The Villain Academy- Chapter Two: Spiders and Bats and Bad Weather, Oh My!
Hi, everyone!
Well, I'm back, I ought to be doing my Sim Scenes, and I have Chapter Two of "The Villain Academy!" I will likely be posting Chapter Three later as well, cause it's still early and I can do what I want.
So enjoy Chapter Two! But read Chapter One first.
2. Spiders and Bats and Bad Weather, Oh My!
The next morning, Tori packed her bags filled with dark, villain-like clothes, threw in her toothbrush and hairbrush, and gathered everything she needed for her stay at the Villain Academy. Digital camera, notebooks, flash drives, cell phone, everything a good undercover spy needed. Charlie had thought to throw in some things that would support the idea that Tori was hunting down a long-lost siblings. Photos of people who resembled her, maps, bus routes, plots and plans scribbled on loose sheaves of paper were thrown around haphazardly in her bag.
She was ready to become Tori-Lynne Parathion, vengeful orphan with a horrible haircut and a fake tattoo of a black star under her green left eye.
Tori latched her suitcase, laced her scuffed sneakers, buttoned her coat, and met her uncle in the foyer.
“I still hate you for brutally mutilating my hair,” she said coldly, narrowing her eyes at him.
“I can live with that,” Charlie said casually.
“Are you sure you used scissors and not a weed whacker?” Tori continued as she swung open the door into the crisp fall air.
“You were there. I used scissors.”
“Actually, I don’t remember, I’ve tried to entirely block it from my memory.” She opened the car door with unneeded venom and tossed her suitcase on the seat next to her in the back, taking the other seat and folding her arms.
Charlie sighed and clambered into the driver’s seat. “Are you just going to complain for the entire ride? Cause it’s going to get really boring.”
Tori glowered as the car started up with a groan and watched the landscape fly by past her window. The drive to the Villain Academy was indeed a long one; they’d be lucky to get there by nightfall. Tori didn’t have the energy to be surly for the entire time; being grumpy took a lot out of you.
The car traveled over miles of road, past forests and towns, over highways, interstates, and down a couple of local roads when Charlie got lost. On a trip so long, getting lost was inevitable, but off the highway Charlie was awful with directions.
“Are we lost again?” Tori complained some hours later.
“No!” Charlie replied defensively.
“We’ve driven past that same homeless guy on a bench three times, it’s starting to creep me out,” Tori said, pointing.
“Oh. So we have.”
“So we’re lost."
“No, I know exactly where we’re going.”
“Couldn’t we ask for directions or something?” Tori suggested.
“Yeah, that’d be real subtle, Torianne. I don’t think anyone’s going to give us directions to the Villain Academy,” Charlie said, as though it was obvious.
“Yeah, you’re the master of subtlety, Uncle Charlie,” Tori said, voice heavy with sarcasm.
Several such incidents occurred, but finally the car was on the right track again. Pretty soon, the homes and businesses faded into thick evergreen forest, and the road became dirt road, resulting in both of them getting bumped up a bit, generating more complains from Tori.
“Ow! Are you trying to kill me?!” she shouted, hanging onto her seat for dear life.
Charlie smirked and sped up. “Maybe.” he said as she bounced in the back seat.
“Jerkass,” she muttered, trying to protect herself from her rogue suitcase.
After a time of perilous driving, the Academy was in sight just as night fell.
Charlie slowed and finally stopped the car, staring. The school was huge, and as they both stared in a mixture of fear and awe, a fork of lightning lit up behind the school’s tallest tower and a swarm of bats rushed out from a cave towards the car.
Tori screamed and rolled up the windows. The swarm encompassed the car like a dark, squeaking cloud for a moment, and then vanished into the night air, illuminated by a sliver of the moon.
Tori stared again at the school, eyes wide with fear. “I’m going to live here?” she said in disbelief, forgetting to be snarky.
“Yep, have fun!” Charlie said with a grin masking his apprehension. After all, his sister and brother-in-law had entrusted Tori to him. As superheroes, they weren’t as home as often as they would have liked to be. Charlie loved his niece and had volunteered to be her guardian. And now he was waving her off and sending her to a school where the most diabolical of villains and future villains were kept to be a spy. She could be caught, she could be killed, and he could tell she was already terrified.
He bit his lip. His baby sister asked him to keep her only daughter safe. She trusted him with her precious little girl. So what did he do? He enrolled her in Villain Academy.
“You okay?” he asked.
She nodded silently, pursing her lips in a stern line of courage. She opened the car door, pulled out her suitcase, and slammed the door again.
“Bye,” she said. He waved and drove off, feeling more guilty than he ever had in his entire life.
Tori watched the car until the headlights faded into the distance. Another fork of lightning exploded in the night air, followed by violent rain drops falling from inky-black storm clouds. Tori looked up and immediately regretted it as a rain drop fell into her right eye.
“OW! Even the weather’s trying to kill me, and I’ve only been here five seconds,” she growled, rubbing her eye and tinting it pink.
She picked up her suitcase, letting the atrocious hair get damp and stick to her cheeks and neck, and began to walk. She still had a ways to go to the front door of the Academy.
She followed a broken, cracked sidewalk, surrounded by tall, menacing trees and the now-muddy road. There was no light, with the moon clouded by the storm, save for the occasional glint of lightning. Her shoes got muddy, her eye still stung, and her suitcase felt filled with cement.
She glanced over her shoulder as she passed the bats’ cave, hoping they wouldn’t come swooping in through the rain. The place seemed to hate her; she couldn’t be surprised if the swarm attacked her.
While Tori was watching for bats, she walked into a tree branch. It smacked her face and got pine needles in her mouth, and dampened her hair even more. The rain continued to pour, and Tori stopped for a moment to pout.
She stepped in a puddle that was deceptively shallow-looking, soaking her down to her socks in disgusting, muddy water. “Ew!” she shrieked, leaping out of the puddle. A pond spider crawled up her leg, resulting in a massive freak-out.
“AAH! SPIDER!!” Tori screamed, jumping around like a lunatic, dropping her suitcase onto the wet sidewalk. She stomped and kicked hysterically, until the spider was in several pieces all over the cracked cement and her arachnophobia calmed down.
“I hate spiders,” she shuddered, bending down to pick up her suitcase.
Despite Tori’s life-or-death battle with the pond spider, she continued on her way wet, cold, and sulking but otherwise unharmed. She approached the gates of the school. They were rusted and gave a massive creak as she pushed one open. She peered around; she couldn’t see anyone. Sparse light glimmered through the tiny windows of the Academy, which was more like a medieval castle than anything.
The rain continued to pound as Tori followed a cobblestoned path through a forest up to the Academy. The trunks of the trees were knotted and some looked disease. The entire landscape looked like 24-7 Halloween. Tori gave an involuntary shudder as an owl hooted ominously, but continued up the path.
It was long and winding, and Tori was constantly tripping over loose stones. “Would it kill them to fix the place up?” she muttered as she nearly lost her footing over another protruding part of the road. She was glad Uncle Charlie hadn’t driven this far, this road was worse than the dirt one.
The rain showed no sign of letting up as Tori marched on uphill. Her arms ached from carrying her suitcase, her nose was running, and her hair had started to drip water on her shoulders and neck, so rain water trickled down her shirt and traced the dent of her spine in her back. She shivered and sneezed. Some evil villain I am, she thought glumly.
Finally the road ended at a pair of double doors. They were wooden, with an intricate inlaid metallic pattern and metal rings for knobs. The doors were riddled with age and the pattern was rusted in places, no doubt from the rain.
Tori stared at the doors, which were far taller than her. If the Academy had seemed ominous and frightening from a distance, it was infinitely more so close up. The fact of the matter was starting to hit her. She was going to live here, and every moment of her time here would be dangerous. The slightest misstep could get her cover blown and get her killed. And at a villain’s school, it was inevitable that if she was caught, her death would not be merciful. They would probably throw her in a tank with a mutant giant electric squid with lasers pointed at her from every possible angle.
Tori closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Suitcase in hand, she raised her other, shaped it into a fist as slowly as she could, curling her fingers with heavy trepidation, and knocked on the door.
Cliffhanger, ooh. I'm evil, I know, I've been told.
I really ought to be getting back to Legacy stuff, but the Christmas Show is going to own my soul for the next two weeks, pretty much, and I keep getting home from school late, and I'm distracted easily. But I will do Sim Scenes, I promise...
Quote of the Day: "Chaotic Neutral: Might save your life, might steal your car."
~June
Well, I'm back, I ought to be doing my Sim Scenes, and I have Chapter Two of "The Villain Academy!" I will likely be posting Chapter Three later as well, cause it's still early and I can do what I want.
So enjoy Chapter Two! But read Chapter One first.
2. Spiders and Bats and Bad Weather, Oh My!
The next morning, Tori packed her bags filled with dark, villain-like clothes, threw in her toothbrush and hairbrush, and gathered everything she needed for her stay at the Villain Academy. Digital camera, notebooks, flash drives, cell phone, everything a good undercover spy needed. Charlie had thought to throw in some things that would support the idea that Tori was hunting down a long-lost siblings. Photos of people who resembled her, maps, bus routes, plots and plans scribbled on loose sheaves of paper were thrown around haphazardly in her bag.
She was ready to become Tori-Lynne Parathion, vengeful orphan with a horrible haircut and a fake tattoo of a black star under her green left eye.
Tori latched her suitcase, laced her scuffed sneakers, buttoned her coat, and met her uncle in the foyer.
“I still hate you for brutally mutilating my hair,” she said coldly, narrowing her eyes at him.
“I can live with that,” Charlie said casually.
“Are you sure you used scissors and not a weed whacker?” Tori continued as she swung open the door into the crisp fall air.
“You were there. I used scissors.”
“Actually, I don’t remember, I’ve tried to entirely block it from my memory.” She opened the car door with unneeded venom and tossed her suitcase on the seat next to her in the back, taking the other seat and folding her arms.
Charlie sighed and clambered into the driver’s seat. “Are you just going to complain for the entire ride? Cause it’s going to get really boring.”
Tori glowered as the car started up with a groan and watched the landscape fly by past her window. The drive to the Villain Academy was indeed a long one; they’d be lucky to get there by nightfall. Tori didn’t have the energy to be surly for the entire time; being grumpy took a lot out of you.
The car traveled over miles of road, past forests and towns, over highways, interstates, and down a couple of local roads when Charlie got lost. On a trip so long, getting lost was inevitable, but off the highway Charlie was awful with directions.
“Are we lost again?” Tori complained some hours later.
“No!” Charlie replied defensively.
“We’ve driven past that same homeless guy on a bench three times, it’s starting to creep me out,” Tori said, pointing.
“Oh. So we have.”
“So we’re lost."
“No, I know exactly where we’re going.”
“Couldn’t we ask for directions or something?” Tori suggested.
“Yeah, that’d be real subtle, Torianne. I don’t think anyone’s going to give us directions to the Villain Academy,” Charlie said, as though it was obvious.
“Yeah, you’re the master of subtlety, Uncle Charlie,” Tori said, voice heavy with sarcasm.
Several such incidents occurred, but finally the car was on the right track again. Pretty soon, the homes and businesses faded into thick evergreen forest, and the road became dirt road, resulting in both of them getting bumped up a bit, generating more complains from Tori.
“Ow! Are you trying to kill me?!” she shouted, hanging onto her seat for dear life.
Charlie smirked and sped up. “Maybe.” he said as she bounced in the back seat.
“Jerkass,” she muttered, trying to protect herself from her rogue suitcase.
After a time of perilous driving, the Academy was in sight just as night fell.
Charlie slowed and finally stopped the car, staring. The school was huge, and as they both stared in a mixture of fear and awe, a fork of lightning lit up behind the school’s tallest tower and a swarm of bats rushed out from a cave towards the car.
Tori screamed and rolled up the windows. The swarm encompassed the car like a dark, squeaking cloud for a moment, and then vanished into the night air, illuminated by a sliver of the moon.
Tori stared again at the school, eyes wide with fear. “I’m going to live here?” she said in disbelief, forgetting to be snarky.
“Yep, have fun!” Charlie said with a grin masking his apprehension. After all, his sister and brother-in-law had entrusted Tori to him. As superheroes, they weren’t as home as often as they would have liked to be. Charlie loved his niece and had volunteered to be her guardian. And now he was waving her off and sending her to a school where the most diabolical of villains and future villains were kept to be a spy. She could be caught, she could be killed, and he could tell she was already terrified.
He bit his lip. His baby sister asked him to keep her only daughter safe. She trusted him with her precious little girl. So what did he do? He enrolled her in Villain Academy.
“You okay?” he asked.
She nodded silently, pursing her lips in a stern line of courage. She opened the car door, pulled out her suitcase, and slammed the door again.
“Bye,” she said. He waved and drove off, feeling more guilty than he ever had in his entire life.
Tori watched the car until the headlights faded into the distance. Another fork of lightning exploded in the night air, followed by violent rain drops falling from inky-black storm clouds. Tori looked up and immediately regretted it as a rain drop fell into her right eye.
“OW! Even the weather’s trying to kill me, and I’ve only been here five seconds,” she growled, rubbing her eye and tinting it pink.
She picked up her suitcase, letting the atrocious hair get damp and stick to her cheeks and neck, and began to walk. She still had a ways to go to the front door of the Academy.
She followed a broken, cracked sidewalk, surrounded by tall, menacing trees and the now-muddy road. There was no light, with the moon clouded by the storm, save for the occasional glint of lightning. Her shoes got muddy, her eye still stung, and her suitcase felt filled with cement.
She glanced over her shoulder as she passed the bats’ cave, hoping they wouldn’t come swooping in through the rain. The place seemed to hate her; she couldn’t be surprised if the swarm attacked her.
While Tori was watching for bats, she walked into a tree branch. It smacked her face and got pine needles in her mouth, and dampened her hair even more. The rain continued to pour, and Tori stopped for a moment to pout.
She stepped in a puddle that was deceptively shallow-looking, soaking her down to her socks in disgusting, muddy water. “Ew!” she shrieked, leaping out of the puddle. A pond spider crawled up her leg, resulting in a massive freak-out.
“AAH! SPIDER!!” Tori screamed, jumping around like a lunatic, dropping her suitcase onto the wet sidewalk. She stomped and kicked hysterically, until the spider was in several pieces all over the cracked cement and her arachnophobia calmed down.
“I hate spiders,” she shuddered, bending down to pick up her suitcase.
Despite Tori’s life-or-death battle with the pond spider, she continued on her way wet, cold, and sulking but otherwise unharmed. She approached the gates of the school. They were rusted and gave a massive creak as she pushed one open. She peered around; she couldn’t see anyone. Sparse light glimmered through the tiny windows of the Academy, which was more like a medieval castle than anything.
The rain continued to pound as Tori followed a cobblestoned path through a forest up to the Academy. The trunks of the trees were knotted and some looked disease. The entire landscape looked like 24-7 Halloween. Tori gave an involuntary shudder as an owl hooted ominously, but continued up the path.
It was long and winding, and Tori was constantly tripping over loose stones. “Would it kill them to fix the place up?” she muttered as she nearly lost her footing over another protruding part of the road. She was glad Uncle Charlie hadn’t driven this far, this road was worse than the dirt one.
The rain showed no sign of letting up as Tori marched on uphill. Her arms ached from carrying her suitcase, her nose was running, and her hair had started to drip water on her shoulders and neck, so rain water trickled down her shirt and traced the dent of her spine in her back. She shivered and sneezed. Some evil villain I am, she thought glumly.
Finally the road ended at a pair of double doors. They were wooden, with an intricate inlaid metallic pattern and metal rings for knobs. The doors were riddled with age and the pattern was rusted in places, no doubt from the rain.
Tori stared at the doors, which were far taller than her. If the Academy had seemed ominous and frightening from a distance, it was infinitely more so close up. The fact of the matter was starting to hit her. She was going to live here, and every moment of her time here would be dangerous. The slightest misstep could get her cover blown and get her killed. And at a villain’s school, it was inevitable that if she was caught, her death would not be merciful. They would probably throw her in a tank with a mutant giant electric squid with lasers pointed at her from every possible angle.
Tori closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Suitcase in hand, she raised her other, shaped it into a fist as slowly as she could, curling her fingers with heavy trepidation, and knocked on the door.
Cliffhanger, ooh. I'm evil, I know, I've been told.
I really ought to be getting back to Legacy stuff, but the Christmas Show is going to own my soul for the next two weeks, pretty much, and I keep getting home from school late, and I'm distracted easily. But I will do Sim Scenes, I promise...
Quote of the Day: "Chaotic Neutral: Might save your life, might steal your car."
~June