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9 yrs ago
I started Ouran today....

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Mary Sue Sullivan and Andy Drummond




Andy had decided that reading was a punishment made specifically to make her suffer. Not only was reading hard enough with the letters jumping around the page, but the words were also hard. She spent half the time looking at a dictionary when she was in the library. It probably would be easier on her computer but she still had an old-fashioned way to study. She had grown up during the transition and tech now was even more advanced than it had been the last time she was in school. So sitting with the physical books sometimes made her feel like she wasn't spinning out of control. Even if she wished she could just have the books read to her. All of that combined and it made her Physical science class's upcoming presentation about a geological epoch a trudge.

Though Mary Sue was making a concerted effort to study less, and enjoy her time at school a bit more, she still frequented the library. For one, she liked it, a lot. It was big, and quiet, and people for the most part were easy enough to avoid when she didn't have the energy to be around them. For another, it was a part of a bit of a social hack she made up in her head. She had what she viewed as conflicting goals; get closer to people, and continue to work on making herself a better. The easiest way to do both these things at the same time would be to study in public, and what better place for that than a library? It was with that spirit that she reacted when she saw Andy, who seemed to be working on... Something. She figured she'd say hi and hope she wasn't bothering too much in doing so. Pulling up a chair across from the young girl's mini dragon horde of books, she gave a wave and said, "Heya! How've you been? We need to do another movie night soon!" A part of her was sure that was clunky or somehow too direct, but Andy felt like a direct kind of person.

Andy looked up a little startled. "Oh, hi" She smiled brightly. "Yeah, that was fun. I'd be down for another movie night." Andy sighed and leaned back in her chair happy for this excuse to look away from the books and notes and attempts at making words make sense. She rubbed her eyes. "What brings you here?" It was a dumb question. Why would anyone come to the library but for study material? She was surprised at how well-used the library was, and it was not a small one either. There were a lot of books here of all sorts. That reminded her she needed to ask Mads for help with some magic stuff for the Eldritch Magic class.

Mary Sue blinked for a moment, realizing that the correct answer to that question was not "To maximize her capacity for studying and socialization". Instead of saying something like that, she instead rubbed the back of her head and said, "Well, honestly I was looking to see if we had any records on the previous Contests of Champions." She admitted, not wanting to make it seem like she was trying to talk about team things with Andy per say, "I figure the best way to know what to expect is to see what winning teams have in common, you know?" With their team practices, Mary Sue felt like she was in good enough shape, with a solid enough grasp on what she could do with her powers, so now she wanted to hone more and more of the non-physical things that would lead her to success. "What about you?"

"An essay about a geological epoch." Andy shrugs, she shifts some of the books so there is room at the table for Mary Sue. "Yours sounds more interesting, and probably more interesting than writing about sandstone." Andy smiles. "I don't know much about the history of the Contest. Other than the Young Avengers were the winners last year." Andy thought they might have been the winners the year before that too, but she didn't know for certain. "It's funny, I'm normally super competitive and would be diving headfirst and fully into something like the Contest. But because of school..." She waves her hand gesturing to the books in front of her. She frowns a bit, trying to consider how to explain how little schooling she really had had before coming here. "I don't know I want to do well in classes and graduate." Andy's goal for coming to this school, other than spending time with Zari, was to learn how to protect her mother...or maybe better put the world from her mother. She didn't plan on becoming a hero. She had one job, to keep Selene from escaping her prison. But her whole life couldn't really be dedicated to that. She needed to eat.

Mary Sue rested her head on her left hand for a moment, and gave a small hmm. She wanted to do well at everything, and a part of her knew that she couldn't but the idea of not pouring everything she could into all her goals just didn't fit right in her head. She understood prioritization though. "I think..." She started to say, and then paused to think. She wanted to help Andy, but she also wanted to make sure any advice she gave wasn't tailored to her own interests. she wanted to tell her to focus on the competition, because that's what was important to her, but she knew in her heart that that wasn't fair. "I think you need to focus on the things that will make you happy in the long run. I want to be a hero and I want to save people, and I think for me that means the Contest is like, super important." She said carefully, "But! I also spend a lot of my free time studying, and if you ever want a study partner, maybe we could help each other out." She offered, smiling.

"I appreciate that." Andy smiled. "I don't care about being a hero. I'm here mostly 'cause of Zari. The Contest is cool and all, but because of it, I'm getting behind in classes. After this, I have to read a hundred pages, work on a presentation for Ancient History, and do a practice sheet for Geometry. All of my previous schooling did not prepare me for this." A major understatement. Andy smiled a little. She hadn't smiled a lot when thinking of her life pre-Zari. She found humor in the changes at least. "What are you studying? I know we aren't in any classes together." Andy probably wouldn't have even noticed Mary Sue if not for being on the same team. Was it weird that students in different years were on the same team? There weren't a lot of freshmen who had made it this far even.

"Uh, normal classes are CS, Art, American history and Philosophy." She said, blinking for a moment. It always struck her as weird that she had to focus on America so much, but so much of modernized superheroics really did center around the actions of that country. "The more interesting ones are Combat, Strategy, energy constructs, super heroics, and gymnastics. What about you?" She had felt like she'd learned quite a lot from her more specialized classes than her normal ones; something about the amount of self discovery she had to go through to really be comfortable with the mechanics and utilization of her power.

Andy smiled, she didn't know what CS was and wasn't about to ask. "I'm taking, Classic Literature, Geometry, Physical Science, and Ancient History for the standard classes. Then the fun ones as you put it are, Elemental Manipulation, Advanced Battle Strategy, Eldritch Magic, and Combat 301." Andy leaned back a little bit thinking. "I can help you with Combat and Strategy. I don't think I could help with any of your normal classes." Her last American History class had taken in while going to Northwood and that school had not been ..uh...good. "That is if you want help from me. I mean." She tacked on quickly. Not wanting to assume that Mary Sue wanted or needed her help. "Mads has been helping me with Eldritch Magic." She wasn't certain why she added it, but it was her way of saying she was happy to get help. That she wasn't afraid to ask. Help was sometimes needed and there was no shame in that. Andy had learned that when the Drummonds had taken her in.

Mary Sue's interest was peaked, "Honestly, I'd be interested in hearing what's covered in Eldritch Magic." She said, her tone incredibly curious. Magic was a thing that she knew existed, but hell if she knew how it worked. "I'd love to get a hand with Combat, I just... still not used to fighting." She admitted. "But, maybe I can give you a hand with Classic Lit. I kind of read a lot growing up, there's a good chance I've at least read anything you're working on in class." She offered. It was true, after all; one advantage of an isolated childhood is that there's lots of time to read.

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Mary Sue Sullivan

Location: Stark Hall, 4th floor stairwell.
Skills: N/A




Life had become so much recently, and Mary Sue was beginning to be worried that something would have to give sooner or later. The was what she wanted, but god it was a big ask to have her squeeze four extra hours into her schedule. Being pulled from class sounded so cool on paper, but when you realize that the work doesn't go away because you aren't there to do it, it becomes the exact opposite of that. Still, she persevered. Her stress was high, but she was barely rested for this. To call her on edge would be an understatement, but it made her more alert, or at least she hoped. This year was turning into a trial by fire, but she hoped that surviving it would burn away the parts of her that weren't enough to begin with.

Taking a step outside of her dorm, she let the door close quietly, wanting to not even risk waking her roommate, for fear of some spited reprisal. Cutting curfew, at this point, was actually not that uncommon of her, if only because she often found herself out late studying. Taking a deep breath in, she started her way down the hall, and slipped into the stairwell, not wanting to take the elevator down for fear of running the risk of alerting anybody that she was out of her room. She needed this extra practice time more than anything; it was essential to her team having the slightest chance of winning against the Young Avengers.
Mary Sue Sullivan

Location: Andy's room -> Hallway
Skills: N/A
Costume: Avenger's academy uniform



Mary Sue's anxiety spiked when Zari left; had she done something wrong? Was there a social cue she missed, that she was maybe supposed to have left the two of them alone? Did people... really just suddenly have to leave sometimes? She had no idea, but it was almost everything she had to try to make sure that this worry and stress was not apparent on her face. She didn't want Andy to think she was some kind of weirdo who couldn't take a person leavi9ng her vicinity without going into a full blown meltdown, but she was having a difficult time processing the situation.

Taking a deep breath, she leapt at the opportunity to take some space to herself. She nodded quickly and stood up, saying "Yeah, I'll be back in a few." And stepped out the door, trying to block out the thought that maybe she'd come back and find the door not opening for her. The space she had now gave her the room she desperately needed to feel and embody her emotions, which would maybe help her not seem like a total freak in front of her new friend. She just wanted to be able to sit with a girl and watch a movie; why did this have to be so difficult?
Mary Sue Sullivan

Location: Cafeteria
Skills: N/A
Costume: Avenger's academy uniform



Mary Sue listened to Andy's answers, and couldn't help but feels a twinge of jealously. She had good, cozy moments like that with her parents; she loved them dearly and was grateful for what she had. A life like the one Andy was describing sounded almost idyllic in its own way. It triggered a nostalgia for a past that did not exist, as odd as that sounded. Mary Sue just smiled back, saying, "That sounds really nice." Not having words to put all her feelings into words in that moment.

Stepping into Andy's room, Mary Sue quickly took the task of helping set up, making sure there was a space for everyone to sit. She didn't want to intrude of Andy's space, but this was a thing they were all doing, not just a thing Andy as doing for them, and she wanted to make sure to contribute. She was really excited to get to do this, and you could tell by looking at her. One way or another, she just couldn't keep herself still at the moment; this was one of the first things she was able to do that was just fun since she got here.
Mary Sue Sullivan

Location: Cafeteria
Skills: N/A
Costume: Avenger's academy uniform



Mary Sue was very pleased with herself; getting them to leave the space full of people and music and so much stuff would hopefully be better for Andy, but it would almost certainly be better for Mary Sue. Concerned as she was for her friend, she also still wasn't in the best place, and getting everything to just slow down for a few moments would almost certainly help her recenter and process what had happened earlier. Taking one look back at the Haunted House, she frowned, still unsure as to exactly why such a thing would be around students, even if they were meant to be heroes.

Mary Sue raised her eyebrows at the idea of watching a black and white movie. She knew films used to be like that, and she wasn't against consuming something just for it being old, but it certainly felt like a weird choice. "How'd you get into movies like that?" She asked, not even really able to imagine what would possess somebody their age to try watching anything that ancient. There were just so many more, newer things to be preoccupied with.
Mary Sue Sullivan

Location: Cafeteria
Skills: N/A
Costume: Avenger's academy uniform



Mary Sue had a few things she was apparently pretty good at. She could think well on her feet, she was creative, and she'd obtained a kind of hypervigilance that made her very good at adjusting her responses and reactions on the fly. At this point, that last part of her wasn't something she cared for; it made her feel almost monstrous, and it was probably where her anxiety stemmed from, but at this particular moment, it was the thing that told her her new friend wasn't quite right. Though Andy was smiling and speaking of movies, her hands were unsteady. Something had hurt her.

Mary Sue gently placed her punch down, and thought carefully. Andy was hiding something right now, and there were two reasons, broadly, that people would refuse to say why they weren't doing well. They were either like Mary Sue, and scared of taking up space and making themselvescost something, or they didn't feel safe to do so. She thought she had a solution that could deal with either situation handily, or at least tell her what she was dealing with. Direct confrontation might upset Andy more, so instead, she agreed with Zari, "I think going to find movies; or watch one if Andy has any handy that she wants to share, could be fun! What do you wanna do, Andy?" Mary Sue gave her best friendly grin at her. She was confident she could make this girl feel better, and honestly? Solving somebody else's problems was exactly the kind of distraction she needed right now.
Mary Sue Sullivan

Location: Cafeteria
Skills: N/A
Costume: Avenger's academy uniform



Mary Sue smiled, she knew it was weird of her to ask, but she was feeling insecure, and hiding that felt borderline impossible at the moment. She had no idea what to watch, but she winced for a moment at the thought of getting anything that could give her flashbacks to what she just experienced. "Uh... I want to I think, Just no gore?" She said, flinching a bit at the thought of seeing anything that involved mutilation or even blood. Truth be told, that was far from the worst part of that haunted house, but it seemed like the most likely thing they'd encounter in a horror movie that she had to be worried about.

Beyond that, she really didn't know that much about horror as a genre, so she asked, "What kind do you like?" She was a little curious how much variety horror had; people were scared of all kinds of things, so she figured there must be a lot. A part of her thought that finding out what Andy liked would tell Mary Sue about her, and Mary Sue wanted to know about her teammate and friend. She wondered, briefly, if Percy would be interested in joining, but girl's horror night seemed like a fun thing to start doing, and so she resolved that she'd try to find some other time to spend with Percy. Now that she'd made it into the Contest, maybe she could make more time for friends. As she was thinking about this, she grabbed a cup of punch and sipped from it slowly; sugar was good for her right now.
Mary Sue Sullivan

Location: Cafeteria
Skills: N/A
Costume: Avenger's academy uniform



Mary Sue couldn't imagine having enjoyed the experience she had just gone through in the way Zari had, or even having the retrospectively positive view that Andy seemed to. She knew there was a lesson for her in the ordeal she'd experienced, but the memory hurt. She'd maybe be able to reflect with time and space, but certainly not now. She just wanted to put her mind absolutely anywhere else. She knew there was a commotion behind her, somebody also having a hard time, and a part of her thought about breaking off to go help, but that sounded far too difficult.

"Would it be okay if I joined you two for that drink?" Mary Sue was honestly not sure if that was an okay thing to ask, she'd never reacted like that around anybody before, and a part of her wasn't sure if they were tacitly asking to be left alone or not. If they were, she'd let them go, but already she was doing the calculation making sure to seem okay enough to be on her own. She didn't want to pressure them, if only because then she'd seem needy and her friends might not want to be her friends any more. Still, she very much didn't want to be alone right now.
Mary Sue Sullivan

Location: Cafeteria
Skills: N/A
Costume: Avenger's academy uniform



Mary Sue flinched at people rushing to her side, and every impulse in her headed was screaming for her to take some measure of control over herself. She was stuck with the idea that people seeing her like this, where she was broken, and a mess, and unable to curate every external emotion and response was the sort of thing that would ultimately make people not want to be around her, leaving her alone again. It was a terrifying thought, but even the deepest of fears could not dry tears. Her head was pounding, and her tears didn't stop, but she had regained a modicum of control over her mouth.

Drying what she could, she coughed, and tried to mumble out some kind of assurance that she was fine, but found words caught in her throat. The blood and horror of that was gruesome and painful and horrifying in its own right, but that idea of her; somebody who could be anybody, seem any way she wanted or needed to be; it was god awful. It was inhuman, and she knew she saw that monster in herself. That was not a trick of the nightmare, it was a capacity she was certain she had, and she didn't know what to do with that. Struggling to her feet, and looked at Andy and Zari, almost pathetically. "I'm... sorry." She didn't know if she was for her throwing a fit, or for a deep inauthenticity she was now acutely aware she possessed, but it was true. "I'll be okay, I promise." She said, specifically to Zari, though her eyes were still puffy, red, and wet.
Mary Sue Sullivan

Location: Cafeteria
Skills: N/A
Costume: Friendship



Mary Sue shrugged at Zari, if Zari wasn't serious about winning the competition, that was her prerogative, she supposed. Until their team could function as a unit, they'd always be worse than they could be. She didn't say it but she was relieved; she wanted to see how far she could go. A world where she, as a first year, helped stage an upset in the Contest, was one where she thought she might just be happy, at least for a little while. She needed to feel like it made sense for her to be here, and she still didn't, even with he knowledge of her power changing, even with everything she's done so far.

Entering the haunted house, Mary Sue steeled herself, but there was a pit in her stomach, flinching when she realized that she was very suddenly alone. She flinched from the shock, but quickly tried to take her her surroundings; a large cavern permeating the walls, stretching on for almost forever, holes of all sizes permeating the walls, but a clear path forward in front of her. She was twitchy from the sudden loss of Zari and Andy, but she tried to keep her mind sharp; this was safe... right?

Walking through, she felt as if she was being watched, as if every action she took was being calculated against. Her heartrate was rising quickly, and she nervously looked behind her shoulder to see nothing of not behind her, only to turn back and see a perfect copy of herself with a kind smile on her face. Jumping back, Mary Sue was ready to fight, but everything, the quick look of concern, the extending of hands, the open posture, told her that the person in front of her wasn't a threat. Lowering her guard, she choked out a "What the hell is going on?"

"Beats me!" The copy of herself responded, staying still for now, apparently not wanting to be the first to approach. "I started existing a few minutes ago..." A look of worry crossed her doppelganger's face "The house seemed to really mess up everyone else, maybe it's going to hurt me instead of you." She offered, and Mary Sue's face was filled with fear and remorse. Was that the idea? Torture her without every hurting her. She couldn't imagine something worse for a hero, but to helplessly watch as somebody is damaged in the most fundamental of ways.

"Well... let's make sure that doesn't happen." the young hero tried, closing the distance between the two of them, "We're heroes right? We save people." She rested a hand on her clone's shoulder, and forced a smile. "So I guess I just have to save m-" She started to say, but was interrupted by the shooting pain of a sword running through her gut. Almost more distracting than that though, was the almost melodic giggling of the copy in front of her, as the weapon phased out of existence. "You know, I think that's what I hate about us the most. Not that we're naive, because God knows we aren't, but that we think we're better than everyone else." She said, her voice dripping with a level of content that was previously absent.

As Mary Sue staggered back, she turned to run, needing to take some kind of space to reassess the situation but she was a wounded animal being cornered by a predator. No sooner did she turned away did she find herself chained to herself. "See, this is what I mean," her tone has taken to condescension, and she continued on as Mary Sue glared, and clutched her stomach. "Everybody who's walked out of here has been scared out of their mind, and you still think you're going to walk through unscathed. You're so scared of failure, not because you can't take it, but because you could never prepare for an outcome that you don't believe is possible."

While she was being monologued at, Mary Sue had thought herself clever, and had managed to conjure a tunic around her waist, pulling the wound tight, and stemming the bleeding that'd been leaving her weak and dizzy. Bearing her teeth, she lunged towards this awful version of herself, only to quickly find her arm being held behind her back, and her body pulled up close. Her eyes widened and she struggled helplessly, a knife suddenly pressed against her throat.

"Listen to me." The command was curt, short, and accentuated by the cold steel threatening to end her life. "You're going to die here, and that's okay. It's expected, it's probably what's right for us in the long run, but for as long as I exist, I want you to remember this." The blade pierced her skin, and Mary Sue could feel the rush of cold air hit her throat at an angle that it never ever should. "You are not special for being worse. You can work as hard as you want, fight as much as you can, but as you are, you are poison. Either give up, or accept what you are, but never try to act in spite of yourself" These were the last words Mary Sue hear as she fell to her knees. This couldn't be happening, this wasn't ever supposed to happen. But it was, and as she spiraled into unconsciousness, all her pain was gone, and she found herself lying on the floor, out of the house. She almost couldn't move, instead staying where she was in the fetal position, tear pouring soundlessly from her eyes.
Mary Sue Sullivan

Location: Cafeteria
Skills: N/A
Costume: Avenger's Academy Student.



Mary Sue kept her satisfaction that dysfunction had infected Zari's team to herself, she knew that eventually, it could come down to the two of them against on another, and as much as she wanted friends, it was tempting to make sure she'd have the advantage. Her head was caught on a few potential vectors of conversation actually, and she didn't quite know what to do. One one hand, people generally like being agreed with, and reinforcing Zari's instinct to self sabotage rather than try to talk things through would probably make them better friends, but it also felt like encouraging that was actively bad. The tension in this choice effectively made it so Mary Sue was stuck, unable to come up with a response that didn't seem in some way fundamentally incorrect. There was visible discomfort on her face, but she finally landed on expressing sympathy.

"I'm sorry you're going through that with your team." She said, which was true, Mary Sue wanted to win, but she wasn't sociopathic. Turning her attention to the topic of the haunted house, Mary Sue would by lying if she didn't admit she had some amount of fear at the topic of going in there, especially after watching people come out of it. Maybe the thought process was that, if they were supposed to be super heroes, then the things that scared them needed to be serious? She guessed that was true, but it was still a lot to take in. "Yeah, if you have horror movies scarier than whatever's in there, I'm pretty sure they're not allowed here." She said, trying to make light of the thing they were planning on walking into.
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