Luminous Beings

Academy 218: Still looking for new people to join - now is the primetime.

Leo I love it. Will it automatically scale down for my avatar?

Academy 218: Still looking for new people to join - now is the primetime.

Cassidy Lynn Daniels

Cassidy did nothing but click her tongue as Titus burst through their door to face whatever faceless horrors waited in the hallway outside. So crude. Strong, obviously-one look at him and you could tell the boy wasn't exactly a welterweight. Knocking down the door was....problematic. The group inched away from the open space, and while Lupe's luminescent form and Diego's wreath of flames offered them some degree of light, there was still a considerable amount of uncharted darkness beyond the threshold. "So, we have our firebreather, our lightshow, our magician...and our strongman. Perhaps when we graduate we'll put on a circus," Cass spoke to herself, rolling a half dollar across her knuckles. She glanced over as a little girl approached them-none of the others reacted, so Cass didn't, but her first instinct said not to trust her. The girl moved and dressed with maturity, and Cassidy got the feeling her looks might've been deceiving. She initially assumed that this girl was connected with these events-after all, if she were to break into a school, she'd masquerade as a cute innocent little thing.

...but she had seen the little girl in here before, when she was getting her food, hadn't she? Cassidy was usually fairly observant, and she was pretty sure that she'd spotted Beth in the cafeteria before the chaos had ensued. Pretty sure. Don't let fear get the better of you, love. The lights will need to be out a while longer before you turn on them.

"Don't believe we've met," Cassidy said casually, turning back to face the door. "Cassidy Lynn Daniels." She absentmindedly clenched her fingers around the coin and opened her other hand to begin rolling it across there.

Lupe threw in a few less than helpful comments. Nerves, yes...she'd seen it before. Cass had done her fair share of stage work, a few stints in acting, some magic stuff, talent shows, the works-and Lupe's type was common. This was what could conservatively be labelled as terrifying, and there was no point in turning on her for it. "No, Miss Lupe," Cassidy said with utter serenity. "I just don't want to eat this thing with my bare hands."

Titus began to scream.

Cassidy's face twitched but her smirk recovered soon enough.

"I'm not the heroic type," Cassidy murmured, "And the fool was certainly asking for it, but it does seem a bit cold to let him get turned into puppy chow out there. My suggestion is this-shock and awe. Lupe and Diego, you'll both kill your lights. We move up quick and quiet-I, and I don't intend for us to start a dic-" She cut her eyes at Beth, whose exact age she was still unsure of "...a, uh, measuring contest, here, but I believe I'm the quickest out of us. I will take point. If it comes at me, I sidestep it and you two light up as bright as you can. I'll try and land a few quick shots, but I'm not much of a fighter. Then you two unload upon it. I'll move and get our now legless friend and try get him out of here. Then we all come back here, cauterize his stumps on the stoves, and continue eating our dinners." Cassidy paused, looking around. "Damnit. Damnit.. I left it in the room. Please stay here for just a moment?" Cass turned and walked quickly to the nearest person wearing a hat-some boy who appeared to be a few years older than she, a ten gallon hat firmly squished down onto his head. Cass flashed him a smile and lifted it up, revealing the boy had small horns sticking out of his scalp underneath. "Haircuts must be tricky. Do you mind if I borrow this? I think it'd go well with my ensemble."

The boy stared at her blankly. She took that as yes.

Cass returned, flipping the hat on top of her head and running over her general plan in her mind. "Good, good. Not about to get devoured without a touch of fashion. Are we ready?"

Cass took a deep breath, slid past Diego, Lupe, and Beth, and began walking towards the darkened door. With her face hidden from the others, she let the facade drop and attempted to steel herself against the unshakable, nauseating fear welling up in her gut-the sounds of TItus' screams, the...chewing...

"Showtime." she muttered, taking the hat and holding it loosely against her side.

Academy 218: Still looking for new people to join - now is the primetime.

I really want to see a Cass v. Titus fight at some point Maxxy darling. I think it'd be hilarious.

Also, I need an avatar. Any suggestions?

Academy 218: Still looking for new people to join - now is the primetime.

Cassidy Lynn Daniels

"What," Cassidy asked, "Is a first meal at a new school without a trip to the ER? Burning makes for a good story. I don't use my left hand that much anyways. Cass turned as Lupe approached, and had an immediate rapport for the girl-she was bold, willfully awkward, and, of course, a flatterer. We will get along famously. "A friend? My my, Mr. Bellasquez, I was a mere stranger fifteen minutes ago. I'm moving up in the world." Cass raised an eyebrow, admiring the girl's luminescent form. Yes, this Academy would certainly be very interesting-two walking lightshows already! The Fourth Of July alone would make the whole ordeal worthwhile. Assuming, of course, the power was restored and no bloodthirsty monsters devoured them. Perhaps Diego's ghost just needed a friend. "Pleasure to meet you, Miss Lupe. With lights like that, I imagine you're a big hit at raves." Cass' grin never wavered, and she took the whole mini crisis-which seemed to be steadily worsening, what with the general aura of panic and fear that was seeping through the cafeteria-with wonderful decorum. This, of course, is because she was entering the same state of denial that she normally utilized to combat all her fears. The whole world's a stage, and life's just a matter of not breaking character. She slid her hair back into place, away from her eye, and threw her jacket over her shoulder. These were subtle but definite tells-something did tell Miss Daniels that, in a school full of the superhuman, there were very few things that could be attributed to pure coincidence or accident. Lights going out, the hints of distant screams, and the rapidly spreading mob panic were all less-than-comforting. She would be ready. She toyed with the knife as she cut her chicken, calmly chewing another bite. Someone more observant may have noticed that her spoon had disappeared into thin air.

And once Diego and Lupe turned to examine Harmon-who, Cass could confidently say, was the strangest thing she had ever witnessed in her life-her knife followed suit. Cass slid out of her suit, idly walking up to the panicked (she thought-it's rather difficult to gauge when one looks as Harmon does) individual and sizing up the situation. Tricksy, tricksy. Someone was pulling one morbid prank, or there was a ghost amongst them. Cass viewed either option with equal parts hesitation and eagerness: whether someone's comedic tastes were this dark, or a threat was so easily able to slip into the school, it did not bode well. "Well," Cass quipped, "I think it's important we all try and save face in this situatio-"

Her less-than-tasteful pun was interrupted by something slamming against the door, and her facade wavered for a moment as she flinched back. One of the few genuine, combat-ready powers available to Cass was her superior reflexes and dexterity-Cass had recovered by the time the others were flinching, and she she stood ready to throw her coat at whatever burst through the doors. She was not a fighter, but she was an improviser-she would roll with the punches now and shiver with the bruises later.

Time to plan. As adrenaline soaked through Cassidy Lynn Daniel's cells, tempered by the experience of dozens of high stress situations before, her mind began to run through options in double-time. Escape. Running away. Not a possibility. More noises. Either the creature is fast or there are several. Bad decision to flee now-strength in numbers. Stay in the kitchen, leave if it gets in. Use other students as distractions.

Cass's thoughts stutter-stepped over this abhorrent pragmatism. I don't want to die here.

Fight, then. Yes. Cassidy did not have access to her sword, which was locked up in her room-of course. Perhaps she could ask politely to be allowed to fetch it before fighting for her life. "Miss Lupe, Diego, Harmon, I believe your name was, I'll return shortly," Cass side, a slightly higher inflection to her voice the only betrayal of her nerves. One hell of a first day, no? If this did turn out to be a prank, they wouldn't be turning Cassidy into a whimpering wretch over it. Cass turned and briskly walked to the silverware, grabbing a few more knives and tucking them into her sleeves-no, wait. That couldn't be it-her hands fell back to her sides and no dull kitchen knives came tumbling out. Where had they gone? Cass proceeded to move to the condiments area, where she repeated this trick with a hypertension-inducing sized pile of salt. Cass scanned the room one final time. They wouldn't let her back behind the counters to get her hands on some boiling oil or steak knives. This would suffice.

"Float like a butterfly, old girl," Cass murmured to herself, returning to the trio with her blue eyes sparkling with forced confidence. She observed the whatever-it-was slamming into the door and cocked her head to one side, one hand hanging onto the coat hanging over her shoulder, the other with tense fingers dancing by her side.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are..." Cass murmured.

Academy 218: Still looking for new people to join - now is the primetime.

Abraham's was a refreshing strain of douchebaggery that I hope to see again, both in RP's and in real life.

Academy 218: Still looking for new people to join - now is the primetime.

Cassidy Lynn Daniels

"Dropped them into the woods? Giving the ghost lung cancer's a bold plan, but I'm not sure how effective it is long term." Cass grinned, which is a somewhat superfluous statement-at least once a minute, she found cause to smile, whether it was some funny thought that occurred to her or simply an amusing observation. Very rarely was Miss Daniels somber, and yet her energy seemed more of the self-reserved, I'm-in-on-a-joke-you're-not as opposed to effervescent optimism. "Smoking type? Oh, no, I don't like the flavor. I just find them interesting. Everybody's got a vice and smoking gets such a bad rap. No different from anything else." She didn't want to dwell on anything serious, and Cass found what she was saying flowing in and out between truth and opinion and what she actually thought. Just...filler. She enjoyed coming up with half a dozen narratives and trying to keep them straight.

Was Cass a compulsive liar? Well, that perhaps wasn't the right word for it. Or maybe it was. She bored far too easily with any one truth to cling to it for very long.

"Something to eat sounds lovely. I'm interested to see how the cafeteria holds up...lovely grounds, huge buildings, prime real estate...this place must be expensive. So the question is, where do they cut costs? I imagine they can't do it with the teachers, who probably need all sorts of health insurance for dealing with us day in and day out, and thye probably can't skimp on too much else...so here's to hoping the food gets that same level of attention, no?" Cass strolled into the cafeteria by Diego, walking at a comfortably platonic distance. She flirted from time to time, but (unsurprisingly) it was never really anything serious. She did, however, make an effort to avoid sending out unintended vibes. Cass may have had a fondness for pulling the wool over people's eyes, but she wasn't cruel about it.

She'd gotten the hang of walking with one eye covered up-it was her preferred hairstyle, although she occasionally let her hair fall back behind her-but it still had its moments of trickiness. One never would've guessed watching her-for a first day student who currently possessed zero depth perception, she sported a healthy level of self-confidence and took everything the Academy threw out in stride. She quickly filled her plate with a bit of everything, figuring she'd size up what was good today and truly feast tomorrow-after all, it just wouldn't do to pig out on the first day. Those sorts of impressions tend to stick, and Miss Daniels was very particular about what kinds of impressions she gave off. Somebody knows your first impression, they usually don't bother trying to learn too much more, and that was the way Cass liked it. She enjoyed friendly company, but relationships of any kind were the fastest way to make her squirm.

"Mmm," Cass purred, putting down a burger. "My doubts are assuaged. The food's alright. Guess I'll stay." She pulled her hair back behind her ear to see more clearly (and to keep hair out of her food and such), and the lights promptly went out. Cass chortled at the irony. "Diego," she chided, putting her food down and scanning around the darkness. "I think your friend followed us. Not here twelve hours and it's already a horror movie." Cass rolled a quarter across her knuckles, relying on touch and intuition in the cafteria's sudden darkness. She assumed this to be some sort of prank-after all, the generator was out of earshot, and this was the sort of thing that would precede a bunch of fireworks being set off. Curiouser and curiouser-Cass wanted to get a feel for the student body, scope out what the environment of the school was like. How they responded to this, whether it was with a more adult nonchalance or immature screams and shrieks, perhaps a few metas lighting up the dark out of altruism or a desire to stroke their egos-it'd say a lot. So Cass sat back, sipped on her Coke (she missed the straw the first time but smoothly recovered, grinning once more at how ridiculous she must've looked) and waited for the chaos to take whatever form it would. "If you're really scared, I suppose you can hold my hand, Mr. Bellasquez. But rest assured if any monsters come after you, I am cutting and running." She said this with an affable tone that was sort of vague as to how serious she was. Odds were, if any terrible beast came bursting into the cafteria, Cass would get a front row seat and watch.

Academy 218: Still looking for new people to join - now is the primetime.

Cassidy Lynn Daniels

Cass let her lips twist into a wry grin at Diego's answer. Something like that? Oooh, how telling. She was no empath, but playing things off with humor usually meant that shit was going down. Mayhap there really was a ghost, and if so, it certainly didn't seem to be the Casper variety. Interesting. Cassidy was fairly openminded-as adventurous and carefree as she was with most aspects of her life, it didn't really serve to be narrowminded about much. And given the sorts of things schoolchildren were capable of here, a ghost didn't seem out of the question at all. She wondered if, perhaps, ghosts and those other old legends did have a grain of truth to them, and if metahumans had been under the noses of the whole world all along.

And a thousand vagabonds wearing tinfoil crowns rejoiced as Cass pieced together what they had long ago.

Cassidy strolled casually alongside Diego, looking him over out of the corner of her eyes. Looked to be about her age, taller by a few inches, and she even managed to figure out he was Hispanic before Diego Julius Bellasquez confirmed it. Look at her go. Skinny thing, not the sort she'd terrify if she was a ghost. Scrawny people get freaked out by the mundane-if she woke up dead, she'd start haunting bodybuilders first. Also, he seemed to have some tattooes on his arms and legs, but Cassidy didn't really ask. She wasn't one for tattooes, personally-they were identifying, and if she ever wanted to wake up one day and leave and become someone else entirely that little ink scar would keep it from being complete. Metamorphosis was Cassidy's preferred method of coping.

And a smoker. For a moment, Cassidy pondered the health risks of such a thing-but given that they were all throwing around forces humans weren't meant to handle, it didn't seem that big a deal. "Is that pack empty?" Cassidy asked. "Mind if I look it over?" she asked, extending a hand. She had a welcome present in mind. "And why," she inquired, hopping up onto another bench as she walked, enjoying being taller than Diego for a few steps before she gracefully stepped back down, "Would I want to watch out for the ghost? That ruins all the surprise."

Cassidy traced a finger down the scar on her face, an absentminded little tic she'd picked up God knows when. Presumably after she received the scar, that is. Diego was interesting. Skittish, a bit. Maybe the ghost did that to him-but she had a suspicion he was like that most of the time. And that simply wouldn't do-life was too short and far too interesting to spend one's time running from ghosts and going without cigarettes. Light up and go stare that motherfucker right in his undead eyes. "New, yes. Fresh off the boat, as they say. Alaska's interesting, although I'm not sure if this campus is an accurate representation..." she let her eyes wander over a boy who was breathing fire to impress a rather giggly girl. "Regardless, interesting, interesting. And ghosts, too. I don't think I'll get bored here."

Cassidy rolled over the empty cigarette pack (assuming, of course, that Diego will hand it to her) absentmindedly. She closed her eyes and took a few steps blindly, counting on luck and general common sense to keep her from crashing into anything for a moment. Closing one's eyes was interesting, there, because it was one of the few times it got totally dark-even in her room with the blinds drawn, Cassidy was convinced a little of the eternal daylight was tiptoeing in. She was sure she'd miss it come December. But this was neither here nor there; what was important was the pack of cigarettes in her hand, and the sudden, if not significant, rush of stamina that left from her. "Marlboros," Cassidy mused. "Or should I say Marlboro-looks like you only have one left." She handed the pack back to him, although it now contained a single cigarette in it. "Anyways, Mister Bellasquez, where are we headed? Assuming you have a destination in mind beyond 'away from the ghost'. Because it's normally much more fun when you don't know."

World War II, Marvel Mutated.

Awesome possum. Thanks!

Academy 218: Still looking for new people to join - now is the primetime.

I will accept Titus on the sole condition that a tattooed girl with an overactive shadow bullied the hell out of him back in Detroit.

World War II, Marvel Mutated.

Team player? Yep, he can follow orders (grudgingly, and perhaps slightly subversively, but he can do it). He may be pretty frosty, but he won't try and backstab anyone. He's got a sense of honor, warped though it may be. He's doing this for his nation and won't reflect poorly on them by ruining everything else.