January 6th:

Danni: Hewwo!
Danni: Its your favorite Pyro Hero!
Danni: Danni Kingston!
Danni: HotShot
Danni: Dancer Boi!
Danni: I know u need a contact photo so here are a few
Danni: (Photo of Danni he sent Ben earlier)
Danni: (Danni in his formal suit in the Multiversal Photoshoot)
Danni: (Danni in his swimsuit, mid-spike of a volleyball 30ft in the air)
Danni: (A cup of hot chocolate in his hands, whipped cream on his nose and laughing)
Danni: Sooooooo
Danni: I was thinking that you seem like
Danni: Deeper scent kinda guy
Danni: Do you like scents at the sauna?
Danni: I got some great oils we can add to the stones if we go to an oldie sauna
Danni: So fun
Danni: Ben's been talking non-stop bout how amazing the trip is
Danni: The photos are sups cool!
Danni: Do u habe your schedule BTW?
Danni: Ben's a freshie so I def don't have any classes with him
Danni: But I might w/ u!
Danni: I can introduce you ta the whole crew!
Danni: Def after that intro
Danni: Yikes
Danni: But with a little Danni love
Danni: We'll getxha in all their good graces!
Danni: No one can stay mad at me for long so even if they're grumpy, I'll get all cute with them and bam, in the group!
Danni: Thats what Imma do with Ben btw
Danni: Gotta get him in with the squad, ya know?
Danni: He told me you met at the skatepark
Danni: And like omg, so cute!
Danni: Love that tbh
Danni: Gunna b such a cute story to tell your kids in the future
Danni: Hm, opinion on sandals?
Danni: Ugh, like sometimes I’m interested but like, I want ooooooold sandals styles not like flippities u know?
Danni: Ugh, they made your calves look so gooooooooood
Danni: Have u considered wearing sandals?
Danni: U could def pull off a hot looking Hades.
Danni: Esp. that pic u sent.
Danni: Like just absi flat, done with everyone.
Danni: So good tbh
Danni: Wait, you a greekie or an eggy kid?
Danni: Def a geekie but mmmm def considered the eggies u know
Danni: Oh shiiiiiit
Danni: It you!
Danni: (Photo of a grumpy cat doll in a lucky cat position)
Danni: Have u considered wearing a cat ear headband?
Danni: I bet Ben would love that
Danni: Hm
Danni: Do you have piercings?
Danni: You seem like a piercing guy
Danni: Actually, I take that back
Danni: I think you're the type of guy who is the loner, grumpy, button pushy guy on the outside
Danni: But ur actually a softie who wants to be soft all the time
Danni: I'll have to ask Ben
Danni: He'll tell me
Danni: Ugh I need mouthwash
Danni: What brand should I get?
Danni: I don't want it to be spicy thooo
Danni: Ooh this purple one is in a pretty bottle should I get it
Danni: Picture sent to Pa!
Danni: Oh sheet, its the street!
Danni: Its so preeeeetty
Danni: Tho I guess it is part time soon
Danni: Are u a partier or a homebody?
Danni: Or are you like
Danni: One of thoae people who like to party for 5 minutes and then go hone?
Danni: Oh focus plant
Danni: BRB!!!!

Chase: Don't get the purple it doesn't do anything. Also send a better photo for the contact, I liked the whisk one you sent Ben. Anyways I'm about to watch a movie so bye.

Danni: (Photo of Danni furiously mixing something in a bowl, frosting across one cheek.)
Danni: Oooh this is a good one
Danni: Good thing too!
Danni: Cause I already promised to cook 4 u
Danni: What movie?
Danni: Tell me when u come back!
Danni: Is it a mystery?
Danni: A murder mystery?
Danni: I liek them too but like
Danni: So much blood gets my skin crawling
Danni: I watched a movie bout zombies once - slept with Dee for like two nights
Danni: Have u seen She-Ra?
Danni: Not a movie, but def bingable
Danni: Ben hasnt seen it either so u should watch it too
Danni: You'd either like Scorpia or Catra I bet
Danni: Probs Scorpia tbh
Danni: You give relatable vibes

Chase: [Attachment - Image of Chase and Ben cuddling in bed, Chase is shirtless and pressing a kiss to Ben's cheek.]

Chase: I know it's late, but I woke up for some water. Anyways look at this little Cuddle Bug.

January 7th:

Danni: Heeeeeeeeey
Danni: Heeeey
Danni: So uh
Danni: I feel like
Danni: we kinda gotta talk about
Danni: Spicy
Danni: u know?

Chase: Spicy?
Chase: Like the food for Ben?

Danni: On, no
Danni: Spicy's my nickname for uh
Danni: My bro's boyf Percy
Danni: He um
Danni: Mentioned some stuff?
Danni: That's a little not chill?

Chase: …
Chase: What stuff?
Chase: …

Danni: Uuuum
Danni: liek
Danni: Trash cans
Danni; And lockers
Danni: And feelings
Danni: And thats pretty not cool
Danni: :/

Chase: Hey, mind if we chat about this later?
Chase: Kinda want to enjoy the day with my boyfriend and that definitely harshest the vibe.
Chase: But once he's asleep we can totally chat about this.
Chase: I tend to stay up late anyways, usually just listen to music but we can chat
Chase: It was…very not cool…I know…
Chase: Please dont tell Ben.
Chase: I don't want him to form different ideas of me
Chase: I don't want the past to define me
Chase: Just
Chase: Later ok?

Danni: Ooo
Danni: Okay
Danni: Gotcha, gotcha
Danni: Def love 2 hear that
Danni: Whelp, hit me up bb!

Chase: I know it's like, late late, sorry
Chase: Day got ahead of me
Chase: Anyways, you up?
Chase: I can chat if you'd like

Danni: I have soooo many regrets
Danni: Put my phone on blast
Danni: So I could wake up
Danni: and I did not think
Danni: about the dragon.
Danni: I am v. Scratched up
Danni: Bit yes, hi hello!
Danni: I am here!!!

Chase: Sorry for the scratches
Chase: So uh…what's up?
Chase: Fuck
Chase: idk how to start this man so just
Say what you want or ask what you want or yell at me or whatever.

Danni: Well
Danni: Ugh
Danni: So Spic- Percy
Danni: I'm kinda looking at him
Danni: and then here at Ben
Danni: And it feels…
Danni: v. Samples
Danni: A Smol
Danni: Cute
Danni: A little bit of a loner
Danni: So i guess I just
Danni: Why Spicy and not Ben?

Chase: Growth?
Chase: [Attachment: GIF of a person saying Growth while mimicking a flower blooming]
Chase: …
Chase: Sorry I suck at these kinds of things
Chase: It's a little hard to explain
Chase: My therapist says its something called internalized homophobia
Chase: Percy he uh
Chase: He confessed his feelings for me and within that week a lot happened
Chase: He ended up abandoning me after that
Chase: I couldn't sort anything out
Chase: I lashed out. Not just at him either…
Chase: He did take the full brunt of most of it
Chase: It was a dark time for me…
Chase: Therapy helped a lot…

Danni: Aw, Chasey
Danni: wait
Danni: Gimme a sec
Danni: Gotta
Danni: when LGBTQIA+ individuals unconsciously adopt society's negative stereotypes, prejudices, and biases about homosexuality, directing them inward, leading them to self-hatred, guilt, denial of identity, low self esteem, anxiety, and depression
Danni: ooooo
Danni: u hated urself
Danni: so you hurt smaller people
Danni: aka the kid who confessed to u
Danni: hm
Danni: well that doesnt seem to be an issue anymore?
Danni: was that the only reason u were a bully?

Chase: Yes?
Chase: No?
Chase: Maybe?
Chase: There was a lot going on ok?
Chase: I don't really know. We worked through a bit of it in Therapy
Chase: They said its more complex than just that but that it was ‘a huge contributing factor’ to why it all started.
Chase: It also didn't help that it was a cycle within my family
Chase: We aren't talking about that though, I don't like talking about them

Danni: Hm
Danni: I getcha, I getcha
Danni: Hmmm
Danni: Hmmmmm
Danni: Hmmmmmmm
Danni: I guess like
Danni: R u going to therapy cause u want to
Danni: Or R u going cause you have to?
Danni: Like
Danni: Do you want to be better
Danni: Or do you like shoving people into lockers?

Chase: At first because I had to
Chase: But I don't enjoy going now…
Chase: I don't enjoy being a dick
It just…happens sometimes. Comes out of me like some darkness i cant control
Chase: Ironic right?

Danni: okay, okay, okay, okay, okay
Danni: We can work with that
Danni: The fam here is pretty firm believers in second chances
Danni: So if you actually wanna change
Danni: Then I'm pretty satisfied!!!!
Danni: Pfft
Danni: wait
Danni: Doesn't that mean u have a hard time with ur powers?!
Danni: But
Danni: Hm
Danni: We def gotta work on this history with Spicy
Danni: Cause ur right
Danni: Ben will get long just fine
Danni: Spicy holds a grudge
Danni: So like, Dee and I and Rillie
Danni: Probs be chill
Danni: Beanie and Leah's
Danni: 50/50
Danni: Andy…
Danni: We'll see how them hands are looking
Danni: But clear the air with Spicy
Danni: And you'll be good as gold!
Danni: As long as ur honest about wanting to change with everyone
Danni: Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Danni: I will think - probs gunna have to have a sibling meeting
Danni: Get some advice
Danni: But
Danni: I'm sorry ur going through it
Danni: Not cool to let it out like that but
Danni: you dont deserve to feel sucky
Danni: If u need to cry, my room is available
Danni: If u wanna look stronk for the boyf
Danni :P

Chase: Thanks…
Chase: I assume Beanie is Sabine, she's already threatened me enough over this
Chase: Leah is…the mountain girl? She just gave me looks
Chase: It'll be hard to talk to Percy again. He doesn't exactly want to see or hear from me
Chase: I'm good without crying in your room thanks. But I appreciate the offer.

Danni: Ur therapist would def hard disagree
Danni: Or u can just cuddle with a dragon!
Danni: Dragon cuddles make everything better!
Danni: Yeah…
Danni: I did give Spicy that name for a reason lol
Danni: Mountain girl
Danni: 🤣🤣🤣
Danni: That's wild
Danni: Omg
Danni: But in all seriesness
Danni: U need help
Danni: Or a place to hide for a bit
Danni: If things get spicy
Danni: Lmk
Danni: I'll be there to help!

Chase: You don't even know me?
Chase: Why would you
Chase: Thanks…for being a friend
Chase: I'll let you know if I need help.

Danni: ❤️🎉🥳🪅

---

---

---

The night before a new semester was usually a restless one, even as Margaret Carter welcomed its students back on a weekend, allowing them two days to settle in before classes began in earnest. The anticipation of a fresh start, of new adventures and challenges, was as thrilling as it was terrifying. Night terrors were not uncommon, with students’ nervous brains conjuring up scenarios of showing up to class without pants on, their pet dragon eating their essay, or an embarrassing new mutation appearing at the very moment they had gone to ask their crush for the Valentine’s Day Dance. But for two students of Avengers Academy, their dreams were far more sinister - far more potent.

In Dorian Gray’s nightmare, he had found himself in a cell.

It was cold and damp, only a dim light filtering in through a window scarcely bigger than his head. There were no identifiable features in the landscape, nothing that he could use to mark his location - only the dark of the night sky, dotted with stars. Their constellations were unfamiliar to him, their arrangement strange. The cell offered no further clues - no helpful signage giving where he was. It was almost entirely barren, the floor covered in dirt and ash, with crusted, dried blood leaving a trail towards the cell’s door. Blood that he felt matted into his hair and crusted underneath his fingernails - what little remained of them.

His body ached, each breath a struggle. Nothing was broken, but he was bruised and badly so. His muscles screamed with every moment, his bones creaked. His senses were dulled, perhaps the haze of a dream or perhaps something else, something far more sinister. But beneath all of the pain, all of the suffering, there was something vibrant - something familiar - something powerful. Something straining to get through.

His gaze fell on the pitiful meal he had been served. A stale loaf of bread, a piece of dried meat, and a flask of something strong, its vapors settling into his nose and stinging. Next to the food was a small basin of water, with a handkerchief for him to use to clean himself embroidered with an unfamiliar crest. And as his attention drifted to the basin, he caught his reflection - saw an old, withered face, eyes blackened and swollen, nose crooked, and cuts healing into scars.

“Dorian?” Ser Nemo whispered, his eyes widening as much as they could. His voice broke, as he trembled. “You came back… You mustn’t let him find you here. Go!”

---

“You are preoccupied.”

The accusation shattered the silence that stretched these few moments since her arrival into eternity. Amidst the eons of trained apathy, calculating ruthlessness, and careful observation, it was there - just a drop of disapproval from a woman who offered nothing. Saturnyne, Her Royal Whytness, The Omniversal Majestrix, offered emotional sincerity as a trap, a punishment, or both and here, kneeling before her, the Avant Guardswoman broke out into a cold sweat. She could count the number of times she’d been in this position on one hand; she could, in fact, never remember it ever ending well

“I apol-”

“Do not waste your words.” Saturnyne sighed, neatly rolling up the scroll she’d been reviewing and it vanished into shimmering, white smoke. “In the heart of all universes, few things ring truer than love and loss and the strength gained between them. I understood this when I revoked your rest. I understood this when I offered you glimpses of who you left behind, of who you yet fight for. I understood this when I chose not to flay you and cast you into the dungeons for your act of defiance. I have leveraged your suffering for the greater good and the stability of all and now, in a world commanded by stories and fables, your dreams bleed into mine so I will continue to do so. Who is the Devil that dances in your dream?”

There was a long pause, a struggle between obedience and a mother’s love, and the quietly, defeatedly, “My daughter.”

Saturnynne snatched the admission from the air and a gold lined tarot card rested between her fingers. The Devil, in blond, pink, and a mind to break others, stared back at her. With a wisp of magic, more appeared - a card with a boy on fire and another wreathed in shadows, one with a giantess and a blade and another where a girl where water sat still beneath her - until the deck was full yet Saturnyne still stared at the Devil. The softest laugh sent full body shivers through Giselle and Saturnyne stared at the card and beyond it.

“Are you ready?”

---

---

---

He didn’t typically enjoy celebrating his birthday.

In fact, he usually hated it. He hated going to a restaurant and the staff awkwardly singing for him, clapping and drawing the attention of the other diners. He hated the expectation to invite classmates to a birthday party, and the mixture of relief and disappointment when only his actual friend had shown up. He hated people giving him gifts and having to pretend that he liked them, hated the idea that even ones he did genuinely enjoy, his usual demeanor would give them the impression that he did not like them. One of the only redeeming qualities of his birthday was that for a short while, he would only be two years younger than his boyfriend instead of three.

But today, he would have gladly braved a thousand birthday festivities if it meant an escape from his mothers.

Despite his ability to teleport, they both had insisted on driving him. The fight for the car keys had been unpleasant and uncomfortable to witness, the barely concealed venom his parents traded until finally, one of them had emerged victorious. It ought to have been the end of it, but it continued on as he sat in the back of Dominika’s Jeep, trying to tune it all out - to tune out Dominika screaming at other cars and honking, tune out Naomi’s snarky underhanded comments. Jumping into traffic looked more and more tempting, even as the Los Angeles gridlock was liable to be a slow death rather than the quick escape from this mortal coil that he wanted.

By the time they made it to the parking garage, staff members directing arriving families into available spaces, indicating where to go to sign their children in, where to drop off forms and medications and luggage, Percy was even ready to consider a return to CAGE if it meant never having to be in this car again.

“Thank you for the ride, I will see you next break,” he excused himself, about to teleport outside of the car with his bag, but he caught his mother’s gaze in the rear view mirror and the energy dissipated.

He shot off a quick message in the group chat Danni had added him to:



“Finally.” Naomi would never slam a car door but leave it barely cracked to ensure someone had to close it for her? Well, no one was perfect. She had a briefcase in one hand and opened Percy’s door with the other. “What is this next break nonsense, Oytzerl? You’ll certainly be visiting every Sunday. We have temple to attend, then we’ll have lunch, and then you’ll need to review your lessons for the upcoming school week. And I managed to find a kosher deli in the area so we’ll go there as a little celebration for the new school year. Oh, and I packed you a few new yamakas as well, Percy. I noticed your old ones were a little… worn. So make sure you remember them during meal times. Even if you aren’t particularly faithful, a little routine goes a long way. You’ll find a few bags of coffee as well; I know you mentioned your motek brewed his own so he’d better make it properly for you.” Naomi waited until Percy stepped out of the car into the garage and put her briefcase down on Percy’s seat, took his face in both her hands, and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

“Ikh bin mer vi shtolts mit dir. Es iz geven shver, ober du bist shtarker vi ver es iz do. Ikh ken nisht gloybn az du bist shoyn fuftsn yor alt. Ikh dank got yedn tog far der brkhh vos du bist. Ikh hob dikh lib.”

Percy was positively suffocating, groaning as his mame cupped his face and kissed him. He knew the cheek pinching wasn’t far behind. He would have tried to squirm out of her grip, but he knew it would only make her hold onto him tighter. “Maaaame,” he practically whined. He had no intention of doing most of the things she said. He had intentionally “lost” his yamakas, he didn’t like wearing them, and he wasn’t going to start now. And he didn’t want to go to temple, he’d rather go read - he’d rather go exercise, even. He did, however, shrink away a bit from her compliments. “I can make my own coffee, I don’t need Dorian to do it for me,” he protested. It was easier to address that point than the others.

“Ikh hob dikh aoykh lib,” he mumbled, bright red now. He definitely wasn’t stronger than anyone here. Leah was at this school.

Dominika huffed slightly, as she walked around and closed Naomi’s door properly, muttering under her breath something along the lines of you’d think a pilot would know how to close a damn door. “Naomi, honey, give the kid some space. He can barely breathe,” she said, crossing her arms.

Naomi pinched Percy's cheek affectionately, shooed him away from the car, and very, very gently closed the door after grabbing her briefcase. It was once again barely cracked. She offered Naomi a tight lipped smile and a look that would kill lesser women. Naomi had already said her piece during Percy's rehabilitation. Naomi knew her absence was to blame for everything Percy was going through; Dominika was an expert in her field but her attention to her family was certainly lacking and she would rather take the easy route with Percy than actually parent him. Naomi had made some tough comments in their… conversations. Naomi knew she only had herself to blame to trust Dominikia with their son.

So here and now, Naomi ignored the fire in her chest because it was Percy's birthday and she wasn't going to let their squabbles take that from him too. “There will never be a time when I won't shower our son in the love and affection he deserves, Tayere.” Naomi replied cool, before turning her back on Dominika and led them out of the parking garage.

The school grounds had been transformed into a winter wonderland, including fake snow filtering down from snow blowing machines on top of the school buildings. The entrance of to the fair grounds was covered in bright, neon flashing light strings and carnival music spilled out past the official registration booths flanking each side. One advertised class schedules, hero name change requests, and dorm assignments. The other advertised documentation change submissions, including medical information, addresses, and a number of other important services. Both booths hosted ten councilors, all dressed up in official Margaret Institute attire except for the brightly colored carnival worker hats. Just to the left of class schedules, the PTA had set up a booth and was eagerly discussing school conditions and plans with every parent who they could get their hands on.

Beyond the official registrations and gaudy lights, carnival games and events flashed and shouted and screamed and people laughed and shoved their way through boisterous crowds. The smell of cotton candy and popcorn and the salty sweetness of roasted nuts permeated every crevice. A ferris wheel turned in the far back of the carnival, posters of Luna Snow promising a thrilling performance and others of Excelsior in their hero costumes hung from every available surface, a hot chocolate station churned out cup after cup with marshmallows piled almost half a foot over the rim, others frosted cookies at a series of picnic benches. People skated across a temporary ice rink, students and siblings laughed as they slid down the Snowflake Summit snow tubing slides, made snowmen and tossed snowballs at targets that often devolved into snowball fights between friends. Others tried their skills at karaoke next to a sumo wrestling ring and others bounced in a frankly massive snow castle bouncy house and played dress up at a number of the photo booths around the carnival. Another student, a sophomore by the look of it, desperately begged people to sign her hockey team petition, even as she was shooed away from both the friendship bracelet station and the various carnival game booths for disturbing other people.

Only one tent, dyed red and lined with purple and gold, had a sign on it that read - “Sorry, Magical Disturbance - Tarot Readings Postponed until Further Notice”

“Well, this is certainly festive! Oh, excellent there they are!” Naomi said as she caught sight of the PTA. “Let's get your dorm assignment and your schedule and then you can run off to your friends while I get everything moved into your dorm.”

Dominika’s face seemed almost permanently contorted into a scowl. And while her irritation with her ex-wife was great - couldn’t Naomi see that she was suffocating their son? This was why he hadn’t been comfortable coming to them for help, this was why he had been driven to drink. He needed space and trust, not a helicopter with an advanced literature degree. Didn’t that come up in one of Naomi’s precious stories? - it wasn’t responsible for her major case of RBF. At least, not entirely. She scanned the crowd almost mechanically, taking in the joy and wonder - but the dangers most of all. The last time they had brought their son here, he had almost been murdered. Her scowl deepened.

“Did you remember your axe?” she asked, turning to take in her son. “If you need another one, or some other weapon, you let me know, okay? I will bring you it.”

Neither Percy nor Dominika caught the way Naomi’s gaze had gone immediately to the PTA.

“I can do it myself, mame,” Percy protested, even though he knew his efforts were in vain. He had, at least, seen this coming. Certain items of his had been purposefully brought to Dorian’s house on his last visit and left in his care. He could only hope that he had been assigned a single room again - or that his roommate would miraculously disappear a few weeks into the semester again. “Yes, I packed it. No, I do not need another weapon,” he told Dominika. She was a little easier to brush aside than Naomi.

“You never know when a small knife in your boot comes in handy, Percy,” Dominika said with a sigh. “I brought some just in case. I’ll put them in your room with your things - your mother may have an eye for decor, but some of your books are heavy. I’ll handle all the lifting.”

He pulled out his phone and sent another message in the same chat as quickly as he could, less Naomi catch him.



“Come along, oytzerl.” Naomi rolled her eyes. As if she couldn't handle books. Naomi led the way through the registration, schedule, and dorm line, neatly collecting it all on Percy's behalf. Her bottom lip wobbled for half a second before it stopped and her eyes narrowed. At the entrance, Naomi licked her thumb and furiously scrubbed at a little black mark on Percy's cheek. “You have a little shmuts here. Do you have your wipes? I put it in your coat so remember to use them. And lotion and sunscreen in your travel kit.”

“Maaaame,” he protested futilely. Maybe this was the reason his powers had developed as teleportation. “I have them. I have the skin care supplies Danni helped me to pick out, too. I’m fine.” A sudden pang of sadness hit him, as much as he was dying to get out of his mother’s grasp, he’d missed having her around. His eyes darted around quickly, before he put his arms around her and hugged her tightly. “ikh vel dikh farfeln,” he mumbled, before pulling away.

Naomi hugged Percy back just as tightly. “Nisht keyn khiluk vauhin du geyst ader vi veyt du geyst, vel ikh shtendik zeyn deyn mame aun ikh vel dikh shtendik lib hobn. Aoyb ir darft epes, ruft mikh on. ikh bin gleykh arop dem veg.” She pressed a kiss to his head, content to let him hug her as long as he'd like.

Percy groaned slightly, trying to rub the lipstick mark off of his face - before, in fact, remembering that his mother had put wipes in his coat. He took one out and cleaned it off of his face, cringing slightly at the realization he was wiping away all the expensive skin care products, too. He nodded though at her sentiments. He’d missed having her so close.

“You’re going to do great, okay?” Dominika encouraged. “And if you need anything, you’ll call. We’ll come right on over and fix it,” she pulled her son into a hug, releasing him after a few seconds.

“Now off you go, Oyzterl. I have to drop off my paperwork for the PTA and I'm having coffee with your headmaster. I have some opinions I'd like to discuss about this institution.” Naomi gently pushed Percy towards the entrance and then set off briskly for the PTA booth.

Percy was relieved and then horrified. His eyes widened. PTA paperwork?? Coffee with Coulson?? He had to be dreaming. This was a nightmare. He’d have to steal the paperwork and shred it. It was the only way. The moment his mother was gone, he’d teleport on over and grab it - maybe try to use Dorian’s powers to phase on over. Was there a way to get a life model decoy of Coulson on short notice? Could he kidnap Coulson so he couldn’t meet with his mother?

He looked at Dominika, almost helplessly.

“Go see your boyfriend. Have fun,” she advised, before heading off in Naomi’s direction. She hadn’t been informed about the extra stops on this trip. She wasn’t a goddamn Uber driver.

---

---

Things were going to be different this semester.

April was going to be different this semester.

Their parents had already said their farewells, having helped April and their brothers move into their new room - a triple, still on the sixth floor of Stark Hall, still with Firestar as their faculty in residence. They’d grabbed their schedules and Pops had dropped off April’s meds with the nurse, and confirmed that they had all the information needed for them to be able to go and take them each evening. It was a little nerve wracking, the idea of taking them without Pops there to supervise - they’d gotten used to having him check their levels over the break, ensuring that they didn’t veer out of the therapeutic window of lithium and into poison. They were supposed to check in twice a day, at least for the first month or so of the semester - once after breakfast, and again after dinner. They pulled out their phone as the alarm went off, reminding them to send a message - they’d seen their parents not too long ago, but it was mostly about getting in the habit right now.



They slid their phone away, and fiddled a bit with their bracelet, fidgeting with the charms. That was the next layer of protection - an enchantment on the bracelet that would alert the family if they were having an episode. They had weekly therapy calls set up with their therapist back in New Orleans, and the ability to crawl into bed with their favorite people every night, a coping mechanism April had been doing ever since the Kingston-Grays adopted them.

So as much as April was afraid, nervous as to what the stress of a new semester would do to them, they felt more secure than they had before the fall semester. They’d been a fragile, rattled mess at the last carnival - terrified of admitting the truth, terrified of living their truth. They weren’t a girl. And they were sick. Two things that let them stand a little taller at the festival, two enormous weights lifted off their shoulders.

The hot chocolate bar also helped.

And new clothes. Almost everything they’d owned before had either gone to Danni’s closet or the donation bin for the pieces even he couldn’t salvage. The frilly skirts and dresses felt like they belonged to someone else. The ‘rents had taken them to get a whole new wardrobe, filled with options to experiment with. For today, they’d chosen a denim jumpsuit, pairing it with the steel toed boots Pops had gotten them for Christmas - and using the magic comb Pa had given them, they’d added streaks of pink to their hair. A pair of retro, amber tinted shades dangled from around their neck.

“I think I’m def winning this, btw!” April squealed, as they continued to pile more and more toppings onto their hot chocolate. The bar had so many options to choose from - marshmallows, whipped cream, cool whip, marshmallow fluff, candy canes, M&Ms, twizzlers bizarrely enough, pretzel shavings, peppermint shavings, chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, espresso, giant chocolate chip cookies, and a few items that April didn’t recognize but seemed distinctly alien. “There’s no way either of you are gonna be able to catch up, I’m almost at a foot for sure!”

It wasn’t the most structurally stable, consisting of a strong foundation of marshmallow fluff, but they had constructed a small tower on top of their hot chocolate, easily twice the height of the small paper cup the beverage was in. It was already impossible to eat, covered in chocolate syrup and peppermint shavings, with marshmallows speared on candy canes like victims of war. Of course, that was what the cookie they’d grabbed was for - it was multipurpose, able to serve as a spoon for when it came time to devour the toppings, but also to be its own treat.

Before they could try to get even more height on their creation (thankfully kept on the table and not being held), their phone buzzed once more. Thinking that it was a message from the ‘rents confirming they’d received the check in, April fished it out, blinking for a second. And their jaw dropped. They re-read the name of the sender of the messages, and screamed. “Did Percy learn to use emojis?!?!?!?!?!” they gasped, before looking up at Dorian. “Or wait, no, that’s impossible. That’s crazy. Is his phone hacked??? Did someone steal it???”

They went to write back a reply, typing in a frantic message before immediately erasing it. “Dori, if someone hacked him, do we write back to them?? Omfg he got hacked on his birthday!!”

---

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---

---

---

Ben waved goodbye one last time and shut the door, locking it. He turned around and Matt was standing at the end of the entrance, arms crossed.

”Living room.” Matt’s voice was stern. Ben’s heart sank. Damn. They had not gotten away with it. He sighed heavily and followed Matt into the living room. Matt sat down in the chair and gestured for Ben to sit on the couch.

”Alright, how long have you and Chase been dating?” Ben sank into the couch.

”Uh, a couple of days.” Technically a lie, it had been basically ten days. Matt sighed heavily. Ben winced.

”Ground rules going forward. First, your bedroom door will be open if Chase is over. Second, please for the love of God don’t have sex. Third, he will be coming in through the front door. He will not be jumping through the shadows to sneak in. I was a teen once. I get it. I do. Though my experience was very different then yours, it is not so different that I don’t know exactly what you're thinking and feeling. I promised your mother the day you were born that I’d be there for you. That if anything happened I’d make sure you were okay. We knew you’d get powers eventually. And your father’s family is not equipped to deal with it.”

”Not that they even tried,” Ben said sullenly.

”I know that hurts. When we are rejected for something we cannot change about ourselves it hurts a lot. But you are my family. You are blood of my blood and I love you more than you’ll understand. Not until you have children of your own, which I hope is someday very far into the future.” Ben opened his mouth to interrupt, but Matt held up his hand. ”I know that it is not something that will happen in the type of relationship you are in. I just mean in general. You’re fourteen. You’re not ready for that sort of responsibility. I want you to be safe. I want you to have as normal a childhood as possible. That’s why your parents weren’t ready for you to go through Terrengensis. They wanted you to enjoy being a kid before anything like responsibility was put on your shoulders.”

“You saw after the Contest all the things that your friend Danni and the others went through. Imagine if you had been there with them. The reporters would have dug into your past just as much, they would have found out about your parents and they would have asked. I need you to be aware that this kind of life is not fun or safe nor is it easy. God it isn’t easy.” Matt paused in his speech and rubbed at his face with his hands.

”Sorry, I’ve gotten off topic. You don’t need me on a soapbox. Just be honest with me. Don’t do something you’ll regret. He seems like a good kid, and he seems to like you a lot. That’ll get him far in my book. I know you’ll probably have to get hurt by a relationship. It happens, and it sucks even more when it is your first love. So please be careful. And if you need to talk, come to me, alright.”

Ben nodded. He knew about Matt’s past, but maybe he didn’t know everything. Matt wasn’t in a relationship. Ben knew there had been some, but Matt didn’t talk about them. He chewed his lip.

”You’re not mad?”

”I’m furious. I feel like you lied to me. That you went on the trip and didn’t tell me the truth. I could tell that the two of you were interested in each other, but I didn’t think either of you would go that quickly into a relationship. I honestly thought you were a little too hurt. That’s on me. I should have insisted at least one of us adults went with you. But I also know what it is like to be a teen and feeling stifled. So I didn’t. I’m not going to take that out on you though. Instead, you’re going to promise you won’t do something like that again, and that you’ll follow the rules.”

Ben winced. He could follow two of them. He’d have to text Chase and let him know they had not gotten away with it, and what the rules were. However, he had already failed at rule two. Matt saw the facial expression and rubbed at his face again. He stood up and paced for a moment. Ben pulled his legs up and wrapped his arms around his knees.

”Go to your room. Chase isn’t to come over tomorrow. I know you start school Monday and I can’t stop you two from hanging out there, but you’re going to have at least tomorrow apart.” Ben stood and hurried to his room. He carefully shut his door and flopped on to his bed. He grabbed his phone and texted Chase.



Ben didn’t know if he was shaking because he was freaked out, or if he was honestly just relieved he wouldn’t have to try to keep up the secret.

Sometime later, before Ben fell asleep, there was a knock on his door.

”Come in.”

”Congratulations on your first relationship. Good night.”

”Thanks, and good night Uncle Matt.”

---

---

Ben was packing. He didn’t really know what to take, other than his bugs. He was not leaving those behind. Some of them required special attention, like Titan. His door was open and Matt knocked on the door frame.

”Hey, kiddo, uh have you had the talk?”

”What?”

”You know the sex talk?”

”Oh my god, Uncle Matt, please do not. Yes. I’ve had the talk. It’s fine. I know how to be safe. Jesus.”

”Good, good, just checking. I’m not thrilled about you having sex this young. I’m pretty certain your mum would be pissed at me.” Matt left Ben alone. Ben lay face down on his bed. What the hell? He was going to die of embarrassment.

---

---

Matt drove Ben to school. Matt still had a motorcycle, and that was his preferred method of transportation when alone. However, he did have a car. For Matt those thoughts reminded him of other old co-workers. For Ben it just meant he hated everything. He felt sick to his stomach and desperately wanted to climb out the window. His uncle had allowed him to roll down his window, but that was the best he could do for now. Matt was considering what cars he could buy to replace this one. It had to be something with room. As he had that thought he came to the realization that if he got a van and if Ben joined a team he could be the sports dad. That sent a little thrill of parental joy through him. Matt knew most likely Ben would set up a skate club with Chase.

At the school, Matt had collected paperwork and took Ben to his room. It was necessary to have his help since Ben had one of his terrariums. Ben was not thrilled about his room assignment. If only because it was not with Chase. He had had his hopes held too high. Or maybe Matt had called the school to specifically make sure they wouldn’t be roommates. That seemed like something he would do to discourage them. The student he did room with was his Uncle’s friend’s kid. Ben did not care if Percy didn’t like insects. He set up the terrarium on his side of the room, in a spot where they’d get natural light still. Matt helped him unpack and then after a quick hug left.

Ben swung by the bathrooms, checking out the space. His heart sank when he saw the tiny shower space. He was not taking showers there. He’d have to use the gym showers, provided they had them. That would get annoying quick, but it would be better than trying to fight the coiling pit of fear that boiled over just looking at the tiny space. He felt like throwing up even knowing he wasn’t about to climb into the shower.

Ben left the dorm hall and headed outside for the carnival. He looked for Danni and Chase.

---

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For three years, Leah was always the first person of her class to be back in the dorms. The process was very simple for her, she’d be kicked out by the first teacher that caught someone loitering after break, she’d head to somewhere warm, and then be back a bit before the next semester to get a physical copy of the schedule. Then she’d move her stuff back in, get settled, and stay behind the door until such a time that no one would bat an eye at a student appearing in a school at an early hour. That was the only time out of the year when sleeping within four walls and a roof was an option to her. This year was different. This year, Leah had the privilege of family. This year, stability was an option again. She Hulk had done her thing, and here Leah was, waking up at six in the morning within the apartment of an Avenger.

It was time for another semester.

Leah walked over to a closet and pulled her letterman jacket off a hanger. She gathered up her backpack, her runes, her pens and notebooks, everything she needed. She had to actually make a trip to the school, and she made sure to pack well for it.

This year would be different. She’d make it so.

Her charm bracelet fit snuggly around her wrist. There were only two so far, but she was hoping she’d decorate it quite thoroughly in the future. Lastly, she reached under the bed she slept on, and slid Sjafnamarr out. The seven foot long sword thrummed under her touch. As she raised it, she made sure to keep it close to her body.

Time to go.

She left the room and made her way to the kitchen. Her… Sister. for lack of a better word, couldn’t cook an ice cube if she lived in an igloo. Granted, Jen was also busy as shit. So Leah prepared some eggs and bacon for her, and then fixed herself a breakfast burrito loaded with chorizo and bell peppers. And she was out the door before the other strong woman in the building was properly awake.

It wasn’t a long walk to school. Leah was quite the sight, with her monolithic axe-bladed sword hanging off her shoulder. Some people saw her, stopped and waved. She waved back. When she got there, the familiar sight of the carnival actually made her smile. The last time she attended a carnival, she and Sabine nearly broke a bed frame and then got into a relationship.

As she walked through the snowy field, she spotted a certain antiquated, axe-brandishing twink that she had bonded with a lot before today. _{Hmm… His mom’s kind of hot, actually.} She banished that thought and waited for him to be relieved of the parenting, then she walked up to him.

”Hey, Percy,” She greeted him. ”Sure snows a lot for California, doesn’t it? Nice being back, missed you guys over break.”

---

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Today marked a change in Marlena’s life. A time when passing as an ordinary human was no longer on the table for her, a time when she got the privilege of traveling across the country to learn how to use her powers for good and rub shoulders with Earth’s mightiest heroes… Unfortunately.

She still wasn’t responding to messages from her dad, and she was dreading going to these classes. As she got ready in her dorm room, yet to meet her roommate, Marlena had to ask herself why she was feeling so nervous. She loved meeting new people, even if these circumstances weren’t very favorable for her. It was a change she didn’t get much say in, so there was only room to control how she approached it. Marlena was banking on a good start to the semester making things easier.

She decided on one of her cute button-ups. Black fabric, red floral prints all over it. It went well with the minimalist belt and black slacks she put on next. Her knife holster clipped onto it, she made sure it was okay to keep so long as things stayed boring. Next. she through a few bracelets onto her arm. A few minutes in front of a mirror, and her hair was nice and bouncy. Her nails had been painted cherry red last night, and they were looking sexy in her professional opinion.

Then came some sharp, winged eyeliner. Marlena didn’t usually go for makeup, but she wanted to look back on this day in a few hours and be able to say she gave it a hundred percent.

Phone, wallet, small notebook and pen… Check.

”You’ll be fine.” she told herself. ”You’ve redone your identity before. You’re not alone.”

And she was out the door. Down the hall, out the main entrance and into the main carnival area. It was pretty. She immediately took a picture and started walking. The smell of winter-appropriate confections was the first thing that caught her attention, so Marlena made her way to the hot chocolate… Where she caught the sight of April Kingston-Gray sporting a damn fine haircut. And that smile. That smile.

Oh, yeah. This would be a good few months after all.

Securing a cup of hot chocolate with a bit of whipped cream over the top, Marlena let out a cliche whistle to signal her arrival. ”April? Love the hair. It suits you.”

The first semester of his third year at Margaret Carter certainly exposed Danni to the thrills and terrors of super hero work better than the entirety of the first two years and Danni was so, so excited to see what this semester had in store for them. How would it one up a supervillian, death of a timeline, winning the Contest of Champions, and returning Genosha to the mutant people? There was only one way to find out!

As with every time they go back to school, Danni was a scattered mess the night before. Running around with manic energy, one wrong tone away from full on hysterics, searching high and low for something he’d just packed away and forgotten, and in everyone’s hair as much as possible. His invaded everyone’s personal space far more than normal, touching and hugging and bothering even after he’d been told over and over again to calm down, and once he’d laid down for bed, even Amélie bit and head butted him until he actually laid down, stopped rolling, and settled on his chest, rumbling contently to lull him to sleep.

After he’d gotten his coffee the next morning, he’d been an excited bundle of energy again, pulling people into spontaneous dances and singing at the top of his lungs as he got ready for their first day. Black leather and layers for the cold, sparkle all up and down the arms and back of the jacket, multiple necklaces and a few rings to highlight everything, and knee high combat boots with wool socks. Danni was determined not to have a repeat of last semester - where he’d set Spicy on fire, nearly ruined Dee’s birthday, and nearly exploded in flames when he’d been startled - so he packed an extra can of EZ Fire Spray in his day bag just to be safe. An excited Danni was a dangerous Danni so better to be prepared (and if it was actually Pops who pointedly looked at Danni as he put in the extra can, who would know?)

It wasn’t until they were just about ready to portal out and Appa presented homemade, intricately piped cookies of themselves that Danni finally suffered his biannual ugly cry. It wasn’t that he hated going to school. His siblings were there, his friends were there, he was learning to be a hero but. It wasn’t Pops’s fond exasperation at whatever pranks the siblings tried that day. It wasn’t impromptu lip-sync battles with Papa when he had a show in a few days. It wasn’t cooking side by side and swapping terrible puns with Appa. It wasn’t story time with Pa after a trip, going on about all the strange things he’d seen. It wasn’t family game nights and the smell of fresh coffee and cinnamon rolls. It wasn’t French Quarter, all friendly faces and laughter, of sad times with lots of help, with a community that cared and loved everyone in it as best it could.

It wasn’t home.

So Danni sobbed an entire semester’s worth of tears. He clung to his parents and only cried harder when Papa joined in, swapping laughter and sobs in equal measure as Amélie voiced her concern loudly and aggressively forcing her way in to grumble and rumble and screech as the water on his face. It was gross and snotty and relieving as all the pent up energy broke loose in the tidal wave and Danni had to take another half hour to get the redness around his eyes under control, touch up his make up, and feel a little more settled in his skin before they portaled over. And even with all that, Danni was still a little clingy and teary eyed as his parents popped back across the country and had to wave air into his eyes to dry them.

Still, he snapped a photo of the three siblings after he'd calmed down and sent it out to the Excelsior and the Round Table group chats.





Unfortunately, Danni's hot chocolate stacking faced a unique challenge he failed considering: Amélie. Taking after her daddy, Amélie loved snacking and marshmallows and cookies and sprinkles all counted as a snack. Anytime Danni's stack got high enough for Amélie to reach without leaving the comfort of her swaddle, Amélie bit into his creation and leveled it flat again. Danni tried raising it up, holding it further away, moving it as he built but either he spilled the toppings or Amélie got them. Finally he pouted and resorted to snacking on them himself, Amélie's pleased grumbles soothing the sting of losing.

“Well, I’d say we need a rematch, but I'm not leavin’ my baby behind so its a moot point. Unless Dee can do sonet'in’, you're t'e ‘ot choco champion t'is year.” Danni sighed dramatically, taking a sip of his drink and letting Amélie sniff at it. Amélie whined and lapped at it, letting out a happily little chirp. Danni fished out his phone as it buzzed and gasped with a bit of the drink sloshing over.

“Wha… I t'ink I'm hallucinatin’. Omg, someone do t'e eye t'ingy on me. Gotta make sure I don't ‘ave a ‘ead injury! Actually on second t'ough, everyone be proud I ‘ad a second t'ought, maybe don't considerin’ what ‘appened last time. But we gotta go ‘elp Spicy! ‘e's gotta be dyin’ or somet'in’. Do you t'ink ‘d ‘as cancer?! Do you t'ink ‘e's got pnuemoania?! Or maybe, maybe ‘e's ‘avin’ a reaaaaaally bad ‘air day. Omg, omg, omg we ‘afta-”



Danni fired back a slew of texts back singled handedly and looked up at the sound of an unfamiliar voice complimenting his sister's hair cut. “Omg it looks so good right?! Everyone loved it when we revealed it t’ough, like, it def needed another touch up cause I did it at 6am and no one should be functioning at 6am but it looks so goooooood and I am very proud of myself for it.” Danni cut in, puffing up at the compliment to his work. “Oh, wait! I know you! You were at t'e party! ‘eeeeeeey, what up? ‘ow you doin’? I love t'e vibe ‘ere, sups casual, sups sleek like classy vaca, ya know? ‘ave you met Amélie yet? You can pet ‘er but she does get a little snippy when she eats so probs wait til we're done wit’ t'e chocolate. We're ‘bout ta go on a rescue mission, wanna come? Idk where Spicy is t'ough but ‘e used emjos and normally ‘e texts like an old man so t'at means its a real problem, like a wardrobe malfraction or a terrible ‘air day! It's t'e most important t'in’ we could do all year! Oh, ‘ello btws. I'm Danni, t'is is Dee, don't t'ink we actually met!”

---

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It had been many months since Sabine had a restless night. She didn't remember dreams often, which was ironic when you thought about it, but this one was different. It felt connected to her, like it specifically grabbed her and pulled her into its ethereal umber.

The woman who spoke was breathtaking, in more ways than one. Not only was she a commanding presence, beautiful to look at, but Sabine felt like she demanded respect, like she could ask any of her followers to stop breathing and they would listen.

But it wasn't the imposing woman that got Sabine's attention. It was another voice, one that she hadn't heard in years. Hearing it now brought her back, to memories long ago buried, but with the words Sabine was right back there. As Sabine's attention turned, she caught sight of the figure.

Her mom.

Sabine's breath hitched in her throat. She wanted to run over to her, put her arms around her mom and hug her, scream at her, cry in her arms like she was a little girl again, but Sabine couldn't move. The scene played out anyway. Sabine noticed the tarot cards, each with a figure on them. Her mind was jumbled from multiple vantage points, converging into something she struggled to piece together.

And then she woke up with a start. She took a moment to catch her breath. It was a dream, it had to be. Her mother wasn't alive. She couldn't be.

But then Sabine's mind went back to another memory, of seeing her mother and a man who was not her father, standing together, close. And Sabine wondered.

As she lay back down, her mind raced. What did it mean?

---

Sabine's head pounded despite how many headache pills she took. She didn't get any more sleep after that dream (and it had to be a dream). Now, she was here at the carnival. What should have been a time of fun, of getting things together for the upcoming school year, was now overshadowed by her own mind playing tricks on her.

Highly visible, believable tricks.

Sabine had sent a lot of time before school getting herself situated as Team Excelsior's social media manager. She showed up in front of some of the school's upper staff to make her case as to why a student should be taking over. With the help of Danni and Dorian, she had come up with a solid presentation on her own social media management, how she was well-versed in traversing the highs and lows that came with the territory, and how it would free the school of a chunk of attention that could be served elsewhere. She, of course, would be in touch and would keep everyone up-to-date.

Thankfully, the school agreed. She spent that time gathering up pictures, setting up videos, and ensuring each of her team's social media presence was as squeaky clean as could be. Some were easier than others; Andy and Leah, being fairly new, Vicky was pretty much non-existent in that realm, Danni and Dorian having social media experience helped a lot, Percy was...tricky, but Dorian could help him, and April seemed content to follow along. What could have been a very unfortunate, very traumatic experience for them was managed. There were some negative messages, rumors spread (some including herself and how she was, apparently, flirting with multiple people and engaging in serious behavior with Andy and Leah. The rumor mill would churn, despite her best efforts.

Sabine got her schedule and made her way over to some of the club booths set up. She opted to join the debate team, which she had chosen because she wanted to brush up on her ability to manage situations using her words, but also to showcase her skills outside of her own powers (how many would accuse her of reading a person's mind to know how to combat their point?). She also joined theater and was looking forward to what production they would be doing. She debated on a sport and, after looking over her options and her schedule, decided on track.

Satisfied with her choices, Sabine wanted to find the others. She needed to talk to someone about her dream. She glanced around, but didn't spot anyone. She strode forward and ran into someone, both falling to the ground.

---

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---

Millicent never really enjoyed school. She didn't hate it; she was never one of those kids who were adamant that school was useless or boring or dumb. She was never a student who enjoyed it. She enjoyed the lessons her aunts and uncles taught her more. Real-world applications for learning how to defend yourself versus knowing Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally.

But she had a great feeling about this school and this year. She already knew two people (three, if you counted April), and April was definitely someone Millie wanted to get to know better. The others seemed cool. There was a moment (a BRIEF moment) when she worried that her fame would affect her ability to be here and learn, but she was told there wouldn't be any issues. Some of the people here didn't even know who she was (wild to think about).

Millicent perused the offerings as she collected her school schedule. Millicent was also lucky enough to have her aunts and uncles with her here. "So, not too thrilled to be sharing a room. Apparently his name is Chase? Pretty cool the school is progressive enough for co-ed dorms, but sharing a bathroom will be my greatest battle to date!"

Millicent settled around the booth for the school choir. It might be on the nose, but she didn't want to put her music on hold while she attended school. As she turned to head back, she stumbled into someone and she landed on her butt. "Yikes, sorry about that, I need to watch where I am going. Head in the clouds, I'm always told."

Millicent stood up and reached a hand out to the girl she collided with. Sabine took a second before grabbing it and stnding up. "Holy crap, you're Millie Broadway..."

Millicent smiled warmly, figuring this sort of thing would be happening more. "Yes, but please, it's just Millicent or Millie. And you're Sabine Bassard, right? I saw you during the contest. You were very cool. All that mind stuff is just so fricken' tight!"

Sabine fought a hard urge to giggle, pulling herself together. "Oh, well thank you! It's so nice to meet you, I am a big fan! I saw you during the afterparty and wanted to go say hi, but things got very emotional at the end there and, well..."

"Oh, girl, I know! It was very sweet how you all came together. You guys killed it! Makes me ten times more confident in my choice to come here."

"Yes, I heard you were coming. Welcome to the school, then." Welcome to the school? Christ, Sabine, pull yourself together!

"Thanks! I am looking forward to getting to know you all. Oh, let me introduce you," Millicent said as she moved closer to her family. "These are my aunts and uncles. Val, Eva, Harry, and David, though you perhaps know them already if by reputation alone."

Sabine knew of Harry, for sure, and the others came up in conversation; she was pretty sure. "Nice to meet you all!"

"So, where are the others? I'd love to get to know the rest of Excelsior!"

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Chase had been laying on his bed, his headphones placed over his ears as the sounds of SNAP!’s 7” Edit of Rhythm is a Dancer played. His phone sat on his chest, he didn't exactly expect a text from Ben given he just had left his place not too long ago, but he was hoping to hear back to see if the Old Man would let him spend the night tomorrow. His phone buzzed, and Chase immediately sat up, waffling the catch before he finally held it in his hands and looked to see what he'd said. It wasn't exactly what he wanted to see, Matt had somehow found out. ”Fuckin’ Bullshit!”

Chase gripped his phone tightly before throwing it straight at his door. Unbeknownst to him, Morgan had predicted this, she stood behind the wooden frame until it was time, a pillow in her hand like a catchers mitt, and opened the door just before the phone would've hit it, catching it in the pillow. “So, he told you he found out huh?” Morgan tossed the phone back towards Chase, who had let it fall down onto the mattress. “It's not the end of the world kid, trust me. I know.” Chase rolled his eyes at her before removing his headphones. ”Whatever. Thanks for being cool about it all…” Morgan leaned against the doorframe and pointed at Chase's phone. “Don't break it, you'll need it before the nights out. Big news.”

It was in fact big news, but that didn’t mean good news. Ben was forbidden from seeing Chase for a full day, his phone confiscated, and their plans for a sleepover ruined.

---

This was stupid. Chase felt stupid. He hardly knew the kid over a week ago and now he didn't know what to do without him. He had no one to text, no one to talk to, skate with, hangout with. I mean sure, ok he could message Marlena and see if she wanted to skate, or he could text Danni and talk to him he guessed, but none of it would help much to get his mind off of Ben. So finally with a huff and annoyance, Chase decided he was going to let his frustrations out on his board.

After hours of skating, grinding, falling, and at some points just laying on his board as he stared into the sky, Chase had had enough. He hadn't realized just how much he missed having someone to talk to. Someone who cared. He pulled his phone out, and instinctively he wanted to go to Emrys, though before he knew him by a different name and now it was one he couldn't even dare to contact. Not that it'd matter, he likely changed numbers or blocked him after all this time. But Gwain was still there, still loyal, and more than likely chatty.

Chase was sweaty, his hair was stuck to his face, and his shirt had a bit of sweat stains in places, but he placed the holo call anyways.

”Hey D-Man what's up? Did you get Benny Bois message?”

Danni blinked down at his phone. They'd just finished dinner and Papa and Pops disappeared for a second for a “private conversation”, which everyone knew was code for something less innocent. Danni'd wanted to get a little bit of stuff packed up before the next day so he'd scampered up to his room, Amélie on his heels after a heavy dinner, and he'd expected to blare his music at top volume while dancing but this unexpected call from a new friend had him propping up his phone against the wall nearby his closet and he answered, one head phone in so he was still free.

“‘ey sauna boi! Yeah, I did! But makes sense - Mattie probs wanted some family time. We do t'e same t'in’, tbh. You just called at like, t'e perfect time!” Danni peered a little closer at the screen, noting Chase's appearance. “Whatchu doin’ right now? You look like you just worked out.”

”Skateboarding. You should try it sometime. It's a great way to clear my mind. Man, this is gonna sound so stupid but I feel kinda lost without being able to talk to Ben today…I don't even know what to do.”

Danni cooed sympathetically. “Well, ‘ey, I might not be t'e boyf but I can entertain at least! And I can def talk! So pretty boy, I know you ‘aven't watched She-Ra but what kinda stuff do ya like ta watch?” Danni asked, fiddling around off screen for a moment and pulling out two, almost identical shirts. One had a little leaf pattern along the side and the other a river pattern. “Also, which one? I ‘ate bringin’ t'em ta school at t'e same time. Leaves or rivers?”

”Rivers” Chase pointed towards the shirt on the right, his head still resting on the deck of his board. ”Never said I didn't see She-Ra. But I'm more a Steven Universe kinda guy. Beyond that my favorite show is Merlin, or a lot of those old BBC shows. They're corny as hell and have horrible CGI but…I dunno they're fun.”

“We are the crystal gems!” Danni sang, tossing the leaves shirt back into his closet and folding the river into his bag. “Awww, t'at's adorable. Steven Universe is such a soft show. Who's your fav crystal gem and t'en who's t'e fav character of all? Like, Steven is obvi a cutie patootie but, I def t'ink Garnet is my fav crystal gem. Lars miiiiiiight be my fav character of t'e whole show - mostly cause yeah, he was a pretty lame guy in t'e beginnin’ but by t'e end, ‘is character arc was pretty awesome. But it's a toss up between ‘im and Amethyst.” Danni grabbed seven pairs of HotShot booty shorts, showing one of them to the camera, and folded them into his bag.

Chase's face scrunched up as he tried to think about who his favorite was. If he was asked this a year ago it may have been a different answer, but now he felt more akin to Lapis than anyone. ”Lapis. I think Lars is the obvious non gem choice. You'd make a good Lars for Halloween I think.” A smile on the corner of his lip.

Danni paused at the comment, turning to look in the mirror and the image shifted. Danni's reflection donned Lar's space captain outfit and he twisted and turned, grabbing the phone and holding it up for Chase to see. “I def t'ink I would too! I love ‘ot as ‘eck ‘onestly.” Danni laughed, making faces in the mirror, some silly, some serious, looking to get Chase to laugh. “Ooooh, Lapis huh? T'e river choice makes sense now, ‘uh. Oooo, are you good wit’ body paint? You'd look smomin’ in blue wit’ t'at pretty lapis dress. We could even get ya a pair of wings commissioned! Bet we could find someone ta make ya some that move!”

”Not much of a dress guy. Sorry man. But uh, can we go back to what the fuck just happened there? Why is your mirror, what is, I don't even know how to approach this.” Chase laughed incredulously as he ran his hand through his sweaty hair.

Danni laughed, shifting the image so he was wearing Lapis's dress. “Ooh, yeah, Papa got it for us for Christmas! Preeeetty sure ‘e ‘ad Pa make it for ‘im but t'at doesn't matter does it! T'ey got Rillie one as well! It let's me try on any outfit wit'out actually ‘avin’ ta wear it! So if you ever wanna see yourself in somet'in’, you can always pop in over and try it on before you make it.” Danni held up his wrist to show off his bracelet. “Pa also made us t'ese and Dee's anti-telepthy sword and Rillie's ‘air color comb and our bags and our ‘ouse! ‘e's like, t'e best sorcerer in all t'e world.”

”You make it sound like I can come over whenever.” Chase laughed as he rolled his eyes. ”You're a few states away, it'd be a long drive before I even get to you. You bringing that mirror to school?” Chase tried to look away as the image shifted to the dress. Fuck, Danni looked good in it. But he was with Ben, he couldn't be looking like that.

“One, yeah obvi I'm brinin’ t'is mirror. Rillie and I are settin’ t'em up next ta each ot'er so we ‘ave angles tbh.” Danni waved away Chase's concerns, swishing around the dress in the mirror before shifting into an option for his first day outfit. “And duh. Pa can just open a portal ta anywhere. ‘ow did ya attempted I got ta Cali last night, silly.”

” I –” Chase hadn't thought of that. Originally he assumed they were already down here for school reasons, but clearly he was back home already. ”Bro that's so cool. Still…probably a bad idea I visit. I think your siblings don't like me very much.” He still wasn't looking at the call, only glances here or there to see if the mirror changed.

“I mean, we're all real big on second chances tbh. So you'd get grilled, but at t'e end of t'e day as long as you genuinely cared ‘bout chanin’ t'en you're all good. We gotta believe everyone ‘as some good inside t'em and we're ‘appy ta be around ta brin’ it out ya know?” Danni tapped on the screen. ‘ewwo, Mr. Preswident? You doin’ good? Everyt'in’ okay over t'ere?”

”Yeah I'm good. Gotta go though, batteries almost dead and it's getting dark out. So I gotta get back home before the rents worry.” Chase sat up, the sound of his board being kicked up into his hands could be heard offscreen. ”See you at school tomorrow?”

“‘eck yeah! We gotta do all t'e stuff! I want prizes.” Danni saluted as Chase mentioned he was heading out. “And ‘ey, I ‘ope I was able ta ‘elp! ‘ave a good night, sauna boy.” Danni blew a kiss at the camera.

”Yeah yeah, night man.” Chase caught the kiss and pocketed it before hanging up the call.


[hr

Chase ended up driving himself to school. Figured that way if he wanted to hang after school he could get home when he wanted to. He made his way over to grab all his paperwork, checking the dorm assignment first before a series of expletives left his mouth and he kicked a nearby plastic trashcan. It would seem he and Ben wouldn't be rooming together after all. They were neighbors however, so that wasn't too bad he guessed. The name of his roommate sounded familiar, someone from the shitty party maybe? Either way Chase made his way to the rooms first. Going down the hall to make sure the showers were adequate for Ben, they weren't. He frowned, but if they timed it right then he'd be able to help him out with his shadows. As he left the bathrooms he spotted Ben's Old Man. ”Hey! Mr. M! How's it hangin? Long time no see man.” Chase jogged up to Matt and offered him a hug as usual.

”Hello, Chase,” Matt said, hugging Chase. ”Moving in alright?”

”Just scoping the area for now. I'm new here too so want to get my bearings before I go getting myself lost is all. Is uh, is Ben around?” Chase rolled his papers into a tube, gripping them a bit anxiously.

”I left him in his room, but I think he was planning to head down to the Carnival right away.” Matt considered another question, but decided against it. He did feel a little bad about grounding Ben for the day, but he hoped it would send the right message.

”Oh…” Chase bit his lower lip. ”Hey, I'm sorry we didn't tell you right away, and I promise we weren't even beforehand. It sort of happened is all. I didn't even know he liked guys like that, or me for that matter. It's all kinda new to me to be honest.”

Matt sighed, ”I believe you. Though I do wish you two had been a bit more responsible about certain things. I at least trust you were safe?” He raised an eyebrow, his tone serious but not angry.

Shock ran through his face as Matt asked him if they were safe. ”Geeze Mr. M, I – OK, look. Shit. I mean yes. We were, are. Fuck.” Chase stammered out embarrassed before he fished out a condom and showed it to Matt. ”Even if we can't get pregnant we still gotta be safe you know?”

”Well that was more information than I needed, but I suppose I only have myself to blame for that. Thank you for that.” Matt rubbed his face. ”Well you have my number.” Matt looked like he wanted to say something else, but was extremely uncomfortable with it. He would prefer it if the boys stopped having sex, but he didn’t think he could stop it. It was too late for that. ”Have a good semester, and I expect you to come over for dinner with Ben sometime soon.” He finally settled on.

”Thanks Mr.M! Don't worry you won't get rid of me that easily. I'll be over for dinner soon!” Chase waved as Matt walked away before pulling out his phone to text Ben.





Chase then noticed the messages from Danni before he closed his phone and tried finding his way over towards where the Hot Chocolate stand was. Spying Ben before he spotted the stand itself as he came barreling behind him and hugged him tight, lifting him up to spin him around and kiss his cheek. ”Is my King wearing his Noble Knights sweater? How sweet, but you have forgotten your crown.” Shadows formed around his hands as a plastic crown came into view.

---

---

---

---

---

The day before school, found Andy packing up her bag. She had more clothes and things than she had ever had before in her life. She ran her fingers over the duffle bag. Even this was new. Her clothes were new. She had so much stuff. Andy carefully packed her school bag. She put Jamie’s deck of cards in there. It felt good to have that again. She rubbed her hand over the spot where it pressed against the backpack’s fabric.

For all the new things she had, she had also found so much she had thought lost forever. She had been texting, and on calls with members of the MU, and in some cases talking to them face-to-face. Having four of them living next door helped a lot with that latter one. So much had changed in just the last month. And going farther back even more had changed. Andy felt like it had been a bit of a whirlwind.

Andy paused on the sea glass mosaic that Sabine had given her. She smiled, appreciating it. Andy appreciated all the gifts her friends had given her. The strange rock that Leah had made, the coffee from Vicky, the necklace from Percy. Her life was so full. Andy held back tears that burned at her eyes. Her life was so full and she was happy. Looking at the mosaic she wondered how long it would last. Her heart twisted. Fear pulsed through her.

Damn. She had made it through the whole break without feeling like the world would pull the rug out from under her at any moment. Part of Andy figured that was because she had had something so terrible happen right before break started that the universe thought she deserved a break. It had been since Thanksgiving that she had been in a near death experience. Something she wouldn’t be able to survive if it happened again.

She started pacing. Slowly Andy’s hands traced where old scars would be. Since the final battle of Genosha she hadn’t had any physical scars. They all had gone away, including her piercings, which she had replaced as soon as she had the chance. She ran her thumb over the crook of her elbow. The oldest scar had been there.

Back before she had powers she had been playing tag, and climbed on... something. She frowned. What had it been? Andy could sort of picture it in her head, but couldn’t put a name to it. There had been something sharp on it and her arm had gotten cut up. She hadn’t gone to the ER and hadn’t gotten stitches, but she probably should have. The scar had been vicious looking.

After that her scars had all been little incidental things. A broken nose, her fists, both from fighting. That had all been healed. Wiped away as if none of it had happened. Now she wasn’t sure if she could scar. She had fallen from a height that should have killed her. She had taken swipes from Gideon’s sword during practice, and still nothing. No external sign of anything that had happened to her. It was all erased.

From her school bag, Andy removed the deck of cards, she pulled the cards out of the worn box. The deck had once been gorgeous, but now it was so worn it wouldn’t be good for a game of anything. She knew each card and how they felt, despite it having been months since she had had them in her hands. It was soothing. She shuffled the deck over and over, playing with the cards, using the magician tricks that Jammie had taught her.

This was proof. Proof that Jammie and Ash had lived. Proof that she had lived with them and learned at their sides. Learned how to fight, learned how to do magic card tricks, and learned how to love and be loved. She gave up fighting her tears. She sat down on the floor and cried.

Andy cried for the life she had had. Cried for those lost to her forever. Cried at what could have been. She cried long enough that she wasn’t sure how long it took, but the daylight was dimmed as the sun set. After washing her face and getting a glass of water, she hugged Magento and went back to packing. She felt better, still scared of the future, but better.

Later Gideon came over and they hung out watching movies together. Andy giving elaborate commentary about the history of the films. Andy talked about her feelings from the day. About how scared she was, even now and still. How she felt like part of her past had been erased and taken from her when her scars had been healed after the Battle of Genosha. But she had hope in what was remembered. She also talked about something she had only spoken with Magneto about after he had told her what happened to Genosha after she had left. She talked about how she had struggled with coming to terms with claiming Genoshan and how much harder that was after learning about what happened after she left. How a piece of her was blaming her for it, if she hadn’t left, maybe she could have helped.

Andy told all of this to Gideon, never expecting her to return the sharing. But hoping that by doing it like this, sharing her emotions, it would help teach Gideon how to do that. They crashed out kind of late that night.

---

---

Andy and Gideon hitched a ride to L.A. with the K-G Household. Casper gave her a small bag full of sexual health items. She went bright red, her ears in particular. In the bag was also a cookie from Ben. Both were sweet gestures and Andy thanked them embarrassed.

Magneto had joined them. This was the first time she was on campus with him. She was happy he decided to go too. It felt more personal than a goodbye hug at home. She would have been fine with that, but that he came with her felt so good.

She noticed the ice skating and friendship bracelets. As she looked around she planned to unpack her skates, and check out the rink, she also decided to make friendship bracelets for Gideon and America.

Once she had her dorm assignment she had parted ways with them. Hell yeah! Andy was now rooming with Gideon. She hadn’t even gotten that lucky with Zari. She was a little surprised, but with how many people had left the Academy she wasn’t surprised at the new room assignments.

She partially unpacked her bag, setting the mosaic on her nightstand. When she finished that she asked Gideon, ”I’ll finish unpacking later. Ready to head down to the carnival? If they have the sword club thing set up again, wanna spar?”

Andy made sure she had the ice skates from Sabine with her, she was not going to give up the opportunity to be on the ice again. The fact that Sabine had gotten her a pass for the ice rink nearby had been super sweet too. She planned to take advantage of that. Part of her thought about trying to combine sword fighting and ice skating. She’d discover Hockey soon enough and that would be basically the same thing.

Before leaving the room she considered which jacket to grab. She touched the one from Ash gently, but ended up taking the letterman style one. The others might be wearing theirs. There was something symbolic about not wearing the jacket with metal studded spikes. Andy did consider that as she and Gideon headed down to the carnival.

Gideon had already finished unpacking - she didn’t have much in the way of possessions, everything she owned fitting into a duffel bag that she had dumped unceremoniously on the bed, before her fingers twitched, her body stiffened, and she changed her course, neatly unpacking it and putting everything in its place with military precision. Her week’s worth of clothes were folded and placed in the dresser, her sword maintenance kit placed in the drawers of the desk, her bed made with sheets tucked in appropriately, and the sword placed down on top of it - before she hesitated once more, and slung it over her back. She didn’t like going places without it. It felt like a part of herself was missing, like she’d left behind a limb.

She did a wolf whistle, her eyebrows wiggling as she checked out Andy. “Hot damn, you look like an asshole - but in the hottest way possible,” she praised, tempted to keep Andy all to herself for a little while longer. But Gideon loved the carnival. She loved all the physical contests, all the ways to test her strength. “Hell yeah, man!! We’re doing that! I’m going to text everyone I know and challenge them to a duel. Have ourselves a sword tournament.”

Andy winked and flicked her collar, ”You love to see it.” Andy bounced on the balls of her feet a little. ”Ohh, yes!”

Andy had noticed the strange shift in demeanor. It wasn’t simple, it was a weird shift. As they walked out of the dorms Andy had to ask, ”Did you go to a military school or something?”

“Nope!” Gideon tilted her head, a little confused as to why Andy had asked. “Did you? I do gotta say, I love a gal in uniform - so if you have pics of you in your ROTC blues, I wanna see.”

”No, I went to... A really terrible school. If I went to one. That’s not why I was asking. You did a weird thing. At first you threw your bag down, and then you went all military precision on setting up. I didn’t expect you to unpack yet. We have time for that later when we have the Carnival to go to.”

“Oh, but if I have a messy bed, I’ll have the shit beaten out of me by Sis- sorry, never mind, ignore that I said that. Just a brain misfire. Just random words. Do you think they’ll have any good food? The food trucks were killer last time!”

”You have a sister?” Andy asked without thinking about it. She had been trying to not pry on Gideon’s life, and let her come to her when she was ready. ”I only knew about your brother.”

“No?” Gideon looked genuinely confused. “Just me and my bro. Well. Our dad kinda fucked his way around, so maybe I do, idk.”

”Then who or why is someone beating you for having a messy bed? That’s wild.”

Gideon pretended she didn’t hear Andy, as she pressed the button for the elevator down from the sixth floor.

”Gideon, wait, what is going on?” Andy asked, her voice heavy with concern. Shooting way past her promise to not press.

“We’re going to the festival, duh. I could see the snow they’ve got set up from the room, I’m going to kick your ass in a snowball fight, just you wait.”

Andy stood there confused, but closed her mouth. She wanted to help Gideon, damn, why wouldn’t she let her? ”Okay, we’ll see about that,” she tried to say teasingly, but knew her voice fell a little flat.

They took the elevator down and were soon out among their schoolmates. Andy looked around, unsure what to do first, or who to speak to. She pushed the panicky feeling of impending doom away, by taking Gideon’s hand and heading for the friendship bracelet stand.

---

During the break, Victoria was a girl possessed. As soon as she made it home, she pestered Hope to help her with refactoring her core code. It was high time for Ultron to be a thing of the past. Issuing the delete command felt highly satisfying. No more annoying voice in her head. No more ticking timebomb. The upgrade to her MFGs was a nice, unexpected bonus, and she couldn't wait to freak her friends out with the fact that among other things the new configuration could do, she now had frickin' laser eyes.

That was not the obsession though, no. Like she told Danni before leaving, she was on the trail to discovering something new. She wouldn't go as far as to call it a unified theory of physics and magic, but it was a good start to getting there. The road to success was paved with old tomes and obscure research though, so Vicky has shut herself in her room most of the time, ignoring what she could of Christmas - to the family's complaints - and covering the walls with notes and papers and scribbles that looked like equations and computer code written in thaumaturgical symbols and runes.

She thought she had it. The theoretical models said it should work. Except it didn't. She was missing some piece of understanding of the whole that would make everything snap together. But what? At this point she didn't even know where to look. The only thing she could think of that could be wrong is her major assumption that the particle carrying magic power was a boson, but... No, a fermion made no sense.

She was still twisting her processor over it now as she walked to the school grounds. What she wanted to do was to head to her dorm or workshop, pull out her binder, redecorate the walls again with her notes and then sit in the middle, staring at it all until she thought of something to try and fix her models. Alas, what she had to do instead was to fight the worst enemy od all:

Red tape.

Why did she have to hand in a form to drop her 'superhero name'? That should just be a SuperLink status update or something. Likewise, dorm assignments should have been an e-mail, not a visit to a stall!

Not that her SuperLink had any updates, as she took meticulous care to not have much social media presence. Her steam account was probably the one that got the most mileage out of all of them, followed by LinkedIn.

Something that actually came up over the break from Sabine. Victoria has waved the concerns off. She was preparing for a job where she would voluntarily throw herself into life threatening situations on a regular basis. Some potential death threats and other cyberbully crap did not faze her. She appreciated the care though.

After spending 10 minutes (!) dealing with the place that sends you mad, she picked up her schedule and checked her room assignment. 604. One up and one to the side of her earlier 502. At least the view out the window should be similar. "Marlena Who?" she grunted to herself, a cursory internet search revealing... Nothing much. Well, a mystery to solve later. Checking out the neighbors, she hoped the walls were insulated.

She nearly rebooted to safe mode when she saw the name next to the time travel and animal related classes. Neither of which she was taking, so at least she could probably avoid her weirdo grandpa a great deal.

Sighing, she headed to the sword ighting stand. A grimace made it to her face as she remembered the last semester's absolute debacle. But this time, she wasn't coming to compete or have fun, but to practice. There was an absolutely insane idea she wanted to try now that her improved MFG set allowed her a greater degree of control over the repulsor fields she could create. Spotting a few familiar faces in the area, she waved at them: "S'up?"

---

---

Strange dreams weren’t very uncommon for Dorian Gray. He often times found it difficult to discern what was fact and what was fiction, for he long since had the problem of ‘Sleep Walking’. Though his body might stay behind for some of these walks as his soul would ascend into the Astral, traversing the dreamlike world as if it were his own. He’d only ever done it in the waking world a handful of times, and those had brought him nothing but fear for the future. So when he dreamt of Nemo, of his old coach whose journal was left to him, whose language he had been able to perfectly decode and read during his boyfriends escapes with his brother, whose very life was chronicled not only with his loses, but with plans of a greater future to change the outcomes of fate without the notice of a greater power, it shook him to his core. Dorian didn’t recognize the scenery, how could he with no true distinguishing features? He felt the pain and anguish of the man he had become, what they had done to him, and just when Dorian and Nemo had locked eyes, though they were not his own, he woke up. A cold sweat as his shirt clung to his body, his sheets drenched in it as his hair looked as though a bucket of water had been poured atop him. His breathing was erratic, his mind racing, and all he could do was wonder if that was a dream…or another trance. He’d felt something like this before, seen through another's eyes before, back on the first week of school during tryouts.

---

Dorian’s mind never fully left that dream, even as he got ready for school his thoughts wandered back to that place, that scene. He’d known Nemo was alive, known that he couldn’t have died because it wasn’t his time yet, but now he felt more certain than ever that Nemo might be in trouble. If his journal was anything to go by, he’d have plenty of enemies. That was where his mind was as he was attempting to compete with his siblings in the hot chocolate stacking, far and distant as that dream was beginning to seem. Nevermind the fact that this hot cocoa was nothing like the french one he loved so much. It wasn’t thick enough for his usual tactics, allowing for the ingredients to merely sink down into the drink as he lazily added more atop it. It wasn’t until his phone went off from his boyfriend texting the group chat that his thoughts finally shattered. He always had time and mind to neg his boyfriend a little when he was being too prideful. So Dorian responded back into the chat while verbally assuring his siblings that he was fine.


When Dorian looked up, he noticed a new face joining the group. He’d seen her somewhere before, he knew of it. A mental snap of his fingers and he’d placed it. That was the girl that Riley was flirting with back at the party. The one they wanted to go out with but never could because their ass was grounded. This was the perfect opportunity to be the best brother ever. Danni was hogging all the attention when really Riley needed to be the one in the spotlight for now. Dorian pushed April forward a bit so that she was in front of all of them and more importantly closer to Marlena. ”’ey! Marlena right? Riley told us about you from t’e party, you two really seemed to ‘it it off back t’ere it seemed. What a coincidence running into you ‘ere at t’e Festival, got any plans for it or just wandering around? You’re more t’an welcome to join us if you’d like. We always say t’e more t’e merrier.” He looked around the area for a second before focusing back towards her. ”We’re waitin’ on a few ot’ers to arrive still but I’m sure t’ey’ll be ‘ere shortly.”

---

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---

@Forsythe: While there had been sword fighting at the fall carnival, there wasn’t any to be found at the winter festival. In its place, a small battlefield had been filled with snow, a hundred footprints pressed into the snow disturbing what otherwise would have been pristine layers. Combatants in this brawl had moved and shaped the snow, creating barriers and fortifications - and above all else, ammo. A series of targets had been set up by the school staff and largely abandoned, as the war became ever more complicated, with betrayals and injustices and history developing in real time.

As for the familiar faces - currently, the snowball brawl was a war between two groups of heroes: the Unity Squad and the Mighty Marvels. Two of the teams Vicky and her friends had defeated on their road to New Orleans. Abby Smith made eye contact with the android for a moment, offering her a wave. “Hey, man!” they shouted out. “You gonna pick a side or what?”

Arsène lobbed a snowball, hitting Abby square in the face. “Never let your guard down,” he tsk’d. He then looked over at Vicky. “You tell Dorian that he did good, okay? Nice to know the folks who knocked us out of the fight are the ones who won it all - almost like the Mighty Marvels came in second place, instead of the Young Hasbeens.”

@PatientBean: "Don't worry about that, I looked at the plans and bathrooms are at the hall's end so you two don't need to worry about sharing one. At least, I hope they aren't co-ed too." Harry was looking over the paperwork that was handed to him by the staff members of the school. Checking the layout as well as what all the Festival had to offer. Luna seemed to be going to perform tonight, it was a shame he may have to miss it. He'd send her a basket later with an apology note.

Harry put on a practiced smile as he was introduced to one of his nephews’ friends and teammates. Making a bit of sparkle in the air with his powers to pull some attention away from his twin sister. His phone rang and he pulled it out to look and answer it, holding his hand to the receiver after greeting the person on the other line and mouthing "I’m Sorry" to the pair before he walked a bit off. Barry splitting off of him and now standing in his place. "Work calls as usual. Already been away from V.E.I.L. for a bit too long, but you two seem to have things handled? Especially if the rest of Excelsior is to join you."

Eva was holding her wife’s hand. Nervous for her, but she was looking around with interest. Eva had never gone to a normal high school. She had been home schooled while living on the road for tours. This was perfect. She thought it would be good for Millie to get some socialization with kids her own age. Something Eva had missed out greatly.

”I’m surprised they do co-ed floors even. Very progressive. Hopefully he is a neat and clean roommate.”

Val did not enjoy being here at all. A school for students with superpowers set her teeth on edge. It wasn’t only for mutants, but it reminded her so much of Xavier’s Institute - and all the other gathering places that had come afterwards, all of which had ended in death and destruction. It was a disaster just waiting to happen, a trap that her niece was strolling into without a care… As her brother was looking over schedules, her wife admiring the scenery, and her brother-in-law reading over Harry’s shoulder, she was looking for escape routes, exit strategies - monitoring for potential threats, attempting to identify a crisis before it ever began.

But Millie had chosen to come here. It wasn’t her choice to make. And like it or not, Millicent was a mutant. The world would not leave her innocent forever. She needed to learn how to use her powers, how to control them - so that way when the day came that she needed them, she’d be ready.

“If he’s not, just let me know,” David offered with a crooked grin, a pair of earbuds in. They helped to muffle out the telepathic din. He could do it himself, yes, but it was sometimes nice to just relax and not have to filter out all the background noise. “I’ll give him a good scare.”

“We are not terrorizing children,” Val admonished, before adding, “without cause, at least.” She then took a deep breath, grounding herself with the grip her wife had on her hand, as she struggled to keep her form from flickering in and out of view. “Call at the slightest sign of trouble or danger, okay? Even if it’s just a hunch. Your intuition is your most powerful tool,” Val instructed her niece. “You’re going to do great. Now, go, have fun with your friends.”

“But not without a hug from your Uncle Davie first!” David insisted, before hugging his favorite niece goodbye. He then looked back at Barry. “Do you want your partner or is it cool if I keep hanging out?”

Goodbyes were exchanged, and the pop stars left without much further attention or shenanigans, leaving Millicent Broadway behind to start her new life at Avengers Academy.

---

---

Percy still felt a bit numb and dazed as Leah approached him, thankfully not opening with a hug as others in their social circle did. It was probably one of his favorite things about her, besides the shock that she enjoyed reading almost as much as he did. She towered over him, practically twice his height, as he had to crane his neck to look up at her. A month ago, he wouldn’t have known how to even entertain a conversation with Leah. But now, there was a connection between the two of them - as if they’d been cut from the same cloth.

“The snow is fake,” he asserted. He pulled out his phone, opening up the weather app. “We aren’t due for snow. The high today is supposed to be twenty centigrade, with a low of nine. Current temperature in Los Angeles is seventeen. I’d assume the snow is derived magically, given that I don’t see any machinery for its maintenance. Perhaps Nimue’s replacement is maintaining it, wherever they are.” He hadn’t looked into who had replaced the magic professor - he’d been more interested in Nemo’s replacement, and a bit intrigued to see that his mother’s mentor, Hank Pym, had been selected.

He then paused. Leah probably hadn’t actually wanted to talk about snow. She said she had missed them over the break. She’d missed him. He considered it for a moment, before deciding he had missed her, too.

“Did you want to go find the others?” he asked, as he saw a small flurry of texts come in, responding to his crisis. Danni’s were sympathetic and spelled better than Percy had thought him capable of doing. At Dorian’s, however, his face twisted into a scowl. If he texted back using written language, it would be no different than conceding defeat and Dorian would win. If he texted back using emojis, Dorian would continue to claim he could not understand and Danni may become accustomed to receiving them, both of which represented a loss for Percy. Or should he ask Leah to go with him elsewhere in the festival and give his boyfriend the cold shoulder for a moment? He didn’t want to play this game, but he hated losing, and Dorian had started it.

He stared at the phone for a moment, before deciding on his course of action.



Feeling certain that Dorian would be sufficiently annoyed by that, he then opened up his direct messages with Danni, and offered a further response -



Percy then put his phone away. He walked with Leah in the direction of the hot chocolate stand, having spotted it not too far away - and missing a certain couple’s happy reunion, thankfully, by a well timed pack of freshmen crossing his field of view. He nodded as he saw Dorian and his siblings crowded around their hot chocolate creations, April’s impressively high - he almost didn’t recognize her at first, with the new hair. A vaguely familiar looking girl was with them as well, standing close to Dorian’s sister.

He suddenly felt self conscious, as his mind flashed back to the first time he had met these siblings at the carnival last semester, and how disastrously that had gone.

---

---

Dorian had assured them both that Percy was fine. Probably. He knew his boyfriend better than either of them - the last time April had talked to Percy, it had been the night they’d won the Contest of Champions. They’d gone downstairs to grab a late night snack, only to bump into Percy in the kitchen, wearing an oversized Boo hoodie that almost reached his knees, and white calf-height socks… and as far as April assumed and thankfully had not been able to verify, not much else. They’d teasingly given him some of Dorian’s snacks, a few bottles of water, and sent him back up on his way.

Besides, it was his birthday! They’d made an extra gift just for the occasion, even as their fingers had started to ache and cramp from all the yarn works they’d churned out over the break. It was currently tucked into the pocket of their jumpsuit, rolled up so that way it would fit without deforming it. He was going to look absolutely adorable with the cat ears beanie they’d made, they were certain of it. Plus, they knew their brother - he loved a soft boi moment. So it doubled as a gift for Dorian too.

So having been assured that there wasn’t a crisis on hand, April went about photographing their victory. This was absolutely going on their (private) socials. They’d need to find the pictures from previous years and attempts too, so that way they could show off the elevation of their technique. Once it was all photographed, they took one of the cookies and used it to spear off a decent portion of the topping, plopping it into their mouth when suddenly, Marlena appeared! They almost choked, struggling to swallow from the sheer surprise, as they threw a hand in front of their mouth to cover it.

Thankfully, Danni stepped in to the rescue, preening about his masterpiece of a haircut (it was incredible), gushing about Marlena’s outfit (she was hot as shit), gabbing about Amelie’s antics (the most adorable dragon April had ever seen) and inviting Marlena on the rescue mission for Percy. They’d talked with their siblings after the surprise video call with Marlena, running a full debrief, and analyzing the text records that had come from before it. It had been both helpful and unhelpful. April was very into her physically - but connection wise… they didn’t know. Not everyone had to agree and get along, differences of opinion were normal and healthy, but the responsibility of a mutant towards their fellow mutants was a big one.

The next thing they knew, they were stumbling forward, pushed by their brother to be dead center, right in front of Marlena. They swallowed slightly, their eyes sweeping over Marlena. The fit really was fucking iconic. Their eyes kept on going back to the chain belt, following the way it fell over her hip - and the grey-green patterned button up, tastefully left open to reveal a black tank top below? Chef’s kiss. For the last few weeks, their hormones had been raging and Marlena’s appearance here definitely wasn’t helping.

Their cheeks were flushed red. “Y-yeah, thank you!! Like Danni said, he did the cut and it came out so good, we ended up doing it Christmas morning, little bit of an impromptu thing, but our Papa loved it so much he almost choked to death on a cinnamon roll. And then Pa got me this comb,” they fished it out of one of their pockets, holding it out to show Marlena. They loved how many pockets the jumpsuit had, “and it lets you change hair to be the color you want. Andy and I played around with it a little bit over break - she lives next door, which was such a godsend. Being grounded sucks. Your outfit looks fire, btw. I’m kinda obsessed with it. And you. I mean it. Did you make it? I know you make a lot of your own clothes and stuff - did you finish that top?”

They took a breath, saved from their hormones by the arrival of their ex-girlfriend and their brother’s tiny boyfriend. “Leah! Have you met Marlena? She’s new, she was at the party we had after the contest,” April introduced, before adding with a squeal - “oh, and happy birthday, Percy!!! I made you this, I hope you like it!!!”

They took the cat ears hat out of their pocket, and presented it to Percy.

Percy stared at it for a moment, before accepting it and putting it in the pocket of his hoodie. “Erm. Thank you very much.”

---

---

---

---

Ben had gotten Danni’s message, and changed his path to head for the hot chocolate station. Not long after that Chase had messaged him and he let Chase know where he was going. Before Ben got to the hot chocolate station Chase came up and picked him up. At first he yelped, but that turned into a laugh once he realized who it was.

”Ah, put me down,” he protested. He put the crown on his head, grinning. ”I missed you. Sorry about my Uncle. He was big mad.” He kissed Chase.

”Want to go meet up with Danni?” He gestured in the direction he had been going to meet up with Danni at the hot chocolate stand. He didn’t want to wait long, if he knew Danni he’d see something shiny and wander off and forget to say anything.

Ben hoped Chase did. He had promised Danni he would hang out with him. Ben hadn’t addressed the fact that Chase was nervous about hanging out with Danni’s friends. He wasn’t sure how to approach the subject. In the group text Chase had expressly said that Danni’s siblings and friends wouldn’t like him. Ben didn’t know why that would be the case.

---

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---

”Yeah, let’s find them. I wanna see the look on April’s face when she sees my sword.” Leah wheeled around and followed him. Lots of new kids here, Leah ignored the stares of some of them. There was some boy not much older than Percy who she could’ve sworn was staring at her huge arms. A lot of them probably never saw a giant before. It was easy to find April and her gaggle of gays by the sound of high speed yammering over the din of other people just going about their days.

There they were. Dorian, Danni, and… April.

April, who made Leah stop in her tracks. Her eyes widened, jaw going slack for a moment. April had gotten a haircut over the break, it seemed. Like a frizzy mohawk, only shorter. Leah did a double take, then a triple take. It looked good on her, made her look very nonconforming in gender, almost like completely different person. A very cute, very hot person who Leah already had so many messy feelings for.

Oh no.

Ohhhh no.

Fuck.


It was at that moment, surrounded by her found family and her ex who she was never normal about, that Leah forgot her impeccable ability to pull a pokerface.

And then April started talking to her.

”Oh- Um. Yeah, hi April…” Fuck, why did she have to get hotter?! ”Hi Danni. Hi Dorian. Uh- That’s a lot of stuff on a cup of hot chocolate.” She distracted herself by grabbing herself one. Leah was feeling incredibly grateful that her rocky skin couldn’t betray the heat in her face. April always set her eyes and heart alight when they were within the same general vicinity of each other, she always looked up to her in some ways (despite being taller) and she was just so nice.

She inhaled a whole cup of steaming hot chocolate in a single gulp, and cleared her throat.

Get your shit together. Stop this shit once, Jordan!

”I missed all of you.”

She didn’t know it was Percy’s birthday. But knowing him, he probably didn’t like celebrating it any more than she liked celebrating hers. So she didn’t say anything.

---

---

---

It was so nice to see these people enjoying themselves. April’s brothers gave Marlena the impression she had a family full of love. It made her heart swell in small ways, and made her feel slightly jealous. (Not nearly as jealous as she felt of that hair color comb though. God damn! That was dope.) Things weren’t great at home right now for her, they’d probably mend in time, but it was going to be awkward. But she didn’t let that stop the smirk on her face.

”Yeah, this shirt’s my own work. Had this sweet roll of some cheap fabric pattern from a hobby store, came out nice. The rest is just store-bought, but I’d love to find something sturdy enough to make a belt with some secret spaces in it.” Marlena had started collecting little trinkets more after she got her powers, beads and baubles that went on the ends of necklaces made for good fodder if some punk took offense to a transgender mutant walking down the street. ”Not sure exactly what I’m gonna do with that piece I showed you, just yet.”

Marlena tilted her head around and caught sight of the shortest king since Napoleon, and… God damn she was tall. And stammering like crazy, no less. And that sword- Holy shit, she didn’t have that sword in the Contest. It must’ve been nasty to get cut by.

”Sup. Name’s Marlena,” she said, with all the cool that Leah didn’t have.

”Leah.”

”Sweet sword. Where’d you get it?”

”Long story.”

Marlena just nodded and turned back to April and her brothers. ”Anyway, no. Got no idea what I’m doing today, except figure out what’s where and who’s what. Gotta check class stuff, but I’ll worry about that later. Figured I’d just enjoy the carnival. I’ll tag along.”

---

Well this was different. But it would most certainly do as a field for some testing though! She glanced at Arséne. "Howaboots you tell him yourself? I think he'd appreciate that." her gaze then ticked to Abby, who ate a fat bowl of sh- snow. Victoria mentally cringed as she remembered the qualifiers where she force fed Abby a repulsor beam instead. Not her finest moment in life, but it was educational. She was fairly certain that was where her hate for the concept of the CoC grew large enough to eventually reject it altogether. Fortunately, she didn't have to deal with that again at least until the semester after this one.

Plus, the whole school by now knew what Victoria really was, so that situation shouldn't come up again, unless someone really was out to rid the world of her. Grinning, she took a running leap and landed on the Unity Squad's side, sliding behind a snow wall cover. "You look like you could use a snack. Feel free to take a bite, just leave enough juice for me." she winked at Abby as she took her bag and jacket off, stowing them behind the wall and rolling her sleeves up. Then she reached into her bag, and when her arms came out, her hands were covered in MFGs, six a piece, sitting around her palms in positions reminiscent of the infinity gauntlet.

"Let's see how you improved during the last quarter, hm?" she posted a small challenge, the generators lighting up, alongside the two in her eyes. Focus, control, conviction, resolve. A true Ace lacks none of these attributes. Nothing can deter you from the task at hand except your own fears. This is your sky. Victoria recited in her mind and eyeballed a nearby pile of snowballs. She wanted to start testing lesser degree of control, before ramping up. Thus she reached out with her hands, her processor sending instructions to the generators to envelop the pile in a vectored repulsor field and move it over the Mighty Marvels' position, where she intended to drop it on them and make the spirits of the Bomber Mafia proud.

---

---

Chase waved away Ben's concern for his Uncle. ”Nah he's cool. Had a little chat with him before I met up with you, tried having the sex talk with me as well. I absolutely assured him that we are being safe and even showed em this.” He pulled out the self same condom he showed Matt before stuffing it back into his pocket. He laced his hands onto Ben's thinking about giving him his gift right now, but he didn't want to keep Ben from Danni. He also knew they'd promised to hang out with him today since his other friends were likely to abandon him. ”Yeah lets go see him. I have a late Christmas gift for both of you anyways.”

Chase didn't give time for Ben to protest or respond as their shadows pooled together into a circle before they sank beneath the floor and reappeared right behind Danni, bumping into him a little before wrapping his hands over Danni's eyes. ”Guess who!” He hadn't noticed Percy's presence yet, his eyes quite literally looking over him as he saw Marlena and Leah. His anxiety skyrocketing at the Mountain Girl as he began to busy himself in the one way he really knew how, stacking random shit. ”Mountain Girl, Lena, how you two been? Cool sword, think Lena could use her TK to skate with it? That'd be dope. Oh D-Man! I gotta a gift for you and Benny Boi, well seperate ones since I hadn't been able to give it during Christmas. Anyways, what's up? Who's who?” By now his stack on the Hot Chocolate was twice as high as Aprils original stack, marshmallows used to outline the design like a wall or fence as it towered up with a structural integrity that shouldn't make sense. A Candy Kingdom floating atop a moat of hot chocolate.

---

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---

Millicent hugged her uncle tightly, not wanting to let go for the briefest of moments but doing so anyway. She knew each of them cared in their own unique way and that they were a phone call or text away, but she didn't want to rely on them too much. Aunt Val's concerns rang in her head, vocalized before. But Millicent needed to do this. She needed to be on her own two feet and on her own. She wouldn't have protection all the time and she needed to understand her powers. And she needed to be around others like her that were her own age. As much as she enjoyed singing with Uncle Harry or learning defense with Aunt Val, she also missed being around other kids.

"I love you all. I'll see you soon."

Sabine let them have their moment, but she felt her heart hitc a bit, knowing full well that her family wasn't here spending time with her before school got started. Her father was off doing something, though he let his opinion know about her continuing to come to the school (despite her winning the contest, which he also never did congratulate her on). And her stepmother was probably in some country spending his money. Hell, at this point, Sabine would have even appreciated a backhanded text from her about the contest win.

But nothing.

Once Millicent finalized her goodbye she returned to Sabine. "Sorry about that. Haven't been away from them for a while now. But, we were talking about the others. Shall we go enjoy the carnival?"

Sabine shook off the feelings. She was walking around with the Millie Broadway. "Ah, yes. Let's head over to the big stuff. I am sure we'll run into some of the others along the way."

Millicent followed Sabine closely in step. "So, what can you tell me about all of them? I admittedly know Danni and Dorian being that our families connect and I met April back at the party and heard about them from the Double D's...oooh that's an unfortunate nickname I just gave them, forget I said that...and admittedly I have been MIA from them for a while doing the whole music tour thing on top of having to go into hiding after the attack, so any information on my new classmates would be a bonus."

Sabine had remembered reading about the attack. And seeing the aftermath, the storm brewing about Millicent's new mutant identity, how some stuck up for her while others called for her removal from upcoming performances, amongst other colorful things said. "Right, I am so sorry about that."

Millicent waved off the concern. She had heard a lot of it afterwards and she was fine. She was totally fine. "It's fine, really. Would I have preferred knowing I was a mutant before? Yes, of course. But it happened and we move past it. Plus, it got me closer to my aunts and uncles so...not all bad."

Sabine could see that. Either way, she was here now. "So, you want to know about the others. Well, there's Leah, who is my girlfriend. She's grown a lot. She's coming into her own, showing strong character, learning more about herself and is willing to explore her past. I am trying to get her to focus on her future too which she is open to. Either way, I am very proud of her. And then April was part of our poly for a bit. April is so sweet. She cares deeply about people. She's boosted my ego more times than I can count. We ended things and, admittedly, it was rough going after, but I think we grew up and learned more about ourselves and each other."

"Then there's Danni and Dorian, the Double D's, and no I will not forget that and I will use it constantly now. Danni is, ironically, a fire cracker in human form. Huge bouts of energy which can be equal parts endearing and annoying, but he truly puts his heart into others. He genuinely cares so deeply for those closest to him. Dorian was tough to get to know at first, partially because of his family's vew on telepaths, which I don't blame them for. Eventually we got to know one another and he's solid. I would trust him with my life and I know that extends past me being a telepath."

"There's Andy, who I am sure you know is a brickhouse physically and spiritually. Another rocky start there, but Andy really grew into herself during the course of the contest. She's strength incarnate and I can't help but be inspired by her. She's dealt with a lot and overcame so much. Percy doesn't show much of himself, but I've gotten to know him better. He's very smart and him and Dorian are so cute together! And then there's Victoria. She's a tough one to get to know at first, but she means well. Me and her have a pychic bond weirdly enough, which I hated at first, but it's been valuable. And she is really trying to be a part of us even though she did't take part in the contest."

"There's some other new people, but admittedly I don't know all of them as well. I met Chase at the party and he seems...there's something there. There was an issue with him and Percy, but he seemed nice enough?"

Millicent took all the new information in. "Quite a bunch. Good to know about Chase since he's my roomie. But I am so excited to get to know everyone!"

The two of them came up to a stand and Sabine clocked a number of people there. She walked over and came up to Leah, planting a kiss on her cheek. "Hello gorgeous!"

Millicent followed shortly after. "Wow, gang's all here, kinda sorta. Hey guys!"

Sabine looked around and her eyes clocked on April. She had done something new to her hair and it looked good. It suited her. Sabine's attention came to Percy. "Happy birthday Percy! Are you cool if I do a birthday post on the Excesior social account? I won't if you don't want me to."

Sabine looked back at Millie. "Right, sorry, not work mode, fun mode. This is Millicent Broadway if you haven't met her yet or don't know about her. I was giving her a little tour and we spotted you all."

"Yes, I am looking forwrd to getting to know you all! That's some delicious looking drinks. Definitely want some before...I think there's tubing? Gonna need to be a part of that action. Anyone else up for it?"

---

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---

At the friendship bracelet station Andy set about making one for Gideon and America and herself. She still wasn’t 100% sure what the exact relationship status was between them all, it seemed to be a hinge situation, but she didn’t care since Gideon was fine with her kissing America. Gideon seemed pretty chill to share. Andy was thankful for that because she had been so repressed before now that she wanted to explore a lot. She had come to the realization she didn’t think she cared much for boys, or maybe that was because of who the options were.

As she put beads on the bracelet she was struggling. A lot. Her finger tips hurt and getting the knots tied seemed basically impossible. It was that or her hands were still shaking a little from the sort of fight(?) that she had had with Gideon just now. She lost three whole bracelets before she just gave up.

”Okay, never mind. I cannot do this. I’m about to flip the table,” she said, giving an apologetic look to the person in charge of the station. ”Any luck for you?”

Gideon grinned, expertly sliding beads onto string with rapid, practiced grace. She’d selected a series of black beads, alternating with tiny white skulls. She glanced at Andy, eyeballing the size of her wrist, before tying the knot and cutting the string. “Not to brag, but I made so many of these as a kid. Well, not as bracelets, but rosaries are kind of the same thing if you think about it. Here - for my umbral princess!” She slid the bracelet onto Andy’s wrist, before bringing her hand to her lips and kissing it.

”Thank you,” Andy said, a slight blush on her cheeks. "I definitely heard April screaming over there,” Andy pointed in the direction of the hot chocolate stand. “Which probably means a bunch of the others are. Or, I could really use a way to get some anger to bleed off if you wanna go demolish those guys doing the snow ball fight?”

“Babes, worm of my eye, apple of my coffin, love of my death - I absolutely want to go fight those fucking losers. We can catch up with the soap opera squad later.”

”Sweet,” Andy stood up and left her failed bracelets behind. She walked with Gideon to the snow ball fight field. She filed away the comment about rosaries. After their earlier conversation Andy wasn’t going to push it.

”Hey, Victoria! We’re joining,” Andy yelled, hopping over the low fence to join Victoria and demolishing the other students.

“LET’S FUCKING KILL THESE GUYS!!!” Gideon screamed like a maniac, as she started scooping up snow as fast as she could.

Danni watched his brother, distracted as he was. Dee was a little out of it this morning at breakfast, getting ready, much quieter than normal as Danni and April screamed and hollered across the house, chased after each other and the pets, clung to their parents, and all around made nuisances of themselves. Danni considered his options out here – Dee wouldn’t open up unless he was made to and he would be very… upsetti if Danni pried while everyone was around so there really was only one option. It was a little nuclear, but he couldn’t phase into Dorian’s body and give him a little space to work it out like Dee could so he’d do the next best thing: annoy the bejeezes out of him Danni stuck his finger in his mouth and got it really wet before striking. There was nothing like a wet willie to break the funk out of someone! At least if Dee was mad at him, he could always cry whine his way back into his good mood.

Unfortunately, Danni missed as Dee shifted with the arrival of Percy and it hit his shirt instead. “Omg Spicy! You’re ‘ere! Did ya see my text? It seems like a lotta people didn’t but I am gunna be nice and not cry about it! I am much more mature and reasonable now.” Danni insisted, only sniffling a little as he wiped the rest of his spit on Dorian’s shirt. He took in Percy critically, hand on his chin as he pondered, taking a sip of hot chocolate, offering some to Amelie, and then sipping at it again. He nodded his approval. “You did so great! I love t’is fit, Spciy! Omg, I’mma cry; I’m so proud! Danni could feel the affectionate little bubbles so he pulled out a handkerchief, embroidered with his initals finally, and pinched both of Percy’s cheecks as he continued to fuss and coo over his clothes. He only stopped when almost a literal lightbulb popped over his head.

“Ooooooh, yeah. Rillie t’anks for remindin’ me! I also got presents for ya! T’e green box wit’ t’e leaves is anot’er outfit, but it’s a good spring-summer one. Ya might want ta put like, a black shirt underneat’. It’s got a little bit of mesh so if you aren’t feelin’ super comfy, you can layer like a black at’letic shirt underneat’!” Danni pulled it out of his bag, plopping it in Percy’s hands. “And t’en t’e black one wit’ t’e red stripes is a new swimsuit! It’s a full bodysuit style, black wit’ t’e red stripes on t’e sides, sups stylish and shouuuld be comfy for ya. It does stop like bicep and upper t’igh levels t’ough, but Dee’ll love ti for sure!” Danni plopped the second box on top of the first.

“And t’en loooook at t’is!” Danni raised his shirt and showed off his naval piercing. “ I actually went and did it! Pops said I can’t get anyt’in’ custom or like a new piece for t’ree mont’s ‘cause ‘e wants ta make sure I actually like it but like I keep tellin’ Pops its not just a phaaase. And ‘onestly, it looks real good so I want more. I t’ink next is my ears and t’en maybe my nose? Tongue? Idk, ‘aven’t decided yet but I’m def gunna rock it! We me t’ese real nice people and I only cried a little! You should come wit’! I saw ‘ow you were t’inkin’ ‘bout piercin’ when I brought it uuuup!” Danni sang at the end, giving Percy a wink before whirling to Leah.

Danni gasped at the absolute violence Leah unleashed. “Omg, you missed us?! I missed you too!!!!!” Danni sobbed out and threw himself at Leah, wrapping her up in a hug and careful only to grab onto clothing. “I know we ‘ung out kinda recent, but like I need ta find ya a phone you can use so we can stay in touuuuch! ‘ow am I supposed ta bot’er you wit’ all my love and affection if I can’t reaaaach you whenever I want! I mean, I could get Papa ta port me ta you, but t’at might get him a little upsetti spaghetti if I just use ‘im for transport all t’e time or like, a faster snail mail t’in, ya know? And I finally get ta see t’e sword!!! Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme. I wanna ‘old it since ya wouln’t brin’ it ta our ‘an’out!” Danni tried to reach for the sword, but he couldn’t reach around Leah and grab the sword at the same time so he took a step back and made grabby hands in her direction.

And then the world went dark, a voice popped up out of nowhere, and Danni panicked. The bubbles from earlier hadn’t fully settled, people coming in and getting him excited over and over again, and the sudden, drastic spook was too much. “AHHHHHH!” Danni screamed, the bubble bursting as he did and he could suddenly see fire all over him. Amelie had climbed out of her sling, using his shoulder as a balancing point and wings spread out, hissing and growling furiously at Chase and puffed herself up even as the fire licked at her belly and up her legs. . “ Omg, omg, someone put me out! Omg, no take Amelie and t’en put me out! I can’t do t’is again! Spicy, stay away! T’ese clothes aren’t wort’ burnin’! Rillie, Beaaanie, ‘eeeeeeeeelp!” Danni flailed about, starting to lift off, then running around like a chicken with his head cut off in an attempt to get away from Percy.

---

---

Dorian felt his phone buzz within his pocket. ”Oh t’at must be t’e rest of em ‘old on.” He pulled his phone out to check the message, seeing Percy answer back to his text about the emojis. His smile fading quickly as he stared down at the screen. This day officially sucked, he doubted it could get any worse but he needed to put on a good attitude so as not to spoil his boyfriend's birthday. Even if his number had somehow gotten deleted from his phone and the messages between them erased. It was fine. Today would be fine.

Dorian had already forgotten about his job as wingman, abandoned without care as he saw his boyfriend finally coming to join them alongside Leah. It was nice to finally see Percy having some friends beyond him, to finally feel like he can belong and not just exist amongst the group. He was certain the therapy was helping, as well as the vice being removed from his fingers. He looked, happier, even if he still kept his patented scowl on his face. Even Leah seemed to have lost some of her tough outer shell since joining their merry band of misfits. Ironic given she now visibly had one. Dorian made his way towards the pair, barely missing a wet willie from Danni in the process as he hugged his boyfriend. ”Perce ‘appy Birt'day! Funny t'at our birt'days bot’ are on festival days at school. Its like one big celebration!”

More people started to join in as Sabine and Millie both came in. ”Millie-pede! ‘ow are you! So good to see you its been ages!” Dorian ran up to his cousin and gave her a big hug. ”Mon dieu I wasn't aware you an Beanie were acquainted. You'll absolutely love AA! Especially the festivals, but I warn you I'm a bit more competitive t'an I was back t'en so if you wanna tube race t'e–” Dorian’s sentence was cut short as Percy's bully arrived from the shadow of Danni with another, smaller, boy in tow. Of course he'd cause problems here, scaring Danni, causing a fire, making hot chocolate! The nerve. It made Dori's blood start to boil, when he remembered the sibling meeting they had he realized he had to cool it. Apparently Danni and him were friends, and he wanted a second chance. Dorian knew he believed in them and that everyone deserves them, but did he?

That had to wait. Danni was on fire and needed his help, at least this time Percy's jacket wasn't a victim in all of this, though that was how they met so…it wasn't all bad. Dorian pulled out his can of EZ Spray, following the instructions they'd done so many times before, and doused his brother in the flame retardant aerosol until he was fully out, giving another squirrel for good measure. Chase's sleeve was caught on fire as well, the cuff of it ignited by Danni's flames but wouldn't you know it? Dorian was all out of spray. If only he hadn't used the last bit for good measure on Danni. He bagged the spray once again, placing the cap on, before moving closer to Percy to help signify a unified front and a barrier between Chase and his boyfriend.

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@Forsythe@Kirah: Abby giggled, considering Vicky’s invitation for a moment. They were a little worried about their energy intake lately, finding it easier and easier to siphon off of others, and needing more amounts to get similar effects. But when a cute android offered… who were they to refuse? Abby reached out, putting a hand on Vicky’s shoulder - and a moment later, the electrifying feeling of energy rushed through them, their eyes sparkling with it. “Oh yeah, that’s that good shit,” they exhaled.

They whistled, looking on with admiration as Vicky worked her science magic, dropping a load of snowballs on top of the other team - a relatively harmless action, one that left the Mighty Marvels screeching, squealing with laughter.

“Et tu, Brute?” Arsene called out, his hair powdered with Vicky’s fresh onslaught.

Gideon didn’t even wait for the Mighty Marvels to catch their breath, cackling with mad glee as she lobbed snowball after snowball, pelting Xènia Papadopoulos in the face - only for the siren to fume.

“Oh, Gideeeeon. Won’t you come and give me a kiss? Won’t all of you?” Xènia cooed. She started to sing, a song that sounded different to Andy, Gideon, Vicky, and the rest of their team - an irresistible song, one that propelled them forward, promising their hearts’ desire.

For Gideon, it was a song of conquering - of finding greater and greater foes to slay, more impressive feats to perform. Xènia told her that she was destined for greatness, that she would be the fiercest warrior to ever live, that entire nations would tremble when her shadow fell upon them. She would have legions at her back, all sworn to her, prepared to die at her command. And in her wake, there would be naught but blood and destruction, her sword having carved a gash across the galaxy.

“Fuck… Yeah… I will…” Gideon murmured, dazed, as she started to move towards enemy lines.

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April did a double take, as they noticed something on Leah they hadn’t somehow seen a moment before, as distracted as they had been with Marlena. Danni’s hyper squeals had helped to draw their attention to the giant-ass sword in the room. Something a bit further down than their stomach clenched for a moment, as their brain briefly felt like it stuttered, short circuiting. “Oh, woah!!! Dori said you got a cool sword but I had no idea it was this cool!!” Their eyes were wide, and had Danni not been all over Leah, they would have gone to ask if they could try to hold it - even though it looked heavy enough to break their entire body if they tried. “Does it have a name? All the best swords do. Do you know any cool moves yet - maybe you can do a real fast spin move or something? Ooo, oo, what about posing? You gotta come up with some fun poses to do, maybe a signature phrase - did you watch She-Ra yet? She’s got some great poses.”

Not only were they feeling a little hot with Leah being here, but Marlena was also going to be tagging along. For a brief second, they had a flashback to their Pops telling them that they were going to make their Papa proud, after they’d confessed to messily kissing their ex-girlfriend a few times during the Contest of Champions. Maybe they’d be making their Papa proud again pretty soon, if both of these girls were hanging around.

They had a brief reprieve, though, from the avalanche of sapphic content in their brain as the sleep deprived boy from the Court of Two Sisters showed up - Chase. They still weren’t exactly sure how they felt about him. They’d never spoken to him, but they’d talked about him as siblings. He’d done some fucked up shit in the past, and yet, Danni said he wanted to reform. Half of their family friends had been evil at one point, so it was certainly possible… But ultimately, April didn’t feel it was their place to make a call on whether or not Chase could be redeemed, whether or not the desire to be good was enough for things to be forgiven. They weren’t the wronged party.

And their attention was then diverted once more by the arrival of their ex-girlfriend (and ex-messy situationship), as well as one of the nieces of family friends. Despite Millie having known their brothers, April hadn’t actually met them before the Contest - the last visit had been before their adoption. They waved at Millie, offering her a smile. “Nice to see you again!!”

Before they could have a proper conversation with Millie, however, they smelled something on fire. They smelled the telltale smoke of synthetics burning - and heard Danni screech and scream, demanding for someone to grab Amelie, for Percy to stay away as his clothes were too nice, for Beanie or April to put him out. They spun around on their heel, snatching the baby dragon as fast as they could - Danni’s flames weren’t out of control, it was just him and… oh fuck. Someone’s jacket was on fire. Again. Was the theme of this year’s carnival deja vu???

“I got Amelie!!” April confirmed, about to grab the nearest source of water and fling it at Danni and Chase, only for Dorian to step in, using a handy can of EZ Spray to put out their brother. They let out a sigh of relief, knowing that Danni’s clothes not being ruined would be huge for his mental state for the rest of the day. With the dragon cradled in one arm - she was almost too heavy for April to carry, they could feel their muscles aching - they reached out for the nearest water - the hot chocolates - and tried to drag it out, aiming to use it to douse Chase. Dorian hadn’t had enough in his container to finish the job. But maybe it was the sudden panic of the situation, the thousand pound dragon in their hands, the horny thoughts on full blast in a way April had never experienced before, the nervousness of the new school year… but they couldn’t quite get a grip on the water, the molecules dancing just out of reach.

“Oh fuck, I can’t get him wet!!!” they screeched. “Chase, you gotta drop and roll man, now!!!”

His stacking skills were impressive - they did want to ask him about his strategies and techniques, but it wasn’t the time. They thought they’d mastered the art of stacking, but even the height they’d managed to achieve with their cocoa had been a struggle, and Chase had easily doubled it. They hadn’t remembered to introduce themself to Chase, either - the fire taking precedence.

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Percy raised an eyebrow, simultaneously impressed and horrified with the way Leah knocked back hot chocolate the way he used to knock back shots of bourbon. Her behavior was a little odd compared to how she’d been just minutes ago, but he didn’t understand why. Maybe she had just really been craving some hot chocolate. He made a mental note to gift her some for her birthday or the next gift-exchange themed holiday.

Others were starting to join, including a vaguely familiar looking girl with dark hair, but his attention was pulled away by his boyfriend, wrapping him into a hug and wishing him a happy birthday. He really didn’t like the idea of an entire festival oriented around celebrating him, and he winced slightly, as he remembered how he had behaved towards Dorian on his birthday… another thing that he needed to apologize and atone for, then. That had been part of the process with the rehab program he was currently in, having transferred from the one at CAGE and switched to one with VEIL. He was supposed to reflect on how his actions had hurt people and apologize.

He would apologize to him later, when it was less crowded. He didn’t believe in public apologies. They were performative and insincere. It was the same reason why he had refused to film an apology video. He was willing to apologize to Wiccan, but doing it in a video took away any sincerity. He would prefer to do it privately, where there wasn’t any social clout for him to gain.

“Merci beaucoup,” he returned the hug, his face flushed. “Peut-être on regarde un film ce soir? Un film d’horreur?” He didn’t enjoy them as much as Dorian did, but he wanted his boyfriend to have a good time, and he’d been so supportive to Percy throughout rehab and all of it. Besides, the excuse to cover his eyes by curling around Dorian as he screeched at the content on screen was its own reward. And if others felt the need to celebrate his birthday, it was an activity that wouldn’t be too stimulating - god forbid the others want to go ice skating or sing karaoke instead.

Dorian went over to fuss over one of the newcomers - a blonde girl that Percy didn’t recognize but he seemed to know - leaving him open for Danni. If Percy had to name a best friend who wasn’t his partner right now, it would probably be him. “Erm, yes, I did. Did my reply back not send?” he frowned, pulling out his phone and navigating to Danni’s contact, and confirming it had sent. He winced as Danni started cooing and fawning over his outfit, and as much as he very much appreciated Danni using the handkerchief to touch him, his cheeks were already sore from the pinching his mame had done earlier.

His face turned bright red as Danni described the gifts for him, as he emphasized how much his boyfriend would enjoy the cut of the wetsuit. “Merci,” he said, unable to say much else as Danni continued prattling on. His eyes widened as he showed off the piercing. It did look good. And at the invitation to get pierced together, he couldn’t help but smile slightly. On some level, he felt he should’ve been embarrassed about wanting his ears pierced… but the idea had continued to come back to him. His mame would kill him for piercing his ears. “Let’s,” Percy agreed. “As long as we can find a way to hide the piercings from my mame. She would kill me, find a way to bring me back, and kill me again if she could.”

Sabine wished him a happy birthday and he grimaced, clearly uncomfortable with all the attention. His scowl only deepened as she asked his permission to post content for his birthday on the team socials. “Is it another attempt to rehabilitate my image?” He sounded more aggressive than he meant to. “I don’t really celebrate my birthday. Not since…”

The words died in his throat, as their subject suddenly appeared.

Chase, still looking like an extra from one of Dorian’s movies, appeared out of the shadows behind Danni, along with a small boy. He put his hands around his eyes and Percy’s heart stopped, terror coursing through him - terror for himself, but mostly terror for his friend. If Chase did anything to hurt him…

But… he wasn’t threatening Danni…

He was being… friendly?

The behavior was familiar. It dug up old wounds, old hurt. And new ones rapidly started to form. Was Danni…? After he had…? The fear on his face made way for feelings of hurt and betrayal. He thought… but he was…

And then, the next thing he knew, Danni - and Chase - were on fire.

Just like the start of the school year.

Danni was screaming, yelling for Percy to stay away to protect his clothes, but he felt frozen in place, as if the world had suddenly started spinning in the opposite direction. Dorian jumped into action, dousing Danni’s flames - but not Chase’s. Percy hated the way his stomach lurched, hated the way he was afraid of him and for him. April had grabbed the dragon, but didn’t manage to put him out. And Dorian stood by his side like a shield. He tucked himself into Dorian’s side, his entire body shaking as he felt like he was about to cry, even as Dorian wrapped an arm around him securely.

“Y-you’re… you’re friends? Even after… even after I told you what he did to me?” his voice broke, and he couldn’t keep the tears at bay any longer. “I… I thought we were… I…”

April cursed under their breath. This was the exact situation their brothers had wanted to avoid…