1.05

The three costumes and the janitor ran down one of the hallways of the school. Despite the janitor’s obvious age, he was easily able to keep up with the youngsters.

“What about all the injured kids?” Hunter asked. A feeling of uselessness hung about his head with how the fight had gone down. He hadn’t even helped any of his fellow students.

“They’ll be taken care of.” The janitor led the group down into the basement levels of the school, somewhere Hunter had never visited before.

“Where are you taking us?” The third unknown costumed hero asked.

“Somewhere where we can lay low and I can help resolve this problem.” The janitor pressed on a brick. It spun in place and on the other side was a small grey panel. The janitor held an eye up to the panel and there was a small blue glow.

“Access granted,” sung a soft, computerized voice. A loud hiss and thunk echoed from down the end of the room. The crew turned and watched as the brick wall slid into the adjacent wall, revealing a polished metal wall.

“This is some weird spy stuff going on,” remarked Silas.

The janitor walked over to the newly revealed metal door and pressed a few buttons on a keypad. Another deep hiss floated through the room and the metal door opened, revealing an ominous, darkness within.

“Let’s go.” The janitor ran into the darkness. The three costumed teens looked at each other and decided together to follow the elderly man.

The door hissed closed behind them and lights turned on down a hallway. The janitor was nowhere to be seen. The three walked down the hall, feeling a little uneasy.

The hallway led into a larger, well lit room. It looked like a lavish living room. There was an oversized monitor that took up almost an entire wall. In front of it lay a large console desk. In the middle of the room was a pair of couches with a small bench between them. Off to the side was a kitchenette and there was a TV with a trio of armchairs facing the screen.

“What is this place?” Silas asked.

“Welcome to my hideout. Pretty neat huh?” The janitor came over from the kitchenette, a soda in his hand.

“Why do you have this?” Hunter asked.

“Oh. Give me a minute, I need to contact someone.” He approached the console and flicked on the screen. He pressed a button and it gave a short dial tone before a masked face appeared on the screen.

“What’s up, Excelsior?”

“There’s been an incident at Downtown High. A power suit came and caused a lot of damage. Three students, all non-sanctioned, took care of the situation. But I need the investigation to be stopped. We also need to curb the media, keep them away. These three are under my wing now. Give extra medical help. Excelsior out.” The person on the screen saluted and the screen blinked out. The janitor turned around and looked at the three.

“Excelsior?” asked the unknown figure.

“I know about you,” excitement started to rise in Silas’s voice. The janitor chuckled.

“First, you can unmask yourselves. You may as well know who each other are.” The three hesitated but did as they were told. Hunter and Silas looked to the one who came to the rescue and were surprised to see it was their classmate, Jimena.

Jimena was a quiet girl who mainly kept to herself. She excelled in school and was often at the top of the class. Hunter had never even exchanged a word with her.

“Heya Jimena,” said Silas.

“Hunter, Silas.” She nodded at both of them.

“Hey,” said Hunter.

“Thanks for saving our butts before,” said Silas.

“No worries. You looked like you needed a hand.” She smiled at Hunter who felt frustrated again over his poor performance.

“So who’s Excelsior?” Hunter asked.

“Your dad never told you?” Silas turned on him, excited and confused by his friend’s response.

“Nope.”

“You don’t know about him either?” Silas asked Jimena. His excitement was close to bursting at the seams.

“Can’t say I do.”

“That’s okay kiddos. I was way before your time,” the janitor chuckled.

“I’ve got a mint condition Excelsior trading card in my wallet. Can you sign it for me?” Silas grabbed said item from his wallet and walked over to the janitor.

“Sure. Just don’t go selling it online or anything.”

“No way, I’d never do such a thing Excelsior, sir.” The janitor signed the card and Silas stood there, staring at it.

“Please, call me Michael.”

“So Michael, Excelsior?” Hunter asked.

“Ah ye-”

“He’s one of the greats. Came onto the seen almost seventy years ago. One of the original founders of The Paragons. Unmatched fencer and low-level empath. He helped bridge the gap between supers and normal society. He also spearheaded the Super Hero Academy, getting heroes sanctioned and proper training.” Silas had somehow managed to spew out all the information in one go.

“Thanks for the info dump,” said Jimena. Michael chuckled.

“Well Silas here gave you pretty much everything you needed to know. Who wants a milkshake?” Michael walked back over to the kitchenette and went about preparing drinks for everyone.

“What brings you to having a hideout under our school?” asked Jimena.

“You three of course. Well, not just you three. I keep an eye out on the students here, scouting out potential candidates for the Academy. Also to make sure the school stays safe.”

“So you’re saying we’re viable candidates?” Hunter asked. Michael gave each of them their milkshake. Hunter didn't want one, but he couldn’t bring himself to say no to the elderly man.

“Most definitely.” Michael upended his milkshake.

“Does that mean we’re sanctioned?” Jimena asked.

“Not exactly. You’re in training under me. You’ll be treated like you are by the local law enforcement. I need to get you three ready for the trials to see if you’ll be accepted into The Academy.”

“When’s the trials?” Hunter asked.

“In three months,” Michael replied.

"I can't believe we're being trained by the one and only Excelsior." Silas had never been so excited in his life.