[hr][hr][center][img]https://i.postimg.cc/SR52k84p/54b4e63d635603b22d80f72a4ba2be54.png[/img][hr][img]https://media.tenor.com/TP89bZVtXecAAAAM/moriarty-missme.gif[/img][hr][@Achronum][@Blizz][@Forsythe][@Kirah][@PatientBean][@Trainerblue192][hr][h3][color=AC3EFF][b]7:40 PM - Sun. December 12th, 2038 - New Orleans, Louisiana[/b][/color][/h3][/center][hr]	[i]Previously on Avengers Academy: Contest of Champions...[/i]

	The students arrived in New Orleans the day before the contest would officially begin, ready for their examinations to ensure they were cleared to compete. While this should have been a routine, if not boring note to begin upon, it proved to be anything but. Leah had an encounter with her estranged father at the hotel. Vicky's magical allergy proved to be a liability in the home of Almost-Sorcerer Supreme, Maximilian Gray and led to her trusting the right (wrong?) person at Strange Academy. Percy's hangover was healed by Dorian's father, exposing his routine abuse of alcohol to an authority figure. April's moods changed faster than the weather, oscillating between extreme sorrow and unhinged joy. Danni [i]really[/i] wanted to talk to Agatha and Sabine [i]really[/i] wanted to be a supportive girlfriend to Leah. Andy reunited with her terrorist adoptive father and finally got rid of the creepy doll possessed by the spirit of her biological mother. Zari dumped Andy and then peaced out on the way back to her home planet. Mads was grounded in Limbo. Diana was found out to have been abusing performance enhancing drugs. Mary Sue couldn't take it anymore and quit. Zelda faded into the background. Percy was disqualified for being entangled on a quantum level with Dorian. Gideon somehow managed to fail a class despite Coulson giving them all straight A's after the events with Arcade. Celebrities took pictures in the hotel and nearly killed Billy Maximoff with pure gay joy. Ser Nemo died and Lady Nimue stopped showing up to work. So many students were disqualified that Percy was let back onto the team, as the teams consolidated down into one. Leah and Sabine met with the actual Sorcerer Supreme.  

	[i][b]Ser Nemo died.[/b][/i]

	We'll pick back up with that one. 
[hr][center][h3][color=AC3EFF][b]The Kingston-Gray Residence[/b][/color][/h3][hr][img]https://media.tenor.com/YYaBvE0VgxsAAAAM/fnkgif-haunted-house.gif[/img][/center][hr]
	April's buoyant mood continued to carry her throughout the rest of the evening - even with all of the drama that had happened. She [i]probably[/i] should have been really upset about at least one of the disqualifications, definitely Mads being taken away by her demon dad, but the negative energy didn't seem to be able to touch her. It slid off of her, repelled like oil. If anything, her enthusiasm was probably spurred by the fact that she'd successfully avoided an encounter with her family - they'd collected Zelda and left. She didn't have anything to say to them - nothing that they were ready to hear, at least. 

	So instead, she had practically bounced her way through dinner, chattering off the ears of anyone who would listen to her. She talked about the different outfits the teams they'd be facing wore, about the gossip sites that claimed that Wiccan and Hulkling were on the outs, that the Strange Academy team had made a pact with the devil to get extra powers, that the Future Foundation team had unstable molecules grafted into their skin - and less relevant things as well, such as what shade of blonde she really was, about the other kids she'd met at CAGE, or how she was expecting to have another growth spurt soon as her body just didn't feel quite right, like it hadn't been made for her. 

	Her grief over Ser Nemo felt as far away as a cloud. 

	Meanwhile, Percy was not nearly as at ease as April. He was hyper aware of everything that Dorian's father, James did. He always had eyes on him, waiting for James to tell Dorian what he had done. Of course, that assumed that Dorian didn't already know - that he couldn't feel it through the strange bond that had developed between him. The thought sent a shiver down Percy's spine. If Dorian's parents didn't hate him for his drinking, they would surely hate him for that - that he had tied someone so fundamentally good to someone so fundamentally... [i]not[/i]. 

	If it hadn't been for two factors, he would not be attending the seance at the Kingston-Gray estate at all: namely, a) maintaining proximity to his boyfriend and b) pure curiosity in the summoning of the undead. No, instead he would have made his excuses and gone to bed early, locking the door so that way no one could come to speak to him. He would have called his mothers, but he knew that Maria was busy handling Diana's drug habit... An unfortunate trait he learned that he may in fact share with his sister, although his was under control. He used the alcohol as a tool. Nothing less, nothing more. 

	Percy was quiet, then, as dinner concluded and Dorian's most unhinged parent, Casper, clapped his hands together and stood on a chair, one foot on the seat and the other at the top, the furniture swaying and creaking beneath his weight. 

	[color=DBA1DE]"Okay okay okay!!! It's showtime!!!"[/color] Casper clapped his hands together before pulling them apart, shaking them back and forth slightly. [color=DBA1DE]"We're going to pop on up to the seance room, get your teacher on the phone, ask him how ghost hawaii is this time of year - that is the technical term, don't @ me, aaand then you kids can do whatever else it is you want to do at sleepovers! Spin the bottle, right? Is that still cool? I was [i]amazing[/i] at spin the bottle when I was your age, I was undefeated at it - and yes, you can win at it. You just need to get good."[/color]

	He shifted his weight forwards and backwards repeatedly, the chair rocking more and more with each word. [color=DBA1DE]"Iiiiif you don't want to see a ghost, which I can't blame you, I did a LOT of drugs to avoid seeing them because - well, no offense to any ghosts here, but some of them are so fucking ugly it's [i]horrifying[/i]. You'd think ghosts would be sexy and everything, but [i]no[/i]. At best, they're grumpy and boring and lame like that one!"[/color] he paused, pointing a finger at Dorian's other father, Ben. 

	[color=silver]"Casper, you can't... No talking about drugs to kids. Please. At the bare minimum,"[/color] Ben muttered. He stopped pinching the bridge of his nose, before glancing at his other two partners for a moment. He had absolutely [i]no[/i] interest in participating in the seance. He'd spent too much time on the other side of things. He didn't want to remember what that felt like. [color=silver]"Max, James, dears - I can hang out with the kids who don't want to participate down here,"[/color] Ben offered. He then thought for a moment. [color=silver]"I'll make milkshakes."[/color] Kids always liked milkshakes. And it would be good, having a task to focus on. 

	[color=DBA1DE]"Lame, you're no fun!!"[/color] Casper pouted. [color=DBA1DE]"Jaaames, you're coming right? Right?"[/color] An unspoken - [i]I need you to come[/i]. Followed by the sound of a crash - as the chair finally gave way beneath Casper, as he lost his balance and collapsed onto the ground, hitting his jaw on the table as he fell. 

	April shrieked, her eyes widening. [color=42A9FF]"Mr. Kingston!!! Is he okay???"[/color] 
	 
	[color=silver]"He's fine, he does this all the time. You'd think he'd learn..."[/color]