Warriors way chapter 10...bad Penny part 2

So what will happen now, the story goes on!

New story in the growing Hekawi universe!
Read the others in this new universe

Meagan's Tail

Nuuan's
“Necessity is the Mother of Invention” and “Déjà vu”

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After the three ladies had their expensive celebratory lunch at Caesar's Place, Sophia waited at the monorail station while Penny took Erin home and made sure that all of them would meet up early tomorrow morning at the high speed rail station to go see this school out in LA. Then after seeing the place for themselves Penny would choose to go there or not too next term and maybe seek another school to attend.

It pleased the mother that Penny had many more choices in schools for mutants or the 'enhanced' than she did as a child. During her school years, all you had was one choice back east and one choice in Europe. And that last one, did not have the best of reputations as it leaned to teaching more of the evil villain set or agents for not so nice governments.

But now children had a far better choices to make in their education, with two schools back east, one in the north and one deep in Florida almost at the tip of the long state. Even the ones offshore were much better choices now, with two newer ones built in Europe over the last decade or so. But they were very small and for the elite rich that could afford the tuition or the student that was developing very marketable skills or powers! Then there was Japan that had a great one run by the emperor, in hand with the larger companies of the nation and Korea had one of the best in the AsianPac partnership!

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Back at the family's condo

Sophia took time out to cook up a fine late dinner of Penny's favorite, her meatloaf and low and behold! At Eleven O'clock the concierge rang up to the condo telling Sophia that the courier was here a whole hour early, she approved the man coming up to her place and the courier dropped off the sword's carry case.

While signing for the package she had to ask while giving him the small coin collection from Sophia's personal stash, that was to return to the museum for a quick check over and approval on their part of the trade if they all agreed to go ahead with the deal for the sword. Sophia was sure that the Greek museum would love the coins and at best the curator would get some valuable data off the coins during the short time trade if the deal indeed fell through!

"So how did you get here ahead of time?" she asked handing back the courier his part of the mass of paperwork.

"Ohh I got a 'gate' over to LA via the Fae and took the train for the short hop here to Vegas." he said rechecking over his part and unlocking the sword's case for Sophia and then locking up the coins in their new traveling case, then dropping them into his backpack.

"The Fae let you hitch a ride very 'strange' that they even did that for you?" she pondered about the very secretive people they could be and were for the most part. Most humans never really knew what the Fae as a race were up to in the world at anytime and they ran so very much of the human's world from behind a curtain of secrecy most thought!

"I was delivering something for and to them, so this stop was on my way,kind of?" he smiled and started heading to the door. The man was in a rush, the more packages he dropped off, the more he got paid!

Sophia called to Penny, the girl had to remain hidden because the mother did not want the courier to tell anyone that her son was now a girl back at the Greek museum and start trouble brewing with them maybe calling the DEHA, aka the mutant Feds!

Penny bounced into the room very excited over the blade being finally here and as she drew closer to the blade, she felt a very personal connection to it instantly! It was like seeing a long lost friend after being away for years, "Mom I feel this is mine, like we belong together!" she grinned ear to ear.

"Well it's decorations match your bracers spot on and the metal looks the same to me. It's just a little duller, maybe needs to be cleaned up I suppose?" Sophia said examining the blade and comparing it to the armor they already knew well!

The blade itself was what one might call a 'short sword' or very much like a roman issued centurion sword in looks, shape and style! It had a general silver color with a gold spine running its middle and a leather covered hilt ending at a spike surly meant to ram into people's body's or heads when the opening showed itself to use it as such!

"Let's see for sure!" Penny yelped picking up the blade as her mother tried to slow the teen down a little bit with her protective 'motherly' instincts kicking in!

When Penny's hand wrapped around the blade's hilt, the dullness of the metal and leather hilt faded away instantly with a wave of light that shone out of the blade starting from hilt to blade's sharp point! Now the blade looked as if it was crafted just hours ago, not a scratch or dull spot left behind on the whole length to show the centuries that had really passed!

"Well Mom, I think this is mine!" Penny beamed and started to swing the sword wildly about testing its balance out like a professional.

Sophia watched her child wave the blade about like and expert only could, flipping it over her hand and over the back of her hand and tossing it into the air and blindly snatched it out of the air like she knew where hilt began or sharp blade ended by instinct!

"YEP honey that blade is most certainly yours!" she almost yelped out in fight, as the teen wildly showed off her suddenly acquired blade skills!

"Watch this!" Penny said as her free hand snatched one of Sophia's best chefs blade from the block of them and swung the sword at it...when the blades met...the sword cut the expensive chef's knife in half with no resistance!

"Okay no more of that! You do know that darn knife cost me over one hundred bucks and is now junk?" Sophia admonished her new daughter.

"Sorry mom?" Penny said more than embarrassed for not thinking, "I was carried away by all the fun of getting this blade is all!"

"Fine no more of that chopping up my or your valuable stuff just to test a blade...agreed?" Penny's mom harshly warned her child.

"Agreed, but let me get my shield because I am sure it just slides right in this slot I spotted the last time I was messing with it!" Penny yelped out as she ran from the living room to where the armor was for now kept in the condo's office.

Penny ran back into the living room as she was mounting the medium size round shield to the arm brace and its built in bracket made for mounting the shield. Next Penny picked up the blade and easily slid it into what seemed to be the shields top as it was oriented on her arm right now.

"See mom made just for it!" Penny noted as she was busy pulling the blade in and out if its new sheath, then she tried putting the blade in the opposite way via what would be the bottom and found it still fit and locked in place until her hand actually pulled at it.

"Humm it does not seem to fall out, must be a lock in there somewhere?" the teen said shaking the shield, then looking deeply into the slot, "But I don't see anything mechanical to hold it in mom?"

"Penny I bet it's magical like the rest of the armor and what it did to you?" Sophia laughed at her teen being so perplexed.

"Ohh ya, I'm sure it is!" she beamed and took off the shield with the blade with in its home.

Sophia noticed something on the back or inward side of the metallic disk when Penny took off the shield, so she went to the office herself with Penny walking closely behind because the teen 'knew' that 'look' mom got most of the times when she remembered something very important!

Once in the office Sophia opened the storage box that held the armor and pulled out the chest piece and its backing part, "Honey will you slip this on please?" she asked handing the form fitted armor to Penny.

Sophia mulled over that stray thought, 'form fitted'. More like it will 'form you' or formed Marcus into Penny to fit its needs better and that is exactly what happened to the teen!

Penny took off the shield for now and slipped into the clamshell armor that covered both her front and back, from her neck all the way to her waist where the long armored skirting would (if it was in place) start to cover up her legs. With the armored top on she gave the temporary straps a gentle yank to cinch them up.

"What now mom? Ohh and we got to work on making this fit better and the straps are not holding too well!" Penny warned.

"Ohh I would bet they will fix that for you at whatever school you finally pick. This armor is yours and has to fit properly!" she smiled handing the teen the shield once again.

"What now mom?" Penny questioned as her mother rotated around behind her and noted a slot going crossways across the teen's back, "Penny leave the shield on and try to pat your back and feel around for a slot?" she asked tapping the teen's armor where she wanted her to touch.

Penny did so and found a slot with her fingers that the shield suddenly slid off her arm and right into with a light 'click'. Penny moved her arm away and the shield stayed on her rear armored plate for now and since Penny had left the sword sticking out of the bottom instead of the top of the shield, it was now orientated upwards for her right arm to grab easily from her back!

"Way cool mom, kind of like General America's shield goes on his back! Only I don't toss mine like a Frisbee!" the teen laughed and pulled the blade from its new place a few times with her right arm to get used to the motions!

"Well who ever made this armor certainly thought it all out, they seem to have thought of everything you would need so far?" Sophia smiled wondering what parts of this armor might still be out there in the wide world yet unfound or no connection made back to this set...yet!

"Humm nice!" Penny said more than pleased at finding out something new about her armor!

"Time to get all ready for tomorrow's trip and get some sack time dear, so time to get you out of that can!" Sophia jested walking out of the room and took her over shoulder messenger bag with her so that she could reread some notes she had made on the armor and make a few more on tonight's discoveries!

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Mid-morning the next day

Penny shouldered a backpack as she grabbed her wheeled luggage bag after their High speed rail from Vegas finally stopped inside Union Station, the huge downtown rail hub of the Los Angles area and she started dragging the bag towards an elevator going lower down into the main metro rail system station under this more main level of the vast network the city had, "This way mom, we take the orange line down towards the harbor and jump over to a special train from there, or that is what our instructions say to do?"

Sophia stopped and pointed at the much nearer escalator, "This is faster dear."

"Mom Erin...snake...long body...sharp pointy steps!" the teen reminded her!

"Ohh shoot I forget, I just don't think somedays Erin! I just see ya as a normal kid?" she explained and switched paths with Erin already taking the lead.

"No prob Mrs. Hapgood, I like that you don't even notice and wow no one here in LA even seems to care what I look like!" Erin laughed on as she slithered her way towards the elevator car that Penny was already holding and noticed another mutant walking by with small set of bat wings sticking out of her back!

Once the door slid shut Erin had to say, "I wonder if she can fly or are the wings only for looks?"

"Unless she has a hidden power to back them up hon, there is no way she is getting off the ground!" Sophia said knowing far more about mutants in general than the pair of teens. Her alma-mater had seen to that!

As the Orange line finally came to a stop at a small station at the end of its run, Penny pulled an info packet from her backpack and opened it, "This is where the instructions on how to get to Hekawi Academy became real weird!" she thought.

First off the long list of instructions, was everyone going onto the academy had to wear their personal ID badges on necks...'just having them or having one it a pocket was not enough'...a small warning noted at that step's end. Next part was walking to the end of the station's platform beyond a wall that will vanish? "What the heck is this part mom?" Penny questioned the last bit pointing it out.

"I'd bet it's a magic wall that hides the platform from the other subway riders dear, I have seen that used before where I went to school," Sophia said grabbing her own luggage as the subways doors hissed open to the last stop of the line.

"Ohhh neat!" Erin bubbled pointing to the end of the platform, "You wear your ID and the wall vanishes...no ID and its there!" she demonstrated again taking her ID on and off her neck several times.

Penny put the ID lanyard around her neck and now she could see the platform was many yards longer and Lee's teen aged kids waved back to her from beyond where the wall used to be, "Heya Penny, mom sent us down to fetch ya all!" Sassnick the girl of the pair of teens greeted the small group.

"Who are they?" Erin asked slithering that way.

"They are Kyley's oldest kids...you remember the tall blonde...the unearthly beautiful one at my place that one time?" Penny answered.

"'Ohhh her', well her daughter certainly takes after mom!" Erin said with a crooked smile and almost panted. Penny could tell she was lusting after that girl and her drop dead good looks!

Sophia hugged Sassnick as she came close and that is when Erin finally noticed Velmeran her brother and she was instantly taken by the boy! "Hiya Mrs. Hapgood! and this is Erin I heard," he smiled taking the snake girl in a warm hug.

Erin was in heaven, the teens body was soooo warm and she felt soooo good right now, "Ahhh you are so warm," she just had to say a she melted in his arms and kept hugging him far too long!

"All my race run a little warmer than humans do and mom was right Azanah-Shuggoth do hug one well!" he said noticing that Erin was wrapping all of her long body around the teen boy right now to her sudden embarrassment!

"Azza-what?" Penny questioned as a now red face Erin uncoiled herself from being around Velmeran.

"Azanah-Shuggoth is basically translated to 'snake-woman' or Medusa or Lima from our native language." Sassnick informed giving Penny a hug in greeting, but one that was far shorter and less personal than Erin's!

"Well the train should be along in seventeen seconds if its on schedule and it normally is 'dead on' time!" Velmeran smiled taking Erin's bag for her.

"What is you name?" Erin asked forgetting to ask sooner!

"Velmeran or Vel for short and my sister is Sassnick or just plain Sass or Sassy!" he jested his sister and her head shook to the playfulness of her brother.

"Yep he's Vel....short for village idiot!" she played back as the train came rolling into the station and the last two cars of the line stopped on their side of the invisible wall.

Strangely none of the other passengers made way to the empty cars, but shoved their ways into the other six making up this train.

Sass smiled at them, "They can't or don't see us or the last two cars. You could jump up and down, call their names, insult them and they would not even notice it!"

"Ohh I SO am going to have to learn magic mom!" Penny giggled at the sight and gave one man the next car over 'the finger' to see if he would react...he never did even when staring right in her direction!

"Magic is not easy and most of us humans never get it unless we were born to it hon?" Sophia told her teen.

"Ohh magic is easy...we can teach ya!" Sass offered.

"Ohhh no, none of that GOO magic Sass! Your mom does not like that and you know it." Sophia warned her.

"Okay we can teach her normal," Sass air quoted with her fingers, "Human magic' and maybe Fae style magic then it will be fine Mrs. Hapgood!"

"Had better!" Sophia warned again just before Erin finally woke up with a jump from being enthralled by Vel, "What do you mean human" Erin paused thinking about the idea that the pair were not human for a second, "both of you are not humans or mutants...you and your sister?"

"Nope," Sophia quipped back shaking her head to the now aware teen, "Not human at all...GOO," the mother spelled out slowly "...great old ones, deep ones, dark ones, old gods, new gods, the risen, enlightened beings, daemons, demons, angels and so forth." she quickly listed off to the teen's growing surprise!

Erin had to ponder over that long and strange list versus her new found lust for the pair. Especially Velmeran!

When the subway rolled out of the station it was connected to the rest of the main train for only a few minutes before the last two cars broke away with a small bump and headed down their own track at an even higher speed. The school used many of the LA Metro rail system lines, most of those only showed up on the very oldest of the systems maps as 'abandoned' even at that time, but the school kept them all in tip top shape!

"Where is this going to and in such a hurry!" Penny asked.

"We or the school has its own branch line that feeds out to the island, one part is subway high speed rail and the other is high speed cargo for our weekly needs out there off the coast." Vel smiled as the cars started to slowing to a stop at the school's private station.

The car stopped and Erin was still asking Sophia about Vel, his sister and their mother, "So not human at all and they look like this?" Erin questioned the idea with a wave of her hand towards the brother and sister pair.

"Yep and if you ever saw them as they are normally without that 'disguise' you would go insane or just plain drop dead on the spot...its a coin toss!" she laughed to the teen.

"Well I think I'll go for the wild side and maybe, if Vel agrees go on a few dates with him. If Penny thinks that is cool?" she asked the newly changed girl.

"Fine by me, we can share!" Penny grinned back, "Or make arrangements somehow?"

Sassnick elbowed her brother as she helped him gather the bag of their guest for the day, "Way to go BRO! Now maybe you can try shifting your form into something more like her body shape for practice? Because you have not done anything but regular humans up until now!"

"Shape shifter powers too!?" Erin squeaked out.

"Well ya when you really don't have a set one, you can be anything you really want to. But we mostly stick to humans though, because that is what our race used to be eons ago." Vel explained as he held the car's door open for all the ladies.

The small group walked off the subway and Sass pointed to one of the very large waiting elevators in a long line of ten of them, "Up we go!" she said hitting the button for ground level just as Vel being last in scooted past the closing door.

"Darn thing tries to eat me every time, I swear the safety system is cursed not to recognize my race at all!" Vel shouted at the now closed door!

"It just does not like you Vel, it never closes on me brother of mine!" his sister sassed back keeping very much to her nickname!

The elevator doors opened up a few second later to the huge lobby that was styled much like the Union Station's was in LA, where the high speed rail that carried the group from Las Vegas had its last stop. This huge lobby and its surrounding building was a southwestern pueblo styled affair of stucco walls and red tiled floors with lots of dark wood trim. Art deco chromed trim that showed the buildings age of being built in the 1920's or there abouts, then add the murals on some of the walls from the era.

Sassnick took the lead for her guests and Vel was in the rear with him towing two bags for the ladies. She waved on as the lobby opened up even more to show small mall unto itself! "This is where you can buy your basics if needed she pointed out the line of shops ranging from clothes to snack food and more than basic needs for a student...personal needs, class supplies and other needs.

"This was the main administration building back when the island was a huge military base." Vel pointed to a huge ramp going back down, "Below us are just miles of tunnels and other underground bunkers. Ohh and be warned, don't go exploring down there. Please stick only to the mapped out and marked out sections. Because some parts of down below are very extremely dangerous and off limits to all students." Vel added with a warning.

"Don't worry about that too much, we students use the tunnels all the time when its raining or too hot and like Vel said stick only to the main parts, you'll be just fine," Sass said while pointing out a map covered wall showing all of the island and a detail of this very building with a directory of all of its many levels, "Most of this building is used for the school's daily admin and as a gathering point for the students. This map also shows you the general layout of the island."

"The north end of the island is allocated to Fae students only part of the school and a grove?" Penny pointed out the sectioned off part of the map and the wilder looking area on the far north end of the island.

"Yes that was a major part of the mandate that founded and funds this school, one that states that the Fae have their own private schooling, classes and student housing to fit their special personal needs for both learning and living environment." Vel said.

"But you can take many of their classes if you first learn the basic language that Elven or Fae races use. I would highly recommend do just so, with your armor being magically enhanced and most certainly made on a large part with some sort of magic assistance." A familure voice said just as the lobby's door swung open and revealed Kyley to the group.

"Heya mom, we escorted them all here just as you asked us to." Sass grinned to her mother.

Kyley held open the door for the group, "Well if you are all set, please lets continue with your tour?" she asked.

Once the group reformed outside, Kyley pointed out a large bronze sculpture of a an American Indian medicine man in full dress standing on a cliff seeming to reach out, stretching his right arm out for something very important!

"This is the academy's statue representing the tribe that this place is named for and one of the huge reasons why the Federal government leaves us alone here! He is striving for knowledge in this pose." Kyley told.

Sass whispered to the two girls, "We students really think he is a moron and he is falling off the cliff!" she giggled and even Vel joined in on the mirth.

Vel took the time to stop and tossed the girls bags onto a waiting cart, then waved the driver off, "Take them to their assigned rooms and they will check in later...thanks."

"We are staying here mom?" Penny questioned thinking they would be staying at a hotel on the mainland for a few days, to see the campus plus the sights in and around LA!

Kyley spoke up before Sophia could, "Why not stay right here, its summer session and we have more than enough room with most of our students being either at home or out doing summer class work study off campus. Then add we expanded the campus and will be opening vast new student housing for this coming term."

"Ohh mom did you get them into the way cool senior housing on the cliffs facing out to the pacific?" Sass beamed a question over to her mother.

"Yes I did of course, only the best to show this place off to my old friends!" Kyley smiled back as she led the group off across the campus and then pointed out a huge building looming up on their path, "This is, the 'Chief Wild Eagle' Memorial multi-sports and entertainment complex, the chief was a big factor in getting the academy started and he head up the feds not being able to bother us out here!"

"What is going on in there today?" Penny asked noting the huge banner and animated 3D display showing robots fighting inside a forest it seemed?

"Ahh that's the robotics and tech students having the end of summer battle, it decides class rakings going into the school's full regular term and session. That honor lasts until we have battles at midterms. Most of the major classes or mutant powered have some sort of rivalry or competition going on all year!" Kyley told the teen.

"You guys compete in that too?" Penny asked Vel and Sass next.

"Ahhh not really allowed to, we are GOO or something similar to that term. So they really don't like us competing with and maybe hurting the other kids." Vel replied with his personal disappointment showing on the matter in his manners.

"But we do it anyway and call it 'practice!'" Sass whispered over to Penny.

For the next hour or so, Kyley showed the mother and two teens most of the campus. The newly built student housing, all the labs for different sciences ranging from cutting edge medical to beyond reason robotics! The mass of classroom buildings scattered amongst the island boggled the mind and the list of various classes they offered Penny as a student was insane in its scope.

The Academy had its own large service docks in the island's sheltered cove in case the school needed to receive something so large only a ship could carry it and its own hidden airstrip plus hanger complex buried in one hillside. These were all leftovers from the island's war service years. This place even had a hidden underground sub pen, not mention the several subway lines that connected the place back to the mainland.

The last part was Kyley leading the group into a huge tunnel entrance that headed into one of the cliffs ringing most of the campus at the island's center, it lead to a large glass windowed cafeteria that hung off the cliffs facing out into the pacific ocean. Penny grinned at the place, "Nice mom, what a view to eat by!"

The cafeteria was a large several story glass bubble that covered the cliff face from the peak all the way down a few stories into the ocean's waves washing against the glass! A few of those stories were below the tide line so you could see fish swimming by as you ate!

Food service was a mostly buffet style that seemed to operate 24/7 and offered all meals during the day. You could have breakfast at night and grab dinner in the early morning! Kyley also pointed out one of the place's many levels, one even offered a more personal dinning service for the school's staff and guests.

Next Kyley lead the group on a short elevator ride up that opened to onto a well appointed lobby that looked like it was from a five star hotel and then she lead them down a long hallway of dorms it seemed and she finally ended the tour at one of the doors.

That door opened up to what she called one the "Senior year suites" and they were top notch to say! Each one was a huge central gathering room that connected from four to six one person student units, each with its own bath!

What nearly floored Penny and Erin was that 'gathering room' had a balcony that overlooked the west side of the island facing out into the pacific...an ocean view worth millions here in LA.

"I am going to leave you all here to unpack and rest up. Please meet us in the cafeteria for dinner. Maps to this building and the whole island are on the table and feel free to go anywhere not marked as off limits or locked...please for your own safety." Kyley asked as her kids left the room.

"Will do 'K'!" Sophia smiled to her old friend.

Kyley ended the short tour with a question as she closed the door, "So I am sure you would love it here, but sleep on it and tell us your decision when you want."

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Shadowsblade here.

But I have to thank, Both Branek and Nuuan for their vast input and the ability they both have to 'bounce' off ideas and improve them!

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