Nova Academy: A Superhero & Supervillain Novel Read online

  Nova Academy

  (A Nova Academy Novel)

  Scott Olen Reid

  Copyright ©2017 Scott Olen Reid

  All Rights Reserved.

  No part of this work may be reproduced or used in any form, or by any means, without the express written consent of the author.

  Publisher: Heads In Helmets Books, Laguna Hills, California.

  ISBN: 9781521101278

  Cover Art by: Samantha DeBie

  Three Helmets Books Logo by: Samantha DeBie

  First printing in any format: 2017

  Printed in USA

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events contained within this work are the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual, or legal, persons, living or deceased, is coincidental.

  Neither the author, nor publisher, has control of, or assumes responsibility for third party representations related to themselves or this work.

  Dedication:

  This book is dedicated to every person who has ever dreamed of writing their own book, but has not yet made their dream a reality. Believe in yourself and never give up the dream.

  Special Thanks to my Editor and Beta Readers:

  A very special thank you to my wife, Sheri, for all the work she put in editing my book. I hope to have more work for her soon.

  Thank you also goes to my family for their incredible support and encouragement to push through to the end and gave me the confidence to go to print.

  Also a special thank you to my niece, Samantha DeBie, for working too many hours creating awesome print and ebook covers. And, to Chris Beccacio for his last minute tweaks of the cover’s size.

  I could not have done it without them.

  UPCOMING BOOKS BY SCOTT OLEN REID

  The Seventh Consortium

  Galaxy.Net

  Due out late 2017 / early 2018

  For more information go to:

  Three Helmets Books

  www.ThreeHelmets.com

  Biography:

  Scott is a California native where he lives with his wife, son, and their dog. A native of the West Coast, Scott grew up moving every few years in an Army family with his brother and two sisters. After high school, Scott spent five years working in mostly construction and maintenance until joining the U.S. Coast Guard where he worked as a Fire Control Technician working on CIWS. Scott married and completed his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration then began a career in commercial real estate where he today national auction firm as one of the firm’s brokers.

  Scott is a part time author, some time gamer, and full time lover of science fiction and fantasy novels that he has been reading since grade school.

  Nova Academy is Scott’s first novel.

  Brief Introduction:

  When Theodore McCleary graduates from Laguna High School, he already knows he wants to use his super genius to build the world’s greatest suit of armor. What he does not know, however, is if he wants to apply his super genius to becoming a superhero, or a super villain. It does not help that in his first year at Nova Academy for Superhuman Studies, he learns how little he really knows about the world of supers.

  Join Theo as his view of the world of supers is turned upside down, and as he is shown how much more work he needs to put into making a super suit that can stand up to fighting supers he had never before considered a threat, but now knows are the most powerful supers he could ever face.

  Is He Alive?

  He's not moving for a second, so I ask Carly, "Is he alive?"

  She sounds amused, "Oh, yeah. Shocked, and in some pain, but he's alive."

  "Good," is all I get out before I see Anvil start to pick himself up and out of the gash he dug, mostly with his head and shoulders. The green light on my HUD is indicating my shields, and through it, my force blasters have completed recharging. "What's he thinking?"

  Carly takes a second and replies, "Not sure yet. He's still working out whether he's going to kill you or…not kill you. Want me to help him make the right decision?"

  "No. That's a line we can't cross with people we want to be our teammates. Because, if anyone gets killed on this mission, I don't want us to be the ones responsible for them being there. I don't need that kind of guilt."

  Remaining silent until Anvil gets way closer than I want him to be without knowing his intentions, Carly says, "I don't know what he's going to do."

  Great. I drop into a combat stance as I swing my war hammer and shield out of their sling and double strap on my back into a ready position, then ask Carly, "Would you mind dropping this guy if I get in over my head?"

  "No problem." Is her reply. She's calm as a cucumber, so I'm slightly less concerned this goon is going to squish me than I was a few seconds ago.

  Anvil stops just out of my weapon reach and looks me over, "Can't say that's not the hardest I've ever been hit. What class are you?" He’s smiling, and there is grass in his teeth.

  Staying in my ready stance, I reply, "Join our team and I'll tell you."

  Chapter 1

  I hear first bell as I pull into the school parking lot. Most of the kids are ignoring the bell, which is what you would expect on the last day of the school year when no one has any fear of being tardy and getting another detention. For me, it is going to be great not only because it is the last day of school; it is going to be great because it is also my last year of high school. Today, I graduate from being a kid, and start taking on the world. I have a plan. And, the first part of my plan is to have a great summer before I start college in the fall.

  Lucky for me, my plan is wasting no time in getting started as up ahead is a key player in Phase One, Tess Evans. She’s getting out of her mom’s car. "Hey, Tess," I call over to her as I get out of my car.

  "Hey, T. You going to walk me to class?" She asks, as I jog up to her. Tess is stepping out of the car wearing a black uni-body “super” tights with white stripes down the sides that highlight her long athletic legs, among other assets. She has Ninjette’s super suit look down effortlessly and I’m having a hard time not tripping over myself from the distraction.

  “Uhh, Hey Tess,” I say again, making a bad attempt at taking back control of my hormones. I can’t allow myself to be distracted, because no matter how great she looks, walking her to class is not part of Phase One. She’ll hang on me like we are going steady, which we are not, and I can’t let that happen. Not today, anyway. I cannot afford it getting around today that we are an item. “I can’t. Rain check?” is the best I can come up with in my current mental state.

  “It’s the last day of school, silly. Are you planning on coming back next year?” She asks, teasing, as she latches onto my arm. Tess is a senior, same as me, and neither one of us is planning on being back next year, “Are you going to walk me to class then?” she asks, not letting up.

  I start walking with her while I work out how to pull myself out of this. I’m a mad scientist, not a mad Casanova, so it’s going to take me a minute.

  "Okay," she says, perking up as she thinks I’ve changed my mind. She runs her hand around my waist, getting snuggly as we walk across the parking lot in what I now recognize as her trying to close any outs I can use to get out of walking her to class. This would allow her to lay claim to me for all to see. She’s playing a game as she has to know how uncomfortable I’m feeling right now. She’s toying with me.

  She knows because she’s a strong telepath with emotional sensitivity. She can hear the surface thoughts and emotions of people she’s near. That’s not to say she can read my thoughts, because no one can. My brain has natural
protections from telepaths. But, Tess and I have known each other so long that she’s become attuned to me enough she can at least sense my emotions.

  Tess is a bit controlling, and judgmental, and likes to play games, which is unusual for telepaths. They tend to be really laid back, live-and-let-live types. But, I am usually fine with how she is as she mostly focuses on others (and not me) when they violate her high standards. I think that not being able to read my mind makes it harder for her to catch onto all of my more personal thoughts, which allows her to give me the benefit of the doubt that she can’t give others.

  Tess has had a really strange social life as long as I’ve known her because she can’t seem to keep a boyfriend. As beautiful as she is, and as good a person as she is, it is incredible that it is a problem for her. It seems every time she has to dump boyfriends because they want to cheat on her or are thinking some other stupid thing that gets them in trouble. She demands loyalty and respect, as any person should in a relationship. Because she’s a telepath, she also demands her boyfriend not even think about cheating, or lying, or deception. Thinking it for her, may as well be saying it.

  She knows what she brings to the table and fairly thinks whoever is with her should be happy and not want to think about other girls. She expects them to be happy with being with her, and she expects them to be a genuinely good person. Finding someone like that is hard, if not impossible, though, and I’m not sure she knows it.

  I like that Tess has a strong set of standards, which she lives by, and which she enforces mercilessly. It may sound like she’s a nightmare girlfriend to some people, but to me she’s like the ultimate superhero tough, with her “Don’t even think about it,” ultimatum.

  “Can I walk you to church on Sunday?” I finally throw out as an alternative to walking her to class.

  “Sure.” I’m pretty sure she knows my bow-out was coming, and she is nice enough to let me off the hook.

  “Cool, I’ll pick you up!” I yell as I run for Homeroom. I’m not worried about being on time on the last day of school, that’s not why I’m running. The reason I’m running is I don’t want to miss the surprise my best friend, Ernie Beck, has in store for our homeroom teacher, the old bat, Mrs. Frazier.

  When I walk into class, Mrs. Frazier is already giving me her best Jack Elam, cockeyed, suspicious, I’m up to something, look. It’s not that I’m late, or up to anything, she’s got the wrong guy. Ernie’s the one she should be watching. Because, today the scales of justice will come back into balance after a year of misery from Mrs. Frazier.

  Ernie gives me a smile and chin nod when he sees me, and I go sit in the back next to him.

  "You going to do it?" I lean over and ask him in a whisper as soon as I sit down.

  He just smiles and says, “Just watch,” as he turns to look at Peg Miller and gives her a thumbs-up.

  Peg is a telekinetic who can move things with her mind. Right now, she starts using her power to plug in, and then turn on, a portable bubble machine Mrs. Frazier keeps in the corner that she uses in her drama classes. The machine immediately starts whirring and bubbles start pouring out of it. Only the bubbles are coming out far faster and larger than anything that bubble machine is actually capable of creating. The extra bubbles are coming from Ernie. That’s his power, making bubbles, and he’s making a lot of them.

  Mrs. Frazier doesn’t notice the bubbles as they start drifting over to her desk. She also doesn’t notice the whirring sound because she’s half deaf. When she finally does notice, she runs over to the device to turn it off. When she gets there she is completely engulfed in the bubbles that are also quickly filling the entire front half of the classroom. Kids in the front are scrambling out of the way while the kids in the back are falling out of their chairs laughing. Unplugging the machine does not slow the creation of bubbles and, realizing it is not the machine, Mrs. Frazier starts screaming for someone to go get help. She keeps screaming right up until she figures out the real reason for what is happening. Her wide open eyes and look of panic on her face transforms into a sneer of hatred and looming violence as she turns to look at the back of the class. She bellows out Ernie’s name, threatening him with murder and mayhem. Thankfully, moments later the bubbles become too thick and we can no longer see our homeroom teacher, the harbinger of death.

  Hearing Mrs. Frazier yell Ernie’s name puts a temporary damper on how hilarious the whole thing is to me because I didn’t know if she knew Ernie could make bubbles. Now I’m wondering if Ernie knows that she knew when he set this up. Then again, I wonder if he cared even if he did know. Ernie’s a good guy, but all bets are off when it comes to Mrs. Frazier. Whatever. This is too funny to worry about consequences right now.

  After a couple minutes of bubbles going everywhere, the five minute bell rings starting Homeroom. Before it stops, Ernie pops the thousands and thousands of giant bubbles all at once. Bubble goop flies in all directions and Mrs. Frazier and a few of the slower kids from the front of the class are coated head to toe in the slimy stuff.

  Everyone not covered in goop is laughing hysterically, with half of them now on the floor. Ernie is sitting upright in his seat; his hands folded in front of him and calmly looking to the front of class as if he is the model student waiting for class to start. I can see his jaw clenched as he fights to not burst out laughing. What a great start to the summer.

  Chapter 2

  Lunch time is tricky. I can't let Tess see me. And I especially can’t let her trap me like almost happened this morning. But I can’t look like I'm avoiding her. And while I’m avoiding Tess, I need to find Maria to ask her out. I am beginning to question my sanity in trying to date them both at the same time, but it’s necessary. Hold on, I’ll explain.

  Luckily, I am saved by circumstance. Tess and Maria run in different circles, and they have different hangouts during school. So far as I can tell, they also don't have any crossover of friends. I just need to find Maria.

  Now I know it sounds bad that I am trying to go out with both of Tess and Maria at the same time, but I need to do this. It has nothing to do with trying to be a two-timing dog, even if it looks like I’m trying to be a two-timing dog. The truth is they are representations of two alternative choices I have in becoming a super. They are polar opposites and represent the choice I have been struggling with for four years. The choice I need to make of who I want to be in my coming career as a super. My plans over the next four years will not be focused if I have not decided which direction I am going. I have this summer to figure it out so I can start school in the fall with a clear path to where I want to go. And, those two are going to help me decide. They just don’t know it.

  Tess and Maria are facsimiles of my path choices: hero? Or, villain? One of them has a strong code of right and wrong which reminds me of heroes. It’s a standard you live by, and expect everyone around you to live by. It forms a foundation for your life and for everything you do that leads to stability, security, and hopefully, happiness. While the other is all chaos that reminds me of what it is to be free to do whatever I want. To get what I want from life without compromise. To do what I want to get the things I need, and to be what I want to be. This, in the world of supers, is a well-documented and classic villain’s way of thinking. Tess and Maria are prime examples of these two ways of thinking and I am going to use them to work out which appeals to me most, and which path I like most. They are my life path experiments. The best part is – they come with perks.

  Okay, back to figuring today out. If I hang out with either of them at lunch, it will end with me not going out with either of them. Tess, since we are not official yet, will be all over me to make it clear I'm hers. She’ll announce it over the school’s P.A. system. Maria, on the other hand, will be cool about it. She’s unpredictable though, and dangerous. I’ve watched her set a guy on fire because he pissed her off for a lot less than being two-timed.

  Maria is a fire elemental, and on top of that, she’s stronger than me. If she wants, she can
burn the school down before the five minute bell rings a second time. And I can tell you, that kind of ability can bring out the dominant personality in a girl. They came out big time in Maria. She’s dangerous. A fierce woman, who takes what she wants, and destroys anything that gets in her way. It’s awesome to see her dominate everything around her. And, yes, I’m more than a little attracted to that.

  It goes without saying; this plan of mine is not without risks. If they find out there will be consequences. Tess could decide we are already officially dating (aka committed) and never talk to me again for betraying her. (Note: We’re not official, and I’ve made her no promises, real or implied. But I'd still feel like crap for hurting her feelings.) Maria? I'm not sure what Maria would do. She would either make us all die in a blazing inferno or make us all die very slowly in a blazing inferno. You never can tell with her. Whether we are already dating is absolutely irrelevant to her. She likes me. And until such time as she decides she no longer likes me, she has a claim. I know that’s how she thinks.

  Rather than going to where Maria hangs out at lunch with her friends in the back of the parking lot, I drive over there and roll down the window of my car as I roll by her lunch time hangout. When I see her, I get her attention, point to her, and shout, "You! Me! Tonight!" We’ve known each other a long time, so I know asking her out this way is actually a safer bet than how I would have to ask Tess out. Maria likes bold, she likes brash, and she even likes crude. And, she would torch me if I came up to her like some Rico Suave punk, being all proper, and tried to ask her out. The great thing is no one can see me with Maria if I’m not ever actually with Maria when I ask her out. Her friends don’t count as none of them would ever be friends with Tess anyway.