[b]Chandra[/b]

"This is how we roll down here, we're packin' heat 'cause it's cold down here! Hold your own, don't show no fear! Or you're gonna lose your soul out here!" The [i]Hollywood Undead[/i] music blasted out of Chandra's earphones, her expression unwavering from impassiveness.  The music brought joy to her; it reminded her of her old friends back in San Francisco.  She tried her hardest to keep in touch, but there was not a reliable internet connection signal in her hometown.  She also figured her adoptive parents were making it difficult for her too.  They weren't thrilled about her choice of friends nor where it had led her. 

Chandra jumped as a loud boom rattled the ground and threw her off balance. It had been audible over her music, too.  Chan swore fluently in Spanish when her body slammed onto the ground, her buds falling out of her ears.  What in God's name was that? She growled as she clutched the dirt in front of her and pushed herself up slowly, her right prosthetic leg aching.  Perhaps this was uncommon... Either way, it seemed as if shit were going down and she wanted in on it.  Going to school to sit in a old and dilapidated classroom was never on her agenda - at least, not as much anymore. Her classes right now were not interesting.  Why should she care about English? She knew how to read and write effectively. That was enough for her.  She didn't plan on becoming a best-selling novelist.  That was too boring for her.

As she climbed to her feet, her boot became tangled up in vines. Chandra cursed more, an accent beginning to poke through. She had learned not only how to speak Spanish, but create an accent for it as well.  When people asked about her origins and she did not have an answer, she pretended to be Hispanic. Chandra groaned and tugged the vines off her boot and finally stood back up, scowling.  After removing her hair and snatching leaves and sediment from it, she continued on her way into Perdido beach. She stuffed her stolen iPod and earbuds into her pocket and turned it off.  Black smoke, she noticed, was rising from a particular spot and she could see half a plane. Excellent - a plan had crashed. Shit was crazy here. She , her eyes brightening with excitement.  Chaos, bloody fucking chaos. Her friends would've loved to see this. Perhaps it was being aired over TV?  

She halted, glancing around, and moving behind a tree for cover. There was the yelling of people, laughter, and she could see tiny figures running around ahead of her. It seemed wild; there was no order to it. Where were the adults? Not that she cared for them, anyway, but it was helpful to know. Chandra looked around once more before clearing her mind of thoughts. Pushing her shoulders back, setting her eyes on the horizon ahead of her, and readjusting her prosthetic leg, she began entering Perdido Beach. She had been told that not her skills were the most effective, but her smile. Winning someone over shouldn't be too hard.

_______________________________________________________________________

[b]Peter[/b]

"Emma, who is this person?" Peter heard Alex inquire but his mind was elsewhere.  The yelling and banging were familiar to him in a way he did not want to remember.  He wished to stay here in the present, but the memories were making him tremble.  He clenched his fists and looked around for a weapon, but he didn't see any and he didn't know where the kitchen was located. He needed to find out but there was no time for it.  He looked at Alex and gestured to the lamp, asking silently for permission to use it. It was the best he had and he couldn't stand the thought of Emma being hurt and him not doing anything about it.  It brought a stabbing pain to his ribs that nearly caused him to wince out loud.

"If I had to guess... Maybe my history teacher. I was pretty sassy to him yesterday. " Emma told him.  Peter could've laughed, but he wasn't letting his seriousness fade away.  He needed to protect her.  She didn't deserve this poor psychopath's rage.   "Maybe I should just go out in case he's planning on bombing us or something. I can try to talk it out or something I don't know. This is weird." Peter doubted he had a bomb but expected him to be armed in some manner.  Whatever was making the scarping noise was not an easy weapon to deal with.  It was sharp, but how sharp he didn't know.  One thing he was sure of was not letting Emma go out or confront this guy alone.

"Absolutely not," Peter grunted in response and began to gently pull her back by her waist, keeping his hands in an appropriate area.  Now wasn't the time to let himself express or display his feelings for her.  "He wants you to go outside so he can get you alone, Em, and God knows what this idiot has planned." Peter did not hold his breathe and remained vigilant and tense.

"I warned you, but you are too fucking slow!" The man yelled once more and Peter glared, coming in front of Emma. If only they were able to call the police but the adults were mysteriously disappearing.  The sound of ripping filled the air and Peter could see plants being aimlessly flung.  He wondered if this boy had been institutionalized.  Someone needed to put this thing down. This was no way to talk to someone nor make a first impression.  They were everything, didn't people know that? "EMMA FUCKING COME OUT HERE!" 

"How about no, you psychopath?" muttered Peter in response.  He jumped at the bangs and hastily, though gently, shoved Emma farther out of the way. The boy burst through the door and locked eyes with Emma.  The way he licked his lips made Peter's skin crawl while simultaneously causing anger to flare.  How dare he look at her like she was a piece of meat?  She was human, not property, not an object, not meat.  He was going to murder this person.  "Hello." He greeted Emma, but Peter glared and blocked Emma form his vision.  He was bulkier than he was, thankfully. He hoped he had an advantage of him.

"Ain't going to greet the rest of us? For shame." Ming Hua commented under his breathe.  He glanced over at him and stifled a chuckle, unable to help himself. Peter turned back to the disgruntled psychopath and cleared his throat loudly, keeping his knife hidden in his back pocket.

"Excuse me." He interrupted casually, glaring menacingly all the while.  "But who are you and why are you so obsessed with Emma?"  Of course Peter knew he was mentally unwell, but hopefully he could distract him from his target.  

_________________________________________________________________________________

[b]Shay[/b]

As Atlas and James created an alliance, Shay was left to her own devices.  She kept a firm grip on her gun with an impassive expression.  Her muscles were taut, her jaw was locked, and her gaze was piercing.  She felt alone in the cafeteria filled with hundreds of students.  People were already friends here or had their groups.  She herself was an outsider, but now she was the outsider with an armed gun.  Students had backed away from her entirely and she could hear soft murmurs rising around the room with her as one of the main topics.  Shay tried not to pay attention and keep focused on the two super powered individuals.  How the hell Atlas had created black hand like tentacles were beyond her.  These two would be safe to ally with, but not make as friends. Finally, Atlas turned to her and Shay gazed back at him calmly.  “Wait a minute, how the hell did you get a gun in the school?” 

Before she could respond, James commented as well. "It explains why she is here. Hot." Shay smirked at him. Perhaps she could remain on their side with her vast knowledge of weaponry ability to shoot, and even more? That would be a starter. Of course she wouldn't release everything she knew. There was no point in that.  Also, she wasn't someone easily intimidated, but she knew it would be dangerous to be their enemy.  She didn't know her way around the town or where to go and where not to go.  He began speaking and she remained silent to allow him the time to talk.  

"Alright, let's get this straight. Atlas will be left alone, only I will deal with him. Now that we got that out of the way, I have found some interesting information." Then he released the information that the two had found from the Headmaster's office. There were gasps - grunts, and some indignant yells but then silence when James opened his mouth once more. It appeared to her that students were afraid of Atlas and even James.  She didn't know them well enough yet to know why, though Atlas seemed obvious. He was a sociopath, but what about James? "I say let's pay a small little visit to our friends down in town. Let's show them that we are not giving into their demands any longer. They cannot continue to treat us like damn fucking dogs which they can just take and drop off at the pound whenever they feel like. At the end of the day, we are still sons and daughters, we have not lost our voice just yet."

She listened to him and remained silent. There was a clear rife between the Perdido Beach citizens and Coates Academy.  She wasn't familiar with it and noted it mentally to ask James later about it.  It seemed as if her parents didn't seem interested in her anymore, although they weren't giving up on her yet.  Or had they?  Their comment to the headmistress didn't sound promising.  Either way, she declared herself independent.  She would turn eighteen in a few months anyways.  She would have to wait it out.

When there was silence, she finally addressed Atlas and James.  "If I gave away all my secrets now, I'd be an opened book." Shay replied her voice smooth. The next sentence she directed at James personally. There was "There's more hot stuff coming. You haven't seen how fit I am underneath this uniform." From the corner of her eyes, she could see boys glancing around at each other.  She kept her gaze locked on James, smirking mischievously all the while. Relaxing her smirk, she tried to inconspicuously rub her back. Why was it hurting so much?  Before going anywhere, she needed to privately see what was wrong. Her attention focused, she looked between the two boys. "What do you say, James and Atlas? Allies? Friends?" This was testing her luck more than she wanted, but she needed an ally here.  

Shay waited for an answer and tightened her grip on her gun.