blueberry muffins, a chocolate chip cookie, two strawberry danishes and a extra large coffee." Michael finished off his list. The barista just blinked. "I'd start ringing that up I'm going to be late." After paying for his food Michael was handed a brown bag and left the coffee shop. He ate while he walked, bag tucked into his left arm and holding a sandwich while his right held his coffee. Michael needed a lot of food to compensate for the amount of energy using his powers take. He found loading up on carbs at the start of the day got him through till at least dinner.

Finishing off his cookie he washed it down with his coffee and tossed the garbage into a bin on a street corner. "Tasty." Michael patted his stomach. Then his phone beeped. Taking it out of his pocket Michael noted the time. "Guess I should get going." Putting the phone back Michael jumped up to the roof of a building across the street. The lightning wielder sprinted across the roofs, turning into lightning when the gap was to great for his human limitations. The bus stop was in sight in a matter of minutes, cutting across roofs was quite the shortcut. With one final leap and transformation he materialized at the corner. A few of the new faces were startled by the sudden bolt of lightning's appearance and transformation into a person. Michael casually leaned against the wall, paying no mind to the freshies, and just relaxed until the bus arrived.

[Agent Rina]

Andrew knocked on the door to Ammy's room. "Ammy!! Are you done yet!!! We're going to miss the bus!! I don't want to be late, especially on the first day of school. Ammy! AMMS!!"
He knocked again. Finally the door opened and Ammy was ready. "Whaa--- school? hmmm??" She asked half asleep. Andrew sighed. At least she was fully ready, just not in mind; but he didn't mind considering she'd be springing and asking too many questions in a few minutes.
He then grabbed her wrist. "let's go! We can't be late! It's our first day and our first time at this school! Get it together Ams!"
He then ran out the door with a quick goodbye to his mom and dad who were beaming at their kids running off, almost late because of Ammy, as usual.
Finally He had dragged Ammy along and made it to the bus stop. Noticing other kids he sighed a sigh of relief. There were other people there. They weren't late. Ammy was still groggy. Andrew opened his backpack and handed Ammy a bottle of orange juice. "Here." He said still a bit out of breath.
Ammy took it and looked at it for a second and drank it. She stretched a bit and thought about the events. It was the first day of school, nothing new... wait... the first day of school! It then hit her like a brick. It was the first day of school. She could just feel the excitement as she chugged the rest of the juice down and marveled at everyone at the bus stop and everything, she could hardly contain herself at the moment.

[Price]

Jesse packed his backpack in a quick, haphazard manner. He had dressed himself in a plain black tee shirt, jeans, and his hoodie with the hood turned over. It was a safe choice for blending into the crowd of students for a first day that he had dreaded ever since that he had learned of his enrollment. The story of that Stronghold kid had given his super powered mom hope that he too could be a late bloomer. Stacy looked at her son descending the stairs. She smiled at him wordlessly since his father was at the table drinking coffee. She tended to the dishes as Jesse escaped out the front door. Jesse put on his black leather gloves as soon as he got to the porch. Just before he could descend the three small stairs that led to the sidewalk, he felt the firm, powerful grip of his father.

Jesse turned to see his father, Jack, glaring at him coldly. The man didn’t speak, but Jesse understood him perfectly. “Don’t do anything to embarrass this family, or their will be consequences...” Jack seemed to say with his violent look. After a tight, painful squeeze, Jack released the boy as if to dismiss him to the bus stop. Jesse put in his earbuds and blared his iPod music when he was a safe distance from his father. His mind shifted everywhere from thoughts of the dreaded power placement to concerns of if his mother would be okay without him. Her only power was talking to animals...and that wasn’t exactly a useful power when his father was in one of his moods.

Jesse’s father shot a look at the niece of the great Tau Nassar and the miserable wretch he called his son. It was a death glare from the eyes of a filthy soul. No one in the neighborhood knew just what exactly went on inside the Jones’ house, but rumors were plenty. The wildest and most baseless of which were that Jesse’s father was some war veteran who returned home a broken man who broke the home and everyone inside. That was the excuse for why he had been absent from the home for so long, but that story was false. The truth was far less complicated...Jesse’s father was simply a bad man who would leave for months at a time with no explanation. Still, no one ever asked Jesse about his life...perhaps in part because the gossip was far more desirable than the truth...perhaps because no one truly cared. All that could be said for sure, was that the origins of Jesse’s occasional rough bruises remained a mystery.

Jesse turned to look at his father one last time. Jack’s eyes looked as if they were piercing his and the girl’s soul. Just like that, Jack went back in the house. "Does he know her?" Jesse wondered. He turned to look at the girl. His eyes were depressingly bashful, as if shunned into silence. His body language suggested that he was at least uncomfortable and at most that he had already counted himself out of being worthy of holding a conversation with the girl. He simply stood in an awkward silence unsure of what to say or do.

[Potatrobot]

New York City, from the air, was a mere patch of texture on a tiny portion of the Earth's surface. From the ground, it was a concrete jungle of monolithic proportions. Squared glass titans squatted in a neat grid, maintaining order, but stretched as far as they wished towards the sky. Perspective, at times, plays a large part in understanding what something truly is. The city may have been grand from the ground, but if one had the rare opportunity to see how small it truly was, they would see how it played its part in the grandeur of something far bigger than itself.

For instance, one particular building a few blocks away from the water's edge, while impressive in its own right, was just the common, flattering façade to the far greater mechanism it sat on. The building itself — labelled Archimedes Homeware — was merely seven storeys tall. Only those who worked there, however, got to see what lay underneath: the thirty-five underground levels that served as the SPA's domestic headquarters. Larger and more isolated headquarters existed elsewhere in the country and the wider world, no doubt designed to contain large-scale experiments and test the powers of numerous gifted citizens, but there would always have to be a smaller facility: a base camp where the paperwork was handled.

In a locker room twenty-five storeys underground, two nearly physically identical women dressed themselves with almost-matching combat uniforms — differentiated only by colour — and a set of mission-essential gadgets. Once they were equipped, the women moved to take a pair of metal armoured gauntlets and boots. Before they could reach them, they were interrupted.

"We're just visiting the school." It was a man's voice. The two women turned around to see an agent nearly twenty years their senior with maroon, grey-streaked hair and a dark suit standing in the open doorway. They weren't startled, or even alarmed for that matter. However he had clearly snuck up on them. "You don't need full mission getup."

One of the women, with white hair, fiery-coloured eyes, a matching coloured outfit and tanned skin, responded first.
"I think the new kids'd like to see what kinds of toys we offer. A demo during power placement should get them excited."

The other woman, with pitch black hair, icy blue eyes, matching colours on her outfit and pale skin, was already stepping into her boots and closing them over her legs. She picked up her right gauntlet and stuffed her arm into it.
"Yeah Cole, we might as well show them our apex. This is supposed to convince them to become agents, not bullseyes."

With her arm fastened securely in the gauntlet, he raised it with her palm down, and its twin raised out of her locker, suspended by five slick, black tendrils, each shedding a layer of fog. She slipped her bare arm into the gauntlet, and the tendrils dissipated.

"You just want to show off, Darcy." Cole said flatly. "I'm going to give a talk to the sidekicks and share my story, the two of you are there to show the heroes an alternate career."

"Well, so long as Lucia's giving a demonstration, I'll be there too." Said Darcy. Lucia had already put on her boots and was in the process of equipping her gauntlets.

"Fine then," Cole dismissed, opening his own locker and pulling out three pistols. He holstered two of them on opposite sides inside his blazer and one on his ankle.

"Are the guns necessary for a school visit?" Lucia asked.
"Just being prepared." Cole said quickly.

-----------

Half an hour later, the three agents filed into a car in a garage at the thirtieth floor underground, Cole sitting in the passenger seat next to the driver, and Lucia and Darcy taking seats in the back. Once the driver was ready, he drove the car into a tunnel at the end of the garage, and began to build up speed. Faster and faster the car tore through the tunnel, which gradually began to slope upwards. Eventually, a pinprick of light appeared at the end, and the car subsequently kicked into high throttle, literally rocketing towards it. By this point, the tunnel was sloped at a forty-five degree angle. The driver took a hand off the tiller to finger a few buttons on the centre console before the car burst into daylight and took off into the sky, some distance off the shoreline of the city. The newly cloaked car sprouted a pair of wings, and took off towards Sky High.

[Lady Celeste]

Zahra didn't fail to notice the look that Jack Jones was giving her behind her back. She gave him a friendly wave nonetheless, even though she knew that there would be no point in giving any other kind of reply. Her uncle had spoken very little about Mr. Jones, but had very clearly warned her to be careful around him, and Zahra could see why right away; from what she could tell, at best he was really bad at socializing, and at worst he just plain hated everything he laid eyes on. But that didn't mean she would let him get under her skin, or treat him any differently than she would any other person; if he insisted on giving her nasty looks in spite of that, that was his own fault.

Once Jack Jones went back into the house, Zahra turned her attention to his son Jesse, who was avoiding looking at her, as if he were some lowly peasant standing next to royalty. With a father like that, Zahra could only imagine what Jesse's family life must be like, and part of her almost didn't want to know, but it was very obvious now that he needed a break from all of that, if not a way out altogether.

"Hi. Jesse, right?" Zahra said, giving him a small but genuine smile. "I'm Zahra; my uncle lives next door from you."

Before she could speak any further, however, the bus began to pull up next to the corner. As the bus came to a complete stop, bus driver Ron Wilson opened the door and greeted the gathered students with his standard wide smile.

"Morning." Ron said cheerfully, waiting for the students to climb aboard.

[Thelonewanderer]

(Scott Jackson: Titan)

"Morning Mr. Wilson" Scott said as he stepped into the bus, finding a seat near the middle. Once he was seated and away from the window, Scott made sure he was in position to be strapped in by the harness when the came down. Sure his armor was rated to take a tank shell and keep going, but that wouldn't matter if he was mush due to having all the kinetic energy hit him. It was still a problem that Scott had yet to fix, and falling from a high distance would be like being hit by a tank round. His armor would make it, but he wouldn't.

[Ushima]

"What's up Ron?" Michael stepped onto the bus and bumped fists with the driver.

"Hey sparky." Ron shot back.

"Funny. Keep up with the nicknames and we'll see if I jumpstart the bus again next time the battery goes." Michael shot Ron a smirk as he made his way to the back of the bus. Sitting in the second to last seat on the right he let out a sigh, finally he got to sit. He'd been moving all morning so the chance to sit, even if it was about to blast into the sky, was appreciated. Michael wasted no time in going for the harness to secure himself for the trip. He wished his powers allowed him to travel long distances. Then he'd be at school in a matter of seconds.