Silver Carrot

The Astonishing X-Men

More students joined the group, and like her, nobody knew what was going on. There was little rhyme or reason to the group. Nothing that this particular group had in common that set them apart from other students. She ran through likely reasons this group had been assembled, and the possibilities diminished with every new face added to the group, and still nobody knew why. A field trip was unlikely, as that would likely be on a class or age basis, and would be announced a head of time. Field trips weren't drooped onto students without notice with a foster made up bu lottery, so Heidi dismissed that possibility. Heidi was massive Sherlock Holmes fan growing up, and line in particular had always stood out her. Of course nothing was impossible, and the illogical couldn't be entirely discounted, but she had modified the famous line into something a little more foolproof;

'When you have eliminated the illogical scenarios, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the most likely outcome.'

And it was increasingly becoming apparent that the most likely reason for their gathering was indeed X-men related. Heidi was beginning to get excited, and wore a slight smile. Thankfully she calculated that nobody would likely notice it. When Scott entered the room, Heidi was nervous, to find out whether or not she was right. Unfortunately, he wasn't standing still at the far end of the room, but in the middle of them, so Heidi had to move around the room as he talked, making sure she could always see his lips move. She felt very self-conscious about having to move around like this and many of the other kids must have wondered what she was doing. Her brain could make up for most deficiencies, and her grades had given her a reputation, but barely anybody knew she was deaf. She didn't keep it a secret, but word had spread directly proportional in volume to how much she ever talks about herself to others, I.E. nothing.

With Scott's glasses covering his eyes, and brow ridge, Heidi had to particularly pay attention to the rest of his face, and his body language, to discern his tone of voice. Despite this, she managed to understand fully everything Scott was saying. Anti-Mutant groups were having a surge in popularity, perhaps because it had been so peaceful and they sensed an opportunity. There was nothing Heidi could recall that would have set them off. What was worse, was that they had kidnapped children. Heidi had always been appalled by these extremists. In the same way that nobody despises Stalinism more than a Socialist, nobody despised Anti-Mutant groups more than the very Pro-Registration Heidi Williams.

Something that concerned her equally were that the Pro-Mutant protesters opposing these groups sounded as if they were invoking the name of the Brotherhood as if they were heroes. That was wrong. Terrorists bent on actual world domination were not heroes. This was exactly why Mutantkind needed the X-men. They needed Heroes who showed everyone a better way. The X-Men were the manifestation of the hope that mutants and humans could be truly equal one day. Heidi didn't find it puzzling that the Avengers weren't getting involved. They weren't bouncers or barrier security. Their purpose was to fight threats that nobody else could. Expecting them to help here instead of the X-men was like expecting the coastguard to help de-escalate a mid city hostage situation. It wasn't their job. It was ours.

Heidi knew what Scott was going to ask before he even asked it, and she was ready to say yes, but hearing it actually asked of her caused a well of emotion to come out of nowhere. This had been her childhood dream, and now it was becoming a reality. For her. Heidi Williams, aged 15. A super-genius who had no physical mutations to speak of. She had to hold back tears as she answered in the affirmative.

"I'm in, Mr. Summers. I'll try not to let you down."

♦ A New Era ♦ - A My Hero Academia RP

Maeda Hitomi

The butt-pinch was met with a rather loud meep, as Hitomi seemed ready to turned on Tomoe in an annoyed manner, before hearing that she'd been staring too much, whereupon she turned red and firmly attached her gaze to her own feet. "Ah, thank you, Tomoe. I didn't realize..."

When Tomoe started showing pictures of the cat-herding competition to Acion, the facial expressions of both alarmed Hitomi, and she practically grabbed Tomoe's phone and turned it towards her so that she the picture. She was shocked. "Tomoe!" she exclaimed. "Delete that picture right now!"

When Acion slapped himself in the face, Tomoe turned back towards him. Wait...did he...? Was he? That thought was embarrassing not no more embarrassing than the past minute had been. However, she didn't hate it. She didn't hate thinking about the possibility that she could garner the same reaction from Acion that she has herself felt that time Acion landed on her balcony in a tight t-shirt. It made her wonder if perhaps she had a chance.

Acion then went into detail about what he'd been doing. Or at least was going to, but didn't. His tone was also noticeably more somber thinking about the past events. "If it's important, I want to hear it, but if we should be discreet, maybe we should all head back indoors. Are you and your sister okay, though?"

@liferusher@Conscripts

---

Mako Akane

"Tell Kaida I was here and wish her well," Mako replied, getting up, before slipping a diary from her jacket pocket and looking into it for a few seconds, before chuckling. "Look at me, pretending I ever have plans...I'm free this Friday. Just name the place and time and I'l be there! Here's a card for Komei Academy's reception line. Nobody will ever answer that phone but me."

She placed the card on the table as she turned and left the hospital. During the drive back, she couldn't help thinking about many things. Jean was only one of them. This attack on Komei pupils. Dulga's desire for revenge. Donny's lack of regard for his safety and of those around him. Amane. This year was quickly growing into the most chaotic year of school she'd ever faced, and it was almost enough for her to stop enjoying it. Almost.

@Heartfillia

A Guild Adventure: An RP with Monster Girls! (ENDED)

George's admission that he didn't know who they were or how they found him sounded the alarm bells in Eilidh's head. She ignored George for now and approached Bast. "I'm starting to wonder if George was the one who gave the Guild this job," she said to him, discreetly. "He doesn't know who we are, why we're here, and wasn't prepared to pay us." As she listened to George's counter-offer, she tutted irritably. "I know how to get to the Shrine of Eros, but even so, we're taking George with us. If this endevour leaves us with more battle scars and still no money, we will have to sit down," She put her hand on our sword hilt for emphasis, "and have a long talk with him."

@PaulHaynek@Lmpkio@13org

CANCELLED.

_{Featuring: Charity Spencer and Jamie Callaghan
Location: Newspaper Room
Time: Wednesday, After school}

---

---

By the time Charity Spencer arrived at the newspaper room, she heard the printers whirring, and working hard. It was too early to print the whole paper, and Trixie would not have gotten Charity’s coverage of the party to the printers this fast. That meant somebody else was printing something, and by the time she entered the room, she knew it was Jamie before she saw him. She was glad to see him, and equally nervous about asking for his help.

”Hi, Jamie. Working hard as usual?” she greeted as she strolled over to the printers and read what he had printed, turning her back to him as she read because despite what Jamie might have thought about Charity’s reaction to such a gossip-bait piece, she was actually smiling as she read it. I mean, the content of the story was bad, but the only part Charity did not already either know or suspect was the good news; Owen didn’t cheat on Trixie, and they had a chance at getting back together. Charity didn’t really know Owen, and from his reputation, didn’t want to know, but Charity had seen firsthand the effect this drama has had on Trixie.

Charity was smiling for another reason, however. These skills, and this ability to stir the pot with a mere article could rival the Weekend Warrior’s, and those were exactly the skills she would need from Jamie. Here goes nothing...

”Hey, Jamie? Could I ask you a favour? Well, it’s more of a proposition for a story, but it’s for a friend of mine.”

Jamie grinned at Charity. He liked the girl, he did. Sure, she was a bit of a Bible thumper, but she was a good writer, and she was dedicated. As someone working under him, that’s the best thing she could be. Well, someone soon to be working under him, if all went well. “Ask away,” he said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms, his blue eyes trained on the sophomore.

Charity took a deep breath to steel herself, and made sure the door was closed, before turning back to Jamie. ”Trent from the football team is blackmailing Miriam Archer into dating him. I don’t know what he’s blackmailing her with but I’d like to find out before anybody besides us hears about this. I also need help gathering any dirt on him that exists...Not what you were expecting me to ask, I know, but Miriam’s my best friend”

Jamie nodded, chewing his lip as he mulled over the request. Trent was an asshole, for sure. Trent was also an asshole who played football, so that meant he packed heat, though, that hadn’t stopped Jamie before. Miriam Archer was a nice girl, and while she might not be an obvious ally, Jamie knew there was a benefit to helping everyone. Sooner or later, he’d be grateful he came to her aid. Jamie leaned forward, his posture gone from casual and laid back, to all business.

“Alright, I’m in. Find out what Trent has on Miriam, and then find a way to get him to drop it. This isn’t gonna be easy. I’m sure he knows that you and Miriam are close, so it’ll be too difficult for you to earn his trust. Nobody tells me anything unless they want it in the paper, so I can’t go either. Our best bet is someone on the football team, someone who can talk to him without it seeming suspicious,” Jamie said, looking up at Charity, awaiting her response.

”I don’t want to risk getting a football team member involved unless I’m a hundred percent sure they won’t choose team loyalty over us,” Charity answered, shaking her head. ”I haven’t lost Trent’s trust yet. I think I could get him to at least divulge the information. I’m pretty sure it’s just information because if it was an object like a picture or something, Miriam would have told me he has a picture. I’ll look into who we could trust from the football team too, in case there is actually somebody.”

“If you say so. Just keep in mind, if he catches on to you, he’s gonna have his guard up. He might even take it out on Miriam.” Jamie paused for a moment, then a grin broke out across his face. “Trevor Wells. If you need someone from the team, it’s him. He’s well liked by just about everyone, and he can’t help but do the right thing. I wouldn’t tell him the whole story, but I’m confident you can figure something out. I’ll keep my ears open for anything that could help. I’m sure Trent has something we can use against him.”

”Thank you for helping. I mean it. I’m really out my comfort zone this, and I wouldn’t have known where to start.” Spoke Charity, bowing her head, before looking back at the printer. ”Nice story too, though it perhaps should have focused more on Owen and Trixie than on Ophelia and Hailey. This school could use more positive stories.”

Jamie nodded as Charity thanked him, and smirked as she shared her opinions on his piece. “You’re probably right,” he said, pausing for a moment before continuing. “The school could use more positive stories, except I don’t care what the school thinks of Owen and Trixie. Gossip is a weapon, not just here, but everywhere. The student body rooting for Owen and Trixie? Who cares. The student body seeing their HOT Girls tearing each other apart? Well, that’s useful.” Jamie said, shrugging.

Charity frowned as she looked into the middle distance, before looking back to Jamie and smiling. ”I suppose why Trixie needs the both of us, and I suppose it’s also why I asked you for help. But, what do you mean, it’s useful?”

“Hailey has power because the rest of this school gives it to her. They see her and her lieutenants fighting though, and maybe they reconsider who they want to give their power to,” Jamie said slyly. He wasn’t under any impression that he’d be next in line for the throne. If it was gonna be anyone who took Hailey’s place it would be Selena or Becca Helmsley, but either one was better than the Green Queen.

Charity nodded, and thought to herself for several seconds, contemplating Jamie’s words. While she didn’t really agree that any good would come out of the student body seeing HOT girl infighting, after all, Hailey didn’t have her position because people thought she was a wise and benevolent queen after all, she appreciated how much power the newspaper had, and why they played the ‘gossip girl’ angle so much. It was the same reason the Weekend Warrior had become such an important part of the BHHS infrastructure, possibly as much as the paper. Words can change the way people think. Charity would use this power to try to make people get along a little better, and to keep people happy, with her articles. But she could see that there was a game in progress, in which Trixie and Jamie were players but she was not. She wasn’t even a piece. And that filled her partly with pride, but for a brief moment, that revelation annoyed her.

”Alright, well,” she finally said. “I’ll find a way to chase up Trevor, but until then I’ll try to get close to Trent Thank you for your help, Jamie!”

“Any time.”

♦ A New Era ♦ - A My Hero Academia RP

Koizumi Seiko

Seiko watched Lysander talk with two 1A students, and listened in on their conversation. He quickly gathered that they were going to play a prank of somebody. As he continued to listen, he discerned the name of their target, and it was...Amane? Were they out of their minds?! And their ideas were either dangerous, or laughable, or both! Even Seiko would never challenge Amane in a fight, and he honestly believed he could beat most anybody in the school in a spar if he cared about fighting enough to ever spar. That's not to say he couldn't be pranked. These bakas just needed a better plan. Seiko chose this moment to step forward. He was still wearing the dress and makeup he had been waiting for the karaoke match, so anyone who didn't know him would see quite a cute girl approaching.

"Wow. That idea's even worse than the idea to fight Amane! It's clear you three can't be trusted to pull of a prank by yourselves. I'm Seiko, by the way. Koizumi Seiko," he gave a sly, challenging glance at Lysander as she continued, "The best wire quirk user in the school."

@Experiment 249@FamishedPants@Lucius Cypher

2k4: New Class

^{Featuring: Lhoris Araqen}

---

---

Lhoris sat up in bed, before letting herself yawn. She looked at the time. It was 7:30 AM. Getting out of bed, Lhoris threw on some of yesterdays clothes, her running shorts, and sneakers, and set out for a run around the campus. Very few students, even amongst the Chi houses got up this early, but then very few students were raised by traditionalists. Elves are forest dwellers, and even though Lhoris had never experiences the real Elf culture of old firsthand, she did take pride in her heritage and identity. One one hand, it was nice too see all the races so well integreated that it's hard to tell the difference culturally anymore. On the other, hunting with an Elven bow, alchemy, potions, woodcraft and Faeish folk songs were practised less and less as each new generation of Elves came into the world. And that was sad. These were core aspects of Elvish life and identity for thousands upon thousands of years, and it took barely a hundred for the Fae to abandon them in favour of guns, medicine, shopping, television and rock music. Not that there wasn't anything wrong with those things. They were just...human.

Lhoris would be the first to admit that she could not imagine her childhood without her slew of Nintendo consoles, or the television. Sabrina The Teenage Witch was a particular favourite of her growing up, showing another figure balancing modern adolescence with tradition and magic, and a talking animal companion. Plus it was hilarious. Her ancestors would be loath to find out that the first song Lhoris learned to play on the Ocarina wasn't a folk song like 'Laslarin's Lamemt' or 'White Doe of the River', but was instead 'Zelda's Lullaby'.

As Lhoris was running around the on-campus pond, she felt Eldred, her grey squirrel familiar, scurry up her leg and perch itself on her shoulder. She smiled at it as she ran, and it squeaked in a reply of greeting, settling itself down on the Elf's shoulder and enjoying the ride. She completed another lap before she returned to the Pi Chi building feeling refreshed and energised, and went up to her room. After showering, getting dressed, and doing her makeup, she made her way down to the communal kitchen wearing faded jeans, black boots, and a white tank top under a rather stylish leather jacket. Ever since she'd moved out of her parent's house last year, she adapted her fashion sense to reflect the modern world she was now joining. Elvish clothes had fashions and trends just as human and orc clothing did, she she didn't feel there was a particular 'traditional dress' for Elves despite her father's wishes for her to dress in green a lot. Lhoris hated green. She couldn't make it work with her. She preferred blue, but what she looked best in was black, and she knew it.

Revenant: A Sci-Fi Adventure (Always Accepting!)

An Unexpected Rescue

A collab between Crossfire & Silver Carrot

Qoorb faded back into consciousness, and looked all around themselves. Their ship's console was dead, yet there was still power, and the automatic emergency distress signal light was blinking. Good. That meant help was hopefully coming. How they could explain why they were so close to an aged derelict outpost, they didn't know. Their first order of business was to return power to the communications in case they were being messaged. They might even be missing a message happening right now! With a little re-jigging of the emergency battery lines, Qoorb now had a working communications circuit. All they had to do now was wait until rescue or death. There was something relaxing and zen about their very life being out of their control now, and they instead chose to look up and the remains of the attack above them...or would it be below, seeing as how from a gravitational standpoint, there were orbiting the derelict outpost upside down?

While...acquiring materials for their shop, Qoorb was spotted by some kind of pirate craft and disn't have to to leave or open comms before they were fired at and then promptly ignored, while the pirates looted the derelict dry. Not that Qoorb saw any of this on account of being knocked out, but he could see it now. The derelict was a carcass of its former self.

After one last check to make sure his suit was 100% sealed, Stryker set the anchoring system to the wall and attached the other end to his belt. The airlock door slid open and the sudden whoosh of air being sucked out of the docking bay filled his ears before being drowned out instantly by the vacuum of space. Stryker engaged his repulsor boots and slowly floated out towards the immobile escape pod of a single-occupant craft. The ship it has been installed in was nowhere to be seen, ditto for the vessel, or vessels that had attacked.

Stryker's HUD detected signs of life, even though he couldn't see anything through the small port-hole, so he slowly waved his hand in front of it. A gesture meant to mean 'stay calm, we'll get you out of here.'

He disconnected the anchor line from his belt and attached it to the hull of the pod with one of his tracking magnets. The captain wrapped one arm around the line and reached over with his free hand to his Wrist-com to activate the anchor's recall system, he simply held on as the line began to reel itself in, towing the escape pod at a slow and steady pace.

Once both Stryker and the pod were safely back inside, the airlock sealed shut and Stryker removed his helmet and radioed up to the cockpit.
"Tib? We're good, get us back on course."

He walked over the pod and cautiously knocked on the port-hole.
"Hey! You alive in there? I'm gonna open the pod."

Just in case the being inside was hostile, Stryker slipped one hand down by his holstered pistol, the only weapon he had on hand. With the other, he carefully eased open the cover of the emergency access panel and triggered the door lock override.

A Rek sat inside. Groggy and shaken up, but otherwise it looked ok.

"Hey, take it easy, not hostile. Do you understand me? Are you alright?"

The Rek nodded, breathing shakily. "Yes, I'm alright. Just very cold," it replied, before climbing out of the pod. Now that it was standing up, it was huge! It didn't take any offence at the gun. It may or may not be used to it. "My name's Qoorb. Thank you for rescuing me."

"Well we were passing by, couldn't exactly just leave you stranded." Stryker said "Call me Stryker, what are you doing this far out Qoorb?"

Qoorb looked around at their surroundings, taking in the details of the room they were in, before discerning from the color and state of this room that this was unlikely to be an Alliance, Military or Corporation vessel. It was lo-fi but not quite at the 'space dog' level of decrepit. This ship could likely be trusted to hear the truth without turning Qoorb in.

"I was, ah, searching a derelict outpost for salvage, when I was attacked. I'm assuming they were Pirates, because they cleaned out the derelict, and a scavenger wouldn't shoot anyone else down."

"And blew your ship to scrap. Yeah, sounds like pirates." Stryker said, considering the options here. They were already slightly behind schedule, but there could be consequences to revealing the true nature of the ship to a completely unaffiliated entity.

'Screw it' he thought 'Already picked up one stowaway.'

"Alright, so here's the deal. Me and my crew are en route to a job out past the edges of the Deadzone, and we've got a schedule to keep. We can give you a room, food, all the essentials, and once we're done out there, we can drop you off wherever you want to go, how's that sound?"

The Rek shook it's head. "You are very generous, but I do not believe in taking without giving back something. Is there any way I can assist you during my passage?"

"If anything comes to mind, I'll let you know, but for now, let's get you set up and get the doctor in to make sure you're ok."

Stryker motioned for Qoorb to follow him and led the way into the ship proper.

"Your hospitality is most generous. I've never experienced anything like it. I'm both thankful and a little confused." Qoorb remarked as they followed, taking in all of their surroundings as they did so.

"Well, the way I look at it, there's way too much bad in the universe. I've been party to much of it. An opportunity came up to do some good for a change, and I took it. Don't make me regret it. Ah, here we are."

He came to a stop in front of Room 10.

"It's one of the few free rooms we've got, our crew has sort of... ballooned up in the last day or so. I'll introduce you to the others later, we had a meeting scheduled to happen shortly, you're free to join us if you want. Let's see what else? Oh, galley's back that way, the door on the right just past the stairs and the elevator, and the bathrooms are just over there, end of the hall. I know that Rek are genderless, so I suppose I have to get ahead of this: It was an Alliance-built ship originally, and a little behind the times, so I'll have to apologize for the ignorance of my kind, what with the male and female rooms. Don't worry too much about that."

On that slightly awkward note, the captain looked around and slowly said
"So, uh, any questions?"

"Oh, nearly all other registered species are gendered. I take no offense. I just hope that my presence doesn't mean that the room system is too disrupted. I have no questions at present, and I will join the rest of your crew shortly to make introductions."

"Ok, sounds good, I'll see you in a bit then."

They bid farewell and Stryker headed off to remove his armor. As soon as he was back in the cockpit, he rolled his chair around to face away from Tibulass and used the resources available to start a search on 'Qoorb' looking for anything at all across public records, news articles, arrest records and active warrants. He may have shown the Rek kindness in saving it, but he wasn't going to let his guard down and assume everything was all good.

Over the course of an hour or so, his search turned up a high number of very minor infractions, most of which fell under the category of 'illegal scavenging.' There was also a single count of public intoxication that included a mug shot. It was a match to the Rek who was presumably resting downstairs.

"Story checks out." he said to himself. A small beep chirped out from the navigation console.
"And there it is, we've crossed over into Federation territory. Be extra careful now Tib, we can't get flagged en route to the system"

A Guild Adventure: An RP with Monster Girls! (ENDED)

Eilidh was frozen to the spot as the Gladiator died before her. Of course, she had no sympathy for the attackers. No matter the reason, there was no honor in several highly trained mercenaries ganging up and killing a lone merchant with no combat abilities. As a proud Centaur, she would gladly defend any lone non-fighter from these circumstances. Yet, his words still bothered her. First, she wanted to find out if they were true. Approaching George, she is both enraged and deeply embarrassed by his insinuation that they were Bast's harem! It was only her moment of stunned shock that allowed Titanica to reach him first. George was very lucky this was the case.

"George, the assailant I fought implied that you are a drug dealer. I think we are all owed an explanation after we fought and killed on your behalf, as well as an apology for calling us a....a harem!" Eilidh was bright red by the time she finished her outburst. Sex wasn't an easy to discuss topic for a race who had a more 'actions-over-words' relationship with it amongst themselves.

@PaulHaynek@Lmpkio

Tear the World Down

Peace of Mind

Silverwick

As soon as all of the attacking soldiers were slain, Fay's brain reverted to it's usual chemistry, and mere seconds later, Fay was on her knees, throwing up behind a wall. She's just taken the lives of three men, but although this was upsetting her, she couldn't cry. She was trying to. She wanted to. But she couldn't cry. Maybe seeing so much death in the past had hardened her emotionally, but she'd always tried to save them. She'd never killed them herself, on purpose.

"Killing will get easier now that you've done it for the first time." spoke the voice in her head.

"It was easy. That's the worst part. Maybe it was what you did to me, but even though it's worn off, I know I could do that again, and that scares me. Murder shouldn't be easy."

"You are going to have to do a lot of things you do not want to in the coming days and months. Many more people will perish, some by your hand, and I will not alter your brain next time. This may not be what you want me to say to you, but it is what you need to hear. I have never been a sugar-coater."

"Thanks for the rallying talk," Fay thought back sarcastically, before she stood up and approached the rest of the chosen. As she did, she looked around and assessed the scene. Quoris was right, of course, and so was Fay. She had seen so much death that the bodies she had killed did not stir emotion from her. Besides, the soldiers were here to kill them. If anybody should feel guilty for the widowed wives and orphaned children, it was the soldiers. They chose this path. They chose to face danger. They chose to fight. The Chosen of the Legionnaires did not.

"Does anybody need medical attention?" she asked aloud.

The Young Avengers: Probation

Molly inwardly wished that new people wouldn't keep showing up. Just a tiny gap. That's all she asked for. Just a tiny gap to let her actually have a conversation, or leave, instead of being trapped in and endless cycle of handshakes and new names. It was just like when the not-yet-Runaways used to be forced to hangout during what she later discovered were ritual sacrifices carried out by The Pride. She quickly abandoned this train of thought because thinking about her parents, and about Alex, would make her melancholy. That wouldn't be a great first impression.

Molly shook Diego's hand, smiled, and introduced herself in a friendly manner, though the enthusiasm was wearing off. That's when Reese spoke up. She didn't show any reaction to seeing the helmet, but the moment he mentioned Nova Corps, her eyes lit up and her whole demeanor changed. "Ooh! I've heard of the Nova Corps! I had a friend called Xavin who had dealings and negotiations with them a lot before she came to Earth. She used to tell us the stories. She was Skrull royal family so was a diplomat a lot. If you know where she is now, please let me know."

Stop it, Molly. Don't get Melancholy. I know you miss her, but stay happy. Tell them all how you ended up here.

"I used to be in a team called The Runaways a few years back. We weren't strictly a hero team, but we did do hero stuff on occasion. We were really just a group of friends. We didn't even all have powers. Anyway, we all went our separate ways a few years ago, and I've been bouncing from foster home to foster home, whist trying to catch up with school. Then I get a call from Tony Stark a few days ago, and now I'm an freakin' Avenger!...Kind of. I'm a mutant, and as I think everyone but Diego has seen, my power is super strength. I'm also invulnerable. At least, as far as it's ever been tested."

@McHaggis@Silence Sounds@SlimJim@Bee