Chapter Text
"Alright. What would you say qualifies you for this experience? Why should we pick you, above any other powered individual of your... status?"
The air conditioning unit whirred softly, blowing chilled air into the otherwise silent cubicle-like discussion room. With nothing more than two chairs, a desk to separate them, and a couple of bookshelves containing binders of college information and mockingly bright-colored self-help books, it felt more like an interrogation room than anything else. Changyun wrung out his hands in his lap for what felt like the hundredth time, trying to recall the answers he'd practiced with his mother the night before. The words were in his head somewhere-- this was just like any other big test he'd ever studied for, probably.
"Number one... people skills." He started, untangling a hand to keep count on his fingers, "Two.. teamwork. Not to be confused with the people skills. My mom says I'm good at deescalation. One time my friend Jaeyoon accidentally blew milk out of his nose and it got on the principal and I--"
"Stop, stop there. Please." The middle-aged woman in a fitted navy pantsuit sitting across from him pleaded, gripping her pen tightly in one French-tipped hand as the other massaged her temples. "I meant qualifications regarding your powers. What do you do, Mr. Lee?"
Changyun froze stiff in his uncomfortable plastic seat, head low as he picked away at fuzz on his uniform khakis. The woman's stare bored holes in his orange scalp.
"W-Well, sometimes I can..."
**
[1 Year Later.]
"So. Where's the school."
The ocean breeze tousled Seungjun Lee's bleached blonde waves as he sat on the back ledge of the pod mini yacht he'd had the _delight_ of being stranded on for the past 3 hours. It was the day countless powered children from around the globe had been looking forward to for years-- orientation day at one Western Metropolis University for Young and Gifted Powers, the most renowned hero-raising institute ever built.
Realizing he hadn't gotten a response, Seungjun pushed the boy sitting cross-legged at his side. The black-haired youth made a yelp of surprise, shooting the blond a dirty look.
"How would I know? I've never been!" Hyojin Kim, Seungjun's best friend since their cringeworthy middle school days, narrowed his eyes and tightened the belts of his life jacket (which already couldn't be any tighter). He used his arms to scoot backwards into the shade of the pod, away from the open ocean and sun that had already burned his legs pink.
"Did you want me to drown? Don't push me like that!" Hyojin began to fuss, but was quickly distracted by a flicker of motion across the expanse of water. "Look, dolphin!" He pointed, lighting up with a grin.
Seungjun was unimpressed. He hadn't been excited for a dolphin or whale or mysterious floating "maybe it's from Atlantis!" object since the first sightings 3 hours ago. With a sigh, he scooted backwards to join his friend on the wooden floor in the safety of the boat. Seungjun couldn't help but feel stressed about the whole situation. WMU was notoriously secretive about its location-- photographs of the outside of the building itself were strictly prohibited, even for students and alumni. Such as Hyojin's father, decked out in a Margaritaville t-shirt and ball cap reading "My Other Boat is a Boat", who whipped open the door of the front navigation section of the yacht with an outrageously peppy grin the likes of which only a father on a boat could achieve.
"Boys, we've made it! Come look." He gestured inside to the front console and wide windows. The two soon-to-be students immediately obeyed, almost tripping over each other and slipping on the slick floor to run through the door and peer out the front. What Seungjun saw shocked him, but not in a pleasant way.
"Okay, again." Seungjun's mood plummeted. “Where's the school? That's an island. It's like... the size of a shed. Or a food truck. Or one of those tiny Dairy Queens that don't serve chicken tenders."
"Or like.. the size of your imagination. Or patience." Hyojin shot back and rolled his eyes, pushing his black bangs off of his sweaty forehead.
"Tsk tsk. Oh ye of little faith." Mr. Kim interrupted their bickering with a wagging finger, reaching to take the steering wheel and guide their tiny seacraft to the shore. The yacht pod obediently made a beeline for the island, pulling up on the sand. The boys and Hyojin's father hopped off the back of the boat, all three just barely fitting to stand on the small sand bar. Seungjun, glancing to his side, noticed a glimmer of mischief across Mr. Kim's face before the older man spoke.
"Looks like we're the first ones here. Lucky us, this means we'll get to stand on land instead of doggy paddling during orientation." He adjusted his hat, looking down at the boys with a grin. They met his gaze with utterly defeated looks, both hunched and sweating bullets under the mid-August sun. Mr. Kim flapped his hand at them, head turning to face the open water.
"Sorry, sorry. I've toyed with your emotions enough. Get a load of--" The man raised his flip flop-clad foot, bringing it down hard on an innocuous-looking grey rock embedded in the sand. "This!" He crowed triumphantly, gesturing to the sea.
For a moment, Seungjun admitted, he believed it to be another of Mr. Kim’s jokes and he’d just about snapped at the man. Oh, how quickly he was proven wrong. Moments after the rock had been pounded into the sand, what little ground was below them began to tremble, the vibrations growing stronger every second as the waters’ surface rippled. Hyojin and Seungjun exchanged worried glances before an unusual sight stole their attention.
On the distant horizon, a large pole pierced through the waves and steadily rose into the sky, its top concealed by clouds. It was followed by another slightly shorter but nearer pole, then another, and another, until the augmenting poles were close enough for Seungjun to realize that they were as thick as ancient tree trunks, with web-like entanglements of metal and pulleys attached to the visible tops.
Like magic, thick ropes of silver wire wound up the “trunks” from under the water like shining snakes and swung to attach the poles pulley by pulley as the boys watched on, wide-eyed. The ever-perceptive Hyojin managed to stutter out an observation, blinking in shock.
“I think… it’s a track… for cable cars?” He worried his lip with his teeth, brows furrowed. “But where’s the cars?”
As if the goddess of the ocean herself had heard him, the final pillar began to rise from the deep, only a few measly feet from the group’s stunned faces. It was already attached to the rest of the track system, and on its wires hung a sight to behold.
One would never have guessed that the Western Metropolis University Secret Express car was still in working order, considering its outside had been caked with so many barnacles, winding patterns of bleached coral, and undersea grime from decades of storage under the big blue. Its outside was ridged like a giant shell, but Hyojin immediately pointed out the most peculiar point of all.
“No… windows.” The black-haired boy stated matter-of-factly, lips pressed in a line. His father nodded curtly, reaching out for the grimy handle on the cable car door. When it opened with a quick pop, Mr. Kim reached to grip the door and frame and extended a leg to climb inside. After the car stopped rocking with his weight, he extended a hand and helped the two younger passengers inside.
The interior of the car was much cozier than expected. The plush plastic couches lining the walls were untouched by the seawater and grime of the outside, the ceiling decorated with hundreds of multicolor blue sea glass shards and shells arranged to create a wavy ocean scene. Seungjun was so distracted by its beauty that he didn’t realize until the car jerked sharply that they had begun to move. The two boys quickly took a seat, the transport shakily riding the wire upwards into the sky.
**
Seungjun was shaken awake by his friend, groggily opening his eyes to the cable car brimming with late afternoon light– he guessed he’d been asleep for a couple hours or so. Hyojin was bouncing on the balls of his feet, grabbing at Seungjun’s forearms to tug him out the car door. The blond reluctantly followed Hyojin’s lead, stumbling into the brightness outside.
He hadn’t expected his feet to hit solid dirt and stone. Splayed out before the three travelers was a massive hole, large enough for a carousel to comfortably fit through like a Tetris piece. Glancing behind him, Seungjun was met by nothing but air– thick clouds in a grey-blue atmosphere, with nothing below. The cablecar had mysteriously vanished, leaving the three all alone. He let out a yelp, stumbling forward to grab Hyojin’s arm.
“Where the hell are we?” Seungjun hissed, squeezing the other for emotional and physical support. Hyojin didn’t seem to be doing much better, practically swaying with unease.
“Volcano. Dormant... Hopefully.” He managed to sputter out, using Seungjun’s grip to walk them both to the edge of the hole where Mr. Kim stood, hands on hips like a proper hero. The man looked much different with just a simple shift of posture. Suddenly he resembled less of a goofy barbecue dad and more of a dutiful protector, his broad shoulders and solid stance towering over the wide abyss before him.. Seungjun scoffed under his breath. His own father couldn’t be any more different.
“I remember my first time here!” Mr. Kim laughed, moving back and away from the hole to join the boys, stepping behind them to reassuringly grip their shoulders. “Beautiful, huh? Enjoy the clouds while you can, this location is top secret school property. Not everyone can say they passed the WMU first exam with flying colors!” He chuckled, staring straight forward. Hyojin and Seungjun blinked at each other.
“First exam? But we haven’t even met anyo–”
Hyojin’s worried response was quickly cut off by a shove, the wind being knocked out of his lungs as he tumbled down into the darkness of the volcano with a shout of horror. Seungjun had little time to react before he felt a hand push his back and followed suit, pitch blackness filling his vision as the sensation of falling engulfed him. He could still hear Hyojin’s cries growing softer and softer, a sharp and unknown feeling prodding at his gut, followed by something more familiar– a spark of what he hoped was bravery, but could very well be foolishness.
Seungjun swiveled his body into a diving position, feeling the velocity of his downfall sharply increase. He began to frantically rub his hands together, desperately pleading to the gods for some kind of friction. Answering his prayer like the flicker of a lighter, a marble-like ball of light formed between his moving hands as they rolled the ball to grow larger and brighter. It swelled to the size of a snowball before Seungjun released a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding and threw it ahead of him.
For a few heartbeats it traveled through the unending dark like a teetering firefly before reaching its target. The orb of light illuminated Hyojin’s terrified face as it grew closer, the boy reaching out to grab the ball and grip it tight as the yellow glow shone through his fingers.
Hyojin and Seungjun’s wide eyes met, something unspoken passing between them. A brief expression of serenity crossed Hyojin’s face before the light went out, and all faded back to black.