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

Gabriela Mya Valos.


Hmph. Gabe rolled her eye at Jayla's response. The girl was probably a little oversensitive. Because Gabe answered her question. Too bad if it wasn't the sugar and sunshine that Jayla was expecting. "I answered your question, right?" Gabe spat out. "Ya' probably need a lesson or two in toughness, sweetheart, if you're on the verge of tears over what I said..." He laughed a bit. "Because, otherwise, you'll be eaten up in moments."

((Jaska's going to be quiet for a bit, since I don't know what I should have him say))


Ray Judah Drager, & Dexter 'Rush' Chertok.


Not the same. Me? Advanced... Different. The thought ran through Rush's head as Byte explained a little more about the long forgotten Byte project. An attempt to save someone's life. Personally, he was surprised that they came to scientists instead of the myriad of healers that inhabit the school. There had to be one person who could have helped, but thinking outside the box is a skill gifted to first among equals.

The machine then went on to explain a bit of itself. Which it suggested that it was a person. Now that's just plain silly! This AI was simply a recreation - Hell, it was probably not even that. Technology was more malleable than people realized. You can make even the most basic programs act like they're real. You cannot program a soul. "Might I make suggestion?" Rush tried to get Byte's attention, "You're merely an AI based off a human. Memories are ultimately mechanized. Irrelevant to a being like you. Best off focusing on development. And getting to full optimization." He said to Byte, coldly. Like it was stated before, Rush was never one that was in tune with his emotions. He just couldn't consider Byte's self discovery mission to be practical in the slightest. "For example: could alter memories. Then fool you into believing you've reach self awareness."

Ray just had to raise an eyebrow and look at Rush. Mostly because the boy genius is irritating him. He crossed his arms, and looked forward. "... This is like arguing with a cleverbot whether or not it's real." He off offhandedly says.

The comment was ignored by Rush. When Byte displayed the picture of Willy Wonka, it warranted snickering from the pair. Byte explained a bit more of what it wanted from the pair. Easier access to the rest of the school, and more information about what it was (What it believed, truthfully). While Rush may find the AI's quest for sentience a ludicrous endeavor, he figured it might be useful, just in case. For example: If the Changeling Unit nabs them again, and they'll have a way to alert someone. Besides, Rush had always wanted to make a human-like AI! Studying Byte might be the first steps to reaching that goal.

"Yes. Will help you. To an extent."

Their conversation was interrupted by Ray stepping in. "Dexter," Ray pulled Rush aside for a moment. He then whispered to him, "Do you think uploading a random program into the school is a good idea? For all we know, we could be helping those Changeling bastards." He was skeptical, yes. He had to play the devil's advocate to some of Rush's more questionable decisions. Because if it wasn't him, then who would?

"Drager. I know what I'm doing." Rush responded with lightning fast speed. "The AI will be easy to dispatch. With Technomind. Of course."

"Hope you're right..." Ray backed off, throwing his hands up into the air.

Rush nodded at Ray, before turning to Byte. He spoke, "Can give you mobile platform." "Practice Eyes. Stole one last week. Modified it extensively. Weaponized and everything-"

"... Because we should arm the killer AI!" Ray interrupted.


Sage Lucas Pimm.


Thank god. Sage finally managed to get out of those uncomfortable funeral clothes, and back into something that they would be seen wearing. A white dress shirt (For women), and loose and baggy jeans that were kind enough to hide any hints of Sage's gender. They seemed out of place dressing so lightly and casually, but their inner-light provided them with the warmth they required - It was to the point where even clothes was redundant... Except for the fact to preserve Sage's modesty above all else. Sage shuddered at the thought of being nude in public as they walked around Campus, near the dorms, all alone. Their minor surge of popularity was quite brief. Eli was in shock because of Ariella's death, Gabe is off doing her own thing. Which meant that Sage was alone yet again. It was probably better that way to begin with. Sage was never good with people, to the point where they felt like they're socially inept. The small chit chats they got into was enough to sate their need for interaction.

So Sage kept moving on throughout the school grounds. Where ever they stepped, the bright rays of the sun bombarded their presence. Making them much more notable in the crowds of students going about their business - Though bright lights could bother Sage no matter what. A curious shadow, darkened by the passive use of their power, appeared before Sage. From the angle, and the fact that nobody is even near them, made it obvious that it was coming from above them. Which warranted a curious look upwards. They saw a curious little redhaired girl standing at the very top of the dorms, a precarious height. They got worried really fast, because one slip and she'll be a stain on the ground. Bystanders syndrome was telling Sage to just let someone else handle this one... There was no security or staff anywhere. No one who could stop the girl.

Silly children...


Sage wasn't a hero, not even in the slightest, but they help where ever they can. A massive pillar of light came down from the sky and struck Sage. It was an absolutely blinding display that could be seen from every corner of this school. Once it faded, it revealed Sage with massive white wings made of a hard light sprouting from their back. Surrounded in an insanely bright aura of white light.... Of course, Sage regrets how attention grabbing their Angel-mode was. Their face blushed brightly with light (Another side effect of their power: Sage's power makes their blood glow). Sage floated forwards towards the roof of the dorms.

"Hey," Sage said to Poppy the moment they finished their ascent. They reverted out of their alternate form, their wings, and the light, faded away. They dropped down onto the roof of the dorms, standing in front of Poppy. "Get down from here before you hurt yourself." Sage said in a worried tone.

Valery Arsov

Gah. Vicious wasn't slowing down. Val was throwing some of the harshest blizzards he could at the guy and he was still operating at a 100%. He wasn't sure if his normal strategy of attrition would work on him, but he was too invested in it now to try and alter it. The metal blades jackhammering into his armor were certainly problematic, but far from game-changing. Val lowered himself to the ground, drawing in the cold air and ice around him into a tighter core around his person. This resulted in the ice thickening (even as the blades began to steadily dig cracks into his armor) and a considerable snowdrift gathering around him, impeding the movement of the spikes. They'd be able to get through eventually, but there was a sizable mound of snow perhaps four feet wide, and it was growing steadily. With temperatures close to zero at its nexus, Val was confident any heat Vicious put into the blade would quickly be wicked away, and down within the snow, Vicious wouldn't be able to pinpoint any single location on his body. With a grunt of effort (and blind to the tunnels around him) Val sent a wave of frost through the snow, causing it to solidify slowly.

He was entombing himself within a glacier. The formation of the black ice and the sleet hammering down against it was still going, but it wasn't increasing in intensity: Val was focusing his efforts on the area immediately around him.

Up until Bloodsucker landed a haymaker on him from behind. Fortunately, the ice around his body and the snow mound around him helped to cushion the blow, even if the strike did shatter his helmet of ice and knock him down, face-first, into the snow.

As quickly as he could, Val spun over, grabbing desperately for Bloodsucker's arm or leg or whatever it was he had hit him with. Val was pretty sure if he could grab onto him, it would at least stop Vicious from hurling those daggers (especially because, with the snow falling intensely around them and a half-wall of it obscuring them, he couldn't get a clear shot in), and he could engulf Bloodsucker's entire ankle (or hand or whatever) in frostnip in a few seconds at the level he was operating at.

Of course, there was a drawback to the extreme usage of Val's powers. The boy could turn the Sahara into a tundra given enough time, but he had now frozen almost all of his body. Everything below his heart was fuzzy, pins-and-needles, and Val had no idea if Vicious' spikes had plunged into his skin. Blood sluggishly moved through his veins, resulting in a general fatigue in his arms as he grabbed for Bloodsucker. He couldn't hold him for long, or even hope to grapple, but he only needed to trip the bastard up for a moment or two. If he could get him to fall down into the snow and ice, Val was confident he could hold him hostage. At any rate, it would buy him a few more precious seconds-he didn't know how close he was to the ten minute mark, but he had to be drawing close.

He prayed he was, at least.

Arianna Madrigal

"Jake, you'll be doing the ass-beating." she paused for a second. "Not, like that. I mean, you'll be the one dominating in there. Kinda hard to hit what you can't see...you'd be like a ninja. Heck, if you made your whole team invisible I feel like you could win pretty easily." she grinned, her expression making it apparent that she was teasing him. "And babe you got some work to do before you can get a face as pretty as this one." she made an overly dramatic, model-style pose before giggling and leaning back against him. "I mean, I don't really like the idea of you fighting..." but the way it looks, Ari, you're going to be fighting sooner or later... "...but I'm not about to learn how to fight, so I guess I need a boyfriend who can beat people up for me. Just don't lose, I might have to leave you for Titus..."

Ooooh. Skipping rocks. "You're on!" she said, getting up and grabbing a few from the shore. She handed a couple to Jake, the gleam of friendly competition in her eyes. "Let's see what you got! And you'd better throw REAL rocks out over the water, no cheating."

Jayla

"It's been a hard day for some people," Jayla replied. "I didn't want to bother you when I saw you were upset. I think you could take a lesson in manners while you're at it," she said. She looked at Gabe and then at Jaska and then back at Gabe again. She figured just another hot-head out there. She rolled her eyes, beginning to speed up and move faster towards the dorms. She figured she might see Henry, if she could find him. He seemed like a nice guy. But for now she just walked, daring Gabe to say anything from behind.

Gabe & Jaska Valos.


Gabe made a short growling noise at Jayla out of irritation. Just who does this girl think they are? The Valos trio had something that was worse than just a hard day. If she wanted to exaggerate, it would have been a hard lifetime - Not counting all forty times they were nearly killed in just one day. Ugh. Thankfully, Jayla decided to leave before she had to lose a good twenty of her teeth. Gabe just couldn't help but leave a departing remark, "Oh, I'm sorry, starshine." Too bad the little miss sunshine was heading to her destination. So the pair had to wait for Jayla to get out of sight before they walked off into the dorms. They walked into the dorms side by side, Gabe swaying her hips, and Jaska awkwardly shuffling. Silent as ever.

"... That was mean. She was only trying to be nice to us." Jaska broke the silence, speaking in a low tone. He looked off to the side.

Gabe suddenly stopped. Okay, maybe she was a little mean. But that doesn't excuse interrupting people by asking stupid questions. "Look, Jask... We don't have time for little girls like that. All they're going to do is try to chat us up about stupid stuff and waste our time. It was better that we sent them off."

Though, Jaska was insanely quick to reply with, "... But you don't know that.... What if she could have helped us? What if she could have been a friend?"

Hm. Damn. Jaska had a bit of a point. Not one that Gabe was so willing to accept because of her head strong and biased nature. The problem is Gabe just couldn't come up with a response herself that didn't dig herself deeper into this whole. Well, Jaska was young and all. She could just silently disregard him and move on.

Gabe and Jaska went to their respective rooms, to get dressed up. Then they went straight for the lake.

Going against her usual style, Gabe dressed rather fancily, like someone who could actually fit when standing next to Jake. An all white outfit. She wore a white denim jacket, and a matching white shirt with black stripes under it, along with white jeans. Complementing her outfit, she wore matching white gloves (To obscure her burns) and white books. To top it off; Gabe wore a white fedora with a black band on it. Stylish.

However, Jaska's outfit was no where near as fancy as Gabe's. It was more casual. He wore a white t-shirt that had a logo that said "It's better in the Bahamas" that was clearly a few sizes too large for him. It was clearly for a male five sizes larger than him! There were two holes ripped in the back of it for his wings. He wore tan cargo shorts that ended right above his knees. His tail was clearly seen wrapped around his waist. Like always, he didn't wear any shoes. Because of his claws and all. Either way, because of his power, his body was always warm and could shrug off the effects of the winter.

All dressed up for a great day, they went straight for the lake, but they didn't immediately see Jake. However, thanks to Jaska's enhanced senses, they managed to easily track them by the wind carrying their scent, and their enhanced hearing. The pair passed by them, getting Jake's attention before Gabe says to them "Ooooooh... Don't mind us," She points her hand in their direction, "Enjoy your touchy feely moment. We'll be over here if you need us." Their moment was cute, and Gabe wasn't the one to interrupt. Besides, they'd quickly turn into a third wheel otherwise.

Gabe walked up to the nearest tree and leaned up against it. While Jaska choose something a bit more scenic. He climbed up the tree with ease (Several inch claws make it easy) before he climbed his way onto the thickest tree branch. He laid down on a tree branch, unfurling his tail and letting it lazily hang from the tree branch. He put his arms in front of him, laying his chin.

Waiting for a conversation to come to them.


Jake Vin Valos.


"Hehaha... You're so nice." Jake said in a sly tone, chuckling. After he did think about he, he was more useful in a fight than people thought. He would have to be support - Even then, he could make a decent support. Deception, stealth, defense - Those were roles that he specialized in. Like Arianna said you can't hit what you can't see... Unless they have an extra sense. Heh. Even then, Jake could work around it. "I've been in my fair share of fights, actually." He chuckled quietly as he looked to the side, "Mostly started by you-know-who." He chuckled. He raised a finger, before continuing "You see, the trick is to keep the fight going until your opponent gets tired and trying not to get punched in the face in the process."

Now they were getting into their little rock skipping match. Jake can't skip rocks to save his life, but that won't stop him from trying goddammit! She told him not to cheat. To that, Jake couldn't help but play around. "Oh whatever do you mean...?" He said feigning the most innocent tone, crossing his hands behind his back. He made a large illusory rock in his hand. Transparent, it was merely floating in his hand. He threw the rock and it skipped across the lake all the way to the other side. Looking fake as possible since a rock of that size wouldn't be able to travel that distance. "Looks like I win, Miss Madrigal." He grinned.

Speaking of 'you know who', Gabe and Jaska walked by at this point. This interrupted his moment with Arianna! Again. He wiped his grin off his face. Jake was about to say something when Gabe beat him. Telling him that they'll be the sidelines and they should enjoy this moment. Jake replied with a short and sweet, "Okay."

He turned back to Arianna. "Now where were we?" He laughed before inquisitively putting a finger into the air, "Oh yeah, me trying to be funny, heh." He reached down and picked up a pebble. "Now... Let me stop screwing around and get down to business." He threw the rock just right so that it skipped across the surface of the lake twice.... Nothing impressive. But he was going to see what Arianna had up her sleeve before he starts conceding.



Sage Lucas Pimm.


"Sage... Pimm. Sage Pimm." Sage awkwardly answers Poppy. They were unsure of how to go about this now. Since it seemed like a child playing around on the roof, now it seems more like a suicide attempt. Going off the fact that she was crying her eyes out. Sage awkwardly looked around. Why does it have to be me? To say they were unsure of how to handle this was the understatement of the year. Um... Perhaps they should start by getting the hell off the roof of the dorms before she kills herself (Sage wasn't in any danger because they can slow down their descents). Or before a teacher shows up. Sage grabbed Poppy by the wrist, "I'm not going to leave you." Reassuring Poppy. They looked around until they found the door they came through. "But we should get down from here." Sage had zero intention of carrying Poppy down from here. They weren't physically strong enough, and didn't want to risk it. So Sage walked Poppy back through the door she came through.


The Changeling Unit.


Now this was getting interesting. Val had grabbed onto Bloodsucker's leg and started trying to freeze him. Which was something that Bloodsucker knew could slow him down for awhile. The greatest heats on the planet were healed in less than seconds, but getting frozen? Something that could put a stop to him. It wouldn't kill him though, his healing factor is too great. Though, Bloodsucker wasn't the one to give easy victories. He raised his opposite foot into the air to stomp onto Val's arm - This was his blunder. Bloodsucker slipped backwards out of Val's grip backwards. Inconveniently onto the metal picks that Count Vicious had created. They pierced through his torso and limbs, one even went through his throat. However, this was just a minor inconvenience for Bloodsucker. "... Ow." He nonchalantly says. Count Vicious did absolutely nothing to help his trapped leader.

"I'll take that as Bloodsucker dropping out." Primitive Light took a step forward and dramatically threw off her glove. Before it was surrounded in a wreath of crackling electricity. The electricity was sucked back into her body. She took another step forward. She breathed in deep, and let out a painfully loud scream. It wasn't just any scream, it was a usage of her power. It was an enormous boom of sound energy. Infusing her scream with dangerous amounts of sound energy. It shattered the ice in front of her, and gave her a moment or two to get some ground on Val. She ran ahead, her hands surrounded by electricity. She generated an immense heat to counter the effects of Val's blizzard.

Count Vicious was too busy laughing at Bloodsucker to notice that Primitive Light had taken his place. This blizzard was taking it's toll on Vicious. He couldn't keep up the heat.... Hm... Perhaps he'll swap out for a moment. "I'm dropping out!" Count Vicious shouted, leaping out of the fray.

"Hahaha! Let me at 'em!" Acidscar was quick to take the vacant space. He ran forward, spraying acid out of his mouth at the ice. It melted the black ice in front of him. He stopped halfway, he would have been content with one big acidic attack if it wouldn't damage Light. He waited to see what Primitive Light would do before he acted. Oozing acid onto the floor.

Dexter 'Rush' Chertok, & Ray Judah Drager.


It appears that there is no arguing with this machine. It still believes there's still meaning behind what it was based off of. Silly concept. Even sillier AI. That is obvious since it's based off of a human being, so it must replicate what it's predecessor's thoughts feeling, and beliefs in abstract concepts. A soul cannot be mechanized. Principle of science. Rush figured that they play along with Byte's game, for now. Rush pulled out his phone, and looked at it for a moment. He spoke in an inquisitive tone, "Hmmm... Modified phone. It can't be easily access. Especially by digital constructs." He raised it to shoulder length. "Confidential information. On this. Regardless."

"Yeah, there's 5 gigabytes worth of pictures of him in a banana hammock." Ray snarked yet again, "No one needs to see that."

However, it would be Rush who gets the last laugh. "... Instead. Transfer to Drager's phone."

"-Wait, what?!" Ray didn't get a chance to argue before Rush 'reassured' him.

Without a word, Rush pulled a usb drive out of his jacket and placed it into the computer, as a signal for Byte to transfer. After waiting for Byte to get on the USB, he pulled it out, and looked at Ray. "Let's get a move on." Rush turned around, and walked towards the door. He quickly undid all the security precautions that Byte placed with a snap of his fingers. He walked out the doors, and continued towards his next destination: The hospital.

They walked through the front door of the Hospital, and gave the front lobby a look. It was busy as usual. People were either getting injured from the arena, misuse of their powers, or trying to use their powers to f*ck. Rush choose to come here first because, while going to the Administration building seemed more logical, the school doesn't want Rush to be going to certain places. The hospital was not one of them. So, he planned on getting Byte into the hospital's system. He had a simple plan in fact, because he's too tactical to go for a flashy or 'fun' plan. Rush put Byte in Ray's palm, before he explained, "Explaining plan: Going to distract front desk work. Go place Byte into computer. Be discrete." He walked towards the front desk. "Greetings. Have questions. Constructing mechanical..." What Rush described to the staff was both hilarious and horrific. But it was attention grabbing enough to keep her attention while Ray does his thing.

"Yeah... Okay, I can do that." Ray took the USB drive and clenched it in between his fingers. He went after Rush began his distraction and shuddered at what Rush was describing. He was quick to go to work. He opened his palm, and the USB drive floated out of his hand, and flew into the port. He did it quick as possible. As the moment his powers activated his aura turned on too. A thick, wavy, dark-blue field around him. The second it was in, he stopped using his powers and turned away. Hoping that no one would notice.


Sage Lucas Pimm.


Sage quickly got the feeling that this incident stems from a long term problem. Incidents like this don't pop off from small things - Well, Sage didn't know the specifics of this girl. Though, that left a problem; leaving this girl alone would likely cause her to do the same stunt over again. Sage could send the afternoon keeping this little girl out of trouble - Just for now. They don't do much around this time to begin with. "Yes, I do." Sage answered Poppy. Looking down at her. Poppy then asked a question about Sage's power. The Angel of Light, they called themself. "Well... Yeah, Angel-like..." Sage remembered the droves of narrow minded students that say that Angels aren't real. Hmph. In this world, where people can control the very laws of nature, Sage doesn't find the existence of Angels to be out there. "I can control light, and turn into an angel when outdoors.... Nothing really special." That answered Poppy's question, but now had a few questions of their own, "Why'd you go up there all by yourself...?"

Arianna Madrigal

Arianna giggled at Jake's "secret" to fighting. "Muhammad Ali called, he wants to talk shop with you." Arianna laughed more fully at Jake's blatantly obvious attempt at cheating-it was something she probably would've found mildly amusing before, but given the general atmosphere of the Academy, she was taking opportunities to laugh as they came. Arianna needed to laugh, and she felt that most people at the school did. She figured if she was in charge, she would've put on a talent show, or gotten some of the natural comedians at the school to perform or something. Make people laugh, take their minds off stuff. She wondered what she could do with her power, maybe, if she sat in the dorms and played something soothing. There were the flashier, more direct powers like Gabe's lasers or the Russian kid's ice storms, but they were limited. Arianna couldn't have hoped to take on the Changelings, but neither could some of the other kids hope to soothe someone who was mourning. She figured all the powers at the Academy had their place, separate niches they all filled.

She wasn't ignoring Gabe as much as she was preoccupied with something else, once Jake's sister approached. Looking down into the water, Arianna studied her reflection very curiously. The water splashing against the shore had a musical quality to it, which she promptly realized was the Symphony. Was this another hallucination? No, not hallucination. What the Symphony showed her, cosmic song pouring into her senses seamlessly, was never false. It was always true, even if it was a metaphor or abstract or something.

Arianna found herself staring at her own reflection. The Symphony began to grow louder, a faint but eerie piece that wouldn't have been out of place as ambient music in a horror movie. She knelt down, looking at her face closely. The Arianna that was in the water looked absolutely terrified, eyes wide and mouth open in a silent scream. There was a sharp, high-pitched squeal-a sforzando like razors on piano wire, and Arianna's face in the water exploded into blood.

She threw the rock into the water and disrupted the Symphony's vision, getting rid of the upsetting sight only she could see. Arianna glanced back at Jake, figuring he would probably be a little weirded out-but, after a moment, she realized Jake probably understood better than anyone what she'd seen. "Sorry. Just...thought I saw something in the water." She gave him a half-hearted grin and tried to quiet the Symphony, to focus on Jake's song and the quiet little moment they had.

But she couldn't shake the feeling things were going to go really wrong soon.

Valery Arsov

These cheating bastards. I'm going to give them frostbite on their d*cks.

Val took it as a good sign for his soul that he still had the heart to make CENSORED threats with death looming over him. He seemed to have taken Bloodsucker down for the count-the guy was rather eerily turned into a human pincushion and then seemed to shrug it off. Val tucked that away for when he would turn on them, he'd need to find a better way of killing Bloodsucker than just shivving him a few times. And, better yet, his barrier of snow and ice seemed to have stopped Vicious' attacks, as he heard the man call himself off.

Then there was a deafening boom and Primitive Light entered the fight. Val figured that the loud noise and charging lady was a feint, to make him take his eyes off whatever was behind him, now that these assholes were tag-teaming him. However, Val wasn't totally sure what she was capable of, so he had no choice but to spring the trap. Taking in the situation as quickly as he could, he saw Primitive burst the black ice before her and then it all melted-so she had some kind of heat. Val grinned (as best he could, his face was getting kinda numb) and focused his efforts on her as she came charging in at him. She was sprinting right at him, melting some of the snow as she did. Val let her-while water on the floor wouldn't be as slippery as black ice, it would be better than nothing. Instead, once she'd built up her sprint for a moment or two, Val roared, making two or three icicles burst forth from the steadily growing glacier he'd built around him. These ice-spears would hopefully impale Primitive Light-however, he didn't get his hopes up. Given that she shattered the other stuff, and also was making the ice melt, she'd probably try and smash right through it. However, he had to hope it would buy him at least a few seconds-turning over as quickly as his stiff neck and unresponsive torso would allow, Val looked through the snow and ice as if they were transparent at Acidscar. When does this asshole give up?

Val felt a sudden throb of pain through his face, arms, and chest. When do you, Valery?

No time to question his choices thus far-Val had to shut this prick down before he and Light teamed up and went through his glacier. Val didn't know too much about acid, because he mostly used chemistry as naptime, but he was pretty sure it wasn't, like, infinite. As in, it would burn out eventually or run out of steam or whatever. Val sent a surge of diamond dust rolling across the floor at Acidscar, hoping to make the guy use up a bit of acid to dissolve it while he got his real attack ready.

Val wasn't sure how much time he had left, but he knew he had to be past the five or six minute mark, at least. Assuming they held true to the ten minute thing, he had only to survive a bit longer. And this was very good, because Val was about to start skimming the bottom of the barrel-his atmospheric powers weren't going to wear down Primitive Light anytime soon, so he'd need to use tactics he didn't normally like to employ. Val was going to have to start fighting offensively. Screaming with exertion, Val drew all the cold air in the room towards himself, causing a sub-zero draft of wind to suck the snow and ice in closer to himself. It iced over quickly, with Val crystallized in the center of it.

Then, with all the will he could muster, Val forced the glacier, which was building as hail and snow and water vapour seemed to gravitate towards it, slowly freezing to it and making it larger, towards Primitive Light. He didn't know if she was fast enough to dodge it, or strong enough to shatter the car-sized glacier outright. Regardless, this arctic body slam was going to put Val on the other side of the room, and let him focus his efforts on both of the attackers coming at him, rather than being caught in the middle. Even with her heat, Val was hopeful that she couldn't melt that much ice and snow that quickly-if she could, Val was about to boiled alive.

Here's to hoping Primitive Light wasn't as strong as he feared.

Abraham Gene

Abe smirked to himself rather smugly as he watched Jake walk off. A-ha! Sure, man, sure. Now he just had to convince Drake to turn on the TV during the match to see if Drake thought the kid was worth his stones. Spinning around on his heel, he turned and started walking in the opposite direction of Jake. He made, what was in his mind, one of the dorkiest faces he could muster and imitated his best Gimli voice. "Well I guess that concludes negotiations!"

He walked through the halls thinking about his next course of action. Valery was off doing whatever he was doing... oh, right, something about the Changelings. Huh. Gotta wonder how that guy is doing. Maybe he needs help...? Nah, the dude's chill, he's probably got this. Ol' Val wouldn't have been a worthy place on the team if he couldn't handle himself in a scrap or two. And he was a worthy place. Obviously he can't harass Jake right now - he's got stuff to do. Drake? Was that guy still asleep? Whatever, the guy can sleep after Abe finishes his business with him. It's not like he had much else to do. Gosh, it was so weird. Doing everything yourself. Responsibilities. It's so tiring, how does everybody manage that without butlers or aids? The God damn lower class doesn't know what they're missing out on.

It took quite a few minutes for Abe to reach back to the infirmary at the pace of his, well, pacing. He was still adorned in his funeral clothes, with the suit and bow-tie and pants and whatnot. He had to where this thing at so many outings back in Boston with the family that this suit practically made a second skin - aside from the usual clothes he wore, of course. Besides, he had to say he felt rather dapper in it! He pushed open the doors melodramatically, although there was no one around to swoon or laugh (it was mostly just all for him). When he walked down the alley to look for Drake's room, he found it and chuckled to himself as he suddenly remembered his get-well present before he left this morning. Oops.

"Gooood morning, campers!" Abe bellowed as he charged his way into Drake's room, regardless whether or not Drake was actually asleep. He quickly found his place in a chair next to Drake's bed. In the same loud and obnoxious tone of voice, he said, "and how are we doing this fine, fine, wonderful day?"

The irony in asking this to his once impaled and now hospitalized friend wasn't lost to Abe - that was half the humor of it.

---

Jesse Sutor

As opposed to Lily, Jesse wasn't dress totally out of the clothes he wore to the funeral. He did take off the stiff leather belt and the dress pants that was supposed to be treated as though it were some ancient relic (which he personally found rather stupid), and exchanged it with a pair of faded, boot-cut jeans and a more fitting black fabric belt. The shirt was just unbuttoned some down to his chest and the cuffs were completely unbuttoned, thusly revealing some of his forearms at certain angles. He was pretty eager to scrap the hair tie that kept his (au naturel) mane in a ponytail and instead wrapped it around his wrist.

When Lily came a-knockin' on the door, he was also pretty eager to answer it, and she too seemed to share the eagerness to get in - whether she was really excited or eager to retreat the halls. She flopped down on his roommates bed - boy, wouldn't he be crying out of excitement right now - and Jesse in turn started standing on top of his own with his socked feet and hands in his pockets before he started absent-mindedly bouncing up and down. She started to ask what they were going to talk about.

"Oh yeah, food Netflix, and my dark and tragic past... Heh, where should we start?"

Jesse snorted in amusement. "Well..." he started saying as he stopped his clowning around by bouncing from his bed onto the ground. He walked towards Lily.

"I think we probably ought to address the elephant in the room." He stated somberly. He gave it a moment of silence before he picked off a small piece of lint from Lily's shirt. "Okay, now with that out of the way, I suppose we could probably drop by the cafe for some food and tragic pasts. We can discuss it over a gyro or something."

---

Damon Viscous

"I know." He mumbled in response to Megan's confusion. Of course it had to happen now. A faculty member - hell, a power instructor - dying during a funeral, presumably at the very hands of the criminals who killed the students. She mentioned Adam wanting to circle up immediately and Damon didn't hesitate to agree with her and followed her lead. When they arrived, both Megan and Damon were forced to flash their identifications before they were allowed to enter the room, and when they did, there was a horrific sight. Leon, once his coworker, layed slumped on the floor and against the wall and a huge mess of blood. His eye twitched and his spine crawled. He felt his insides writhe some more in response to the stress stimulation. Adam gave the two some briefing, and much of it had to do with a young girl. A student?

"A girl? Running from the scene?" Damon said as his brows twisted in annoyance. He gave that phrase a second to sink in for everybody. "Bah. Suspicious, indeed."

Unfortunately, the bad news didn't end there. Dacious wanted to cover everything up entirely. What? Okay, cover it up for the students, sure. But they can't even question her? That isn't just covering it up from the students, but the faculty as well! They had to know what was going on. All of security, the power instructors, and anyone with a managerial position ought to know what is happening.

"What?" Damon exasperated indignantly. "Cover it up for the students, sure, but we still ought to find out what is going on here. We don't let one of our own just... die and let whoever get away with it!"

Damon pinched the bridge of his nose. 'What the fuck is Dacious thinking?'

Jake Vin Valos.


"Arianna?" Jake immediately picked up that something was wrong in regards to the Songbird, "Arianna, what's wrong?" He asked again, getting closer to Arianna. He wanted to know what was wrong with her all the sudden, but it all felt too familiar. Then she tossed the rock into the water and snapped out of her trance, and said that she saw something. It was like she was going through. He felt a bit relieved when Arianna grinned, but he knew that it wasn't a real grin. It might seem a little hypocritical because he didn't want anyone probing into a certain vision, but he had to ask. "What... Was it? You can tell me, Ari." Because I'm crazy myself!


Drake Deltori Blackmore.


"-What the f*ck?!" Drake shouted as Abe was hell bent on waking him up. He snapped right awake, though he was a little sluggish from the drugs. He realized that someone left him a pink little get well card... Along with a weird feeling on his face, he wiped his face off, and there was faint black ink on his face. Who - Oh, god, who the f*ck did they let into my room. He almost felt angry, but he was far too tired to be angry, he rested his head back down on the pillow. Too exhausted to honestly care right now. Well, he had to attend to Mr. Abraham. Since Drake knows how the guy gets when he does't have his way. "Maaaan, I'm trying to get my damn snooze on. What is it?" Drake asked.



Carmen 'Lily' Santo.


Lily found herself laughing when Jesse picked a piece of lint from her shirt. She thought he was going to say something big and dramatic, only to get amused instead. Cafe? Maybe. Maybe. Food is on the to-do list. It only made Lily chuckle a little bit more. She was a little more comfortable talking about her past in the Cafe than the funeral... But, she ultimately would rather talk about it in the confines of a room. Then again, in a school like this, anyone can be watching you. Lily shuddered, but tried to play it off with cheerful bantering. "Alright hungry man, get dressed up and we'll go." She was hesitant to go out that door, but she felt a little better with Jesse by her side. They walked through the halls of the school. Thanks to being in the section as the rest of the buildings for the students, it wasn't too long of a walk.

Lily was the first to step through the front doors of the cafe, and it turned out that the cafe was less active than ever. She found a nice booth in the far side of the cafe for both herself and Jesse. It was cliche, yes, but the further they were from everyone else, the better. At least in her opinion. The only person who gave them any mind was the waiter that walked up. No slutty waitress? Nice. Lily asked for a grilled chicken salad (Her favorite). "So... I don't think anyone's paying us any mind, you still want to talk, or do you want to wait?"


Adam Leo Blackmore, & Megan Emma Jervious.


Damon had the same exact sentiments that Adam and Megan did.

"I agree, Damon" It was annoying... But Adam knew that Dacious had a motive for trying to pull something like this. A motive he knew that they wouldn't like. There was no other reason. However, that means that it's time to start taking matter into their own hands. "Excuse me for a moment." With a little bit of clever air manipulation restricted the distance that sound traveled no further than the three of them, muffling what they had to say. It was foolish to talk about it here, but nobody would notice them. "Dacious is working against us, for whatever. It appears that it's time we take matters into our own hands."

Megan gave Adam a sly smile, shifting her weight to one hip. "Oh, Adam, what ever do you mean?"

"I am suggesting that we have a talk with this girl. She might be the only thing that leads us to the culprit. If Dacious cuts her loose, then we might have an opportunity to meet her."

"Oooh! I'll get the waterboard!" Megan cheerfully says.

"... No. We aren't going to cross any lines, Megan. We're going to handle this quietly, so I suggest that we go about our business, act like we're quietly going along with Dacious, until the time is right."

Megan rolled her eyes up into her head. "... And give Dacious plenty of time to blow her brains out." Megan put two fingers to her head like a gun and make a 'pow' song. Well, she could ask what her partner in crime thinks they should do. It's not like he's one of the silly students. Megan got intimately close to Damon, asking "Now, what exactly do you think we should do, Damon?"


Changeling Unit.


Arsov is one hell of an opponent. Primitive Light had to say to herself (But never to anyone else). He could be worthy of continuing his trials. However, that didn't mean she was going to make it any easier for him. The heat she was giving off was helping her resist the heat, but it was also making the area more hazardous. Water over ice is never fun to walk on, that's not even counting how fast Val is freezing it again. Light toned down the heat, to help her defend herself against the cold, but not alter the arena. Then came Val's barrage of attacks. "Sorry, hun..." She said under her breath with a smile as Val's ice constructs hit her... And did nothing. They touched her, but it didn't affect her outside of stopping her momentarily. There wasn't even an impact. The problem was that Val put distance between himself and them. Acidscar was struggling to even get back on his feet, but Primitive Light had other plans. Plans that didn't involve him. "You're out!" She said as she kicked Acidscar out of the trial, quite literally. With a kick strong enough to break bones... The Witch Mother immediately tended to her fallen ally. She immediately scanned her allies waiting on standby until she found her perfect partner. "Berserker! Your turn!" She shouted.

The Berserker didn't think twice. The massive creature let out an ear-splitting roar, before charging onto the battlefield at high speeds. Which, wasn't the best idea but once transform, the Berserker is overcome with murderous rage. The Berserker's steps were heavy enough to break some of the ice underneath her feet, but the brute slipped on the thicker patches of ice. The Berserker went feet first up into the air and dropped onto the ground like a brick. Causing a massive crash of shattered ice and broken concrete. The Berserker tried to get back up onto her feet, but was struggling. Which only made her angrier.

Not exactly what Light was planning on happening, but she improvised. She carefully went over to the fallen Berserker before the beast even got a chance to get up. She kicked the Berserker, a two ton creature, across the ice like she was nothing but a hockey puck. Aimed straight for Val with enough speed to crash into him.

Valery Arsov

of all the stupid ideas you've had, Arsov, this is the worst.

Val's saving grace was that Primitive Light had taken a bit of time to kick Acidscar out and grab the Berserker-not much time, but it would have to be enough. The young Russian had quickly realized Primitive Light was far and away the most dangerous of the Changelings-at least to him. She seemed unaffected by the cold, was able to shrug off his physical attacks, and was smart enough to alter her approach accordingly. If Val couldn't put her away quickly, he was very sure that she would kill him-and he had absolutely no idea what her weakness was. Were his hands still capable of fine motor control-or even movement at a reasonable rate-he might've used his clairvoyance to figure her out, but that option was not available to him.

Encased in his glacier, Val decided his only chance was to pour out everything he had. Being tired for the next trials wouldn't matter if he couldn't survive this one. A soundless scream roaring from his throat, Val began to build up as much ice as he could around himself, shaping the glacier's exterior into spikes and jagged edges while thickening the black ice on the floor around him. Hail began actively falling from the sky now, and Val's body was almost entirely frozen through-he was barely capable of any movement, having to rely on his control over the ice to move himself around.

Then the Berserker got drop-kicked at him. If his glacier got shattered, Val knew the fight was over-he'd be a sitting duck, and Primitive Light was seemingly immune to everything he could throw at him. He didnt know exactly what the big guy was capable of, but it seemed reasonable to Val that it was mostly just being big and strong. There was no way he could stop that much mass-Val, however, realized that he could use the Berserker against Primitive Light. While she had no qualms over kicking whatshisface out of the arena, she might-might be hesitant about blasting straight through one of her own companions.

Val quickly gathered all the cold he could around him-the air around him was well below zero now, and if he could open a wound on the Berserker, he could really f*ck him up internally. Playing a game with the Changelings' biggest bruiser seemed extraordinarily stupid, but Val was out of options. He waited for the Berserker to come to him, readying himself. When the Berserker hit him, he'd probably get a bunch of cuts and scrapes from the jagged ice-and, hopefully, the snow on the ground would've slowed him down a bit.

The Berserker smashed into him and Val nearly lost consciousness.

There was a deafening sound as most of Val's glacier shattered, huge chunks of ice splitting off and falling to the ground, but mercifully, Val's immunity to the ice and buildup of snow saved his life. Pressed up against snow pressed up against the wall, Val was alive-and, were his body still flaccid and movable as it was before he started using his wintry powers, he likely would've been killed. Rather, the sluice nature of his blood and internal squishy parts was a bit more resilient. While Val couldn't move so well anymore, he did focus all his attacks directly in front of him-hail fell seemingly perpendicular, coming and pelting the big guy on the back, snow seemed to ice over into painful little spikes, and the cold wind tore at him-not to mention slamming into the glacier had to have done something. All he needed to do was open up a few wounds on this guy, and the cold air would do the rest. If Val was still mobile, he could've frozen this guy's eyes or something like that, but his hands were more or less stuck at his sides. Val began bringing down snow and ice on the Berserker, hoping that someone this big wasn't capable of stretching himself out too often. He likely wasn't the most dexterous and agile, and he was pretty sure that, this close, he couldn't use most of his strength. Pressed against the Berserker's chest, Val curled up against his human shield and prayed he could cripple this bastard before Primitive Light roasted him alive.

Arianna Madrigal

"I..." she paused, trying to think of how to put her frenzied thoughts into words. "It's...the Symphony...normally it's just music. Different songs for different things, or people, or events...but it's, it's fluid. Like if something terrible's about to happen the music will shift, and I'll know it's coming, or if something's happened recently, it's like an echo...but sometimes I don't just hear things, it comes more fluidly. I won't just hear it represented in music, I'll hear what actually happens or...or see it or feel it. And the thing is it's always true. It might not happen for years or it might've already happened, or it might be symbolic or or something but it always comes true. And...I..." Arianna took a deep breath in, which normally didn't happen. Her way of talking was very smooth and measured, never awkwardly stopping for breath, always in an unconscious rhythm. Now it was sharp and hysterical. "I keep seeing me. And I'm wearing that black suit and I'm always..." she reached a hand up to the scarf around her neck. "I'm always covered in blood. Or or wounded. Or something. I don't know. I just want to leave this place."

She paused for a minute, blinking away tears. "Sorry. I...I didn't mean to ruin this. But I guess you did throw the rock further."

Jake Vin Valos.


Um... Jake couldn't put his finger on it, but he was starting to get a little nervous. Arianna's little story tended to do that. His eyes shifted between Arianna, and Gabe and Jaska. He got closer to her. "I..." He found himself stumbling for words. "... I really don't." Maybe he sounded a little bit like an asshole for not being able to comfort her. But he didn't know how to go about Arianna's dark revelation. If it's less of a hallucination, and more of a vision. He was, quite frankly, frightened at the revelation. A bad omen. Except, Arianna seems to be the one who was at the receiving end of it. Either from the Changeling Unit, or one of the many assholes that inhabit this school. Honestly, he thought that he should try to protect Arianna. He did say he would be better next time. "I think we should go...." That was the first suggestion. Of course Abraham would be mad if he got stood up. But Jake could honestly care less. He scratched the back of his neck wondering where he should go. Until he went with the first option that came to mind. "Maybe my room? I can get us coffee, or some tea. That sound"



Dexter Harold Chertok, & Ray Judah Drager.


Things were going according to plan. Rush's phone beeped, prompting a curious, "Oh?" As he looked at his phone. Byte had done what she had needed to do... Along with a little more. Anti-depressants? It might be what Ray needs to get through this. Though Rush and Ray needed to move on. He turned to the worker whom he distracted, and told her, with a smile, "Sorry. Complete lie. Only wanted attention. Bye." He walked off whistling like he just done nothing at all. He looked and saw that Ray pulled out the USB drive, and they stood side by side. They walked over to a printer which printed the proscription for Ray's anti-depressants. Rush grabbed onto it, and pressed it into Ray's chest. "For you."

Ray grabbed onto the paper and read it, slightly confused. "Uhh... Thanks. They didn't want to give me any because of a 'limited supply'." Maybe this might help him get the hell over this. But people don't walk away from sh*t like that with a little help from some happy pills.

"... However. Do not overdo. Drager. Addiction. Last thing we need." Rush was quick to warn Ray. Their business in the hospital was done. Rush walked out the front door, with Ray following. Now, they had to go to the Administration building. That was the next logical choice. However, Rush had something to ask of Byte.

Did you get what you wanted out of the Hospital? Or did you solely help Drager?

With that out of the way Rush made haste towards his destination. It wasn't a terribly long walk, since they had to walk from the west end of the school, to the south end. They stood outside the Administration building. However, Rush wasn't going anywhere near that place. In fact, he was hiding behind the bushes.  "For optimal discreteness. Better if I remain outside."  He knew that the school would get suspicious if he walked inside - If he wasn't immediately thrown out. Rush handed Ray the USB drive. "Up to you. Drager. Just place Byte inside a computer. Any computer." After saying that, Rush walked away until he found a bench further away from the building.

Leaving Ray alone to tackle the problem. He looked up at the building. He honestly didn't want to do this, but he was dedicated to help Dexter, no matter how student. One thing was for certain: he needed a clever plan. Intricate and precise as a well-played game of chess.

Ray walked into the administration building, and when no one was looking, he shoved Byte's USB in a computer. Bloody genius.


The Changeling Unit.


The Berserker was kept immobile, but uninjured, by the ice Val. However, Primitive Light was not going to stop. She had Val in a position to easily kill him. She leaped up into the air with her fist primed for a punch. She would hit the Berserker again so hard that she would crush Val.

"Test over!" Bloodsucker appeared out of no where in the path of Primitive Light, with no visible injuries (Except for maybe the holes in his attire). He grabbed onto Primitive Light's leg, and swinging her away, into the nearby wall. Which didn't injure her upon contact. Bloodsucker started laughing like a maniac, "We forgot to turn the timer on! It's been twenty minutes!" He threw his head back, continuing his laughter.

Primitive Light growled out of anger. But stopped. If she had been in the fight from the start, she knew that she could have stopped Val from claiming the battlefield, and eliminated him earlier.

The Changeling Unit dispersed, except for Bloodsucker, Heartbreaker, Witch Mother and Primitive Light.

Heartbreaker had a hard time standing on the layer of ice that Val created. Hmph. She pulled out a cigarette and put it in her mouth, lighting it. Snarking, "Hmph, you should be useful the next time we want to go ice skating..."

Primitive Light stood in the center of the room, away from both Bloodsucker, Val and Heartbreaker. Generating heat from her body to melt the ice. She didn't want any evidence of Val being here in case anyone stumbles across it.

Witch Mother walked up to Val (Assuming he's out of the ice armor), and placed her hand on him. She healed all of his wounds, save for the self-inflicted wounds from his first test. He would need it for her test. She silently walked off into the shadows. Not a word came out of her mouth.

That just left Bloodsucker, he was standing not too far away from Val. Looking at him with his knives out. "Now... Arsov, I have to say that I'm impressed. You're halfway there..." Bloodsucker scraped the blades of his knives together. "... So I thought, maybe I should give you a little bit of insight on the team..." He quickly put the knives away in the blink of an eye. Putting up a finger, and pointing it at Val, as Bloodsucker walked a circle around him. He explained, "We are an assembled team of some of the best of the best - Or, as one of our enemies called us; the worst humanity has to offer. Our objective is simple: we are to kidnap infants and toddlers, just the right age before they start getting smart, of the Meta-human variety, and deliver them to our boss. Striking down anyone who gets in our way with impunity... Something you should be comfortable with." He finished that sentence with malicious laughter, "...We are named the Changeling Unit for a reason. Hahahahahaha..." He stopped dead in his tracks, his face wiped blank and his expression neutral. "... However! Every once in a while, such as this instance, the boss gives us a very special mission we are to carry out with the utmost excellence. Once - No, if, you survive our tests, I'll tell you just what we're after. What Dacious has that he's so desperate to keep."

After Bloodsucker's speech, Heartbreaker was next to speak, "Maybe if your ass doesn't get torn to pieces by, Idon'tknow, the students you used to call friends: maybe I'll take you to meet our boss." She snickered fiendishly, cupping her mouth with a gloved hand. "... You'll love her!"

"Now, now..." Bloodsucker laughed, "... Let's not get too ahead of ourselves... We still have plenty of breaking to do." He pointed down a hallway, which was dark until lights shined brightly, illuminating a path to another room, standing in the center of the room was the Witch Mother. Her white robe obscured her face. "When you're ready... Go talk to her. She wishes to test you as well."

Valery Arsov

Val had never heard words more satisfying in his entire life than "Test Over". Val slumped over, not concerned with appearances at this point. Twenty minutes of intense fighting would've left even the Changelings exhausted, he suspected, had they not been alternating in and out. That level of constant adrenaline and fear would've had his muscles trembling, but he was too busy being a human popsicle to follow the normal rules of biology. Witch Mother immediately healed him, restoring him to full speed (Val made a quiet note to himself to kill her first-God only knew what she could do aside from healing). He stood up slowly, arms and legs a little stiff, but he shook them out and felt good as new. Aside from the absolute terror, ya know.

"Sniper Lady, I would love to go ice skating with you." Val said as deadpan as possible, trying to make her think he interpreted her statement as an invitation rather than a dismissal of his talents. Odds are pretty good they will kill me, anyways. I might as well have a little fun. The silliness helped to lighten the tension in his mind, and seemed to build a psychic buffer of sorts against the fear and the stress. He understood how people could snap and go stark raving mad, now. Val was dealing with some of the sickest people on earth, and had developed a great deal of respect for people in insane asylums as a result.

Val tried not to be unnerved as Bloodsucker walked around him-he knew the effect was probably intentional, and he was already weirded out a bit by the Witch Mother's total silence. Perhaps it was part of her power? No, she was just creepy. Val listened closely, taking the news as a good sign: they wouldn't bother telling him this just to kill him off at the end, surely. They must've seen actual potential in him. Better not disappoint, Arsov. Team Headstrong's counting on you. He took in what they said, memorizing every word. Well, not literally, but this was far and away the most important thing Valery had ever heard in his life, and he treated it as such. Val didn't say anything back to Bloodsucker, but nodded as he listened-he didn't have anything to say that wouldn't sound like he was being a kiss-ass. When Heartbreaker taunted him, he gave her a big grin. "Do not worry," he beamed. "I am sure I will not love her as much as you."

Then Bloodsucker told him to go walk over to the Witch Mother. It reminded Val of walking through one of those haunted houses, where you know something's going to jump out at you, you just have no idea when. He nodded and took a moment to prepare himself, shaking out his arms and legs and limbering up a bit-the Witch Mother had reset him, but he wanted to be ready for whatever happened. Val had the feeling her test would be more spiritual or psychological or something-she didn't look the type to physically throw down. He looked at the new carvings on the insides of his arms and on his chest and drew up his resolve: he could save lives. He could make a difference.

Provided he doesn't die first.

Val took a deep breath and walked across the silent floor to the Witch Mother. He stopped four or five feet from her and bowed his head respectfully for a moment before lifting it to look at her. "Da. I'm ready."

Abraham Gene

His gleaming - and quite frankly, blithe - smile was unchanging even among Drake's startled and abrupt reaction upon being awoken. It seems he was asleep all this time! He did notice something on the face, but of course, not exactly what was drawn upon it. He'll figure it out soon enough. Still, Drake seemed a bit too worn to actually fight back, but had enough piss to express his discontent of being woken up... a little groggy from the morphine, Abe imagined - great shit right there. So he gave his friend a moment or two to lose the disorientation. After all, they had to talk business! Business about Jake. Abraham honestly wanted to keep it somewhat of a surprise, so he figured he'd keep it real vague.

"Snooze later, my friend!" Abe chimed once more. "Today, you oughta keep that television on, ya hear? Keep it on the arena's channel - I got a little somethin'-somethin' in mind, and hopefully that little somethin'-somethin' doesn't disappoint!"

Abe thought about what he said a little bit more. Ugh, subtlety was fun and all, but this one circumstance was getting annoyingly vague. Even for him! And he was the one telling him it. Abraham sighed in frustration and pinched the bridge of his nose as he leaned back in his chair - a person not familiar with Abe's quirks would perhaps take it as a jab at them. Hell, even someone who might be familiar with his quirks would still not quite understand his gestures - his mind was usually on a track all on its own. Fuck it, Abe thought. Let's just spit it out.

"Okay, okay," Abe started, "so I found a guy. A little soft around... no, no, real fuckin' soft around the edges. A real "puts cream n' sugar in his coffee kinda guy". A yuppie if I ever saw one. The kid ain't quite... grounded either. But anyway, he does got some funky little magician tricks, and maybe with a little more... how do you say, conventional practice, he might end up pretty useful!"

He ended his selling line with a pair of jazz hands. Of course, in real business, he wouldn't have been as honest about his product's deficiencies, but the name of the team was on the line - and the team's name was Abe's name. Liabilities suck ass. He straightened himself up a bit.

"The name's Jake. I think. Yeah, I think so. Anywho, the kid could use some help. And what could be more grounding than a  good ol' sparring match, eh? He's auditioning to-niiiight."

---

Jesse Sutor

Jesse briefly joined in on his friend's laughter. He admittedly felt a little proud pulling all of it off with a straight face and that he was able to turn around Lily's mood, even if it was just for a moment. She agreed to his suggestion and told him to get dressed - a simple feat, where all he had to do was put on socks and slip himself into his brown hiking shoes. He walked out the door with Lily wearing faded jeans and the grey dress shirt he had worn before, except buttoned down a little and the cuffs free and rolled to his elbows. He had to admit the school was really spooky nowadays. But he did feel secure to a degree as long as he had the confirmatory silence from the apparitions. Between him and Lily's ability to sense other meta-humans, he really doubted anybody would be sneaking up on the either of them separately, let alone when they were together.

The short walk to the cafe was simple and uneventful. A new waitress had arrived and Lily ordered her chicken salad. Jesse asked for a Californian chicken sandwich and sweet tea. His request might take a little longer to get to the table before Lily's salad.

"So... I don't think anyone's paying us any mind," Lily said to him, "you still want to talk, or do you want to wait?"

Jesse shrugged, appearing to take the situation in calm stride. He didn't want to disregard his friend's dilemma or invalidate it. His concern was to ensure that regardless of her history, he wouldn't let it affect his relationship with her. "We can talk now, if you want." He assured her. "You can start whenever."

---

Damon Viscous

The moment Megan started asking questions about Damon's thoughts, and in the process of doing so put her hands on him, his brows scuffled and his face almost flushed. What the heck is Megan doing? And at a time like this? This was silly, what was her plan? He was actually a little flustered and he did his best to center his train of thought on what was important while at the pace of a snail's crawl tried to inch himself out of Megan's touch. He raised his fist to his face and cleared his throat.

"Well, I agree with Adam's idea." He replied. "We're not to take action against her under Dacious' word, so as far as we're supposed to be concerned, she's innocent. But she witnessed a murder. That would prompt some... consolation, don't you think? It is also our duty to ensure the students receive proper treatment, and that is still grounds for interacting with her and asking her questions."

Drake Deltori Blackmore.


Drake loudly snorted when he was told to sleep later. Abe was honestly starting to get on his nerves - but, there were far more pressing matters to attend to. Abe still has the desire to arena fight. While Drake.... With the injuries he sustained... it just would be unlikely that he retained his plasma powers. In other words, Drake was no different than any other human being right now. He would have settle this soon as possible, get a brand new power, and hope he's as much of a powerhouse with it with any other power. The Changeling Unit is still out there, and he doesn't want to be caught in this state when they strike again. Even then, Drake didn't want to arena fight anymore. He's done thinking, and honestly lost the appeal in the arena - Which is mostly attributed to Val joining up with the Unit. "Yeah, yeah... I know Jake." Drake groaned out. He wasn't too concerned with this 'not quite grounded' problem Abe mentioned, merely because he didn't know what Abe meant.

A week or two ago, Drake would have been enthusiastic about getting a new member. But now, all he can think is... Eh. Without Val, Team Headstrong just ain't Team Headstrong - And no matter who they replace him with; the team ain't going to be what it used to be. He felt that it was time to retire from the arena scene. Starting with giving the title of 'Team captain' to some... Okay, okay, he was honestly being silly here. There was one person, and one person alone who was worthy of being the team leader. Abraham Gene. Who knew how to kick ass, and still had interest. However, regardless of where Abe takes the team, it was none of Drake's concern.

"Look Abe," Drake spoke as he tried his best to prop his head up on the pillow to look at Abe. "I don't think I'll be doing the arena anymore. For... Obvious reasons." He looked down at his battered body for a moment, before mournfully groaning. "So, I think it's time for me to step down as Captain, and pass it to someone worthy...." Drake gave Abe a sly grin, "... Titus MacArthur, of course. That guy is definitely a world-class warrior - Aw, screw these stupid jokes: Abe, as of now, you are the new captain of Team Headstrong. Do whatever the hell you want with it."

He slammed his head back onto his pillow, "Now... can I sleep?"


Carmen 'Lily' Santo.


Well... Moment of truth. Time to tell a little story. The story of her life. Where the hell should I even start? Lily awkwardly smiled as she looked at Jesse, before she gave the area a little scan. This was a nice corner they found. No one would bother them, as everyone here were shell shocked from the murders. Not a soul would pay attention to them.

"I could say that it started back when I first got my powers, back when I was a little girl. At that point I had no idea about my capabilities, I didn't know I can control the essence of Meta-human powers... I didn't know I could give people powers..." She paused for a moment as she thought about it. How oblivious she was to powers. Back then, she didn't know that special glow in people were actually their powers. She didn't know the red energy that came out of her with every touch was making them stronger (Both in the sense of enhancing abilities, and creating new metahumans). She continued, "As I got older I did the kind of things girls like me weren't supposed to... Ha..." She started laughing very awkwardly as she scratched the back of. "Parties, drinking, eh... Stuff I put behind me. Getting to the point: I kinda left a trail of superpowered ex-boyfriends..." Sounds like a bad movie idea.

That's where things kinda went wrong in her life. She wasn't careful, she didn't consider the immense power she had at her fingertips and look where it lead her. "I'm putting it lightly when I said that lifestyle came back to bite me in the ass." She rolled her eyes, remaining silent for a moment. But she was really trying to gather what the hell she should say, because she was hitting a crucial part of her little backstory, and needed to phrase it correctly. "So... Last year, not that long ago, even. One of those-" Lily finger quoted, "-'Superpowered ex-boyfiends' wasn't... Right in the head. He had some sort of mental disorder, I don't know. After I broke it off with him, he became obsessed with me... Accidentally giving him powers didn't help that. Because he seemingly got the strongest power out of all of them."

"He got this telekinetic ability... He could move anything he touched. Even the heaviest of things like it's nothing." Lily explained his power. It was pretty simple, but the way he used it was what made him a threat. "He followed me around wherever I went. I couldn't shake him. No one would help me. I felt totally helpless..." She got a little more emotional, going off the sudden change in her tone of voice to a more distressed one. But not one tear fell from her face. "Until one night when I confronted him, tried to stop him, I... didn't know what was running through my head, I just wanted it to stop. But, in the middle of it, he grabbed me and wouldn't let go. I didn't realize it, but my touch was making him stronger, until I charged him far beyond he was supposed to be." Lily sighed, realizing that she could have stopped what was going to happen by not being there in the first place. She sighed yet again, continuing, "... That's when I discovered the overcharge... He was charged so much he couldn't even control it. Everything just went crazy. Everything was flying around like mad. He was screaming in pain. Everything was getting destroyed. I was scared, and the only thing I could do was run. But, I got hit by a few pieces of glass and some rocks." She stopped for a moment to point at the scars on her face. "That's how I got these scars." She put her hands back on the table, staring Jesse dead in the eye. "Afterwards, that made him... Way stronger. It removed the limits on his power, so he didn't even need to touch things to move them. Along with his already strong ability..."

That's where things got a little hard. The tears she was trying so hard to hold back came forth - But she wasn't going to falter. She knew exactly what she was getting into by telling Jesse her story. She wiped the tears away, and told the end of her story. "What happened made him even more unhinged. The next day he went to straight to my house, and tore it into pieces. If I didn't mess up his powers, he would have killed me and my family. But by then, he had already sent my family to the hospital, and caused them permanent damage. The police managed to stop him, but the next night I heard he got out... And...." She laughed in a grim way, "... I realized that I couldn't live with this maniac hunting me down at every corner. He would have killed me... So, I got everything I could, and left him, the city, and everything else, behind."

Actually... It felt a little nice getting that off her chest. She knew that someday she would have to share that story. At least it wasn't a nosy telepath digging it out of her head, and someone she could trust. "So... That's really all there is to it. I spent a few months wandering around town to town after that. Helped some people along the way. Got in trouble with some cops. Then the Academy was kind enough to let me stay with them." She sink down into her chair, while quietly saying, "... I should have choose prison."


Megan Emma Jervious, & Adam Leo Blackmore.


Megan felt a little disappointed that Damon moved away from her. Probably just a little shy, that's all. However, there were more important matters right now. Apparently Damon wants to go the 'Adam-way' and be discreet and respectful about this matter. She smiled, but in the way that it was totally fake, and was sarcastic. Proper treatment? My amorphous ass. The kids here have too much freedom! They're all little monsters in Megan's eyes! But she's outvoted in this matter. She was far from a sore loser. So she'll play along.

"... Very well." Megan said, in a near sultry tone. She started looking at her nails, bored. "I guess we can do things your way."

Adam nodded in agreement with Damon, "Yes. I'm glad you see reason." Adam nodded his head and pushed his glasses up his nose, "Now, I'm going to handle things here. We will meet and speak to this student later in my room."


The Changeling Unit.

(Nah. Mostly just the Witch Mother)


The Witch Mother looked at Val intently, and forever silent. She grabbed her hood, and pulled it down. Showing her greying black hair tied into a neat bun. "For my test, you must willingly give up the ability to feel pleasure, taste, and every other physical desire - From here on in, you will only feel pain." Witch Mother put her hand out, "Do you accept?"

Bloodsucker and Heartbreaker walked into the room, side by side. With Bloodsucker laughing like a maniac, "Oooooh, let me go go Mannequin. We can't do this without him." Giving Val a hint of what's to come. Bloodsucker sprinted off into the shadows to find his cybernetic ally.


((Must go. Will expand later))

Valery Arsov
Short post, because I can

Wow. Witch Mother was old. I mean, Val had enough sense not to say that-and he'd kinda got an "old lady" vibe from her, what being called "Witch Mother", but still. She must've had some tricks tucked up her sleeve to be keeping pace with the youthful crowd that comprised the Changelings-or, more dangerously, she was simply cunning enough to make do without a capable body. Val was going to drive himself insane trying to figure out who he should be most afraid of out of all the Changelings, but thus far he had Primitive Light and Witch Mother at the top of the list. One on one, he was confident he could at least rough up the others, even if he couldn't bring them down. Except for Heartbreaker. How could Val possibly raise his hand against a woman so sweet and beautiful?

Then Witch Mother only proposed the most terrifying test yet, which Val very quickly feared was...irreversible. Christ, what...was that why all these bastards were so insane? Why Primitive Light had been so keen to dropkick Acidscar across the room? Jesus...no hunger, no thirst, no...nothing. Only pain. Val hesitated, taking in the weight of what he was about to sign onto. For a brief moment, he considered suckerpunching the old awesome person and running-after all, the others had mostly scattered off, and there was a chance he could lose them in the tunnels.

No. No, he'd come too far. He couldn't back out now.

Val thought about something-something that had terrified him as a child. The wurdulac. They said it was a monster, a vampire, a savage little beast that would wander about in the dark...but that it could only kill those it loved. It could only feed off those it had befriended. Val had sudden empathy for the old, nightmarish legends, letting his eye wander down to the list of names on his arm.

That must be what it's like for those things.

Val clenched his fists and nodded. "...I'm ready. Do it."

Sage Lucas Pimm.


So basically to get attention? Sage Pimm thought to themself as they listened to Poppy's explanation. It required a little effort to prevent a roll of their eyes. Despite the fact that Sage called themself very empathic, they had to say that Poppy's problem was not that important. Really, nights ago, the incident in the Tunnels... The Changeling Unit. They didn't experience it personally, but whatever the hell happened left six people dead. Nothing made Sage shudder more than the thought of that. To say the least; nobody was paying attention to Poppy was the least of everyone's concerns. Sage was fa too nice to say this to Poppy's face. However, someone needed to deal with Poppy. Sage was elected the moment they choose to fly up here and get her down. Might as well finish what they started.

"I will not turn you over to the Teachers." Sage was very quick to speak, looking around as they gathered everything they needed to say."However, I will have to choice but to if this becomes a problem." They continued, in a tone that was not threatening in the slightest. They got down on one knee, to be eye to eye with the redhaired girl. Sage tried their best to sound like they're giving her advice, rather than scolding her, "You can't be doing this. There are ways to get meaningful attention other than threatening to hurt yourself. It is not healthy, and the more you do it the less they'll give it to you. You'll end up in a worse state than ever before."


Ray Judah Drager, & Dexter Harold Chertok.


While outside, Rush was standing in the bushes, humming a song by Lady Gaga to himself. Looking like a total loon, but he didn't care. He was thinking about what Byte has done to help Ray. Why didn't he think of that, really? Rush had all the tools to modify the data banks to get Ray the medication he needed, but it never crossed his mind to do so. Maybe he felt that he should have got it done with legitimate means. The thoughts passed once Byte sent him a text message. He didn't even hesitate to send Ray a text message, mentally. Basically forwarding what Byte said to him.

While Byte was doing it's thing, Ray was leaned up against the wall, hands in his pockets, and head was facing his feet. He was ignored by the busy building, as they thought that he was just someone waiting for an appointment. Thinking about what the hell happened to him in the tunnels. He tried to stop thinking about it, but the more he tried the more it was thrusted into his head. Like a virus. Ray was fortunately snapped back into reality, when he got that text, but his face was contorted into a frown. He let out a few breathes, as he put his hand on his forehead. He looked at the phone, and it was confirmation that his business here is over. He grabbed Byte out of the computer, and walked outside.

The two partners met outside, and they stood face to face. Ray handed Rush the USB, and asked, "What now?"


The Changeling Unit.


Since Val gave up his bodily pleasures Witch Mother immediately went to work. She grabbed onto Val's wrist with one hand, and altered his biology to her wishes. After a minute or two, she removed Val's burden.... However, this wasn't the end of it. He would start to feel very, very weak, and he wouldn't be able to hold himself up. A little alteration, at the suggestion of Bloodsucker, virtually would paralyze every part of Val's body except for head. She pushed him backwards. "I did what you asked, Bloodsucker. You can do what you please with him."

"Whoa, whoa, big guy!" Heartbreaker said (sarcastically) as she and Bloodsucker grabbed Val by his arms. "We don't want you falling down and hurting yourself. Come here, lie down on this, you're going to have a break."

The pair put Val on a hospital bed, the same bed that Mannequin had Seth on, covered in fresh blood. They carted him off into the darkness with sinister faces.

They pushed into another well lighted room, with the rest of the Unit standing side by side in a row. The most notable one out of all of them was the Mannequin. Whom was covered in fresh blood. Val's medical bed was pushed into the Mannequin. He hunched over Val in the unnatural way, and stared directly at him for what could have been minutes. Before he snapped straight up, and looked around the room. "He is ready for torture. Who will go first?"

Bloodsucker laughed, "Ah... Some cold blooded torture. My favorite. Don't take it personally, Arsov. We were going to just let her take away everything that made you feel human. But I came up with the great idea to test your brand new pain threshold!" Bloodsucker said with a giggle as he grabbed Val by the chin, before he laughed again, "You probably won't like this. But don't tell me you're not twice as excited about this test!"

"I'll go first." Count Vicious was the first to make Val's life hell. He walked up to the table, and looked down at Val. Random metal scraps that were hidden in the darkness floated through the room and he molded them around Val's body, making super tight rings. However, this wasn't the end of it, out of the rings, several spikes were created and pieced through Val's flesh. Just to make it even more agonising, Vicious made the spikes wiggle inside his flesh, and heated them up.

Bloodsucker laughed, he wanted to hear Val scream.

"Be ready to heal him Witch Mother. We don't want him to die instantly!" Heartbreaker laughed.

Valery Arsov

A grunt slipped past Val's lips as his legs went out from underneath him-quite suddenly, his torso felt much, much heavier than his legs were capable of supporting. He managed to keep his arm up, in the Witch Mother's grasp, but it was an almost unbearable strain. Christ, he'd never felt this weak in his entire life. Val pressed with all his might against the floor with his other hand, barely able to keep himself from collapsing onto the floor-

Ah, yay. Bloodsucker and Sniper Lady were assisting him up onto a hospital bed. Val almost made a quip about how he and Heartbreaker would be getting back on the hospital bed soon enough, but he decided against it. Val had a very strong feeling about what was coming, and he was legitimately terrified. If holding off on that one remark would spare him a sliver of agony...

Trying to hide his fear, Val looked around at the Changelings gathered around him. He gave a weak smile as Bloodsucker grabbed onto his chin. "Eh...can't be worse than what my ex did to me, I suppose." Bad even by your standards, Valery. These guys really are getting to you.

Then it began. Vicious strapped a bunch of metal to him and-Val couldn't help it, a gasp slipped out of his lips as the steel punctured his flesh and began to CENSORED move Jesus Christ. Val ground his teeth shut, closing his eye and trying to force himself to relax. The more he moved, the more the steel would tear him apart. The more he moved the more the steel would tear him apart the more he moved the more the steel would tear him apart the-

They were heating up. Being more or less the manifestation of winter, having something painfully hot shoved through his skin-into him-it hurt on a bunch of different levels. Val's eye flipped open and after a moment or two of trying to hold it back, a scream escaped his lips. They can't think you're weak, not this early. Fight ir, Arsov.

What the hell's the point?

Val found the experience eerily similar to the dentist. Lying back, being torn apart, with nothing he could do but wait it out. The sharp smell of steel and blood-no, beyond that, charred flesh-quickly reached his nose, and he had to actively fight the urge to throw up. He had a grim feeling that if he threw up, the Changelings wouldn't do a damned thing to keep him from choking on his own vomit (Val's extensive drinking had taught him a few things).

My name is Valery Arsov. I am halfway through the Changeling's test, which I am doing to earn their trust. I am from Russia. I am in a lot of pain right now.

Val let out another grunt/gasp as the pain from the steel intensified, and really considered trying to use his powers to negate it-however, with as much agony as he was in, he didn't think he could focus his abilities enough to use them without the Changelings noticing. It'd certainly chill the air around him, which would be a dead giveaway. He started muttering to himself in Russian, trying to take his mind off things. Anything. Prayers they'd taught him in church as a kid, ones he hadn't said in years, the names of everyone he knew, anything, everything.

It didn't help.

Dexter Harold Chertok, & Ray Judah Drager.


Hm. Not a problem. Will connect you to school supplied computer. Laptop's files... Confidential. Rush thinks to himself very dramatically. He knew that it was best if they go check on what Byte has found, before going on a dangerous trek off campus. Rush responded to the text with: Will check what you found. Then transfer you to Eye. He nodded his head to Ray, and did a gesture telling his friend to follow.

It wasn't too long of a walk to their dorm room. Since they made haste heading for the dorms. Of course, the two did lots of walking today.

Ray didn't feel like digging for a key. He just put his thumb on the doorknob and a blue aura surrounded it, as it twisted and turned until he unlocked it. With telekinesis. Soon as the door opened, Ray was the first to step through, followed by Rush. Ray flopped onto his bed, and started massaging his temples. Exhausted and exasperated. "Leave me alone for the rest of the day..."

While Ray was doing his thing, the first thing Rush did was walk over to his computer, log on to Ray's account, and inserted Byte. He wanted to see what Byte had found. It could be useful.


Sage Lucas Pimm.


The phone in Sage's pocket buzzed. They stopped what they were doing and pulled out their cell phone. It was a text message from their sister. Asking if they'll be alright on the island all by themselves. It was touching. To say the least. However, it gave Sage a great way to excuse themself from the conversation with Poppy. It was annoying how Poppy only wanted attention, and thus, Sage had said everything they needed to. "Sorry, I'm needed by my art teacher." Sage excused themself, "I'll talk to you later. If you want, you can meet me at the cafeteria later." Sage walked off, hoping to not get noticed by anyone else and just stay in the sidelines.

((Basically, Sage must go, their people need them. Have something planned for Sage.))


The Changeling Unit.


"Let the screams out, Arsov. We won't judge." Bloodsucker dryly said. Watching close, somewhat bored.

"Yes, I want to masturbate to your screams." Heartbreaker held a recorder in her free hand to Val's face.

The torture continued, and intensified for a moment. It would have surely killed Val if Bloodsucker hadn't called Vicious off. The mental bands snapped open, and floated off of Val's arms back to Count Vicious. He smirked.

"That was fun... Who will go next?" Bloodsucker asked.

"Hmmm... Ooooh! I got the perfect idea," Heartbreaker laughed as a little light bulb appeared in her head. She pulled out a whistle and blew into it hard. Insane amounts of laughter filled the tunnels. Starting off distant. But then it got closer. A mob of Gigglers bursted through the shadows, surrounding Heartbreaker. Giggling nonstop. Similar in appearance to when they were in the dungeon. Except their anatomy was different. Instead of having the posture of a gorilla, they walked on all fours like dogs. They mobbed around Heartbreaker, who got on one knee to pet one. "Awwww... Look how happy you are to see mommy." She talked to them like they were her dogs. Smiling warmly. Until that smile turned sinister as she pointed at Val. "... Make him bleed. Just don't kill him."

They all turned towards Val at once. The inane laughter paused for a moment. Before they all rushed him, tied down on the table. They would bite every part of Val they could get their mouths around. They won't stop until called off by Heartbreaker or Bloodsucker.

"Have fun my darlings!" Heartbreaker cheerfully said.

Abraham Gene

"Hm?" Abe interjected at the "look, Abe" statement. Really, what could his problem possibly be? Abe's judgement was good! At least that's what he thought. But seriously, he was the one most opposed to any newbie joining the team. Like back then with Claire - Abe jumped all over that one. Some girl joining the team? Oh please, you're in the wrong environment sweetheart. Even though he trusted Jake to be as good a fighter as Claire, he still - ugh - owed him something. And if that meant fighting with him and making sparring a good outlet for Jake to ground his sense so he doesn't get anybody killed in the future, everybody wins. Besides, Abe would never get beaten by someone like him! With or without practice.

But Drake's turn was very different. He went on about how he couldn't fight anymore. Something about that arm, right? Sure, sure. Honestly, Abe couldn't relate. Maybe he could give this guy some of his own power and teach him how to regenerate, but that was an extremely long ass process to even figure out (let alone holding your shape and remembering your anatomy) even for Abe. There was also a bit of pride that came with his power, something that he wasn't especially keen to share. Unless maybe his friend begged. A lot. Then maybe Abe would do so tentatively. But as far as Abe was aware, his friend Drake had no such clue of that little technique he had in his power. Maybe he'll let Drake see it one day and let him figure it out for himself to see what he wants.

Then Drake dropped the bomb.

No longer captain? Ridiculous. That was basically the entirety of Drake's identity! That's where all the glam came from! The Titus joke honestly made his ass clench, but cap' - er, Drake - dropped it and reassured that it was Abe who was captain. That was kind of weird. Captain of what? As of right now, the only one part of the time was Abe, and one person ain't much of a team. Captain of himself? The three of them were the spirit of the team, and with just him, it wasn't quite Team Headstrong anymore. Egh. He could at least carry the name. But he was a lot more hesitant about inviting Jake onto the team. The team had to be world-class! He had to pick pretty careful about who to let on board. Still, he promised Jake a fight. It just won't be under the team's name.

Abraham did give Drake a cocky expression on his face, though. He shoved his buddy's uninjured shoulder and laughed. "Eh? About time you passed on the torch, you bitch. And hey, once you're back on your feet and remember how to fight, maybe I'll consider putting you back on board!"

---

Jesse Sutor

Jesse listened intently through the entirety of Lily's story. Right from the beginning, with the humorous opener of how she created a bunch of meta-humans without realizing it, to she gave a crazy ex-boyfriend a mega superpower. From the explanation of the guy's telekinesis to how she accidentally overcharged up, where she promptly explained where the scars on her face came from. She explained that his already powerful ability was further bolstered, and how he became nigh unstoppable by that point. The tears from his friend's face began streaming, and it had honestly torn his heart in twain. The expression on his face grew somber, but he did continue to listen, just as Lily was determine to finish. She delved even further. This psychopath of an ex-boyfriend annihilated her home and hospitalized her parents. So that was why she was going from town to town all this time? To get away from the freakshow hunting her down? That was really fucked up. This was something he wouldn't be able to say anything witty about - let alone that sort of thing not being appropriate, not now. Jesse shook his head as he tried his damn hardest to think of something reassuring to say.

"From the sounds of it, he'd just tear that place apart brick by brick." Jesse said softly. He thought about it a little harder. Lily said something about her overcharge being really dangerous right?

"Why didn't your overcharge reduce him to ash? I mean... a guy like that. Intended to or not, I'd think it'd be pretty well justified... that guy is a psychopath."

---

Damon Viscous

Megan was shot an exhausted glance. At the scene of a murder of their colleague, this was hardly the time for pettiness. But still, as he worked with Megan, Damon had to at least attempt to at least coincide with her and manage their relation carefully. Neither of them could really afford to push one another away for the sake of the plan, neither could either of them afford to get too close for so long lest they arouse suspicion. Unless, of course, they intend to hide appearances with the claim of a... romantic relationship, a prospect which Damon was slightly discomforted by. He never had the luxury of getting so close to somebody, and frankly, didn't align with the interests he currently had.

"Don't get me wrong," Damon assured, "I believe we ought to confront the student under welfare parameters and console them while still getting the information we need... but I agree with you that no time should be spent wasted."

Damon nodded off to Adam, who he hoped understood the general consensus of the meeting. They would meet at his office with the student, but "later" wasn't good enough. As far as they knew, this student's life - or maybe even the lives of other students - were at risk as long as she ran free. They couldn't really afford to wait until later.