Academy 218 - IC (Act 6: Reverence and Inspirational Misery)

Drake Deltori Blackmore.


Tactics. Complex battle planning.

Drake was never truly an expert when it came to those. Mostly because he was the kind of guy that just let it flow, basically. Constantly in sync with the battle, and ready to change it up soon as the situation came. But back then; he fought alone (With some occasional assistance). This would be the first real time he fought with a team. So when he heard Val's plan, he listened and went along with it. He knew that fighting with them, would be better opposed to trying to solo it - Treating his two allies as nothing more than meat shields. He went into deep thought about it:

From the way Drake saw it; the three were powerhouses, capable of giving anyone a hard time. He didn't know what Vespera's crew were packing, but he was more than confident in his abilities that he could take them. Drake planned on going along with Val's strategy of covering him until things got a little too cold for them. The only problem would be Drake himself, his plasma form generates too much heat and would surely melt any ice that Val created. Flying would help, but still be detrimental to Val's plan. If he uses controlled attacks, then maybe things would go well. The recently acquired shape-shifting form would be next to useless because of his limited knowledge of the ability. However, Drake knew that his plasma form gave him an array of advantages. First and foremost; nobody would be able to touch him without burning the skin off their hands, getting close could also be detrimental. Plus, Drake's going to spend the fight in the air. Anyone without such an ability would be at a disadvantage. He had a plan of his own in his head. Hit them hard and fast, keep them on the defensive. The very second the match starts, Drake would fire off a volley of plasma orbs while everyone else got ready. Keep their attention on him.

Then he thought about his two allies, and their role in the fight. Naturally, from the way Drake saw it; he had the highest offensive capability amongst the trio. Abe, probably is better at defense with how easily he bends concrete to his wishes. If the arena was made of the same materials as the training room, then Abe could easily alter the landscape. He could make the area much harder to maneuver on land - Thus making Val's job much easier. It wouldn't be a problem for Drake with his flight and all. Val could be the card that wins this fight for them, his winter based powers. Then there was that feeling that they should have a back up plan. Because it'd basically be Drake and Abe versus two people. That wouldn't be that much of a challenge, but still.

After his mental assessment concluded, Drake kept walking towards the arena. He decided to share his opinion with Val and Abe. "Heh, good plan, but the moment I get the green light, I'm going to rush ahead and take a fuckload of potshots at 'em. Keep them from getting close. If that doesn't work; I'm going for Vespera... Though, that'd leave the other two on you, Abe. If any of you need help, just holler and I'll send a lightning strike your way." Drake put his hand up, palms up, like he was going to demonstrate his plasma form some more. Before remembering that he was testing out this shape-shifter form. "Dammit..." He mumbled to himself. Even to his closest allies here; he didn't want to prematurely reveal his status as a power replicator. He'd save that surprise for later after he's gotten a power worth it's salt in a fight. Or he gets bored.

Drake had hoped that they didn't notice, but his skin turned to a silvery, liquid. Flowing and gushing, before turning back to it's usual whitish-yellow color. Just to make sure, Drake put his finger up and enshrouded it with plasma, the heat would certainly be felt from quite a distance - Before he made the plasma vanish. Any questions asked and he'd just mumble something about his plasma form. Drake looked up and saw that they were approaching the arena. "Any of ya'll got anything left to say... Cause, I really feel like I'm preparing for war here..." Drake scratched the top of his head. "... Just a feeling. Don't know why."



Jake Vin Valos.


The whispering was a bit unnerving. Jake didn't know what Arianna (And his little competition, Abe) are whispering about. He had hoped they were. You got something to say say it, Abraham... No, all you'd do is try to fight me. Jake rolled his eyes in irritation. Though, he thought he'd be a bit more pleased with this outcome than he really is. Abe was leaving, and he finally got that alone time he wanted - Not alone time. Just some time with her that didn't involve Abe. Hopefully he can win her young heart, and eliminate the competition for good.

Shade wrote:

"How'd you get that anyways? Oh, no, wait, if it's a story as cool as your scar, maybe we should wait until the ruins to hear it."

She asked about his scar. Eh. It wasn't exactly the best conversation in the world. Once again; it triggered his illusion powers to mess with his mind. A flash back started seeping into the scene, like a combination of the past and present formed all around him. Arianna, Niza and Ene in front of him were transparent, replaced with flames and ember. The Valos manor burning. Not too long ago. Torn to pieces. A roar bellowed in the distance, followed by the distinct crackling of electricity. "Uh... Well..." Jake says, as he was distracted by his own mental illusion. Taking one glance at his pocket watch, Jake's mind was set at ease again. Then he realized that he was just standing here doing nothing. Jake yips "... I just don't think I should talk about it..." At the worse time, this happens. Just my luck. He curses such an ability, one that makes him believe such hallucinations were real. At least it was obvious, unlike the other one.

Shade wrote:

"Oh, scratch that Ene. If it's gonna be a hike I'll change real fast. Here, Jake, I'll meet you and whoever else is going back here in, say, ten minutes? I'll go put on some stuff better suited for the cold."

"Take your time, I"ll be here." Jake says to Arianna as he watched the short little exchange before she left. He watched her leave with a smile on his face, he did consider he a friend. Jake would wait for him, since he (felt) like he had everything he needed for the trip. But now he was left alone with Niza and Ene, neither of which were well acquainted with him. Jake turned to the pair. No offense to them, but he wasn't that interested in them. Ene was a friend and all, but not that appealing. He turned to Niza to introduce himself, "I'm Jake, you?" He says, forgetting to say his last name.

Celo wrote:

"Sorry, hon, I don't want any trouble so early in the year," Niza smirked.

Meanwhile, Ene nodded at Jake, "it's fine. Niza wanted to come over here. Sorry about intruding."

"Okay." Jake blankly says, answering Niza. Truthfully, he didn't care whether or not Niza wanted to come, since she was a complete stranger. So it didn't matter to Jake. Though, he was a bit irritated that they inserted themselves into his conversation - But it's forgivable. "So what are you girls up to?" Jake says, near awkwardly. His interest left when Arianna did, but he wasn't going to let them know. Jake decided to take out this time to whip out his phone and tell Gabe that he's had a change of heart. While he texted, he spoke to Ene and Niza "I just had an amazing conversation with them. I want to know more and more about them." Was a one-sided conversation, but it was better than standing there awkwardly. "Except for that giant guy, he's kinda creepy."



Adam Leo Blackmore.

Celo wrote:

"Please don't be too harsh, though."

"I cannot promise that," Adam starts, tipping his glasses, "I will not tolerate such behavior going on in school. Especially since a 'high-risk' student is involved, and we could have an accident if it's left unchecked." Then the air around Adam started rushing again, allowing him to take flight. Everyone nearby would be bombarded with strong winds. "Now, if you excuse me, I'll take this investigation into my own hands." Adam then floated off into the distance. Searching for Amimoore or Drake.



Jaska Din, & Gabriela Mya Valos.


As Adam left, Jaska felt quite uncomfortable - Not because of the winds. More of the repercussions of telling on Amimoore. Jaska is young, too young to be fighting the big kids. Hell, the only fighting he does is with his action figures. But Gabe and Jake are big and strong, they can fight Amimoore should it come to it. "Thank you guys, but I think I need to go..." He heard someone else approach, his ears twitched, as he turned to source with lightning speed.

Gabe had finally spotted Jaska, the wings gave it away. "Finally, I've been lookin' everywhere for ya', Jask. Where the he- have you been?" She says, afterwards, she threw an angry glance at Kynan and Jaylin. Read my mind, kiddos, and we're going to have a bad time.

"Oh hiiii, Gabe-"

Not even letting Jaska finish, Gabe grabbed on to Jaska by the shoulder using both arms and dragged him off, "We gotta go, I have a surprise for you!"

Titus

"I'm sorry, what did you just call me?" Titus stood up straight (before he had been hunching over) and was easily larger than anyone in the growing group. This hadn't been a very good night; these people seemed to almost fear Titus as if he were a grizzly bear standing in the room. This Abe guy was a jackass. Titus beat up jackasses and left them laying half-dead in dark alleys. He would make no exception for Abe, even if he did boast "unbreakable bones".

"Well then." Titus said "If I have a vote here, which I don't believe I do, I'd personally prefer the Arena. I'm always up for a good fight." He stared Abe down from across the small cloud of people, his face locked in a stare of rage. "Wanna see how 'unbreakable' those bones are, hotshot?" he finished, cracking his knuckles loudly. Abe needed to be knocked down a peg, and nobody insulted Titus MacArthur. It would be an easy fight. Titus had never lost one in all his days, and this jackass was asking for it. The sheet amount of tension in the air caused Titus' hair to seemingly stand on end. Nobody here wanted anything to do with him. Everyone else seemed to disappear, and all who stood in that circle of freaks were Titus and Abe.

'Let's see if you can fight, bastard.' Titus thought.

Jasmine

"Seems rather straightforward." Jasmine replied, slightly bored. Honestly she had expected something better out of them, but this would suffice to occupy her superior mind for a while. In her head she pictured the reception office and every way to get in. There were a few ventilation grates but they were boring. What would be exceptionally fun would be to simply waltz in and wipe the computers clean. She could think of several ways to do this.

"Well I see quite a few plans of action." Jasmine began "There's a few ventilation shafts around there but they're boring. Every spy brakes in through the ventilation. I think it would be much more entertaining to steal the information right from under their noses. If my associate ever gets here, she has a suit she created that heavily pixelates the user and renders them relatively invisible. We could also try to recruit that boy Jake, the one who can create illusions, or we could go with the simple distraction technique and set a bomb off or something of the like. If I can get my hands on enough nitroglycerin, I can make something that will suffice for an explosive. I'd need a ton of soap for that though. How well do you think they guard their toiletries around here?"

Abraham Gene

"Aha, thanks! See you later doll." Abraham said as Arianna scribed a sequence of numbers on a note and lended it to him. Score! He'd do the clicking of his mouth and point some finger guns at her before turning away as to join his friends in the battle march. Ha, so he still had it! Got the number from the cute girl, earned her trust, and from the sounds of the ruckus coming from behind him, made an enemy out of the big guy! Titus made some remarks about "his unbreakable bones", followed by what he assumed was supposed to be an impressive chain of his knuckles cracking. All Abe could really do or say in response to his meager threat was audibly laugh it off as nothing, clearly undermining the big guy's potential as nothing more than child! He'd laugh and say, "yeah-ha, sure thing 'beefcake'."

That was an interesting development - at the very least he had lured away the big guy's attention away from Arianna and instead inspired him to follow Abe's own self to the arena. He only turned around for just a moment to give Arianna a grim, half-hearted smile. Hopefully she had heard the exchange and picked up on what had happened. Whether she was aware of it or not, Abraham did her a favor. The number was in precaution in the circumstance that Titus chose instead to follow the girl in an isolated location such as the ruins. He turned back around and headed out of the room to join his teammates.

There, the situation was as expected. They briefed about possible strategies and Valery's suggestion seemed to be the most viable. Abe and Drake would distract them and cause some trouble while Val made their life a living hell. Chill them to the bone. Abe came up with ideas how he could counteract that effect on himself, so he doesn't slip or mess up or anything - there were a couple. The only way he could find out if they had actually worked would be through practical application: in the arena. Drake would cover the sky and harass them from there, Abe could probably find some way to work in synergy with him. He could also create a hazardous terrain for them. Tear up the land, make it uneven and craggy to make it possible for them to lose their footing. Create some barricades in front of Val - an outward pointing spear wall could keep them from advancing without impaling themselves or walking or running around the wall, which would no doubt give Val a chance to push them back. But as for his own part? Abe had a couple tricks up his sleeve that his friends haven't seen yet - and a side of him they've yet to witness.

He hadn't noticed Drake's lapse of lost control, he was still too caught up in his own thoughts. He had an idea that he could contribute: the golem. Though that'd detract from Val's big finisher. Maybe in the next fight they're in, Drake and Val could cover him and he could pull out the big surprise. So instead, he could get in close - though risky, due to his lack of information on their opponents, it was his strongest suit - he could also make them dance. Keep them busy. Or completely lock them in, he could make some pretty thick walls.

"Got it!" Abe said jovially. "I'd say leave it all to me, but uh... Drake would probably get bored." But aside from that, he still had some information of his own to share regarding a possible nuisance, and when Drake asked if anyone had anything else to say, that'd be good a time as any to share.

"Well..." Abe started, "as it so happens, I'm pretty sure I pissed th' big guy off, y'know the one back in the lounge? So we might have 'ta deal with him at some point."

Yeah, yeah, leave it to him to give the team more enemies. But odds are, a guy as full of himself as Titus would pose himself as a problem in the future anyhow! Because a team as strong as the three of them? Titus was going to get ego-hurt in meantime anyway! Maybe that'd be the time Val and Drake could distract the other team while Abe powered up and whooped their ass himself! He wasn't going to make it personal, there was no need to. Beefcake was as beneath him as much as anyone else was.

Titus and Neal

Titus followed Abe out of the room and listened as he planned with the large Val and Drake. Val seemed like a pretty nice guy, full of fun and laughter, but Abe was an asshole that needed to be knocked down. It was time Titus showed the school what he could really do. He didn't want anything to do with the others, but Abe had to be taught a lesson. Titus puffed out his chest and stood at full height as he walked into the hallway a few feet behind the trio.

"Actually," Titus bellowed "I think you'll have to deal with me now! Seems like you're a pretty big talker, but I'd prefer to let my fists do the talking. You against me Abe. Are you man enough?" That should do it. Titus wanted to fight Abe alone so as not to piss the other two off. Three competent mutants versus Titus would not be a fair fight, but one -well, Titus had never lost a fight before. He balled his fists tightly and gritted his teeth, attempting to control his anger. He may have lost the girl, but his pride was still intact.

Neal had walked away from the group of explorers after a bit, bored by the sheer amount of them. It would be cool to explore the ruins, but Neal didn't like being in a group with this many people. He instead struck out on his own and happened to walk out of the lounge just as Titus began to squabble with Abe. He looked on from a distance and approached the group quietly, not wanting to metaphorically rock the boat. All of the mutants in this group seemed to be new at the school. Hopefully they wouldn't be dumb enough to get in a fist fight in the hallway. Neal had remembered seeing both of them in the training warmup and they seemed like an interesting match. Titus was extremely strong and Abe seemed to be able to earthbend. It would certainly be an interesting fight. He had his powers on standby; if either of them attacked, he could create a steel wall between them and keep them at bay.

"Well then." Neal said, taking a few steps past Titus "What's going on here?"

"None of your business." Titus replied "Just taking out the trash."

"Well then." Neal quipped, taking a step back from the enormous Scottish grizzly bear of a man towards Abe, Drake, and Val "Did he take your protein bar or something?"

"Want me to split your skull open too, pal?" Titus angrily retorted.

Mina silently listened to the conversation, swinging her legs from the table the group sat at. She scowled as she ward Kate speak to her from her physical form.

"What does knowing abou my power do for ya!?"

Mina couldn't help but demand this though she couldn't be heard. She let out an annoyed sigh, glaring at Kate. She was going to get in an accident one day and that pretty face of her's wouldn't be so pretty. Then what would people think of her? Nothing. She would become a nobody.

Mina's attention turned away from Kate and back to the conversation. Wow, they really think they're smart with these plans? Heh. The invisible thing wouldn't be a good idea- there is a few teachers that can read minds and see through stuff. And of course electronics- there has to be some people who could easily sense an invisibility suit. As for the distraction idea, that, too was dumb. The bomb could easily be traced back to whoever. Then there was security cameras. And guards. Several problems, here. Mina sighed and walked back to her body, stepping into it. Her physical body and spiritual one now merged, Mina yawned and sat up, music still blaring through her headphones. She stretched and stood up, slowly walking towards the table. She was going to have to help them here- they were being too open about everything.

She looked at them lazily, with her tired, sleep-filled eyes. Mina looked at each of the three people and said quietly, making sure only they could hear. "Next time choose a more secretive place where wondering ears can't hear. I heard everything.And I know several people who can help you with your problem." It was true- the past couple days Mina had been studying people- several had very interesting talents and powers.

Drake Deltori Blackmore.


"Heh, I just imagine you did..." Drake says to Abe, lightly ruffing his hands through his hair as he turned back to look at Titus as he approached. His tone sounded like he was amused, but this kind of situation was something that Drake's seen a thousand times before. This was something that he was going to take seriously as possible, since someone could really get hurt. "Now, now..." Drake didn't want to fight Titus - Nor did he want Abe to splinter off and fight him. Because Abe is a valuable part of their group, and it wouldn't be right if they left him out. "We're in the middle of something big guy, and I need his @ss in tip-top shape if we're going to win." Drake says, nodding his head towards Abe and pointing his thump at him.  He started glancing to the sides to make sure no one's here. The last thing Drake wanted was a big fight on school grounds - Because he knew that the first person he'd get chewed out by would be Adam. So it didn't need to come to that, in any case, Drake knew he had the advantage. Close quarters plus burning hot plasma was a dangerous combination, and as far as he could tell, Titus didn't have any ranged attacks.

Then Neal approached the group, probably saw everything going on and wondered what was going on. But there was nothing to know. It was a little squabble that was going to be. Drake quickly answered Neal's question, "Uh, hey, bud, nothing is going on here here. We're just leaving..." Only for Titus the roid-monkey to start being a d*ck. Now Titus's responses to Neal sure pissed Drake off. Titus's arrogance was irritating and the giant was just begging to be put back down in the dirt where he belongs. Drake would be happy to do so, but the only person that's going to be put in the dirt is Vespera and her crew. "Look bud, I would tone it down a few notches..." Before someone does it for you! Drake says in a snarky, sarcastic tone. He has a cheeky look on his face.

That certainly wasn't the end of Drake's comments. He leaned into Abe, and quietly whispered to him "What the hell did you say to piss off this roid-muncher? Heh, I bet his d*ck is microscopic. That's why he's so angry." Before chuckling quietly and throwing Titus an amused look.



Sage L. Pimm, Gabriela M., Jake V., & Jaska D. Valos.


After a little while of preparations and other plans, the group had met at their arranged meeting spot.

The first three to make their approach was obviously the three Valos siblings. They walked side by side, with Jaska in-between Jake and Gabe. There were few changes in their attire, except for Gabe, who had thrown a large black padded winter coat over her attire.

"... And then I told Adam about it and then he said he'd, uh, 'take the investigation into his own hands'. Then he flew off...." Jaska was in the process of explaining what had happened with Adam when Gabe approached.

"Are you sure about all of this?" Jake says, "This is very serious... No time for jokes or playing around."

"Yeah. I saw it myself...! I'm scared..." Jaska says as he looked behind himself, expecting to see Amimoore perched on a building, ready to strike like a monster.

"... That girl even looks at ya and I'm breaking her neck. Got it, Jask?" Gabe inserted, she cracked her knuckles as she walked ahead, her gaze violent and ready for war.

"Look we don't always have to end things in blood, Gabe." Jake pleads.

"Yeah, we do," Gabe says, "Especially when it comes to over-privileged b*tches thinking that they can get over on everyone cuz they daddy owns somethin'."

"Right" While Jake did agree with Gabe about people thinking they can do whatever they want. But violence would only cause them more problems, make their time here unnecessarily hard. Especially since they're here because of Gabe and Jaska's lack of control over their powers, and themselves really. Either way; he figured that he should get along with this mission.

The group of person they've recruited slowly gathered at the meeting spot. Except they were missing a few people that they asked to come along - And more importantly; Sage.

"Where the 'ell is Sage? We can't go ahead without the Heavensent." Gabe said to herself.

"Me?" A voice appeared out of the blue.

Then Sage appeared in a flash of light. Apparently they had been invisible the whole time; recently becoming visible again. There were no changes to their attire. Even though it was cold and it was a long-ish trip. The inner-light gave them the warmth they needed to forgo things like heavier clothing. In Sage's hand was a bright-red apple. "Is everyone ready?" They asked. Strangely, the sun was shining much brighter on the area around Sage. A visible beam of light followed them around, similar to a spotlight shining on a star in a play.

"Well what are ya' waiting for? Everyone's das' gon' come is here. Let's go!" Gabe says, urging Sage to leave.

Sage then lead their group out of the campus grounds and towards the woods into the ruins.


Ray Judah Drager, & Dexter 'Rush' Chertok.

Maxx wrote:

"Well I see quite a few plans of action." Jasmine began "There's a few ventilation shafts around there but they're boring. Every spy brakes in through the ventilation. I think it would be much more entertaining to steal the information right from under their noses. If my associate ever gets here, she has a suit she created that heavily pixelates the user and renders them relatively invisible. We could also try to recruit that boy Jake, the one who can create illusions, or we could go with the simple distraction technique and set a bomb off or something of the like. If I can get my hands on enough nitroglycerin, I can make something that will suffice for an explosive. I'd need a ton of soap for that though. How well do you think they guard their toiletries around here?"

Both of them listened to the plan that Jasmine was telling them about with interest (Even if they didn't show it). The options they had they were good, but Ray got the distinct impression that Jasmine was trying to make this interesting. Hmph. They don't need interesting or flashy, what they needed was practical.

The first thing said was, "No bombs," Ray says, "I don't think this is worth being branded a terrorist over." Beneath his sunglasses, he rolled his eyes up into his head, wondering what kind of person Jasmine is if she's suggesting terrorism to the pair. Then he thought about how they should go about this. The vents were immediately out of the question since they're way too large to fit into them, probably. There was also a high chance that they have be reinforced to prevent such break ins. "I don't think we have time to wait for your friend to get here - Or for us to get that illusionist. So I think we'll have to make due with what we have." Ray says, blankly. He looked around the room, giving it a good examination. He was certainly in a rush to get out of here before anyone else gets the bright idea of approaching them.

"May I suggest?' Rush says, his tone and speech patterns mechanical as ever, "Created many gadgets. Create nonlethal bombs. Place in strategic locations. While I work. Yes. Serve as well distraction. Better than real bomb. Can play off as prank. No causalities. No investigations."

Celo wrote:

"Next time choose a more secretive place where wondering ears can't hear. I heard everything.And I know several people who can help you with your problem."

Jesus christ, what does this chick want already? It was so frustrating seeing that this girl had overheard the whole thing. He stared at her, letting that anger inside of him well up. His hand was grasped tightly on to the table. Unexpectedly, he broke off that part of the table. He closed his eyes Keep a cool head here. She has the advantage, she knows what we're up to, and there's too many people walking He knew that getting angry would accomplish nothing. Even if there were loads of nasty things he could do to Mina just by sitting at this table. "Hmph. You were pretending to sleep the whole time. I should have figured that out much earlier." I'll give you credit for that... He has to say the right things to Mina and hopefully gain her silence. Either by peaceful terms or intimidating. "I'm a man that always admits defeat. So, what exactly do you want from us...?"

"Possibly. Work out agreement. Yes?" Rush says, trying to hide the shock. He kept himself emotionless as possible, he didn't want her to get any satisfaction from this. "And no need. For assistance in recruitment. Already have someone." Rush glanced at Jasmine. "Regardless. This best kept secret. Yes. Our goals are noble."


Carmen 'Lily' Santo.


The door to Lily's room swung open, and slammed shut just as fast. She looked around, to see Merry no where in sight. Doesn't matter. I just knew she wouldn't be around when I wanted her the most.... Lily thought to herself as she climbed up onto her bed, and wrapped the covers around herself. This was certainly a moment of despair. Having her deep secret discovered by someone who's going to abuse it. Her worst nightmare over again. She was fighting the tears as she thought about it. It was just like her time in New York once one of the people she gifted with powers had gotten too power hungry, and way too overzealous. All it would take is one incident and someone will get over-charged. People will get hurt, and the victim will either die or want to - With widespread destruction occurring either way. Then everyone here will hate her, they'll think she'll be a monster capable only of destruction, or exactly what they need to achieve godhood. Which meant that she would have to flee again. But she knew this is what she came here for; trapped on an island of meta-humans to turn them into their own little bombs.

Len and Bre
-

Len and Bre arrived at the meeting place for te ruins group. Bre had her red hair pulled back in a ponytail with a white ribbon tied nearly in a bow. She wore just what she was wearing earlier aside from te slight change in hairstyle. She now was carrying a small white purse that held a cell phone, flashlight, and camera. She would so have to take pictures.

Len wore just what he was wearing earlier. His hair was a bit messed up, but not to where he seemed unclean. Maybe a bit attractive, in a way.

Bre smiled at the group as she arrived, Len close behind her. "This is gonna be fun," she grinned, talking to no one in particular before they started following the rest of the group.

-
Mina
-

Mina watched with an annoyed expression as Rwy broke off a part of the table. He really needed to be more careful with ther people's property.

"Actually I was asleep. And I'm not here to blackmail. Actually..." Mina paused to yawn, then let out an annoyed sigh. "Actually I was going to find out your purpose for this, and if I like the purpose I wil help- I know several people's powers and may even find others to help. If not then I do nothing. Just shrug you guys off as people with duo tic idea and we go our separate ways. But just saying, all your current ideas are too reckless. I could help you with your plans-easy."

Valery Arsov

"No, this is good, this is good. I am not saying I am carrying team, just that I do not want to hinder you two. I think there is good chance of our unlucky enemies getting knocked out by plasma and very big rocks long before my chill sets in. I do not think I have had such...for-mid-uh-bull allies before, yes? We will make good team. Don't take my words the wrong way, it is just I want our powers to work best together." Val grinned as Drake turned his finger into a Roman Candle for a second or two. "Good. I expect to see lots of fireworks in the Arena, eh? And Abe, I will be disappointed if someone is not b*tchslapped by half a mountain before the end of this fight." Val listened closely to Abe's comments, appreciating his good-natured confidence. They were building off each other, Val thought. They were all confident in their abilities, and Drake and Abe's sparring aside, didn't feel the need to butt heads over it. If their friendship could build-and he felt their stint in the Arena would only strengthen their fledgling acquaintanceship-they'd be a pretty damned good team. Fire, ice, and earth. Drake ruled the skies, Abe the ground, and Val a bit in-between. He didn't think that Drake's plasma would significantly effect his own abilities-as long as he wasn't spraying plasma all over the ground, it wouldn't affect Val's ability to make the landscape very treacherous, and as long as Abe could work his terrakinesis on the fly, finding sure footing shouldn't be a problem for him either. With their enemies busy dodging attacks from his comrades, Val could work on wearing them down. Fights took a lot of you-people don't realize that, but throwing punches and struggling to beat someone, truly beat them, is one hell of a workout. Throw supernatural powers into the mix and it only tires people out quicker.

Tired bodies normally aren't warm bodies.

But then Abe made a very interesting statement. "Oh, you p*ssed off Tiny? Drake has scuffle with Amimoore, Abe annoys the gorilla, you guys are making me feel left out. I am sure I can annoy someone into a fight before the end of the d-"

Oh. Now Tiny was talking sh*t.

"Titus," Val said, making his Russian accent a little thicker than it needed to be, drawing up to his full height-yeah, he may not have been physically imposing to Titus, but it sent a message. "There are two kinds of fights. There are fights that you can win, and there are fights with the three of us. Threatening my friend, that is bad Threatening him-" Val gestured at Neal, feeling a bit of sympathy for the kid who randomly wandered into, what he assumed, was about to become Main Street, Tombstone. If only it were high noon. "Well, c'mon. He's not even in this. Now we are going to the Arena. If you have a problem with Abe, you settle it there after we are done. Following us here, threatening me here? Makes me think you don't want an Arena fight. Makes me think you maybe want a real, serious fight. And those kinds of fights can get...nasty."

Val tensed his right leg, readying himself to let loose with a thin layer of black ice across the floor if necessary. It wouldn't stop Titus, but he had a feeling Tiny would come charging at them, all force and speed with no thought as to where it went up. Tiny was gonna break his ass into a million pieces if he tried that. Such a quick change of the environment would be a bit of a drain on Val, but it would be worth it to ensure his two, more direct-combat-oriented friends could really lay into him-the whole purpose of Val's monologue, which he hoped they caught onto, was to give them a second or two to prep if they needed it, along with himself.

Arianna Madrigal

Arianna, perhaps wisely deciding that the business of Jake, his little brother, and Gabe, was none of hers, waited a bit for them to discuss their affairs, taking another loop around the hallway before emerging out-at which point she noticed Gabe pushing them to leave. Was she trying to give me the slip? Eh, probably not. But Jake's the only one I know out of this group and I really don't want Gabe clinging to him the whole time...she's really scary. Like I think she'd actually punch me if I made her mad enough. I didn't go to the Arena BECAUSE of stuff like that. At least I can call Abe and have him beat her up if she does that. No, wait, then he might see it as a dating thing. Is it a dating thing? Oh, sh*t, they really are getting away!

Half jogging, half skipping, Arianna caught up with the group, sidling in near Jake. Her low tolerance for taboo activities was already kicking in: just the fact they were going to do this had her nerves jumpy and a strange, manic energy dancing in her arms and legs. Breaking the rules was kinda awesome. Had she known this in years past, she would've done way more fun stuff. "Trying to leave without me, Jake? Can't blame you...I was in a hurry to get away from..." Arianna quickly glanced behind her, making sure that Titus wasn't following them, "Titus. Also Niza seemed a little...eh. Maybe I'm just bad with people." Am I talking too much? I feel like I'm talking too much. Arianna stopped after that, ending the perfect, unconscious synchronization of her voice and footsteps (and heartbeat and breathing, if you wanted to go much deeper than that) for a few moments-but not for too long. "Anything I should know about these ruins? If there are any serial killers or failed government experiments or something, I'm tripping you on the way out."

Jasmine and Rose

Spoiler:

"Best not eavesdrop on a high-functioning sociopath, missy." Before she had listened to what the girl had said, Jasmine had leapt off of her seat and swung at her head with both feet (just recently woke up from sleeping. Slow reflexes), vaulting her over the back of the booth. She landed on her feet with catlike reflexes. Before anyone else could move she grabbed a table and launched it full-speed at Mina. From her pocket she produced a small grenade-shaped device. She pulled the pin and tossed it at Mina's feet. The grenade exploded with a bright nonlethal flash and quickly filled the room with nontoxic pitch-black smoke.

The cafe filled quickly with black gas, driving several workers outside. Rose, luckily, was sitting by the door, and was able to evacuate before the smoke could get in her lungs. She looked through one of the windows outside with anger. What idiot would flood a restaurant with smoke? Don't they know that people are breathing?! She looked down and cried out as two hand-shape prints began to bore into the wood around the window. The pane cracked slightly, and she let go. Her hands burned, not unlike the burn of a child who had placed their hand on the top of a hot stove not expecting to be burned.

Jasmine, though was not at all fazed by the smoke explosion. She closed her eyes and learned where Mina was. Like a missile she launched herself at the girl through the smoke, a steel combat knife in hand, ready to snuff out her life. She assumed that Ray and Rush would do the smart thing and destroy the video cameras as well as make sure there were no witnesses to the murder. And in all that, Jasmine's pulse raised not one BPM.

Titus vs. Neal

Neal liked these guys. They had guts even in the face of a roid-crazy jackass. Hopefully he'd be able to meet up with them later, but for now he had an angry scottish man to deal with. Tiny, though, was not a proper nickname at all. He'd have to fix that later. Neal's eyes began to glow purple slightly, as did his hands. He would crush this meathead with ease. Titus' face flushed red as he began to advance.

"I'll kick all three of your asses you f*cking cowards!" Titus roared "You want a fight? I'll give it to you right here!" Just as Titus raised his fist to punch Val, a purple wall appeared between the two groups. A deafening crunch emanated through the air as Titus' knuckles broke on impact.

"Gentlemen," Neal said, the three hooked tails of his whip falling from his right hand "go on and have your fun. I'd prefer to handle this goon myself." And call an ambulance while you're at it!

Spoiler:

"YOU WANT SOME OF THIS, TWERP?" Titus roared as loud as he could. The bones in his hand quickly realigned themselves and healed in seconds. Neal snapped his fingers as the wall hardened to be the strength of diamond.

"Actually, I do." Neal replied, a devious smile spreading across his face. The wall moved at sixty miles an hour and caught Titus in the gut, sending him flying down the hallway. Neal transformed the whip into his bow and fired an arrow, hitting Titus in the left shoulder. He assumed that the trio would leave; this jackass needed a lesson taught by a veteran. Before Titus could push the heavy wall off of him (it now weighed as much as a small car) two more arrows had caught his left shoulder. He growled in pain and shoved the wall off. He pulled the arrows out, the holes quickly sealing, but before he could charge once more, three more arrows hit his opposite shoulder, putting three similar wounds.

"You may be able to heal!" Neal yelled down the hall "but you sure as Hell feel pain!" Titus did indeed feel pain. He cried out, his vision beginning to blur as both of his shoulders seemed to fill with fire. The wall had fractured several of his ribs and he thought his left kneecap, though his leg was so filled with pain that he couldn't tell where it was coming from exactly. Neal was confident in this meathead's idiocy; this fight was over. Now it was time for the finishing move. The bow transformed into a round shield, much like Captain America's.

"Hey meathead!" Neal yelled "Give up yet?" Neal threw the shield and it bounced off of the walls seemingly uncontrollably.

"How dare you-" Titus was cut short as the shield collided with his open jaw. This caused a biological anomaly known as glass jaw, a fighting term for a shot across an open jaw that temporarily incapacitated them. Titus cried out as his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell to the ground, unconscious. The psychic matter vanished from the makeshift battlefield, and Neal walked across the hallway to where the defeated monster laid.

"Lesson number one of 218, kid." Neal said aloud as if Titus could hear him "Never underestimate your opponent." He created a set of psychic matter handcuffs and hardened them before heading off. Hopefully he'd be able to meet up with the people who had pissed Titus off and tell them of his success. He could use some training himself -Hell, maybe he could train with them.

"Someone get him to the infirmary!" Neal yelled as if someone were listening. He turned down a corridor and began to walk away, leaving Titus in a heap on the floor.

"All right, for my first day a school full a bunch super heros, I'm going to say it went pretty well. I didn't have to turn into a fire breathing dragon and almost kill someone, so that's a plus. This place is pretty nice, though it would have been nicer if the place was a little warmer, then again you really can't have the school of Stan Lee's dreams in the middle of Florida. And as far as I'm aware, I don't think there have been any fights yet." Trace thought as he walked by the lounge, he stopped for a moment to take in the view, he noticed what looked like a group of people about ready to beat the daylights out of each other. "Then again, this day has probably gone a little too well. This could be interesting." Trace walked closer to the group, close enough to observe, but kept a good bit of distance, he wasn't in the mood to get punched in the face.

The next thing Mina knew, she was on her back and a table was getting thrown at her. Mina yelped. She so wasn going to help. She rolled to the side as te table flew past and light exploded at her feet, followed by smoke. Mina began coughing. She couldn't think of what else to do but sleep. It would take a lot to harm her body, anyways. Smoke. The Jasmine girl obviously knew how to deal with the smoke otherwise she wouldn't have done such an attack. She could probably find her anywhere inside the restaurant. There would be no use dodging, then, if she would get hit either way. Currently Jasmine had the advantage. She could attack Mina from anywhere, and she would be defenseless.

Sleep.

Mina fell asleep, though the smoke was getting to her. She let out a cough in both physical and spiritual form. Mina's spirit form looked around frantically. "My body is safe now! It's going to be hard to hurt it like that! Rock-hard skin, now!" She screamed, despite not being hard before coughing again. Her mind swam with thoughts of people she was going to have her help.

A girl named Niza she saw order a guy to give her money. He listened, his eyes becoming like a puppet's and handing her money. Power- charmspeak. Easily use it on one of these guys. She overheard a girl mention her power- Ene. Memory control. Easily threaten to remove one's memories. A girl with red hair could make people freeze by looking at them. A boy who could manipulate pain. Twins who could rea miss. She had listened in on so much. She could easily have so many people work for her- she just had to find something they would want to keep a secret. The Niza girl probably wouldn't want her power shared. The girl with sunglasses probably wanted to keep those sunglasses.

Mina just remained standing by her body, should te time come that she needed to return to it, and glared forward. "I dislike you more than hooker girl," she grumbled before coughing again. Her physical form coughed in unison, brow furrowed.

"Well that was disappointing, I was half expecting something to explode. I should probably make sure he's not dead." Trace said as he walked over to Scottish guy passed out on the ground. Trace crouched down and slapped the Scottman's face a few times saying "Hey guy, you all right? You're not dead or anything are you?" Trace stood up and took a few steps back, and said "Judging from the fact one those guys said something about healing, it's probably safe to assume that he's fine." Realizing it wasn't best for him to be hanging around another student who was lying unconscious on the ground, Trace decided to leave and he didn't have any plans in following the winners of the fight. Hopefully he would find someone not in the mood for a brawl. "I've got a feeling this place is going to be interesting", Trace said as he took a small pack of trading cards out of his pocket, and started looking for something he hadn't been yet.

Drake Deltori Blackmore.


"Come and get it, you roid munching bastard!" Drake roared the second Titus raised his fist. In hindsight, he should have already begun his transformation. Either way, Drake exploded into plasma. By the time the plasma faded Drake was fully transformed. He was ready to kick Titus's ass with impunity, whether or not anyone said anything. That feeling of the rush of combat was swiftly stopped when Neal put the wall up between. Oooooouch, big guy. Look like that hurt. A confident smirk crept up on his face, as Neal said that he would take care of it. Which he was fine with; detours just weren't his thing. He felt urgency coming up, he was getting more excited for this match, and he wasn't going to let some roid pumper get in his way. He didn't want to leave without giving Titus some last words, "Just like I said, ya' dumb ape, you better tone it down, or someone will do it for you.... And you just met that someone!" Drake quickly reverted out of his plasma form, the wreath of plasma just faded away. He turned around, like he was about to ruin off, but he stood there. Drake gave Neal his well wishes "Wish I could stay and watch, but I'm more the type who'd do the asskicking! You take care, now!" Drake says to Neal with a smile. For having such bravery, and kicking. He just loved a guy like that! After the arena, the first person he'd want to find is Neal.

Then Drake ran off in a burst of speed, hoping for his two partners to follow at least. "Let's get the f*ck outta here!" He shouted as he ran. He heard sounds of the fight bouncing off the hallway as he left. He was hoping that Neal was the winner, if not, Drake will fight Titus on his behalf later. "Whooooooo! Now that gets the blood rushing, boys!" He shouted as he ran through the halls of the school and was outside. With the scene over with, he only found it more entertaining than threatening. He always found his best warm ups are with excitement.

He just couldn't wait for the arena.

After running at full speed for a minute or so, Drake found out that he had tired himself out. But by then he was looking up at the arena. An enormous building indeed. It was an enormous square shaped building, with a round glass dome on the top. The building was on an elevated surface, with a elegantly crafted stone path (With walls and rails on the side). As he walked up it, he felt like he was in a movie. He and his noble friends were the heroes ready to confront the big bad. They'll make a sequel. Drake opened the door to reveal a large lobby room, it had plenty of width and height. Looking fancy as hell for a building where people beat the ever-living f*ck out of each other. In the center of the room was an indoor fountain, spraying water up into the air. Surrounding the fountain was a series of chairs lined up next to each other. Opposite to the main entrance was yet another desk. With an Asian secretary like person manning it.

Why can't they ever put a hot guy in the front desk? Think of the women for once! Drake felt like he should be the one to set up everything. He walked over and leaned on his elbow. "Hello there... We're here to set ourselves up with a match..." F*ck. Who are we fighting again? Drake found himself trailing off. "I don't know... I think Vespera, and Cassandra..."

"Alright, we have been expecting you. Will these two be your partners for this match?" The secretary lady asked.

Drake glanced at Abe, then Val. "Yes, Ma'am." He found himself flustered by the secretary's appearance.

The Secretary stared at Drake, "You all know the rules of the arena?"

"No killing each other? Hahaha...?"

Since this was the usual business, the Secretary pushed back in her chair, and began explaining the rules of the Arena in one long speech, "Battles in the arena are either solo, or with a team up to four members. There will be a set number of rounds, agreed upon by both parties. A round will be declared finished by a referee that will be overseeing the battle. Causing serious damage to your opponents, or killing them, is strictly forbidden." She nodded her head, "Am I clear?"

"Yep." Drake says.



Ray Judah Drager, & Dexter 'Rush' Chertok.

Spoiler:

"God dammit!" Ray shouted through the screams, smoke, and chaos, only getting cut off by him coughing. Jasmine had threw a smoke bomb on the ground and filled the place with smoke. He covered up his mouth with one hand. With his other, he started flapping it in the air. Trying to get rid of the smoke. In front of him, three large ripples in the air formed, and massive, glowing, transparent, copies of Ray's arm spawned. They pushed a large amount of the smoke away from him, fortunately. But, by then, the smoke simply vanished into thin air. Works for him. The replicas of Ray's arm disappeared much like the smoke did. He immediately turned his attention to Jasmine and Mina - Hell, that attention wh*re from earlier had pulled a gun on Jasmine (That was the most surprising event of all)... And of course; Mina fell asleep. Is this girl stupid!? Someone charges you with a knife you bail out! Ray rolled his eyes up into his head. There was only the rush of combat flowing through his head, and Jasmine had really crossed the line this time. He didn't know what the f*ck this maniacal girl was on, but hell if they are going to work with her any further. Hell, they were doing just fine before Jasmine went crazy for no reason. Jeopardizing this whole operation.

He'd lecture Jasmine on this tomorrow. The first thing on his list was getting the f*ck. Ray pointed his hand at Jasmine with lightning fast speed. A blue wavy aura had surrounded Ray at this point. The knife that Jasmine was holding was pulled out of her hand with such force that it'd be impossible to hold on to it. The knife flew at him, and the second that it was in his hands, he grabbed on to the knife with both hands and snapped it in half. He threw what was left of it on the floor at Jasmine's feet. Now came the next thing. Getting Mina out of the way. Ray pointed his hand at the sleeping Mina, and an outside force started pushing her body away from Jasmine. "Don't. Take. Another. Step towards her." Ray says, his tone absolutely furious. He balled his fists and firmly planted his feet on to the ground. He was not amused by Jasmine. Causing a scene like this. He should knock her ass on the ground. He wasn't, though, all he wanted to do was leave here before the authorities showed up. "We are going to leave. Now!" Ray roared. If it came down to a fight between him and Jasmine, he was confident that he will win. Ray had immense power, and could easily restrain Jasmine. "Easy way or the hard way, Miss Cheng. Your choice!" The aura around him intensified.

"Such actions! Illogical! Yes! Too much attention! Too many eyes! Must flee! Fast! Side-note! Must make gas-mask!" The blabbering came out of Rush's mouth as he panicked. His mind had went into "Rush-mode" as it was filled with a barrage of different thoughts that he could barely spit out what he wanted to. Grabbing on to his coat, he ran out of the doors to the cafe at high speeds. Disappearing into the snow. Rush didn't worry about the cameras or witnesses. Since he was too busy losing his sh*t to worry about that.


Sage L. Pimm, Gabriela M., Jake V., & Jaska D. Valos.


The group that had formed slowly walked through the snowy forest that had surrounded the campus. Engaging in idle small tall. Sage was leading the group, walking much further ahead of the rest of them. Jake was walking alongside Arianna. With Gabe and Jaska not too far away from them. Leaving behind a large trail of footsteps. Because of his claws; Jaska's footsteps had left a more distinct footprint.

Shade wrote:

"Titus. Also Niza seemed a little...eh. Maybe I'm just bad with people."

"Heh, I thought I was the only one who thought that big guy was a big ol' jackass." Jake says to Arianna, his tone amused. He didn't like Titus, he just didn't trust the enormous meat-head, or thought that he pumped himself with so many protein shakes that he degraded his own brain. Heh. "The way he just kissed your hand was just soooo... weird. I thought everyone was going to die of awkwardness." He felt comfortable talking to Arianna about this.

"Like, uh, in the movies where there's a knight and dragons?" Jaska says, butting in on their conversation. He raised an eyebrow. He wasn't an adept when it came to the social norms of teenagers and those older than him. TV and other forms of entertainment were basically the only window he has into the adult world. Though, it never really interested him.

"Hehahahahahahaha!" Gabe loudly laughed, "Are ya' serious?! He kissed ya' bloody hand?! For real?!" She really found that to be hilarious. She broke out of that constantly angered and rough visage to laugh. Only to slowly stop after the joke wore off. "If he did that to me, I'd burn his lips off. Hahahaha...."

Jake leaned into Arianna, "And she would too."

Shade wrote:

"Anything I should know about these ruins? If there are any serial killers or failed government experiments or something, I'm tripping you on the way out."

Before Jake could answer, Gabe just threw her two cents in, "I would be asking Sage that, Arianna. He... She... Is the one that organized this whole trip." She had a bit of trouble getting the right pronoun for Sage.

"You can call me whether you like, boy or girl, it doesn't matter," Was the first thing that Sage said, taking a bite out of the apple. "And they say that there was an accident in the ruins when a boy was crushed by construction equipment, and his soul haunts the ruins. That's why they stopped working on it, and it became... Ruins." Sage shrugged, and looked around. "However, my light repels darkness. No evil spirits will touch us as long as I'm around."

"Lovely," Gabe says, "That answer your question, Miss Arianna?
"


Megan Emma Jervious.


"Lovely, good show, good show!" Megan's cheery voice could be heard as she made her appearance. She was hiding while everyone was doing their thing. What was she disguised as? A wall. She had taken position in an empty hallway and used her shapeshifting to perfectly blend in with the environment. She watched everything go down, but didn't feel the need to intervene. Titus was in over his head thinking that he could take on three people by himself. Now that's just being stupidly overconfident. It was no surprise seeing that he was defeated. Megan walked over to the unconscious Titus and stood over him. "Hahaha... Just like my friend Adam says...." Megan leaned in very close to the Titus on the floor and whispered into his ear (Even if he most likely can't hear it), "Great strength leads to even greater arrogance.... Now please, just be a big old sweetie and tell everyone that you fell. Mkay?" She laughed a bit at her own joke, before grabbing Titus by his leg and dragging him to the hospital. Despite her size, Megan is much stronger than she appears. He wasn't in a serious condition, his regeneration. He was just a bit harder to drag along.

"And Neal, that was such a brutal attack - While it does entice me, you could have surely killed him if he was anyone else." Megan stops dead in her tracks to tell Neal, "If Adam or Leon were here, they would surely toss you in the detention center - But I'm the nice one! So you all have a good time!" Megan says as she dragged Titus off into the empty halls of the school.

Arianna Madrigal


Having never been much of a "woodsy" girl-the boots on her feet had never seen anything but asphalt-Arianna was secretly pleased that she was keeping up with the group so well. She didn't want to be lagging behind or slowing them down, especially since she got the impression this wasn't their first rodeo, so to speak. It definitely wasn't Gabe's first-while Titus frightened Arianna in a helpless, "he could do anything he wanted and I'd be powerless to stop it" way, Gabe merely triggered a bit of apprehension. She didn't think Gabe would do anything really bad to her, specifically-not without just cause, at least-but she could see Gabe sticking it to somebody who pissed her off. Arianna, who tried to be sweet and avoid conflict, found that very appealing.

"Ew! I know, right? Who even does that? I was trying to be nice to him but the hand kissing thing..." Arianna shivered-and it wasn't clear if it was for emphasis or merely catharsis-"bleh. You'd better be on a horse and wearing a damned suit of armor if you want that to work." Jaska, then, very suddenly, stuck his head into their conversation. That was cool with Arianna, but she did wonder a bit about him. Surely it was brotherly rivalry, annoying each other and whatnot. As an only child, Arianna missed out on stuff like that, and enjoyed watching Gabe and Jake and Jaska just be around each other. "Yeah, Jaska, it was like in the movies, except Titus was the dragon. I, of course, was the knight in shining armor." she leaned in and gave a mock whisper to Jaska. "Jake was the princess in the castle."

Gabe was laughing, which was good-she kinda thought a childhood accident had left her face permanently in a scar, but her laughter disproved that theory. Arianna wasn't sure if she should keep talking or stay quiet, so she merely giggled along with Gabe, doing her best to go with the flow. She could hear the flow, though, a psychic beat no one else picked up on, and Arianna felt like she was pretty in tune with it. Things were going well-and around them, the forest covered in snow, peaceful and smooth, had a gentle overture accompanying them. Even the arrival of Seth didn't deter her. She'd heard through hearsay, even on the second day, that he was something of a tattletale, but Arianna wasn't a big rule-breaker, so she didn't envision them having much in the way of conflict. She glanced at Jake when he confirmed that Gabe's boast wasn't empty. "Really?" Arianna replied, soft enough to avoid being heard by the whole group. "That's...kinda badass. Wish I was more like that. Think she could give me lessons?"

And the inevitable creepy thing about the ruins. While she had it pegged as a snipe hunt, Blair Witch, Bloody Mary, etc, type deal, Sage seemed...trustworthy. Like, incapable-of-lying trustworthy. Sage was telling the truth, or thought she...he...whatever was. She didn't want to look rattled by this information-she wasn't, mostly because she didn't believe it (although, Arianna mused, these woods would be much scarier come nightfall...), but Sage's demeanor, the...pious way she spoke...eh. "It does, Miss Gabriella, it does. Sage, if you can keep evil spirits away, maybe you can repel Titus next time he shows up? It might be gentler on him than getting his lips burned off." Not knowing where to take the conversation, or how to broach, well, anything with Sage-was Sage a boy or a girl or something else entirely (her song wasn't giving any clues, it felt different than the others', something a group of Gregorian monks would chant rather than a personal leitmotif)-she felt falling back on Titus-bashing was probably safe. The snow clung to her shoelaces as she kept walking through the snow, enjoying their illegal hike. Couldn't have been too illegal if Seth was there, though. Could it have been? Oh well-there was no point in second guessing all this. Surely a walk to some ruins wouldn't get them in that much trouble in a school where you were allowed to beat the crap out of each other on a regular basis. Unconsciously, Arianna began humming softly to herself, taking a moment to watch everybody in the group, just watch the way the snow fell. The Academy was a relaxing place...she felt the transition was going to be a lot easier than she originally thought.

((I'll do Val when there's another Abe post))

Jasmine

So in about fifteen seconds, someone pulled a gun, the girl she was about to kill fell asleep, and she was disarmed by a detached arm. This was by far the oddest situation she had ever been placed in for quite a while. Rush seemed to completely break down and began to sound curiously like a Dalek. She'd chide him for it later, but now there was a girl with a gun. Jasmine liked girls with guns; they were funny because they thought that they could (a) shoot her before she got out of the way and (b) get away with it without their conscience burning holes in their soul. Jasmine would save the Dalek and date rape jokes for Rush and Ray, respectively. First she'd deal with Kate. She rose from where she was crouched on the floor and walked calmly towards the girl, looking straight down the barrel of the gun.

"Are you really going to shoot me, Kate?" Jasmine said, a smug grin on her face "Because I don't think you will. And what's more is that a bomb just went off in here and the only person present with a weapon is you. Looks pretty suspicious, doesn't it? I would suggest lowering your weapon and forgetting that any of this ever happened because as you so eloquently pointed out I am a complete and total psychopath and have no problem either (a) snapping your neck here and now or (b) incapacitating you and planting my remaining smoke bomb in your shirt, making you look like the criminal and getting you thrown in detention instead of myself. Do we have an understanding?" She had stopped walking about ten feet away from Kate. This distance, given her flash precognition cushion, would give Jasmine enough time to dodge a bullet and incapacitate Kate before she could get off another shot. Jasmine kept her eyes fixed on Kate's trigger finger. She noted that one of the girls in the cafe had powers of memory manipulation. (That could come in handy later.)

Neal

"I'll be neater next time." Neal mused over his shoulder as Megan dragged Titus away. He'd have to send her some flowers or something later to thank her for being the cool teacher. Several minutes later, Neal found himself at the arena. Drake, Val, and Abe were now at the reception desk, ready to enter the arena. He overheard Drake say that they were planning on going after another team of people that Neal had never seen before.

"Took care of the meathead." he said to Abe, tapping him on the shoulder "He won't be giving you any more trouble."

Mina couldn't help but feel shocked when the two people she had disliked the most earlier were the ones helping out with fighting Jasmine, the girl who she had found less annoying earlier. "I guess that the alliance the three had is off," Mina shrugged.

The smoke had cleared and she was no longer coughing. Mina glared at the Jasmine girl, walking back with her body as Ray moved it. She could probably wake up now since Ray had stepped in. Still, Mina felt safer asleep- she might not be able to dodge, but she can't be harmed by, say, a knife, whenever she is asleep.

Ray asked for Jasmine to choose- ending the fight the easy way or the hard way. Mina looked at Jasmine, a glare still on her face. "I would choose to end it the easy way you annoying little..." Mina glanced at her own body as she spoke. Her physical form was mumbling inaudible words as her spirit form spoke.

Jasmine, however, had other ideas. She chose to instead threaten Kate. Mina sighed, and sat down patiently by her body. She couldn't do anything but wait for everything to end.

-
Niza and Ene
-

When the two ha stepped into the café after leaving Jake, and instantly both regretted it because as soon as they sat down at a table in the corner farthest from the entrance, a fight broke out. Both instantly stood up as some chick tried to stab a girl who had... Fallen asleep? Both looked at the sleeping girl with shocked faces before looking at the girl who had the knife that was now gone, some dude, and a waitress. Ene's expression was one of panic and Niza's was of annoyance yet... Humor. She couldn't use her power right now- not in front of so many people. It would be too easy for someone to figure out her power. But then they couldn't leave- the Jasmine chick seemed nuts- what if she saw them trying to leave and tried to kill them, too? They just HAD to be in the seat farthest from the door. Niza sighs and crossed her arms, just watching everything play out.

Ene, meanwhile, was panicking. Someone was going to die... Someone was so going to die. What about the sleeping girl? Couldn't she get hurt!? Ene remained by Niza, petrified with fright. "Stop..." Was all she could mumble, though her voice was too quiet to be heard.

Jesse Sutor

The trip itself to the lounge was pretty short, he remembered the way there from last night. Jesse had a fairly good sense of direction - he felt it was just one of the few good traits that he had, so he took advantage of that, he was basically a mental mapmaker. That aside though, he made it to the lounge (though he had to squeeze pass a handful of bickering students to get there) easily enough. It was there he started scanning the room for the familiar sight of Lily's purple hair. Were he to find her, he'd bound over and share the great news with her. Catch up on what's happened since the training session earlier today. But that wasn't the case now unfortunately, and instead, she was nowhere to be seen among the talkative crowds. Neither was she among the students that had splintered off into groups. This was most confusing for him given the circumstance he now found himself in. Where to find her? He wasn't very aware of what she liked or enjoyed, nor her dorm room number. He wasn't really the type to hunt someone down like that, since that'd probably number hi as clingy or kind of a stalker in the eyes of some people. He liked to think he was friends with Lily, he liked to think she thought so either. He'd prefer to leave her be and give her what he figured would be her personal space, but at the same time, doing that had actually created a problem or two in the past. He thought, at least, he could maybe assert or affirm that friendship by showing up. Reassurance by removing the doubt of Jesse's willingness to spend time with the other party. But he has received bad advice before...

Regardless, he did have a method of finding her. He had new friends after all. He learned that the apparitions can see people, that made them good scouts - plus they were everywhere. All it took was to think a simple mental command and... there we have it. Upon thinking simply "find Lily", the apparitions scattered. He assumed that they were now covering the school trying to fulfill Jesse's wishes and relay the information back when the answer was discovered. They acted like bees, sending information to another like a chain. The information took barely a minute until the information came back to him. This implied a lot of things, one being that there were far greater numbers of them covering the world than he realized. He got the dorm room number, and to there was even a line of creatures directing him. Brilliant! And to think he's been afraid of these guys this whole time? That sign was all it took for him to get started jogging out of the lounge - however, there also stood the problem of the fight that broke out and blockaded his way. That was something that Jesse didn't want to be in the middle of.

"Well shit..." Jesse mumbled, honestly quite intimidated by the display of power being presented between, what? Three different parties? That was something he didn't want to get in between, all he could really do was draw back off to the side lines and watch, disappointed that his time was being wasted by a bunch of bozos. The least imposing of them however was the one to bring the big guy down. Arrows and shields - the tools were archaic, but the fact that this "Neal" kid felt the need to shoot fucking arrows into somebody's body was ridiculous. What was so serious about the fight? It was enough to help Jesse realize that this was like any other school with stupid kids, except that the stupid kids have superpowers and superiority complexes. The powers were abused! As soon as the fight seemed to end with Titus slumping to the ground, Jesse quickly made his way ought of there and jogged along the line of apparitions to get away from the scene. As it happens, he'd apparently have more to share with Lily than he realized. He only hoped that the neither of them found a way to piss somebody off this school year, because surely they wouldn't be able to survive it.

The line ended when a cluster of apparitions groups around a door, and thusly scattered upon Jesse's arrival. He looked up at the room number, and, sure enough, it was the one he was looking for. He took in a deep breath to calm the excitement and eagerness tingling in his belly and knocked his knuckles against the dorm room door's hard wood a couple times.

---

Abraham Gene

The display was amusing, but also pathetic. Abraham didn't feel as if the three of them had time to deal with Titus, and Neal's display wasn't necessary. The three of them could've easily handled the big guy, so there really wasn't need for this. Neal's willingness to resort to weapons over such a trivial issue was over-the-top, which was saying some if Abe was the one who thought so. Regardless, he payed about as much heed to it as his team mates did and walked away from the situation and headed to the arena. In fact, that was probably the best way to deal with that situation. Anyways, the arena room was about what the expected, but looking around, he was disappointing to find that the rooms were in fact made of metal! Now that was just awfully inconvenient for him since he no longer has the terrain advantage. That just left him going purely offense, which was fine by him of course, but the problem laid in that he couldn't support the team to his greatest potential - but it was no matter. Splitting off the group and taking down one person at a time is also good support, hopefully Drake would pick up on that and concentrate their efforts on one person at a time. That should draw their attention and give Val enough time to work his magic.

"Yeah, yeah..." Abe said in a jaded tone. The rules were standard, stuff worth nothing more than yawning to and stuff he'll likely disregard while in the arena. He couldn't help but to just look around. It was an alright enough place. He hoped that the arena would have equipment or supplies in them much like the training room did. He took a moment to stretch some of his muscles and warm himself up, were it not for the sudden sensation of someone's extremities touching his shoulder. It was enough to make him tense since he didn't like it when strangers just came up to him and touch him, and the sound of Neal's voice just further agitated him. What was the guy saying? Was Neal talking as if he had done him a favor? Shooting people with magic arrows and cracking their jaw with a little wall over a stupid disagreement was too much. It wasn't necessary. Abe took a deep breath as his arms solidified into stone and reached up to securely grip Neal's hand and gave him quite the squeeze as he grumbled, "don't touch me." Were he not expecting it or prepared to brace himself, it'd create a fair amount of pain to any normal man. He move his hand off his shoulder and promptly let go as he turned towards him, rolling up his sleeves as he did so to reveal bulky arms made of dense and ashen colored stone.

"Learn when to pick ya fights, bud." Abe warned with a minatory shake of his head. "We didn't need ya help and we didn't need to kill th' guy. What were you thinkin'?"

He wasn't sure how Drake or Val would feel about the current situation, but he didn't need their approval to lecture the kid or teach a lesson. All he cared is to teach the brat not to interfere in other people's business.

Anthony Bellichini

Anthony blearily opened his eyes and looked at the clock beside his bed. 5:30 "heh class doesn't start for a little while maybe I can for once be prepared and not oversleep" Anthony got up and stretched his limbs scratching the ceiling accidentally with his long arms. he walked over to his roommate who was asleep and tried to shake him awake "Hey uh Jackson was it? Wanna get up early and get first dibs on the waffles?"
an irritated mumbly "no" was heard from Jackson. "Suit yourself man but you might want to wake up soon you don't want to be late on our first day of class." Anthony didn't realize that he had just slept through the first day of the academy for all he knew it was the first day. Anthony put on his regular clothing sweat pants and sweatshirt both a dark green color. He chose this outfit for two reasons:
1.The clothing was flexible and he could more easily use his abilities and 2.The clothing was soft and comfortable allowing him to rest on his arms in class. he stretched his  hand over to the door and opened it and strode out closing the door behind him "Thats odd why are all the lights on this early?" he thought noting the hall lights shining brightly.He strode down the hallway and reached up and tapped the Exit sign with his middle claw.He strolled down to the cafeteria and to his somewhat surprise it was closed he knocked on the closed doors."Hello? anyone there?" it seemed that everyone was still asleep. "Well sense i'm already up might as well look around" so he started to look around strolling outside there he saw a coffee shop smoking? His eyes widened as he rushed over to see what had happened.He attempted to stare through the glass of the store but all he could see were faint outlines. He noticed a small sickly looking,orange haired girl looking in(Rose) she was wearing some sort of breathing equipment.

He tapped her shoulder "Hey what happened?" "Oh and are you ok?"
"I mean I know people like coffee in the mornings but do they really need to start a war over it?"

Valery Arsov

While Val agreed with Abe's thoughts regarding Neal's...somewhat drastic...put-down of Titus, he was torn. On the one hand, Titus had tried to attack them-and turning down help in those situations just seemed silly. On the other hand, Neal was excessive. But, hey, if it made Tiny focus on somebody else instead of Abe for a while, fine by Val. They'd probably be tired after leaving the Arena, which is when someone smart would try and get their revenge. While Val thought Titus lacked the planning to really pose a threat, Val was careful not to let appearances deceive him. Titus looked like all brawn and no brains, but Val was onto him: he'd seen The Dark Knight Rises, and that Bane was one smart motherf*cker.

"Abe, as much as I love when you get rock hard, we don't want Drake to have all the fun, eh?" Val was hoping to diffuse anything between Neal and Abe-because damnit, they had a scheduled Arena fight to go to, and he didn't want a third impromptu confrontation in one night. Turning and following after Drake (although Val followed slowly and leisurely, occasionally taking a lunge to stretch out his muscles or swinging his arms back and forth to loosen them up), Val talked with Abe, albeit quietly enough to avoid being overheard by Neal.

"I agree with you, though. That was perhaps too much force. Maybe there is some history there we do not know...but we can let the administrators deal with those two. I've already dealt with enough sh*t for one night, eh?" Val clapped Abe on the back. "Now let us go and kick ass."

Val walked into the familiar Arena atrium, sizing up the opposition. Things were always interesting in the Arena, that was for sure. But there was no need for hostilities-even while beating the crap out of someone, Val could be amiable. This was fun and games, not serious fighting. "'You boys'? Maybe Drake and Abe are boys, but I think I'm a man, eh?" Val said in mock bravado, striking a pose. "But in all seriousness I think my sense of humor is still in primary school somewhere. Perhaps boy is right. Are we all ready for a...scrimmitch?" Val paused, his brow furled. "That's not right, is it? Ah, no, I've got it-scrimmage."

Jasmine

Suit yourself. In Jasmine's mind's eye, she saw Kate pull the trigger. Three rounds, point blank range. Wisest course of action, do what no shooter would expect and move forwards. A split second before Kate pulled the trigger, Jasmine let her knees drop. She somersaulted across the floor as the bullets soared. Bullet speed; 2,000mph, .45 USP suppressed=sufficient kickback. Soon she found herself six inches from Kate. No bullet would help her now. Jasmine grabbed the barrel of the gun and forcibly pointed it up at the ceiling. She opened her mouth to speak, and froze....What was that stinging? It burned like no pain she had ever experienced before and slowly crept up her nerves, causing her entire arm and shoulder to explode in pain.

I've been shot.

I've been shot.

Oh, my God, I've been shot.

Jasmine's head exploded as panic struck her to the core; panic wasn't something Jasmine was accustomed to. .45 mm USP bullet wound to right...left...right...lower...upper...Ohmygod...ohmygod...what would Sherlock do? Quickly, room, um...glass...shatter...smoke...why am I so f*cking stupid? Ohmygod Ohmygod it HURTS..Um...um...Jesus Christ I don't want to die...Bone..um...fall...um...backwards! Fall backwards! Jasmine's face was trapped in a stare that read of fear and perplexity at the same time. Her peripherals disappeared as she slowly looked from the growing red stain in her trench coat to the face of Kate. She opened her mouth to speak, but found that all she could get out is one word.

"Ray..." Her knees buckled and she let go of the barrel of the gun. She tilted backwards and landed on the floor, her head bashing into the rounded edge of a table. Contrary to Jasmine's belief, there was an exit wound, and soon a crimson puddle began to congregate around the wounded shoulder. She stared blankly at the ceiling as if dead, and her eyes rolled back into her head. "OH MY GOD I'VE BEEN SHOT! NO, NO, DON'T PASS OUT. NO! YOU CAN CONTROL THE PAIN! CONTROL IT! OH LORD JESUS PLEASE I DON'T WANT TO DIE! NO! NO! NO! WHAT WILL MEL SAY? WHAT WILL RUSH AND RAY THINK? I'M A F*CKING IDIOT! NO! NO! GODDAMMIT NO! Control yourself Jas. Just think happy thoughts. Think of blonde...blood...blood everywhere...my blood...roast coffee and Benedict Cumberbatch. Just...think of Something to stop the shock! You're in shock! You-ERROR! ERROR! DON'T D-BGESGONO,CVMOTHOM,OTMOESVGWEMTGH B,EMSTVH EBW, MTVMG, MESVHGMPWCRNT GMF0RV Her body completely relaxed, and she passed out.

Neal

"Actually I'd greatly appreciate it if you let go of my arm." A band of purplish psychic matter appeared between Neal's arm and the rock fist, slowly expanding to loosen the grip. If it were any normal fight, Abe would have a point, but Neal thought he had the situation under control. He found it rather noble, though, that Abe didn't want to use weapons on a disarmed opponent. He was like Batman. Infact, that was his new nickname.

"I get what you're saying," Neal said "but I had what was going on under control. When Titus had punched the wall, he had broken his hand and revealed that he had regeneration powers, allowing me to assume that I could go weapons free on him without doing any real harm. I mean, I doubt I was going to harm his brain. What's more is that my abilities don't exactly cater to the idea of a fist fight. I can create objects out of energy. Did you assume that I was going to take on a man who can punch holes in steel walls in a fist fight?" Now with the ring fully extended, Neal ripped his arm out of Abe's grip and took a few steps back.

"Ah. But you have a fight to attend. I will see you gentlemen later, I suppose." Neal nodded curtly and turned on his heel, hoping that he could find something else to do around here that didn't involve kicking ass.

Eli and Ariella

Wip.

Drake Deltori Blackmore.


There was a bit of a split within Drake - Whether he should side with Abe or Neal on their opposing views on how Neal handled Titus. He did approve of Neal kicking Titus's ass for them - On the flipside, the three of them. Though he did agree that Neal got a little too brutal during that fight. People see things differently. Regardless, he felt like he shouldn't say anything about it. Merely because it's over with, and Drake was too lighthearted to really think too hard about it. When Abe grabbed on to Neal with a stone fist, Drake decided to step in, "Hey, hey, relax a bit there. It's over with. We don't need to piss off someone else today. Haha...." Though he was highly unaware that he would be stepping on Abe's toes, sticking himself into something he was unaware of. He had the distinct feeling that this was much more personal. "Now, I haven't gotten your name. I'm Drake Blackmore."

True Night wrote:

"You boys ready to go?"

Finally, the Creepy Three (Drake's amusing title for the title) had made their arrival here. Drake immediately turned to them, and gave them a cocky smile. He leaned on the desk using one elbow. He was relatively unaware of their darker. He only say them as weirdo sparring partners, the first step to greatness. Who would only serve as a good practice. "Heh, these two?" Drake pointed back at Val and Abe with a thump, "They're just here for show. You and me are going to duke it out in the middle of the battlefield." He then stood straight up. Now that the gang's all here, it was time to begin the fight, and their glorious victory over Vespera and their weirdo friends. They won't know what hit them. "So, can we get this party started?" Drake looked over at the secretary.

"Very well, follow me. You have to get fitted into your suits before you all get started." The secretary-lady then lead the two groups combined to their respective locker-rooms, then left them alone to give them some time to get suited up. After a few minutes, everyone came out of the room fully dressed in their training suits. The arena room itself was a massive oval shaped room, made out of an extremely durable metal seen on blast doors. The metal was completely smooth and clear, likely freshly cleaned and fixed. On the upper parts of the room, there had reinforced glass panels, for any observers to watch from above. There was a white line in the center of the room, separating both sides. On the side of Drake's team, there were large blocks of concrete set up to supplement Abe's earth bending.

"Combatants," The referee says through the speakers, "The match starts in one minute..." The referee presses a button. High above the two groups a counter began counting down from 60 seconds with large digital numbers.

Obviously Drake took this time to transform. His body exploded into a pillar of plasma. Hitting the top of the room and absolutely engulfing him. He stepped out of the plasma like a badass. His hands were surrounded with large orbs of plasma. He was ready to fly up in the air and pull off some sick moves.

The moment the counter hit zero, a loud siren filled the room and the referee shouted, "Go!"



Ray Judah Drager.


"... Sh*t!" Ray hissed through his teeth. The outcome wasn't that unexpected, but still was rather detrimental to everything they had going. Now Jasmine has pretty much thrown what Ray valued the most; their ambiguity (No one knows who they are, and are mostly uninterested in them). Because of Jasmine they've probably threw their plan out of the window - But hell, none of that really mattered right now. There was a girl shot, bleeding. "Don't shoot!" He puts his hand up to Kate in a manner that he wasn't going to attack her, as he slowly walked up to Jasmine on the ground. While he didn't look like it, Ray was a good, moral, person, beneath it all. Which is why he choose to disarm Jasmine, and help Mina - Despite being heavily irritated by her. Jasmine was bleeding heavily, Ray noted as he knelt down and put his hand on Jasmine's side. A blue aura wrapped around her. "Sh*t... I'm no medic, but I can get you to one." He mumbled to Jasmine as he lifted Jasmine, that blue aura around her shining brightly. To Ray, Jasmine was light as a feather, so he had no problem lifting her up. He walked towards the exit, he figured that at the speed he flies, he can get to the hospital without having to wade through the crowds of people.

Naturally, at this moments, a crowd of staff members - Security obviously - charged the cafe. They started shouting and hollering, telling Jasmine and Kate to come with them. Even though Jasmine's hurt.

This only brought Ray irritation. He didn't want to hand Jasmine over to a bunch of meatheads that'd only. He kept walking, giving them a narrow glare as they barked orders at them. At this point, he did't care. "Look, I can get her to the hospital the fastest. Then you can give this dumbass whatever punishment she deserves." He hissed at them as he elbowed his way through them. He projected a force that pushed them away from him, basically making him unable to be touched. Out the door, Ray floated off the ground, he quickly flew through the air and headed straight for the hospital.

Then the security turned their attention to Kate.


Sage L. Pimm, Gabriela M., Jake V., & Jaska D. Valos.

Shade wrote:

"Ew! I know, right? Who even does that? I was trying to be nice to him but the hand kissing thing..."

"Yeah, Jaska, it was like in the movies, except Titus was the dragon. I, of course, was the knight in shining armor."

"Jake was the princess in the castle."

The three Valos let out another round of light-laughter, laughing at the comments that Arianna made. Sage just quietly laughed from the sidelines. Jake found the part where Arianna said he was the princess to be the most amusing. He knew that other, more 'masculine', guys would have found that insulting, but  he knew it was all in the name of good fun. "Heh, I prefer to be the dashing prince that gets the princess." Jake whispers back to Arianna.

"A big ol' weirdo, that's who'd do that," Gabe starts off, "I'm guessin' that this Titus fellow is a big slow meathead?"

"Yeah, he's taller than all of us." Jake answers.

"A bigger man only means a bigger target to me." Gabe replies.

Shade wrote:

"It does, Miss Gabriella, it does. Sage, if you can keep evil spirits away, maybe you can repel Titus next time he shows up? It might be gentler on him than getting his lips burned off."

For a moment, Sage was a bit unsure of how to answer Arianna's question - Which is more than obviously a joke, but they weren't as good as other people when it came to these things. "Only if he doesn't like bright lights." They said, tone trying to emulate the group fun and cocky tone - To only realize that they've likely made a fool of themselves. Their bright blonde hair started glowing with a bright white color, before reverting back to their usual blonde color.

"So, The Heavensent," Gabe says to Sage, using the epithet that Sage used a few times "Which way is this place? And how much further?"

"Ummm... That way." Sage pointed in the direction of the ruins. "And not that far." They have come to the ruins a few times in the past to investigate - Always alone. However, they could never muster the strength to go in before fear (Of many things) took place.

"So how's about we have ourselves a little race there? No super speed, or any magical tricks. It'd make this trip there so much more interesting." Gabe says, "But I'd have to warn ya'... I've played soccer for years. That does wondas to improve your footwork."

"Oh a race? I'll win!" Jaska says, voice full of enthusiasm.

"You've always been the competitive one, Gabe..." Jake quietly says, rolling his eyes up into his head

Sage took another bite of their apple, then gave Gabe a cheerful smile. "Only if you want to lose." This time, they emulated their bravado with a bit more success than before.

Valery Arsov

Valery stared up at his father, towering a good three and a half feet over him-a gentle giant, some would say, eyes glittering and a thick laugh rolling up out of his chest as his son slammed into his leg.

"Aaaghh!" he cried in mock pain, taking a step or two back to indulge his son. Valery, snow clinging to his hair and wearing the kinds of matching outfits that mothers still bother with when their children are very young, grinned fiercely and let out a high-pitched cry, wrapping his legs around his dad's leg and heaving forward as hard as he could. Valery's father, checking behind him first, toppled over backwards into the snow, letting young Valery, panting and winded, crawl up onto his chest and giggle, declaring victory.

Valery opened his eye. The suit felt familiar, reassuring-in some ways, more natural than his own skin. Val stood between Abe and Drake, limber and stretched out, his body restless with adrenal anticipation. He let out a quiet murmur of something in Russian, and the match was on.

The first thing Val did was backpedal, reaching up with one hand and, readying himself, lifting up his eyepatch. He stared at all three of the opponents for a moment or two, trying to avoid catching either Abe or Drake in his peripheral vision. Val's voice, deep and booming, and not sounding at all like his usual self, came out in terse, prophetic shouts, his eye socket spilling over with blue and silver mist as he frantically moved backwards. "Vespera! She is bathed in darkness!" with a grunt Val tore his supernatural gaze from Vespera, his head reeling slightly and some of the strange truths his clairvoyance had shown him, the bizarre mix of future and past and present that it showed him, but there was no time to ponder the more abhorrent things he'd seen, there was "The Witch! She warps the bodies of others, their blood and minds! Stay away, don't give her a straight line of sight!". Val had now backpedaled a considerable distance from the other two and Cassandra playing with a father who wasn't there he planted his feet, shouting the last of his counsel to Abe and Drake: "Genesis! He will blur elements, fuse himself. Has to touch them, has...ugh" Val slipped the eyepatch back on and took a split second to get himself back into the zone, to push the overbearing feeling of clairvoyance from him. There was work to be done.

Val began to work his magic.

A considerable distance from any of his adversaries, Val had a second or two buffer for any projectile attacks, and certainly a heads up for physical confrontation. Val outstretched his arms and began to tap into the deep well of cold, sensing the arctic grounds of the Academy around him, but the even colder ice inside Val. As Val worked his power, pouring his energy into it, the temperature in the Arena began to drop by two or three degrees every couple seconds. A thin layer of frost built up across Val's silvery beard and hair. Snow began to fall, delicate flurries at first, but in time, it would begin coming down in earnest. Already the room was down to about sixty five degrees, and dropping quickly. Val kicked one foot forward, slamming it into the ground, and with another grunt, a thin layer of black ice began to spread outwards from his foot, coating the ground around him. It thickened, closer to Val and spreading, and if maintained his current rate, would probably be able to coat the entire Arena in a minute or so.

Of course, a minute was a long time for an Arena fight. But Val had endurance, and he certainly wasn't bothered by this cold. As he worked, feeling his veins beginning to chill slightly, he began analyzing his enemies, trying to think of what they would do. If Vespera took her spider form, she would certainly be at a disadvantage on the black ice-a big old spider like that would be easy to slip and fall. Not to mention Vance couldn't merge with the snow or ice without Drake melting him back into a puddle. Cassandra's analysis added when I get information on what she can do. Let's go, Drake, Abe. I've had a winning streak for a while, now, let's not have it end here. And certainly not by a girl

Val laughed, eager and ready, a wintry breeze drafting through the Arena as he did so.

Arianna Madrigal

"Do you now?" Arianna said, and suddenly, something occurring to her mind and coming out of her lips before her brain had time to think of what it was or why she was saying it, Arianna whispered back, "Well, in that case, I guess I could be the damsel in distress every once in a while."

Arianna's heart seized up in her chest for a second as her brain tried to figure out what she'd...Wait did I just...flirt with him? I'm...I'm pretty sure I did...do I want to do that? I mean, he's cute but...did.... Arianna tried to play it off as a joke, grinning and continuing to walk, but she missed a few beats of the conversation rolling over what she'd just said. Arianna was never really the flirty type, you know, I mean, she'd never...this was...

Thank God it was snowing and cold outside, with a breeze. She'd have an excuse for being red in the face.

Sage didn't seem to know how to react her comment-Arianna got the feeling Sage took life a little too seriously. And while Arianna was no party animal, she was an optimist and always looking to have fun. Of course, given Sage's leitmotif, Arianna couldn't shake the sinking feeling Sage might be an actual angel, or at least something close to it, so maybe that explained it. There was time for theological discourse later, though, because the more pressing issue was that she at least seemed to be making a good impression on everybody. The Titus jokes had gone over well and the Symphony roared, rich and joyous. "Oh, Sage, that was cool," Arianna breathed, watching her hair glow like that. Arianna still wasn't sure how taboo it was to talk about other people's powers like that, but she just...glowed. It looked so natural and easy...the Academy was a cool place. This may have intimidated some people, seeing other people's powers-especially the flashier, more combatative ones, like Gabe's lasers or Abe's stonework, but it made Arianna wonder. If I'm here...with all of them...what can I really do? Beyond being a wunderkind, that is.

A bird-Arianna thought it a nightingale, and she was pretty familiar with her songbirds-chirped somewhere, perhaps confused by all the snow that had flooded its nest. Arianna mimicked its cry back to it, turning her attention back to the prospects of a race. A race? Arianna hadn't run a race in forever...but why not? She felt vibrant and happy today. Besides, Arianna was fairly confident she'd lose, so there wasn't any pressure to win. Not the competitive sort was Arianna Madrigal.

"A race? Well, I don't know...I mean..." Arianna glanced, making sure there was enough snow for Jake to land comfortably, and then stuck her foot out to trip him before taking off towards the ruins.

Len and Bre
-

The duo silently listene to the conversation, both feeling a bit out of place. Probably because the only person Bre knew was Sage and Len only knew, well, Bre. As they listened to the conversation, Len smirked a bit. From what he was hearing, some guy kissed the Arianna girl's hand and no one took kindly to it. He didn't blame them. What sort of creep does that? Because of him finding the conversation amusing he laughed a bit, as well, at the statement Arianna made. It wasn't long afterwards his face returned to its bored expression, however.

Bre remained silent, however. She understood how this Titus guy could be seen as unusual and she hasn't really met him... Sure he would be creeped out as well if some dude did that to her, but she felt a bit sorry for the guy. It could have been a really weird creepy way of his showing chivalry, right? Even so Bre couldn't help but laugh at Arianna's comment. It was pretty funny.

She needed to talk soon... Bre hadn't spoken the entire time. It was unusual for her. So when she heard the word, "Race," Bre couldn't help but jump into the conversation.

"A race? Could I do it, too?" Bre paused and smiled, "Just a warning, though: it would be best if you don't underestimate me."

Len sighed, shaking his head. He remembered Bre when they went to school together- she was really good at just about every sport from track to volleyball. And really competitive. He had a feeling most of her skills came from all of the competitions she would get involved in. Gettin involved in competitions is a way of practicing, after all. Len just continued walking with that same bored expression of his as he saw the Arianna girl take off. Bre, however, began running when she saw the action.

-
Mina
-

Just like hat Jasmine was shot. Mina's eyes widened and she quickly woke up. That wasn't supposed to happen- it was all just suppose dot end with the crazy chick giving up, not getting shot! Mina stumbled to her feet rather quickly for a girl who just woke up. She looked around quickly. Crap. What to do, what to do? The only thing Mina could think of doing was leaving. She turned down the volume on her headphones and, trying to appear calm, slowly walked out of the restaurant. All of the security guards were looking at Kate, anyways- not her. Once Mina was outside she began to run off, though someone could easily catch her due to her lack of athletic ability an also the fact that the girl was, of course, tired.

-
Ene
-

Ene felt a scream escape her throat as she watched the girl who had the knife get shot. Someone was going to die. Someone was going to die. There's blood. That girl is going to die- no no no- oh please, no.

Ene stepped forward, about to try to find a way to help, not even thinking about the possibility of getting hot by Kate- fear was keeping her from thinking rationally. Just when she made it to the now passed out girl, the guy that had disarmed the girl stepped in, telling the security guard that files into the restaurant that he was taking her to the hospital. Thank goodness. Ene's eyes looked down at the blood that had dripped onto the floor from the girl's bullet wound and then looked at the girl with the gun. The shock of the situation was still locking out the idea of getting shot, so she just silently looked at the girl, unsure of what to say.

The waitress girl- while her actions had some just reasoning behind them, in a way- had shot someone. If you shoot someone with good intentions (wow, that statement is twisted) does that make you good or bad? Was Ene supposed to Stan up for her and explain what she saw or just back away? Ene slowly steppe towards a security guard, only to be stoppe by a Hand on her shoulder.

-
Niza
-

Niza stopped Ene with a hand on her shoulder when she saw the girl begin to step towards a security guard. Te last thing he wanted was to have the girl she was planning on manipulating once she discovered her power getting involved in a huge situation. She then crossed her arms and spoke.

"There security cameras and witnesses here. They'll know what happened."

With that Niza turned around and began to leave the restaraunt, not so much as giving te waitress a second glance. She was drawing enough attention to herself by being inside the dumb restaraunt during a fight- best not to let herself get noticed any more. She already knew that Ene was going to follow her- she was not the most confident of people an so allowed people to push her around. Hitch makes things so much easier for Niza.

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Jaylin and Kynan
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WIP

((Bleh I suck at posts XP))