[IC] Herculean Academy, The Top School for Aspiring Superheroes: Prologue

[Nightmare Bunny]

Dorian Lost

FUCK I DID IT AGAIN.

Never mind. This once was a Dorian post that contained a brief conversation between him and Anastasia. He basically warned her against chowing down on any students, told her that all blood has to be obtained from faculty, and assigned Olivia to her as a guardian-type person.

[XxFellsingxX]

- Vice Principal Nina Smith -

Nina had to practically bite her lower lip so as not to make a snappy comment at any of the agents before each of them disappeared one by one. It was only after they were gone that she spoke up, anger barely concealed.

"No one tells me how to run my school," she muttered bitterly, one of her hands clenching into tight fists. She then turned her gaze towards Deia, finally allowing herself to look at the girl. It was as she did, she felt a small intrusion within in her mind, an emotional pulse that caused her whole body to freeze for a moment. But it left as soon as it had come.

Nina stared at Deia, for a moment frightened, before the fear was replaced by pity and a need to do all she could to make sure that this girl's stay at Herculean was as pleasant and comfortable as possible. Without breaking the rules set before her by the agents, of course.

"Hrmph~ What a rude suit! Treating this delicious looking little girl like a monster!" Meredith's voice brought Nina back to her senses. "So what are we gonna do with her?"

Nina turned her head slightly towards the alien teacher. "The same as we plan to do with all the other students," she said before making her way behind the wheelchair and gently taking handles on the back. "Take her in and get her settled down. Then we'll get her some supper along with the rest." She smiled at the back of Deia's head. "I imagine you're quite hungry, Deia?" she said lightly, though she didn't expect much of a response.

She then glanced at the other students. "I expect you all to treat Deia very kindly, as you would treat each other," she said, smiling gently at them. "Now come along everyone." Without another word, she started carefully pushing Deia's wheelchair towards the building they had been heading for, hoping everyone else would follow.

---

- Cheol Akiyama -

Cheol listened to Kitty's feelings towards the teachers, nodding as he did. He especially smiled when Kitty whispered to him that Dr Dorian reminded her of Alexis, right before Alexis herself made her appearance.

It seemed that he was the only one particularly concerned about the school staff, and the school itself, but perhaps he was just being worrywart and nothing was wrong at all.

Yeah, right.

He glanced back towards wheelchair girl, Deia as the Vice Principle had called her, as she pushed towards the school by Nina. Given the way he had overheard the adults talking about her, he had a feeling that Deia was somehow dangerous. Well, technically, all the students here were dangerous to some degree. Take Kitty for example: her power was teleportation. Not too dangerous, unless she planned to teleport behind you and slit your throat. Of course, Kitty didn't seem like that kind of person - thank goodness - but the school didn't know that yet. They didn't know if any of the kids here would use their powers for dark purposes, or if they could even control their powers well enough to stop them accidentally hurting others or themselves. For a moment, Cheol felt lucky that his powers came from the mask, and that he could switch them off whenever they got too much for him.

“Hola, peeps,” Graham greeted them as he fell into step beside them.

"Konnichiwa," Cheol greeted, giving the other boy a little wave. He noted that Graham seemed a bit strained but didn't comment on it. "How goes it?"

[Nightmare Bunny]

Kitty Lee

"Probably not, Kitty. Hey, I hope they brought mine too! Oh, and my computer. If they didn't bring my computer, I'ma be upset! I built that thing myself."

Kitty sighed. Yeah, she hadn’t really thought so. But… Ugh. Might as well keep her hopes up, right?

They’d caught up to the rest of the students! Well, that was nice. Why’d they stop? Kitty hummed, standing on her tiptoes to try and see over everyone’s heads. It… wasn’t working. Wait, could she just teleport over?

“Hola, peeps,” said Graham, and Kitty jumped about ten feet in the air. Woah. He’d appeared out of nowhere! Did he have invisibility powers or something?

"Konnichiwa," said Cheol. Woah, was that Japanese?

"Yo, Graham,” Alexis greeted him. "Go run off after shouting like an idiot?"

Oh, yeah. Kitty remembered hearing him start shouting. He’d been talking to that, uh… Scottish guy? Or was it Irish? She had no clue, but he’d sounded foreign.

“Heya, Graham!” she said. “Where’ve you been? We’ve been waiting for you! Man, I’m hungry. I could totally go for some food right now… but I bet their cooking won’t be as great as my mom’s. Which kind of sucks, actually! If I’d known I’d be whisked off to some top-secret superhero school, I’d have eaten more at dinner last night! Wait, was it last night?”

Oooh. That was a lot of words, all at once. When were they getting fooooood? She was really, really hungry. And she wanted to text her parents. They were sure to be worrying, after all! Her dad in particular… he’d always been kind of overprotective.

Surreptitiously, she checked her phone. Still no signal? Would there ever be signal?

Well, she’d think about it later.

[Ogo]

~Graham Turner~

“Konnichiwa”

Ahh. What? Ko-knee-chi-what now? Wait, Graham, you’ve got this. You threw Spanish, he threw...Japanese? That was Japanese, right? Fuck it, that’s Japanese now. You threw Spanish and he threw Japanese. Just saying hey. Getcha head in the game, fool.

“Yo, Graham, go run off after shouting like an idiot?”

Welp, Alexis noticed his little snafu. BUT...she hadn’t mentioned the giant, so maybe Operation Don’t Embarrass the Guinness Representative wasn’t a complete failure. Just, y’know, partially a failure.

Ugggggggh…

“Heya, Graham! “Where’ve you been? We’ve been waiting for you! Man, I’m hungry. I could totally go for some food right now… but I bet their cooking won’t be as great as my mom’s. Which kind of sucks, actually! If I’d known I’d be whisked off to some top-secret superhero school, I’d have eaten more at dinner last night! Wait, was it last night?”

And Kitty was oblivious? SWEEET! He had gotten off Scott-free. Cast off the shackles of shame, ye firescalp, for ye are free of mine curse. All that was left was some smooth…

...Graham’s stomach knotted. Bad, Graham. Leaving out stupid information to people you’ve just met? That’s a terrible way to make some friends. There is no small crime/big crime. If you’re gonna do something, own up to it. THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE!!!

The boy sighed.

And puffed.

And explored every avenue of escaping his guilt.

But it was all for naught. The time had come at last.

“Ehh...I was shouting like an idiot because I am an idiot. I saw a giant and freaked out. Then I tried to, uh...undo my mistake? I don’t know. I probably just made it worse. I feel pretty bad for that girl, though. I need to apologize, or somethin’.”

He finished with another sigh, then shook his head. He felt some relief...but these weren’t the ones that would free him of the weight of shame. False alarm, Graham, get back in those shackles.

His stomach slapped him from within.

He hadn’t thought about it until Kitty mentioned it but…

“For the love of Zeus...what’s a guy gotta do to get a Big Mac around here?”

A weird thought, really. He’d never had a Big Mac, but for whatever reason, he felt more hungry than he could ever remember being. If Mt. Saintbeef were to appear before him, the petite boy would accept the challenge and attempt to consume triple his weight in food.

Probably not the healthiest choice, admittedly, but the American Heart Association could shove it for all he cared.

[NarcissisticPotato]

Olivia had a problem here, a very serious problem. A problem much like the problems Nazi Germany faced as the Red Army tanked through Eastern Europe towards them and the allies galavanted up through Western Europe. Basically, her plans were quickly falling away around her. For the record, Olivia was meant to be the only one with the cheeky British girl charm but now this... thing had to come and render that irrelevant! The tenacity!

The next problem was definitely the shaky bow. What a phony. Anyone who had even watched a sliver of anime knew that the small, adorable girls were the shy and nervous ones who guys couldn't help but be attracted to. Anastasia was the exact opposite of small and adorable - she was tall and smoking hot. Nuh uh, gurl, you ain't fooling me. Anastasia was supposed to be the hot combat-ready chick who the guys drooled over before ultimately discovering that she's a prude and only has a desire to kill due to some predisposed dark backstory.

"Hello, my name is Anastasia Tepes, pleased to meet you."

Olivia put on her brave face - this was going to be a tough opponent but she'd be damned if she didn't try. "Hi Anastasia! Are you from the UK? That's brilliant! I thought I was the only God-fearing, Queen-loving Englishwoman around!

And then, it happened. If we were to use some metaphors, it would probably be about equivalent to the prompt and utter destruction so diligently promised by Truman that was later supplied in the form of two atomic bombs. Anastasia opened her lips to smile and exposed two fangs. She's a vampire? She's a fucking vampire? Well bend me over and fu-

Merde.

MERDE.

MERDE!

MERDE MERDE MERDE!

Inside Olivia's weakened mind, chaos ran amuck as pillars of emotions and morality collapsed down around each other. The Red Army were already in Berlin, scratch what she thought earlier and Olivia was definitely a certain someone hiding out in some discrete bunker about to fill his brains with a bullet.

How was she supposed to beat a vampire? She'd seen all the movies - the female vampires were seductresses who could get any man they desired before sucking the life essence out of the poor sod. She might as well go and kill Tony right now because that was the unfortunate fate that awaited him! He'd probably think that he's gonna get down and dirty with some hot vampire chick then BAM! He got no blood. Life was pointless! Why exist anymore when all your efforts are in vain? I should just go become a lesbian.

Wait a minute. Give the toaster a minute or two... Genius! Confetti exploded in her mind as order took hold again. Her plan was so damn simple it hurt - aside from Anastasia, the next best seductress on campus was Olivia. All Olivia had to do was make Anastasia into a raging lesbian and then Olivia could return to having a wide variety of hunks to choose from. Hazaar! Not once did she even think about the difficulties of turning a girl into a lesbian, however - those thoughts were taken with the breeze.

“Olivia, you’ll have a chance to talk to Anastasia later, got it? Anastasia, come with me. You’re not in trouble, so stop making my life harder. Now, follow me. Christ. Is that honestly that hard to understand?”

Shut your pie hole, Dorian! Can't you see some of us are plotting the downfall of some innocent girl's heterosexuality! "Monsieur Lost, I didn't mean any harm, I simply didn't notice you! Apologies." She cracked a happy smile that forced her eyes closed for a second.

"It's been a pleasure meeting you, please excuse me but it seems mr. Lost has something to discuss with me."

Olivia gave her a kind nod, still wearing that deceptively happy smile. Soon, you will know to never outdo Olivia Octavia Delacroix, silly little vampire girl! How are they even that big anyways!? You're like eighteen! Her smile hid her irritated groan as Anastasia turned away from her. She was friendly - this was good, her plan had already reached its first stage. All good plans need a dramatic name though...

Operation Pantyfall

[Zoldyck]

-Anastasia Tepes-

Well, it didnt seem Dorian was really comfortable being here and it took a while before Anastasia realised why. He probably didnt like her, or better said, a vampire, this close to him. Only when that thought crossed her mind she realised she was probably looking terrifying with her grin and all so she quickly tried looking away as he was talking about how she was not allowed to drink the blood of other students and bla bla bla, we provide you with blood, bla bla bla, Olivia's going to babysit you, bla bl- Wait, what? So they didnt trust her enough and now had to have someone babysit her?

Dorian walked away and merged into the group of students before she could even respond. She didnt need a babysitter! She was able to restrain herself perfectly! Anastasia had always been kept under surveilance back home and now when she finally thought that she was free to do as she liked she got stuck with someone else babysitting her! She clenched her fists, thinking if there might be a way out of this. She eventually caught up with the group and was looking around for Olivia. Atleast it wasnt all bad, sure it's frustrating to not be trusted but hey, atleast her guardian is Olivia, she seemed like a nice person.

Anastasia looked up, her mind wandering off. Maybe they would become great friends. Olivia was the first student to talk to her and she seemed very friendly. A smile formed on her face. You know what? Maybe this was a good thing. Like this she would spend alot more time with Olivia and get to know her better. Maybe they would even become real friends, the chances of that seemed much higher now. Yes this wasnt a bad thing, it was gre-

As she was lost in her thoughts she didnt look where she was walking and she accidently bumped into someone, almost making him fall down. Ooh sorry, I didnt mean to hur- As she looked at the poor guy she recognized him. It was the guy who shouted earlier. He had just been talking to two other girls and a guy who seemed to be Asian looking. Ooh please dont let him be mad.

Anastasia cast her head down. I'm sorry, I wasnt looking where I was going. I didnt mean to bump into you. Please forgive me. Although she was sincere about her appology and one look at her face could clearly tell you that she was embarased, her accent made it sound like she was being sarcastic. She twiddled her thumbs as she was avoiding any eye contact with the others. What should she do now? She just nearly made the guy fall flat on his face, what could she do?

All she could think of was to either run away or introduce herself and since the former would be considered very rude she chose the latter. My name is Anastasia, Anastasia Tepes. She lifted her head slightly to smile at the boy, not a cruel one like she gave Dorian but an honest smile.

Well, atleast it couldnt get any worse now... Right?

[Nightmare Bunny]

Kitty Lee

So Graham was hungry too. Kitty was just about to hopefully suggest that maybe they had some kind of secret underground McDonald's burger chain, when--

BAM! Skyscraper ahoy! This girl was about as tall as the Empire State Building, and about ten times prettier. Kitty sighed, a little enviously. It must be nice, to be so tall... and gorgeous to boot!

Anyway, Graham had tripped but was miraculously still standing, there was a super duper mega tall older girl introducing herself to them –-in fact, why had she even deigned to grace mortals like them with her presence? Weren’t older people supposed to hate freshmen, or something? People in this school really were nice--, and...

Kitty's phone buzzed in her pocket. What? Could it be? Was there... the most magnificent and glorious of things on this planet…

Signal?

But she couldn’t check now, could she? Not with this new girl –Anastasia Tepes—introducing herself to them.

“Nice to meet you!” Kitty sang, sticking her hand out for Anastasia to shake. The whole gesture was rather awkward, really, considering that Anastasia’s body went on for [i]miles[i], and Kitty was more than a foot shorter than her. So she kind of had to reach upwards, which was a bit weird, but… whatever! Anything in the name of friendship!

“I’m Kitty Lee,” she continued. “Let’s be friends!”

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Alexis Sinclair~

“Ehh...I was shouting like an idiot because I am an idiot. I saw a giant and freaked out. Then I tried to, uh...undo my mistake? I don’t know. I probably just made it worse. I feel pretty bad for that girl, though. I need to apologize, or somethin’.”

At the mention of the tall girl, Alexis visibly blushed, turning her head slightly away from the others as if she wasn't interested in talking to them. Instead, she focused on the music that was still playing from her headphones. Play it cool Alexis, just act normal.

“For the love of Zeus...what’s a guy gotta do to get a Big Mac around here?”

"Uh, yeah food. Don't think we're gonna find a Big Mac around here anyways. I'd rather have pizza anyways. With lots of pepperoni. Ooh, and sausage. Bacon and ham too. Think they have those here?" Come to think of it, she was pretty hungry too and talking about pizza and a Big Mac was not helping. Well, at least they were going to east soon hopefully. As soon as they get to their rooms they could eat, right? She wondered if they had room service...or at least a fridge for leftovers. Second day left over pizza was just the shizz. Also, soda. Soda was mandatory for breakfast.

And then, someone had the nerve to bump into Graham.

"Oi, watch where you're going, you-" She said, turning to see who had been so oblivious to run into someone.

"Ooh sorry, I didn't mean to hur-"

"You, uh...you..."

Oh sweet dear lord.

Fate, thou art cruel.

Alexis looked up at the tall girl, little red flags going up all over the place. Her mind was working on overdrive, trying its best to find something that wouldn't make her look like an utter fool in front of this other girl.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going. I didn't mean to bump into you. Please forgive me. My name is Anastasia, Anastasia Tepes."

No no no! You don't have to apologize! Graham should have not been an idiot! Not that she was going to say that. She couldn't get her mouth to work right even if she wanted too. Come on Alexis, play it cool! You can do this! Come on...just introduce yourself. Come on, now wasn't the time for your social awkwardness to rule you! Tame that beast! Be cool! beat it to a bloody pulp! She was pretty cool, if she had to say so herself! So this should be easy.

“I’m Kitty Lee, Let’s be friends!”

Yes, follow Kitty's example! You can do it!

"Hey,"

And then she realized, she had been staring rather intently at the tall girl this whole time, and any confidence she had, shattered instantly.

"Uhm, I mean, uh..." She awkwardly squeaked out. "I-I wasn't staring!" She stammered. "I m-mean, yeah, okay, I kinda was b-but that-" Goddamn it brain. Why were you only good for video games, beating the crap out of people, and being a sarcastic jerk! "I-it was only because," NO. "You, w-well I mean I-" BRAIN. NO STAHP. "I-I'm an idiot!"

Okay, okay. Disaster semi-averted.

"Y-yeah, I'm an idiot! So, uh, ignore me! I'll...uh, just be over here doing idiot things." She quickly pulled her headphones over her ears, turning her already almost impossibly red face away from the group. Goddamn it! Smooth Alexis! Now she really does think you're an idiot! Of course, you are one. SHUT IT BRAIN, THIS IS YOUR FAULT.

She followed after the other students, silently grumbling to herself.

~Meredith Hillard~

"The same as we plan to do with all the other students, Take her in and get her settled down. Then we'll get her some supper along with the rest. I imagine you're quite hungry, Deia?"

"Hehe, I know I am! Nice to meet ya Deia!" Meredith giggled. "I'm Meredith! I'm the Biology teacher here! Don't worry and don't believe those nasty, so untrue, slandering rumors saying that I dissect naughty students, because I don't!" She gave Deia a friendly smile, she would have given her a pat on the head if she didn't know that probably would be a very bad idea. With a last giggle, she followed after Nina as she moved towards the other building.

"Onwards to learning! And food! But mostly food! I'm starving! You're always hungry. Oh shuddap you-oha hey, its Regi!" And that's when she noticed Reginald Wagner. She didn't have much interaction with the man, but well, there as never a bad time to get to know your fellow co-workers! For a moment, she simply walked past him, seeming to not have noticed him.

And that's when, she practically leaped over to the man, putting her face right in his, close enough to smell the alcohol and for her nose to be practically touching his.

"Hellloooo Regi!"

[Ogo]

~Graham Turner~

Mmm...Pizza.

PIZZA. DAMMIT, ALEXIS, THERE’S NO PIZZA AND YOU KNOW IT.

Graham’s stomach slapped him a few more times. Then he stumbled. Jeez, he had been hungry before, but he didn’t think his body would revolt like this. For a moment, he flashed back to the train. That weightlessness. It was pretty awesome, but then he recalled the pain that would follow. Somehow, Graham got a foot out to catch himself. Some stranger bumped into him.

“Oi, watch where you’re going, you-”

Good ole Alexis. Way to have a brother’s back.

“HEY, I’m walkin’ down here!”

Graham shot out his best Brooklyn accent with that reference. He meant it as more of a joke. He wasn’t really mad. Hell, he had been on both sides of this little tussle more times than he cared to count. When you’re as small as Graham, you blend into a crowd. Being run over by the Talls is just a fact of life.

Then he turned, ready to lay into the wiseguy.

Except it wasn’t a stranger.

And she wasn’t a guy.

Fuck.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear…

Alexis began stammering like an idiot. Huh. It was nice not being the one doing that for a change. Graham supposed that even a brute like Alexis would get slightly intimidated by someone of this girl’s size. Although Graham knew that he would have to speak in a moment, and he would be floundering just like she.

Wait. The girl...she had a look in her eye. And it wasn’t the pissed off look that the Largefolk normally gave to the hobbit. It was more like the one worn by his fellow weefolk whenever they ventured into the land of height.

Was she…

Dear Janus, she was...vaguely scared? No…maybe nervous?

The actual fuckity fuck fuck?

Then she dropped her head.

“I'm sorry, I wasnt looking where I was going. I didnt mean to bump into you. Please forgive me.”

Oi vey… As if he didn’t feel shitty enough. Now she looked downright embarrassed. If her body language hadn’t screamed regret, he’d almost think she was fucking with him. But no, nobody gets like that without meaning it. Not unless she was the next nominee for Best Actress. Come claim your Oscar, dear, you can put it next to your Tony and the Grammy.

My name is Anastasia, Anastasia Tepes."

What?

Again.

What?

“I’m Kitty Lee, let’s be friends!”

…

Well. Graham had to give it to the itty-bitty one. She was three shades of oblivious. Good way to live, doc. Stay golden, Ponyboy. All that good jazz.

“Hey.”

Ah, there was Alexis. It sounded like she had finally overcome her fear. He’d hope so, considering how intensely she was staring at the girl.

Oh how wrong he was.

"Uhm, I mean, uh...I-I wasn't staring! I m-mean, yeah, okay, I kinda was b-but that-...it was only because...you, w-well I mean I-I-I'm an idiot!"

WHAT?!

AGAIN AGAIN!

WHAT?!

Graham couldn’t believe his ears. The girl was downright flabbergasted. He wasn’t that dense. There were only two reasons behind talking like that. She was either so overcome with fear that she couldn’t think straight, which Graham sincerely doubted, partly due to his prior interactions with the girl, and due to the fact that this would be what, the girl’s first time meeting Goliath?

Graham wiped his mouth with his fist then took a breath.

Or...

Or she had been struck by Cupid’s arrow.

Hard.

Graham smiled.

It had to be. It just had to be. This was almost exactly how his ‘best friend’ in his last school acted upon meeting the girl that later became his ‘girlfriend’. Granted, it lasted for a solid three months, but at this age? Might as well be a thirty-year marriage.

Sure, there was a chance that he was wrong. He could be misreading the situation entirely, but he doubted it. Social Studies, Math, and Science might make the boy seem a fool, but when it came to reading people? Graham was a pretty smooth criminal. He thought up all the angles, ya dig?

“Y-yeah, I’m an idiot! So, uh, ignore me! I’ll...uh, just be over here doing idiot things.”

Yeeeaaah, might as well shout it from the rooftops, chica. This would be interesting. Well, he would have to don his wingman suit. He might be able to get Kitty onboard as well, dense as she might be. Hmm...yeah, she seemed like the type to play matchmaker.

OH SHIT. GRAHAM, YA ASSHAT. SPEAK, DAMN YOU, SPEAK.

“Ahh, it’s no big deal. I thrive off being a doormat. I’ll live. Just, uh, keep an eye out for the vertically challenged from here on, yeah? Do that and we’re square.”

Graham spat it out with a grin. He had a little plan thrown together in his head. The time of revenge was nigh. Prepare, Alexis. It was your turn to be roped into shenanigans.

…

Well, surely blossoming young love would soothe the sore shoulder/face he would undoubtedly have later.

“Graham’s the name. I’m the uh, yeller from earlier. Sorry about that. As you can see,” he pointed to his reddening cheek before continuing, “I’ve been thoroughly disciplined. I shall not scream at ladies. You can thank the stutterer over there. Call her Alexis, she usually responds to that.”

There we go. Almost completely out of breath, and fearing the wraith of the punk-haired chick, Graham silently thanked his guardian angel for putting him on the other side of the group from her. Now he would just have to stay within sight of little Annie here until Alexis either forgot about this little ordeal, became too wrapped up in love to care, or one of them died.

Easy-peasy.

…

He had made a horrible mistake.

---

~Reginald Wagner~

Ahh…

The sea of uneducated young faces.

It would be a challenge to wrestle their poor minds away from the horrid clutches of that beast called Ignorance, but he would try. Oh, how he would try.

Wagner felt slightly at ease. Sometimes, oh how rare it was, but sometimes when he watched the students, he felt a sense of normality. After all, super or not, they were just teenagers. And he was just a teacher. They were here to learn, he was here to teach. No world-saving blunders, no cataclysmic disasters, no hellish abominations from beyond the beyond.

"Hellloooo Regi!"

Well, perhaps he spoke just a little too soon on that last one...
Reginald Wagner, a learned man of forty-seven years, a man who had witnessed not only his own death, but the deaths of all he ever knew or would know, did something he never would have expected.

He let loose a small squeak of fear, not unlike that of a frightened schoolgirl, and jumped back ever so slightly. The Hillard woman was close enough that he was afraid to blink, believing that his lashes might end up stroking her face. He created some distance, clutching his chest.

“Sonofa- Ms. Hillard, please. I believe I might have lost a few years with that one.”

The man took a few moments to recompose himself, drawing in air and calming down. He finally straightened up, though he did hook a finger under his collar, adjusting it so as to breath a bit more. Then he brought a fist to his mouth, covering his attempt at clearing his throat.

“Ahem. I trust you’re having a pleasant evening torturing those unfortunate enough to end up in your wake?”

A slight test to the beast. It could look human, but pray tell, how was it at BEING human?

[TheHangedMan]

|:::::::::::::::::::::|
|::: Deia Ticy :::|
|:::::::::::::::::::::|

Deia, despite being expressionless outwardly, was brimming with confusion on the inside. An unknown amount of time had passed since she was taken from her 'home' (cage) and brought here. The sudden change had actually rendered her unable to respond the way she wanted to for certain things. There were just so many sudden changes. Her old owners had disappeared, and she had been taken in by new owners, who were much nicer than her old ones - the electric shocks aside, they didn't punish her nearly as much as she had experienced before. Deia was just getting used to them when suddenly she was brought here, rendering her more confused than ever. She had no idea what was going on.

Another thing that made her uncomfortable though were her new clothes - they were tight and heavy and hard and it didn't let her walk at all. She hadn't been able to walk for months now, and she really missed it. Back with her old owners, at least the clothes she was wearing were comfortable. Another thing her new clothes were doing was stopping her from touching the shiny things in the air with her mind. Since wearing them, she could barely see the shiny things, although they did return from time-to-time, until she was electrocuted, then they were gone again. She also really missed touching the shiny things.

Still staring at Nina, Deia felt her emotions flare through the air, and frowned. Deia, while able to talk, was conditioned to avoid doing so by her old owners, so she developed a means of communicating with people. Deia could feel the emotions of a person through the pulses they emitted into the air. Right now, the person she assumed was her new owner was angry. Angry usually meant punishment. Was she going to get punished? She didn't like punishment.

Suddenly, the feeling of anger changed and became something different. It was an emotion she was not familiar with, even if she had encountered it before, when the people who brought her to her old new owners saw her and talked with her. It was a . . . weird feeling. It was soft but also felt so easy to break. Deia had no idea how to describe how it felt to her.

Of course, Deia had no idea she was feeling Nina's pity.

"Hrmph~ What a rude suit! Treating this delicious looking little girl like a monster!" Meredith's voice cut through Deia's thoughts, and the little girl didn't so much as react. Still, Deia could feel that, for whatever reason, this woman was threat. Had she been at full power, she could have easily figured out why Meredith felt so dangerous, and probably even discover her true nature. As it was though, she could only tell that she was definitely a threat to her.

Right now Deia really wanted to take off her clothes. The shiny things would be so useful right now. Back then, when ever dangerous things appeared, she'd use the shiny things to make them stop being dangerous. She couldn't do the same now, of course, and that made her worried; what if her new-new owner punished her?

At least the dangerous thing went away quickly, and her new-new owner didn't punish her, so maybe it was okay. Suddenly she was being pushed forward, and she again went to wondering what was going on. She turned her head and found her new owner smiling at her, which was again strange, since she couldn't think of anything she had done that would make her smile.

Deia stared at the Vice-Principal with wide, unblinking curious eyes.

[SrslyAnArtist]

Scorpio McRae

Scorpio felt a little bit disconcerted as people stopped talking to him, his tail swishing back and forth, wondering if that was their subtle way of telling him to go away. Then he noticed the new girl. he went over to Deia and rubbed his great big head against her leg gently. he looked up at her, hoping he wasn't scaring her. besides other creatures like snakes, this was the only form he could shift into that was so big. he often switched between lion and snake most of the time, sometimes going after that deadly scorpion look that seemed so popular sometimes.

"Hello, lass." He purred. "i'm Scorpio, whats yer name?" He sniffed her, taking in her scent.

[Zoldyck]

-Anastasia Tepes-

Ooh look, they werent mad at all. That's great! And they all seem so friendly. These are the same people she tried to get in contact with earlier before Dorian wanted to have a talk with her. Now she had their attention, great! Now what?

Euhm... In all honesty Anastasia hadnt thought this far ahead. She twiddled with her thumbs to think of something to say when one of them stuck her hand out. “I’m Kitty Lee, let’s be friends!” Anastasia was quite shocked at the suddenness of it all. This girl only knew her name and already wanted to be friends? Anastasia carefully shook Kitty's hand and smiled at her. "Nice to meet you Kitty, I'm honoured to meet you." She blushed for an instant. "And I'd love to be your friend!"

Anastasia bowed her head at Kitty before she looked over to a girl who had at been stuttering. At first it seemed like this person was going to scold Anastasia and she had already prepared to take the insults. But apparently the girl had changed her thoughts, or she was trying to but had a speech disorder. The girl was saying that she was an idiot and that she wanted Anastasia to ignore her. Anastasia wanted to go to this girl and ask if there was anyway for her to comfort this girl. But that would be rude to the guy infront of her who had just started to speak.

“Ahh, it’s no big deal. I thrive off being a doormat. I’ll live. Just, uh, keep an eye out for the vertically challenged from here on, yeah? Do that and we’re square.” The way this person was talking about himself made Anastasia smile and she nodded at him, confirming that she'd watch where she would be walking in the future. The boy was grinning for some reason, Anastasia didnt know why. Was he playing a trick on her or something? Then he continued with talking.

“Graham’s the name. I’m the uh, yeller from earlier. Sorry about that. As you can see,” he pointed to his reddening cheek before continuing, “I’ve been thoroughly disciplined. I shall not scream at ladies. You can thank the stutterer over there. Call her Alexis, she usually responds to that.” Anastasia nodded at Graham. So he did yell at her earlier. Well, atleast it seemed like he was sorry about that, no need to get angry over it. After all, she did just bump into him. If anyone has a right to be mad it's him.

She smilled at Graham. "Well it's a pleasure to meet you Graham," She turned to Alexis who had now put her headphones over her ears but Anastasia didnt notice. "It's also a pleasure meeting you Alexis." She saw that the girl was kind of uncomfortable. "You dont have to worry. It's not like I'd bite you or something." The irony completly went over her own head as she smilled at the group. "I'm honoured to meet all of you."

[Classified]

Aspen Archer

Aspen's eyes were still on Nina but when the government agents appeared she looked at them with fear in her eyes. With them was a girl whose current appearance and situation terrified Aspen yet she could not look away. The wheelchair and straight jacket was an all too familiar sight, it was not something she had to experience but something she had to witness for many years.

"I expect you all to treat Deia very kindly, as you would treat each other. Now come along everyone."

Aspen decided at that moment she would not treat the girl...Deia with kindess nor with hate but with indifference, she would ignore and avoid her at all costs, for three years she was free...mostly but seeing the girl took her back to a bad place.

When Nina pushed Deia towards the building, Aspen finally looked away. It was like she had snapped out of a daze, she hand't even realised all the commomotion that had been happeneing with her new friends and the...very...tall...girl...

"You dont have to worry. It's not like I'd bite you or something. I'm honoured to meet all of you." Aspen heard joining the conversation at the very end.

Dr. Isaac Archer

“Absolutely. Why, nothing would grant me more pleasure than looking out at a sea of bright faces, each one more likely to snooze during one of my lectures than the last. Of course, my friend. Let us be off.” Reginald said and Isaac walked out of his office.

Isaac followed Reginald out of the building but stopped when a sudden voice appeared in his head which he quickly recognised as his son's. Isaac's son had not inherited his powers, that he got from his mother but he had gained some of Isaac's telepathy, the ability to force his voice into his father's head. Usually Isaac would have to choose a person and focus on them to read their minds but with his son it was different, and when he was a child it was a pain.

She's fine, son. I'm just going out to meet her now, they should be coming in soon...oh Reginald's gone ahead. We'll speak later Isaac transferred his thoughts into his son's mind. His son didn't reply so he ran after Reginald. When he reached outside he was Reginald up close and personal with Meredith

I'll leave you two lovebirds alone Isaac transferred his thoughts into Reginald's mind with a chuckle. Turning his attention back to the students he scanned the new faces for a familiar one.

[Nightmare Bunny]

WHOOPS I TOTALLY JUST ACCIDENTALLY DELETED MY POST.

What happened here before I deleted it was:
- Dorian went over to the other teachers, asked Reginald (in a whisper) about the girl in the wheelchair, made an announcement about the dorms, and then gave the floor over to Nina.
- Kitty introduced herself to Anastasia, received some concerned texts from her dad, and hid behind Graham in an attempt to not look at the giant snake. Yeah.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Meredith Hillard~

“Sonofa- Ms. Hillard, please. I believe I might have lost a few years with that one.”

Meredith giggled, taking a few steps back and giving the poor man some room. He was such an easy little man to startle sometimes. She often wondered what was going through that head of his all the time. She knew he could see the future. Or possible futures at least, anyways. That had to be horrible, seeing all that food in the future and not being able to eat it...

“Ahem. I trust you’re having a pleasant evening torturing those unfortunate enough to end up in your wake?”

"If I said no, that'd be a lie!" She happily said. "Scaring those little kiddies is always so fun! But you know I only do that if they're misbehaving! And two students were fighting, so I haaaad to do something! And no one was seriously injured! So I'd say that's a plus one for me!" She did a little twirl, before pointing a thumb rather proudly at her chest.

"But y'know. Enough about me! Everyone knows what I like doing~" She giggled rather...darkly at that. "What ya up to? I don't see you around so much. It's like you avoid me!" She said, giving a fake pout. "We're co-workers! We should get to know each other in a number of re~eal close ways!" She let the sentence hang there for a moment, the obvious implications of the sentence completely lost on her for the moment; if she even knew what those words could possibly even mean.

"You know, like doing friend stuff!" She continued a few moments later. "Like hang out! Drink! Watch one of those silly human sports things or whatever else it is you humans like doing and stuff!"

~Alexis Sinclair~

Alexis kept quiet for the duration of Grahams and Kitty's introduction. She was quietly fuming over her own awkwardness and inability to say something to Anastasia without sounding like a complete and utter moron. UGH. WHY WAS BEING NICE SO HARD?! JESUS. Even as a little kid she had trouble being nice to people. In fact, if what her mother said was true, she was quite the shy and somewhat clumsy kid. Apparently though, everyone thought she was adorable.

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Graham, It's also a pleasure meeting you Alexis. You dont have to worry. It's not like I'd bite you or something. I'm honoured to meet all of you."

Alexis visibly cringed at hearing Anastasia introducing herself. Well, kinda heard. All she heard through her headphones was 'I'd bite you or something'.

Yeah, nice time to tune in brain.

Pushing out all the possible implications of what that single sentence could mean, she turned her head slightly to Anastasia, any previous nervousness or social awkwardness gone. She simply gave her a somewhat hostile look, before giving a grunt and ignoring her.

Well, what was she supposed to do? If she talked, she was just going to sound like a blubbering idiot. Or her brain was going to say something she'd didn't entirely want to. Really, to her she was in a lose-lose situation.

[Ogo]

~Graham Turner~

Well...introductions were done? It seemed like it. For the time being, anyway. Alexis had turned on frigid-bitch mode, which Graham would chalk up to overcompensation for her prior near-swooning. He almost laughed. But didn’t. Play the hand just a bit longer.

Wait, what was with Kitty? She kept scooting closer to him. And behind him.

…

Well, if she wanted to stare at his ass, she should try to be a bit more subtle. He wasn’t offended or anything. When you’ve got it, flaun-

Oh. Graham had looked back, and saw the girl was checking her phone. So he was being used to hide cell phone activity. Alright, that was fair enough. None of them could have been expected to know what the deal was around here with the things. If they would drug them to keep the location a secret, would they really still let the kids have access to the outside world?

Hopefully. He despised having to hide cell phone shenanigans. Speaking of which…

He pulled out his own technology brick and looked down at the screen. With a touch of a button it sprang to life. Or would have. If the battery wasn’t dead. Which was great. Truly.

Fucking phone.

“Hey! Listen up! These are the dormitories, where you’ll all be living for the next year or more of your lives.”

The Murse spoke, and Graham listened. Mostly. It’s not like he could escape into the internet yet. Still, he was glad they were finally there. It felt like they had been walking for ten days. But such is the perception of time to the youth.

“Finally! I thought we’d never get here!”

Kitty? That was Kitty. And Alexis was preoccupied with music? Anastasia was still there, as was Cheol and...Aspen? When did she get back? Well then. Ninja of the Year goes to young Aspen, ladies and gents. Now, now, hold your applause. I mean, it might be hard, what with your throats having been slit. Damn Ninja Award Shows. ANYWAY, he might be able to use now to recruit some help. To round up a merry band of Cupids. Although...although if his words carried the twenty thousand bloody floors up to Ms. ProbablyGonnaBeInTheNBA’s ears, then Alexis might actually rip off his ears. Probably. He wasn’t sure, but she gave off the vibe. And as appealing as that sounded, Graham kinda sorta liked hearing. It was pretty cool from time to time. So…

So he’d have to channel his inner Aspen. Do as the ninja do.

He sort of stopped, leaning in past Kitty’s head, whispering.

“I got somethin’ I gotta tellya. Later. Alone. You ain’t gonna believe this.”

Afterwards, he pulled back and gave her a nod, before snaking through the crowd. Carry on, little Graham Underfoot. Were he not so intent on breaking through the crowd and getting into the dorm building, he might have noticed the girl with a snake buddy, or the monster apparently macking on a spazzy-looking fella.

But he didn’t. He made it to the front of the student body, and might have just continued on, but he waited. The Vice Principal hadn’t given the okay yet, had she? Well…

Damn.

---

~Reginald Wagner~

Finally, some room to breath. Which Reginald used greedily. Any poor O2 just going about its day in his general vicinity was now being dragged into the dark abyss that was his lungs, doomed to being chained to a disgustingly heavy carbon atom for the rest of its...well until it got gobbled up by a tree.

"If I said no, that'd be a lie!"

Well good. If we were going to be madness incarnate, then lying simply would not do.

"Scaring those little kiddies is always so fun! But you know I only do that if they're misbehaving!”

Horsefeathers.

“And two students were fighting, so I haaaad to do something! And no one was seriously injured! So I'd say that's a plus one for me!"

‘Seriously’ injured? Wagner sighed.

"But y'know. Enough about me! Everyone knows what I like doing~ What ya up to? I don't see you around so much. It's like you avoid me!"

Ding-ding-ding. Tell her what she’s won, Don Pardo.

"We're co-workers! We should get to know each other in a number of re~eal close ways!"

My God. Was this woman seriously propositioning him in broad daylight? At work? With students all around. Why, if he didn’t know any better, he would think that she had been the one enjoying a few early drinks.

"You know, like doing friend stuff! Like hang out! Drink! Watch one of those silly human sports things or whatever else it is you humans like doing and stuff!"

…

That wasn’t a coincidence. The thing had given him a warning. Or a slight. Wagner resisted the urge to bare his fangs, instead holding together his composure. Fine. She wanted to dance around the subject? Very well, ma’am. Let us Waltz.

“Avoid you, Ms. Hillard? Perish the thought. We’re just too busy, no? What with my introducing these children to the giants of literature, the wonders of the written word, and your uh…”

What was she taught? It was a science…

Oh. Biology.

“Well, as you split the living body, I split the living word. Surely we must throw all we are into such noble practices?”

Now Regi, old boy, diffuse the bomb.

“I am reminded of a quote by Ms. Pearl Buck. ‘Love cannot be forced, love cannot be coaxed and teased. It comes out of heaven, unasked and unsought.’ I would think that friendship is much of the same? Should we come across similar interests, then marvelous, but otherwise, I wouldn’t suggest forcing ourselves to endure such unpleasant experiences as drinking or ‘human sports things’.”

He ended with a chuckle. Then he turned to leave, offering a wave behind him.

He had to get back to his office.

He had to hide.

He had been sloppy today. Archer had walked in on his partaking. He would remember to lock the door from here on. And Hillard…

She must have smelled the bloody stuff on his breath. Being a beast, it did not surprise him.

He didn’t want to chance anyone else discovering his dirty little secret. Certainly not the Smith woman. He was already in a dangerous enough place. Hillard was practically mad...but he didn’t feel as if she harbored any true malicious intentions. None amongst the career-jeopardizing sort. Now, as far as lunch…no, best not to think about it.

What about Archer?

Obviously there was the disappointment in his old colleague’s eyes. But would it amount to more? How likely was he to share this particular bit of information? After the single drink, probably not much. He seemed as if he were the forgiving type. Once, he would gloss over. Twice, he might offer some reproach, but probably wouldn’t blow the whistle. But thrice might be the dealbreaker. Wagner made a mental note to triple-check all entrances to his office before indulging again.

Speaking of which…

He would have to find a new spot to hide the liquor. Should he be wrong about Archer, it would be better to err on the side of caution.

Then there was the nurse...Lost, was it?

He had asked something of Wagner, but broke away to announce something to the children. He could have known as well.

They all could know.

They all must know.

NO.

Wagner hurried up.

He had to get rid of the evidence.

[Nightmare Bunny]

Kitty Lee

“I got somethin’ I gotta tellya. Later. Alone. You ain’t gonna believe this,” Graham whispered to her, all sneaky-like.

He did? Wait, what? Kitty blinked. What exactly could Graham possibly want to tell her that he couldn’t say in front of Alexis and Anastasia and Cheol and Aspen and pretty much the entire student body? Something private—

Wait. She knew this situation. The only time someone ever had to tell someone else something “in private” was… when they wanted to confess their love for the other person!

She froze. Could Graham want to confess his love to her? But— they’d only met each other that day! And yeah, she was pretty good with Pokemon puns, but… wasn’t that too soon?!

Or… could he be calling her out in order to betray her? She’d seen that before, too, in dramas! The traitorous villain met the hero, alone, behind the abandoned school building after class… and murdered him!

Did Graham want to murder her? Somehow, that seemed even worse than him trying to confess his love to her!

But surely he wouldn’t want to do that. After all… they were Pokepals! Fellow losers! Fire-forged (or rather, hell train-forged) friends!

“O-Okay,” she said uncertainly. If worst came to worst, she could run for the hills!

But, wait— where was he going? He’d pulled back and nodded at her, and now he was weaving his way through the crowd? Wait, wait, what? Why did he keep running off like that?

“Hey, wait!” Kitty said, and then remembered her manners. “I’m going to go after Graham,” she said to everyone else, and then promptly turned to try to follow the boy into the crowd.

Unfortunately… Kitty was not as talented in the art of crowd-weaving, and soon found herself unable to move forwards. Also, someone elbowed her in the face. Ouch. That would leave a nasty bruise. She could still see Graham, but—

Oh. She was an idiot. Why hadn’t she just teleported?

On that note, she promptly teleported right next to Graham, landing nearly on top of him.

Ooooh, she really did need to work on her accuracy. That had been a little to close for comfort.

“Whoops!” she said, teetering a little. “Sorry about that. Why’d you keep running off like that, anyway?”

[XxFellsingxX]

- Vice Principal Nina Smith -

Nina listened patiently as Dorian spoke to the rest of the students. They were now standing in the students' living quarters, Nina still gently clutching Deia's wheelchair as she pondered to herself. She had already vaguely formulated a list in her mind about who would be rooming with who based on what she knew about each student, though she had prepared to change it based on what would happen when she met the students in person. For one, after seeing how friendly Miss Sinclair and Miss Lee were with one another, she felt that it would be a good idea to room those two together. However, she got a strong feeling that the Principle himself would be hesitant, considering that Miss Sinclair and Miss Lee were, well, in the same boat as it were.

Nina especially knew that the Principle had been very hesitant to let Alexis into the school. Under normal circumstances, as Alexis had been one of the subjects of the Esper Program, they would have accepted her without question and done their best to make Alexis comfortable. Even despite the fact that her mother was... well, Herculean made a point of accepting every super-powered child, no matter what their powers were, who they were, or even who their parents were. Unfortunately, the Principle had reservations, based solely on one small fact.

Alexis' mother had wanted Alexis to come to Herculean. And that single fact had been the one reason the Principle had almost refused Alexis from coming to the school.

"I don't know what you're so worried about," Nina had said when the Principle had voiced his thoughts on the matter. "If you are afraid that this is some kind of trick, some kind of attempt to infiltrate this school, you must remember we've had spies before and dealt with them thoroughly."

She had been sitting in her office at the time, dressed in clothes more suited of a teacher rather than her normal superhero gear, which was probably why she had felt so uncomfortable, so vulnerable. If you looked at Nina's Mystic Magus costume, you would have thought, what with the armour, the cape and the tight-fitting clothes, it would have been uncomfortable, but to Nina it was like a second skin. It felt safe, and it wasn't just the fact that it covered her well from any physical attack. It made her feel like someone much stronger, must greater than herself, someone who achieve anything, get any job done.

When she wore her costume, she felt powerful.

She got the feeling that the Principle knew this, because he always asked that whenever she contact him veer the transmitter screen situated on the far wall of the office, that she always wear her office clothes. She'd never questioned why this was, but she got the feeling that it was so the Principle would identify as a teacher, a teacher at his school, someone who he paid, who he controlled, instead of a hero who had enough power to be in control of themselves.

As for the Principle himself, Nina wasn't entirely sure what he looked like. While the screen did transmit an image, the room he always spoke to her from was dark, so his face was veiled in shadows and very difficult to distinguish. The only thing Nina could make out for sure was that the Principle was bald, though she often got the impression when she saw the impression of his form, that his body was very frail. This was only further influenced that his voice was quiet, barely loud than a whisper, and was brittle. She'd often hear his voice crack slightly while he was talking, almost as if he were on the verge of tears, though as the screen could sometimes become alive with static, she was never entirely sure whether this was his actual voice or merely due to some interference in the transmitter's connection.

After Nina had spoken her opinion, there was a long pause, which was not unusual for their conversations. The Principle was a man of few words, only speaking when he felt had something worth saying. He'd told Nina so very little about himself. He told her his name once, but Nina knew it wasn't his real one. She didn't even know what his superhero alias was, or if he even was a superhero. He could have no powers at all, for all Nina knew. Yet despite the fact she had no proof, she felt deep down that he did have some kind of power, though what it was she didn't quite know. She'd often imagined, since he spoke so little yet seemed to think so much, that he was a telepathic, and that, every moment he was quiet during their talks, he was secretly conversing with someone else using his powers. Other times, she thought he had shadow-based powers, and that's why his room was always so dark.

Getting a little tired with his silence, Nina spoke again. "Besides," she said. "You're forgetting that Mrs Sinclair is no longer in the villain business. She's retired."

The Principle had then looked straight at the monitor, gazing right at Nina with such intensity that, for the first time, she could almost see his eyes. "Retired," he said. "But not reformed."

"There's still time for that to change," Nina had said, trying to her best to match his stare.

"For her?" the Principle spoke again, turning his head away slightly from the screen. "Not nearly enough."

It had been only after another half an hour of speaking that Nina had finally been able to convince the Principle to let Alexis been enrolled, though only under the condition that Nina keep a close eye on her at all times. Putting her in the same room as Kitty, who the Principle was also wary of though not to the same degree, as likely to bother him. So now, as Dorian allowed Nina to take the floor and the red-head stepped from behind Deia's chair to address the students, Nina turned her gaze towards Alexis for a moment before speaking.

"Thank you Dorian," Nina said, nodding towards the nurse. "Now." She smiled. "It's time to get down to business." Under normal circumstances, she would have used her powers again for dramatic flare, but considering she didn't want to startle or upset Deia - she had no idea how that girl would react to being temporarily blinded - she decided against it. "I will be picking your roommates for this school year. Some of you will be rooming with one other person, while others will be rooming in threes. Now, first the girls. So..." She turned her gaze over to Alexis. "Alexis Sinclair, you will be rooming with Kitty Lee, as I see you two have been getting on pretty well, as well as Aspen Archer."

Nina hoped Isaac wouldn't mind this and made a mental note to discuss anything he felt Aspen would need or require for her stay later on.

"Anastasia Tepes," Nina continued, looking over at the vampire girl. "You will be rooming with Olivia Delacroix. She's a second year so she will do her best to make you feel comfortable." Nina then continued to list off the other girls, until only Deia was left. She had to admit, Deia had thrown a bit of wrench to her plans as she knew she couldn't possibly room with any of the other girls. However, she believed she had a way to remedy to this, though so as not to embarrass Deia, she decided not to voice her plan to the rest of the school and simply said, "Deia, due to your situation, you'll have to be stationed in a different area. We'll discuss this later, okay?" She smiled at the girl in the wheelchair before turning back to the group.

"Now the boys," Nina said.

---

- Cheol Akiyama -

- Featuring the end of Nina's announcement -

Cheol had been quietly listening to chattering of his new peers. He was quiet when Anastic introduced herself to him, simply nodding and muttering his name to her as he suddenly became aware of how many people were gathering up around him, making him slightly nervous. He wasn't used to being in such large groups, and he was starting to feel a little overwhelmed.

It was then Nina spoke up, announcing who would be room with who. He particularly noted that his name was first.

"Cheol Akiyama," Nina spoke, turning her gaze towards him. "You'll be rooming with Paolo Ray." Cheol followed the Vice Principle's gaze to a nearby boy, one who had noted among their group but once Cheol had as of yet to introduce himself to. Cheol was wondering how he could politely excused himself from his group to go talk to Paolo, try and get on good terms with him, when Nina spoke again.

"Graham Turner will be rooming with Scorpios McRae," Nina announced. She continued. "Sam Damon will be rooming with..."

Cheol followed Nina's gaze to the kid who had been complaining about being hungry all the time. Wait... wasn't he the kid who had turned into a monster earlier? Cheol suddenly felt very sorry for whoever would be rooming with him. Having to room with someone who transformed into a giant, angry creature must be-

'Hey kid,' a familiar, somewhat raspy voice in his head spoke. 'Ever heard that one about about the pot and the kettle?'

Cheol suddenly felt a stinging sensation in his head and pressed his fingers to his temple. He shot a glare at his shoulder bag, the one which contained his mask.

"Quiet, you!" Cheol hissed under his breath at it. He felt faint and looked for a moment like he was going to topple over, so much so he almost missed Nina announcing that Sam would be rooming with a boy called 'Jack Kyle'.

"Now, as for who will be sleeping in what rooms," Nina continued, not seeming to notice that Cheol was now doubling over. "Now, since I trust you all, I'm going to let you choose your own rooms. I expect you all to act as adults and not fight over this." She narrowed her eyes. "I'm serious about this," she said. "If I hear that any of you have bee fighting like those back on the train, I will not be happy. However, as I-" But before she could finished, Cheol suddenly fell collapsed, falling face first onto the floor, causing Nina to abruptly become silent before turning her head back in the direction of Dorian. "Dorian!" she shouted for him, signalling for him to tend to Cheol.

[Nightmare Bunny]

Dorian Lost

Room pairings. Dorian hummed dispassionately as he listened to Nina sticking the kids in their rooms.

Did he really care about who roomed with whom? Certainly not. The Vice President wouldn’t stick people who were likely to kill each other together… right? She wasn’t Meredith, after all.

Girls first. Kitty Lee, Alexis Sinclair and Aspen Archer. The two injured ones had been put together, apparently, along with that one girl with the ex-supervillain mom. Well, he didn’t really know what had happened on the train, but maybe they’d all gotten along… or something? They’d certainly all been talking on their way to the dorms.

He supposed Nina knew best.

Then it was the vampire girl and Olivia. At that, Dorian couldn’t help but feel a little relieved. So the Vice President thought that Olivia would be a good guardian for Tepes, too! He’d been a little worried, but it looked like she approved.

Then the boys. Cheol Akiyama and Paulo Ray. Graham Turner and Scorpios McRae. Sam Damon and Jack Kyle.

Dorian knew Paulo: he’d probably look after the twitchy little Japanese boy who’d just become his roommate, right? Graham and Scorpios… well, they were both new. He didn’t know much about them. Still, they’d probably be fine.

As for Sam Damon and Jack Kyle… Sam was the one who turned into a monster as strange and disgusting as Meredith, wasn’t he? Maybe Jack would be able to keep him in line. Or maybe, the whole thing would end in disaster and the dorm would burn down.

Yeah, he could see that happening, actually. Goddamn.

And—

Wait, they were letting people choose their own rooms? What?!

But Dorian didn’t have time to contemplate the absolute stupidity of that notion, because just then, little Cheol Akiyama collapsed to the ground.

“Dorian!” Nina shouted.

“Already on it,” he grumbled, moving forwards to pick the boy up. “No need to yell, vice prez.”

So he’d have to take the kid to the infirmary, then. Well, good. At least this way, he wouldn’t get caught in the crossfire if a fight broke out.

“I’ll in the infirmary if you need me,” he called over his shoulder, and headed off in the direction of the infirmary.

Dorian looked down at the boy he was carrying, bridal-style (and if Cheol didn’t like that, then whatever, he’d just have to suck it up), and sighed. What was with this kid? He’d just randomly fainted…

Well, maybe he’d been so terrified of the concept of a free-for-all for rooms that he hadn’t been able to take it. Dorian didn’t blame him, to be honest.

The infirmary wasn’t too far away from the dorms, and Dorian laid Cheol out on one of the beds with a sigh. He felt kind of sorry for the boy. As an afterthought, he tucked the kid in. How long would it be until he woke up?

Not too long, probably. He wondered if he had time to make some hot chocolate before the kid woke up and had to be looked after. He’d always had a soft spot for hot chocolate, after all.

He ambled off to the kitchen to make himself his drink of choice… and a little extra. Not on purpose, obviously. It wasn’t like he wanted to give some to the kid, but if he had extra, then he had extra.

Certainly not.

[Ogo]

~Graham Turner~

Life is odd sometimes.

One moment, you’re just standing there, minding your own business, waiting on a rather...quiet authority figure to give you the thumbs up to rush to your bed and catch up on some much needed rest and relaxation. If nothing else, please let his DS or Vita be there. Or, if it’s not too much to ask, O’ Mighty Lords of Chance, maybe allow his guitar? That’d be all that and a bag of Fritos.

But the next?

The next moment everything that you knew to be good and right with the world is wadded up and thrown the fuck away because one of your new friends decides to just take a big ol’ steaming shit of the laws of physics. She WAS behind him. That he knew to be true. Then he left. That was also true.

And then she had just materialized right before his goddamn eyes.

THAT SHOULDN’T BE FUCKING POSSIBLE.

But that was true too, apparently.

And to beat it all, her sudden appearance right in front of him, and rather close as well, made Graham stumbled back out of sheer surprise. And he landed right on his ass. Some of the students behind him laughed at the tiny little clown.

Do you enjoy the wee-man’s silly antics, fools?!

ARE YOU NOT AMUSED?!!

But Graham didn’t bark at them. Not yet. Not with the Head Honcho standing mere yards from him. His vengeance shall be dealt, oh yes, but not yet. It must simmer.

His dark plans were not directed to Kitty though. Or perhaps they had been, but…

“Whoops! Sorry about that. Why’d you keep running off like that, anyway?”

Well...shit. He couldn’t rightly be pissed at a concerned friend now, could he?

Well, yes. He could. But he’d be a giant jackass. That wouldn’t fly, guy.

Graham got up and brushed himself off, ignoring the snickering going on behind them.

He looked at the VeePee, then back to Kitty. He lowered his voice and looked down.

“I’ve gotta spread my wings and fly, chica. There’s a whole lotta world out there and only so much Graham to go around, y’know?”

He waited a moment, then coughed.

Then he mumbled.

“I uh...couldn’t see. Back there. Too many Talls in the way.”

He admitted it with just a hint of shame. Most of the other guys he knew that were his age had already found their height. Graham’s kind of got lost in transit. Or delivered to some other asshat who was now banging his head off basketball hoops. So yeah, he was a little self-conscious about being short. It wasn’t like he was a chick who could get by seeing the world at this altitude. There would come a time when he needed to get something off the top shelf, and dammit, his pride as a man would not allow him to ask someone else for help.

SO GET YOUR ASS IN GEAR, MOTHER NATURE.

That little inner outburst almost became a big outter inburst. But somehow he kept his thoughts in line.

Then the Smith lady spoke.

Announcing roommates.

Wicked.

The first grouping was Aspen, Alexis, and Kitty. Well, right on. The three of them might be able to move and groove together. Then was Anastasia and...Olivia? OH! The chick from the train. The species traitor. The one of the smugheads that decided against telling the poor little freshies about the hellish abomination they got to so pleasantly meet.

Well, just for that, Graham decided that he would continue the asshatish tradition. No freshie would get the 4-1-1 from him.

Then Deia? The uh...confined one. Special treatment, eh? Well, that had to be embarrassing. He’d try to be cool to her. Or not. Depends how she was. We’re all equal in ‘Murica, gurl.

...Or, y’know, wherever they were. Probably Earth. Hopefully Earth. Oh dear Allfather, please let it still be Earth.

Then some of the dudes were next.

Cheol and Smughead. Poor Cheol. How would he ever survive the massive ego of the self-righteous crusader? He’d probably suffocate during the night. It’s all good, buddy boy. You shall be remembered.

Still...who’d that leave him with?

If it was the mini-horror, he was noping right the fuck away. But he was spared.

Scorpios. The Irish bro. He could live with that. They were both from the redneck pits of their respective countries. Scorpios’ being literal rednecks. Due to the red hair. There were a lot of redheads in Ireland, right? Graham didn’t know. Well, the Kentucky public education system hadn’t really done much to enrich the boy’s worldview. He was what one might call, culturally starved. It was probably Scotland. Or one of the ‘lands.

Next was Sam and Jack? Well, Graham didn’t know either of them. Maybe one day? Maybe they’d be kewl katz as well. One could only hope.

Then Smith just up and threw out a free-for-all on the actual rooms. Well...they were dorms, right? All the same? Graham didn’t rightly give a fuck then. Four walls and a bed would serve him just fine.

And then out of nowhere, she calls for Dr. Murse. Graham didn’t know why, but he was sure as hell going to find out. When the crowd split for the good nurse, Graham peered through.

Cheol.

Poor little Cheol was out cold.

The fuck?

The nurse carried him off to the Infirmary. Graham made a mental note to visit the guy. The little dude was his friend, whether Cheol liked it or not. He had been labeled as such, so shall it be. Besides, they were brothers in short. If one were to stack on another’s shoulders, perhaps they could blend in the the Talls, to live amongst them, to see how the other side do.

Yeah…

Graham wished the kid the best, but thought he’d be fine. Superschool was bound to have a Supermedbay, right? Probably someone tucked away that could just touch the boy and remove his illness.

After a few moments, he looked around. He saw Kitty. He saw the others a bit back. But he didn’t see the dude he would be living with.

Yet.

“SCORPIOS, TO ME! TO ME, SCORPIOS!”

The boy shouted, probably ripping his vocal cords to oblivion. They say that if one listens closely, they can still hear his call bouncing off the hills to this very day.

“¡Ándale, boyo!”