[IC] Academy 218 - Superhuman School (Always open)

[True Night]

Kristen Schwally, Poppy Flanagan, & Adam Blackmore.
(Written in collaboration between Ciphra, True Night, and Mr Allen J)

After the capture the flag match had ended Kristen had quickly rushed out to get the bugs off of her. She hated bugs, well most bugs. She loved butterflies, but anything past that and she wanted them dead, or at least not touching her in any way. Better yet just leave them out of the same room. Of course these bugs were already dead, which actually made it worse. Luckily Kristen was able to clean herself pretty easily and get dressed again. Unlike everyone else though, she had taken her time to do everything. She was hoping to meet up with Gabriela and Jake, but she still had to see Adam.

Before she left to go see Adam though she decided to braid her hair again. After doinng so Kristen rushed out to head over to Adam to finally get the help she had needed for so long. She was actually quite excited. Of course there was still the problem of demonstrating for Adam. Kristen giggled at the thought of how uncomfortable the teacher had gotten now that she was looking back on the whole situation. Now to get some answers! She was almostst to the door when she heard someone running. Kristen raised an eyebrow and just as she did a girl ran out of the door and ran right into Kristen knocking her to the ground. "Ow." Kristen squinted in minor painas she continued, "You alright?" Leave it to Kristen to be worried about the other person!

Poppy hardly looked where she was going as she fled from the training hall. It was mostly a straight shoot so she didn't run into anything though. Except when she exited the building there was suddenly a person in her way. The two collided and wound up on the earth. She clutched her head and wiped her eyes to get a look at whoever she bowled over. A rather pretty girl with blonde hair and pretty blue eyes. "I'm so sorry..." Poppy sniffled. For whatever reason she wasn't feeling as distraught. Normally she probably would have picked herself right back up and wouldn't have stopped until she was back in the dorm room. This stranger made her want to stay. "No I'm not alright." After being babied by everyone in her life she didn't think anything of the other parties concern. Even if it was her mistake. "I'm Poppy" she added unceremoniously once again shirking her last name. There was clear evidence of crying across her face, though she was begging to calm down. Shocked out of despair by the surprise encounter. That and something in the air.

A few moments of pure running made Adam stop to catch his breath. God damn, I used to be better than this. He needed to get back into the chase. He can't give up when Poppy is charging. He was down the hallway, right at the exit. Poppy was right in his sights... And so was Kristen. He didn't know what happened, but his intuition said she stopped Poppy. It was risky, but he pegged Kristen as an easy way to end this situation. Her pheromones cause others to mirror her own emotions. Which meant that Poppy would feel any emotion but the one she's currently going through. Adam choose to stay in the sidelines, and give Kristen a little advice... If anything goes wrong, he would be the first to act. Adam switched to his telepathy power and sent Kristen a telepathic message, Kristen, do not be alarmed, it's Adam. Can you use your power to calm Poppy down? It's important. He didn't want to mention the immense danger Kristen could be in. He didn't want to pressure her, after all.

Kristen giggled. "How rude of me. I'm Kristen! Kristen Schwally. It's a pleasure to meet you Poppy!" She could tell Poppy had been crying and wondered what was wrong, and why. Of course it wasn't her place to press the matter, if Poppy wanted to talk to her then she would. Of course after she already decided to try and cheer up this girl Adam decided to pop into her head. God that was creepy! Kristen now understood why people didn't like people with mind powers. They could just pop into your head and mess with you! Luckily for Adam though, Kristen thought he was an okay guy.

Kristen stood up and offered Poppy a hand. "Well let's not sit around getting dirty Poppy! Wanna go for a walk or something? Get to know each other a little better?" Kristen figured she might as well make a new friend, plus now Adam would owe her one. Though it did irritate her a little that Adam wanted her to use a power she had no idea how to control, and the way he put it made her feel like she was supposed to manipulate Poppy, and she hated the thought of that, but luckily she was getting more excited at the prospect of making a new friend!

"It's nice to meet you too!" Already Kristen's pheromones were counteracting her bodies raging chemicals. If she stuck around for much longer her body would stop producing stress hormones all together and liken to the older girl. At the mention of dirt Poppy became self conscious and rand her hands across the part of her skirt that would have been soiled for good measure. "Okay... Where should we go?" Don't they have a campus tour or something. Unless they expected little her to be able to read and make sense of map boards around. They'd only just met and already she was feeling a closer connection with Kristen than she had with anyone else. Theresa included. Enough that she was eager to head off with her on a moments notice. Everything she was feeling only minutes ago felt like a distant dream. One that she would have to face again one they were over with their venture. She found herself hoping that they'd stay together for as long as possible. All the way up until curfew if she let her. Poppy wrapped her arms around Kristen's waist and would cling to her until she started moving.

Kristen smiled down at the girl and held her for a moment. She was glad that Poppy wanted to spend some time with her. "Well I just got here before class so I don't know too much about this place yet, but what about the beach?" For Kristen she always loved listening to the water, plus it was a beautiful sight to see. Then there was the part where she hadn't known about the jungle tour, whether that was due to her being late, or the fact that she never paid attention to anyone but her friends or unless she wanted to. She wondered if Adam would follow them though. If not then Kristen would feel more comfortable talking with Poppy. She would feel like she was actually a friend and not a spy.

It seems that things were going well, but Adam knew that Poppy is still a risk. Not one he'd let out of his sight easily. He was going to tail them. Just for a little while. He stayed out of their way as he followed. He would be in the corner of their eyes until something requires his immediate attention.

[AgentFallenSoul]

Dana Alcott, Henry Olin, Asae Kyuuji, Karlie Davis
Collaboration of Jazzy, True Night, Mr Allen J and AgentFallenSoul

When another voice ran up, Dana raised an eyebrow and looked. It was non-other than her room-mate, Karlie Davis. Dana didn't expect her to come along with them on this trip, but hey, she was always wrong. "Hey, Karlie." She greeted her friend. "Far as I can tell, everyone's welcome." Dana said with a warming smile. She laughed a little when Karlie asked for a piggyback ride from Henry - Her attention shifted from Karlie to the girl with the strange growth on her back. Codi, she introduced herself as. Well, Dana was never one to judge people from looks - Her relationship with Dragonfly was a prime example of that. "It is nice to meet you Codi, and it's okay. I don't think we've been properly introduced. I am Dana Alcott, full student here." Dana continued to be carted throughout this mighty jungle.

Henry stuttered in the most cool fashion when Kylie asked for his permission to ride on his back, then jumped on. "Uh, humnaduh?" he said. He had been made aware of her presence, so thankfully he didn't freak out. But that didn't change the fact that there was someone climbing on his back. Oh well. He turned his head around and sighed. "Okay, where the hell did Matt go? Did anyone see him?" He said, stopping the group and pinching his snout. "Asae, can I ask you and Dana to go look for that idiot?" He said, sighing. "I'm sorry about this. Dana, you know where the waterfall is right? We'll be there. Everyone else, continue onward. Lets not get anyone else lost please." He said, sighing. He wasnt particularly worried about the douchebag, as he had seen him sprout a very knarly set of claws earlier before the capture the flag game. He knew he had the weaponry to defend himself, it was more so that HE didn't get repremanded for losing track of a student.

"What was that?" Karlie mused from her new vantage point. This adventure was going to be so fun. "Giddy up!" she exclaimed enthusiastically. Unfortunately he still was engaged with the other members of the expedition. Speaking of which she should introduce herself. "I'm Karlie! Nice to meet you guys!" She was totally talking over Henry, but she was addressing everyone she didn't know so she didn't care. It figured that somebody had gone off on their own. If she didn't have a trusty steed she'd like have gone off on her own as well. There was no doubt that Henry was like the coolest teacher, but nobody could be in two places at once. She took that back. Nobody that she knew of. That'd be one heck of a crazy power.

Asae looked down to Dana in her chair, holding her sword in her lap So I can't just leave her, she asked me to push her. So much for trying to get away and find somewhere peaceful by myself... she looked back up and noticed Dana talking to people, making Asae to pay attention again, coming half way into the conversation. The girl that was talking to Dana had a weird type of bludge on her back, but she shrugged mentally, everyone had their own secrets, she knew that well enough, hell she was engaged to a god damn panda, she had no room to judge. Asae looked to Codi and smiled "It's nice to meet you, names Asae Kyujji or Seloria, either one is fine" she looked towards Henry when she heard her name, followed by getting asked to look for the village ass. She sighed "Hey, would it be a total shame if he got eaten, I mean it wouldn't all be a shame, I'm sure his ego is enough to feed a whole family of animals out here." she joked slightly, though she still was pissed about the whole string of jokes he had said prior to his disapperance. She lowered her head and whispered in Dana's ear "Wanna go do something badass? Would be way better than just wondering around looking for the guy, we'll most likely run into him eventually but why not have some fun along the way?" she leaned partially over the chair looking at Dana and smiling.

"I'm not worried about him getting eaten. Trust me, if he weren't as powerful as he was I would be worried about him. I can agree with the ego part though. It's bigger than I am." Henry commented. "Alright all, to the waterfall. It's deep enough to go cliff diving if anyone's interested."

"Cliff diving?! Lead the way!" Sort of a given consider her position, but she had a habit of stating the obvious. Wish I had know sooner so I could have brought a special costume... Whatever. She wasn't about to go back now, and her current options would be fun enough. The main thing she had overlooked is that none of her outfits were meant for water. Not that they'd fall apart or anything, but it was going to be a lot of extra weight. If it really came down to it she was the type who'd be fine going in her undergarments. Besides who else here was actually going to jump?

... And of course Henry has to choose the activities Dana can't participate in, and make them look for Matt. Dana rolled her eyes. There wasn't a lot Dana could do, yes, but at least Henry could at least try not to make her feel left out. She sighed. That was simply a fact of her life. Worst of all, Henry was sending them after Matt. It might sounded harsh, but his arrogance made him leave the group. If he doesn't want to be with them, then that is his choice. There wasn't much Dana could do to convince him to do otherwise. Though, Asae seemed to want to go look for him... Saying something about having fun. Well, Dana didn't know what she meant by that, but she felt she could trust Asae. If she couldn't... Well, Asae should hope her power stops her from blinking. "Uh, sure. I'm ready when you are."

"Seems like you are full of surprises Dana, onward we go then" she pushed the wheelchair full of enthusiasm into the abyss of the mighty jungle. Once out of sight and ear shot, Asae found a clearing of sorts and she stopped, reaching for the long box in Dana's lap "I'll be taken this now, by the way, what do you think my power is? if you dont mind me asking, it's always interesting to see what others think it is" she turned her back to Dana and sat cross legged, touching the box, it opened with a sound of several locks and mechanisms, before the box fully opened to reveal a black metal sheath of a sword, a red and black handle showing. Asae kept in the the box waiting for Dana's answer, most guessed something completely different from what it actutally was.

Asae's power? Well, Dana didn't see enough of Asae to accurately guess what her power is. There was a million possible powers a single Meta could have. So many constants and variables. "Umm..." She tilted her head, putting a finger on the side of her jawline. She curiously turned her eyes towards Asae when she started opening up the box. She pulled out a sword. Asae was making her carry a sword around in her lap. Suddenly that thought about something weird in the box turned out to be strangely true. The scene suddenly got a lot more awkward. "... Um... I don't know.... You carry around a sword with you all the time...?" Dana had to ask. That trust she formerly had in Asae started to fade a bit, she started feeling a bit of fear. Without Henry, Tess, or anyone else, to give her backup, she felt rather defenseless.

Asae turned and held the sword in her arms, both her hands in her pocket "Well I guess that's about as close as anyone gets, but my power is pretty simply. It relies heavily on weapons, such as knives or blades such as this, though this is a rather special one. It was given to me, by my father." she layed the sword on Dana's lap again "And I'm trusting you to keep it safe while I cart you around, and maybe even see you get to swing a sword? It's pretty fun, even if you're in a situation like yours" she refered to her being stuck to the confine of her wheelchair. "But please be careful, it's pretty sharp, and I'd rather not dress a wound in the middle of the jungle." She slung the box over her shoulder and got behind Dana, pushing her along. She felt a bit weird seeing someone else hold her sword, but she wanted to make things a bit more lax, not everyday do you meet someone who has carries a sword around, she couldn't even imagine how Dana felt about it.

There was that obvious hesitancy when Asae rested the sword in her lap. Except, this time it wasn't without the box. At least it was in the sheathe. It didn't make it any less scary, though. Asae's power was a weapon based power. When you got down to it, her having a sword was no different from a water-elemental carrying around a bottle of water, or a fire-bender with a lighter. "Oh? That's rather interesting." Dana personally didn't care for power talk. How she feels about her own power, and, honestly, how often powers come up in conversations, were a factor. She didn't want to share her own power. "I'll be careful with it, I can tell it means a lot to you." Despite her hesitancy regarding the sword, long as she didn't do anything stupid, everything will be fine - And she was honest with herself when she said there's plenty of people here infinitely more dangerous than a sword. "Alright, let's move on."

Asae nodded and looked around, for the first time it was just them and she actutally was taking the time to look at their surroundings, they were breath taking to say the least. She wondered how long Dana had even been at the school, from the remarks that Henry made from eariler, it seemed she at least knew her way around the jungle. Asae looked at her watch before going back to talking to Dana, trying to make small talk "So how long have you been here for? It would seem that you know Henry as well as a number of people generally well." she hummed quietly looking around for any sign of life with in the woods.

Small talk. Yes the small talk with the Pirate-Samurai-Lady was fine. It was better than them just silently and awkwardly staring at each other. It brought Dana back. To the days when she was a little girl being sent away from her father, growing up to be a mature woman. "I'm a full student here. That means I essentially live on this island. I've been here for at least seven years. Met some of the kindest... and strange... people. You? I take it that you're a new student?"

Asae shrugged, though she couldn't see it "Yea, I'm fresh off the boat actutally, well techncially carried off, but yeah you get the idea. I...I dont know about this place yet, it's safe thats for sure, but to raise a fam-...nevermind that, but I'm not particularly nicest or most open person, so this whole being thrown into a school thing for me is hard. For awhile it was just me and Tetsuya doing God knows what in Europe, and then suddenly I'm somewhere safe, a complete change of pace for me. Panda man seems to be fitting in though, just fine actually, it's like home for him." Asae didn't even realize how hard she was gripping the handles of Dana's wheelchair, making her hands white.

Dana could tell that Asae has been through something. It wasn't in her place to ask, but it was something that deeply affected her. "The island is a great place, actually. It's the reason why I choose to be a full student...." The bushes began to rustle outside her peripheral.

Asae's ears pricked up almost like an animal's would if that were possible for a human, making her look up "Does this jungle have anything that would put the students in danger?" she stopped moving completely, stepping forward and grabbed her sword out of Dana's lap, pulling the sword from it's sheath and it was almost like her body was filled with the swordsmen mind set, she stood in a stance slightly, looking slightly back at Dana I dont know her power, but I'll make sure she'll be safe... she made the silent promise to herself and watched the bushes.

"I..." Dana was rather afraid right now... and the appeal of that power of hers was starting to get a little tempting. "... I don't know." Asae was entering a swordmen stance, it was mildly reassuring knowing that she was ready to defend the two of them. Whatever was in the bushes decided to quickly make itself known. A massive mountain of fur came charging at them. Dana shrieked in terror, she couldn't even tell that it was a fully grown Sun Bear. She quickly went on autopilot and rolled away from it.

Asae went wide eye'd "Oh Fu-" Even with her reflexes she couldn't roll away fast enough, meaning taking the charge head on. Without thinking she used her arms blocking the impact intead of her sword, sliding backwards, getting pushed back onto her ass. She looked up scared for a moment, the bear raising his paw at her. She raised her sword, trying parry the attack, which was only half succesful, the sword while yes parried the swat, the bear knocked the sword out of her hand, it flying like a disk towards Dana, hitting her arm and cutting her. Asae felt a sudden sense of rage with in her, getting up and held her hands together, slamming her fist down on the bears head. It fell downwards and tried to push itself up, making Asae, kicking the bear with all her strength, making it slide and slaw agains a fallen log. Asae walked towards it with her fist clenched, but the bear got up limping and cowered, running off. Asae breathed out and looked towards Dana "Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck." she quickly grabbed her sheath and got on her knees "Oh shit Dana im sorry, I'm so sorry, it was a rookie mistake and..." She started freaking out and her face was in her hands, disappointed in herself for letting that happen so easily.

During all the chaos of the struggle, Asae lost her sword. It wasn't something Dana noticed until it was too late. It went flying straight for her face, she had no choice but to shield herself with her arms. The blade flew across and left a deep gash in Dana's arm. Flying over her head (Also slicing a divide in her afro). And of course, when Asae was knocked back, Dana was knocked clean out of her wheelchair and hit the ground hard. Dana screamed in pain as she realized what happened. Blood was oozing from her arm... and it looked like she would be bleeding to death if it wasn't treated. Infections were a problem too. It was also absolutely painful. But there was something she could do to save herself... "It's... o-okay..." She had to hiss out. While on the ground, she grabbed her arm and looked at it. "... Just... just... stop looking at me... just for a minute...." She was hoping Asae complies, otherwise, Dana will have to take more drastic measures.

Asae immeditately turned around, swinging her sword at the ground, cleaning the blade, before putting it in it's sheath. She sat on her legs again, head down and her sword on her legs You done fucked up Asae, she's going to hate you now, you're such an idiot, your first friend and you fucked it up, big time. This is why you should keep to yourself, so you dont hurt people, stupid stupid stupid she mentally abused herself for being the reason why Dana was injured bad, she hadn't even realized she was shaking in fear, not because of the bear anymore, but because of the injury, it had been so long since she had seen so much blood...so much. None the less have it be from her sword, she was even having a hard time breathing from the shock of the chaos.

The very second Dana was out of sight... She changed. She turned into the abomination that no one must ever lay eyes upon. The wound was transferred to this alternate form, and it immediately began to repair the damage. Strange sounds came from Dana as this regeneration process took place. Inhuman breathing, the sounds of wet flesh shifting, and alien groans. In a few minutes... The wound was gone, but Dana experienced a phantom-pain from the wound. Jesus, it was all so overwhelming. Being in this hideous skin... and nearly getting ripped to pieces by a bear. She starred at her wound for a few seconds, blankly. All sounds she made suddenly came to a stop. "You..." Dana's voice was something unlike anything Asae has ever seen before. It was alien... something that no human being could be capable of saying. "... Just look at me, please!" She crawled towards Asae. She just wanted to be human now. When Asae looked, her wound was gone. Not a scar or a sign of it being there either. Her clothes were bloody, but that was just about it.

Asae turned around and saw that her wound had somehow healed, along with a number of sounds and...and her voice from before now gone. Dana's voice had changed to something to Alien it was almost as if...as if the girl wasn't there anymore. Though now she was normal, Asae helf out her sword "As a swordsmen who's sword was not only disarmed from her, but was the cause of injury of a friend, I must take punishment as you see fit. I'm really sorry Dana, I can't tell you how much I'm sorry." she couldn't stop apologizing, she just couldn't forgive herself for the incident.

Punishment...? No, Dana would never punish Asae for this. It was an accident. It wasn't anyone's fault. In fact, she should be thanking Asae. She didn't know how she would have handled that bear on her own. "It's fine, Asae." Dana was quick to say. "I refuse to punish you...." Dana was still off her wheelchair. She crawled towards it, dragging herself closer and closer to it... Crap. It didn't look like it was in a good working order. The wheel is bent, along with the frame. Dana can still get in it, but she's better off just getting out of sight and zipping her way back to the school. "My chair..." Dana moved it a bit. "I... Can't use this...." Other than getting herself back here, that meant...

Asae stood and put her sword back into the box, walking over to Dana, she gently picked up Dana like a prince would a princess "Then I will carry you for the time being, and you can refuse my offer this time, no if, ands or buts." she smiled weak, but Dana would still feel Asae shaking slightly and even the amount of embarassment followed by regret and self hate that Asae was screaming at herself, granted her face to anyone else would seem like she was fine. She walked in forward and suddenly realized "We...we aren't on the path...oh fuck" they were in the middle of the jungle, totally unaware of where they were, or atleast Asae was. She looked to Dana in her arms, her facing asking if she knew which direction was the path.

"Thank you." Asae and Dana were basically the same size, and probably the same weight (Dana had a little chub on her). She was wondering how Asae could carry her, but she wasn't going to ask. Asae lifted her up with a surprising amount of strength, and it was rather shocking. She carried her forward... and they're lost, Asae swore like a sailor, and they were vulnerable to whatever else might be preying on them. "... I'm sure Henry's on the way. His hearing... his hearing is very good. Just... keep going. I do not want to stay here."

[AeronFarron]

Quinn Daives

'Damn it...now I gotta repeat it? But she's so damn nice...what if she isn't? But...she could be. She damn well looks and sounds like she has.' Quinn grappled with herself and did her best to keep from letting it show. She had seen the jungle, but she didn't have much thought of exploring it. Quinn hadn't spent a lot of time in nature as a kid, as specialists and doctors were much easier to find and travel to in a large city. "Well, I've seen it. But didn't really think to explore it. I guess you could show me the ropes though."

The girl's last question sent her mind straight into the gutter. She was furiously trying to fend off any twitch in her jeans and was doing quite well in her endeavor. But her effort to empty her mind allowed her mouth to run away from her brain and a thought became words between them.

"I have a dick."

The young woman blinked in confusion, as if she hadn't realized she just said that. When her voice finally reached through the turmoil in her mind, her face broke out into a massive blush. "Wait, I didn't mean to say that. I mean--I do! But like, I uh...I didn't...fuuuuuck..." she looked away and wished the couch would swallow her whole. "This is so fucking embarrassing...does the jungle have a deep dark hole that I can jump into?"

[Jazzy]

Ben Voss, Abraham Gene, & Vespera Spindel - ft. Deborah Termellio

Now at first, everything seemed to be going smoothly. Like, the KY jelly kind of smooth. He was working Deborah up to a pretty comfortable level. Well, that was what he assumed. But she wasn't fighting anything and was laughing and enjoying herself. Number one rule of flirting: always make sure they're enjoying themselves. Sheesh, Abe learned that one the hard way. Anyways, she was picking up the tricks pretty well and the encounter itself was going pretty well. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of something that can be described as nothing more than the blood-curdling visage of a high-school emo prom queen. Under normal circumstances, the ridicule would come in such a fluid and cascading torrent of vicious diatribe that she would run out of wrists to slice open! But this was not[i/] the usual circumstance - he had a woman to serenade! Granted, the act of serenading would come a lot easier with the proper serenading equipment (the guitar, for instance, as ukeleles were not quite as romantic in typical scenes).

But he had to give it to himself: he at least had enough of it in him to shoot Vespera a scowl which in itself read "What the fuck you think you doin'?" A face that, clearly, was universal among hundreds of languages worldwide and regarded as the most acknowledge expression around the [i]globe. He returned back to his game with Deborah, just barely missing how she was distracting by everything else. He did feel a little weird. Looking over at Wendsday Addam's slutty cousin gave him a weird vibe. Something that make him look over - but ach time he did got nothing more than a crawl up the spine. While the pheromones had an effect, there was a surprising amount of willpower in Vespera's target. Perhaps flushed with an array of other thoughts and emotions and senses. But in any case, no. Absolutely not. In Abe's book, that was one tail he wouldn't want to check out. Sheesh, how would you even sleep with her? If her ass got less light than her face, it's probably a night light... then again, judging by the clothes... her ass probably got just as much sun. Egh. Put the clothes on anyone else, and hell yeah. This one was probably fifty-something years old with lots of botox looking for youngsters.

Goth cougars. God have mercy.

Looking over back to Deborah, he noticed that his new gal here was all spaced out and trance-like. "Eh? You a'right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just... something that has to do with my power." Deborah quickly replied.

Ho hum, interesting. Maybe that would be a question he'd consider for the future in this school. He could take on a mean load of mother fuckers, but God save him if he finds a score that turns out to have a killer vagina. Like, how would you even recover from that?

"Anyways," he continued, "the walls are great for ricocheting the cue ball into your targets and--"

"Don't take it personal when I say I do not wish to associate myself with murderers."

Abraham stopped dead in his tracks when this interesting little phrase tickled his ear. Oh? Murderer? This had to be good. When he looked up he saw it was Shannon, the girl from earlier. He felt a twinge of suspicion. That was the girl who refused to hang out with him and her Deborah friend by the pool table. Got some pretty weird vibes too. Did she know? How could she? He himself wasn't convicted but...

The longer he watched, the more that made sense. He wasn't really paying much attention to Deborah, and he felt pretty sure that sexy here wasn't either. In fact, she left in a hurry, leaving Abe a little confused as to why she did, but still trained on the conversation Shannon was having. Deborah's addition began to clarify. Oooh... oh, right. Okay. So it must be someone else... wait, were they talking about Stuffy? The guy in the suit? No way. Looks like he never did an honest day's work in his life. Granted, Abe came from a similar background, but he had a pretty off-color history and he was pretty active. And he also didn't find value in wearing suits. Nice clothes? Not a necessity, but absolutely, he wore them. But this... Stuffy guy. He had to be half of Abe's size. A power? Nah... nah... well, maybe. A lot of powers caused damage.

Regardless, if this was for real, Abe intended to keep an eye on Stuffy. It was safe to say that old habits die hard. Ah, there was something fulfilling about dishing out justice. Well, Abe's brand of justice. The purpose itself has a little less to do with justice, but the justice that was made in the process was a nice enough side dish.

Vespera continued inspecting the pool cues occasionally stealing a discrete glance at the two. Her pheromones didn't seem to be having the effect she hoped they would. After catching his questioning glance there was no doubt that she'd been noticed. Since he was with Deborah it could have been that the dark skinned young man wasn't in to white women. If she had to be perfectly honest with herself these tactics failed more often than not. Though that didn't change the hint of frustration she now felt. No matter. Without wasting any more time she grabbed a pool rack and headed to the next table over from them. She reached into the pocket and placed the balls into their triangular housing. This game is hardly entertaining... Of course this time, and every time in the past, she'd really been after something else. If she didn't get what she wanted, she'd make it entertaining. Already she was considering deliberately jumping the ball over the rail and towards the couple to never be. Or I could tell him about how she's playing her current 'boyfriend' She would except that it would say more about her motivation than her targets. After all, the chances of Deborah having come on to him were next to non existent. She simply hadn't broken him the truth yet.

Instead she got the idea that she might be able to achieve the result she was looking for by actually getting into her game. It'd also make it easier to pass off that she was actually there for something independent of them. Not that Deborah would be fooled. A loud crack filled the room as made her break with excessive force. Once she was done with her cue it'd likely be joining it's split tipped brethren. At this Vespera dropped her ruse and made no attempt to mask her spying. Everyone else was going to be staring as well so it wouldn't matter. She put her hand up to her mouth and gasped, feigning shock. If blacky here doesn't get a clue... I might investigate. By investigate she meant intrude in any manner she could. Prior to that moment Red was garbage, but now she was intrigued.

Ben looked up at the movement seeing someone was waving at him. He wrote a quick 'Excuse me!' on the white board before he looked up to see this new person named Jason waving at him. He smiled and gave a greeting hand gesture. It wasn't that he knew this person. Far from it in fact, he just liked being outgoing. It was easier to make friends that way. He laughed a silent laugh at what Shannon said, but it quickly died down at her sudden and very direct change in attitude. He looked down to her to see her facing another new comer, and anger radiated off of her body. He heard the word murderer escape her lips. He put his arm around her shoulders, being as gentle as he could as to not upset her in a frail attempt at being comforting. When the girl who had been with the African-American man from before came over to consol her, he allowed his arm to slip away and left her in the care of what he assumed to be her friend. Based on how they acted towards one another, they were probably very close friends. He didn't make any drastic assumptions, but he could tell they were very close.

'Oh, for the love of...' Abe silently swore as his train of thought was interrupted by the splitting sound of a clean break of billiard balls from the next table over. More noise pollution. God damn it.

"Yo, would you mind making as little noise as possible? Thanks sweetheart, you're a doll." Abe turned around snapping, pinching the bridge of his nose. 'Relax, Abraham, relax... you can do whatever with her later... grab the throat, back her against the wall, whatever...'

It was just a game of not making a scene. 'Why did everything go to shit when girly left?'

For Vespera, if nothing else, she could get at least get a kick out of ticking him off. Whether or not that was the wisest decision remained to be seen. She circled around the table and made her next connection only slightly less loud. "Pardon me, I should be more mindful of others." The key word was should, and even that was a load of bogus coming from her. This was her domain as far as she was concerned and she intended to do whatever she damn pleased. What was he going to do? Come over and strike her? That'd go over well. In fact, she wouldn't mind an excuse to throw down.

Ben looked over to the man who had been left by the other girl who was friends with Shannon, and stood up to his full height. He stuffed his stuff into his jacket and walked over to the soda machine and bought himself a Sprite, and Grape Crush soda. After picking out the change (which was hard to do with two hands full of soda), he returned back to the pool table, and set the soda down about six inches away from Abe. He extended his hand toward him, offering it as a friendly gesture. He had just bought him a soda after all. Who refuses a free soda?

...Unfortunately for Vespera, the large hunk from earlier came around.

Abe noticed from the side at bear of a man. It wasn't very often that Abe met someone taller and heavier than himself, except for maybe those dudes back on those Boston back streets (whatever happened to them anyway?). But man, this guy takes the cake. Abe leaned back on the pool table and crossed his arms, making sure to tense his muscles in his arms and bs and chest - subtle flexing. Did this bozo come in looking fo trouble? Was he looking to make a scene? Because if he was, Abe sure as hell was gonna give it to him. A boat load. More than this guy can chew, and he probably ate a lot. Look at him. Fucking Fucktardo the Blessed, the gluttonous monk with too much to eat.

And then the kicker.

At first what seemed to be an ass-kissing gesture, the deed was analyzed upon closer inspection. Oh. A soda. A grape soda. How fucking quaint. Abe didn't even care if he meant it that way, or even care if Hungry Howie was looking fo trouble or not. He was going to give it to him whether he liked it or not! Abe looked up at him - a pretty alien feeling, to be honest - and gave him a bitter scowl.

"What the fuck is that supposed to be?" Abraham scoffed as his Boston accent came leaking through. "This some kind'a joke? Grape soda?"

Ben's eyebrow furrowed, and his hand moved from a postion that could be seen as offering to be shaken, to one that was stroking his goatee once again. He looked between the sodas, not making any connection. The sound of this person's voice linked him to being a city boy. So there must've been some customs he wasnt aware of! That was it. Oh, he wished Pink was here. She'd not only fix this, but intimidate him into a corner. He KNEW she could do that too. He had seen it. He gave the man an apologetic look and switched their sodas. He hadn't opened either of them yet, so hopefully it wouldn't make a difference to the man.

With this, Ben pulled his board out of his jacket and wrote a quick. 'Mute, sorry for the mistake.' hoping to quell whatever issue there had been. Truth be told he STILL had no idea what he had done wrong, but he hoped what he had done would keep the argument from escalating any further. He wrote another quick message below that last sentence. 'My name's Ben Voss. Yours?'

Observing the new preceding, Vespera didn't bother to hide her amusement. The large fellow deciding to give a black guy a grape drink. On a few occasions she had overheard stereotypes indicating that they liked that sort of thing. Needless to say he wasn't impressed. Not talking are we? Since he decided to pull out a board even in this potentially volitile situation it was safe to say that her assumption earlier was accurate. For now she watched and waited. Maybe I didn't give the pheromones enough time. She wasn't quite giving up on him changing his tune. Except then her face wrinkled in disgust at the prospect of the shy giant, Ben instead soliciting her. This prompted her to reduce her production a tad.

Abraham waited impatiently for big Hoss to explain himself. But noo-ooo, he didn't say a God damn word; and like some smart ass, quietly switched the sodas around! Oh, fuck a bunch of that. His crossed arms were set at his side, and his fists were clenched. The bone and some of the flesh beneath his skin solidified into condensed stone as subtle preparation for a beat-down. In fact, there was so much going on in this moment, between the adrenaline and testosterone and so on, the effects of the pheromones were nigh unaware of by Abe... who was quickly caught off-guard by the random board out of his jacket.

A mute? How does that justify a racist presumption? That's what he meant, right? But he had to admit, the sound of a mute bitch was good idea. That must have been because a mute bitch made no sound! Ha! No, seriously though, Abe has had boys follow him around doing favors for him in attempt to get on his good side before. Except now he had this giant-ass dude. Plus, he was mute! A guy bigger than Abe enslaving himself to him, who also didn't talk. What could be better? The name was Ben Voss. A little weird, but whatever. His nickname will be Bitch Hoss.

"Bah... fuck it." Abe grumbled as he took the can of Sprite. He had to take what he got, after all. "Friends call me Abraham. You call me... fucking, Adonis or whatever, I don't care. Jesus. Call me Jesus. Right on your little etch-a-sketch."

Ben stared flatly at Abe, a clearly unamused, blank expresson on his face. He knew he wasn't the smartest man in the world, but he just told Abe that he was mute. Damn, high expectations. He motioned to Abe's soda with his hand before looking over the pool table, awaiting him to make his next move. He hoped that Pink would show up soon. She was a bit better at reading him and translating for him what he wanted to say. He didnt know what it was. The only person who could read better than her was his wife. That was only because she could read minds, so she had a huge unfair advantage. He wished he could transfer his thoughts to others like she could. It'd make it so much easier to communicate.

Ben opened the soda, and downed half of it in one go. It was more to try and give the man beside him an incentive to be more open to him. That flew down the drain fast. If he could make a sound he'd be making a sound akin to a sigh. He'll just see how it goes from here. He's nice, but he's not spineless, and he sure as hell isnt going to be calling this guy Jesus. It wasn't a joke, and he STILL didn't know what he had done that was offensive. In a way he was in a state of unamused confusion at why his attempt at a friendly gesture had gone haywire.

[Punished GN]

Theresa Sindel Obott.

Right when the conversation was going just so swell, Quinn had to come up and drop a bomb on Theresa. She herself had to double-take. What the did Quinn mean by she has a dick? Like, she's a boy, or something else...? Maybe it was just a slip? Honestly, Tess didn't know how to take this news. So she had one way to handle it. Joke. "Whoooooooa, nelly, TMI, TMI..." Tess followed that up with a bout of awkward laughing. "Get a hold on yourself there pal." Theresa was trying not to make a big deal out of it by being sarcastic and joking as always. Though, it was probably best if they forget about this. Just to keep things from getting awkward. "How about this? I'll forget that you ever said anything, if you'd accompany me to this jungle fair...." Theresa was about to finish it off by saying 'maiden' but she wasn't sure if Quinn was 100% on the 'Surprise! I have a penis' thing - And honestly, she didn't want to know. Might have been a simple Freudian slip.

There wasn't much more for Theresa to go over here, well, other than the scene at the pool table heating up. Shannon was being fiery as always, Tess didn't know why, but whatever it was; it got her heated. She swore she heard a few mentions of murder, but wasn't sure. Deborah was talking her down. Scary Black Man was being scary, with mountain-man almost looking pretty racist. Vespera was doing her attention whoring (Heh... and with that outfit, I bet literal whoring.). Ultimately, none of this was any concern to Theresa, because, heh, she's just an outside observer. Well, it was time to stop being an outside observer, and start being the adventurer that she is on the inside! At least do something in the jungle. If she can't find Henry, then she'll go hit the beach. Oh, she'll bring that bikini she liked, though wasn't really made for people like Tess. Well... Nobody would be watching.

Tess got up from off the couch, and gave Quinn a smirk. "Alright, if you're up to it, then meet me outside the front gates of the Academy. Don't keep me waiting!" Tess quickly ran off. She had to gather all her things. If Quinn didn't show up, then she was going to get the show on the road without her.

---

Valjean Vaseal, & Abigail "Pink" Vincigarru.

Grimm

At a beach not too far off from the docks, the famous 'Desert Scorpion' of the 218 was standing in the middle of the beach. Honing his skills. Since that disappointing match, he needed to blow off some steam since he didn't get the chance to wreck some kids. Ugh, whatever. Jean was going to make sure he gives Adam a piece of his mind later. He was wearing nothing but a white tank top, and orange sweat shorts, with white sneakers. He had a towel slung around his shoulder. He wanted to try out this sand-manipulation technique he had in mind. He smirked. He punched the ground with all his strength. The sand began shifting and sliding around him. He drew sand from all over the beach (Though if it was wet, he couldn't touch it) and created a massive dome around himself of pure sand. It had to be at least four feet thick. He wanted to see if he could create shield of sand. Because his usual fighting style consisted of turning into a scorpion and kicking ass, but what if he doesn't have a chance to turn into a scorpion and kick ass? He would need to adjust pretty fast. So why not make a big ass shield made out of sand like this? Held together from his sheer willpower! One problem, though.

He had nothing to test it with.

Ugh. Valjean shifted some of the sand out of the way to make a door and stormed out the dome. He quickly put the sand back in place. Already, he would need to try extra hard for this (Heh, just like I'll be when Debs drops her panties!). He looked around for a large rock on the beach. Until he found one that was bigger than his hand! Good, this will do. Valjean bent over and grabbed it, he was strong enough to hold it. He walked back over to the dome, and focused. He was trying extra-hard to hold the barrier together. He cocked the rock back, getting ready to throw it. Valjean threw the rock, and despite his calculations, his shield stopped the rock, but not as well as he hoped. Maybe it was because... Maybe he couldn't focus on throwing the rock, and holding the shield together? Shit, that old fart Adam keeps rambling about how powers are a subconscious thing. What if that's at work here. Valjean kicked the sand at his feet in anger. He needs to find some poor schmuck to punch this barrier.  

Finally revealing herself, the Leviathan, Pink, had finally shown herself. She swam up on the beach, and bobbed her head out (Only her eyes were shown). Staring at Valjean with an eyebrow raised. She couldn't really make out what he was doing, because her eye-sight wasn't that good. "The hell is he doing?" She asked herself. Whatever it was, Pink wanted no part of. The shark-girl got out of the water, and started slowly walking onto the sandy beach. She felt her power diminish as she left the ocean she was so familiar with. She shuddered. Pink would meet Ben and return to the ocean soon as possible. She is an ocean deity after all.

Trying to be stealthy didn't go as well as Pink wanted. He whipped towards her like he heard a bullet. "Hey you!" Valjean shouted at Pink, "Shark-gal! Come punch this for me!" It was his enhanced sense of smell and seismic sense at work.

Pink froze in her tracks, and rolled her eyes. She turned towards Valjean, and couldn't make out his features, more of a vague outline of him, at least from this distance. He was big and bulky, Pink didn't know what to say about that, but she pegged him as a jock. "Sorry, but I have things to do." Either way, it came down to Pink not wanting anything to do with him, and wanting to go along. She started marching off.

"Hey, I got things to do too, pal! Like making you test this!" Valjean pointed a finger at Pink, but she was leaving him in the dust. Well, she was standing on his domain after all. Maybe this trick didn't work too well on Quinn, but her, and that skimpy bikini... Valjean giggled as he put both hands on the sand. He created a spiral underneath Pink's feet, which forced it's way into her bikini bottom for the most uncomfortable thing ever....

"... Fucking asshole!" Pink hissed through her teeth, snapping her jaws at him. He got sand up there. That prick! Pink was filled with anger. Because no one ever fucks with her. Valjean quickly awakened her vindictive side. She turned her body towards Valjean. Her eyes started glowing blue, she activated the primordial power of the sea. She created a jet of water that sprung out from the ocean and shot Valjean across the beach. "Go fuck a sand-castle!" Pink shouted, her Latina accent was apparent. That was over with, she quickly used a bit of water to wash off the sand. She would use water to... flush out the sand. It'd be awkward to do it out here.

Valjean slid across the sand dramatically, landing on his side. He was not about to let this bitch get away with that. He slammed his fist onto the sand and.... Instead of burying this chick in sand, nothing happened. Aw, fuck. I'm too wet. He growled in his own head. He was completely drenched in sea water. Water was the opposite of dry deserts. Which canceled out his abilities. By the time he got off the sand, that Pink haired girl was gone. He wiped the sea-water off his face, and balled his fists. It'd probably also cancel out his scorpion form too. Whatever. He would get even with this chick. In, or out, of that arena. Valjean followed after her. Though he had no idea where she went from the beach.

... Because Pink dipped behind the entrance to the docks and hid there. At least until this prick was gone. It was the first day of school- that she admittedly missed -and she didn't want to leave such a filthy mark on her record this early. Pink listened closely, and waited for his footsteps to pass. Once she couldn't hear him, she sighed and kept it moving. The problem with navigating this school was that her vision was terrible. It was amazing that she could even read a text message that well. Pink had to shuffle her way into the dorms, and find the student lounge. She thought of the fact that she'd have to share a room. Hopefully she won't be paired with someone awful. Pink stepped into the student lounge, not going to explain how she found it. Here were so many scents going on here. She would need to focus and find that counterpart of hers.... There. Pink followed her nose, smelling deeping, and trailing Ben's scent, until she was standing right before him.

The moisture in the air went up by a very noticeable amount. She thought about the immense size difference between the two. Pink was a midget compared to him, but at least there was a reason for that. "Ben! There you are..." She said to him, refraining from giving him a huge. There was another fellow here, Pink had a very hard time making out his features, but he was tall, muscular, and... Jesus? Is everyone here roided up or something. He's like the eight giant guy here. Pink didn't know things like the color of his skin, hair, eyes, and so on, because everything was black and white to her. "Sorry, I disappeared on you, this ocean is where I belong."

Then there was another scent. Pink could smell it, and it smelled quite strange. She didn't know what it was, which caused her to take some deep sniffs in. Ugh. Pink easily tracked it to a woman that wasn't far away. She was too far away for Pink to make out most of her features, but tall (God dammit!), wore this slutty get up? Pink couldn't tell anymore. Was everyone here tall, muscular, and weird? Like, she looked like a bloody shark, but at least she was different. Pink was going to ignore all these strange people for now. She just shot a, "Hi." At Abe.

"So, what's up?" Pink asked Ben, sitting on the side of the pool table, putting her shark-tail across it. Blocking any attempts to play pool.

---

Dana Lucille Allcott, & Asae Sugiura
(Written in collaboration with AgentFallenSoul)

Asae still mentally felt responsible for their situation, Dana without her chair and both of them stuck in the god damn woods. Carrying Dana was easy enough, but she was still quite shaken up, replaying the chaos in her head, critiquing herself, her sword stance, her reflexes. It was something she was almost programmed to do, if her father had seen her get disarmed, by a mindless bear no less, she would have been beyond punish. Phantom pain seemed to seep into her wrist, remember the punishments of her father for failing to beat the tasks he gave her. He was what people had come to call, a "tiger" father, everything was trash to him unless it was up to his standards, if it wasn't good enough she was met with a million demeaning words said to her face, if she was lucky it would be followed by more training instead of a slap to the face. Before she had met Tetsuya, all she knew was this, and now she was the cause of a injury easily preventable.

"... You ladies need a hand?" A new voice spoke to the pair, coming from the direction of the trees, not too far ahead of them. Dana lifted her head and turned it towards the voice. It was a woman, a strange one. She was at least in her mid-thirties and had an odd icy blue skin-tone. Definitely a sign of being a meta-human. She was beautiful, but calcuated, she was rather youthful. Her hair was a dark black color, and was kept in a long-style. Her eyes were rather blue, and she had a pink tattoo on her cheek. The outfit she wore was a thick black long-coat with a hood (It was down at the moment). She had on matching combat boots, gloves, and she had these cool aviator sunglasses on. Dana could swore she saw something on her hips.... This woman had a cellphone in her hand, which was at her side. Anyone attentive would notice that she was in the middle of a call.

This woman before her really made Dana uncomfortable... She didn't look like the staff at all, and was certainly too old to be a student. Just who is she? Dana looked around and saw that she was all alone. No Henry. No friends. This woman was just out here? No, no, no. Something wasn't right here. Dana got close to Asae's ear, and whispered, "I don't know about this... something seems strange...."

Asae had stopped in place and held Dana a bit tighter once she heard the voice, instinctly wanting to run and protect Dana at all cost. She obseved the oddfully youthful women, she did have the aura of someone older but Asae had no way of telling how old she actutally is. Her youth and beauty only multiplied with the womens skin tone, an odd blue. What she wore made Asae feel on the fence about her though, it wasn't something she could see a teacher wearing, nor a student in honesty, meaning she was either a very different indivual(Though give she was blue) or she wasn't suppose to be hear. Only then did Dana manage to make Asae feel even more protective, whispering she didn't know the women, she looked down at Dana worried "If this turns into a fight, I'm going to need you to get yourself out of here someway, if you can't Ill run, but if there is some way for you to get away, find Henry and run back to save my ass, I have no faith in my skills as a fighter against her, she has an...off aura about her if that makes sense."

Asae looked up, a stone emotionless face looked at the women "we're fine, thanks for the offer though, but I do wonder what an adult is doing out here on their own, it's none of my business seeing as we are out here as well, but It is odd to see you're not with anyone. Might I ask if you are a teacher or a student or?" she started sizing up the girl, she was going have more then a tough time if the girls powers were ranged of any sort. Not to mention Dana was in her arms, and she couldn't very well drop her, she would have to figure out how to get her safely away if the situation came to that.

The woman quickly saw that they were whispering to each other... She heard what they were talking about just fine. A fight? Oh, no. That wasn't in her agenda. But just in case, the woman shoved the phone against her face, and whispered a message. If Asae was attentive she would pick out "... If I don't call back in five minutes, come find me." Before she hung up. The woman took a few steps forward, with her hands up in surrender. "Look, I'm not out here looking for a fight, if that's what you're thinking." She rolled her eyes. "I'm someone interested in the school, that's all you need to know.... But if it really convcerns you, my name is Natalie." That wouldn't calm them down, but Natalie had a plan. "You're in trouble, and I think I can help you." She pointed back towards the school, "If you want to get back there, go that way."

When Natalie stepped forward, Asae reacted stepping back defensively, hearing prior that she was talking to someone else who was also on the Island. She couldn't know if Natalie was lying, but she wouldn't put her trust in that easily "Forgive me for not being completely trusting of you, doesn't exactly help you were talking to someone on that phone right now that's either close or somewhere on the island." She was however interested in why she was her on school grounds, it raised a number of flags about the headmaster here. She whispered to Dana "Does this school have any enemies that would attack as of right now?" she didn't remove her stare from the women, though if she were going to attack them, she would have most likely already done it instead of talking. BUT as the saying goes, better to be safe then sorry.

"... I'm not going to lie, both are true." Natalie said. Being honest. She was talking about a certain contact that's on this island, but their business is not with these women. But, they're always willing to lend a helping hand to the little man. "I understand your lack-of-trust, I'd feel the same if I was in your position." Then Asae whispered something else to the woman she's carrying. Enemies? No.

The only people Dana could think of who could be 'enemies' of the school would be the rejects that were kicked out for not following the rules. "... I don't know. I..." Dana looked around again. "... If anything goes wrong, just throw me in the bushes...." That was the best way Dana could help. Even if she can't fight, she can find Henry in record timing.

She thought about something else "Have you by chance seen a Lizard man, really big, walking with another group of people? Or a kid about ya high, has a mouth on him?" she would much rather find Henry or even Matt at this time and point, simply because getting told which way would be the way to go from a complete stranger with blue skin, wanted to make her go the complete opposite direction and trace back her steps rather than get ambushed.

Natalie put a finger to her chin, and tapped it a few times. Thinking. "... Sorry, sweetheart. I didn't find anyone that meets your description." Honestly, she wasn't going anywhere with these people. They were scared out of their mind right now... On their toes. Paranoid? Well, it's not unjustified. She took a few steps away. "Since you gals are fine, I'll just be on my way. Later ladies."

Asae suddenly blacked out and her right hand went to her box, opening it and her sword coming into view "How do you know...how do you know about that name? Were you there? Tell me what you know about me women, and dont dance around my questions, were you there the night Tetsuya was tortured?" by now her sword was out and sat Dana down "Were you there the night I watched my fiance beaten inches from death?!" she took another step, her voice wavered. It wasn't aparent to anyone, but Asae was going through a PTSD like state, her mind recalling a night that happened months ago, she had forgotten it, but the Man that forced her eyes open, watching Tetsuya get stabbed and beaten with metal bars, the man that licked her check calling her sweetheart, his pet name for her. She was completely out of control of her inner emotion, and this wasn't even herself, but an Asae locked away deep from with in her.

Oh joy, this woman is going yonkers. Natalie turned her head back towards Asae and gave her a glare from the side. She looked bored. "Look sweetheart..." Her hands wandered down towards her hips. "... I've done a lot of things. You weren't in any of them. So how about you simmer down, and let me walk off." There was definitely something mounted on her hips.

"Asae!" Dana said the second she was put down. She grabbed onto her friend's leg with both arms, intent on keeping her there. Dana was correct when she figured that Asae was in some serious business. She watched someone get tortured...? Jesus, god, that must have been tough. But that wasn't any reason to start a fight with this random woman. People could get hurt, and Dana hated senseless violence. "Put the sword away! You need to stop!"

Asae looked around for a moment "Where the fuck? What happened?" she looked down at her hand and saw her sword drawn again. She slowly put her sword back and looked at her hands, something had happened obviously between the women and her. She reached to pick up Dana again and almost all at once her memory hit her, sending her into a break down, she fell to the ground and started crying "What...why do I remember...why, I tried to forget, I tried...so hard" she reached for Dana's hand to make sure she wasn't losing it, that maybe she was just sleeping, that maybe she was just in some sick twisted dream and she was going to wake up without the memory.

Dana honestly didn't know how to respond. She could chide Asae for her recklessness, or try to comfort her - Ultimately falling on deaf ears. "... Look, Asae...." She looked around, and saw that Natalie woman leaving. Thank God. This all started with her. "... What happened? Why... Why did you threaten her?" She put her hand on Asae's shoulder.

Asae was quiet, silently crying and her face looking at her sword. The women said something but she couldn't hear, her mind was replying the image over and over again of Tetsuya bleeding. And then Dana asked why...why she threatened her. Honestly Asae couldn't understand herself, because the last thing she remembered was the girl saying sweat heart. As if it was a trigger, another sensation of hate and sadness washed over her and she knew why. She looked at Dana's hand on her shoulder, then her gaze looked at Dana's face "When...when we were in Europe...we had made...a lot of enemies. Tetsuya and I, were and unstoppable duo, we stole from crime gangs and mafia's located all over there. There was one man...who we'll say was the wrong person to steal from. It was a simple grab and go, we had planned to break into his house and steal what he had stolen from us...but he was...he was waiting for us"

She lifted her shirt, showing Dana a jagged scar cut, not huge but it was a bad one "His guys cut me, and held me at gun point, and Tetsuya...being the guy he was, instantly put his own life on the line for me. We were taken to a werehouse and there, they chained Tetsuya up and...and started beating him. First it was with wooden bats, but they didn't get the disired effect they wanted, so they grabbed metal bars, five of them all lined up taking swings at the same time. I tried...I tired so hard to look away, to break my restraints but a man, he held a knife to my throat and...touched me, licked my face, held my chin up to watch every swing hit Tetsuya. He called me sweetheart, he said that it was his pet name for me and that after they were done killing Tetsuya they were going to make me their pet and use me as they saw fit." she looked away from Dana, disgusted with herself. Her tears started to fall again, the images just wouldn't stop in her head.

I... I.... Dana was suddenly at a loss for words. Things were taking a turn for the worse, and honestly, Dana just wanted to go back home. Last time Dana checked, this woman was as closed off as it gets, but now? She's spilling everything. She couldn't possibly empathize or understand what Asae went through. She was just a crippled girl that would never amount to anything. Asae? She watched the love of her life get beaten to near-death. "I..." Dana started off, "I can't possibly understand what you've been through." It wasn't the best thing to say, but Dana had a longer speech winded up. "But, you cannot let your past... your demons... Haunt you. Define you. Control you. Letting that happen is no way to live. Just look at what almost happened here." She pointed a finger in the direction of Natalie. "You lost yourself and almost started a fight with that strange woman. You didn't know who she was, or what she could have done. You could have gotten people hurt for all the wrong reasons." Dana began her speech, narrowing her eyes. "I forgave you for cutting me, but I would not have if you started such a senseless fight." She was giving Asae constructive criticism. "Until you get yourself composed, I refuse to go anywhere with you."

Asae did a laugh through her cry and wiped her face "I'd figure now would be a good time to tell you I blacked out eariler, but thanks for stopping me. It is fine if you do not wish to talk to me, but I made a promise to carry you back home or to Henry, and I cant go back on the promise" she stood up wiping her face and breathing out, for now she would keep her emotions bottled up and use Tetsuya as an emotional pillow later. She picked up Dana again, walking in the direction the women pointed though she hoped they could find Henry, she didn't want to get questioned as to why Dana's wheel chair was gone as well as why she was carrying Dana. She had already broken down, so she wouldn't be all that fit for question from teachers or others.

"Riiiight, smart decision there." Natalie.took her hands away from her hips, and crossed them across her chest. Whatever. Conflict resolved. Long as she didn't get blood on her hands. "I'll be on my way now..." Natalie walked the opposite direction from Asae and Dana. Before the chick flips the fuck out and cuts up a school or something. "Also, advice from woman-to-woman." Natalie put her finger up, "Never draw your weapon unless you're going to use it." Which is why she didn't draw her own weapons. Natalie put her back to the two, and she was out of their sight. She immediately grabbed her phone and called someone, "... Everything went smoothly, Luís, almost got into a fight but..." The conversation went on from there.

[InfernoBlaze]

Red Winston, Christopher Fox & Victoria LaRouse

Shannon's comment was not unexpected and a possible outcome in Red's calculations, but, still, it was not the most pleasant thing to hear. He needed as much allies as possible and not a single enemy if he could. This applied especially to Shannon, since she was the best friend of his most valuable ally. Of course, he would prefer skipping the explanations, he hated to talk about his father and his guilty conscience after all, but there was no other wait around it. What was sure, was the fact that he was not going to discuss it now. Not here. There was a crowd gathering one by one and Red dispised commotion. If he could help it, he would only explain to Shannon and Deborah, maybe Nikki too, if she was interested.

Red couldn't help but notice the glances of people when he was called a murder. It was bound to interest some people after all. What he didn't know was the reason. Maybe he was considered a threat and they wanted to get rid of him? Maybe someone wanted him to do some dirty work? That would be funny, since Red was not literally a killer. He wondered how many people would he disappoint if he said that. He was aware that it was guilt that made him feel that way, but he couldn't get rid of the idea. At least, this could provide a protection of sort and people might think twice before messing with him. If that worked, Red would be safer against all these crazy-strong students.

Luckily for him, Deborah gave the cue to discuss this elsewhere. It was a god-sent gift to Red. He had the luxury to discuss things with the two girls away from all the crowd around him. He nodded to Deborah in approvement and whispered to Shannon:

"As long as we are more private and you give me enough time, I can explain, or, even better, I can show you...", the last part implying that they could use Deborah's power to actually see as much as her power could see.

Meanwhile, Chris was also intrigued when the word murderer came up, even more so when it had to do with Red. He was curious about what he meant when he said that, so he interrupted the conversation with Victoria, saying:

"Ehm, would you mind going over there? There is something I want to check out..."

Victoria replied positively, being curious about the murderer part herself. If a murderer was among them, Victoria would smack him one. She didn't like people like that loitering around the school. With that, they both headed towards the group.

[Punished GN]

Deborah Termellio, Shannon Balore, Red Winston, Christopher Fox, & Victoria LaRouse
(Made in collaboration with InfernoBlaze)

Good choice. Deborah thought to herself with a nod of her head. She turned her head back, and looked at Abe and Ben. She hated leaving Abe in the middle of their match, but she has to handle the business. However, Deborah eyed Pink walking up to Ben (Close relationship between the two) and noticed that tail (This is her default form). Deborah narrowed her eyes. "Let's go, I have the perfect place in mind." Deborah started walking out of the room. The best place to talk about this would be anywhere but this crowded lounge. Shannon probably just made a terrible name for Red, when there was much more to it. Deborah will make sure to clear up anything if anyone tries anything.

Shannon would have gone without making a scene, but that's life. Shannon scowled, and kept her arms crossed. What irritated her was Vespera. Breaking her pool cue for literally no damn reason. Shannon turned towards Vespera, and put a hand on her hip, giving her (Soon to be former) 'room-mate' an annoyed glare. "What, Spindel?" She started off, "That outfit of yours not getting you enough attention?" She was quick to sass at Vespera, not caring about that whole 'apex badass' mentality Vespera has. Shannon followed Red and left this lounge, and the fools in it, behind.

In no time, Deborah's group were outside the dorms, and walking underneath the hot sun. They needed to find someone secluded, and out of the way. No one really goes to the garden, do they? Deborah lead the group inside the massive greenhouse of a building, holding open the door for them. The Garden was truly beautiful. There were several pathways, and off the pathways were the flowers, and trees that made up the garden. Separating the two was a hard-wood fence. There were so many flowers here, of many shapes and colors. Gotten (likely illegally) from all over the globe. There was even a few ponds inside. Shannon walked over to the fence, and grabbed a flower, a red rose. Students were allowed to do this, but nobody will miss this.

There was a nice bench for all of them to sit down on. Deborah got in the middle, and pattered against it with one hand, gesturing for Red to sit down. Shannon sat down on the side opposite to Red, she handed Deborah the flower with a sly smile, whom gladly accepted it, and put it into her ponytail. "Thank you." She said to Shannon. But, the romantics would have to wait. "Alright, I think we ought to clear this up. I... Shannon, you shouldn't have announced that Red was a murderer in front of everyone..."

"... And he shouldn't have said he was a murderer in front of everyone." Shannon quickly retorted, crossing her arms. It was simple logic. If he doesn't want this getting out, then he shouldn't have said it.

"... When it isn't what you think it is." Deborah sighed, rolling her eyes. "Red didn't kill anyone. He... Well, I think I should let him explain this one."

Red took his time inspecting the Garden. He also noticed the many flowers in the Garden and shared the opinion that many of them were imported from abroad. Although he didn't share Deborah's romantic approach of the place, even he could tell that it was a beautiful place. For him, it was perfect, since it was not a populated place. He took a couple of seconds before talking, then, after a deep breath, he said:

"For the most part, Shannon is right. I was the one who started this conversation, although it was clearly directed towards you two and Chris at the time. It is safe to assume that Deborah already knows that things are a bit more complicated, she said so herself, after all.Which only leaves one thing for me to do. Go into detail. But, telling you about it would take hours, so I think that, with Deborah's ability, we can save that time to discuss about our common goal. I told you before that going into my head is not a good idea, since you would possibly not be able to handle all the information stored inside. But, if you follow my directions, you could do it harmlessly, I think."

Despite saying that, Red had no idea how things would turn out. He didn't have his brain poked before, but, in theory, if Deborah didn't open any other door in his Memory Hall, except for the one she had to, everything would turn out fine. He explained:

"If you use a link to access my Memory Hall, you should ignore any door except one in the furthest back. It's a chain-locked door, but I will remove the limiter. There, you can find all the answers you want."

This...? All this? Deborah has never tried anything like this before. Sure she has telepathy, but it's as weak and basic as it gets. Trumped by even a moderately skilled Telepath. And Red's asking this much of her? Her power gave her insight on everything she percieves, not entering people's minds. But, Red was a strange case, the way his power changes his mind might make things different. Who knows. Termellio had no choice but to try. "Alright..." Deborah hesitantly said. She reached for Red, the only way she'd be able to even try to enter him is through touch. She touched his face, and immediately went into his mind.

Shannon was staying on the sidelines for this one.

It was a true metaphysical experience. Deborah was in the mind of someone else. Before, she simply watched from the outside. What appeared before her was an enormous Hallway, which at first sight seemed endless, with doors at each side of it's walls. Each door had some sort of sign which indicated what was inside, age of info or memory acquired and the importance of that memory. There were memories for just about anything inside. Science, literature, news, financial plans, random everyday memories, everything. What was more interesting, though was the door at the end of the room, a black door, with bars and chains on the sides. The door's sign wrote "Personal"

What a strange place... but there's something here that was so alluring. Everything about Red's past, present, and maybe future, all behind a door. She was just so curious, that she almost opened the first door she saw. No... Stay focused. She got up, and started walking through Red's memory hall. Though, the urges to go search through them got stronger and stronger the more she went through them. By the time she was at her destination, she just couldn't help herself but throw open the door and shove herself inside. Fortunately, it was her objective. At this point, she just wanted to know something about Red. What is his past... what makes him tick?

Deborah burst opened the door, which, in sequence, let a flood of Red's most personal and secluded memories surround her. She had emotions streaming at astonishing speed. Through them, Deborah witnessed Red's younger self, a cheerful boy who craved for knowledge, much like she did and a strong moral code taught by his father. Events of Red's life with his father followed, along with nostalgic feelings for a mother he didn't spend much time with and his sense of justice leading him to interest himself with crimes, which led to the traumatic experience of the death of his father, the scar on his face and his fear of knives. What came up next was days of Red being a wreck, filled up with only self-guilt about what happened, just because of his curiosity. The last events of his life before joining the Academy, was Red turning himself into a mediator between the world's most notorious mobsters, something like a contact book of world-renowned criminals. It was the only way for him to keep everyone in check, by gaining their trust. Had he not returned to the school, he would eventually use all the info he had acquired to get every single one of these people behind bars. After the image streaming ended, Deborah could see a chest at the very end of the room. It was not unlocked like the door, thus it could not be opened. The word "Emotions" was scribbled on it.

So... Much... Insight! Deborah was filled with glee upon the memory dump. Her own power filled in some of the blanks, but she learned much from his memory hall. He was a child who got involved in the wrong things, angered the wrong people, and suffered the loss of his father - Whom he truly indirectly got killed. It wasn't his fault, but... She wanted more. She must have more. A chest was in the room revealed itself to her. Emotions. Red didn't have any... No, he locked them away.... Deborah didn't waste any time in skipping over there, and trying to open it up. But it just. Woundn't. Open! She tried and tried and tried. As she done so, that obsessive desire for new information faded, and common sense came right back. Deborah gave up... She got to see all she needs to. It'd be best for everyone if she simply finds a way out of here.

... Simply by breaking contact with him, Deborah was removed from his mind, and thrusted back into the real world. She... Didn't know what to say, honestly. She looked around, at Shannon, then Red. She felt odd.

(Something has awakened inside of you, Deborah)

What has...? Well, Deborah sighed. She doubted that power will tell her, it will be something she has to find out for herself, right? Deborah looked at Red. Well, that experience wasn't what she would call explaining it for himself, but she got the same results either way. "Shannon," Deborah started off, "Red didn't kill his father, or anyone. It was truly his own guilt that lead him to say that."

Shannon didn't trust Red... But she trusted (and treasured) Deborah's word more than anything. She wanted to embrace Deborah, but she knew the display of romance would not be appreciated infront of Red. She grabbed onto Deborah's wrist, "Deborah... What happened in there?"

"I saw everything.... Everything Red wanted me to see, and more." Deborah answered with a surprising amount of calmness and calculation. She turned towards Red, and stated, "Red, that was something unlike anything else I have ever done... Being inside another mind... I...." She trailed off, "... I want to go back. Learn more. You have to let me." Deborah tried to grab onto Red again, trying to pierce into his mind.

However, Deborah's sleeve was yanked away, like someone grabbed onto it and pulled her away. It was Shannon, and her ability to manipulate clothes. "... Debby, don't get carried away, yes?" She put a hand on Deborah's shoulder. "I believe you... Red.... But I still do not trust you. You may not be a murderer, but you want something from us... Oh wait. "Now, if this murderer nonsense is dealt with, I believe we have plenty to discuss...." Shannon wasn't going to mull on her false belief that Red was a murderer. No point in doing so.

"Oh yes." Deborah was quick to catch on too. She smiled and looked at Red. "Our mystery solvers, out to pick apart the Academy's secrets, and mysteries." She laughed again. "What do you have to say, Red?"

"With everything settled, I think that we could start right over!" was Red's immediate reply.

His eys first to Deborah, then to Shannon, he added:

"You are free to trust me or not Shannon, that's not something I can change, it's something I have to earn. I may do it with time. So, for now, try to think of me as an ascossiate rather than an ally, if it helps you. I think..."

Red was interrupted by Chris and Victoria coming out of a hiding spot they have found to spy on the group. Chris was so eager to find out about the whole murderer thing that he couldn't help but "spy" on the group. Having heard everything he said:

"Sorry for spying on you, but I want to be a part of this...I also want to find out about the Academy. Who wouldn't actually?"

Victoria was just as zealous in joining the mystery hunting gig.

"I want to join too! Besides, how can I face myself if I let my messy roommate get hurt during her Sherlocking around the Academy?" she said, giving a peace sign to the group.

There was that sinking feeling that they were getting spied on... Her Premonition ability? She was too engrossed in trying to get back into Red's beautiful head, that she was ignoring it. Gotta be better, Deborah, could have been Vespera again. She shook her head. It was the information goldmine, and Debby's, very overzealous, room mate. Joy.

Eavesdroppers? Seriously? Nothing irritated Shannon more than someone who can't stay out of other people's business. Shannon scowled, "Didn't anyone tell you to mind your own-"

Before she could continue, Deborah had already cupped her hand over Shannon's mouth, getting some irritated struggling in return. "Oh, you're interested in helping us, Chris?" Deborah turned her attention to Chris, totally ignoring Victoria. He was an information gold-mine that's just waiting to be tapped. If she can get him in the cruise ship he destroyed... Then she can fill in the blanks of information and learn all about it. Every gruesome detail... There were things she didn't want to know, but this ain't one of them. "Gladly," Deborah started off, "I see we striked up The Mystery Hunters."

Shannon tipped her glasses, and stared dead at Deborah, "... The Mystery Hunters, really, Debby?"

"Yes." Deborah nonchalantly said. It was better than anything stupid like 'Debo-Red alliance', and everyone could get behind it. Still, regardless of names, Deborah had an important piece of the puzzle right in front of her. Cause and effect after all. There was a cause in the shipwreck, and Chris was the effect... Something like that. "I say our first order of business is investigating the ship-wreck. Plenty of mysteries go on there. Like some backdoor deals the Headmaster has been making..." Of course, this was a lie to mask the fact she was only interested in piecing Chris's puzzle. There was literally nothing of importance there.

The young detective got off from the bench, and started walking towards the exit. "I think we should get a move on now. We have plenty of work to do...."

[SerpentGear]

Codi Bailey and Atticus Fowler

Upon seeing that the girls were leaving, and aware of the fact that Henry had mentioned a waterfall, and what she suspected was a swimming activity, she immediately began to plot a prank on her best friend. It actually had more meaning than just laughter at Atticus’ expense, though. Being a fish man, she had tried to convince him for an entire year to see if he could breathe underwater, even if it just meant sticking his head in a bathtub filled with water. Atticus, of course, had reasons for refusing, and although one would think they were cowardly, it wasn’t really that lacking in common sense. The obvious reason he wouldn’t do it was because he was afraid he might not be able to do it, and therefore take in water and drown.

Codi, however, knew that if he never tried, he might have a cool ability that he would never use. She was also aware that she couldn’t be the one to save him if he did start to drown, because Reef weighed so much that she would sink, and she wouldn’t be able to get him to the surface in time, even though she could probably still hold her breath long enough to climb out. Deciding, though, that with so many different meta-humans around with a good sense of humor, she could probably have some accomplices, she didn’t worry too much. With this plot in mind, she walked next to Henry so she could get the teacher’s permission to pull the prank. She wasn’t crazy enough to do something that might be deemed risky without someone knowing what to do if the situation turned sour.

Codi waited until Atticus had, while admiring the jungle around him, walked a distance enough away where he wouldn’t overhear any conspiring. He wasn’t looking, as she was so used to him wearing glasses that she could now practically sense when he was. Codi looked up at Henry, and started whispering, “Hey, Henry, do you think you could help me do something? I’ve been trying to get Atticus to see if he can breathe underwater or not, but he won’t try. Do you want to help me prank him so that he’s forced to attempt it? He’s a fish-man, so I think he could.” She said in a general suspicious manner associated with all forms and fashions of a plot.

[Estylwen]

Aislin leaned back, soaking up the sun shining through the canopy. She didn't get the whole pressure behind buds. It was a plant. And if you just happened to set it on fire,  there were some pleasant side effects. She had, unfortunately, gotten in trouble with bud before. Nothing as exciting as some other stories out there, but her dealer got busted while she was 'hanging out'. They arrested her anyway, but couldn't get any dirt on her since she was clean.

She took another puff, distracting herself. Her head buzzed slightly, and she grinned mischievously. Ah, what was she kidding herself. If Henry saw her like this right now, she'd doubt he'd give her a pat on the back. Rather, she would be marched to the dorms. Or some teacher's office to go over the academy rules. 

"School rules don't matter in paradise." She retorted to herself, drawing a circle around her to define the parameters. The she stopped, frowning. "But... They'd disregard paradise. They can't accept a country drawn on the spot. Even a holy one." She nodded, smiling at the fact she made paradise the tiniest country in the world. 

Eyes. God, she could feel eyes on her. Aislin itched the back of her neck, instantly feeling anxious. Half of it was the bud's fault, it always maybe her leery. Peeking out from her tree, Aislin scanned the school wall and jungle floor. Despite the insects and other forest creatures, there was no one. At least, no one she could see. 

A rustle in the trees above snapped Aislin's gaze up to where Jaska slipped down to one of the lower branches. He was a couple feet above her head, looking very natural despite the blood all over him. Aislin tried coming up with an answer to this, quickly ruling out the possibility he murdered someone. Jaska was an animal Meta, she had the privilege of watching him literally devour a fish the other day. And the animals in the island's jungle were free game to anyone. 

She flashed him a casual grin. "Hey, Jaska. What game were you hunting today?"

He was quick to ask what she was doing out here, tagging on his ownership to the jungle. Amused, Aislin gestured to the greenery surrounding them. "Well, Jungle King, I was out to appreciate this island's scenery, and I was thinking of joining Henry's exploration. But that means lots of people. Lots of noisy people doesn't sound like a lot of fun. Right?"

Anticipation was a magical thing. She had a feeling Jaska would say something about what she was smoking. But his innocence was truly adorable, and she didn't want to be the one to shatter this aspect of it. It was too cute. 

"Cigarette, eh? This ain't no cigarette, you wouldn't catch me dead with one 'a those." Aislin said, snickering behind a hand. The laugh was short-lived when she realized half her joint burned away without her noticing. Shit. And the light at the end was huge! Wait, there's not suppose to be a light. At all. Just cherry-glow. Aislin frowned, attempting to blow out the candlelight. When it defied her she immediately glanced at Jaska, drawing to the conclusion her invincible light was somehow his doing. 

Curious, Aislin held the filter end closer to Jaska, watching as the flame grew brighter. The added heat was enough to burn the entire joint into a fizzle of ash after two seconds. She yelped as the flame singed her fingers, frantically shaking her hand twice. "Ow, hot. Damn flames." She licked two fingers, blowing on them. "But it should clear the air for you. I didn't realize your nose was that sharp, kiddie. I'll be more careful, promise."

She took a couple steps back, sneaking a peek out the entrance gate. There they were, Lizard-Man and a large entourage making their way. She called it, lots of noisy people. Aislin crept back, glancing up at Jaska. "Did you want to go find those caves together, Jaksa? I'd feel safer if I was with the Jungle King." She said, smirking.

The dirt ground rippled beneath her, bubbling several inches up under her feet. She recently discovered how she could use the world like a longboard, increasing her speed and requiring hardly any physical effort. As long as her mind stayed focused, it was as natural as riding a bike.

"I'll race you.~" Aislin said playfully, coasting forward a few feet. The bubble of earth rolled with her, leaving the ground undisturbed in its wake. 

[QuietThinker]

Mark

The Academy was a big place to go jogging around, and the size and length of the wall should have tipped him off to this fact. But working up a sweat was much better than the alternative: awkwardly chatting with people he didn't know, or twiddling his thumbs alone in his room. Besides, a good run always helped him clean out the gunk from his mind. In fact, that may as well have been its primary purpose, because he knew he could only half remember everything that he was seeing. No, he had to get his brain in order.

And the first thing he did was calm himself down. Being plunged into pitch black against creatures that he needed to learn to classify as people who could assumingly bat his head off his shoulders if they wished it.. was something that was difficult to get over. He was quite confident in his ability to react to new dangers, but that was just pushing it. He had had no idea what he was up against, and asides from some idle chattering, that had been his introduction to this hellhouse of a school. These were the thoughts he worked to suppress. To let them fester was to give in to fear, and although he was not the type to actively do anything, he knew what he wouldn't. He was that kind of guy. So he told himself that he would throw himself at situations like that. He didn't know whether it would be a regular thing, but he didn't care; it was a challenge. Those were one of the few things that could rouse him from inaction. Especially here, where he was surrounded by those with some astonishing abilities. His own weaknesses were becoming more and more apparent to him, and he'd only been here for a few hours. He wanted to eliminate them.

Or at least he would when given the opportunity. To his shame, he wouldn't go out of his way to do anything, as his lazy personality wouldn't let him make his own opportunities. All he knew how to do was react to what came before him. Mark's demeanor matched his power quite well.

And as his thoughts touched on his power, he remembered what had happened when lightning had struck.. For a miniscule fraction of a second, he had moved his fingers faster than a wave of electrical current. It baffled him. He replayed the moment over and over in his mind as he tried to think of some other explanation of how he could drop his phone, but he came up blank. There was no alternate conclusion: there was more to his power than he was aware.

Before he could fully comprehend this, he noticed to his right was a great dome which he had so far ignored. It had an open door, so he proceeded inwards to find the garden that the map had been talking about. After walking for a short while in the beautiful and varied expanse of colour around him, he climbed a nearby tree. Mark didn't know why he liked to climb trees; it may have been because as a child he had been told it was dangerous by his mother, but his father had discretely encouraged his young curiosity. His parents flitted in and out of his mind as a mixture of worry and pain crossed his braincells. He knew they would be fretting over him, but he knew that his time on this earth was limited more than most. Why that was exactly was a question that needed an answer, and he figured the more he developed his power, the more he would learn about how to prevent turning himself to ash.

And with those thoughts, an accidentally loud group of three parked themselves beneath his tree. One of whom he recognised, but whose name escaped him. Mark just knew him as the social butterfly. Resting his head against the trunk of the tree, Mark tried his hardest to ignore them.

Now eavesdropping was something he didn't approve of, but he found himself doing anyway.

Ah, Red was his name. I remember now.. and its still too unorthodox for a normal person to call their son. But still, I've inadvertently learned that he is not a murderer. Awesome. Why someone would think he is is none of my business, but still. Whatever.

We also have a girl named Deborah and Shannon. They seem close. And they seem to want to find things out about this Academy's.. secrets? Have I gotten involved in something shady? Good God I hope not. Or maybe I do. I don't know. I guess I haven't fully decided yet.

On that note, two people popped out of the bushes. They were making a troupe now it would seem. And they were heading to the sunken cruise ship. And they said it was where the Headmaster conducted illicit activities. This was also a place that the guide highly encouraged to stay away from.

...Well if I'm going to decide if I want to be involved with something shady.. Now's a good time.

They got up to leave. His world stopped as he agonised over this decision. 10 minutes passed for him in 1 second as he weighed up he tried to eliminate his fears and boost up his confidence so that he could leave this tree and tag along with these inquisitive individuals.

Mark jumped from the tree.

"Hey, mind if I tag along?" Was the best he could get out of his mouth. A tight lipped smile followed. At best he was charming. At worst he was a stalkerish nobody who appeared out of nowhere to invite himself along to a small group's secret excursion. At least, that was how he thought he appeared. Social situations definitely didn't put him in the best state of mind.