What Light Through Yonder Window Breaks (IC)

[Avenger Assembled]

Early January 2011

Brian wasn't sure what he'd been expecting at the arrival gate at Jordan International Airport, but the smiling African-American woman in the trim business suit and the cheerful fellow in the Claremont jersey who looked to be an upperclassman were certainly welcoming enough. The woman was holding up a "BRIAN HARRIS" sign, one she put aside as she caught sight of him. "There he is, Mark...Hello, Brian!" she said with a wave. "I'm Stephanie Harcourt, we spoke on the phone. This is Mark Lucas, he's one of our upperclassmen and he'll be assisting me on this tour. How was your flight?" she asked him cordially, steering them all out of the zone of exiting traffic so they could have a little more peace and quiet. "How much luggage did you bring?"

[Raveled]

Brian Harris's stomach was tied into knots during the flight out to Freedom City. Excusing the fact that this was his first time on a commercial airplane, indeed his first time very far from his hometown, it hadn't even been a month since his home was broken into by federal police and his parents had been outed to the world as supervillains. (Some Christmas that had been.) Now he was expected to make a new life for himself in Freedom City, and he was almost positive that the old woman sitting across the aisle from him was an undercover AEGIS agent.

Some of his troubles were forgotten as the plane banked for final approach and he caught a view of Freedom City itself spread out out past one wingtip. He knew it would be larger than where he came from, but it was almost impossible to imagine how much bigger. He was supposed to protect all of that? Little Rock was only half a million or so and it had four full-time superheroes! A sinking feeling started in his guts, though that might've been the plane losing altitude.

Once in the terminal, he nodded respectfully to the older woman in the suit -- Harcourt, she said her name was -- and held his hand out to Mark. "Um. AEGIS only let me pack one suitcase, and the carry-on." He shrugged, making the drawstring satchel he wore over one shoulder bob up and down. From its shape, it didn't seem to have much in it. "They said they had to check my other stuff, and they'd send it along as soon as they could." He turned to address the other Claremont student. "Hello, Mark."

[Avenger Assembled]

Mrs. Harcourt led the way to the baggage claim, her voice full of practiced reassurance for the new student. "We've got a van waiting for us in the Adams lot, it'll take us all the way to Claremont. Normally we try and schedule multiple student pickups at the same time, but things are always different over the winter semester." She let Brian carry his own suitcase, since teenage boys were sensitive about that sometimes, and soon they were off outside. Freedom City in January was much cooler than Little Rock at the same time, for all that this was a strange year. Mrs. Harcourt and Mark were mostly quiet in the van, not wanting to pester the new arrival with lots of talk until he felt like talking.

[Raveled]

Brian was quiet as they collected his bag and walked out to the van. He listened to the -- teacher? Faculty-person? -- Mrs. Harcourt with one ear, sneaking sidelong glances at Mark as they moved through the terminal. He was being awfully quiet; did he resent being sent to fetch and underclassman, just another would-be superhero without enough of whatever they needed to be a for-real superhero? Or was this his normal attitude, and Brian was reading too much into it?

As they crossed into the parking garage and neared a vehicle with a Claremont bumper ticks, he gave a slight frown. The young man loaded his suitcase and took a seat in the back of the van. He knocked on the door supports, then braces against the roof and pushed. "This thing doesn't fly," he asked, "does it? Because if it does I'm gonna need a lot more than a seat belt."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Hah, no!" said Mark with a laugh as he got behind the wheel. "I'm not rated to drive the flying car, anyway. Ms. Harcourt and Mr. Summers make sure that only licensed pilots fly our school's aerial vehicles." In the passenger seat, Mrs. Harcourt hmmed at that, turning to keep an eye on the student as they headed onto the streets of Freedom City, answering his questions as they went. Mark was doing a lot of talking, the upperclassman seemingly eager to talk Brian's ear off about the details of every little place they were passing. He didn't give off the vibe of someone bragging, just someone who liked to talk. Soon they were at the school, a quiet blanket of thin snow on the ground on the cold January day.

[Raveled]

Brain kept quiet in the back, staring out the window as they passed through Bayview, the taller spires of the city in the background. He absorbed everything the upperclassman said, though. They actually do have flying cars, he mused quietly. What else would he see?

Whatever he was imagining didn't live up to the reality. He frowned out the window at the old-world styling of the buildings, looking around at the surroundings. "I was kinda expecting something different," he admitted. "Something more like a military base, maybe, with people out in the quad running training drills. Or like a space-base, all hyper-advanced and Space Age." He turned in a slow circle, taking in the full view. "Do you really train folks with superpowers here?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"Do we!?" exclaimed Mark. "Sure, like this!" Mark snapped his fingers, there was a sparkle of black dots, and in his hands was a map to the Claremont campus which he handed to Brian. "I'm not that powerful," he said with a little wave of his hand, "I mean, I don't train as hard as our really tough people like Wander or Phalanx," he said with a modest shrug. With a little sigh, Ms. Harcourt stepped in.

"Brian, Mark and I are going to walk you to a meeting with Mr. Summers." As they walked through the campus, Brian quickly realized the lovely Victorian campus was overrun with teens with powers! Here a long-necked teenager built a snowman with the help of an ice-manipulating friend, while over there two girls Brian's own age were having a friendly snowball fight that blurred almost too fast to see.

"Welcome to Hero High," Mark confided cheerily.

[Raveled]

Brian craned his neck, turning his attention from the architecture to the students themselves. More than a few caught his eye without displaying any powers whatsoever; he watched a tall, bubbly blonde hanging on the arm of a figure that seemed to be formed from shining chrome, and found himself wondering how to get into her... classes. He was so intent on the sights that he tripped over his own feet and almost fell on Ms. Harcourt; only a timely spot of levitation saved them both from an embarrassing spill. He landed lightly, blushing at his own mistake, keeping his eyes fixed forward. "Okay, so there's lots of folks with powers around. I was just expecting -- I dunno, a little more structure? Mom used to coach me in self-defense when I was in grade school, and sports was always pretty structured. I'm just surprised to see everyone running around, doing their own thing," he admitted. "What about super-teams and stuff," he asked, suddenly intent. "Is there a school uniform to wear when we're doing stuff like that?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"Oh, we've got plenty of structure," said Mark with a little wince. "Sometimes more than some of us would like," he added, shooting a grin the teacher's way so she wouldn't be annoyed. "But it's 3 PM on Thursday, so most people are out of class. The blue and yellow is the school uniform," he said, pointing to several kids dressed like that, "It's also some local football colors, so you may not have noticed." Several kids were indeed wearing blue and yellow jumpsuits, with parkas over them to match. "If you want to see some training and structure," he suggested, "I can take you by the gym as we go?"

[Raveled]

Brian considered the offer for a moment, then shook his head. "I shouldn't keep Mr. Summers waiting," he decided aloud. "I'll have plenty of time to explore the gym later." As the small group cut across the campus, the young mutant conjured a ball of red-black energy in his free hand, staring at it for a long moment. It wasn't hard to guess that he was wondering how the color scheme would go with a blue and yellow jumpsuit. What it meant when he released the energy to float slowly up into the sky, though, was harder to guess at. "So, is there any sort of structured training? Maybe some sports teams?" he asked, a note of hope in his voice.

[Avenger Assembled]

Mark confirmed for Brian that the school had an active intramural scene, and offered to show him the field as they went. "We have some issues with competition with other schools, as you can imagine," he said with a wry little shrug. "Things were different back a few years ago when we had more mundane students, but a lot's changed since the Grue invasion. Not this last one," he added, "the one back in '03-04."

Inside the Jasmine Summers administration building, Brian was quickly ushered into a meeting with Duncan Summers. The serious-faced old man was cordial, welcoming Brian to the school as he leaned on his cane, shaking his hand with a grip that belied Summers' age, which had to be over 70. "From what I've seen of your records, if you take the opportunities given to you, you'll have a satisfactory experience at the school." It was hard to tell, but that seemed like a complimentary remark from the hawk-eyed old gentleman. "Did you have any questions for me?"

[Raveled]

Brain stood almost at attention in Duncan Summers's presence. This was the man who had looked beyond the accident of his birth and decided to give him a chance, to prove that he could be more than just his parents' son. Even if Brian hadn't been brought up to be courteous to his elders, this man would've commanded all his respect. "Just one, sir," he said. "I know the -- that nature of this school isn't common knowledge. About people here having superpowers, I mean. But I saw some kids out on the quad using their powers openly, and some others who wouldn't be able to hide what they were if they wanted to." He felt a special empathy with that group and resolved to buy himself a pair of mirror sunglasses the first chance he got.

"I guess my question would be, how open are we? I'm guessing that flying from class to class isn't a big deal, but what about flying into town? What are the rules for heroing? Do I have to join a team or wear a mask? Do I take a class? Do I need a license? Back in Little Rock," he added, trying to helpful, "the local team are all deputies of the sheriff's department. Is that how it works out here?"

He paused and considered what he just said. "I guess I have more than one question after all."