Location: Margaret Carter - Winter Carnival Magic Items: Thousand-Faced Rose, Rune Stones First Day Fit: Letterman jacket, baggy pants, sneakers.
Leah picked up her sword and trotted off with Sabine. She scanned the battlefield (the carnival) for any signs of the enemy (the headmaster atop a platform suspended over a water tank), and yet there was no sight of such a foe. (He had more important shit to do than get hit clothes soaked.) So, unfortunately, they had to find other things to do. There was a lot of stuff, actually. The giant wheel in the sky offended her due to how high above the ground it'd suspend her with zero access to the Earth. She passed the snowball arena and witnessed Vicky raising holy hell like she deserved to, and elected to ignore Gideon doing a bad Matrix impression.
"Hmm... Can't drown Coulson. How about..." Oh shit.
Leah spotted a temporary ice rink on their way, with people happily zipping around. That was pretty damn fun when they were in New York for that shopping trip last month. She grinned, and looked down at Sabine. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" And that was a rhetorical question, because Leah let go of Sabine's hand and strode forward. Like a golden retriever eager to be let out of the house for walkies, Leah stopped at the entrance, planted Sjafnamarr axe-blade down in the snow and secured some blades that could fit her.
Location: Margaret Carter - Winter Carnival Magic Items:She’s no magician but you know she’s got that magic wand. First Day Fit: Floral button-up, slacks, converse shoes.
Okay, so maybe this day wasn't perfect so far. But no day ever really was. That was fine, Marlena could work with that. There was so much going on here, it looked fun. But that sense of dread had to be squashed first, she really didn't want to spend all day dreading every little encounter. So Marlena just kept walking to the table with the clubs. At least, she was until someone got her attention. She turned around and... Right, that Broadway girl was going to the same school as her. Because of course Marlena Evans was now going to school with superheroes, why not pop stars too?
"Hey." She flashed Millicent a smile. "Yeah, I'm chilling. I don't really worry about someone else's baggage, and I'm new here, but hey- Highs and lows." After all, there was an opportunity to make a lot of friends, even if she got her way and avoided the hero thing. "Between us new girls, I'm not looking forward to putting on a cape. 'Side from that, though? I am live. What about you, you miss the big screen?"
Sabine hoped the fake fight did its job. She had to assume people would jump on the rumor mill with something that was already spinning around in it, rather than finding new drama. She elected to ignore it for now. She would draft something up later to post, something that showed her and Leah were better than ever.
She also would have to speak to Andy about it. Andy was in this whether she liked it or not.
But that was a problem for later. For now, she wanted to avoid further drama (her's or someone else's) and spend time with her girlfriend at the Winter Carnival before school got into full swing.
Sabine paused a moment as Leah, excitedly, took off for the ice rink. She hadn't expected Leah to take to ice skating as much as she did, but it was cute to see. Or perhaps it was the fact she had sharp blades on her feet. Either way, Sabine had heard Vicky's message and took a moment to reply. "Happy to help. I'm at the ice skating rink with Leah if you want to come by. Otherwise, just let me know."
She then went to get some skates and spend a few moments, however long, gliding around without a care before a care was, inevitably, thrust upon her.
Location: Margaret Carter - Winter Carnival Magic Items: None First Day Fit:Twisted School Girl
Marlena seemed genuinely cool—a laid-back attitude despite it all. Millicent had a feeling the drama wouldn't stop there, but at least for now it took a break. "Oh, I guess I never thought about that. I kind of like making music and performing, but I guess the hero thing is a possibility. I mean, others do it like Luna Snow." Is that what she wanted, ultimately? She knew learning to use her powers would help her along in the future, but did she want to take up the mantle of hero?
"I do miss it, but I think this is important. I am sure I am not alone, but my powers sort of manifested in a not-great way and it was scary. I wanted to learn how to manage them and use them and I also wanted to be around other people like me. With people who didn't just see some pop princess first, but another girl like them learning to use her powers and control them. Though, I don't plan to wind down the music either. I actually joined the choir here. Might even try out for the musical, if they have one. Otherwise I write music in my free-time. The fans still want and I aim to provide."
The shittalking level was kind of pathetic, but Vicky guessed it matched the intensity level of a snowball fight. Still, she oughta respond. Maybe with deescalation? "Oi! Be nice, it's my first time." She thought for a second about what she just said. "With these tools, anyway." she tried clarifying.
Gideon was being of no use to anyone alive, as per, and Vicky perhaps picked a bit too big of a bite for a first test before she properly calibrated her control algorithms. With one of the Unity Squaddies up and running away to do their thing - Oh the irony - she should pick up her slack.
Risking peeking above the wall to improve her hit chances by using the Mk 2 eyeballs, she willed the generators on her hands to turn back whatever the Mighty marvels tossed back to senders. She had enough generators to do three at a time, albeit only at third power - enough for snowballs, for sure. Hitting was a bigger issue.
As such, she grinned as she realized she could both add a little something extra to the defense and jab at the Unity squad. She was helping them in the snowball battle, so she could help the Mighty Marvels with the trashtalk. "Goons? Guess what? Not only am I metal AF, sustain myself on harvested energy, can fly, now I can also do this." she chuckled as her eyes glew red and she attempted to intercept whatever she missed with the repulsors using laser sight. "I'm just short of bird calls and large scale weather manipulation of being your whole team! I Think I'll learn the rest before I graduate."
As she busied herself with the battle, she pinged Sabine back. "In the evening. Somewhere without eyes and ears - Stark hall roof? - This request is as private as it gets, I don't want witnesses. Well, Leah I trust enough."
Vicky attempts to use remote repulsor fields to return the Mighty Marvels' snowballs (3 at a time) back to sender. Calling physics skill to control the field.
She is also attempting to intercept incoming snowballs with eye lasers.
Morning - Sat. January 15th, 2039 - Los Angeles, California
@Trainerblue192@Kirah: For the moment, the two of them had the room on the sixth floor of Stark Hall to themselves. Millie’s side of the room had yet to be unpacked, her belongings sitting in boxes on the bed. Each of them had an identical set of furniture - a bed, a desk and chair, and a dresser. In the middle of the room was a shared mini fridge, with a freezer compartment up top. The window was on Millie’s side of the room, affording a view of the carnival on the field.
On both of their desks, a small welcome kit had been left behind by Firestar. It included a basic first aid-kit, cough drops, a toothbrush and toiletries, a bag of chips and a few candy bars, and other small items that students tended to forget to pack before moving to a new place. A tiny land shark plush from the school gift store, wearing the crimson and white jersey of the Margaret Carter Institute, sat on top of the basket, a card held in its mouth with a ribbon. The card was meant to be kept in a wallet, containing useful contact information on one side - suicide hotlines, campus crisis resources, emergency services, and more - and on the other side, there was a cartoon drawing of three landsharks together, dressed in academy uniforms with graduation caps on their heads. Lastly, a small envelope addressed to the student was included, with a short letter from Firestar on the inside.
Hey, Chase!!
Super excited to have you here at AA!! I’m your faculty-in-residence for the year, Ms. Jones, but please call me Firestar! I’m right next door in room 606. Please come to me for anything you need, no matter what time of day - my job is to make sure you have a fantastic (and safe) time here. Looking forward to meeting you at our hall meeting tonight at 8 pm sharp (after the Luna Snow concert, so cool!).
Firestar
But just as the room itself was quiet, so too was the hallway. Most of their hallmates must have already moved in - or their parents were still huddled around various booths at the carnival, deep in conversation with staff members and teachers alike, their belongings for the year still locked away in cars in the parking garage.
@PatientBean@Blizz: At the skating rink, all eyes were on Sabine and Leah - and not necessarily for the right reasons. Ordinarily, stares followed Sabine wherever she went at school, as the queen bee of the Junior class. Everyone either hated her or wanted to be her - wanted to be her friend or date her or just be noticed by her. And as for Leah, the attention she tended to receive was usually of shock at her stature, or jealousy at her sheer physical prowess - and occasionally, a bit of fear.
But this, this was new. It wasn’t jealousy or envy or admiration or longing. The giggles and the smiles directed their way, the gasps and the phones being whipped out, capturing the footage - they weren’t positive attention. Jyoti Singh, the most popular girl of the sophomore class, shook her head as she gazed at them. “Poor things,” she said, her voice dripping with fake sympathy - as the hyenas surrounding her hung on her every word. “I can’t imagine. The entire world finding out you’re a cuck. It’s so unfair, but I guess not everyone is cut out for the pressure.”
Jyoti sighed. “And it wasn’t like they were handling the stress well during the contest, with Sabine flaking right before victory, and Leah… If there was ever a poster child for a future villainness,” she tsk’ed.
@PatientBean@Blizz: As Millie and Marlena were chatting, the carnival continued to bustle with activity all around them. They were somewhat in the epicenter of it all, able to see the various offerings, from club booths and nervous parents applying to PTA membership to activities that would have been fantastical and bizarre at an average school, but were unexceptional here at Avengers Academy. However, as much as that was a benefit to them, it was also a curse. They were exposed, vulnerable, and the perfect target for dwarven sophomore.
She was approximately four feet tall, with a lengthy blonde beard done into about a dozen braids, about the same length braided as the rest of her hair. Her eyebrows were bushy with a natural scar, and even concealed underneath her Minnesota Frost jersey, her muscles were palpable. In her hand was a clipboard, and her steel grey eyes glinted as she approached her prey.
She cleared her throat, but even that didn’t help her voice, which sounded like it belonged to a smoker. “They always underestimate us, don’t they?” she opened, beginning her sales pitch. “Assume we aren’t capable of shit, just because we’re young, and pretty, and female,” she scoffed. “Doesn’t it make you want to just fucking scream?”
She turned the clipboard around, a pen attached to it. “Name’s Natmokara Bitterfinger. And I’m going to get us a fucking women’s hockey team here at AA if it’s the last thing I do.”
@Forsythe: “Goons?” Abby Smith repeated, their eyes wide for a moment. The rest of the Unity Squad went still, all of them looking at Vicky, processing what she had said. And then, then they started to laugh. Momchil had to fly back down to the ground to maintain his balance.
“You’re hilarious, I don’t know why people say you have the humor of a tin can,” Momchil said, shaking his head as he giggled. “Us? Goons? Incredible.”
“Yeah, if anyone was going to be the goon here, it’d be the one who–” Sveva started to say, only to be elbowed harshly by Rada, “--is named Gideon!” she recovered, her face bright red in embarrassment.
Awkwardness aside, though, Vicky managed to execute her repulsor field, sending the snowballs right back at the Mighty Marvels in groups of three. Her laser eyes, however, needed a bit of work - while she was able to eliminate most of the snowballs coming her way with them, her aim was a little bit off - probably due to the irregular movements and unpredictable nature of her opponents throwing them. The few that she missed, Sveva was able to take care of, and the other girl beamed.
“Hey, you guys wanna check out the tubing set-up?” Abby then asked. “Vicky, wanna come with?” They’d been at the snowball fight for a while, and as fun as it was, they were starting to get pretty tired.
“Quitters,” Arsene scoffed - even though his own cheeks were tinged red, and his team had been thoroughly shut down in their offense.
@Kirah: For about thirty seconds, Gideon tried to leave, rushing off after Andy in slow motion - before suddenly speeding back up, nearly tripping over her own feet as her perception of time stabilized. She almost skidded as she caught back up to Andy, finding the ruins of the hot cocoa station - a few employees looked beyond stressed out, as they fixed up the tables and got the toppings set up once more, and started heating up fresh water for a group of grouchy and entitled freshmen. However, that wasn’t what caught Gideon’s attention.
She licked her finger, before holding it up to the wind. She then sniffed, and closed her eyes, concentrating, before flinging her hand out and pointing at nothing in particular. “Some bullshit happened here,” she concluded seriously.
As if there wasn’t a gigantic ice slide right in front of them that led to the roof.
The Mighty Marvels Arsène Lane (senior) (he/him) - drains people of their energy and can redirect it into himself or allies, and has proposed marriage to Dorian Gray Emily Colter (sophomore) (she/they) - psychic specializing in making you move very slow Paul Feigenbaum (senior) (he/him) - just a boy with a spear Xènia Papadopoulos (senior) (she/her) - siren who loves to make you love her Salah Qadir (sophomore) (they/them) - can scoop up light like its a solid object and eat it to heal themself
The Unity Squad Momchil Angelov (senior) (they/them) - a bird-person, armed with bow and arrows Sveva Akerman (freshman) (she/her) - laser eyes like Cyclops Jyoti Singh (sophomore) (she/her) - the most popular girl of the sophomore class, flight and weather manipulation like Storm Rada Sternberg (freshman) (she/her) - metal form and super strength like Colossus Abby Smith (freshman) (they/them) - eats energy like it’s candy, becomes fucking yoked
April was used to Dorian possessing them - used to him taking over to get them out of a mess they’d made or prevent them from creating one in the first place. So as they felt the familiar vibration settle into their bones as their brother took over, they didn’t fight it. They didn’t protest that Dorian had declared they were in time out, if anything letting out a slight sigh of relief that they didn’t have to make decisions for a while, and could instead just take a back seat and spectate.
Be careful of Amelie with the ice!! they urged as they were still holding the baby dragon, completely side stepping the comment about whether or not they’d taken their current outfit from Dorian’s closet. Ice was swirling around them in a way they’d never tried before, a scene from Frozen playing out in a way that made them feel violently ill for a brief moment, anticipating a dress… only to instead end up in something much more masculine. The dysphoria evaporated away, allowing April to relax once more as their brother manipulated the rest of the snow, doing a better job than they’d been able to and refreshing the winter wonderland.
Thanks, Dori. I owe you.
”Yeah yeah I know. What's a big brot'er for anyway?” Dorian said outloud. It'd been a minute since Percy and Danni had gone off, even longer since Chase and Percy had, and with Dorian's phone being in the Astral at the moment, he couldn't very well check it. So, he'd have to take a page out of Bobby's book. He placed one hand behind him and another out front, creating a platform of ice as he used the frosty jets to propel him forward and upwards until he made it to the schools roof, a massive ice slide now connecting it to the ground below.
”Perce, we good to do Festivities or you need a little more time? “ Even in April's body, Dorian naturally fell to the way he stood when still.
…How long are you possessing me for?
Also you’re only a few months older than me.
Percy glanced up, confused to hear April’s voice, but combined with Dorian’s speech patterns and posture. He was still on the ground holding Danni’s hand, his eyes red and puffy from crying, but the tears had stopped for the most part. His eyes narrowed slightly as he took in the new outfit and the squirming dragon, until he realized Dorian was just possessing his sister.
“I’m okay,” Percy forced himself up to his feet, still sniffling. “There’s no more surprises, right?” he asked somewhat weakly.
Dorian handed Amélie over to Danni, gently plopping the rambunctious dragon into his lap as he spied the held hands. ”Not t'at I planned. Oh, well your gift of course but t'at's just general birt'day t'ing's.” He stepped off of the ice slide and onto the roof in full, sliding back out of April as he did so, now that Amélie wasnt in his hands.
He managed to keep himself from grimacing as he was informed there was still more birthday things to do. Percy wasn’t surprised to hear that Dorian had gotten him a gift, he’d expected it - he just hated celebrating his birthday and after everything that had happened in the short maybe thirty minutes he’d been on campus, he’d had his fill of birthday fun for the year. He dried his eyes on the sleeve of his hoodie, before remembering the card and picking it up. “Can I put this in your tote?” he asked, handing the card over to Dorian - and then the beanie April had made as well.
Dorian took the beanie and put it on Percy's head, pocketing the card in his tote as asked. ”We can put all your gifts you get today in ‘ere. Make it easy so we aren't carryin’ not'in’ around.” He didn't ask about the card, but God's did he want to.
Percy immediately wanted to take the beanie off. It wasn’t that he didn’t like it - he secretly did - he just didn’t want to walk around with cat ears on at the carnival. His face was flushed and red, and maybe he was just feeling hyper sensitive after seeing Chase again, but he couldn’t help the feeling that he’d be made fun of for wearing it.
“Awww, you look so cute!! Def a femboy,” April beamed, looking on over from where they were giving Amelie some scritches.
“… Do I have to?” he whispered to Dorian, regretting that he hadn’t taken his yamaka from his mother earlier.
Dorian nodded at the question. Of course he'd have to wear it. Besides, it would make his birthday pics that much cuter as they went about the day.
Percy’s shoulders slumped.
”Let's go. I wanna do some ice skatin’ before t'e concert tonight.”
He raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know how to ice skate. Are you going to show me how?” His mind conjured up an image of Dorian tugging him around the ice, guiding him with his arms around him. That didn’t sound too bad.
”Perce. You're Russian. What do you mean you don't know?” Dorian shook his head before making his way near the slide. ”Yeah I'll show you.”
Percy hesitated for a moment, about to go join Dorian to go down the ice slide - his nerves were shot from everything that had happened and he didn't actually want to try another jump right now - before looking back at Danni. He didn't like feeling like he was about to abandon him right after they'd had their first fight - first fight as friends, at least. “I do still want to hang out with you today," he said softly. “I hope you're not upset that I'm going to go spend some time with Dorian."
Location: Margaret Carter - Winter Carnival Magic Items: Thousand-Faced Rose, Rune Stones First Day Fit: Letterman jacket, baggy pants, sneakers.
Blades on, Leah pushed forward onto the ice and let the momentum of her huge form carry her forth. Someone needed to study the simple act of gliding over smooth ice on blades in a lab, it was such a simple thing and yet Leah felt like she never had a single hardship in her life. She was free and weightless, just soaring forward and swerving like a spaceship in an endless void. Any other time, it took effort to move this swift and agile, and Leah used to be a bit quicker on her feet before her transformation. Her uncanny strength was enough to send her flying, but now? Mow, she was bigger, heavier, and the Square Cube Law seemed to matter a little. This was nice, though. It was great to just chill the hell out with her girl and-
Oh. Who the fuck?
Jyoti Singh, one of the washouts from about a year ago. They lost, got their shit rocked before they even finished qualifications for the Contest of Champions. They didn’t even land on the board, and she wanted to run her little mouth about Leah motherfucking Jordan and Sabine motherfucking Bassard? Oh, hell no. Leah veered back to the other side of the rink and came to a blistering stop. Her blades went perpendicular to her direction of travel, with enough friction against the ice that it sent a cloud of little shavings in Jyoti’s direction.
”Hey, kids,” Leah greeted, as if she wasn’t only a year older than them. She looked Jyoti right in the eyes and out on her best snarky bitch impressiom. ”I don’t think we’ve met, you new here? Name’s Leah, or Seidkona if you’re being fancy. Lemme give you some advice… Whenever you look into tryouts for the next Contest, don’t worry about what other people are doing. If you’ve got time to do that, you’ve got time to improve your control of your powers.”
Leah was lying, of course. She remembered Jyoti, but Jyoti seemed like the sort of bitch who didn’t like being forgotten. The most popular girl of her grade, meeting someone way more famous who didn’t even know her name? Leah was smiling internally, despite the stone cold expression on her face.
Location: Margaret Carter - Winter Carnival Magic Items:She’s no magician but you know she’s got that magic wand. First Day Fit: Floral button-up, slacks, converse shoes.
”Makes sense. Got my powers pretty easy, no one around and I had time to play with them. Never been up on stage myself, but I already miss being home. I know it’ll be there when I get back, but it’ll be different.” Marlena respected the decision Millie was making to actually live her life and not let the hero thing overtake it. That was something Marlena would’ve preferred, just doing ordinary kid things. She didn’t really have a big career in front of cameras like Millie, but thinking about it, Marlena imagined her powers would just be a secret. Something private for her and her alone before she went up on whatever stage she appeared on.
Right then and there, Marlena made the mental decision that she’d get to know Millie better at some point. She needed a friend that was actually new here. Chase and Ben were on that radar too, maybe she could group all of them up one day.
They got to the tables, and the most gender noncomforming lady Marlena had ever laid eyes upon approached her and Millie. A Dwarf talking up a storm about weakness and a hockey team.
”I dunno, being pretty’s one of my skills,” Marlena joked. But she paid close attention to Natmokara’s pitch for a hockey team. That sounded fun, actually. Marlena never took an interest in sports (Marlena Evans? Playing a sport? She’d never hear the end of it from concerned parents.), but why not? ”Marlena Evans. Never tried it, but you’ve got my attention. Love the braids, by the way. This superpowered hockey team or nah? I’d be more likely to give it a shot if not. What am I signing?”
Chase noticed the note with his name on it as they were about to head out. Pulling it out of the sharks mouth and opening it to read. ”Hey Chase…yada yada yada, Firestar, yada man this shit is boring.” With a flick of his wrist he sent the card flying onto his bed before finally following Ben out and into the hallway. As they left the rooms proper and made their way back out into the festival area, Chase could see that others were beginning to fix the mess they all had made. ”Shit, now I feel really bad. I mean I didn't explode the hot chocolate stand or ruin the area but I was involved and now –” Chase gestured towards the area being re-setup for Ben to see.
He hadn't wanted to get more hot chocolate, not that he ever got the chance to try it in the first place before everything went down. But now it felt too bitter to snag, especially knowing he could never recreate the masterpiece he had made earlier. Finally, he decided, this was boyfriend activities. Something to do as they waited for their flaming friend. ”You owe me a hot coco. I wanna see how well your parkour hands can stack sweets, c'mon let's go. Danni's a flyer he can spot us from above before we catch up I’m sure.” Chase grabbed a hold of Ben's waist from behind and lifted him up, twirling the pair as he tried making his way over towards the stand without getting too dizzy.
Ice skating was something that helped her decompress. Just her and the ice, no need for spectables or performance, she could just glide around without a care. And to have Leah here to keep her company, it made the moment all the better. The fact Leah took to ice skating as much as she did was impressive.
Sabine wanted nothing more than to glide alongside her girlfriend and forget about what just happened, but she knew she couldn’t just put it all on the back-burner. She would need to keep tabs on the social media account as well as deal with possible damage control from her “fight” with Leah, though Sabine already had ideas on what to do to make sure that was fine.
Which is why it took her a minute to hear chuckling and a voice call out, like a knife slicing through paper. Jyoti. Someone she had run-ins with in the past and someone she, quite frankly, didn’t want to deal with. Jyoti was past Sabine and it hurt to see what Sabine would have become had she continued along the path she was forced onto.
Leah had already attempted to put Jyoti in her place, and it was a fine effort, but Sabine knew it needed more. It needed sting, it needed buzz. It needed Sabine to bring her A-game.
She walked over, patting Leah gently on the back. ”I got this, babe.”
Sabine whipped her phone out and, in a flash, was set up with a livestream. She had the camera pointed at herself, ready to roll out.
”Hey fam! It’s Sabine coming at a random time, I know, but when the call is made you have to answer it. Today I wanted to discuss something close to me, something I have experience with, and something that needs to be addressed, especially with people our age. I am, of course, talking about bullying.”
“It is more common than you think and I don’t think it’s talked about enough. This is going to be hard to hear, but I was a bully. There’s no excuse for it. I was going through a hard time and I lashed out at others. I put people down. I spread rumors. And I won’t lie, it felt good in the moment. But that feeling was fleeting and it didn’t help me any more later. Ever since I joined the Excelsior team here and got to know everyone better and work together, I have felt more like myself and more accepted and loved. And as I put in the work, therapy is great by the way, I have relied less on making sure other people feel worse than me.”
Sabine then moved closer, pushing Jyoti’s followers away a bit with her presence, if not her body, and leaned in closer to her. ”And the main reason I bring this up is that people seem to have not grasped that lesson. That bullies are just people who are going through it or are so sad with how their lives are that they feel the need to bring people down to life themselves up. Isn’t that right, Jyoti?” She asked the question, but resumed without giving her a chance to respond. ”This is my friend Jyoti who seems to be struggling as she just tried to make me and my girlfriend feel bad. Now, I don’t know about you all, but I think that’s a real shame. Let me hear some from the audience. How do we feel about this attempt at bullying?”
DazzlersBeard: omg an anti bullying QUEEN we STAN
ExcelsiorSucks: at least her roots aren’t showing. flop era tbh.
FaithandTrust: you’re doing the lords work keep it up!!! 💖💖💖
ieibwkdocb882729: hello my name is kyle and i need ur help plz message me thank u
M1ghtyAv3ngerz: this is what real heroism looks like!!!! be the change you wanna see!!!
notkatebishop: lol carnival going well i see
PrettySmoll: omgg hi Sabine!!!!
HittyPryde: I thought there was gonna be more hot lesbian action in my area. Sad. Uninstall.
"Thanks fam! Your kind words mean the world to me. I only hope Jyoti here can find it in her heart to overcome this lapse in judgement and be the good we all know she can be! Until next time, love you!"
Sabine stood up and pushed her way back to Leah, turning to face Jyoti. "Let it be known I showed you a kindness today. Continue on with this and I will do so much worse to your reputation. Now, my girlfriend and I are going to continue skating. I suggest you find something else to gossip about."
Location: Margaret Carter - Winter Carnival Magic Items: None First Day Fit:Twisted School Girl
Marlena had a home to return to, also. And much like Marlena, things would be different. She had her aunts and uncles, but her father was another story. And her mother, well, best not turn over that particular stone.
Before she could speak up, a new voice raised itself into the conversation. Millicent looked around and didn't see anyone immediately until she looked down. A girl holding out a clipboard towards them and going on about being misunderstood and something about hockey?
Well, who was Millie to deny someone their interests?
"A hockey team, huh? Sounds awesome. Women in STEM! The S is for sports, right? Either way, totally support having a women's hockey team. A bit miffed there isn't one already. I can't play worth a damn, which goes against my Canadian heritage, but I fully support it." Millicent grabbed the clipboard and added her signature.
Location: School Skills: Magic Item: N/A Fit check
Ben waited, smiling, as Chase read the letter from their floor monitor. Then they took the stairs, Ben didn't even consider the elevator. He looked around at the destruction from what had happened and winced. April had tried to make it better but oof. He looked up at the ice slide, confused a little about it.
He was wiping at his face still. Tears had probably caused his face to get all red. He had a headache, wished he had had time for a cup of tea. But Chase picked him up and spun him around. He yelped in surprise. “Ah! Put me down. Ya weirdo.”
He was about to say something about he’d show him up on the stacking of weird hot chocolate ingredients when, after Chase put him down, a dark-haired girl came in and decked Chase. He gaped at her. The other girl, with the giant sword was also super confusing. What the hell was going on?
Location: School Skills: Enhanced Reflexes (Passive); Enhanced Durability Magic item: N/A Fit check, and Letterman jacket
Andy raised an eyebrow at Gideon’s pronouncement that some bullshit had happened there. She laughed. “Yeah, I think that is an understatement.” She considered the ice slide. There was no reasonable way for her to get it up to the roof, where she assumed April was. Andy couldn’t run up it or anything, she lacked speed or ice powers. Great. Everyone else had dispersed. She had her ice skates with her, but she remembered playing on the playground as a kid and trying to run up a slide. There was no way she’d pull it off like that. She sighed.
“I don’t know where everyone went. It is obvious that April probably went up there for some reason.” She indicated the ice slide leading to the top of the school building. “But I can’t follow her up there. I could go the long way, but it would just be my luck that as I’m about to get to the roof everyone who is up there leaves. And the ice slide will be gone so I can’t even use it to get back down here.” She had missed the drama, she supposed she should have joined everyone right away. But she had wanted a little time with Gideon. She had wanted to try to make friendship bracelets (impossible task that it was). And the snow ball fight had seemed fun. She hadn’t even had a chance to do a snowball fight since... way too long ago.
As she stood there and looked around trying to figure out where to go she noticed the guy from the party. Chase. Percy’s ex-bully, and if ex wasn’t the right term she’d make him ex-alive. He was walking with some other kid, probably another freshman. The kid looked like he had been crying. Probably a lot by how red his face and puffy his eyes were. Chase picked the kid up and he cried out to be put down. Andy’s knuckles cracked as she made fists. She didn’t currently have on her knuckle dusters or gloves. Lucky Chase.
She walked up to him. “Couldn’t get away with bullying Percy so you’re picking on some other freshman?” she asked rhetorically, before throwing a punch. She hit him in the jaw, and he fell back.
Gideon didn’t waste a single second. She didn’t need Andy to explain why they were beefing with this punk. If her girl threw hands, she was backing her up. “And stay down, you fucking piece of shit!” Gideon swore, as she took advantage of Chase lying prone on the ground, and stomped on his stomach hard enough to bruise. “Or don’t. Make my day, man. The Thirsting Blade needs to feed.” She pulled her scabbard off of her back, and unsheathed the two-hander, and pointed it down at Chase.
Chase was about to tell the small angry girl that he wasn't bullying anyone and that Ben was in fact his boyfriend. He also would've pointed out to her that he and Percy were all cool now, and that he was possibly gonna use his room to plow his boyfriend tonight. But he was barely able to part his lips after setting Ben down before her fist connected with his jaw and suddenly he was on the ground, deep in the snow and staring up at the sky. He was dazed, in pain, and confused. One hand reaching up to feel his jaw as another person came in and kicked him in the stomach. Spit flew out of his mouth, as the air was knocked out of him. ”What the fuck man? I thought this was a school for heroes.”
One hand gently touched his jaw as the other held his stomach, slowly sitting up in the snow. He pressed a hand into the snow and snagged Gideon's shadow, separating it from herself as a clone of Gideon emerged from the floor. The shadow quickly taking a cheap shot, knocking off Gideon's sunglasses while Chase tried to interpose himself between them and Ben. ”Also that's my boyfriend you assholes!” Shadows rippled around Chase, coalescing in his hands as a replica of what he assumed to be Excalibur formed in his hands, a knight's cloak billowing behind him.
Vicky raised an eyebrow at the outburst of giggles. How was that funny...? Nevermind, roll with it. She thought, briefly thinking of consulting urban dictionary before deciding that perhaps ignorance was bliss. She looked at the direction of the tubing setup at the invitation, and then at the Mighty Marvels, wondering whether she was done tearing the legs off of these ants.
Alas, the sensors in her hand servos were starting to scream about overheating - They were designed for sustained use of a single Mk I generator. The six Mk IIs she put on her hands had double the output, and the heat was building up. She needed a cooldown, and the radiant heat was starting to melt all of the snow clinging to her.
"Maybe in a bit, not dressed up for the occasion. This sludge is starting to melt so I better bugger off and loose these layers before I turn into a walking wet t-shirt contest." she frowned at the thought, dusting the snow off as best as she could and putting her jacket back on, buttoning up. She gave both teams a two fingered salute, picked up her bag and headed towards Stark Hall.
On her way up the stairs, she grumbled about being put even higher up than her last room. Small miracle that this quarter she intended to sink into her research rather than tinkering, which could be done in the room rather than the workshop. Otherwise, Vicky would have seriously considered flying up and down using the window.
A quick change into more winter appropriate outfit later, she was back at the fairgrounds. The pull of just plastering her research notes all over the walls and sinking back to it was strong, but she did want to check out the clubs, since Vision's idea of a sci-fi club turned out to be a joke.
The magic club looked like just an extracurricular class in magic. A class Victoria did not sign up for on purpose. She was tackling magic as a physics problem, and she did not want mysticism to poison her research.
In the end she signed up for gymnastics again. Her new core would need a bunch of instances to optimize her locomotion algorithms, as those developed by the former Ultron core were not compatible. There was someone nearby going on a rant about a hockey team, and Vicky wanted to avoid making eye contact, but a name was dropped that registered, and her eyes went to the person.
From afar, Marlena Evans looked quite unremarkable. Which was good! Unremarkable meant that likely there would be no drama. Then again, Ed looked unremarkable to me too, right until he wasn't. Tori thought as she walked over, giving Marlena, the blonde she seemed to hang out with and the dwarf that was feeding them paperwork a wave. "Hi. Apologies for butting in, but I overheard your name. I'm Victoria van Dyne, looks like we'll be roommates this quarter." she introduced herself, offering a hand.
Andy reached out as Gideon’s glasses fell, she caught them deftly and quickly put them back on Gideon. It was obvious why because Gideon started screaming in pain the moment they had been knocked off. The sound cut through her. She turned back to Chase.
“Then why the hell does he look like he has been crying for a week?”
Ben stepped around Chase and ran in, trying to tackle Andy while she was turned, focusing on Gideon. He only bounced, rather ineffectively, against her, almost knocking himself to the ground.
“Because we were dealing with a whole bunch of other bullshit. You weren’t here. You can stay out of it. He is my boyfriend, leave him the fuck alone.” Ben wasn’t much shorter than Andy, but he was still frustratingly shorter than her. He wanted to scream.
“If you want to date a bully, you’re an idiot.”
“He isn’t a bully. You are.” Ben gestured between Andy and Gideon. “You’re the ones who just zero warning punched him and then kicked him while he was down. That’s fucked up.”
“You yelled to be put down.” Andy tried to defend, but it was becoming obvious to her though that she had read the situation wrong. She didn’t trust Chase, not one damn bit, not with how Percy had reacted to him, so she didn’t want to lose this fight, especially to a freshman.
“Because when he picks me up and twirls me like that, it is embarrassing. But that doesn’t mean I don’t like it, and it sure as hell doesn’t mean it gives you any right to sucker punch him.” Ben was shaking with anger.
Morning - Sat. January 15th, 2039 - Los Angeles, California
@Trainerblue192@Kirah: “This is a school for heroes - and that is quite enough of that,” a voice admonished them all sharply, without any clear direction that the voice originated from. Instead, the four wayward children would find themselves bound in place, rich tendrils of red and purple, twinkling as if formed from stars, ensnared around them. These tendrils focused on the limbs of the students, loose grips that would tighten as they struggled. And a moment later, their caster stepped into view, the bindings on Ben loosening whereas the ones on the other students remained tight and constrictive.
Dressed in her signature scarlet, her tiara traded for earmuffs, Wanda Maximoff pursed her lips in disapproval. “Andy, I expected more from you than childish squabbles.” She held her sister’s gaze for a moment longer, before her eyes flashed over to Gideon and Chase. “You may have your toys back at the end of day,” she then added, snapping her fingers - and Gideon’s sword, as well as Chase’s shadowy constructs, vanished. “And you will all be serving detention with me Monday evening,” she clarified. “There are flowers that rarely bloom on Mount Wundagore and are said to be best found by newfound friends, so I would be glad of your assistance.”
Gideon’s eyes widened, as her sword dematerialized - the sword she had been carrying around for years, the sword she had trained with, the sword she labored for. “I need that back, now!” she protested. “And these assholes deserved it because… well look at him, he looks evil!” she huffed, pointing at Chase with her thumb.
“I do not want to hear it,” Wanda warned. “Continue to argue and I will take more than just your weapon.”
@PatientBean@Blizz: At the ice skating rink, Jyoti was seething - yet she knew better than to make a scene right now. Sabine might have done a somewhat relevant livestream, yes - but it wouldn’t be enough to stop the inevitable. She’d made her fame and fortune off of ridiculing and bullying others, and the Internet was both forever and a place where nuance went to die. If she wanted to play this game of the reformed villain, then fine. Jyoti would give her some actual sins to be dragged over the coals for.
“If we could all only be as fucking perfect as you,” Jyoti hissed. “Show them your true self, Sabine. I’m sure nothing could go wrong with that. I bet you’re not even really French,” she tossed her hair over her shoulder in a huff, before storming off. She needed to film some content before the Luna Snow concert anyway.
@PatientBean@Blizz@Forsythe: “Aye, thank ye!” Bitterfinger beamed, a soft blush on her face as Marlena complimented her braids. “For the moment, I’m proposin’ that we are in a league with other super schools - let people use their natural powers and show the world what we can do. The school’s claimed there just ain’t enough interest in sports, so the petition is to show them that us lassies, we want to be out there on the ice - we want to put the puck in the net and beat the living crap out of anyone who looks at us wrong when we’re skatin’,” she explained.
“You find anyone else who wants to sign, you send them to ole Bitterfinger, understood?” she then requested. “I’m going to go look for easy marks at the friendship bracelet station. All that rage over those beads, someone is bound to want to blow off some steam,” she mused, as she took the clipboard back once her petition had been signed, and headed off.
Percy Novikov
Location: Margaret Carter - Stark Hall Roof -> Winter Festival Magic Items: Mystery watch from Agatha Harkness, Dorian sex bracelet First Day Fit:Black Hoodie, Jeans, and Vans
Percy took the ice slide down from the roof of Stark Hall, intent on depositing him back at the hot chocolate stand where the disastrous chain of events had begun. His eyes were red and puffy, the texts in his phone having gone unanswered, and his mind kept on running the numbers on how long he’d have to last until the next safe moment - how many minutes until the carnival had ended, how many hours, how many seconds. If he could make it five minutes, then he could do ten - if he could do ten, he could do twenty, and so on and so on until he had almost convinced himself he could last the entire day, that his time back at Margaret Carter hadn’t been a disaster since his moms pulled into the parking garage.
But as he was about to reach the bottom of the ice slide, he saw a situation he absolutely could not stomach. It was barely a conscious thought, as blue wisps radiated off of his hands, and he blinked out of existence, appearing on the opposite end of the carnival field. He wasn’t at any station in particular, instead finding himself sitting on a bench, with a perfect vantage point of his classmates as they built snowmen, skated in the makeshift rink, and lobbed snowballs at each other like it was war. He couldn’t see the hot cocoa stand from here but his pulse had still quickened, his breath coming out short and quick. Was this what it was going to be like for the rest of his time at school - constantly running into Chase, constantly faced with reminders of the past?
His stomach churned as he pulled his knees to his chest, trying to count his breaths - trying to focus on his immediate surroundings, rather than let his thoughts run wild. But he couldn’t shake the feelings of danger, of peril - couldn’t stop his mind from going back to Gates, from remembering every locker, every trash scan - every punch, every bruise. Maybe he ought to ask his moms to transfer him after all, maybe the Future Foundation school in New York wasn’t that bad, he could go and live with his mame while she worked at Columbia, and Dorian was about to graduate anyway. He had a few friends now, but that was what letters were for, right? Yes, it was a plan he hated, but he could live with it. He could deal with it. Maybe he’d finally have a chance to develop all of these cold weather skills his boyfriend thought he lacked. Maybe he’d change his name, too - erase any trail that he left behind, make it impossible for Chase to find him. He could dye his hair - try to grow some facial hair. It was insane, he knew, but he was going to go insane if he couldn’t stop - if he couldn’t outrun - if he couldn’t…
He’d seen Chase, dripping in shadows, armed with armor and a sword - and as much as he had told Chase they could try, all he’d seen was how much more dangerous he’d become. All he’d imagined was Chase running him through with that sword, walking away with a laugh as Percy bled out, complaining that he was bored of that old toy, anyway.
He curled into himself a little more, as his body shook. He just wanted to go home.
Location: Margaret Carter - Winter Carnival Magic Items: Thousand-Faced Rose, Rune Stones First Day Fit: Letterman jacket, baggy pants, sneakers.
Thank fuck that Sabine was better at dealing with catty bitches than her. If Leah was left alone to sort out Jyoti and her little pack of attention whores, one of two things was most likely to happen. Either she'd tear them down with words and look like an absolutely sadistic bully, or things would escalate and she'd have to kick Dollar Store Storm's ass for a field goal to put her out of her power's preferred range. Leah wouldn't want to do that, it'd solve very little, but it'd get her to think twice about getting pissy with people she didn't know. People only hung around someone like that because they believed abasing themselves before someone with a smidgen of charisma was an acceptable substitute for their lack of personality. And Leah knew that because she was dating Sabine Bassard.
She waited for them to fuck off, before wheeling around. "Fucking insufferable. Time to bitch about other people being perfect, not enough time to fix their own shit." She sighed. "One of her friends nearly killed Vicky once, did you know that? I remember them, I was just being petty to fuck with her- They had some energy drain power, that before Vicky was open about being an ASTRA. Couldn't stop the fight and they didn't know, I nearly dropped the roof on them. Bitches, assholes, petty fuckers." Leah didn't even sound that mad. Just annoyed.
"Oooo-kay. Back to skating? Or do you want to see if anyone got killed in the last few minutes?" Leah asked.
Location: Margaret Carter - Winter Carnival Magic Items:She’s no magician but you know she’s got that magic wand. First Day Fit: Floral button-up, slacks, converse shoes.
Marlena pretended not to notice the blush that Natmokara had under her braids. The smirked, giving the clipboard back with her name on it. Hockey with powers sounded weird. For some people, it made sense if they couldn't just turn off super strength or cut off their wings. But she was telekinetic, how would that work? She also refrained from commenting on Millicent's apparent lack in know-how about acronyms. When the tiny girl bounced, Marlena wheeled around and turned her attention to someone that had walked up to her. Victoria, she almost didn't recognize her. She wasn't there in the Contest fight, but she was the one who made that antigravity field that Marlena danced with April in, which was really cool. Marlena stuck a hand out and clasped it around the robo-girl's
"Yeah, hey, that's me. I was wondering who I'm sharing a room with, I'll try and be an easy roommate. I'm new here, same as this lady here-" She turned and gestured to Millicent. "Saw you with the Contest winners, you wouldn't happen to be their Girl in the Chair, would you? I watched, but I didn't see you fighting."
Location: School Skills: Magic Item: N/A Fit check
Panic surged through Ben for a moment, but the bindings loosened, and he was able to relax a little. He hated it still and looked to Chase for reassurance. Today sucked. God, it was a very bad day. He just wanted to go back to his room after this. Yeah, he would feel bad for not meeting up with Danni, but he really hoped that Danni would understand. He needed some peace and quiet and a cup of tea. God, he needed a cup of tea. He was pretty certain he would just cry again if he was pushed just a little bit more.
He was about to open his mouth and argue that Chase and he shouldn’t get detention since they hadn’t started it. That seemed so unfair. But he snapped his mouth shut when the teacher, whom he was pretty certain was just Scarlet Witch, threatened the red-haired girl. Who the hell knew what she could do if she decided to do it? Ben sure didn’t.
He shot the pair of girls who had started all of this a glare, but didn’t say anything. He only knew Andy’s name. Learning that made a little pit form in his stomach, outside of the fear and frustration. She was obviously one of the team, Excelsior. She hadn’t used her lighting. That was something. A kindness, he supposed. Chase had escalated it when he started using his powers. But the red-haired one had pulled a sword, which was unhinged. A school for heroes... sure.
Ben was tempted to snark. If he did, it would all be in his voice, not his words. But he was also literally being held against his will at the moment, and he wanted nothing more than to just get away from all of this. So, he held his tongue and hoped Chase would do the same.
At least Andy apologized. He was even more tempted to stick his tongue out at her. Letting her know full well what he thought of her apology. It was clearly under duress. That wasn't a good apology.
Location: School Skills: Enhanced Reflexes (Passive); Enhanced Durability Magic item: N/A Fit check, and Letterman jacket
Andy had already realized how much she had fucked up. She looked suitably admonished. Whatever was going on between Chase and the freshman was not the same as what had happened to Percy. Good for him, she supposed. She still didn’t trust Chase. Gathering flowers on some mountain top was going to be a problem if she had to be friends with him. She could admit she had read the situation wrong.
Andy swallowed. ”I read the situation wrong,” she admitted. “I’m sorry.” The first part had been directed at her adoptive sister, the apology to Chase. Wanda was someone she hadn’t spent much time with. This semester was looking to be very different. Goodie... oh god. Her whole body felt like it would have collapsed if she weren’t being held up. Detention was the least of her worries. Wanda was her sister, there was no way this wasn’t getting back to Magneto.
Sabine was sure it wouldn't be the last time she had a run-in with Jyoti. In her experience (and notably how she acted before paving the road to such interactions), people like her tended to seek drama out. It made for good social media, unfortunately. And according to Leah, one of her friends had nearly killed Vicky. She didn't like them before, but now she detested them.
But it wouldn't serve her to go after her any further. She was trying to be better, and as Excelsior's social media manager, she needed to keep her reputation on the upswing. Being with Leah made that easy. She could get some good coverage showing their "fight" from before is old news. One good thing about social media is that people's attention tends to be pretty easy to shift, especially if it was cute, wholesome, and gay.
"Not gonna let her ruin the moment. Let's get skating!" She grabbed Leah's hand and drew her in, preparing to skate around. The moment with Jyoti soon became a distant memory.
Location: Margaret Carter - Winter Carnival Magic Items: None First Day Fit:Twisted School Girl
Millicent was in full support of this sports team being brought in. If there was no interest in sports, it was because people were growing bored. But a superpowered hockey team would surely generate interest. On top of that she supported women's rights and wrongs. Sports were still seen as male-dominant, and she would be damned if that trend continued.
"I'll get the word out. I don't know anyone here apart from the few I met, but I bet I can generate some buzz around the team and get some support."
As Natmokara left they were interrupted with a new voice. Millicent turned to see Victoria who had introduced herself to her new roommate. "Hey Victoria. I think I saw you briefly at the afterparty, but we never got introduced. I'm Millicent. Nice for you two to be roomies. I'm with Ben and, given the interaction we just had, I don't know how well that is going to go."
Danni accepted Amélie gratefully, laughing as she scolded him for abandoning her with gruff little huffs mixed with concern coos at the tear tracks on his cheeks. “Aw, bb. Were ya worried? I’m sorry. I ‘ad ta get outta t’ere ‘cause it was real spooked, ya know? And Bennie Boi was all worked up too si I ‘ad ta get ‘im outta t’ere ot’erwise we woulda ‘ad soooooooo many bugs everywhere. Like, my fire but buggies instead and no one but Bennie boi woulda been down.” Danni explained in a kiddie voice while Percy gotta all bundled up by his boyfriend. He beamed up at Percy as he spoke with him, reassuring him he still wanted to hang. “You bot’ gotta promise we can all ‘angout! Just ‘cause y’all wanna be lovey dovey doesn’t mean ya get ta kick me ta t’e curb!” Danni waved them off, blowing a kiss at the pair, before turning his attention back to his sister.
“Rillieeeeeeeeeee! Nice walls back t’ere! Get it, ice walls, nice walls?” Danni giggled to himself, situating Amélie back in her little wrap and giving her a kiss on the head, before pushing himself to his feet and wiping off the last of his tears. He slung an arm around April’s shoulders and then screamed, leaping as far as he could away. His fire flared out reflexively and he flailed as he barely caught himself at the edge of the roof. “OMG! Gurl. Gurl. That’s… that’s so cold. Pls. Plssssssssss drop t’at. It’s soooo cold. ‘Ow am I supposed ta shower ya in infection wit’ t’at fit?! Fits are suppose ta be fire, not ice!!!!” Danni whined as he bounced back to April.
“I wanna go to tuuuubin’. Can we do tuuuubin’? It’ll be fuuuun. Do you t’ink t’ey ‘ave a two seater? I can give us a little boost and we can see ‘ow fast we gooooooooo!”
Victoria smiled and nodded as Marlena shook her hand. "I am absolutely certain you can not be worse than my last roommate. Also I don't actually sleep, so you'll be fine. Just holler in you want me to bounce at times for whatever reason, I've got another room in the basement."
As the topic of the contest came up, she shook her head. "I wasn't the team's benchbody, if that's what you mean. I withdrawn from the contest. I have... Moral and ideological objections to the whole affair, to put it politely." she shrugged, turning her attention to Millie.
"Hello, nice to meet you," she nodded at the blonde, before sighing. "Seven hells, was there drama already? It's the first day! Not even, it's like day zero! Last quarter, People were set on fire, because flaming bees. I swear, I'm not making this up." she groaned, lifting one hand an toggling her generators, a hologram of the events playing out as captured from her point of view.
"So, yeah, a bit of unsolicited advice: Be careful out here. The magic teacher before the Scarlet Witch had the philisophy of 'heroes are born out of tragedy' and made a haunted house on halloween where you actually got hurt, emotionally and physically. My sister got trapped in there for heaven's sake. People running this place don't have your well being as priority, and it wouldn't be a first time when a student wanted to kill a few others. So if something happens to you, or even seems off, yell before it's too late. I'm sure at least I, Leah, Sabine, Dorian and Danni would help, and proooobably not make the situation worse on accident. Most likely the rest of Excelsior too, given the shit we went through." Victoria cautioned the newcomers, blissfully unaware of Andy's and Gideon's recent actions.
"Or, I could be full of shit. Check other sources." she added to reinforce her point.
Morning - Sat. January 15th, 2039 - Los Angeles, California
@Trainerblue192@Kirah: Gideon was scowling, having been robbed both of her sword and her shadow. She didn’t care much about the shadow. She didn’t spend much time thinking about the ramifications of that, as the Scarlet Witch left as suddenly as she had appeared, with a final warning glance at Andy. “This fucking blows,” Gideon muttered, kicking at the ground. “Can we go back to the dorm, so I can get my backup sword?” she then asked Andy. She didn’t like the rapier very much, but the combo of a rapier and knuckle blades was better than having nothing. She already felt off balance, as if a limb had been severed. She didn’t care that they’d been in the wrong apparently to attack these two - she would do it again without a single regret.
@PatientBean@Blizz: While the day may have started off hectic and tumultuous, filled with explosive drama, tears, and livestreams, things had finally settled for Sabine and Leah almost peacefully. Jyoti and her friends had been run off, and the rest of the students at the ice skating rink seemed content to mind their own business. No one was rushing up to demand their attention, no ominous prophecies were about to come to light - for a little while, the pair could enjoy their time together and just breathe.
@PatientBean@Blizz@Forsythe: The same, however, could not be said for Millicent, Vicky, and Marlena. No sooner had Bitterfinger left than another screaming child had taken her place - or children, really. A small pack of freshmen girls squealed, pointing at Millicent and gesturing excitedly. “OMG is it really you??? Millicent Broadway!!! Eeeeep!!! Can you sign our faces? Pleeease?” the ringleader of the pack requested, pulling a sharpie out of her bag - a move the rest of the pack followed suit with, as suddenly about twelve sharpies were being thrust in Millie’s direction. “Wait. Shut the front door. Millie Broadway and Katy Perry and Taylor Swift???? This is the best day of our lives!!!” the fan girls looked at Marlena and Vicky with the same admiration, as the number of sharpies somehow tripled. “We need your autographs too!!!!!”
Percy Novikov
Location: Margaret Carter - Winter Festival Magic Items: Mystery watch from Agatha Harkness, Dorian sex bracelet First Day Fit:Black Hoodie, Jeans, and Vans
Percy didn’t know how long he had been sitting on the bench, his knees curled into his chest.
His breaths had gradually begun to slow, the needy gasps turning into steady inhales and measured exhales. Things had felt so different over the break - he had felt so different. He’d started to be honest with himself about who he was, about the things he didn’t want to face but had to do all the same. And he had made friends. He’d promised to help Andy with her reading, he had gone to Jotunheim with Leah, he’d vanquished Fred with Danni. He hadn’t had friends before, not really. Everyone he had called a friend before had left him, some more explosively than others. But already, he found himself sitting alone on a bench again.
Already, his immediate instinct on learning what Danni had done had been to not trust him again, to put the walls back up and defend himself from any future, good or bad. He hadn’t changed at all. It was all the same. New season, same carnival. He wanted to run away from it all, to crawl into his room and barricade the doors, to hide himself away where he couldn’t be found. He’d rather fight Arcade a thousand times than spend another minute here.
But he didn’t want to live like that. He didn’t want to go back to that.
So instead, he made a compromise with himself, setting a timer on his phone. He could stay here on this bench for a little longer, steady himself, and then he had to go and do something at the carnival. He didn’t know where Dorian was - probably with the others. He couldn’t blame him. He knew he wasn’t fun, not like this at least. He’d just been a burden lately, with the alcoholism and Chase and the divorce.
He pinched his eyes closed again, and inhaled, holding his breath and counting, before exhaling completely.
It was just April and Danni left on the roof now, as Percy and Dorian had slid down the ice slide. They couldn’t help but be a little bit surprised when Danni complimented them on the ice walls - they’d really messed up when it came to helping out with the situation, so much so that Dorian had felt the need to possess them and fix everything. Any pride in the quick construction of the walls had vanished when it resulted in the new kid having a panic attack, and even pulling the walls down hadn’t been great aesthetically. April had only wanted to help - but they probably could have helped more by doing nothing at all.
“Thanks!” April paused for a moment, sniffling slightly. “... I think I just made things worse, though.” They could feel it like a current threatening to catch them - how easy it would be to focus on this emotion, this guilt, and let it drown them. It took effort to avoid its pull, to focus on the compliment over how far along their ice generation and construction had come, rather than fixating on the disaster they’d contributed to.
“Oh, shit, sorry! Dori made this, I didn’t know I could make outfits out of ice tbh, let me take it off though,” they apologized, taking a breath as they flicked their hands down, and the ice melted, falling to the ground in a harmless puddle. “Aww, yeah, let’s go tubing!! Did you wanna fly us over there? I dunno how long the structural integrity of that slide is going to last,” they added somewhat nervously. It had been fine with the last few people who had used it, but Danni ran hot - and with all of the drama that had happened, April felt jittery and didn’t know if their emotions would be enough to send some cracks through the ice. “Also, would mean touching more ice.”
Location: Margaret Carter - Winter Carnival Magic Items: Thousand-Faced Rose, Rune Stones First Day Fit: Letterman jacket, baggy pants, sneakers.
Leah grinned, and let herself get pulled along on her blades. Sabine was right, ruining the moment was priority negative infinity, not priority one. So she pushed forward and picked up speed, content to whirl around the field of ice with a super sexy blonde mentalist at her side. She surprised herself with how easy this seemed. Balancing all of her everything on two razor-thin blades without them snapping underneath her, or even just wobbling too much wouldn't have been shock, but it turned out that a lot of the skill in swerving around this fast came down to standing still. Leah didn't move that much, she leaned left and right, and occasionally pushed one leg in front of the other to maintain momentum, but it was mostly just doing very little on purpose to avoid fucking it up.
And Leah was pretty damn good at standing her ground. So this was pleasantly simple.
As they made a lap around the rink, a thought occurred to Leah. "...Jotunheim's colder than anything on Earth, constantly. I bet they do a lot more skating back there. A lot more than us." One day, she would have to get some proper clothes for that frozen planet she was born on, sooner or later. Maybe she'd learn how to enchant things with her runes to make them emit constant warmth.
"I'm a fucking genius- One day, I'm going back there. When I do, I'll find out." She flashed Sabine a grin like that of a golden retriever. "Imagine. Biggest ice rinks you've ever seen. If they don't? I'll cast some spells and fucking make one, right in the middle of Jarnvidr. Then I'm wrapping you up so you don't freeze, and I'm giving you the coolest fucking date I can think of."
Holy shit, her heart was thudding. Leah felt gay as fuck.
Location: Margaret Carter - Winter Carnival Magic Items:She’s no magician but you know she’s got that magic wand. First Day Fit: Floral button-up, slacks, converse shoes.
Marlena's eyes widened at the sight of the holographic stuff. Flaming bees, just out of nowhere, spawned by someone's powers going weird? That was certainly chaotic, she couldn't imagine being there in person. What the hell kind of superpowers could just spawn swarms of incinerating insects? "That sounds like a lot, yeah. Don't blame you for stepping out, I would've done the same." The Contest was fine as a spectacle, but Marlena would be lying if she said it was fun watching that giant magic thing appear. And the rock girl just going for the throat- literally- for reasons known only to God. (Or Odin? Or... Loki? Aegir? Fuck if she knew.)
"I'll keep the advice in mind, though." She had to wonder if Vicky was just a pessimist. Other people who had been around the block a few times seemed enthusiastic, and Vicky just admitted to abstaining on moral contention. And, on top of that, she really didn't need another reason to dread this. Thankfully, though, a distraction came in the form of a whole crowd of barely thirteen year old girls, all screeching about Millie.
Fame had a way of turning people into black holes for attention. They accosted the three older girls and immediately shoved a bunch of sharpies in Millie's face, asking for them to sign their... Faces? What?
Taylor Swift and Katy Perry??? Oh, these kids were crazy. Marlena flinched when the sharpies were jabbed in her direction. They didn't even know her! Or Vicky, if her assessment of the girl's connection to Excelsior was accurate. What did she have to do with this?! Did they just think she was a famous superhero because she happened to be hanging out with a semi-famous superhero and Millicent Broadway? That idea made Marlena a little uneasy, she got along easy with people so she already liked Millie, and April seemed nice too. If this was how anyone even vaguely in their orbits was going to get treated, Marlena wasn't going to be very happy.
"Woah- Ladies, please. You've got the wrong girl. I just go here, and happened to chat up these two. I dunno who I look like, but I'm definitely not a pop-star, sorry to disappoint."
Marlena's trying to convince these kids to not demand an autograph from her and be sane and normal. Charisma skill applies, making this a held roll because it's dependent on what NPCs do."
Dorain had been waiting at the edge of the ice slide for Percy to go down first when he as finally ready. He hoped it wouldn’t be too long for that to happen, but these things took time and he understood that, no matter how much he was wanting to go and do the days activities. Finally Percy had began to slide down, to make his way back to the hot chocolate stand where it all began, and as Dorian followed suit and slid down only a few feet behind him so that they wouldn’t collide at the end, he watched him vanish. Dorian didn’t know what exactly was happening with Andy and Chase, but right now he couldn’t be too worried about it. Andy could handle herself, and with Gideon at her side they would be unstoppable. He’d felt the other end of Gideon’s blade, and the speed at which she was able to knock down her opponents was fearsome and terrifying. Dorian wasn’t sure what to do, where to go, he needed to find Percy, to figure out where he went, but he was a teleporter he could be anywhere.
Dorian made a dash away from the problems of those by the stand and began to search the festival grounds for his boyfriend. He’d mentioned going ice skating so perhaps he’d decided to get a head start and jump there, but once he arrived he didn’t see any signs of his boyfriend at all. There was some upset looking student, others who seemed to have just started skating or resumed it after stopping simply based on how slow they were going, and then he spotted them, Sabine and Leah. Thank Fudge, perhaps they saw him or know where he may have headed off to. Dorian ran the length of the rink, holding onto the railing from the outside as he got as close to the pair as he could. Yelling ” ‘Ey! Sabine! Leah! You guys seen Perce around at all?! I can’t find ‘im and ‘e teleported somewhere! We were meant to go skatin’ but I…I don’t see ‘im!” Hopefully they would know of something, and if not they would think of a better way than searching the entire grounds one by one. He didn’t want to ruin any of their fun, but even if everyone in Excelsior searched one portion by themselves they were less likely to miss him than if he did it himself. After all they were his friends right? They were a team.
Chase was about to tell the disembodied voice to let the other students know that this was meant to be a school for heroes. They certainly weren’t acting like it, and they clearly needed to be taught that lesson. He supposed that was why they called it the Contest of Champions and not the Contest of Heroes. He went to move his hand, to face the person who would bind them, to try and convince them to let Ben go, but as he did he felt them tighten. Great, the perfect ensnarement for someone with claustrophobia, one in which their struggle to be free only hastened their own panic. Luckily for him, the teacher had let Ben loose, Chase didn’t care that he was being held. Hell he probably deserved all of this and more for all the shit he did back then, but he was trying to put that all behind him, to move forward and start new. It seemed that would be harder to achieve than he originally realized. The strange…Russian? Woman was talking to them about gathering flowers on some mountain called wonderballs or whatever, he figured she’d make them make friendship bracelets afterwards as a form of punishment, not that he’d mind or care. The sword bearer he’d met back at the stands, the one he’d attributed his relationship with Ben to, who now seemed to only blindly follow the steps of one of the so called Champions, began to argue along with the Comrade Caster, the Russian Witch. Though the threat of taking more than their sword sounded dark, it sent shivers down Chase’s spine and kept him from giving any lip back. Normally he would be a river of sass and sarcasm, but now? He decided detention wouldn’t be so bad, given he hadn’t even lost anything yet. Andy had apologized, Chase just averted his eyes away from her, he didn’t bother speaking towards it.
As soon as Comrade Caster vanished, Chase wasted no time heading to Ben’s side and holding his hands in his . ”You ok Bennie Boi? They didn’t hurt you or nothin’ right?” He glanced over towards Andy, sighing as he felt his shoulders drop as the rage he’d had was beginning to deflate. ”Don’t apologize to me, you owe that to my love and liege over here. I say no harm no foul, I definitely deserved a good deck in the face at some point given my history. But let’s try and not have a repeat of this again, maybe ask questions and assess a situation before jumping into the fray like that. I don’t care if I get hurt, but if so much as single hair was harmed on him -” Chase motioned towards Ben with his thumb. ”We’d be having a very different conversation. Champion or not, I’m not afraid to fight. So what do you say babe? You think you can accept her apology and we make nice as we gather flowers on Mount Wonderbar?”
