Legerman Academy - Red Skies

LEGERMAN ACADEMY

ACT I - CONVEXUM

Silence as two thick-soled black boots tapped over the cold ground. They stopped abruptly and turned in full view of the figures that stood before them. The man in the boots also wore tight black pants and an ebony coat of pure fur, and buttoned up with silver circles. The hood of the coat was the fluffiest of all areas and was comfortingly bordering the neck of the man. Both hands were gloved; one a graceful black glove and another a peculiar red one, standing out from the other. This red glove was made of a strange material and seemed luminous and reflective when light shone upon it. The palm and pads of each finger seemed to glow, and a large glowing circle lied in the palm with many lines connecting to it and stretching all across the glove.

The man's head was even more peculiar. His wild hair was dyed jet black and snow white, and his skin was fair. His eyes were ringed in dabs of smeared black eyeliner while his demonic red irises glowed brightly. Glossy black lipstick capped his lips. A long purple scar snaked from the right corner of his lips, across his chin and all the way down his neck.

"Is the equipment ready?" he asked, looking on to several figures dressed in black coats and partial masks. The clicking and ticking of guns was heard as they seemed to be stocking their bags, loading a few motorcycles onto a semi truck. Nobody responded, and the man stood in aggravation. He slowly reached into his coat and ejected a short-snouted pistol and fired it into the air. The company before him jumped and looked to him suddenly as he placed the gun away and walked forward. "Open your damn ears. I said, is the equipment ready?"

"Uh, almost. Sorry sir..." said one of the squeamish voices in the gang of black bikers.

"Hurry up. We cannot keep our queen waiting," said the man. "The trap will soon be sprung and we cannot be late, lest those poor fools get smart and uncover the secret to escape early on. No, I cannot allow that. It would contradict months of preparation. You all are informed of the updates I assume, and know where you're supposed to be once the barrier is breached?"

"Yes. We're informed."

"Good," said the man. He bit his lip for a moment as a woman hopped out from the back of the large semi. She was highly attractive, and sent an electricity through his male instincts. Having a slim, curved body, and she wore the appropriate clothes for magnetism. A black crop top and a sleek white jacket. Dark skinny pants adorned her legs and she walked in combat boots. Combat gloves cased her hands. She had smooth skin of a light color and a tattoo of a swarm of crows spreading from her chest up to her right shoulder, disappearing under her jacket. Her hair was long and blonde, with several bloody read highlights streaking through. She had two white dagger piercings at her ears and an assortment of other metals jangling from the top of her right one. She had especially heavy dark makeup. Black eyeshadow and eyeliner, and thick mascara. She was hardcore, to say the least.

"Get the stuff into this truck at once!" she barked at the men as she began making her way to the red-eyed man. She carried in one hand a large woodcutting axe, swinging it as she walked. She seemed joyful, but stern and terrifying. "Aren't you chipper looking today," she snickered, walking up and stroking his cheek with the back of her hand. He recoiled, wincing as if she were poison. "Loosen up mister big shot."

"Regina, shouldn't you be making sure all the trucks are in order?" the man asked, squinting. He looked straight ahead, trying not to look at her. Her form was simply too distracting, and she was fully aware of it. Giggling in her head, she leaned against one of his shoulders using her elbow and crossed her feet. He gave an exasperated sigh as he strengthened his foothold.

"Relax. I'm not in the mood for toying with you or anyone today anyway. We've got a long trip ahead of us and I want to get through it as quickly and painlessly as possible. And I want zero Fellowship run-ins," Regina said, scratching the back of her neck a bit. "Are we all set on gasoline?"

"Well that was your job, now wasn't it?" The man said, shooting her a glare.

"Hey man, I told you I'm not a leader. I'm just a fighter, a follower, a humble hench-girl. I can't stand responsibility, you've known that forever," Regina said, rolling her eyes. "I've always been your right wing. Can't you handle that, Virgo?"

______________________________________________________________________________

Ira

Icy eyes. They opened slowly and sleepily as Ira woke up. He moved back some of his bleach-blonde hair, still messy from the night. He still felt the same sleepy spell over him, but knew he had to get out of bed. His first real day at Legerman Academy had just begun. Yesterday was orientation, and it was long but exciting. For most people anyway. Ira's palms were a bit clammy with the raw anxiety of the first day. So much he was clueless about. And how would he memorize the campus? It was enormous. Luckily for him he knew it was arranged in a circular formation.

Ira slipped his T-shirt and pants on. He was thankful that the Academy didn't force students to wear uniforms. It had given each student two pairs of uniforms, but they were only required during certain occasions. Namely ceremonies or other formal occasions where dresses and suits weren't used. Ira was just thankful that clothing was relaxed and he kept himself clean and tidy this morning to make a good appearance. He brushed his teeth, washed his face, combed his hair, etc. He stepped lightly and tried to remain quiet for his roommate and those next door, but in the end his punctuation was more important. Finally he was out the door. Stepping through quiet morning halls lit by fluorescent lights, he traveled down a few staircases until he was in the front lobby. A group was already departing to the Horus Elm Luther Alderman Auditiorium (or HELAA). A morning welcome ceremony was taking place in just under an hour.

Now don't be late, Ira thought. The ceremony wasn't at all mandatory, but Ira did want to see some of the speakers and meet some new people. Namely, he wanted to see the headmaster Antony Legerman speak. He had only heard of the man and seen brief pictures. In his mind he imagined a charismatic businessman with a silver tongue and charming speech. Either way, Ira wanted to see him. And walking across campus almost didn't seem worth it, but thankfully his dorm hall was not that far from the auditorium. Within five minutes he was inside, moving through a crowd and going down a downward slope to take his seat in the crowd, within the Auditiorium.

Ira spotted, quite immediately, a woman dressed in blue standing on the stage, peeking out from behind the back curtain. She was glaring out at the crowd, watching very carefully as though she were a hawk finding its meal. The woman was tall and had fair skin. She had black hair that was fixed up in a bun full of formidability. Her outfit was a military-esque blue uniform that buttoned up with large silver knobs. She wore blue dress pants and high-heeled white boots and white gloves. The woman had a brown misshapen dot, a strange little birthmark under her right eye. Her eyes were hard and ice-colored, being of such a cold and stern image that they would make a boulder crumble. Her form gave off a variable aura of intimidation that was not matched by any mortal person Ira had ever known. He was just hoping she wasn't watching him.

"Corrigan," said a voice from behind the woman. She turned, seeing an odd man coming from backstage. A tan-skinned man of a young age, or deceiving looks. His eyes were a strange pale yellow with unusually large pupils. His ears had minute points tipping them and he had a strange red-violet tattoo on his cheek of a human whose limbs were extended into many overlapping, curved noodles, forming a tree. The tattoo was faint but it was still there, and obvious to onlookers. The man wore a black turtleneck with a gentle purple coat over it. On his head was a very wide-brimmed purple hat with a few bird feathers shooting from it. He had a grand necklace of silver crescent moons taking neck and a few silver rings and bracelets on his hands. His black boots knocked against the ground as he approached the woman.

"Winslow," Corrigan said in response, dipping her head.

"What've I told you lady, call me Cassius," said the man, smiling. "Anyway Corrigan, are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

Honey

It was only with great reluctance that Honey chose to attend the morning welcome ceremony; not because of a genuine need to know who would be in charge, but because a good, serious student would do this, and Honey was one such student. In reality, she did not gain the benefit of learning anyone’s face, as her eyesight was so poor that there was no way she would be able to identify any of the people who appeared on stage to speak to the audience. Within a very short distance, everything dissipated into a blur so confusing, it was only enough to identify one shape from another. The fact that her vision was actually bad was something that others would not even consider, given that her eyes looked more like she could shoot heat rays out of them. She had already put in a request to the higher-ups for a tablet that she could use to see things at a distance, but thus far, it was too early for her to get a response.

Perhaps because, even despite the logical knowledge, Honey on a subconscious level still didn’t quite understand why she was at the auditorium, or why a second ceremony was needed, she could still feel her own resentment of organized events. People who had trouble engaging in conversation with strangers already hated going to crowded places, and when looking inhuman while the rest of the majority still had human traits had to be added in as a factor, it was even worse. How did people see her? She hadn’t seen very many changelings like herself, who were perpetually trapped in a form that was clearly alien in appearance. She had been hoping that she would find a community at the Academy where she would fit in, but thus far, the closest she had seen was animal limbs on people who still had a human face.

Stewing on these thoughts, Honey pulled her plant off of her shoulder, its tentacle-like roots easily letting go to wrap around her paw-like hands, and its leaves rustling, as if in silent agreement. Honey wanted to keep it safe from the people who might accidentally bump into her and injure it, but when this many people were packed into a tight area, it felt somehow impossible.

Suddenly, she felt someone accidentally step on her tail, and abruptly, she turned to look at them, “Ah, excuse me, stranger, but you’re standing on my tail.”

Ira stepped aside as he saw Honey, grabbing his attention. He had apparently stepped on her tail, and a pang of guilt fell over him. Grimacing, and embarrassed, he turned to her and put on a friendly half-smile. "Oh, I'm sorry," he said, moving aside. "My bad. I didn't see you standing there," he added. Some bleach-blonde hair fell over his eyelashes, to which he responded by moving it back. He scratched an ear, somewhat awkwardly. With his free hand he extended it to shake Honey's, barely paying attention to the plant in it. "Uh, hi! My name's Ira. Ira Mendel. Who might you be?"

Behind the stage curtain, Corrigan eyed a large, boring clock on the carpet-covered wall. She had some time left, and she was ready now. She would just have to wait. In the meantime, she could hear Cassius' voice traveling through backstage as he ensured all of the lights and microphones were working and in order. In this time Corrigan noticed another woman approaching from one side of the stage, stepping up a staircase to reach it. This woman had strange fiery red hair and a red-burgundy suit of elastic and rubber on. It was padded though, so it was not inappropriate for school use. There were holes in the elbows, hips, heels, and other places for breathing room. And there was a tattoo of an X within a diamond on her chest.

"Corrigan," said the woman, as she approached. "Legerman is running late. So it may be a moment before we can start the presentation."

"That is unacceptable, Miss Easton," Corrigan replied, her brow thickening.

Easton threw her hands up, casting the blame off herself. "Hey now, not my fault," she said. "We'll be perfectly fine. Besides, we don't have a full house yet. Many students are running late, getting out of bed still. We have plenty of time," she added. "Oh and by the way, my name is Blanche. You don't have to refer to me by my 'teacher name', you know?"

"We are on a tight schedule. This academy is a well-renown, professional, star-class institution. We cannot be lowered to unprofessional levels of slacking and poor punctuation. I will have to have a word with our headmaster after this," Corrigan said, crossing her arms.

___________________________________________________________________________________


Regina

"Yes. We should be there in half an hour. Has it started yet?" Regina held a small gray flip-phone to her ear. A tiny voice could be heard traveling from it to her ear from outside, but it was faint and measly. "Right. Okay. We left a few hours ago. We're outside the mainroad, but we're going directly south. It should only be thirty minutes away, at best. We will be there soon. Is... is the Lady in?"

The red-eyed man, sitting in the seat next to Regina, turned his gaze to her. He couldn't hear the voice, but he watched her expressions. Her face turned to one of both relief and fear, if it were possible to muster. She looked to the man and nodded, continuing to listen to the phone. "Right," she said. "Right... Have you found the ones you're looking for? The ones that will build it? Okay. Good. Make sure it's built up before we get there, otherwise this won't work. Got it? Right, okay. I'll see you in a bit. We should be entering the no-service zone soon. I'll let you know when we're out of it. Okay? Alright. Bye."

Honey

Honey, who had dealt with multiple people stepping on her tail throughout the entire orientation of the academy, was not going to begrudge anyone over it, seeing as most people who possessed tails did not have ones that dragged around on the ground, as hers did. Deciding that she had already managed to frighten someone, and social anxiety was high on a day like today, Honey raised her arms to plop her plant on top of her head, where it dug its roots into her fur, and proceeded to look like an extremely bizarre hat. “My name’s Simona, but people just call me Honey, pleased to meet you.” She said, introducing herself and returning Ira’s handshake with a firm one of her own. When she spoke, her voice came out in a thick, southern drawl, but her grammar was perfect. “It’s alright about the tail, people step on it pretty often; it’s an inevitable part of life. You won’t be the last.”

Honey, despite resembling a strange cat-otter person, was dressed nicely for the occasion. With a deep red cotton shirt and a dark blue-black denim jacket that had been left unbuttoned, she wore a pair of sports pants with deep blue stripes running down the sides, and a tiny lightbulb suspended from a silver chain that contained a wisp of java fern dangled around her neck. Given that there had yet to be any clothing lines made thus far for digitigrade legs, appropriate colors and clean clothes was the best Honey could do. The colors Honey wore complimented her eyes, the main feature she possessed that could be considered beautiful or attractive in any way. Her mane of hair was neatly combed, and possessed a lovely, glossy shine.

Although there was no way she looked pretty in a human sense, it was clear that Honey regardless paid attention to personal grooming and appearance. Of course, Honey was not really able to tell if there was any benefit to be gained from dressing nicely for the auditorium, as she had very few ideas that anyone would actually talk to her. “So, it seems like the speakers are dragging their feet today, eh?” Honey said, glancing over at the stage, deciding that introductions were out of the way. “I think, anyway…I can’t actually see anything over there. Is there someone on the stage, or is it still empty?”


Scylla

Why...why did I want to do this again? Oh, goodness gracious someone’s going to touch me, it’s impossible, someone’s going to bump into me and….please, no, no, no….

Scylla was in the middle of something approaching a miniature meltdown, and five minutes after entering the auditorium for the welcoming ceremony, he had taken to cowering in a distant corner of the room, pulling the grey hood of his jacket over his head, and holding it tightly over his face, trying to ignore the jostling of bodies around him. The worst that had happened was someone accidentally brushing shoulders with them as they went along, but that was all that it took for Scylla’s entire private world to come crashing down around him. It was every shred of will he had not to shove, scream, or flee from the area in response. It had been through clothing, but even so, the pressure of a stranger’s touch still scorched like fire, and even though there was no reason for it to be like this, his entire body felt cold, and he could not stop himself from trembling. He could not forget the sensation of being touched, that feeling that someone was trying to rip the very soul out of his body.

He knew he was being ridiculous, that there shouldn’t be anything wrong with it, but for Scylla, he could not casually dismiss physical contact like everyone else. He could not handle crowds, and it had been traumatic enough trying to navigate the school during orientation. He had come to the auditorium for the welcome ceremony just because he knew it might be important, but by no means at all did he really want to do this. Just the heat of passing bodies alone made his skin crawl, and the number of people looking at him, let alone the number that might casually touch him as they moved past, was enough to make him wish he could disappear off of the face of the earth. How could anyone else stand it? It was a violation. Physical contact was wrong, it was disgusting and the prospects brought forth waves of nausea.

Suddenly, Scylla felt a sharp ringing in his ears, and behind the black frames of his glasses, his white pupils lit up, flashing over his irises, before all details vanished, and his sight along with them. Scylla jumped slightly as the world suddenly went dark, but this had happened before. He couldn’t see, but then people couldn’t really look at his face, either. His gaze showed nothing like this, his eyes didn’t work. His hands clutched the fabric of his hood tighter, and the trembling stopped, but even so, Scylla could still feel his heart pounding wildly like a drum.

He was suffering from a sensory overload: too many people liable to touch him by sheer accident, too much noise from all of the strangers milling about and conversing while waiting for the ceremony to start. There were so many colors and so many shapes and objects lying around, all of it was too bright, and it hurt his eyes to look at them. It was just too disorderly and unpredictable, and he had knowingly walked into something that he should have simply skipped. As his pupils began to reappear and his vision slowly came back, he silently wished for a ball of yarn and his crochet needle; he could have distracted himself a bit if he was immersed in making a scarf or a blanket. Unfortunately, he had left all of those things back in his dorm.

Instead, Scylla curled himself up tighter, folding his arms and hiding his face, looking every bit like a terrified child, rather than an adult in the sea of people.

Kevin

Kevin had decided to go to the ceremony. Although he might not be the best at academics, he was serious about it, so serious that he'd go to a ceremony eerily similar to the one he'd went to on his first day at the school. He hadn't even met his roommate yet, as he got to his dorm early and went to bed immediately after. That unfortunately meant that now, in this sea of people, this large mass of bodies, he knew no one. Absolutely no one. So he just stood there, trying to find someone to talk to, when he saw an odd young man in the corner, seemingly freaked out about something. Due to his desire to help, he decided to talk to him. So, as he got close enough to talk to him, he reached out his hand, while asking, in a rather soft and quiet voice: "Hey, are you okay?"

Azazel/Zara

Due to old habits, Azazel had set his alarm to wake him up, and so he did. He got up, put his prosthetics and clothes on, brushed his hair a little and walked towars the door. At this point, however, he realized his mistake. He didn't need to wake up. The ceremony wasn't mandatory. And so he immediately went back to bed. Unfortunately, though, he was too awake, and couldn't sleep. And that's why he was reluctantly standing there, in a corner, trying to find someone he knew. After a few minutes of staring at the crowd, leering at people's faces in hopes of recognizing them, he spotted Ira, talking to some kind of humanoid cat. How strange. He walked toward them, to talk to his roommate and his new friend. Or at least he was going to, until someone flinged her arm over his shoulder. It was a rather tall girl, with black locks, and beautiful purple eyes. She was wearing a red T-shirt with an open, white hoodie over it. She also wore black running pants with out stripes, and running shoes that were a combination of white and purple. He would've described her in a different manner were it not his sister, Zara.

"I didn't know you liked these events, brother."

Ira looked up at the stage, noting that the woman in blue had disappeared behind the curtain. He was puzzled. The ceremony was scheduled to start at ten, but it was nearly ten fifteen. He scratched his shoulder hyper actively before turning back to Honey. "Oh it's still taking a while. They're all running very slow," he said. His voice was very quick and fast-paced. Some people would hear him as a fast mumble, but Ira made sure he spoke clearly today. He didn't want to look like a total idiot at the beginning of the year. "The stage is empty," he added, "I'm not sure what's holding them up."

Suddenly, from the curtains rushed the red-haired Miss Easton, in her sleek crimson attire. Her ruby lips were on-point this dashing morning, and the high heels on her feet tapped along the surface of the stage excitedly. The crowd seemed to get quieter with every step she took towards the podium. Finally, she tapped the microphone with her fingers. Freshly painted, silver stiletto nails. The mic made a boom through the auditorium as she tested it, quieting everyone; save for the few hushed murmurs and gentle whispers that whisked through the crowd every so often. Everyone then took their seats. Miss Easton put her hands together and parted those ruby lips into a bright white smile. "Hello and welcome! It's your first day of the school year and Legerman Independent School welcomes you! Before we begin allow me to introduce myself. I am Blanche Easton, your Director and Head of the Elemental Power Class Department, here at Legerman. Many of you will soon refer to me as Miss Easton and I will very much be looking forward to being your teacher. Now, we have a variety of speakers here to open this school year for you this morning. First is me, then I will turn things over to Madam Corrigan, the school's leading expert in the Intellectual Power Class, and disciplinary manager. She will review some of the things you've already heard before but need to be restated anyway: the school's rules, grades, classes, things like that. And she will also deliver a bit of history on the school itself and introduce you to some of the prestige you may have missed out on. Afterwards you will be hearing a bit from our headmaster, Antony Legerman and a conclusion from me again."

"Seems like a lot of over-the-top fanciness" Ira whispered to Honey, as Easton continued to blabber on on the stage. He noted that this would soon be his teacher, as he was an Elemental Changeling. He hoped for the best but expected the worst. What an odd... costume? He didn't know what that odd suit was that Miss Easton wore. But it was certainly foreign to his sense of normalcy.

Frita

okay, thanks roomie for getting me up for the freakin, "let's watch the stage" time. they just don't need to DO any of this. like were already here on campus we can figure out where stuff is just start everything already!! what are they even gonna talk about? ...i bet nobody cares about it.

jeez would you just look at this crowd too. is everyone here a student?? that seems so.... i mean everyone's so OLD... and some people aren't even PEOPLE wtf? are we gonna have to sit in classes like everything's normal? how is that freakin giant sloth-lookin otter-face guy over there even gonna fit in a chair with that tail? and i thought I was a freak lol...

okay hey okay i know i know, i mean it's not like i have room to judge or anything. callin people freaks. im just jealous okay, like I want a tail lol.

where are we even supposed to be? are they gonna start soon? am i supposed to make friends? okay, lets try. lets give it the ol college try!!

Frita crosses her big fluffy arms - it's not easy but she's had a lot of practice - and shuffles through the crowd. This is the oddest group of people she's ever seen in a room. She can't remember the last time she'd seen another Changeling in person - excluding Joy, of course. Hey, maybe Joy was here! Yeah, yeah, there she is back with the teachers! She could just stand over with Joy and not have to socialize...

~~~

Joyce

"No. Get out there and talk to people," said Joy.

shiiiiyet.

Frita mumbled something and turned back around.

Joy didn't get her sometimes. Frito always talked about meeting other Changelings. Especially the animal ones... She was on that forum of hers all the time, furry infinity or something... Did she see that giant cat lady? Joy bet they'd make good friends. She sighed. Kids will be kids.

Not like I don't get what she's going through though. I mean in some part. It's, it's weird to be around Changelings again. There's... I mean... I never thought there would be so MANY! Haha, I guess I never thought about what really goes on in these big academies... Not a vanilla human under the roof, I bet...

Guh. THAT was weird, thinking about 'humans' as something else. Joy didn't much like that line of thought. She watched Frito approach a pair of tall, attractive kids in dark clothing. Joy shuddered. She didn't much like the look of those two.

~~~

Frita

Frita shuffled "nonchalantly" up to Azazel and Zara. "Hey, you guys seem cool, I'm F-"

*BOOM* "Hello and welcome...!"

Frita jumped a bit and turned to face the stage.

aw come on, now its starting!? is... is that the director? no, theres a headmaster too so... shes... guuuh, which one of those is the principal? why cant these schools just name everything like normal... and dayuuuum, why is everyone so freakin ATTRACTIVE in these places? are all the teachers gonna be like that!?

She glanced over at the tall-dark-and-handsome twins. Oh shoot, do they have purple eyes!? Are those contacts, or...? With so many Changelings around, and stylish teens to boot, it was about a fifty-fifty chance. Frita huffed and looked back to the stage. Did those two see her staring? i wasnt really STARING though... shiiiiiiiyet...

A woman leaned against the back wall of the auditorium, overlooking the swarming students as they awaited the arrival of the headmaster. Her arms were folded across her chest, her left index finger tapping impatiently against the forearm it met. She wore an olive green military-style jacket on top of a plain white t-shirt, and her light blue jeans were rather worn out and torn slightly at the bottom. It was clearly an outfit she was comfortable in, at least. Her left eyelids were closed tightly, as if shielding the eye from light, while her right eye was narrowed, the iris wandering as she observed the students.

For a second, Claire caught sight of Corrigan peering out at the crowd from the stage curtain before she disappeared behind that cloth façade. Letting out a slight sigh, she thought, “She must be worried about the ceremony – Seems like Legerman is late… But that isn’t my problem.” She opened her left eye, revealing an intricate, glowing purple mark, enveloping the area where her iris and pupil would be, and spreading out throughout the entire organ. Perhaps its presence wouldn’t be too abnormal for the Changeling students, but anywhere else in society, it would have been a stunning, frightening sight. “My concern should be for the students instead of whatever issue plaguing Corrigan, Easton, or any of the others. My job isn’t to make sure the show runs smoothly, after all.” Indeed, Claire Westgate hadn’t been hired as an administrative assistant at Legerman Academy. If the school had done so, it would have been insulting, as Claire prided herself on combat skills and experience. That was why she had become a mercenary, after all, and why the school had come to her to augment their security systems.

Claire continued to watch as the students entered the auditorium in groups, carefully observing each one as if they could be a threat. She seemed relaxed and calm, but on the inside, she was rather tense. Dangers to the student body and the staff were, of course, more likely when everyone was packed together like they were. These were the thoughts that Claire’s mind dwelled upon as Blanche took the stage. Though she could hear her speech, Claire barely paid attention, instead doing her duty in watching the students and making sure nothing troublesome occurred. She hoped none of them noticed her, as they would question both her appearance and the fact that she was there in the first place. Not many schools hire a mercenary for security, after all.
________________________________________

Thomas was in the midst of the crowd of students as the ceremony began. While many of the others were socializing, and Thomas was a rather outgoing person, he found that he was too preoccupied to bother talking to the other Changelings. The fact that he had apparently not been assigned a roommate was what he was thinking about, and there were numerous reasons why that could have happened. Perhaps his roommate was sick on the first day, or there were an odd number of male students, so he was the leftover student who didn’t have a roommate. The reason behind it was not what mattered to him – rather, it was the fact that part of what he had anticipated for this experience was shattered. As Blanche took the stage, he wondered about this and where that girl he had met on the first day was. Wearing a white t-shirt with blue, short sleeves and shorts, he blended in among the more "normal" members of the crowd quite well.

James

"They're taking their time today, huh?"

A shortish roundish man in blue coveralls stood by his cart at the back of the auditorium. Grinning, he shot Claire a quick glance. "I tripped over s-s-some electric thingy backstage there. May be I ruined the show."

Jimmy was on the wrong side of Claire to notice her eye, but something about her seemed off. The way she carried herself, maybe. If Jimmy had to guess he'd peg her for military. "We'll find out in a fa-few minutes... Hey, I don't think I've seen you around the academy before. Are you new here? Or j-just real quick." He chuckled to himself.

Honey

Honey jumped during the sound test, and winced as Easton began to address her audience, “Ow…” She muttered quietly, reaching up a hand to pull down one of her ears that was on a side closer to the speakers in a futile attempt to drown out some of the noise. She glanced at Ira, “Over-the-top, definitely, but from the expression you’re wearing, I’m guessing you meant her appearance.” She commented softly. “To be completely honest with you, though, my vision in general is really bad, and I can’t actually see anything that far away. Sorry if I didn’t mention it sooner, but people keep thinking that I’m blind when I’m say that, and I’m not.” She confessed, “I’m just really near-sighted.”

Of course, having to mention an issue like this was relatively common, if not absolutely necessary during an introduction. The problem, however, with saying that her vision was poor, was that people seemed to think that she was completely blind, and relying solely on echolocation. It would be a lie to say that sound didn’t help Honey navigate, because in all honesty, she would be in a lot of trouble if she didn’t have good ears. The problem, though, was that for some bizarre reason, when people thought they were talking to a blind person, they seemed to mix up the lack of senses, and often yelled at the top of their lungs for no reason. A blind person could not see, but for some reason, that seemed to translate to others as ‘hard of hearing’.

In general, Honey’s ears hurt a great deal. The auditorium was extremely loud, and Honey’s ears were stronger than a normal human’s. Although she had a great tolerance for the noise of crowds, if the gunshot-sound of the microphone booming  hurt a group of people with normal hearing, one could only imagine how someone with acute animal ears felt.


Scylla

Scylla looked up abruptly at the stranger asking about him, and then immediately pulled his hood back over his head, hiding his face, “Don’t touch me, I’m fine, I’m…perfectly fine….just….too many people, too many people touching….Oh…goodness, why does it hurt? It’s all in your head. It’s all in your head. Stop this you’re being ridiculous…”

He dissolved into an anxious fit of babbling, half to the person, and half to himself. The crazed speech continued for another full minute, before Scylla’s demeanor changed. Suddenly, he stopped, and the white-knuckled grip on his hood loosened, and he went quiet for a few moments, the frantic breathing becoming more even.

“I’m…really sorry to be the cause of concern…I shouldn’t have come into this place. I knew someone would bump into me and that might set me off, but I came anyway.” He muttered, pulling his hands away from his hood and folding them in front of him. “I’ve had haphephobia ever since I was little, and it’s so bad that every time someone touches me, it burns. It’s so stupid, it’s so ridiculous, and I can’t even handle a stupid speech without having a meltdown.” He rubbed his temple with one hand, “—and now I’ve already managed to make a scene on the first day. What am I going to do with my life? What?” He made wild motions with his other hand, seemingly out of frustration, now. The person who had looked terrified moments before now looked severely irritated.

Scylla heaved a sigh of annoyance and stood up, revealing that he was extremely short, and perhaps carried slightly more weight than what someone his size should have. Even so, it was nothing to laugh at, as judging by the bulk on his shoulders, he had a decent amount of muscle, too. Notably, he wore only grey clothing. Everything, from his shirt to his hoodie to the sweatpants and shoes, was the same colorless shade.  The only thing that seemed different was his glasses, which were perfectly round, with thick black frames. The rest of his features looked human, but his eyes were strange, with dark red scleras, yellow irises, and pupils that glowed white like pinpricks of fire. He was wearing a small grey backpack, but if it contained anything, it seemed to be relatively light.

He brushed off his knees, somewhat obsessively, for as long as he took to perform the action, and turned to the stranger who had addressed him, looking him in the eye with no lingering trace of the crippling anxiety or frustration from moments of before, seemingly relaxed now. “Ah,” He paused, seemingly trying to make sure he had a better grasp on his words before speaking, “I’m Scylla…please…ignore the outburst that you saw just now… I admit that I have a problem with touching, and obsessive behaviors…and...well…a lot of things….but…” He seemed to be exerting a great amount of effort to project a sense of normalcy in light of what had just happened, “I don’t really want anyone to think too heavily about it. I know that it’s a problem and trying to deal with the issues has been…ongoing…you could say….heh.” He chuckled slightly, though more from the irony of his own statement.

“I came into the welcoming ceremony deliberately because I knew there would be a lot of people here. I told myself, ‘You’re going to get through this without freaking out’, but that didn’t really do much.” He then looked around at the crowd of people, and reflexively backed up closer to the wall, as if trying to get away from them. “I should probably leave.” He mused, plastering a small smile on his face that would have fooled anyone.

Of course, as genuinely calm as he seemed to be, one couldn’t help but notice that Scylla’s hands were still trembling.

Just a little more time...

Despite her own attempts to subdue it, a feeling of nervousness rose from the pit of Riley's stomach as she approached the growing crowd of Changelings. The feeling was rare for Riley, and the fact that she was experiencing it only resulted in more unwanted feelings bubblings up. It made her irritated. What good is being able to manipulate others' emotions if you become too nervous to control your own?

A pair of brown eyes moved away from Riley's cell phone and towards the crowd as a more conventional attempt for her to calm herself, Riley putting the device in her back pocket. The crowd could no longer be considered a bedlam, as many of the students appeared to have settled down after they were assigned rooms. Granted, Riley still found that many of the students still appeared screwy, but they had the decency to act appropriately during a ceremony. At least they had that going for them

As she scanned the crowd, Riley eventually spotted a familiar - and, given her current state, refreshing - face. What was his name, again? Thomas. Riley looked herself over to make sure nothing was out of place before approaching. Her red shirt that read "I speak fluent movie quote" was visible under her unzipped blue jacket, and her dark blue jeans and open-toe black flats. Her brown hair was in order, braided and resting over her right shoulder. Especially compared to the freaks here, she considered her attire normal.

Riley's thin lips curled into a smile as she walked towards Thomas, making sure to stay aware of the time as she did so. As she neared him, she quietly spoke up, "It's nice to see a familiar face, hm, Thomas?"

Miss Easton continued, tapping her silver nails together. Her red hair seemed to gloss in the path of the stage lights and the rubber, latex-like suit she wore only reflected some of the light back up at them. "Legerman Independent School for Changelings is the highest acclaimed school in the southern states. Being a school of high prestige, we have goals for our students. Here to tell you more about those goals, I present to you, Madame Addilyn Corrigan." Applause followed as the woman-in-blue came onto the stage. Her white boots were foreboding as they stomped across the sleek floor. She held her hands behind her back in a very formal manner and her head was held high. She gave a handshake to Easton before she fled behind the curtain and Corrigan took the podium.

"Hello," she said, grasping the podium firmly. "My name is Madame Corrigan. Here at Legerman Academy I act as two things for this institution. I am a teacher and head of the Intellectual Department, and I am the disciplinary manager. Meaning I am a teacher to those of you with intellectual powers, and I am also the one charged with resolving any behavioral issues among students. For this reason allow me to review some of the campus rules that you were given during admission," she said, shuffling through a few papers on the podium.

"First and foremost," she began, "There are to be no quarrels of any kind between students, faculty, et cetera. Students who disobey this and decide to take it upon themselves to inflict harm upon anyone else within campus will be met with serious punishment. If you have a problem, please take it up with a faculty member or myself. If your problem involves a faculty member, direct it to myself. Please be completely respectful of all individuals on campus. Bullying is not tolerated and will be met with harsh punishment. Now," she said, "Legerman Academy houses dorms for both boys and girls. These are both gender-strict zones. So boys, stay in your dorms and girls, stay in yours. Next, your curfew is eleven o'clock sharp. At eleven, the doors to your dorm halls will lock. You must be inside, lest campus security find you outside and drop you off at my office. Let's spare you the embarrassment and punishment afterward and me the burden of having to get up in the middle of the night to deal with you. Just be inside by your curfew. And no partying after twelve, because some students take their school seriously and need their sleep." Corrigan smiled somewhat, but in such a way that it was not genuine. The only thing that people could smell from her was the stench of authority.

"Power use," she began, "is indeed encouraged on campus. This school was built to help you discover and develop your powers. However, this school's property also costs a lot of money. Please be respectful of the school and its inhabitants. Do not use your powers in such a way that damages the school or anyone or anything in it. We have built "power zones" all across campus which are open from four a.m. to ten p.m. and are completely free to use. Please use any larger, more drastic powers there, to keep our school looking nice and to keep others out of harm's way."

Ira was rolling his eyes. He'd heard this all before. He'd seen it all on the papers he was given. All Corrigan was doing was adding her own stricter-than-death tone on it and cracking it like a whip over the student body. He sighed, tapping his fingers on the arm rest of the chair he was in. "This is exhausting," he murmured to Honey. Ira's head jerked suddenly, when he saw Riley across the floor. Is it that time already...? he thought, a cold chill moving over him. He shook his head. No probably not yet...

Claire turned her head to the right slightly, to the point where she only required her right, normal eye to properly discern Jimmy. She quickly registered his appearance, recognizing him as a custodian at the academy, due to the attire, the cart, and the fact that she had seen him around the campus a few times. These observations were brief, and it was not long before Claire redirected her gaze to the crowd of students listening to the opening ceremony speeches.

"Actually, I've been here for quite some time," Claire responded, shifting her posture against the wall slightly to something appearing slightly more relaxed. "I was hired for security purposes - I tend to stay out of sight, though I made an exception for this ceremony." She stepped forward, redistributing her weight from the wall to her feet, and turned to face Jimmy fully. "I'm Claire Westgate, it's nice to meet you." She stuck her hand out and awaited a handshake, though she wasn't sure if the custodian would be caught off guard by the luminescent brand she bore on her left eye.

_________________________________________________________________

Thomas smiled as he turned to face Riley. The meeting wasn't entirely expected for him, and was indeed a welcome surprise. "It is, Riley," He agreed with a chuckle. "I hope your time here so far has been better than mine." He started to pay attention to the stage as Corrigan began to speak, and listened for a while before looking back. "The Academy seems strict, though I suppose it makes sense considering its purpose. I can only imagine the designated areas for power use will be crowded soon enough." With a sudden worried expression, he asked her, "By the way, have you met your roommate yet? I either don't have one, or they've disappeared."

Frita

Snort. "And we can only take a dump tween the hours of five an six, monday to friday." But she said it quietly. That woman was kinda intimidating.

~~~

James

"Well hi Claire, it's nice to... uuuhh..." Jimmy's face went momentarily blank. Don't mention her eye, don't mention her eye, don't-

"To... See you." Hwoops. "To meet you, I mean. Well, Claire, you can call me J-Jimmy." He gave Claire's hand a good shake, though he wasn't sure it wouldn't bite him. Jimmy half-turned away to watch the stage.

"I guess we're just a couple of old t-timers then. Security, huh? Must be awful exciting, s-st-standin' around all day." He smiled. "Me, I'm always busy, hehehe. But I'd take th-that over what you folks must deal with. Well you must be th-the guys who deal with those, uuuh, conflicts that Madame C-Corrigan's talkin about, right?"

A teacher leaned against the wall backstage, hidden from the view of the students and clad in a black suit and a crossword puzzle-themed tie. His hazel eyes stared forward at the curtain as Corrigan took Miss Easton’s place. Since the “opening ceremony” began, Dr. Daniel Richards had remained completely stoic, this admittedly being out of boredom. Curiosity about Legerman’s speech is the only thing that lead him to come to the ceremony – his presence was by no means necessary – but now, Legerman was late and, despite the ceremony having started, still not present. This left Richards consequently focusing more on how he could have benefited far more by staying in his office and studying for tomorrow’s lesson, or even continue his own personal study of Aeolic Greek and Sappho’s writings.

Richards was snapped out of his train of thought when he saw Miss Easton exit backstage behind the curtain. His eyes twinkled with realization that this at least gave him an opportunity to speak to someone, granted Miss Easton wasn’t always the most social people. His eyes followed her form for a moment before he quietly spoke up.

“Lovely speech, Miss Easton. I trust you are doing alright this morning?”

While he meant for the first remark to be a compliment, Richards’ flat tone and blank expression made it rather difficult to tell whether he was legitimately complimenting the poor woman or being sarcastic.

----------
Riley
---------

“It’s been okay – not much has really happened,” Riley responded to Thomas when he asked her about her time there. She was honestly not paying any mind to Corrigan’s speech. All the woman was doing was trying to reinforce her “strict principal from Matilda” getup, as many of the students could easily know the rules if they had actually read about the school before their arrival or studied the handbook, which was already advised. This being said, most of her attention was directed at either the crowd of students or towards Thomas, staying aware of the time, all the while.

For just a brief moment, Riley locked eyes with yet another familiar face. Ira. Her left hand went up to play with her braid, fingers resting on the hair tie. Not yet – almost, but not now.

As Thomas started speaking again, her eyes went back to him, though her hand continued messing with her braid, twirling some of the hair at the end. “I actually doubt they’ll be filled,” Riley responded quietly. “At least, not during the first week when a lot of these… kids will want to goof off. As for the roommate situation…” Riley furrowed her brow, “I didn’t have one assigned, yet, but I think it’s just because of the fact that it’s hard to identify which power classes some changelings should be identified with.” She was trying to stress the “don’t worry about it” aspect behind her sentence, but in truth, she was slightly worried, but for reasons Thomas wouldn’t know about. They wouldn’t… would they? No, none of them are here yet, right? Oh yeah - The time, the time…

Riley’s eyes once again glanced around the auditorium and she began to untie her hair. It was a simple enough movement that would not bring much attention – girls play with their hair all the time, after all – but she knew who was paying attention to her and what her doing this signaled. It was time to get ready. She was done with her job, for now, and it was time for everyone else to do theirs. Riley slipped the hair tie onto her wrist and glanced at Thomas again before whispering, “I sense emotions, and someone here has some… rancid emotions right now. Just be prepared, okay?” A lie, but at least it would keep him alert, hopefully. She would have felt guilty, otherwise.

One after another. That was the order of students excusing themselves from the ceremony. There didn't all pop up at once, but at intervals. And Ira felt his heart beating through his chest like a gong as he stood up, leaving Honey without another word. Those fingers. He still saw them in his mind as they had let down that hair. They were his green light. They were his signal. And he felt his feet moving, as if he had no control over them, and saw the back of the boy who had gotten up before him as it disappeared out the auditorium doors. His excuse was that he needed to use the restroom, but of course it wasn't written in stone.

The far west fence border, he thought. He knew that place. His feet took him to it, through the winding roads. The other students that had left the auditorium with him had now split off from him and he was completely alone. A glossy tear lingered in his left eye, just dying to drop. He stopped, suddenly, as he had reached his destination and eyed the long stone-rock fence in front of his face longingly. Was this the fence of demise? Would this be the fence he would be behind when his heart ran out. Would he see his last sunrise over the top of it? Ira turned his back to it. He saw along the ground, just in front of him, a small black joystick with a red button on it. He picked it up and clicked it.

He waited. He watched. The next phase was coming.


_____________________________________________

Miss Easton stopped at Richards' call and gave a rich smile. She turned, her high heels tapping against the sleek tile floor. "Yes, it's been a wonderful morning," she said. "Warms my heart to see such a fine turnout of young men and women, with eager minds hungry for knowledge to come to the Academy. Wouldn't you agree? I spoke with a few of them briefly yesterday about their powers. We have some very unoriginal individuals here this year. Far more unique, I think, than all the past years combined!" she said, happily tapping her fingers together.

Thomas furrowed his brow and quickly glanced around upon Riley's warning. "Rancid emotions... Huh." He muttered, loud enough for Riley to be able to hear. He wasn't sure what the girl was on about, but at least the comment had allowed him to piece together a part of her abilities as a Changeling - She was able to detect emotions. It made sense, considering she had mentioned that she was in the sensory class the last time they had met.

Thomas wasn't sure if there was any real danger to back up what Riley had said, but nonetheless, he wanted to be alert in case something did happen. He inched closer to her, before whispering, "If anything happens, Riley, I want you to stay close to me. Understand?" Thomas knew that, in a dangerous situation, he could protect himself, and others. His power allowed him to create energy barriers that could be manipulated, and used in order to shield anything behind them from harm. It was an ability that fit him quite well, considering how he tended to be rather protective. "I shouldn't show you why right now, but you need to trust me." He continued, cautiously observing the other students. He watched them leave, in their intervals, but didn't really suspect anyone in particular of harboring negative emotions - not even Ira, who Thomas briefly saw leaving the ceremony.

_______________________________________________________________________________

"Nice to meet you too, Jimmy." Claire responded with a grin. "Part of my job is to break up fights, though they don't happen enough. This place is usually fairly quiet." While this conversation took place, Claire had noted Jimmy's uncomfortable manner following him seeing her left eye. "Figures. I don't blame him." She mused. "IT disturbs me too, after all."

She watched the students begin to leave, with an expression resembling one of relief. Nothing special had happened during the ceremony, though she wasn't quite worried about a fight breaking out or anything. She needed to continue to observe, however, just in case. She stayed like that for a while, silent, until she realized that it would be rather awkward for Jimmy. "I apologize for not speaking much, by the way," She said, tilting her head towards the custodian. "I'm not quite one for conversation."

Richards smiled slightly when Miss Easton happily responded to his question. It seemed like she was willing to speak with him despite her usually evasive personality. As she spoke, he subconsciously messed with the cufflinks of his suit jacket. “It is a fine turnout,” he echoed before continuing. “I am quite excited, myself, to have the opportunity to teach the students, this year, especially with the lesson plan I have organized, but if I started trying to explain it, I would probably keep you here too long, as I’m sure you’re a busy woman.” Richards thought nothing of the statement as he continued speaking, meaning it rather literally due to his own naiveté, not thinking of other ways the statement could be processed. “I have to say, though, that I believe the previous students were equally unique. This year does seem to have many eager minds, however.”

______________________________________________________

To Riley’s own relief, Thomas did seem more alert. That relief was followed by the guilt she had tried to avoid, however, when he told her to stay close to him if something happened. The statement was probably meant to calm her, but instead made her nerves act up once again, and she felt her stomach knot up.

He had no idea, and she knew it. No idea that whatever chaos may ensue, Riley could have prevented all of it with the simple movement of her hand. She could have avoided whatever is going to happen to everyone, and she knew it. With such a small gesture, she was a major contributor to an approaching storm, and yet this… this boy was already pretty much telling her that he’s going to try to help protect her if something did go wrong like she had hinted at him. He had told her to trust him, and he trusted her enough to at least take her "worries" for granted, despite having no idea what was about to happen, nor any clue that Riley had just signaled for it. He had no idea and it made her sick.

Riley realized she was staring blankly ahead, taking a few seconds to respond to Thomas’ statement and quickly sent him the most relieved smile she could muster. Her mouth felt dry as she stammered out an “okay.” Her eyes glanced back as she watched the small handful of selected “students” leave at different intervals, sealing the meaning of her signal and perhaps the fates of many. She clenched her right hand into a fist and glanced back at the teacher who was still quoting the rule book. Things were going to be okay for her, and that was her main concern, right?

Right?

________________________________________________

They felt their veins pulsate with life as each of the selected Changelings arrived at their assigned spots, sending their own life energy to the figure. A trembling pale hand tightly gripped the white cloak that hid the rest of the figure's identity as they found a comfortable spot in the vacant classroom where they could watch the rest of the campus from the window. Slowly, the thin hand released the edge of the cloak, leaving a ghost of its presence in its place in the form of a wrinkled imprint. Their hand still shaking with energy, the figure slowly raised it towards the ceiling before clenching it into a fist. Just like that, their hand steadied. The lights of the classroom flickered with the rest of the campus as the sky's normal colors was replaced with an array of red, the color of the dome that now rested around the school campus and some of the lands near it. The figure sunk to the ground, letting out a huff of air. It had begun.

James

"Oh, now you don't mind m-me at all, Claire." The little man smiled and shook his head down at the cart. "I know you got your job to do. And me, too. They have us cleaning out the caf tonight so everyth-thing's ready for tomorrow." He leaned into his cart to get it bumbling across the auditorium floor with a squeak squeak squeak.

Jimmy turned back to give Claire a little wave. "D-don't you worry though. I look mean, but I won't cause any trouble. Hehehe..."

Boy, I could have lived without seeing an eye like that. Jimmy frowned as he squeaked away. He couldn't help but feel guilty. Claire'd seemed nice - a little reserved, a little strung-up like she was just waiting to pounce... but nice. And still... I've seen my share of Changeruns, or what they're called, but something about that eye just pushes the wrong buttons. Well, maybe it took me off guard, is all. Hey, is everything over with? This place is emptying awful fast... Well, kids are kids. They're going off to some party. As he pushed through a side door Jimmy made a mental note to keep his eye out for any stumbling revelers who might need a discreet ride home later. Rules is rules, but the kinda behavioral standards the folks keep up around here... Sure no one would mind if I looked the other way just for the first night, hehehe.

Ira was on his back. The dirt and grass was packed heavy against his spine, but cracked from his hard impact. He felt a horrid, electric pain running through his body. It was the kind of pain felt when a person is struck by lightning. Ira's heart was now beating slowly but harshly and deeply. Enough to vibrate his whole body with one little beat following beat. He grabbed his chest, the article from which the energy had dispersed and constructed the great transparent scarlet dome that was now over campus. He felt the wall of the dome above his head. It was just behind him, the top of his head touching it as he laid there on the hard ground. He reached out, trying desperately to make a stand. It was as though his body defied him. He could not come to his feet and his vision blurred. Lights closed in and darkness licked his form, stroking him delicately.

"N-n-no..." he said, wheezing in excruciating pain. "I c-can't die... Not like this. God, please... Help..." he cried.

______________________________________________________________________________

"Of course, we do have a system of punishment here at Legerman," Corrigan went on, smiling coyly. "You have a variety of strikes. But certain actions do deserve certain punishments and we may bypass this at times. Now, one important thing to remember is--" she stopped, suddenly, as she saw a figure rapidly climbing onto stage from the side. It was Cassius in his purple glamour, panting as he stamped across the stage like a rushing horse.

"Corrigan, call off the ceremony. We have an emergency outside. Something just went over campus," Cassius said, grabbing the sides of the podium and gasping for breath. "It's some kind of... bubble. It's red. The whole sky is red. There's something going on. I'll direct these children to safety while you go outside and take care of this," he said, grabbing the microphone. He spoke into it carefully, but his voice was raffled by the great urgency of the moment. "Students, we are entering a sudden state of emergency. This may be surprising and scary to some of you. But please follow my instructions carefully. We are all going to exit to the underground fallout shelters and bunkers until we figure out what is going on. We will brief you on the situation once you get down there. Please, in an orderly fashion take the nearest exit and make your way to the nearest Shelter exit you can find. There are tons throughout campus, but the nearest are outside of this building and across the road. Please move quickly, but please move orderly!" he said, signaling for other teachers to open the doors for the flood of students to move.

______________________________________________________________________________

"Hi again, Legerman Academy."

The sound boomed throughout campus. Metal shards were scattered through the air with such violent force that they would undoubtedly fracture bone upon contact. The gates of campus were demolished by a large white semi pushing through at a dangerous speed and followed by two more. They roared with visceral mechanized bloodlust as they pushed to halts as they steamrolled into the center of campus. Smoke winded and weaved through the area and gently foamed from the surface of the road and the hot wheels. Finally the back of the trucks burst open, their doors swinging out limply. Large ramps were kicked down as an armada of black motorcycles swarmed from the backs of the trucks. Two black SUVs made their way into the area as well.

The front doors of one of the semis opened, releasing about four figures. One was the voluptuous Regina, fixing her hair as she stuffed a few extra knives into her pants and walked on. Extending a hand, she helped the red-eyed man out of the truck. With one hand be made his way out by hers, and with the other he held a thin cigarette. As his thick-soled boots tapped against the asphalt, a chill of excitement ran through Regina's bones. He shut the door behind him and removed a pistol, black as a cat, from his ebony fur coat. "Claire should be arriving any second. Prepare for her. And find Corrigan and remove her. They are the two I wish to kill first and foremost, before they get to the Lady. They must be dead within the hour."

"Oh, is that so?" A shot was fired. The man had moved just in time, as the hairs of his fur coat were whisked by the very wind of the bullet. He turned slowly and looked on at the woman, Corrigan, in her blue uniform which was the very incarnation of intimidation. Yet it phased him not. He only cracked a toothy grin as he puffed more smoke from his cigarette. Corrigan stood, holding her own pistol up. "And who is this 'Lady'? Where can I find her? Who are you working for, worthless bastard?"

"Now that's no way to talk to a gentleman," said the man, tucking his pistol back into his coat and raising his left hand, covered in its black glove. He swiftly pointed his first two fingers at her, and she felt a strange power overcome her hands. Shadows from under the tree off to the distance spread to her, materializing in 3-D form as long black tendrils. They whipped the gun from her hand and slashed it in two, causing a few bullets to snap and explode on the concrete. Quickly, the tendrils dissipated after. "I'm glad you're here though, you certainly saved me the time of hunting you down."

"Who are you?" Corrigan said, holding her hands up and preparing herself for mental attacks. The red-eyed man puffed more smoke from his mouth.

"You know, that's a good question. Tell you the truth even I'm not sure anymore. My identity changes with the rising of every sun. This personality fades and that personality appears. It's all just a whim. Most people call me Virgo, though, if you're looking for labels," he said. He chuckled a bit as he tapped his cigarette and puffed some more. "Eh, it's too early for me to divulge my thoughts. I just want this job done. So if you'll do me the favor and hold still while I shoot you in the face, that'd sure as hell be helpful."

Corrigan chuckled, grinning. "I don't think so, big guy. Now why don't you tell me more about this 'Lady' of yours, and why you're here in the first place," she said, a stern authoritative person in her voice. She kept her attention not solely on him, but also on her surroundings, and on Regina. Corrigan's heart began to race as she heard gunshots being fired across campus. Virgo only seemed to start smiling. They appeared as a gentle lullaby to his ears and he began to grow a deep smile.

"Ah, now that's a melody," he said as he finally tossed the cigarette. "Been a long time since I've heard that sound. Mass gunfire. And by a long time I mean since Tuesday. We busted a large Primacy military camp," he said, laughing. Corrigan's eyes widened with innate fear, having heard the news on the radio only a few days ago. Were these guys truly that advanced and well equipped? How many were they? Surely this little gang wasn't all. Virgo went on. "But to answer your question, there's really not much I can say about the Lady. Only that she's had more influence over your life than you could ever imagine. That's all I'm saying about it. Now, back to my request. Please stand still and I'll make this quick," he said, pointing a finger outwards towards Corrigan.

Corrigan dodged as a sharp bullet fired from the man's gloved fingertip. A bullet composed of shadow, crystallized by some alien means and fired at her. She had moved just before its discharge and quickly threw her hands out, sending a pulse that Virgo could feel quaking the very ground beneath him. He suddenly was pounded back into the wall of a building aside the street and hit solid brick. He let out a loud yowl and began to pick himself off the wall. "No, Regina," he shouted as the girl began to move into position. "Let me handle this one."

Where have I seen this man before... Corrigan moved into position and threw another pulse at Virgo. However, he skipped off to the side as a fighting expert and made his way back to the road. His entire body rapidly shifted into a pillar of black energy, transforming from color to a demonic black and proceeding intercourse with the ground. Flattening itself into two dimensional shape and sliding across the ground as a black shadow. Corrigan panicked, sending pulses in the ground to crack the street. It did no good as the shadow encircled her several times, before attacking her own shadow. She felt a horrid feeling inside of her, as though her very soul were being tugged from her body. Her skin went pale and she felt the coldness fall upon her, and a chilling sweat broke out over her in an instant. Just before a dark hand finally shot from the ground and grabbed her. She quickly punched it and grabbed it, pulling it out and lifting it over her head.

Virgo was pulled out from the ground and took three-dimensional shape again, and was body-slammed by Corrigan into the asphalt. The groaning and howling of the man was hard for Regina to hear, but Virgo's smile afterward was that of triumph. He pulled his hand from Corrigan and came to his feet. He lifted his right hand, which was cased by a sharp and out-of-place scarlet glove. It looked almost robotic and glowed with many runic grooves upon it. Corrigan's eyes flashed to full moons as she felt her body being pulled back by the very power that had taken her years to master. Telekinesis. She rolled across the road. As she came to a stop, she spat and wiped the black crumbs of asphalt from her face. "How did you do that?" she said, getting up. "Your power... It's Erebokinesis... Isn't it? You have no intellectual power."

"Hah, you're right in a sense," he said, as his eyes came to ogle the red glove. "I'm an Elemental, sure. But this here, this is the Red Hand. But I call her Jezebel. And she... well she's pretty amazing. One touch is all it takes, and I can duplicate every power you possess. It's really funny, truly." His happy tone grew much more serious. "You all think you're so unique. You're pathetic. In actuality you're all so expendable, all it takes is one touch to recreate everything that makes you so special. Little greedy brats, children who think they're entitled to something. That's all you people are. I'm not blind, I see it. And with one simple tap I take away every trace of your individuality. So shut the hell up and taste the dirt of your grave." Virgo gave Corrigan only a simple glance.

Corrigan felt a pain in her heard as though her brains might flee through her forehead. It was more excruciating than a migraine, more powerful than a tumor. Corrigan began screaming at the top of her lungs, holding her eyes and her forehead and falling to her knees. Virgo merely smiled, hearing Regina chuckle over his shoulder. He lost the energy to keep the mental attack up and Corrigan stopped screaming. She held her face for a few minutes, before coming to stand again. Blood rushed from her nose, and a few veins must have burst in her eyes. "Y-y-you bastard..."

Virgo began laughing, his high-pitched laugh was eerie to behold and sent more aggravation into Corrigan's head. "Darling, I told you it would've been easier if you--"

"You can't duplicate my skills," Corrigan said, "Only my power. If you could transfer my experience to yourself, you could've killed me. This just shows me you can only steal my power and use a raw, untrained form of if. Unfortunately for you, the power doesn't come with the years of concentrated training and experience that went into improving and developing it. Otherwise you could've kept that attack going more than a few seconds," she said. "Although this does demonstrate to me my weakness. I must learn to resist attacks like that, even more than I already have. Now, let's finish this up," she said. Corrigan finally rushed forward and held out her hand. She lifted Virgo up into the air, and making a choking-gesture with her hands, held him by the neck in the air. He floated above, suspended by Corrigan's invisible hands. "Tell me who you're working for, damn it!"

Virgo gritted his teeth, grunting as he felt her grip tighten invisibly around his neck. Finally he waved his hand and Corrigan felt the tangling of weeds around her. She felt a dark force as black tendrils wrapped around her and broke her power, wrapping around her hand. Virgo fell to the ground, grunting. Regina immediately ran to him to ensure he was alright. Frustrated, he pushed her out of the way as he came to his feet and brushed himself off. "Bitch," he said, "This coat was expensive. I don't want dirt."

"Don't kid yourself. You stole that coat, you animal."

Frita

woah woah what!?

Frita looks around her at a sea of confused faces - some scared, some indifferent. There's a knot in her stomach but she's not really sure how to feel. guess we... follow the leaders? okay. good first day, probably gonna get murdered and exciting stuff. cool. writin home about this place.

"Hey, uhh..." She taps tall-dark-and-purple-eyed on his shoulder. "Does this... Um, do you guys know what's goin on?"

~~~

Joyce

Joy stands, wide-eyed, at one of the doors; her boss is holding it open and directing people out, so she waves and tries to look confident. Was this usual for this place? I ain't so sure I want Frita in a school like this. God... At least Cassius seems to know what's going on. She only knew the man by name but his demeanor was serious. Urgent, but like he knew what he was doing.

Knows what he's doing...

Suddenly, Joyce feels very in-the-way. There's got to be something else she can do other than stand by this stupid door. But Frita's still out there... She scans the crowd. Is it me, or are there a lot less kids here?

~~~

Frita

"Joy!!"

"Frito, hey! You gotta, just follow-"

"Joy what's even going on? What's, what're-"

"It's okay Frito, just, follow everyone else. They're gonna take you down-"

"Do you know what's happening!?"

"-down to the bunker. Or something. Guuuuh, just -"

"Are we gonna-"

"Just, I'll see you in a few minutes, okay? I'll come down there and see you. Few minutes. It's all cool, Frito! Just a few minutes!"

The crowd swept her along past Joy. Frita reluctantly turns around and follows the other students down the hall to what she presumes are the fallout shelters or whatever. She catches a glimpse out the window - and really wishes she hadn't. what the HELL....!?

And then - "Hi again, Legerman Academy." Gunshots... A chill runs down her spine and she hurries her feet (still careful to keep close to the tall-dark-and-purple twins, cause hey, they seem tough).

~~~

James

The custodian backs his way through a door and out into the night. It's a few meters of squeak squeak squeak before Jimmy thinks to look up.

"Huh," he observes.

(I apologize for the bad quality of this post, can't really focus.)

Azazel

Azazel had been quietly listening to Corrigan's speech about the things he already knew, more out of boredom than interest. But then, of course, it happened. A sudden evacuation, which immediately brought his imagination to the surface, as he got stuck deep in thought about what happened. He was pulled from his thoughts by Frita. "Maybe it's an exer..." but he stopped when he heard gunshots. gunshots. Did he accidentally sign up for the suicide squad or a school for gifted youngsters? He certainly didn't know. Heck, he didn't even know what was going on. Nor did his sister, or most of the people in the chamber.

"Azazel, we should evacuate. Azazel!" Zara had said, pulling Azazel from yet another train of thoughts. "Yes, we should. You should evacuate, too." He said, looking at the bear girl. This was also the first time he got a good look at her, and the very first thing he noticed were her humongous arms. What in the hell.... Actually, I don't even want to know.
His elder sister grabbed his hand and walked onward, pulling him along with the masses.

Zara

[i]What the hell is going on?[i]

This was the only thought Zara could muster, as she pulled her calm brother along, worried as hell. This was not how she imagined her second day at school would be, not at all. At the sound of gunshots, she also prepared to run if need be.

"Hi again, Legerman Academy."

At those words, Claire froze mid-sprint, sliding across a short distance of the hallway floor with a harsh squeak."Goddammit." She thought, gritting her teeth. "Virgo."

As soon as Cassius had taken the stage to inform everyone of the current situation, Claire had jumped into action - or rather, ran. She crashed through the swarming students, shoving some of them aside in the process, and bolted towards the outside of the facilities. But when she heard that voice, echoing throughout the academy - it made her blood run cold, if only for a few seconds. Before long, she ran at full speed once more. Claire had no doubts that Virgo, and whoever he was working with, was expecting her. Finally, she found her destination - the center of campus, the origin of the chaos and where the trucks had released the rage they held within their metal confines. She paid very brief attention to everything except for the sight of Virgo and Corrigan. She watched helplessly as tenebrous tendrils pinned Corrigan to the ground, in that moment the only thing she was capable of was moving closer so she could confront Virgo herself.

"Let her go, Virgo!" She roared, each word lanced with unbridled fury and wrath. She quickly rolled up the sleeves of her jacket, and clenched her fists tightly. "No, not yet." Calmer thoughts rushed to her head, urging her not to act rashly. "He may not know what I am capable of yet."

_______________________________________________________________________________

Due to Riley’s warning, Thomas expected at least something to occur - perhaps a rogue Changeling testing out his powers on the rest of the student body. He wasn't quite prepared, however, for something on the scale and coordination of the attack that they now faced. He was determined to keep Riley, and others, protected, but what that involved had changed in his mind. The word “again” in Virgo’s announcement confirmed his worst fear - that whoever was attacking knew the school, which meant that the bunkers were likely to not be safe.

Thomas took one look at the flood of students rushing to the exits, and gulped. He wasn’t sure if he was capable of helping all of these people, even though he knew his power would let him do so - it was a mentality issue. He looked back at Riley, and outstretched his arm, an open palm in front of the girl he barely knew. “Remember, stay close to me.” He asked, putting on a half smile that he hoped would be reassuring to her.

Honey


Even as the sounds of gunshots filled the air, and despite the panic that filled the gigantic crowd of students, Honey found herself oddly…calm. Throughout all of this discord, she found herself absorbing the shock, taking it in, just like anything else someone would process. In a few brief moments, she had already concluded what she had suffered nightmares about before coming to the school. Just like any other large campus, Legerman Academy could be a target, even if it contained masses of changeling students with potentially lethal powers. Whether this was an act of terrorism or anti-Primacy groups, she didn’t know, but she was pretty positive that this was a mass attack on the entire school, and that failure to act would surely mean death.
 
Was she some sort of psychopath? How was she even able to handle all of this, in the midst of the chaos as everyone began moving towards the bunkers? She could feel her feet moving, even though in some way, she felt as if her mind were strangely separated from her body. Perhaps she wondered if she might die, anyway. She didn’t even want to be in the school to fight, despite it being militarized. She wanted to use her powers to help protect the plant life in the world from extinction, and she had been willing to do many things to achieve that goal. Why was this kind of madness in her life even fair? Was it her fault that she had to get ripped out of her own native realm, wherever that was, and just dropped onto a planet where nobody really saw her as a person, but a monster that needed to be killed?
 
“I’ve seen this before”
 
She thought grimly. It wasn’t that she had ever been in a mass shooting, but she had seen this sort of senseless, irrational violence, the unwarranted cruelty towards innocents, even children. It was so well-calculated, so beautifully planned; what better ways to kill were there than to ambush an opening ceremony? They wanted everyone to evacuate towards the bunkers calmly, but the truth was that the more orderly they shuffled out, the easier they would be to mow down. Attacking and fighting back, too, was hopeless, since everyone as already running, and there would not be any strength in numbers if she tried. Not only this, but hadn’t the strange speaker also used the word, ‘Again’ in his speech? Whoever was attacking knew the school. She doubted that using the same escape routes that this individual was familiar with would yield a favorable result.
 
Whoever had arrived here had taken the advantage, and flawlessly. It filled Honey with a strange combination of grief, despair and…defiance? A part of her wasn’t sure what the emotion was. The most she knew was that she had no desire to play the part of the victim, even if she was. There were plenty of victims who bawled their eyes out, screamed, and lost their minds, and she was sure the people that hated changelings would be delighted to see someone who was more beast than human in appearance die. Perhaps there was regret for the human-faced kids, but nobody would regret the death of a cat-thing. The more different you were, the easier it was to make it out like you were separate, that somehow, it was a rational decision to kill, and that you could feel free to distance yourself.
 
Honey didn’t want to finish the thought, but perhaps it was easier for her to ignore human deaths, too. All she knew was that over the years, after the constant reminders of how she wasn’t human, after constantly getting treated more like a trained gorilla by strangers, a kind of distance had fallen between her and human-faced people. There was this distinct numbness, and perhaps this was why she was still able to think rationally, without panicking. Perhaps deep down, she had always expected a day like this to come, and she had just been preparing for it.
 
She looked to her side, where she heard someone quietly fidgeting: how could she still pick that up? Ira, whoever he was, had abandoned her; she supposed he wasn’t a real friend, then. She had been hoping they could be friends, and he seemed like such a nice person, but he had vanished without a word.  One part of her was worried, but the other half of her, the cold, critical half, warned that to concern herself with looking for someone in the midst of this chaos could earn her an early grave. Her movements had brought her to the corner of the room, and the new person who now fidgeted by her side was a short, stocky individual who was dressed all in grey.
 
Honey found herself wanting to stay by this person, she wasn’t sure why, perhaps it was because that soft, quiet rubbing together of fingers, suggested that even in the height of madness, he was still maintaining something resembling control. He carried the straps of his backpack with a vice-like grip using his other free hand. She noticed a pale-faced young man next to the stranger. It didn’t seem like they knew of each other, but in bad times, people often stuck by whoever they had met first, even if there was no sort of attachment.
 
Honey slowed down to match their pace, keeping one ear turned towards the center of the room, listening for any tell-tale indication that gunshots had made their way into the auditorium. The real danger was going outside to look for a means of escape; if she took the closest shelter, it may or may not be dangerous, but at the same time, as long as she was out there, they could find her and kill her. She needed to find a place where nobody would look.
 
Her other ear turned towards the two she had just encountered, while her blurry vision remained fixed ahead of her. She felt her plant’s roots tighten around her shoulder, as if anticipating danger, and its leaves curled tightly, as if afraid.
 
“Hey, you two,” She kept her voice relatively low, just barely loud enough to be heard among the commotion. Her head was lowered, as if she wanted to remain hidden. “Can you hear me?” She asked.
 

Scylla
 
Scylla turned to look at the source of the question and nearly jumped out of his skin in shock. Very, very close, a fluffy cat monster with a big fern-ball thing on its shoulder, walking right beside him. He had to recover from this for a brief moment, “It’s another changeling, she’s talking to you calmly, she’s not touching you and she’s not here to hurt you.” He processed this briefly, and then his face relaxed, save for the faint tensing of fingers that had been present, even before faced with this stranger. Scylla was not sure what was happening, he had just decided to stay by the wall where he had been and to move slowly. He had no time to introduce himself to the stranger who had pulled him out of his meltdown, but even so, moving around was not easy, so the crowd not only scattered but forced people together.
 
“Yes, I can hear you,” Scylla replied, his hand clenching the strap of his backpack tighter.
 
“Have you seen a boy with pale blonde hair and blue eyes anywhere?” The cat-thing asked.
 
“Ah…no…I am sorry.” Scylla wondered, why on earth was someone asking for him to identify a random stranger, and why, above all, with such a vague description, and in this mess?
 
“Well, I tried. I figured I’d ask and go looking if anyone saw him, but since you haven’t, there’s not any time for that. One answer is as good as any, can’t give a better description than that.” The creature said, her ears twitching at the sounds of gunfire.
 
“Who are you?” Scylla shrank back, not sure if he should trust this person or not. She seemed too calm for what was happening. Although he was thinking rationally, Scylla was extremely scared that he wouldn’t live to see tomorrow, and his hatred of being touched was not helping him when there was a gigantic crowd panicking around him, and a cat-thing speaking to him. She wasn’t any larger than a normal person, but all that fur changed things.
 
“I’m another student; I know just about as much regarding this stuff as anyone else.” The creature replied evenly, her face set stiff and emotionless. “Listen carefully, does either of you two have the power to sense what’s out there? That person who spoke just now is familiar with the academy. If we aren’t careful, we’ll be walking into a trap.” She said.
 
Sensing what’s out there? She was looking for a sensory-class changeling.
 
“Ah….I can sense sentient beings…but if it’s an animal or a robot, I can’t…” Scylla replied, not sure why he was still having this conversation. He was still shaken by the concept that the speaker was familiar with the school. This person was right, if he knew what the academy was like, they might just be waiting to execute everyone in the bunkers.
 
“That’s good enough.” The creature replied. “If you can sense what’s out there, then try to distinguish the crowd from…anything else….” She stressed the word, and the forward-facing eyes narrowed with something approaching expectation.
 
“Wait, why do you want me to-“  Scylla began to ask, but the creature cut him off.
 
“Listen carefully: we are dealing with a coordinated, well-planned attack on our school by someone who knows about it already. Why would I want you to do that?” She pressed, asking the question back.
 
“…to….watch…” He drifted off…
 
“…to make sure people aren’t dying, where we’re going.”

Kevin

Kevin. A naïve little brat who wasn't even used to spouting insults, much less a friggin' terrorist attack. No, really, he was freaking out, scared out of his mind, mumbling things like "it's gonna be okay" and "You'll be fine" to himself, trying to calm down. His eyes were wide from shock, and he was scratching at his face. Honey's voice brought a change to that, and brought him back to his senses. That calm tone was oddly calming to him, for some reason. He took the time to look at her for a second, her appearance a bit strange. He stared, and stared, until he realized he'd been asked a question.

"I-I can s-s-see really ff-far" He managed to say, stuttering from the fear and anxiety. He was on the verge of tears.