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

Sage Lucas Pimm.

TheⓍperator wrote:

"That was pretty... honorable, I guess, what you did back there? Much better that how I would've handled it, personally." Henry said, trying to spark some conversation. "Oh, sorry, name's Henry. Pleasure to meet you." He said, taking his hand out once again and offering it to Sage. He retracted his teeth to appear less intimidating, if Sage even saw him as that, and gave him a gummy smile.

"Hm?" Sage made the noise the second they were addressed. The person talking to them was somewhat unexpected. Henry is an obvious bestial-type Meta-human. A normally intimidating person. Being large, scaly, and intimidating as hell. However, Sage wasn't afraid of (nor did they think less of) Henry for his reptilian features. He didn't choose to be this. Just like everyone else here didn't get a choice in their powers. No matter what the essence that is within every meta-human does to their body, they are human deep down - Unless they've renounced their humanity, and become the monster everyone thinks they are. So far, Sage has no reason to treat Henry differently, given how Henry is somewhat cordial. That's a great start in their eyes.  

However, the first thing that Henry spoke of was the scene with Poppy. Saying it was 'honorable'. They were unsure of if it was sarcasm or not. If Sage knew it was just a stunt for attention, they would have just kept walking on like it was nothing. But, it wasn't time for looking back, and regretting decisions. The first thing that they did was introduce themself. "Sage Pimm. Nice to meet you... Henry." They started with introductions because they didn't know what to say about Poppy. Really. "Well... I thought she was in trouble when she was up there. She was so young and... It just turned out to be a cry for attention and...." Sage started stroking their hair with both hands, a sign of their nervousness.  "... I usually just stay in the background, really. I wouldn't have done anything; she was probably not in danger anyway. Like..." Sage trailed off. Attempting to find the right words to say. "Most of the people here can fly... or are tough enough to survive a fall like that. I don't think she would have climbed up there if she was in any real danger..."


Drake Deltori Blackmore.


It seems that Abe didn't hesitate to take the title of Team captain.... Of course Drake didn't think about the fact that there's no team anymore. The only reason why Drake didn't just disband the team was because Abe still wanted to fight in the team. Any team that Abe assembles would be 'in name only'. That said, Abe walked over and gave him a shove, which elected a small hiss of pain. I'm probably never going to walk right again. He thought to himself with a roll of his eyes, keeping quiet about that. "Yeah, it's all yours. I'll see about fighting there ever again... I got bigger fish to fry."


Dexter 'Rush' Chertok, & Ray Judah Drager.


Rush looked at the file that Byte brought up... Informative, but ultimately irrelevant to himself and Ray, and Byte. The AI needs to realize that no matter what information it finds on what it was based on, it is not that person. A personality, even a mind, can be programed, but never a soul. Rush was just about to object, and try to put an end to this... However, the door unlocked itself. Which warranted an immediate reaction as his head darted in that direction. He thought someone was about to walk in. Rush didn't know, but his first reaction was reach under the desk for his dart gun and swing it at the door.

Ray's reaction was lazily raising his head, wondering why the door suddenly unlocked itself. He wasn't alarmed, given the craziness of this damn school. "Huh? Did you do that?" He asked Rush.

"No..." Rush was quick to answer. But, Byte all but confirmed that it was behind it... What? How....? That doesn't make any sense... It is impossible for AI to do that. "Im.... possible..." Rush was at a loss for words. He wasn't sure what the hell just happened, or how the hell did it just happen. He immediately started thinking about how it was possible. His enhanced mind went into overdrive as he just desperately searched for a reason why this happen. It just defies all explanation that Byte. Unless... She is a true deus ex machina. "This... Is unexplainable. Are you... A true ghost in the machine?"

Ray rolled his eyes, he put his hand up, and did a hand motion like he was locking a. A transparent blue hand, an exact copy of Ray's hand, appeared out of a ripple in the air, and mimicked the exact gesture. Locking the door.


Carmen 'Lily' Santo.


Jesse's reaction was watched very carefully by Lily. She knew that he had a bit of sympathy for her. But then he asked about why didn't she just kill him. Killing him? She never... thought about that really. However, it was riskier than anything... She didn't know how far she would have to overcharge someone to the point that it would kill someone. Not to mention the destruction it would cause. "I... wouldn't try risking that." Lily said to Jesse in a low tone. "The... the more I overcharge someone, the more... destructive they get. I don't think I would try that. It was hard for me to get away when someone gets... 'normally' overcharged." Lily explained the best she could. It was a little awkward, but their conversation was interrupted by the waiters finally arriving with their food. Lily immediately piped up, in risk of someone she would rather not catching an ear full. Lily's salad was presented in front of her, while Jesse was given his food. She gave the waiter a, "Thank you." Before she shoved her fork into her salad, playing with her food for a moment, waiting for that damn waiter to leave. "So... this goes without saying, but I'd like you to keep this between the two of us.... I'll talk to Merry about it later."


Megan Emma Jervious.


Seeing that the meeting disbanded, Megan walked off, hopefully with Damon by her side. She was just walking, anywhere, not even towards the exit. Damon might have gotten the idea that she was just wandering. Truthfully, she just wanted to get away from that scene before she acted. After she was far enough, she said, "I wonder..." She broke off her statement with sly laughter. Before she continued "Hm... No, no, no. I'm going to go find that student, want to come? If this girlie girl's with the Changeling Unit, I want to squeeze what she knows out of her until she's all tried up." What worried Megan was the possibility that the Changeling Unit has the students working for them... That would be a gamechanger really. Even if they're enticing some of the students, that still presents a huge problem, since they have people allying with them for... Whatever foolish reason. "... That would be very, very, bad." Megan quickly tacked on, in a cheery tone, but not like her usual attitude... It seemed, forced.

Valery had never thought the idea of masturbation-a girl masturbating, much less-would ever terrify him.

But sweet Christ he didn't think Heartbreaker was kidding.

And that is when it all sunk in, really, truly, absolutely. An existential suckerpunch far more devastating than any of Vicious' steel contraptions: Valery realized he was going to die there. They were going to take it too far, break him too much, and he'd die before he'd get the chance to double-cross them.

He was going to die after a few hours, probably. Of being eviscerated by these f*cks. He began to shake, tremors racking his whole body-and Valery never trembled. Why would he? He never get cold. That was Val. Always cool.

He closed his eye, shivering and terrified. Jesus Christ. Why did I do this? Why did no one stop me? Why...why didn't Abe or Drake...how could they let me do this...

Then the Gigglers came. Val had only a very vague memory of them, as the entire night of the Changeling attack was an alcohol-laced blur, but he remembered these things. Val pulled at the bonds holding him to the table, not caring if they saw him scared senseless. Valery cursed in Russian, closing his eyes and trying to calm himself. My name is Valery Arsov. I am an eighteen year old Russian living in America. I am in a lot of pain and I am very afraid. I am probably going to die in this room. I will probably ne

Val had to stop thinking after that because he lost the ability to think coherently. Sweet merciful CHRIST those things were attacking him, first they ripped off his toes then one of them crawled up his leg, Val thrashed desperately but it sunk its fangs straight into his testicles, blocking out literally everything in Val's mind except for pain. His screaming intensified as its fangs dug in, severing his genitalia cleanly in two. Val twisted and shrieked, his muscles tensing uselessly before more Gigglers grabbed into his arms, tearing into the tendons and muscles his arms (pain, lesser than that from his groin but nonetheless excruciating, shot up his arms before he found himself unable to move his fingers, his toes). Tears openly rolled down Val's face until one of them sunk its teeth into Val's remaining eye, rendering him blind. Next were the tips of his fingers and toes. He felt them get ripped off, bitten clean the fuck off, then the one that took his eye (digging a foot into the raw hollow in his skull as it did so) bit his right ear off. The ones down at his feet began to rip open his Achilles tendons, tear into the back of his knees, and he found himself paralyzed, unable to move even his face with the weight of the Giggler atop him. Val had a fleeting moment of clarity and clamped his lips shut before one of them could rip out his tongue, and whimpered through his tightly pressed lips.

Valery began to go somewhat numb. He was, quite simply, enduring more pain than he had ever expected to receive in his entire life, and it was more than his brain knew how to understand. He could hear someone screaming through their lips and he was fairly certain it was him. There was agony unlike anything he had ever felt, from every open, vulnerable spot. The screams were calling for Mom and begging for relief and then for God to just snap his neck then and there and end it. Valery didn't want to fight the Changelings anymore. Valery didn't want to live anymore. He well and truly considered trying to freeze himself to death, to go colder than he ever had before, and try and drive an icicle through his own skull, but he didn't think it would work. They wouldn't even put a bullet in him if he tried...they'd just let the Gigglers finish feasting on him, and so Valery didn't fight back. He shook, his body jerked and ripped from side to side as the different Gigglers tore off exposed flesh, never quite taking anything vital enough to kill him. He would bleed out, sure.

In a few hours.

Ice cold blood and tears welled up on the table around him, and the Gigglers just kept on biting.

Gabriela & Jaska Valos.


"Hm?" Gabe raised her head, adjusting her hat. She looked at Aiden, older (Probably a member of the staff), a bit buff, glowing eyes (A common trait of Meta-humans). She narrowed her eye. If this guy just wants a date, after all that, she'll, she'll.... He asked if she, and Jaska were going to be okay, and referenced the Changeling Unit. Gabe scowled. Buddy, you don't know the HALF of it. She thought to herself with a roll of her eye. She wasn't too pleased about the advice. The sh*t she's seen . Though, she didn't want to handle the situation like she did with Jayla a little while back, and start a fight. It was just a matter of swallowing her pride, and acting a little cordial. He'll be gone before she realizes it and they'll never have to see each other again. She's been doing this since she got here on this damn island. "Yeah, yeah, we're just fine." She brushed a strand of hair from out of the way of her face, "I can handle the two of us, so you needn't worry about us." Hopefully, this would get rid of Mr. Fire and Brimstone without biting her in the ass later.

Jaska was on the tree branch, looking down on the conversation. Tail was wrapped around the tree branch. He took in two deep sniffs, as the man's fumes were different, in the way Vespera's was. The man smelled strange. He had to note that he smelled... Burned. But, the thing that was weird is that the man didn't have the familiar odor of charred flesh... It was like the aftermath of a burned building. Fresh ash.... From the way he looked there was also not a single burn on the man. Weird. Jaska was able to make the connection that he was likely some fire based Meta-human, or has a power related to ash or something. Jaska just had to ask, he got up on a tree branch above Aiden, sitting down on it, letting his tail hang lazily. "Hey... Why do you smell like you're burnt?" He casually asked.

Dammit, Jask. Gabe thought to herself. Seeing that her little brother just extended their conversation.


Sage Lucas Pimm.


Well, Henry did have a point when he said that Sage saw someone in need, and went out to help. Yeah. That makes it somewhat better. Henry also made a few more points about being up on that roof. Of course, while Sage was right, there are people who couldn't survive the fall. Along with those. Though... Sage wouldn't take it far enough to say that there's people who weren't involved in that enormous battle that would commit suicide merely from the threat of the Unit. Though, Sage was more concerned about the people who were involved committing suicide. That made Sage's hair flicker with a white light briefly. Sage should find and check up on Eli soon as possible, they don't know how well he's taking Ariella's death. "I understand, I wouldn't walk around here by myself anymore." Sage said in response when Henry mentioned not wanting to be missed. Something that's understandable. Thus, it goes without saying that Sage was perfectly fine with Henry tagging along. He seems nice and understanding. The only problem was that they had no idea what to do... Usually they just wander around the school, staying out of sight. That is not a good group idea. "You can come, buuuuuuuuut...." Sage started stroking strands of hair, "... I'm not like the other kids... I don't really have plans that often...."


Dexter 'Rush' Chertok, & Ray Judah Drager.


"Oh yes... Hidden in ruins..." Dexter said, rubbing his chin. The Eye he made, designated: TEACHER, was in the ruins, the only place he could stash it without a risk of it getting caught, and being traced back to him. The only problem was that it was in the ruins. A little bit of a trek through some dark and dense woods. Anyone could be out there, and could kill him before. Despite the fact that he made quick and stealthy trips there and back, anything could happen. "Will get you there... Come back into the USB drive." Since there was literally no reason for Byte not to immediately go into the USB stick, Rush grabbed it and put it into his pocket. He walked over to Ray's bed,  "Heading to ruins. Would like it if you come."

"Ugh... We're flying there." Ray says, getting up off the bed, not in the best mood out there. He let out a sigh. He just wants to sleep, but it's like no one will ever let him. He stood up, brushing off his forehead. "Let's make this quick...." He was the person who could get them there the quickest. So it was logical for him to fly their way there.

Of course, the first step was getting to the wall. Flying straight there from the dorms would be a surefire way to get stopped. The pair walked out the doors, casual as possible, until they reached the wall. Ray grabbed onto Rush's wrist, and a blue aura surrounded the two of them. They quickly flew over the wall, fast enough so that they wouldn't be noticed. If they're fast enough, they can be back before anyone noticed.

They were quick to arrive at the Ruins. Rush immediately pulled out a device that looked like a cross between a touch-phone, and a handheld system. It was Rush's little motion sensor that he made. It would buzz loudly and show the position of all movements other than himself. Which should be enough to make sure that they don't get ambushed. "Follow me." Rush says, walking inside, his eyes are glued to the screen. The last thing he wanted was getting ambushed by the entire Unit (An instant loss in his eyes).

It wasn't long until Rush made it to the Eye. He activated the Eye with his power. It instantly awoke with a myriad of lights. "TEACHER. New AI will occupy your unit. Your AI has been stored on my laptop. For future use." TEACHER floated over towards Rush, then put the USB drive into it. "Did transfer complete?"


The Changeling Unit.


With a whistle, the Gigglers were called off by Heartbreaker. "Good boys... You can go play now. Make sure to kill anyone you see that's too close for comfort..." The Gigglers jumped off of Val, and while laughing mad, they returned to the shadows.

Bloodsucker and Heartbreaker stood over Val, looking at the mess their pets made. They knelt down, looking Val right in the face.

Heartbreaker whistled, "Daaaaaamn, they really did a number on you, Arsov."

"He probably can't even hear us... He's two steps away from being dead." Bloodsucker replied, "Hmm... I wonder if he's even sane! Let's find out." Bloodsucker laughed, as he called for... "Witch Mother! You are needed again."

The Witch Mother walked over and put her hand on Val. Due to the extensive damage he's sustained, it was a bit more difficult to repair him. But she has fixed far worse in the past. After a minute or two, Val was back to normal health. There was not a scratch on him. Witch Mother returned to the shadows.

Bloodsucker immediately helped Val up to his feet, then leaned onto him, putting his elbow on Val's shoulder. "How do you feel Arsov?" He held Val really close, half-grinning slyly. "Don't tell me that broke you. Tsk, tsk, tsk... How do you expect to survive once BD.SM night rolls around...?"

"Hope you like your break," Heartbreaker started off. Laughing like a clown. "Because you're not out of the woods yet! You're still our b*tch."

Valery Arsov

The Gigglers left.

The Gigglers CENSORED left.

"Oh thank Christ," Val whispered in Russian, finally opening his mouth again, spitting out blood as he did so-one had stomped particularly hard on his nose when it had gnawed off his ear. His whole body was burning and stabbing with pain, and with now total blindness, all he could rely on was his hearing (there were sounds of laughter and the rough pitter-patter of Gigglers walking into the dark) and his sense of touch. The latter was useless, as all he felt at the moment was mindsplitting pain-but he did notice the absence of the wait of the Gigglers upon him. He felt the wetness of his own blood seep against his skin, solidifying and freezing.

Then there was the clammy, chill (not cold-this was something unnerving on a psychological level) as Witch Mother's hand gripped his arm and-gahahh. It wasn't painful-it was most definitely good for him-but nonetheless, the itchy, scratchy feeling one gets as a wound stitches itself back together began to dance along his entire body. All the tiny nicks and scratches the Gigglers' claws had left were suddenly alight with itchiness, a most uncomfortable sensation gripped his eye socket, scrotum, ear and toes as the Witch Mother worked his magic. Slowly, the pain began to recede, although it had left scars the Witch Mother couldn't hear. Val felt...fragile. He'd thought of himself as strong, before...before this. Those things had torn him to shreds so easily. So CENSORED easily....his CENSORED, his other eye...Val was trembling and groaned as he stood up with Bloodsucker's aid, forcing himself to stand on his own weight. His brain was panicking, phantom pain flickering between his ear, his eye, and his dick, his mind desperately telling himself that he was still a heartbeat or two away from death, but his body insisting that it was just fine. Val lifted his arm up off of Bloodsucker's shoulder and forced himself to stand up on his own, taking a few deep breaths to steady himself. He balled up his hands into fists and gave his legs a casual shake, one at a time, to help mask some of the rampant trembling.

"How do I feel?" Val paused, listening to Heartbreaker's little quip. "I feel like Heartbreaker and I are going to have a lot of fun on Chuck Testa night, that is how I feel." Val grinned (his mouth twinged with pain at the edges) and cracked his neck, swinging his arms back and forth. I won't ever let them get me back on that table. If they I'll just run and hope to kill as many of them as I can. Please Christ. Please Christ not again. Don't let them find out what I'm doing. Don't let them do that again. My name is Valery Arsov. I am very very afraid. "Now, are we done with tryouts, or do I get a little more fun, eh?"

Abraham Gene

Abe laughed off his friend's comments. Bigger fish to fry, eh? He reckoned he meant the Changeling fuckheads that did this to him. But a good ol' arena fight now and again did well for practice! Jake'll learn that. But whatever, if that wasn't something for Drake, more glory to Abe then! This was, of course, the visage he sought to carry. Where in truth, the glory days felt about over. Everything was fun and games - not at all what he expected in coming here - until a couple days ago. After all, this school was supposed to be some form of punishment or detention center, a place where he learned how to behave himself and to get out of Boston. So at first, he was blind-sighted by the sense of community he found with the cherry-picked few. But with the massacres and Val off to go James Bond on the underground freaks and Drake deciding he's off for good, the academy was starting to feel like its initial purpose. As punishment. But he didn't expect to find manners here. Or perhaps the school itself would serve as a reminder as to what happens when you fuck around in Boston under the family's name. Whatever happened - perhaps the Changeling attack - it cast a gloom over the island. Nothing quite felt the same anymore and it tore the team apart. This made him bitter.

Fortunately, he was quite adept at hiding bitterness. He couldn't let anyone know he was off-groove all the time, after all.

"Well," Abe started off smugly, "if that sky dive I did on you on the first day ain't gonna break ya, there's no need to get all melodramatic when a grown-ass emo man sticks you in the arm and kicks you a little bit. But hey, at least you can vouch you ain't as hormone crazed as that fool. Th' guy's probably in his thirties and he's still in th' blood n' gloom stage."

Abe stood up from the chair and exited through the doorway half-way. He leaned against it and looked back at Drake. "Anywho, take it easy. But don't sleep yet! Ya still gotta check out that match. Hopefully Jake doesn't embarrass me with a piss-poor performance!"

Regardless of his friend's answer, he'd walk out of the infirmary, his business with him concluded. He still had to go to the arena had check his and Jake's name in for a double match against whichever two saps they were pitted against. Even if Jake didn't have the gas to take out someone, Abe sure had enough to take them both out. He had enough to take out a dozen. An army, even.

Perhaps a million.

---

Jesse Sutor

It was a lot to take in at once, Jesse thought. He nodded solemnly as his dear friend talked about her backstory, and her explanation for not just ashing him where the guy stood. Perhaps the range varied between people. Those who could endure the pressure and stress and those who couldn't. It honestly made him wonder how far he could go before he was killed, but of course, it wasn't something he ever intended on happening. 'God, I can't even imagine. Getting killed is bad enough, but having your friend do it would just be torture to them.'

This was, of course, assuming Lily thought of Jesse as a friend. But of course she did, what a stupid thought! They wouldn't be here if she didn't. He actually felt somewhat relieved at the thought, and honored that Lily was here opening up to him now - where at the first or second day, not even a word on it. But he wasn't going to be happy at her story, no. It was awful and heartbreaking, and no wonder Lily kept it to herself so much. But she must feel relieved. Getting that sort of thing off her chest. He couldn't help but wonder - did she feel partially responsible for the destruction of her hometown? Whatever the case, she shouldn't. None of this was her fault, and Jesse felt sorry that she ever had to go through any of it.

The waitress came around with the food - Lily's salad and Jesse's sandwich. Between the time she left and Lily asking her question, Jesse eyeballed it very carefully, almost as though it were a diamond as big as his fist. Jesse's attention snapped back to Lily. She didn't want him saying anything to Merry before she does. He nodded earnestly.

"Of course." Jesse replied. "It wouldn't be my place. I'm sorry you had to go through all that. But he can't you here. You're safe now."

Then the thought of the Changelings struck him. He hoped she was, at least. He hoped they all were.

---

Damon Viscous

He was indeed by Megan's side during the walk through the halls. He wasn't quite sure where Megan was going, but regardless, he was there. The thought of getting back to the lab struck him - of course, there might be more work that needs done. Perhaps nothing urgent enough that his phone hasn't yet been called, but something he could at least aid in and finish promptly. Also, it is best he isn't seen around Megan too much. They don't want the big man suspicious after all. Or maybe he'll just see them as having a... pending relationship. Regardless of whether or not that sort of thing was allowed in the academy between faculty, that wasn't something Damon was keen on endorsing - no offense to Megan at all, surely there were a dozen of men who would jump on that offer. Damon just... wasn't one of them. Close relationships were one of the things he had to give up. His condition was too... unstable. It was in everyone's best interest. For the sake of their safety and his own.

She brought up a curious question though. What if the students were coerced by those Changelings... oh God, what if? No, no, no, they just killed a bunch of students. Why would they try coercing them... unless that killing them was a way to instill fear. To get those scared children to do what they want. Oh, god, what a thought. Damon made an exasperated sigh as he combed all ten fingers through his hair and rubbed his scalp. "...Then we'd have more than just... him to worry about... I'm not exactly sure what you dragged me into in bringing me here, Megan, but I don't think I'm liking it."

Gabriela & Jaska Valos.


Even for someone whose grasp on powers wasn't too good, he knew that fire was a common enough power set. He wasn't particularly amazed by Aiden's power demonstration, given that he had pryomancery of his own, that was likely superior in a few respects. But he did realize that there was another like him. However, while Aiden wanted to make a small flame as a demonstration, the fire exploded into a larger, far more intense, and harder to control, flame. It wouldn't have damaged anyone, given everyone's immunities, and in Gabe's case resistances, to heat. It just have been unexpected. A subconscious use of his own untrained power, he quickly realized. "Oh, sorry." He apologized while he focused a little bit, and the fire became 'normal'. However, Aiden was already leaving, his parting words were clear that Gabe was the reason. "Gabe..." Jaska said to Gabe, quietly, giving her the sad eyes.

Show off, much? Gabe thought to herself as Aiden's little fire ball exploded. She looked at Jaska, he was giving her the puppy. She... Realized that maybe being an ass everyone she meets is affecting more than herself. Gabe shook her head and let out a sigh, "Look... Ugh..." She said to Aiden, trying to get his attention. "... Sorry." Those two syllables were completely alien to Gabe. Like trying make a speech with a different language for every word (That she didn't know!). She should probably continue, "Look here, things have been complete sh*t lately, and I haven't been in the best moods since what happened. Don't know if that'll make it better." She looked away, shooting a look in the direction of Jake and Arianna. "Maybe we can talk if ya' ain't going to do any of that." Ultimately, it didn't matter to her if Aiden's jimmies are rustled beyond repair, and he storms off regardless.


Sage Lucas Pimm.


Sage couldn't help but softly smile. It turned out that Henry was in the same position as Sage right now. That wasn't really something they could take pride in, but it's something they had in common. Then Henry had to go off and mention the funeral and ask some questions. Sage's hair flickered a white color a few times in less than a second. Only a keen eye would put it up as more than a small flash of light. Ummm... Crap. Yeah.. The kidnapping and then fight. It didn't really involve Sage, as they were sleeping at the time, thankfully not being targeted, but it did involve quite a few people they knew. With Ariella, Eli's girlfriend... There was a reason those caskets were closed. It was not exactly something that they were really comfortable with talking about, to say the least. "Yeah I did..." Sage said very awkwardly, but closed their mouth up so tight that they wouldn't be able to let out another word. ".... I rather not talk about it." Sage hung their head. They hoped that this would be the end of it, and that they wouldn't have to delve too deep.

"Oh? How about to head to the lake?" Sage asked, in a more upbeat in sociable manner than their previous gloomy introverted response. "I heard the water's nice. How about it?" Sage ran their fingers through their bright yellow hair.


Ray Judah Drager, & Dexter 'Rush' Chertok.


The cardio comment almost made Ray roll his eyes. He had to hold down the urge. Yeah, I'm not getting enough as it is..

It took a few moments for Rush to get his detailed answer ready. "As a training eye. Armor made out of woven Nanomachines. You're next to indestructible.... However. Mobile platform has not been modified to physically interact with environment. Only armanants. Platform must stay out of sight. School may forcibly return platform to...." The motion sensor that Rush had in his hand started buzzing intensely... Meaning someone... thing... is creeping up on them. Crap. At the rate it's buzzing, they may only have a few seconds to react. Rush and Ray turned around, ready for a fight. Rush pulled out his dart gun, and Ray's body was covered in a thick aura... The best choice was likely for Ray to bring down this building on whatever was coming up, and then haul ass.

The buzzing intensified, Rush looked at the screen and saw that it was right around the corner.

Just... a rat.

They both let out a sigh of relief.

"... Where was I?" Rush turned around towards Byte.

"... Let's just go." Ray had no choice but to say.


Carmen 'Lily' Santo.


The comment about being 'safe' now made Carmen awkwardly cough, putting a fist to her mouth. Those Changeling bastards are still here. It was like... It was like she traded one maniac for a group of them! She looked around very awkwardly, though, she didn't need to. She mentally knew the location of everyone here. Lily choose to make good of this silence to finish eating this salad. While it was nice getting that story off her chest... She's done discussing dark and sad backstories, and overcharging, and that nonsense. She just wants to... Make the best of this. This... calmness. This great time. Because who knows when the Changeling will come back and she'll be thrown into another situation - Erhm. Perhaps she should keep hoping for the best. Heh. By the time she decided to hope for the best, her salad was gone. Her fork had been tapping the plastic the whole time. She kinda felt stupid... Actually, she felt very stupid, but that's okay. "Oh?" She said to herself, slightly amused. "You done yet...? Oh, nevermind. Where do you want to go next?"


Megan Emma Jervious.


"Oh come on, my little honeybee." There were lots of things Damon just said that she needs to address. But one thing caught her attention the most was the comment about what she dragged him into. She dragged him into the 218, where sh*t like this is apparently commonplace. "... It's not like I knew this kind of lunacy would happen. All I wanted you to do was help me with a certain itch that only you can scratch." She slapped her forehead using her palm. "I didn't know these Changeling Unit whackjobs would show up at all. In fact, I thought the only blood that would spill would be Dacious'!" Megan showed nothing but comedic exasperation. Like she was annoyed, but still is playing around. She shattered that demeanor in one sentence when she gave Damon a wink and a sly grin, "But, beggars can't be choosers, can they?" She laughed sarcastically. Before snapping to a much more serious tone and demeanor, "Of course, we're in this, and I guess we have no bloody choice - If we did have a choice, I would be swimming back to shore and never speaking of this place again." Then switching back to playful and silly, "But, just before you get the wrong idea, I would never leave my sidekick behind! That would just be atrocious."

I would gladly die for you, Damon. My life's over anyway.


The Changeling Unit.


"Gooooood, anyone else would have gave up here." Bloodsucker crossed his arms. Glad to help Val abandon the life that he needed to. However, he knew that it caused some emotional damage, getting ripped to pieces. "And giving up means good ol' Heartbreaker here will break your heart..." He put a hand on his chin, looking at Heartbreaker.

Just as a show of force, Heartbreaker pulled out the revolver she had at her hip. However, she pulled it out so fast, that it was a blur. Nobody, short of those with super reflexes, would have been able to react in time. She had it pointed at Val's other eye, pulling the trigger slightly as if she was about to shoot. She made a "Bang." sound before slowly putting the gun away. "I love revolvers. Slow, but I'm so fast a fight will be over before I have to reload." She made finger guns and pointed them at Bloodsucker and Val "And nothing else makes me feel like a real cowboy."

"Anyway, time for a little more... exposition...." Bloodsucker said, walking a circle around Val yet again. "You are so close to the finish line, Val. Where you stop being Val, and start being..." He stopped and pointed a finger at Val, "... You'll need a codename. But, we'll get there."

"I can't wait for the test me and the girls have in mind! It'll really push you!" Heartbreaker walked up to Val, running her fingers up his chest, before pushing him by the best. "In the sense it'll be the point of no return!"

"Now, we have a little plan tonight." Bloodsucker hinted. "You'll be instrumental to it. You're soooo far ahead. But, I rather not get ahead of myself. Don't disappoint me, Arsov, or what Heartbreaker will do will be the least of your concerns... Maybe I'll have Witch Mother bring you back to life and have the Mannequin surgically attach everyone else on that little list of yours to you, ass to ass." Bloodsucker did a gesture like he was taking a picture, "... He'll call it a piece of art!"

"Oh yeah... Next test is in there." Heartbreaker broke their fiendish rhythm and boredly pointed into the other room.

Valery Arsov

Val winked (it was hard to tell when Val was winking, but he'd gotten to where you could tell he was intentionally doing it thanks to the jovial look on his face) at Bloodsucker, trying to keep himself from shaking, trying to ignore the phantom pain. "Anyone els-" then Heartbreaker whipped out that hand cannon at blinding speeds, leveling it at his other eye. Fortunately, the whole thing happened so damned fast that Val wasn't actually afraid until after she'd started to put the gun back, at which point he pieced together what had happened and did his best to put on a brave face. "Heartbreaker," Val said, a childish grin spreading on his face (and this was the first genuine smile Val could remember, because actual happiness was very hard to imagine now-he remembered being happy and feeling safe but he couldn't remember quite what it was like), "I cannot make you feel like a cowboy...but I think perhaps I could make you feel like a cowgirl." Val did a brief pelvic thrust and turned to Bloodsucker, figuring if he was going to die as a result of his smartassery, that was an okay line to go out on. They could put that on his headstone. In English. He wouldn't want his mother reading that.

Val stayed quiet as Heartbreaker pushed him and Bloodsucker spoke to him-he had nothing to say, and instead nodded dutifully. He began to ready himself for the next exercise, taking deep breaths, rolling his shoulders, and trying to limber up casually. It seemed that Witch Mother had restored him to prime fighting ability, but his mind didn't know that. It felt like he was still on that table, still being torn to shreds...Val tried and failed to suppress a shudder at the memory. It pervaded his other thoughts. He looked at Heartbreaker and saw her standing above him with a camera. The same with Bloodsucker. The same when he looked down at his hands or feet or anything. His throat still felt like it should be hoarse from screaming and he felt a compulsion to blink and try and clear the blood that wasn't there out of his eye.

Val felt a sudden fear for his long-term prospects. Assuming...assuming he survived this whole ordeal, managed to play a skin game with the Changelings and come out breathing...would...would the rest of his life be like this?

"Oh, Bloodsucker," Val said, quietly terrified of being left at the Witch Mother's mercy, "I don't think they need to do anything to make this," he gestured to his face, "A work of art."

Val took a deep breath and walked as calmly as he could manage into the next room, reaching for the cold inside him. He had no idea what to expect, and his mind was taking a macabre pleasure in imagining what was lying in wait. And what did they have planned for him tonight? He had no idea-but these people seemed genuinely interested in him (Bloodsucker, at least, and he felt that it was his opinion that mattered most here), so he was doing alright so far. Not disappointing. Not disappointing. Can't disappoint them. Val realized he was taking a bit of pride in Bloodsucker's approval of him...he...he wanted the Changelings to accept him, see him as one of their own.

And Val wasn't entirely confident it was because of the undercover scheme he'd started with.

Gabriela, & Jaska Valos.


Gabe believed Aiden, since Jaska's presence enhances flames. Either way, it didn't matter to her. She was beyond caring at this point. To answer Aiden's question about who can alter fire, Gabe raised a finger upwards towards Jaska. Silent.

Seeing that all eyes were on him, Jaska was forced to answer the question himself. He knew full and well of his unique reaction to flames. He got up onto an upright position, sitting on the branch rather than lie down. "... Well... " He wrapped his tail around the outlines of his being, tapping the tips of his claws, nervous. "I did it... Not on purpose... It's something that happens when I get near fire." He explained. Fires created from his own pryomancery ability were automatically enhanced, unless he made an effort.

"It's okay. You don't have to worry about burning me..." Gabe said in a low, dry tone, "I don't burn that easily." She was somewhat right. A regular fire wouldn't bother her. Where a more intense flame would. Of course, if she didn't have this resistance to heat-based damage, Gabe would have probably burnt her hands off ages ago. It's a miracle she didn't already; given how far she fights with reckless abandon. "Anyways, time for some introductions. I am Gabriela..." She trailed off, retorting sassily, "But, no one calls me that, they call me Gabe." She was hesitant to shaking Aiden's hand at first, but she figured, what the hell.

Jaska choose to make his entrance. He embedded his feet-claws into the tree branch firmly, along with wrapping his tail around the same branch. He dropped, hanging from the aforementioned appendages. He looked Aiden in the face. "I'm Jaska... It's a Finnish name."


Theresa Darlene Obott, & Dana Lucille Alcott.


Years of hunting trips prepared and trained Theresa for this. Hunting out in the middle of the forest. With nothing but a bow and arrow. Theresa, wearing an all white outfit as a makeshift camouflage. Consisting of white sweatpants, a snow-white hoodie (With the hood up), and a white scarf around the lower part of her face. The only thing that was not white was her boots. Theresa had her eye on a rabbit, in the middle of a clearing, frolicking right out in the open. However, the huntress knew that getting a little too confident would cause the dear to run. She readied her bow and proceeded around the bushes very slowly and very carefully. She had aimed her arrow at the rabbit's center of mass..

The violent sounds of bushes, and branches rustling caught her attention, like something was heading right toward her...

It was startling enough that she slipped and fired the arrow prematurely. The arrow flew above the rabbit, and the rodent got startled itself and ran off into the bushes at lightning speeds. Theresa turned around, she was regretting every second of going out alone - Especially with rumors of maniacs on the loose. At least she was hoping to see what was coming before it gets her.

When Theresa turned, she heard someone shriek, fall face first into the snow, along with a wheelchair descending too.

"... Dana?" Theresa was still surprised, but ultimately relieved to know that it was a friend and not some killer.

"Yeah, it's me." Dana said, raising her head, wiping some of the snow off her face, she was somewhat sarcastic. "I was just trying to check up on you." She got into a sitting position. "You're all alone out here, and... and..." She looked down at her outfit, realizing that her long dark-green skirt and blouse was now covered in snow. "... Damn, I'm covered in snow right now."

Theresa understood exactly why Dana was worried... Well, it was pretty stupid coming out here alone. Theresa had only a few seconds to react to Dana, she knew that the next guy wouldn't give her enough time to react. She put her bow and arrow down, moving over to Dana after that was done. "I need to stop coming out here anyway..." She said as she stood Dana's wheelchair up. "Here let me help." She grabbed Dana and helped her back into her wheelchair. Though, a wheelchair wouldn't be able to move too well in a forest like this.

"Thanks, Tess." Dana was thankful to get off the snow, and back into the safety of her wheelchair. She was still brushing of the snow and dirt off her clothes. Bending forward just to get that done. It wasn't like she was going to get everything off her clothes, so she gave up after a second or two.

Theresa sure as hell wasn't going to leave her bow behind, she took a moment to skip over there and grab it, wrapping the strap around her back. "Let's head back-" She was interrupted by Dana.

"Oh, wait, no, you don't have to." Dana couldn't move too fast through the forest in a wheelchair like this. She's better off using her ability to get herself and her back. "I can get back to the school myself... I'll just... Keep an eye on you."

Theresa scratched the back of her neck, saying, "Okay." She closed her eyes very tightly for a few seconds. By that time, Dana, and her wheelchair, had disappeared. There was not a trace of where she went. Of course, Theresa knew exactly what happened, as Dana's power was their little secret. When Theresa opened her eyes, she quickly made it back to the school. Rushing through the mounds and mounds of snow. With a disregard for stealth, but focusing on getting the hell back on campus before she got caught.

By the time she passed through the gates, Dana was waiting for him right there on the other side. Dana smiled at her friend, "Miss me?"

Theresa simply got behind Dana, and grabbed onto the handles of her wheelchair, and began pushing her forward. "So, what should we do today?"

"I don't know..." Dana said, "Maybe go watch the lake?" There was a bit of sarcasm in her voice.

They talked for a few moments about how many times they watched the lake. Until they came across a notable pair of people. One of which was Sage who has the brightly colored hair. Along with the gigantic fellow who was definitely an animal-type Meta-human, everything seemed like it. "Maybe we'll go talk to Sage and his new friend."

Dana smiled, "Sure." She said.


Sage Pimm, Dana Alcott, & Theresa Obott.


All was going well with the subject change, until Dragonfly had to ask who does Sage know. Umm... Why the hell did people have to ask about their personal life so much? Regardless, Sage was going to answer the question very politely, "Well..." There was Amimoore, Eli, Gabe, Ariella, Theresa, and Dana. That was pretty much it as far people Sage. Some of them were dead and... Well, Sage didn't know how to answer Dragonfly's question. Be detailed or brief? Oh, speak of the devil...

Theresa carted Dana toward the conversation pair, before standing next to Dana. Of course, they were kinda off put by Dragonfly's appearance. However, they would rather not show that, because they felt that it was wrong to judge the more freakish students. "Hi." Theresa said, tightening her thick scarf a bit just so they wouldn't get affected by her power. "I'm Theresa, we're friends with Sage."

"Heya." Dana followed that up, warmly. "Dana Alcott here."

This kinda solved Sage's problem of not knowing what to say. Sage took a step towards them and put his hand out, speaking softly, "Yeah, Henry, these are some of my closest friends here on the academy."



The Changeling Unit.


The next room had a line of Giggler, the same that mauled Val less than a few minutes ago (Some of them still had his bits in pieces in their mouths - Some were playing with them), all behind the Mannequin. Heartbreaker walked up and stood next to the Mannequin. The Gigglers started laughing in a mad display.

"Now," Heartbreaker said, "For my test, we're going to go over a scenario or two." She shifts her weight to one hip. Putting a finger up to signal the Gigglers to silence themselves for a moment. Like an obedient pet, they all shut up, holding completely still. "Now, let's say you... get separated from us. Police, army, whoever, is hunting you down. Because if you get caught, our boss says we have to immediately kill you..." A devious grin crept up on her face. "... You can understand why that's bad, yes? My test will be avoiding the 'authorities' long as possible. Except replace authorities with our Unit, and our little Gigglers acting as our huntin' dogs-" The Gigglers started laughing uncontrollably at the thought of murderous glee, "You have ten minute head start...." Heartbreaker turned towards Mannequin for a moment....

The Mannequin nodded his head in response, unsheathing, and tabbing, a syringe in his hand with one hand. He quickly grabbed Val's arm and injected him with the contents of the syringe. Which is a powerful hallucinogenic created (With love!) by the Mannequin himself.

"Why ten minutes?" Heartbreaker said to Val, in an amused tone. Before quickly pulling out her gun in half a heartbeat, and blasting out Val's kneecap with it. Slowly putting it away just to give Val an idea of what happened as he's falling from the sky. "Test starts now, hun. Good luck."

This will be so much fun!

Valery Arsov

Val had to force himself not to throw up when he saw his mangled eye being chewed over by one of the Gigglers. It sparked another wave of phantom pain, of cognitive dissonance tearing his mind apart looking for a solution. His body kept telling him that his fingers were there, that his eye was seeing, but his mind knew they'd all been ripped apart, torn out, bitten off, and that...that he should be blind, crippled, ....that he should be dead. It didn't know how to handle him being alive. Twitches of illusory pain flared up in his appendages periodically, making Val grimace and wince.

But this got Val thinking, which was something he'd been doing a lot more of than usual lately. Those Gigglers seemed to follow Heartbreaker unquestioningly-she'd trained them damned well. Did anyone else have that authority over them, or was Heartbreaker their sole mistress? If Val took her out, would they run wild-or at least be more difficult for the Changelings to command as effectively? He was struggling to figure out who would be the prime target to take out first in a surprise attack. Flashbang would be the hardest for him to fight conventionally, given that he could warp off and return later. Witch Mother was the team's medic, far as he could tell, and even if he only managed to 86 her, it would mean the rest of the team had a lot more trouble recovering from their wounds. Aside from Bloodsucker, that is-he, Heartbreaker, and Primitive Light were at the top in terms of difficulty to take down. Acidscar and Vicious were mid-tier, and he had a feeling that the Berserker, while big and strong, would be...easily taken care of, with applied brutality. He had a vivid, mind-splitting vision of the Gigglers ripping out his tendons and ligaments. The same could be done to Berserker, and he'd be the world's biggest sitting duck.

...if Val chose to do that. After all, there was a quiet voice in the back of Val's mind that was whispering to him, telling him that maybe the original plan wasn't so good after all. It seemed pretty likely he'd die if he tried to follow through-these guys were trained, hardened. They'd been killing for years and Val had never taken a life before. Didn't it make more sense to throw in with the winning team? And even if they'd tortured him and ripped him to shreds...they thought he was worth something. They thought he could do something. All those teachers back at the Academy? That fuckface professor Blackmore, all the others-they all thought he was nothing. A lazy, good-for-nothing whose only remarkable trait was not dropping out by now. Even the other kids...hell, Abe and Drake had practically encouraged him to come here, to get tortured and beaten! And the others! The girls only paid attention to him when he was giving everybody liquor, otherwise they-

Val closed his eye, forcing himself to focus. What...what was going on?

Ten minutes? That sounded-"Gahh!" Valery hissed as the Mannequin injected him. "I hate needles!" he muttered, thinking quickly. He didn't know what the hell that was, but it couldn't be good-Val took a deep breath and sent a chill through his arm, dropping his body temperature. he couldn't freeze his veins and arteries solid and hope to outrun them, but it would help to slow down whatever the hell that was for a little while.

Then his kneecap exploded with pain and Val fell to the ground, roaring. "I will tear your eyes out!" Valery screamed, not realizing it was in Russian and not English for a moment. It took about ten or fifteen seconds before he could force himself back up, focusing the cold and the winter within him to that leg. It helped to numb the pain a bit, and as his leg solidified, it would help him walk on it. Run. You have to run or you will die at the claws of those things.

Valery forced himself to run, an awkward shuffle-step that favored his non-injured leg. He managed this for a second or two before he saw that he was bleeding all over the damned place. Cursing, Val took a second more to rip off his shorts, leaving him in only his underwear, and frantically tie them around the wound. Hopefully, it would keep the Gigglers from following him as easily, but he didn't get his hopes up.

Val stumbled into the dark, trying to think of a plan. If he called upon his powers, turned these tunnels into a meat freezer, the trail of ice would make him easier to follow, but it would impede progress. Maybe. How resistant to the cold were those Gigglers? They were fairly small, so...Val forced himself to pick up the pace, breath misting in front of him as it started coming more quickly. Val didn't slow at his first crossroads, simply throwing himself to the right before pausing for a second. He turned and faced the other way, taking a deep breath and hurling a blast of winter down the hallway. Black ice formed along the bottom of the tunnel, the temperature within the tunnel dropping considerably, and a few snowflakes flurried down from the ceiling. He forced his powers under control and staggered down the other hallway, which....

There was a cat in front of him. Was this part of the test? Val tried to move around the cat and it hissed at him, releasing a blast of fire as it did so. "What the fuck?" Valery shrieked, taking a step back (on his hurt leg, which nearly made him black out). The needle! Oh, those f*ckers. Those f*ckers. Valery steeled his will and shifted his eyepatch to the other eye, bathing the hallway immediately before him in silvery light.

The cat was gone.

He merely prayed he didn't see one of the Changelings, for two reasons. He didn't want to see what the worst of humanity-what their souls looked like, first off.

Secondly, because Val was starting to become afraid he would like it if he did.

Cursing, hobbling, and praying, Val staggered into the dark, wondering how many minutes before the ten minute cut off they'd start to come after him.

Abraham Gene

His matter with Drake was tied up with little (if any) loose ends, although on a relatively sad note, but a note Abe had brushed off regardless. There was little time to stand on ceremony when he learned that he was the one who had control of the team now, since Valery and Drake were preoccupied with their own matters. The team was otherwise barren save for him, and he had some recruiting to do - very picky recruiting! The name can't be slandered or weighed down by some chump that can't pull their weight. That being thought of, Jake wasn't an option. Sure, he'd run a match with him. But he won't be joining the team, that's for damn sure. Abe intended on raising the standards bar beyond what even Drake had set! He had to rebuild a team as strong as the old one. Maybe stronger. But this was a concern for another time.

Abraham handled the trite affair of finishing up paperwork and schedule times with the man at the desk outside of the arena before he set off. Jake said something about being at the lake, yes? Then it'd be best he let him know everything was set and that they just had to wait for a challenger! Usually these sort of matches took either people who were already scheduled for a match (either a voluntary challenger or those who had yet to perform in any arena matches as they ought to), those who see a team that is scheduled to fight and this opt to challenge them - always fun -  and then those that are blind-sighted by a notification saying "you are scheduled to perform". Those were hysterical, and you can see their knees shake as soon as they walk in! Perhaps that'd be a suitable match-up for Jake. Abe personally had only fought against very few of those... and they were not quite his taste of challenger. They were boring.

He stood there a couple more moments, thinking back on much of the arena matches and those he met and fought threw them, before he realized he was standing around like a tool all by himself. He slapped his palm into his face embarrassingly before he walked off towards the exit of the building to find his temporary appointed team mate.

The walk to the lake was quiet, and much sound was absorbed by the blank, snowy landscape. He still wore the clothes he had worn at the funeral, for he had neglected to change into more casual clothes. Dress pants and shoes, a white undershirt and black bow tie, along with the dress coat. The tux. He was in fact aware of the snow getting the nice clothes wet, and he did in fact make effort to protect that from happening. With each step he took, stepping stones cut through the snow and was made flat, perhaps rising only an inch above the snow's surface. He did put a fair amount of his weight into his strolling to help supplement his power. As he stepped onto each stepping stone, another would come up, but those he left behind remained. While sure, they could shrink back down and whatnot, but Abe did not necessarily care enough to do so. The lake slowly came into vision. There sat mister magic-hands and his assistant (the fine broad who led him on! Pfft!), and then his sister and little brother in a tree with some awesome person-ass punk trying to play the biker card from the looks of his outfit.

"Like anyone gives a damn about some paler-than-milk, cock-sucking, bottom-feeding blowhard." Abraham muttered under his breath in amusement. Woops! He accidentally let the Boston out again.

With his power in effect, erecting stepping stones for himself, and putting weight into his steps to make them happen more effectively (let alone with dress shoes that might as well be used for tap dancing), Abraham wasn't sneaky. He figured Jake and Arianna had heard him coming from behind. He shrugged. His business was with Jake. Unless Arianna had something special to say, he was namely concerned only with her man.

"Yo!" Abe called out, perhaps a mere ten to fifteen feet away. A Boston accent was laced around his greeting voice, but as he proceeded, the accent seemed nearly non-existant. "I signed you up. Expect something soon, maybe say... half-an-hour to an hour. We got lucky with the schedule, but I guess some of these kids expect tickling each other to be good solid practice for defending themselves."

Abraham shrugged as he slipped his hands into his pockets and shifted his weight onto one leg. He stressed the tickling each other part. Honestly, some of the kids in there hadn't started until the Changelings happened. Then they go in there, thinking they're practicing and training - but really, their fights look pathetic. He had to wonder if Jake was one of those people and was starting to get last second doubts about teaming up with him. Now how embarrassing would that be?

---

Jesse Sutor

A silence fell upon the table, and it was the best to take advantage of that now, so Jesse took up the sandwich from the plate and took a bite from it. Mmm. Grilled chicken with tomato and lettuce and guacamole - more stuff too, of course, but the main selling points of the sandwich was the chicken and avocado combo. Good stuff. Really, he didn't feel so uncomfortable with the silence. It allowed a moment of reflection and relaxing - and quite frankly, it was to be expected. That was one hell of a story Lily told and now he had more insight into his friend. That explains why she seemed pretty detached from day one. Boy, wasn't he ever glad to be saved from his own extra-dimensional psychic ghosts from her, and not, say, Gabriela. In fact, Gabe's idea of resolving the situation would probably be shooting him in the head and ending it right there.

Even if the story was dark and depressing, it shed light. And it removed tension. Jesse personally didn't have any super stories worth mentioning, and deep terrible secrets. He saw a lot of neat and beautiful places on his travels, though. Not very many pictures. But it is in this he was thankful he knew how to write a couple sentences and explain in vivid detail what he saw when driving through a canyon in Tennessee, or some rivers in Ohio. But those are stories perhaps better saved for a time where all the friends are in a room and telling a bunch of funny stories or cool stories "back in the day".

Not being an especially fast eater, Jesse was just half done with his sandwich when Lily asked her question about where to go. This was not a problem for him, for he could eat and walk at the same time - easily, as that was how many meals went "back in the day". But as for he wanted to go, that was a good question. While they could of course go back to one of the rooms, he felt a little burnt out on the computer. He was feeling somewhat active today, a good mood, despite Lily's tale. Taking another bite of his sandwich, stuffing his cheeks full of food, he placed his hand on his chin and looked upwards as he thought carefully. His round, bulging cheeks spun in circles as he chewed, making a comedic and almost cartoon-ish appearance. He swallowed down the chewed up food.

"Well," he started, "it is snowing. Like, it has been since every single God-forsaken day we've been here, but it is snowing. I don't know, maybe we can instigate some snowball fight. If enough people come around maybe we can start a full-on war."

Jesse laughed gently to himself at the thought of it. "Heh, can you imagine?"

---

Damon Viscous

Damon rolled his eyes at Megan's honeybee comment. To be fair, though, she did have a point. This unit came out of nowhere. The original plan only involved Dacious - that was all he was told about. He was fairly certain Megan would've told him about the teacher-killing child murderers running about if she had known about them. Suddenly, the gold standard system Damon had set up started looking pretty bleak. If Megan was right about anything, it was that they're stuck here now. So they might as well figure out a way to clean up this mess. She did make a joke that he could appreciate though: swimming off this island. Damon laughed silently under his breath and shook his head with his hands on his hips.

"Hell, I'd join you." Damon replied with an amused smile. "I don't exactly have much of a home to go back to and as far as I'm aware, I've still got people looking for me." Damon shrugged. "Unfortunately, my side-effect doesn't make me a very good swimmer. Tagging along would depend on whether or not you're capable of turning into a beluga whale."

Damon's smile had diminished into a serious expression once more. He had an idea. He didn't like it though. Still, it might be worth sharing. "So, when we're done with the child..." he said, "I think it might be worth considering making a... rendezvous. With the Changelings. If we're to combat them, we ought to know what they want. What their demands are... who or what they are."

He steeled himself for whatever Megan had to say. Really, it was difficult to tell - she might love it, think it's clever. Or think it's utterly stupid, and won't sugarcoat it while saying so. Or maybe he's wrong about her. This is just from what he has witnessed from her working with students during his stay here.

Jake Vin Valos.


Ahhh... Abe has finally arrived. Jake perked up fast once Abe called for him, then listened as the golem explained that he's set up for an arena match. He let out a small chuckle when Abe mentioned tickling. But that wasn't what was on Jake's mind. So, Abraham really does want to push this arena fight? Jake himself wasn't stoked for it, being someone who wasn't too keen on fighting. But, he would participate nonetheless. Because Mr. Gene absolutely insists. It almost brought Jake to a snicker. He crossed his arms, grinned slightly, and spoke to Abe, "Oh really? I'm ready for any arena fighting." He turned to look at Arianna for a second. He wasn't sure who they were supposed to even be fighting. Uh... Jake was hoping it didn't turn out that they're fighting arena champions or something that could turn him inside out with a flick of their wrist. While Jake could handle himself just fine with his wits and powers alone, he didn't want to get curb stomped for Abe's amusement. He had to ask, "Now... Who are our opponents, Mr. Gene? I want to get a sense of what I'm combating..." He tuned away for a moment to look at Gabe and Jaska, noticing that they're talking to some guy in a biker getup. Who is that guy...? "... Just so I'm prepared and all."
He quickly returned to the subject.

((There might be some inconsistencies here, I couldn't find Jake's last post.))


Carmen 'Lily' Santo.


Hm... Lily did like the idea of a snowball fight. It would be that kind of fun to indulge in a moment like that. She hasn't been in a snowball fight in... Hell, years. So, yeah she wouldn't mind having one now, anything to make her put her past behind her. Long as nobody did anything stupid, or got their panties in a notch. "Sure." She says cheerily, it wasn't genuine cheerfulness, but it was convincing. She got up off the table, and decided to focus a little bit. She wanted to pick out where's the largest concentration of Meta-humans nearby... That isn't indoors that is. Going off the geography of this school, that has to be the Lake. Well, the lake was frozen most of the time, but perhaps they'll find something actually useful here. "I know where to look, come with me." Lily started out the door, hopefully with Jesse behind her.


Megan Emma Jervious.


Megan stopped dead in her tracks, and gave Damon the most narrow glare on the planet. Dropping that cheerful, happy, attitude that she was always bent on retaining. Meeting... The Changeling Unit? That had to be easily the stupidest plan she ever heard! And at the same time, it was the smartest plan she ever heard... They knew exactly who the Changeling are, a band of savage marauders - What they're after is the question. Meeting them, backed by a mass of the staff members, isn't too bad of an idea. Besides, the staff and the teachers here are likely far more experienced than most of the students. They'd likely be able to stand a better chance against the Unit in an upfront fight. Adam was extremely experienced with his aeromancery ability, and likely been in more than few fights himself. Herself? She's been in a great deal of fights, and she has some interesting uses of her power. She'd be quite a challenge to face in a fight, as her tactic was to be slippery as possible, and aim for the vulnerable areas when she got the opportunity. If they had Leon - God dammit.

She had already convinced herself to go along with Damon's idea. "Hmmm... I approve... But..." There was one question left, "... How are we supposed to arrange a meeting with them? Call the psychopath hotline?"


The Changeling Unit.


A few minutes after Val got out of sight, Heartbreaker got bored. Was she really going to wait an entire ten minutes? Hell no. That would be boring. Besides, Arsov should be higher than a kite right now. His perception of time should be the last thing he's worrying about. "... And the hunt begins!" Heartbreaker shouted with a exquisite bravado. She loudly whistled, shouting an order for her pets. "Get him my darlings! Remember, you can kill him this time!" They all rushed forward after Val like a horde of mad dogs. Following the trail of blood. Their monstrous laughter and patter of their footsteps would give away that they're coming. Not that it impeded them. They had the minds of beasts, domesticated beasts. They're given a kill order, and god damn they'll never stop.

Once that was over, the rest of the Changeling Unit who wished to participate had assembled. Bloodsucker, Flashbang, Acid-Scar, Primitive Light, Berseker, Contessa... All pleased to hunt Val like a dog. Heartbreaker smiled, "Shall we get started, then? I would ask Tessa to tell us where he is, but that would be boring...." Heartbreaker slung her rifle over her shoulder, putting her revolvers away. "Berserker! Track him!" Heartbreaker said.

The Berserker's sense of smell and hearing were enhanced, not as good as Jaska's, but they were acute. She raised her nose up into the air, taking in two deep sniffs. Getting an idea of where Val is. The brutish woman let out an inhuman roar that shook the very halls of the tunnels as she took off running down the halls, aiming for Val Val.

"Hahahahaha!" Heartbreaker madly laughed as she followed the Berserker. The rest of the participants were following behind her.

Valery Arsov

Laughter echoed down the hallways, reaching Valery's ears warped and hysterical, nuanced by the hallucinogen that was slowly inching through his veins. Val get your CENSORED together or you will die here. He stumble-staggered forwards, gimp leg dragging near uselessly as it had been mostly frozen. Far less painful that way, but quite awkward to move around. Val's clairvoyance showed him the tunnel in a strange, mind-altering view, perhaps not far off from the drug's vision. He was keeping his other eye covered up to preserve a bit of night vision in case they used flash bangs or flashlights or something. His clairvoyance may have rendered his vision effective, but it was still affecting his other senses-the metallic taste and smell of blood flooded his nose and tongue, seemingly thousands of ants danced along his arms and legs, and the howls of the Gigglers were warbled and far more...hellish...than they should've been.

Val staggered to a crossroads and saw the throbbing, pulsating swirls of light, the world displayed like a da Vinci painting. There was little of spiritual value down here, little for Val to learn from Looking Upon it, but he did notice that a faint golden mist began to ooze down to his right. It...it was trying to tell him the way to go. Val cast a glance over his shoulder, breathing hard from sprinting nonstop, and could see in the air his scent, the olfactory trail of his fear and sweat and blood, lingering in the air. Damn. Hopefully they'd fall for that decoy he'd sent, but he doubted it would work for long. Val took a moment, gathering up as much of his strength as he could. He knelt down (his back knee, even numbed by his chilled nerves, exploded with agony) and punched the ground, causing black ice to explode outwards, the air immediately dropping a dozen degrees as the stored up power was let loose. Icicles rapidly formed on the ceiling, razor tips hanging ominously by thin strands of ice. He held it for a moment, letting the cold build up in the already chilly tunnels, and created a very small roadblock. Nothing much, but anyone rushing through blindly in the dark would be in for a nasty surprise. Then, he turned and ran down the tunnel that the clairvoyance was guiding him in, praying that the makeshift bandage he'd slapped around his knee was keeping most of his blood in. It was already going to be easy for those laughing nightmares to find him, but that would just make it comically simple.

Val, surprisingly, wasn't feeling the pain of running full-speed for several minutes straight. He didn't know if this was an aftereffect of the hallucinogenic, or simple adrenaline making him ignore it. Or, perhaps, the Changelings' torture had served a second purpose: it had set a new, unbelievably high record for personal agony. Maybe he was feeling as much pain as before...it just didn't seem so, given what he'd endured in the last hours. Hours? Days? How long had he been with the Changelings? Time...time had lost all meaning, down here. The unnerving question of how much time had elapsed since all this began gnawed at Val, but he pushed it away. Valery forced his legs to go faster, knowing he would need every edge he could get to outrun these damned things.

...no. Wait. He couldn't. Surely he couldn't. There were too many of them, in peak condition...they could be flanking him or all manner of things. How was he supposed to win this trial? Just by outrunning them for long enough? They'd given him tests of endurance before, and he'd proven himself more than adequate. So maybe this was going for something different? Val had a score to settle with those Gigglers, and he was planning on killing every last damned one of them. She'd said "as long as possible"...Grr. What did that mean? Minutes? Hours? Days? Val frantically looked above him with his clairvoyance, hoping for some ebb of energy he could recognize as a ladder, a way out of these catacombs. If Val could get to the surface, into the snow and ice, he could easy crush any of the Changelings. They'd die of hypothermia in a matter of seconds if they got close, Val encased in a glacial wall...

...but if he got up to the surface, he could run away, too. He could go back to the dorms. Maybe even get these scars healed. Go back...

Val stopped looking upwards, suddenly very afraid and very conflicted. He growled and pushed ahead, coming to another crossroad. Val staggered to a stop, taking a few seconds to form a snowball in his hand. He pressed it to his bloodied knee wound and hurled it as far as he could (and, given that it was boosted by his control over winter, this is pretty damned far) down the tunnel the opposite way. He stopped and made another barricade, this time taking a few seconds longer. The black ice would force them to slow down, at least a bit, and remembering how those damned things could crawl up the walls, he made it extend up the sides of the tunnels. After perhaps fifteen seconds of reinforcing, the mouth of the tunnel would only slow them down for a bit, but it would do something. He didn't know how resistant to cold those things were, but he was going to find out. Val moved, going a bit slower. He began to exude cold air, snow and ice, making the terrain behind him treacherous and the cold downright biting. The howling draft in the tunnel, catalyzed by his presence, blew upwind from him, carrying his scent away from the Gigglers at his tail. Suvorov. Suvorov never lost. Suvorov never lost and neither will you. My name is Valery Arsov. I have been shot in the knee. I gave myself scars on my face and arms and chest and legs. I am on the run from the worst people on Earth. I don't know if I'm one of them.

Eye desperately flickering about, looking for a way out of the tunnel, a weak spot his clairvoyance would reveal to him (perhaps if he could fill these tunnels with water, somehow-they had to be connected to the sewers SOMEWHERE), anything useful, Val pressed on, pain throbbing from his leg with each step and his various senses, save sight, lying to him all the while. Phantom pain flickered from his covered eye, fingers, toes...a little reminder of what Heartbreaker would do to him if she caught him. Val hobbled faster.

Arianna Madrigal

Oh, CENSORED, Abe. Great. Great. Just fabulous. Life wasn't content throwing a funeral and horrific visions at her in the same day, it had to give Ab-no, wait. Wait, this wasn't another throwdown between Jake and the idiot kid from Boston. She'd forgotten about what Jake had said, working in the Arena with him, and felt her expression soften, her fingers unwind from their fists. Oh. Heh.

Jake's eyes flickered over to hers, which had its usual effect of making her heart pick up the pace a bit. She gave him a quick smile and a squeeze of the hand. The wind off the lake rolled in, making Arianna shiver a tiny bit. Chilly, today. She found herself thinking again of her suit, thin yet insulating. Comfortable. Natural. A second skin. And it shows up in all your visions, too, Arianna. Any coincidence there? Shut up. I'm just saying. You might as well try to fight it. What's coming. Nothing's coming shut up. You've seen it. You've HEARD it. The Symphony doesn't lie. SHUT THE CENSORED UP.

"Listen, boys," Arianna said, a trying-for-mischievous grin on her pink, wind-weathered lips. "I hope you two don't mind if I don't watch? I'll be happy to sing your praises afterwards..." Arianna had long since learned that the best way to get a guy to agree with you was to fluff up his ego. She figured, despite her faith in Jake, there'd be a good chance of her getting Advil and ice packs after this fight-because, you know, it was a FIGHT, but guys generally preferred for their ladyfolk to think of them as herculean. So she'd play along happily. "...but I don't think I'm up to an Arena fight at the moment." she met Jake's eyes for a second, lowering her voice. "You okay with that? It's not that I don't want to support you, just..." her voice wavered for a second. Solfege. She ran through solfege in her head and her resolve returned, it distracted her from Changelings and dead children and-"...just I've had enough fighting for a while. I'll catch up with you later. Might go workout or something." she squeezed his hand again and gave him a kiss on the cheek, the breeze making what brown hair wasn't secured by her beanie sway and mess up.

The Symphony began to shift lower and lower, something that thrummed deep enough to shake her skull and rattle her bones. Not...not good. She pulled away from Jake feeling rather confused and wanting to cry and not fight in the Arena and just sit in her room and lock the door until they fixed the boat and could take them all home away from this godforsaken place.

But instead she smiled and slipped her fingers out from his.

Dana Alcott, Theresa Obott, & Sage Pimm.


Dana was still rather awkward around Dragonfly. That weird smile, and the look he gave her - Ew! The guy was more creature than man... But, worse can be said about her when... when... No what? Dana just choose to stop thinking such thoughts and carry on with the conversation. "Oh really?" Dana exchanged looks with Theresa, looking cheery as ever. "We were planning on going there ourselves. I guess we can come along with you, right?"

There wasn't too much of a problem with them tagging along with their trip to the lake. It wasn't like they were going to do anything interesting in the first place. Sage idly shrugged, "Sure." They said. They started walking away from the dorms, and more towards the lake (They were here for a long time, they knew the place like the back of their hand). Theresa was pushing Dana along, and Henry was following at his own pace (Presumably). They were there after not too of a walk, their own little group. A pangendered person, a trans boy, a crippled girl, and a giant lizard man. What a diverse group.

Theresa walked along, pushing Dana. There were already a few people here, separated into two groups, both of them were groups of three people. Interesting. She figured that she should find a place to sit down herself. She looked around and found a bench by the lake. She pushed Dana up to it, before finding a seat herself. Tess tightened the scarf that was wrapped around her face. She was happy Dragonfly didn't ask about why she wore a scarf like that, like so many people did. Keeping her power suppressed enough to avoid getting people she talked to high as a kite. It wasn't perfect as say a gas mask, but long as people didn't get into her face, everything was cool.

Advantage of a wheelchair, always have a seat. Dana thought to herself with a smile. She wanted to get to know Dragonfly. "So, Henry... How long have you been here at the Academy? I've been here for awhile, and... I never seen someone like you here before."


Gabriela & Jaska Valos.


"Oh yes..." Gabe was quick to answer Aiden's question. She was fine with telling Dragonfly a little bit of information about her lovely twin brother. "That's the third member of our magnificent trio, Jake." She brushed a strand of hair out of her face. "He likes to call himself the 'leader' of our magnificent trio. Since, I can tell you that none of us are leader material right off the bat." She chucked, before dryly replying, "The other gal is Arianna. A friend of ours ever since the first day we were here."

"Yeah, Arianna is really nice and..." Jaska thought about the incident in the ruins. That brief moment where he lost control, and nearly hurt the people he came with. He shuddered. Retreating into his wings for a brief moment.


The Changeling Unit.


The Unit and their machinations weren't too far behind.

The Gigglers were far ahead of the Unit, with the sounds of the Berserker's heavy footsteps getting louder and louder. The Gigglers had been momentarily obstructed by Val's first barrier, but they were quick to get around it. But, they made the icicles fall with the combined commotion through the tunnels. They landed straight on the creatures, piercing their jelly-infused bodies. However, as they were, more or less, immune to to physical harm, the cold did some damage to them. Which bought Val a second or two of time as they tried to pull the spears out of their bodies.

When they were finished with that, their mad rush continued. The Gigglers chased after the snowball a few moments after Val ran down the hall. They weren't smart enough to tell when they're being tricked. So they were falling for Val's plan for a minutes.

It wasn't long before the far more perceptive Unit arrived. The Berserker stopped for a moment, sniffing into the air, realizing that Val's scent was being sent another direction. Heartbreaker, on the other hand, saw through the ruse when she looked down all the halls. She could see perfectly in the dark, and saw the barricade. Why else would there be a wall down just one hallway. Heartbreaker whistled, getting the Giggler's attention, "Down there you morons!"

They started rushing down the other way. And apparently since the order wasn't specifically for the Gigglers, the Berseker got the idea that she was the moron being orders. The Berserker rushed forward, before slipped and fell on her side yet again, a colossal boom to echoed through the tunnels. Both the Contessa and Flashbang bust out laughing.

Heartbreaker facepalmed with a very loud slap. "... You're a complete idiot, you know that, Berserker?" She threw her head back, letting out a loud sigh. She pointed down the hall, and looked at Primitive Light. "A good bolt of lightning will wreck that."

The Changeling Unit stepped back, as Primitive Light stepped forward. Her hands crackled with electricity, as the dark tunnels came alight with a pure blue light. She let out an inhuman yell and threw both of her hands forward. A massive bolt of electricity came out of her hand and crashed into the barrier of ice, the rumble of thunder could be heard from quite a distance. When it impacted the ice, it caused to shatter, and the heat made the ice melt. It paved a nice little entry way for the Unit to walk through.

"Let's go!" Heartbreaker started running forward. Followed by the Unit this time.

Valery Arsov

Valery didn't dare look over his shoulder-for one, he felt that glimpsing the souls of the Changelings would leave worse scars than the permanent smile torn into his face, the names of (friends?) carved into his arms. No, no, he felt his panic deepen as he began to turn his head to see how close they were before stopping himself. The subsequent booms that echoed down the hallway were loud and terrifying-they were close. They were getting closer. Soon, they would be upon him.

Which meant that misdirection had not worked-and, as he predicted, they'd thrown the ten minute head start entirely out of the window. If Val couldn't hope to evade them, he was going to need to use his normal strategy of attrition-aside from Primitive Light, he didn't think any of them were immune to the cold: Vicious was, but Vicious surely wasn't after him. He hoped. Val cast a nervous glance at the steel walls of the tunnel before focusing on running as fast as he could.

Val took a deep breath in and exhaled, a burst of silvery, glittering mist quickly solidifying the water vapour before him into tiny pieces of sleet that fell before him. Val grunted and let himself fall into a forward slide, gathering up ice beneath him and letting black ice radiate outwards before him. The slick floor carried Val's forward momentum with supernatural ease, sending the boy skidding forward much more quickly than he could run-and leaving a bit of hazardous terrain in his wake. There was no use in throwing up roadblocks-whatever that boom was, it was bigger than Heartbreaker's sixgun. Must've had that hulking Berserker smashing things up. As long as Val could keep the air inside the tunnels bitterly cold-and as poorly insulated as these damned things were, with ice sunk into the ground above and frost all throughout, it had to be getting a tad bit chilly in the nightmarish labyrinth they were chasing him through-he'd be able to slowly pick them off. Maybe not the real haymakers-Val got the sickening feeling that Primitive Light was among their number.

A series of ants ran down his back, making Val curse the hallucinogenic drug addling his mind. Thankfully, his sight was undisturbed, but his other senses were sluggish and distorted, phantom pain now coming from his nose and belly, the sound of chorus bells ringing from all around him....

Valery came to another crossroads, and with another heave of effort managed to curl the black ice before him, which thickened and rose upwards like a ramp, shooting him down into the tunnel the clairvoyance directed him at. He wasn't sure how fast he was going, but he was making better progress than he was hobbling along by a damned sight. Heh. Damned sight. Because I'm half-blind. And crazy with this drug in me. My name is Valery Arsov. I'm seventeen years old. I am covered in scars I gave myself. I am going mad thanks to whatever these assholes shot me up with. My knee hurts very, very badly. I am probably going to die in these tunnels.