[center][color=tomato][h1]Firand'r/Scarlet ("The Crimson Comet")[/h1][/color][/center] [hr] [color=salmon]"Scarlet! Scarlet!!!"[/color] a young, brown-haired girl called out as she ran down the long school hallway. The pink-haired Tamaranian, dressed in comfortable black stretchy pants and a red tank top hidden underneath a black, hooded, and zipped up sports jacket, seemed to perk up as a familiar voice came to her ears. Scarlet stopped where she stood in the hall, a couple of books and a binder stuck underneath her right arm, and let a wide smile come to her face upon seeing who it was. Rachael Cross, all around geeky nerd, straight 'A' student, and ultimately the first person to be nice to her rather than make yet another "idiot redneck and incest-indulging hillbilly" joke on her first day at a new school. Not that some hadn't stopped making those jokes after a 'small' incident and one jock boyfriend's broken right arm. In truth, the disguised alien girl almost had no idea how her and Rachael had kicked things off after that, but safe to say it felt better to have found some kind of friend here in the last year. Especially when they knew some juicy new manga to read online at night... [color=tomato]"Ey Rachael!"[/color] Scarlet said, throwing up her left hand in a casual, lazy wave as her friend approached in a seeming hurry, [color=tomato]"What's tha' rush?"[/color] [color=salmon]"You have NO idea!"[/color] Rachael said, a worried look on her face as she scrambled to catch her breath and speak more, soft blue eyes looking back up at her, [color=salmon]"A freshman girl collapsed in the hall earlier, threw up everywhere even, and no one knows why! Someone said they saw her father take her out, but the teachers aren't saying anything! Then apparently there's a bank robbery...but someone looking in the teacher's lounge just saw someone crash in through the roof like a superhero!!!"[/color] Wait. What. [color=tomato]"Wow there,"[/color] The green-eyed girl said, putting up her hand for a moment as she visibly tried to process what she had just been told in such a hurry, [color=tomato]"So a freshman girl just kinda' collapses on tha' ground without any warning, and some woman jus' went in full Might All on a bank robbery?!"[/color] Rachael nodded hastily, before straightening her back and looking Scarlet in the eyes. [color=salmon]"I mean, I think they are. Its makes no sense, but then I went and saw the TV to make sure! The teachers can't even keep everyone away from the lounge because everyone is pushing in there to see! The video is even online right now!"[/color] Rachael said, pulling out her phone and hastily pulling up the video of what was going on in front of Scarlet's face. [color=tomato]"...Hell."[/color] For a moment, the Tamaranian had hoped that it would be a normal day...though as she watched the video a million thoughts felt like they were running through her head. Rachael wasn't one to cock up some kind of idiot rumor, her friend was wanting to be an engineer for pity's sake! But other than herself and her mother, which was just one of the dark secrets her family had basically, she'd never seen anyone else who could fly...or bend gun barrels and all of that. It was like a shot out of a superhero movie, or big-shot anime like "Hero Class Academy", but more than that it made her curious... ...Was someone else like her out there? Her mother had explained her situation to her a time ago, which frankly she thought was a heaven-send to avoid falling into some trope-ish pitfall there, but even so she had only ever seen herself and her mother with abilities like that. At all. Even her human Pa' was not that strong for sure, and he'd been a navy seal! Not to mention that the figure in that attire felt 'familiar' somehow, at least visually, and it was like the answer was caught on the tip of her tongue. Blah. [color=salmon]"Scarlet?"[/color] The teen snapped out of her train of thought for a moment, noticing the video was over with and Rachael looking at her with some level of concern. With a sheepish grin, Scarlet rubbed the back of her head and put on another smile. [color=tomato]"Eh, it's nothin',"[/color] the Tamaranian said with a dismissive wave of her hand, [color=tomato]"Was readin' some chapters last night an' got reminded of em' is all."[/color] Rachael let out a long, drawn out sigh as the duo noted the rapidly depleting crowd in the hall. Seemed everyone else was happy to get moving after the bell. Crap. She couldn't be late to her mom driving her home again! [color=tomato]"Shit!!! Gotta go, talk to ya' later like usual?"[/color] Scarlet said, a light panic coming over her face as she began to run away from her friend and shouted a final message back. [color=salmon]"I'll call you tonight! I still need to finish my project for Mr. Henderson's class for after the break!"[/color] ...Though as she ran towards the exit doors at the end of the hall- [center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dODR6rtKvE0[/youtube][/center] [color=tomato]"Wha-?!"[/color] [center][b][i]BLAM!!![/i][/b][/center] When her phone began to ring, the teen had been distracted in her haste...and run face-first into a locker at the end of the hall. The girl seemed to sit there, having fallen back flat on her butt, for but a moment before she looked around herself. Good. No one around to see that one, at least. Yet as she stood up, she noted her head was fine...yet the undeniable effect on the locker was obvious. One big dent in it, like some guy had come by and hit it with a baseball bat. [color=tomato]"Dammit..."[/color] Scarlet cursed under her breath, before scrambling to the right with her books and heading into the nearest girls' bathroom close by. She ran into a stall, locking the door before fumbling with her jacket pocket to get the still-ringing phone out. Yet when she saw the number, a light wave of relief seemed to come over her. Whew. Just Miss Sam. Nice lady to be sure, almost made her glad her mother had made her volunteer at the museum for 'extra educational opportunities' [s](not that she hadn't walked in on two interns making good use of those 'opportunities' in a different way a couple months ago)[/s]. After pushing to answer the call and holding the phone to her ear, though, she couldn't even speak before the voice on the other end seemed to come out quickly. [quote]"Hey, Scarlet, are you all right? I just spotted the bank robbery on the news and got worried."[/quote] Hell... [color=tomato]"Doin' alright for tha' most part, Sam, school just let out early for ah' winter break. My friend Rachael just showed me what's goin' on tho. You doin' alright? Nothin' got to ya' from all that mess?"[/color] While she tried to keep positive, some worry did come into her voice as she spoke to the woman she worked with in her volunteer work at the museum. [hr] [center][color=gold][h1]Sophia Andersen ("Titan")[/h1][/color][/center] [hr] ...STAR Labs. A place that shone as a light of scientific innovation, engineering progress for future times. Yet those months ago, it had been the epicenter of an event that shook her life to the very core. She'd avoided this place for those following months, mainly due to having to learn control over herself to be able to go outside at all. It had all been such a surreal experience, and yet her last visceral experience as a 'fully human' individual had been here. Research, long nights, and then an explosion and flash of light. The most frightening part was what she could remember, however, all of it down to her rescue and the pain were so easy to recollect in vivid detail that it sent a chill down her cyborg spine. Yet at the same time, she felt she could not escape this place either. She wanted to return, to do research, and just see if she could grasp that bit of work she'd...that she'd made for herself before all of this. Sophia's hand reached in her work jacket pocket, pulling out a keycard that still had some obvious melting and marring on it, before letting out a long sigh. [color=gold]"Gotta see if they cleared out my desk and called me dead anyways...,"[/color] Sophia muttered to herself, before walking into the employee entrance door with her card in hand. She hoped today would be well.