Phasing bus

The large metallic bus was in front of Elius, its shadow covering him.

He was still sweating from the earlier conversation.

Fortunately, he had made it. At the Academy, he needed to have a reason to stay busy there so that his father wouldn't train him personally. And the academy was the only safe place he could think of because there's one protecting it from behind that his father wouldn't want to fight.

He clenched his fist; to not lie on anyone, he needed to get stronger fast!

Suddenly, the bus doors hissed and opened with a sharp psshhh.

A middle-aged man with graying stubble sat in the driver's seat, his uniform slightly wrinkled, with a toothpick in his mouth. His sharp, weathered eyes flicked up at Elius through the rearview mirror.

"How are you?" the driver asked, his voice carrying a lazy drawl.

"I'm good," Elius replied.

The driver made a face. "That's too boring. You gotta spice it up, kid. A future superhero can't just say 'I'm good.'"

Elius blinked at him.

"…I'm great?" he tried.

The driver snorted. "Better. You a hero's kid?"

Elius hesitated. There was no use hiding it. "Yeah." But he wonder why he asked.

The driver's grin widened. "Hop on, then."

Elius stepped inside. The bus smelled of synthetic leather and faintly of something metallic—probably from the reinforced steel plates embedded into the floors and walls.

As soon as he entered, a small ding echoed in the bus, and an automated voice rang out:

"Please take a seat near the front."

Elius glanced at the rows of seats.

The front half was filled with kids who, like him, were probably descendants of heroes.

The back half had those who weren't—regular kids with powers, but no superhero parents like the driver had said.

Without a word, Elius nodded and made his way toward an empty seat near the front.

As he walked, he felt several eyes on him.

Some of the teens already on the bus—probably other hero descendants—glanced at him, some with curiosity, others with clear disinterest.

Elius forced a small, awkward smile, then immediately closed his mouth and sat down.

Beside him sat a black teen with glasses, slightly taller than Elius, wearing a dark hoodie. The kid was chewing on a large piece of fried chicken, his fingers greasy, the smell wafting through the air.

That was when—

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Elius' stomach betrayed him.

The noise was loud enough that even the driver flicked his gaze toward him through the rearview mirror.

For a second, there was only silence.

Then the boy beside him chuckled. "Forgot to eat?"

Elius sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah."

The teen nodded sagely. "I get it. I was too excited too. But my momma would've killed me if I left on an empty stomach. So she made sure I took some food."

With that, he ripped off a piece of chicken and held it out to Elius.

"Here. Take this piece."

Elius blinked at him, then nodded. "Thanks."

He took the piece of chicken and took a bite.

It was crispy, juicy, and perfectly seasoned. His stomach immediately felt a little less hollow.

As he chewed, he turned to the teen. "What's your name?"

"Rockson," the teen said with a grin.

Elius swallowed. "I'm Elius. Thanks again, Rockson."

Rockson waved a hand. "No problem, man."

As they ate, Rockson suddenly became chattier.

"Hey, did you know that by getting on this bus, you basically just consented to risking your life?"

Elius paused mid-bite. Of course he knew, but he feigned ignorance. "…What?" He didn't want to upset the kid who gave him a chicken.

Rockson smirked. "Yeah, man. The Academy's no joke. They don't just train us to be heroes—they straight-up throw us into situations where we could die."

Elius slowly lowered the chicken from his mouth.

"Alright, care to explain?"

Rockson grinned, pushing his glasses up. "Okay, so first off, everyone who enters the Academy has to go through this process called 'Screening.' That's where they figure out if we're gonna be actual heroes or just sidekicks."

"Sidekicks?" Elius repeated like he didn't know.

Rockson nodded. "Yeah. They put you in tests—physical, mental, and combat-related. If they think you're good enough, you go into the 'Hero Class.' If not? They dump you into 'Sidekick Class.'"

Elius frowned. "What if you're in Sidekick Class? Do you get another chance?"

Rockson snorted. "Nope. Once you're a sidekick, that's it. You're a support. You don't get to be in the spotlight."

Elius narrowed his eyes. "…That's messed up."

Rockson shrugged. "It gets worse."

Elius exhaled. "Of course it does."

Rockson leaned in. "Whether you're a hero or a sidekick, you're still required to risk your life. The Academy isn't just a school—it's a training ground. Students are expected to be deployed into real-life crisis situations."

Elius tensed. "Wait. So even if you're still training, they'll send you out into actual danger?"

Rockson nodded. "Exactly. And if you die, well… that's just 'unfortunate.'"

Elius stared at him.

This was insane.

Even though he read the comic in his past life, he never thought about it this deeply.

The Academy of Superheroes wasn't like those light-hearted hero training schools from fiction.

It was a battlefield.

A place where the students were expected to be soldiers before they even graduated.

Rockson sighed. "It's not fair, man. My dad forced me to come here. He said I needed to follow in his footsteps."

Elius looked at him. "And what do you want?"

Rockson shrugged. "I dunno. I just wanted to be a chef."

Elius blinked. He sounded so enthusiastic but he was forced to attend the Academy High? He's speechless.

Rockson chuckled. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Big strong kid like me, cooking instead of fighting? My dad would lose his damn mind. But man… I just wanted a quiet life. Guess that's not happening."

Elius nodded slowly.

Before he could say anything else, the bus suddenly slowed down.

The automated voice chimed:

"Next stop: Roosevelt Avenue."

A student sitting near the middle of the bus stood up, grabbing their bag. The bus doors hissed open, and the kid quickly stepped out.

As the doors shut, the driver suddenly turned on the intercom.

"Attention, students! Attention!"

The chatter in the bus died down.

Elius straightened up, Rockson doing the same beside him.

The driver's voice rang through the speakers:

"We will be arriving at Academy High in twenty minutes. Before we get there, I need you all to remember one thing—once you step inside that school, there's no turning back."

Silence.

Then—

"And I want to say welcome to the first day of the rest of your lives… but it would be too boring!"

Elius exhaled.

This was it.

The Academy of Superheroes.

The place that would determine his future.

However, the driver would add, "So—sit tight, fasten your seat belts, because this is gonna be a hell of a twenty minute ride."

Suddenly, the entire front windshield of the bus distorted, rippling like the surface of a pond before a massive, swirling wormhole erupted into existence.

It wasn't like the neat, circular portals Elius had seen in the television—it was an ever-shifting vortex of chaotic colors, twisting and warping reality itself.

Violet, emerald, crimson, and indigo strands of energy crackled and coiled around the edges, like living tendrils of raw dimensional energy.

The sheer magnitude of it made the air feel heavier, and an unnatural hum resonated deep in Elius' bones.

Then—

"LET'S GET IT ON!!!!"

The driver's sudden war cry shattered the silence.

Before anyone could react, the bus lurched forward at breakneck speed, diving straight into the gaping maw of the dimensional rift.

And then—the moment the bus breached the wormhole, the laws of physics ceased to exist.

The entire vehicle spun violently, flipping end over end like a toy being tossed through a hurricane.

"WAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

Screams erupted from every direction.

Rockson, who had been munching on his chicken just moments ago, now had his face pressed against the window, his glasses slipping off his nose as he screamed, "HOLY SHIIII—" before he was jerked backward by inertia.

Another student, a girl with neon-blue hair, clung desperately to her seat, her nails digging into the fabric as she shrieked, "MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP!"

A boy further back was already crying, tears flying sideways as gravity itself seemed to go berserk, pulling them in different directions with every passing second.

The bus was tumbling, twisting, and spiraling through an infinite void of color.

One second, they were weightless, as if drifting through space.

The next, they were being yanked downward, their stomachs dropping like they were on the fastest roller coaster ever made.

Rockson had both hands clutching his chest, his face twisted in sheer terror as he gasped, "I CAN'T BREATHE, MAN—" before his voice was cut off by another jolt of motion.

Meanwhile—

The driver?

He was cackling like a madman.

"YEEE-HAAAWWW!!!" he howled, gripping the steering wheel with both hands, twisting it left and right as if he were actually controlling the bus in this madness.

"THIS IS WHAT I LIVE FOR, BABY! THIS IS WHAT A REAL BUS RIDE FEELS LIKE!"

Another hard turn sent half the students colliding into the walls, their limbs flailing as gravity continued to betray them.

Elius?

He sat calmly, completely unfazed, watching the chaos around him with mild amusement.

Sure, the ride was insane.

But he was prepared; this is also the reason why he didn't sleep and trained to balance himself in the sword all night long, which made him even forget to eat in the morning.