Episode 5: When the Knights Go Marching In

[Gus]

Kate Barrett
​

Location: Among the tents, near the food trucks
Nearby: Richard Chase, Piper Farrar
@s ManicMuse Lioness075

While waiting for Mr. Chase to hunt down a press lanyard for her, Kate turned an appraising eye on Piper. She was a talented photographer, no doubt about that. Kate had seen her blog, and her eye for a visually compelling composition was stunning. The written portion, of course, could do with a good editor, but that was social media for you. A single pair of eyes was fine for photography, but for reporting? Perspectives worth reading needed multiple points of view for polish. She didn't know what she'd do without Bailey. And the guy that he'd put her in touch with for help with her novel? Unbelievable. Behind every great journalist or author, a great editor stood in the shadows, unsung and unremembered, but vital to the process. Youth of today just don't seem to understand that. Then again, maybe it was just youth. Period. She'd been green once too...

Maybe Piper would like to team up for the day? She leaned in and spoke confidentially.

“Hey there Piper. You might not know me, but I know you. I love your photos. Really great stuff. I have a bit of discretionary funds as part of my expense account for the paper. Would you be interested in selling any of your shots from today to my paper to go with my story? Up to you, but I guarantee it will pay more than blogging them.”

 

[Necessity4Fun]

Kendrick Haywood

​

Location: AEGIS Facility 108 - Exam Area
People Around: Sam, Ivor Blecher (the driver)
Exam Team: Snowglobe

Interactions: Lioness075
Additional Team Tags: Gus , ViAdvena

Today's Toys: Ted, Spiral, Lieutenant George, Humphrey and Millie.

I'm...actually enjoying myself right now.

"I am well aware of that.", Kendrick had replied with a nod of his head agreeing with Sam's statement about sprinting to 108 on time. "Mustn't mention the fact that I went to search for her anyway...", a thought had complemented, despite him not fully grasping the reasons behind his own actions yet.

The girl's take on group spirit for this exam was a bit bleak, yet completely realist. There was always the possibility that in the heat of the moment their egos would resonate stronger and it would become a 'every man by itself' situation. Maybe if they had been able to choose the members, instead of it being such a chaotic selection, teamwork would have a larger probability of survival. Still, it was an exam and it was not a race. Surely teamwork could prove to be an advantage and prevail, perhaps, for not so pure intentions:

"I wouldn't be so sure about that... We have a bunch of teenagers with the simple goal to reach the end, but the rules say they must do so together. If they won't do it for the team, they could at least do it for themselves. Mutual-gain. You'd be surprised at what kinds of things human beings agree to, and all to have just a diminutive, almost insignificant, raise over their probability of succeeding. It rarely is a pretty sight...", he sighed with a slight tone of melancholy. There he went again, reflecting on his 'family's ways'...

"Also. I certainly haven't met the student from the other facility before, but, I do know the rest of our team's members. I'm sure we will be fine.", he complemented it in an attempt to distract himself, doubting his own words.

Sam bursting out in laughter after his oath had been certainly unexpected. Seeing the girl apparently mock something he had always considered with the utmost importance and seriousness was so disrespectful! His expression had changed into one of extreme indignation with a speck of anger as he shouted 'WHAT'S SO FUNNY?!' at her. Luckily for Sam, the follow-up explanation had arrived just in time to stop the boy from entering rant mode. Because damn, it would have been as long as a university's essay otherwise.

"Oh.", the teenager had let out, soon giving out an awkward laugh, "You're right... It has absolutely no weight to you. And why would it?! It's not like you're entitled to understand it by default.", he sighed, this time a light one in a 'if we can't help it' manner, "Very well. Then allow me to say it again: This is a favour and you won't be charged. I swear it, by my own name.", that...had been oddly satisfying to say.
...
"Since we're in the subject of names... May I request that we drop the Kenny thing, please?"

"Master Kendrick, we have arrived at facility 108", the driver had announced, letting the pair know that they had not only arrived at the location, but had already parked.

"Thank y- Aaah! What the heck are you're doing?!"

Taken by surprise over the girl's reckless leap out of the vehicle Kendrick had nearly jumped out of his seat, once his attention had been directed back at Sam. This type of 'run before anything' behaviour was exactly how things went wrong in the first place!!

"You didn't even wait for Ivor to say anything?!", he reprimanded her, "What if we were still moving?! This could have ended badly, for God's sake! Then we would have to take you to a hospital instead!", the boy face-palmed and shook his head, "I can't believe someone can be this negligent... Would it hurt to just wait a little longer?"

"Hurry up, slowpoke! We need to find our teammates. It looks like everything's already starting!"​

"Apparently it would..."

He rolled his eyes before getting from his seat. Sam's ability WAS superspeed, but that didn't mean she had to run everywhere! There was no way everything and everyone would be at the same pace as her, she would have to learn to be patient at some point:

"Fine. Not up for running at all before the exam even starts, but sure.", Kendrick had replied while picking his backpack up from the vehicle floor, "You're aware this is not a race, right?"

Upon turning around to finally exit as well, the teenager caught sight of the ripped surface of the seat cushion in the opposite row. Argh, whoever had been in charge of washing the car last time had completely forgotten to put the seat protectors back! Repeating over and over 'It's okay, it's just the seat cushion. It's not that expensive.' mentally, the boy tried to not panic over this. If it came to that he could just lie about it and say it was him doing...something. Ah, he would have to come up with a believable reason! But, later. He had an exam waiting.
Stepping outside. backpack on, Kendrick carefully closed the Mercedes' door and nodded at the driver, giving him the permission to leave as soon as they left. Then he looked at Sam and said in a teasing tone:

"Okay then, Miss 'hurry up'. Where do we go now?"

 

[Necessity4Fun]

​

Location: AEGIS Training Facility 108 - Exam Area
People Around: Melody and Library Lady >> A green eyed boy my height (Hadrian), a man in glasses (Anthony), JJ and the angel from above (Lara)
Exam Team: Celestial Body (Unaware)

Interactions: AllHailDago (She was right there and was mentioned, so it counts right?) Lioness075 , Gus , Malikai
Additional Team Tags: yoikes , The J

*wondering what she had been called for*

"A nice car? Where?!"​

As soon as the librarian had mentioned a pretty car, Juliana had leaned forward, searching for it with the utmost curiosity. Luckily for everyone, she was stuck to the seat by her seatbelt and didn't actually lean all that much. Upon seeing the vehicle in question she had stayed silent for a moment, analysing it as best as could from where she was:

"It IS a cool looking car!", she agreed at first, "I don't think it sends the message straight tho. To really show off it's whole potencial they should at least have made it a Rouge color. Nothing says 'fancy car' better than painting it red. Of course, less cherry red and more carmine, maybe burgundy. Don't recommend going towards ruby in this situation tho... Too dark, not enough red tones.", she shivered just by imagining the uglyness of the Mercedes in front of them in ruby, or worse, falu red. Ugh, what a terrible mental image to have!

The library lady was no fun! After having been told to not mess with the radio, Jú had pouted and huffed. Boriiiiiiing~ What did this woman want her to do then? Stay in silence?! That was the most ridiculous thing ever!!

"Laaaaaame~ Aww come on! I won't put it that high, promise!", the girl insisted, "Be honest, can you really think of anything else while you drive? Those things need attention and focus, ya know? Ya wouldn't drive us while being distracted, would ya lady?"

While chit-chatting with the driver, the Brazilian teenager had already been discreetly reaching for the radio anyway. Distraction was a method that always worked with Marcelo. The man hadn't learned all of her tactics yet and Jú hoped he wouldn't for a while. It was extremely entertaining to play around like this.
Sadly for her, the ride hadn't been nearly long enough for the completion of her plan:

"Balls! I was so close!", she complained while getting out of the car. Just a little bit more and she'd have had it on her favorite pop music station... At least they hadn't all been in silence for the entirety of the thing, that would had been true Hell...

"Huh?", Jú blinked trying to recall what the librarian had just said to her, since she hadn't been paying attention, "Oh Yeah, yeah I guess I can follow you. Wish the mermaid could come with us tho, I like her... She's interesting.", she mumbled. Melody was entertaining and Juliana was already completely attached to her. She simply couldn't wait for both of them to go shopping together!

That's when she heard someone she didn't know calling for someone she did know! Amazed by the sight of the winged flying girl, the Brazilian girl let out a low 'Woa' as she reached for her cellphone to take a photo. Or several as it had turned out to be... Having lost track of what she was supposed to be doing after the spectacle, Jú recalled that the angel from above had been calling for JJ... Oh, shorty! She should pass over there and give him a hello!! Not long after she had already decided to move in that direction, a new voice, a strangely familiar voice that she couldn't quite place from where, shouted out Jeremiah's location... And then it also called for her?? What?
Without saying anything to either of the people she had been with before, Juliana took off in a dash through the parking lot and towards the direction where the voice had said her name, yelling back at it from far as she approached:

"My name! That's my name! I'm Juliana! Hello~!!!!", she waved middle dash, until she had finally reached a small group merely taking a moment to recover her breath, "Yay, it's JJ! How are you, dude? I just came to say hi. So, hi.", Juliana giggled.
"But seriously, was any of you looking for me? I heard my name but I couldn't see who it was from there... Oh-Oh! Are we going to do something fun and you decided to call me because I'm like the fun expert?! ...I can't really think of any other reason you would call me... Oh! Maybe make-up advice?! Men can use make-up too you know, just not as much as I do..."

 

[Natealie]

"I mean, I'm pretty sure that they wouldn't make someone who just started up here take the final exam. That would be pretty unreasonable." Nix laughed a bit in response to Cecelia's question. "If there's any way that I can help you guys out though, I'd be happy to." They offered. Most of it was genuine, but at least a tiny part was due to a fear of not being useful enough to these people who were accepting them.

Cecelia's parents seemed nice and so Nix responded to them with a bow and an introduction. "It is a pleasure. I am Nix Chrysanthemum. I just met your daughter and honestly she's already one of the nicest people I've ever met here." They smiled again. No lies were necessary, Nix was just being honest.

"Oh Lara, if you'd like I can help you look for the-" Nix began, ready to offer their assistance. They however were unable to seeing as the girl they were trying to talk to was presently airborne. Nix was reminded just how impressive everyone else here was by comparison to themself. But they wouldn't let this get them down. If anything, this was their chance to finally make some friends! Nix refused to lose it!

Lioness075 Necessity4Fun

 

[Swoob]

eden trammel​

At Pier

With The Suspicious Eye Damafaud

OOC sorry this took so long, i held onto it for a while and then restarted my computer and lost it. if it feels scatterbrained its cus i had to cut things short to get to where we are rn

"Try being a terrible team player in a team building exam. I'd take org any day." Eden turned to the origin of the line, a rather feminine-looking girl with green hair. I'd take org any day. Holding back a wince, he was forced back to the days of his elementary school, his backpack zipping or teleporting away from him, turning cold and hot over and over again, the laughter and the chants, "useless org."

He managed a shaky grin and laughed. "Yeah..." However, before he could salvage the conversation or ask her name, she waved a goodbye and escaped into the crowd. Another world closed its doors, and Eden shrugged and continued looking for his team in the jumbled explosion of students.

"Hey!" a voice shouted to him, jumping over the heads of the other students. "Pinkieee! Over here!" Craning his neck, Eden saw the top section of a head similar to a picture he saw in his team roster. Smiling, he pushed through the crowd and found the boy.

"Hey, you're Aid Ward, right? On Team 6?"

 

[Damafaud]

Aid Ward
Event Area
Nearby: Pinkie ( Swoob )

He was satisfied with himself as he saw Pinkie approached him. He forgot the face of everyone else in his team, and didn't bother to remember their name at the first place. So, he focused himself since the start to look for the easiest one to remember, and the one that stood out in a crowd.

Pinkie was definitely taller than him by two heads or three, sepending on whose head you use to count. Aid sometimes wish his power let him becomes taller. But then again, a ghost of a smile touched his lips as he remembered about the challenge, his power would give him so much fun for the exam! "Tepat! You must be Pinkie from Team 6. Nice to meet you, " he extended his right hand for a hand shake. Pinkie look fun to tease, he thought to himself.

As Aid initiated in the conversation, his mind started to whirl. He wondered if Pinkie knew about his power? Would he be confused or panicked if he suddenly disappeared into the ground? A thousand different questions bubbled up in his mind, but he bottled all of them inside. He couldn't answer them himself, but some of them won't be fun if asked. Instead, Aid slipped out a question that was safe to ask without exposing his mischiveous intention.

"Pinkie, what's your power? "

 

[Transparent]

Location
Raymond's Apartment
Present
Raymond & Lucas
Mood
Still What The Fuck
@'s
Gus

'Great, dudes fuckin' nuts...' Raymond thought to himself as he stared, expressionless, at the man on the floor. On the bright side, he now knew that the man spoke English, which might make things easier in his current state. Raymond stood and started towards the man with his hands outstretched and palm down, trying to look as non-threatening as he could manage. "Alright buddy, relax. I don't know what just happened to you but if I had to guess then I'd guess it wasn't good. You need to take it easy and relax." He started, trying to sound soothing and calm.

Raymond cast a quick glance around the disarray that filled his apartment. It was an absolute wreck, but it was all his shit and he'd be pissed if something were to happen to it all. Raymond looked back to the man, determined to keep the situation calm. "Can you tell me who you are? Remember anything? Everything right in the dome?" he asked as he slowly drew closer.

 

[Zahzi]

Hunter Red Ward

Location: Facility 108 Dry Docks; Pier
Nearby: --
Disposition: Why didn't I fake being sick today..?

"Hunter, hey. I need your help with something. Could you meet me at the Pier?"

While most were busy with either setting up the exam for the students, or trying to game the system to pass whatever psychotic exam had been proposed against them.
Hunter, however. found himself on the Pier as per Swan's request. Now, had it been anyone else, there would have been a very good chance he would have just ignored them. But because it was Swan, one of the few people who remembered the chaos from years before, knew Hunter's actions, and was still fine with the idea of asking favors from someone with his rapsheet? Well,it would be rude to just ignore what he wanted.
Even if it was probably a pointless endeavor.

Red stared out at the bridge on the horizon that he had helped fix some time ago. The structural integrity wasn't even a question at this point, nor to the hundreds of drivers coming and going from it every few minutes.
He reached into his pocket, retrieving his phone to look at the time. Hopefully Swan would be punctual and quick with whatever he couldn't say over the damn phone. He still had to set up his personal touches onto the monstrosity of an exam, after all.
That reminded him.

He tacked away at the phone before bringing to his ear.
"Bismark, make sure that the special piece borrowed from Baltimore's finest isn't being manhandled. If it is, I'm putting you through another training regiment."

A grin appeared on his face as he ended the call before his assistant could make any sort of protest towards the threat of minor annihilation.​

 

[AllHailDago]

Melody Elanna Vance

Location: Aegis
Current Mood: Awestruck yet intimidated
Current form: Human

Melody sat in mildly uncomfortable silence the majority of the ride to the school. The librarian, who had yet to introduce herself, was already seemingly nice enough. However there seemed to be a history of tension between her and Juliana. Which... actually wasn't that surprising when Melody thought on it. Juliana was extremely exuberant in her speech, and her mannerisms, and her.... just her. She didn't seem to be able to turn it off, which would understandably grate on a librarian's nerves. Which did show, as much as she seemed to be trying to pretend otherwise.

Thankfully they arrived at the facility shortly and nothing too sever happened. Melody got out of the car, shutting the door as softly as she could while actually getting it closed. She gazed around in awe, and admittedly a bit of nervous fear. There were just so many people it was rather intimidating to Melody. Especially when there were quite a few people making use of their powers in plain sight, which she was unused to outside of those using them for work purposes. She eyed one person flying above the crowd with a small amount of jealousy. Sure she could fly with several of the things she found she could become, but she hadn't yet figured out how to control which form she took.

Taking her eyes off the amazing if intimidating sights, Melody returned her gaze to the librarian and Juli- never mind she was apparently running off into the crowd. Melody blinked once at the suddenness of it, but otherwise already found it entirely within her character to do so. Melody edged up closer to the librarian out of fear of being left alone in a crowd like this one. "I'd be happy for the help if it isn't too much trouble," she said in regards to the woman's question of guidance. She was glad she offered, Melody would never have known how to ask.

Lioness075 Necessity4Fun

 

[Necessity4Fun]

The Pellegrinis

aTablitaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Edmondo

"Oh, so you're Lara! We heard a lot about you. Cecilia always looks so excited and happy talking about the time you spend together. She's really glad to have you as a friend, you know? She talks with such an admiration about how kind you are. You should see it, it's the cutest thing ever."

After the handshake, Edmondo had entered 'chatty parent' mode and oblivious to his daughter's embarrassment, shared literally everything Cecilia thought of Lara, to the person in question. Tablita watched from far in the start, hoping her husband was done for the sake of poor Cecil, who was red as a tomato by now. But then it got worse:

"...I'm just so happy for her...", the man sighed nostalgically before continuing, "Oh! Did you know she is dying to ask you and this other girl...Uhh what her name, Mitch? To join her for movie night in the apartment? I remember saying how much a good idea that soun-"

Spoiler: Translation

"Dear, I believe you've said enough. You're making Cecilia uncomfortable..."

"Oh! Oh, Forgive me, sweetie.

"You're incorrigible, aren't you?" "I don't think, there was ever any doubt about that..."

"Amore, Credo che lei've detto abbastanza. Si'ri rendendo Cecilia scomodo...", the wife had whispered in his ear, finally deciding to intervene and give the girl a rest.

"Oh! Oh, Mi perdone, caramella. Your old man went a bit overboard with it... ", he laughed apologetically, "...You forgive me, right?"

"Si'ri veramente incorreggibile, non siete voi?", Tablita teased him, pretending to be disappointed. "Indosso't pensiamo, che non vi è mai stato alcun dubbio su questo...", her husband shrugged.

Next, Nix had introduced herself with a bow, talking about how Cecilia had been one of the nicest people she had met in AEGIS so far. This time the couple took a while to respond. They looked at each other for a while and before anything else could be said Lara was already taking off, which mesmerized the two, rendering them speechless for a couple seconds more. It had been so beautiful, like something out of a cinematic production! To think that this was the real world sometimes, was so amazing... It also really make them glad that it wasn't Cecilia flying. Otherwise, they would have been worried with the landing and crashing EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. As gorgeous as it was to watch, flying also seemed like something extremely dangerous!
Back from being in awe, the Pellegrinis recalled what they had been about to say:

Spoiler: Translation2

"Your friend has a pretty good Italian, doesn't she? Impressive!" "Nice to meet you, Nix..." "Such a cool name..." "...Sorry about the silence, we weren't expecting to find another Italian speaker. At least, not here."
"You really took us by surprise."

"She's a sweetheart, isn't she? I remember that time that she stopped us from killing a spider, because it was alive and deserved to live...! She made us take it back outside."
"Oh! I remember about that! She had started to cry and beg us: "No! Don't do it!", while we were trying to get her away from it!", both of them laughed softly, "She was so brave back then too..."

"Il tua amica ha un buon italiano, non? Impressionante!", which then Tablita complemented, "Piacere di conoscerti, Nix...." "Un tale fresco nome..." "...Scusate per il silenzio, non ci aspettavamo di trovare un altro altoparlante di italiano. Almeno, non qui."
"Davvero ci ha preso di sorpresa."

Everything would have been fine if they had stopped there, but this time it was Tablita who couldn't contain herself:

"Lei è una ragazza graziosa, non? Mi ricordo che per il tempo che ci ha impedito di uccidere un ragno, perché era vivo e meritava di vivere...! Ella ci ha fatto prendere di nuovo all'esterno."
"Oh! Mi ricordo de esso! Lei aveva cominciato a piangere e a supplicare: "No! Non farlo!", mentre abbiamo cercato di ottenere il suo allontanamento da esso!", both of them laughed softly, "Ella era così coraggiosa torna quindi troppo..."

Natealie , Lioness075

 

[Necessity4Fun]

Cecilia Rizzo Pellegrini

​

Location: AEGIS Facility 108 - Entrance >> Exam Area
People Around: Nix, Lara and the parents (I'm not sure Anneliese is still around...) >> Ditching parents, going after Lara
Exam Team: Force of Kindness

Interactions: Natealie , Lioness075
Additional Team Tags: Malikai

Translation Notes:

Spoiler

"Vero?! Mi ha sorpreso troppo!" = "Right?! I was surprised too"!;
'Anche voi?!' = 'Even you?!';
"N-non mi ricordo su quella storia..." = "I-I don't remember about this story...";
'Naturalmente non, vi sono stati tre.' = 'Of course not, you were only three.';
"Ah! Mirare il tempo! Stiamo andando ad essere in ritardo per l'esame! È un peccato, mi stava godendo questo. Ciao, Mama e Papa! Ti amo, ma ho davvero bisogno di andare a!" = "Ah! Look at the time! We're going to be late for the exam! What a pity, I was enjoying this. Bye, mom and Dad!! I love you, but I need to go!";
"Seguimi se non si vuole rimanere." = "Follow me if you don't want to stay."

I'm glad that worked...
I can breathe again!

"Ehh, it depends on what you'd consider awesome..."​

The Italian girl had replied, a bit relieved that Lara was taking it all normally. Or at least, everything was more or less normal, until her dad started talking without her consent again! She knew he wasn't doing it on purpose or anything, but she considered these her private thoughts... Had she anticipated something like this happening, the teen would have definitely said a LOT less.

In the background, Cecilia had started waving her hands discreetly in a 'please stop' manner, just to see if she could get the man to stop. When that didn't work, it moved on to outright panic and distressed hand waving, that she was sure no one could miss... Well, her dad did... Unbelievable...
Defeated and blushing furiously by the time movie night was mentioned, she had burrowed her face in her hands, no longer able to take it. That's when her mom came to save the day, a little late, but still something Cecil was grateful for, even mouthing a 'thank you!' back to the woman.

"I-it's okay Papa...", she sighed, forgiving Edmondo, "You didn't mean it.", the girl had almost started to think Lara's headache was latching onto her now... Or maybe it's just how tired this exchange was making her brain. Ehhh...

That's when the Brit reminded her they needed to search for the rest of 'Force of Kindness'. Cecilia had nodded, ready to go after the winged girl once she had taken off. No matter how many times the Italian had seen that, it never stopped being awes-trucking. Since Nix had expressed her desire to stick around them, the girl had been about to ask her whether she wanted to come or not... But then her parents started chatting with Nix too... She didn't want to interrupt:

"Vero?! Mi ha sorpreso troppo!", Cecil had excitedly agreed on the commentary about Nix's Italian.

If only the conversation had stayed there... But nope! It would have been too good to be true. Soon Tablita joined on the 'let's embarrass your daughter day' train and started telling a story of when she was little, even before the two had left because of work. Her mom's 'betrayal' had poor Cecilia going 'Anche voi?!' mentally, as they reminisced while laughing. All the girl managed to reply was:

"N-non mi ricordo su quella storia...", which soon got her the 'Naturalmente non, vi sono stati tre' explanation.

At this point, Cecilia decided she needed to call 'enough', otherwise she wouldn't be able to recuperate before the exam... Also she didn't want to start hearing stories from when she was a baby or things like that... Pretending to check her phone, the girl put her escape plan into motion:

"Ah! Mirare il tempo! Stiamo andando ad essere in ritardo per l'esame! È un peccato, mi stava godendo questo. Ciao, Mama e Papa! Ti amo, ma ho davvero bisogno di andare a!", she waved at them, slowly turning to make a run for it.
"Seguimi se non si vuole rimanere.", the Italian girl whispered at Nix before leaving.

 

[Gus]

Lucas Marsolet
​

Transparent

Some part of Lucas recognizes the placating body language of his host as the standard response to a potentially dangerous crazy person, and he hangs his head in shame. “I am so sorry.” He draws his knees up against his forehead, and raises his hands above his head to try and seem less threatening. “I don't mean any harm. I just need... a little help... to get home.”

He paused, focusing on his breathing, trying hard not to allow himself to be overwhelmed again. He closed his eyes, trying to remember something, anything that might give this concerned stranger any kind of clue who he might be. This feeling of being burdensome is intolerable! There must be something! Eyes closed, forehead on knees and fingers laced together over-top, he focused on each breath, and tried to remember.

He has a flash of a long gray leg snapping toward him, talons connecting hard, knocking the wind out of him. He gasps and flinches, but keeps his eyes closed, letting the vision wash over him. The world pinwheels crazily around him. He catches glimpses of a parking lot, many cars crushed by a huge humanoid form draped in black cloth. The cloth is dripping, like oil, or paint. He hits the pavement of the parking lot flat on his back, and the pain is terrific, seeming to knock the wind out of him directly through his shattered ribcage rather than out through his mouth.

Lucas whimpered and opened his eyes, looked up at the earnest young man watching him.

“I remember an ostrich kicked me. And I landed by some cars, in a parking lot, you know? And there was someone else lying there too, but huge? Like a hundred feet long. They had crushed some cars. I know this sounds like a dream but I don't think so. I don't understand it. I think it really happened...”

He peeled off his shirt, revealing an ugly jagged scar from the middle of his abdomen up to his collar bone. He looked down at it as if startled to find it was really there, then back up to his host, eyes pleading for some kind of explanation.

“Does that help at all? Do you know any giants or wild ostriches? I wish I knew more but that is all I have. That and a sense that 'home' is nearby. Please. Can you help me?”

 

[Gus]

Miia Makela
​

As they approached the launcher, it made a sort of 'oopmh' noise and expelled a shrieking cat girl in a high arch over the water, splashing down about halfway to the first obstacle. Miia was in shock.

“That. Was. AWESOME!! I call next!”

Fish girl forgotten, Miia ran forward, then suddenly broke right, and threw herself at the ground, seeming to somehow miss it at the last second, and instead soared over the gathering crowd, changed direction again, bounced off of a tent roof, and wobbled away through the air out of sight of her fishy companion.

 

[Gus]

Manami Hamasaki
​

Location: Between the launcher and the front gate to 108
Mood: Excited (So what's new?)
@s Necessity4Fun Lioness075 ViAdvena


Manami gaped as her friend Isabelle soared out over the water and splash into the harbor. The girl from 106 seemed disturbingly unconcerned about a fellow student's safety, and rudely ran off to be 'next.' Manami had to admit that, safe or no, it did look like fun. Still, there was no hurry, and there was also no sign of the rest of the team either. Or was there? Distantly, she thought she could hear Sam's voice shouting, and Kendrick arguing back. Just like old times! Smiling broadly, she bounded off in the direction of the voices calling

“Halloh! Sam, Kendrick, over here! Have you two seen Marianne?”

 

[Bag o Fruit]

Trigger Warning: Pretty much anything Bruce says.

NPC Card:

--Name--

Bruce​

--Power--

Self-replication​

Bruce exited the bus from 107. Bruce exited the bus from 107. Bruce exited the bus from 107.

Alpha Bruce stood stretching, flanked by his two copies, both carrying lots and lots of heavy bags. On some level, he knew that the three of him were blocking the exit from the bus for everyone else. He didn't really care though. He took stock of what had to be done. First, the exam. Bus was super late, he should probably get on top of getting himselves ready. He made his way to the waterfront. To no one in particular, Alpha Bruce announced "Hey, I'm looking for the group, uh..." One of his clones retrieved a slip of paper from inside a bag he was carrying, and looked over it. Alpha Bruce resumed speaking, looking around to see who was paying him any attention. "Green Gators. The fuck kind of name is that? Is this Florida now? Who's idea was this..." the clone squinted at the sheet while the Alpha continued commenting on its content. Bianca At- Ato- Attoloio... Attilla, Victoria Beckett, Isabella Chase, Chris... Kra-Kravitz. Kravitz. Huh, I guess Jews can have powers. Hey, has anybody seen a guy named Chris? Black hat, probably? Curls like a little girl?"

 

[Lioness075]

Name: Samantha 'Sam' Casan	Rank: B
Attire: Black tank top, torn jean shorts, barefoot	Location: Final Exam Event Area
Tagged: @Necessity4Fun (Kendrick), Gus (Manami)

Listening to Kendrick's speech made Sam roll her eyes for the hundredth time as ever. He was never going to stop being a dork at this rate.

Impatiently flickering her tail behind her, Sam crossed her arms over her chest as Kendrick went to great lengths to explain his oath and then amend it. On top of that, he took forever getting out of the car! If they weren't already late for the exam, they were now.

While she waited for Kendrick to join her, Sam wondered what new nickname she could give him since he wanted her to drop the 'Kenny' one. She'd call him Ken, but it sounded way too...adult-ish. Too weird.
"Sure, whatever you say, Goody-Two-Shoes."
She'd heard of this nickname somewhere before and knew enough that it was related to someone who always did the right thing. She knew for sure that Kendrick had a hard time bending any rules, much less breaking them.

Grinning at the mention of this not being a race, Sam replied, "It's always a race for me."
It definitely had nothing to do with the fact that she was a bit of an adrenaline junkie.

Alas, despite taking charge of hastily exiting the vehicle, Sam really had no idea where to go. There was a steady flow of the student crowd heading in one particular direction, so their best bet was to tag along with everyone else. Problem was, Kendrick knew who their other teammates were and so he technically needed to lead the way...but he was so slow!

Luckily, Manami came bounding over to the pair and announced the name of their next teammate. Unluckily, Sam had not seen Marianne at all today. Maybe she was ditching? It didn't really seem like her to do that, though Sam did not know her well.

Walking over to meet Manami halfway, Sam then said, "Sorry, I haven't seen her yet. Maybe we should all join the rest of the students for now? I'm sure we'll find her by the time we get started, yeah?"

 

[ManicMuse]

iiNPC Card:

--Name--

Richard Chase

--Role--

Izzy's Dad / Volunteer

@: Gus Lioness075​

After handing over the cash and shoving the almond joy in his pocket to bribe Izzy with later, a striking blonde came up before Richard could give a formal introduction. Shockingly, she already knew just who he was. His gaze discreetly searched for a ring on her finger.


"Yes, Richard Chase. Pleasure Mis-ss Barrett."

Then looking between the two women, he held up a finger motioning for them to give him a moment. Taking a bite of his snow cone, he navigated his way through the crowd back to the check point. Crunching on ice, flavored with the sugary syrup, it took a moment before he found the correct folder.

Pulling another lanyard out of the folder, he smirked and started the journey back to the pair. They were easy enough to spot given their stunning hair color. Once near Katheryn, he presented her with the lanyard.

"There you are. One lanyard."

Shifting his gaze between the two women he gave a smile feeling a bit proud of himself for being helpful. Then his focus shifted back to Izzy. Finding the green boy was easy enough, but no longer seeing Izzy by his size, Richard panicked.

"Do either of you see my daughter? She has feline like features. She was with the green boy a moment ago."

Tossing his half eaten snow cone in a nearby trashcan. He quickly headed off toward the launching section, to see if she was already out in the water.

 

[ManicMuse]

iiNPC Card:

--Name--

Albert​

--Power--

Green Vine Growing Giant​

Location: On pier > Heading to gear tent (likely close to Bruce)

@ Green Gators & Aaron:
Isabella ManicMuse
Victoria D. Rex
Chris @Bag o Fruit
Bianca The Suspicious Eye
Bruce NPC
Albert NPC
Aaron Gus




Albert was at a bit of a loss when Bianca's eyes caught his own. Staring her golden hued eyes, his face lit up, realizing she was going to be on his team.

"I'm in the Green Gators team. I'm guessing she's a member so either that makes you one too or are you just the mascot?" Bianca remarked.

Totally passing over the mascot comment, Albert just gave a faint nod, eyeing Bianca's greenish-toned hair. "Seems our team has a running theme. Izzy already headed out to the course. I think there are a few more of us to track down. Then we can get started."

A blur of a man spoke up to the pair.

“Morning, Bianca! If memory serves the other members of Team Green Gator besides you two and Izzy over there...” Young Izzy went flying, as if on queue.

“...whoops, over there now I guess. Besides her and you and ...it's Albert, yes? Let's see there's also... Victoria Becket and Chris Kravitz I believe. If I was to guess, I'd look for Vicky at the special outfitters tent, as she'll need a helmet that can accommodate her visor. Make sure she doesn't get that wet, ok? We don't need to replace the Key bridge a third time, eh? As for Chris, I have a feeling he may be running late. I've noticed he's been a bit... distracted in class lately. Go ahead and launch without him. He is quite a capable young man; I'm sure he'll catch up.”

Albert gave a nod, confirming his name while listening to the man's helpful suggestion, "Yes. Sounds good. We can grab your safety gear and find Vicky. Then let's head out to the Aqua launcher."

Working to be helpful, he lumbered forward through the crowd, which parted to make way for the larger than average super. Turning he motioned for Bianca to follow, as he navigated a path through the chaos around them.

"Like he said, my names Albert. My powers are kinda straight forward. I'm basically a big plant. Like that green bean man from way back in the day. What's your thing?" He spoke loud enough that he hoped Bianca could hear him over the crowd.

 

[ManicMuse]

no slide

Gavin Dabbs

Location: Dock > First Obstacle


State of being: Excited


Nearby: Lots of students

@:

​

With the start of the event chaos and order seemed to erupt and swoop out over the course. Several teams of students quickly found one another, geared up and headed out to the course. While other's lingered, lost in the mass of bodies, struggling to find one another. Gavin helped out handing out safety gear for the first wave but slipped away as the excitement at the tables started to die down. Seeing Albert, whom seem to be still searching for his team, Gavin gave a wave as he made his way over to the boats that were launching and heading out to over see the course.

"Hey, can I catch a ride? I wanna help out on the first half of the course, if I can."

The young man behind the wheel of the small speedboat waved Gavin on. Another volunteer tossed a yellow life vest at him while shouting over the starting up on the engine, "Safety first!"

Gavin strapped on the life vest and quickly took a seat on the back bench of the boat just as it pulled away from the dock and began to taxing its way out of the dry dock with had been used as a station for all the boats for the days event.

Hitting open waters, just in time to see Isabella Chase splash down, he rallied with the other's on the boat to cheer wildly. Slowing to a crawl the boat came to stop beside a solid platform used to load and unload passengers. It was hitched to the inflated course but offered not only a solid ground for volunteers to work on but an important buffer to prevent the risk of any boats cutting propellers to venture too close to the squishy thin material that constructed the course. After being unloaded with a few others, Gavin made his way to the first obstacle of the course. Getting instruction from another volunteer Gavin quickly took charge.

One of the starting teams composed of mostly students from other facilities was already half way through Crash Course when another team approached to start.

"Hey, welcome to Crash Course. Looks like this other team is almost finished. Once they are done. You can start. You guys excited?"





Crash Course

Spoiler: Details

Description: After ascending the initial slope, one descends in a wall of hydraulic operated pillars that raise and lower in a randomized pattern. Once through two walls of these, the participants will be faced with punching bags that away back and forth to simulate a crowded area. After making their way through the bags, they will be faced with squares that rotate just enough for one to wriggle through, much like a crawl space. Then lastly one more wall of shifting pillars to move onto the next obstacle. However, these pillars will not start moving unless the buttons are pressed on both the X’s which are freestanding in the area before the last set of pillars.

 

[Dano]

Trent Edwards
Location: Spa - Mudbath
Nearby: ManicMuse Syrenrei


"Should I be impressed?" Which she followed up with a scowl and a childish display of her tongue, before she quickly looked away from his direction.


Trent, hearing the fiery redhead snap back at him, opened one eye and turned his head slightly towards her and let out an irritated huff before dropping the barrier and rolling his eyes. “I guess those of us that would like to continue having aches and pains shouldn’t be impressed. For the vast majority of us, a simply thank you would have sufficed” he quipped back at her. Having seen her type before he just wasn’t going to give her another thought since it wasn’t worth his time. She had already interrupted his mud bath and not even his barrier could help since it only worked on physical imperfections not emotional ones. Just then the other young woman interjected.


"My nose deserves it's own zip code, but I guarantee that's not what the guys at the bar are looking at. You just gotta learn how to advertise if you know what I mean- highlight the assets. And a lot have a thing for redheads."


He let out a small chuckle hearing that her nose needed a zip code, but when she mentioned that guys had a thing for redheads he muttered, “...you’ve got that right…”. When she turned to him and introduced himself Trent wasn’t sure what to think,


"My name is Luther Rousseau," she said as way of introduction to the male patron of the spa. "I think you might have just the solution we're looking for, sir…”


Having heard the conversation, she surely couldn’t be serious, “What kind of self loathing gent do you take me for luv?” When truth be told, he had his share of one night stands since coming to the States, he wasn't about to let on to it.


“... If my friend here was to have relations with a fine specimen of the male gender such as yourself, and found herself afflicted with some sort of unfortunate condition as a result, would you say your powers could cure her of it?...”


Wow… talk about being extremely straightforward. “I’m afraid my abilities are of the healing nature, not the destructive kind and therefore would provide no assistance if your got it up the duff.” At this point Trent thought it might be fun to play along since Red (as he had come to know her as) had been so rude to him, that a little embarrassment might be just what she needed.


“I'd be willing to pay of course."


This was getting good. Not only could he embarass Red, he might get paid for doing it. “On second thought, maybe you are onto something…” At this point Trent was invested and he was never one to back down once he started something. He was the kind that never did anything half-assed and this was not going to be an exception either. Placing his hands on either side of the tub, Trent pushed himself to a standing position as the mud made slurping noises as his body exited the thick goo. Standing there, a patch of mud slid down his abdomen, taking with it the mud that had been trying to hide his family jewels. Not the least bit self conscious, he pretended as if he did not notice as he waved to Red, “My name’s Trent, Trent Edwards and I’d be delighted to take the ‘frumpy’ Red out for a meal this evening, what do you say luv?” He shot Luther a wink and a grin as he played along with her game...

 

[ManicMuse]

Page Morgan

location : SPA > Tub >Floor > Locker room


State of being: Enraged >>Fiery


Nearby: Trent, Luther

@: Dano Syrenrei

"Bars aren't full of serial killers and venereal disease. They're just people. I've been to enough now I think if every desperate man was a serial killer leper I'd be dead by now, don't you think. Let me check,"

"That or you've just built up an immunity due to frequent exposure," Page mused the comment but did not dare say it out loud.

"Now now Page," Luther cooed. Which only caused Page to get more agitated. The mud in her bath began to slowly release bubbles. The water in the tub was turning to steam as Page's body temperature had began to rise beyond the norm.

Once Luther started making introductions, Page sensed things were about to go sideways. Something told her she did not have back up on this one. She was being SOLD OUT! Feeling as if she were trapped on the proverbial tracks, watching a train rushing towards her, Page was exposed with only the mud to protect her.

"I think you might have just the solution we're looking for, sir…”

"Don't you DARE!" Page mentally screamed at Luther while removing the cucumbers from her eyes and peaking up just enough over the ledge of the tub to glare fiery flame filled eyes at the other woman.


“What kind of self loathing gent do you take me for luv?”

Page's spiteful gaze shifted toward the man as the powder pink scarf that had adorned her head dissipated to dusty ash.

“... If my friend here was to have relations with a fine specimen of the male gender such as yourself, and found herself afflicted with some sort of unfortunate condition as a result, would you say your powers could cure her of it?...”

"You bitch! I am going to melt the tires of your ever so beloved motorcycle, I swear it!" again Page thought to herself. Though she remained mute, the mud in her bath started to come to a full boil with the towel which had been resting behind her head, burst into flames and slide downwards into the boiling sludge.


“I’m afraid my abilities are of the healing nature, not the destructive kind and therefore would provide no assistance if your got it up the duff.”

“I'd be willing to pay of course."

"WHAT ARE YOU MY PIMP!!!" The words echoed in her mind so loud any telepath in a 30 mile range most likely heard it.

“On second thought, maybe you are onto something… My name’s Trent, Trent Edwards and I’d be delighted to take the ‘frumpy’ Red out for a meal this evening, what do you say luv?”

Trent shot a wink Page's direction and the only words that finally erupted from her lips were, "I'd rather be burned alive." This happened to be followed by a spontaneous supernatural red flame erupting on the curtain and towels that sat closest to Trent Edwards.

Page's own tub gave a popping type groan, protesting the extensive heat. While Page's intention had not been to set anything on fire, she would have been more than able to extinguish it but her attention shifted to her own puddle of mud, working to source the sound. A crack created by a stress fracture erupted up the side of her tub, causing the wall to give away. Covered in slick mud, giving no traction, Page flowed right along with the boiling mud, spilling out on the floor.

Flopping on the ground, landing face first, Page was horrified. Scrambling in a make shift army crawl, a few feet over, she snagged the hanging curtain and pulled, ripping it clean from the rungs. Trying to use it as a towel, Page did her best to get on her feet. Which was much easier said than done.

Looking at what she had done, she locked onto Luther and froze.

"I...YOU! Yoooouuuuuu," she snarled the last you through gritted teeth.

With her body temperature still far too hot, flames rippled over her flesh causing the fringes of her toga to start to burn.

"Your bike, five minutes! I swear to god, Luther," snapping the words, Page fled the room, heading for the area labeled Women's locker room.

 

[Lioness075]

Name: Scarlet Calloway	Rank: A
Attire: Plastic black small square glasses, grey sweater with an anime-style cat on front, cropped light blue jeans, grey Converse sneakers	Location: Facility 108 Final Exam Area --> Launcher, Beginning of Final Exam Course
Tagged: Necessity4Fun (Juliana), AllHailDago (Melody), Gus (Katie), Piper, ManicMuse (Richard)

When Juliana charged off and completely ignored Scarlet's offer, Scarlet just simply shrugged to herself. It wasn't like it was that big of a deal and it was a 'get-out-of-jail-free' card for her to avoid Juliana without having to say out loud that she wanted to. Not that she actually disliked the student, but the whole 'megaphone' problem was just too hard to overlook.

When Scarlet looked back at Melody, she furrowed her brows at the student's nervous expression. This event was supposed to be fun and exciting, not terrifying! Determined to help this quiet student along, Scarlet gave her a warm smile and gestured for her to join Scarlet's side.
"Come on now, this is supposed to be fun and exciting, not scary, Melody. You can walk with me and I can lead you to the starting point of the final exam. Your team should be gathered there already or close by. I'm sure it won't be too difficult to figure out who you're supposed to be with."

Turning away and expecting Melody to follow her now, Scarlet first made her way to the volunteer tent so as to make sure she retrieved her proper volunteer attire and gear. She spotted Richard along the way, but saw he was busy with two other women, someone she didn't know and Piper. Since she was taking care of Melody at the moment, Scarlet refocused on moving along to the launcher area instead of socializing. Not that she'd wanted to anyways.
Looking at Melody, Scarlet decided to chat with her since she didn't know the student too well yet.
"So, Melody, have you lived in Baltimore your whole life or did you move here recently?"
Seemed like a simple question to start with. After all, Melody had to be old enough to have known about her power, so she likely came from another facility to attend this one. Most likely, anyways.

Scarlet knew by now that many students tended to get edgy discussing their powers, so she liked to let them bring it up on their own if they wanted to.

 

[Gus]

Manami Hamasaki
​

Location: Bouncing back toward the Aqua Launcher with Sam and Kendrick
Mood: wishing she could whistle.
Nearby: Various people, but mainly Sam and Kendi.
@s ViAdvena Lioness075 Necessity4Fun

Crowds aside, walking down toward the docks with Sam and Kendi-kun took Manami right back to day one. It made her want to sing her 'Railroad Avenue' song, simplistic though it might be. (And of course, they were going the other way, toward the aqua-launcher.) Unconsciously she hummed the tune to herself, changing the lyrics in her head to 'A-ku-a, Ra-N-Chu-A... A-qu-a, lawn chew er... AQUA LAUNCHER! Yata!). She didn't even flinch in embarrassment about throwing her hands up in a victory gesture to go with 'yata!' because she was with her peeps. That was a new bit of English slang she was still working on. Peeps. OG peeps. The snowglobe brigade. (Something niggles at her memory about that first day. Something dark and scary... but then it is gone.)

Manami turns and walks backwards for a bit, beckoning to her two best friends, her first two friends... There is nobody from AEGIS 108 she'd rather be teamed up with. This was going to be... Awesome!

"C'mon you two! The girl from 106 has probably already launched by now! We gotta represent 108 properly!"

 

[Necessity4Fun]

Kendrick Haywood

​

Location: AEGIS Facility 108 - Exam Area
People Around: Sam and Hamasaki Manami
Exam Team: Snowglobe

Interactions: Lioness075 , Gus
Additional Team Tags: ViAdvena

Today's Toys: Ted, Spiral, Lieutenant George, Humphrey and Millie.

*All of the embarrassment...ALL OF IT!*

If it wasn't by how impatient Sam was being, Kendrick would have taken Ted outside of his backpack by now. Instead, his buddy was still stuffed together with books and school supplies the boy didn't actually need today, but hadn't found the time to take out of the bag either.
Thinking again... Maybe that is for the best. This event is probably being recorded, and the videos and pictures would surely end up at his parent's hands one point... He didn't need another lecture about how having either toys or his hat in public was not allowed and posed a threat to his family name or whatever. He sighed. Well, that hadn't lasted long...

The facility needed the publicity of course, even more after everything that had happened in the past months. But to be honest, he hated these events. It was a clear blur between the lines of public and private, taking from the teenager his only true unwatched time. Granted he still had teachers to respond to, but at least none of them were going to keep him from being a little more...himself, and less 'Haywood'. Now? There was a constant coercion to be the later.
Forced to pick between staying home for more useless and pointless classes or coming to this exam, the choice was obvious. But it didn't make it any better. It was simply the lesser evil... and still an obligation nevertheless.

"What's that supposed to mean?", he had asked at Sam, unaware of even some of the most common expressions, since they weren't part of his daily life.

Hearing the girl mention everything was a race for her had complied Kendrick to reply with 'of course', back at his natural unfazed state and allied with an eye roll. Part of him really wanted to be back at the bakery eating a parfait and chatting, not dwelling in the middle of a crowd of both known and unknown people at the same time. And certainly not for a wet and risky water course.
The boy had been about to sigh again, in a mix of resignation and defeat, when a familiar voice could be heard. Raising his head to pay full attention to what was in front, the sight of the usual cheerful and happy Manami made him smile. A discreet one, that was trying to hide, but it was still a smile:

"Good Afternoon, Manami. No, actually... I would have expected her to be here already. Marianne always came to me as someone punctual, despite everything else, so that's odd. I wonder if something happened and kept her from coming...", the boy paused and considered the suggestion that had been given by the other, "I... guess we could do as Sam suggested and find the others?", he had commented, shading the fact that he would have preferred to do the opposite and leave.

Without much of a choice, the boy had tagged along with the two girls, following a bit behind. His solace had been listening to Manami's soft and carefree humming, which had been pleasant and de-stressing. That is, until she said something that worried him:

"Wait. Did you say 'launched'?"

Kendrick tilted his head to look at what was beyond the fish-girl, in both curiosity and a speck of panic... Which only grew, once he saw the displays of: A gigantic pillow; An inflatable water course, that actually had a gap between the pier and where it apparently started; And of course, all of the water bellow everything, seemingly extending to the horizon. It wasn't hard to guess what the solution of this mystery was, specially with the clue given by the use of the word 'launched':

"Uhhhh, we're going to have a huge problem...", he looked at both of them, trying to hide how uncomfortable he was. It took a bit more effort to beat his embarrassment, though still not enough, as he had explained it in almost a whisper... All after a really looong silence:

"...I can't swim."​

 

[AllHailDago]

Melody Elanna Vance

​

Location: Facility 108 Final Exam Area
Current Mood: Attempting to allow her excitement to show better
Current form: Human

Melody blinked for a moment as Ms. Librarian gestured for her to move closer. Melody happily obliged, moving to stand side by side. She was greatly relieved to stand in such proximity with someone who knew where they were going. She bowed her head a little but attempt to look back up and around, and to appear as excited as she actually kind of was. "It's not that I'm scared mostly, I just.... I really don't like crowds. I've had bad experiences with them before."

Melody walked beside Scarlet as they weaved their way through the crowd. They stopped for a moment at a tent where Ms. Librarian gathered several things volunteers were supposed to have. Melody seemed to wither a bit when asked if she'd lived here her whole life. "No, only the past six months or so. I moved here from Los Angeles. New city, new school and all that. Unfortunately when I discovered my power I got... expelled from my last school."

Melody looked anywhere but at the woman when she said this last bit. It wasn't the first time she had been expelled, sure. That didn't make her any happier that it happened though. She was still ashamed of each individual time. After several long moments she glanced back at the woman. Partly to gauge her reaction, but also to ask a question. "You know, I don't... uh, don't think you ever said what I should call you."

Lioness075