Realistic or Modern (OPEN) Supers, High School Edition

[Coriandr]

He looked down, and stuttered a bit over his words. He wasn't quite sure what to say- was he alright? "I-I don't know, Min... zat's vhat I wanted to talk to you about." He said, and looked up at her for a second before looking back down. "I feel sick. I zon't know vhat it is its just... I zon't know. I feel angry... maybe sad? Disturbed? And I'm not sure who... Leon? You? Myzelf? I'm confused and I don't know vhat's happening." He looked back up to her and into her eyes for a second, before feeling embarrassed and looking down, his pale cheeks starting to turn rosey red, to match around his eyes. But then he sniffled, and looked back up. "N-No. I do. At least, I zink I do. It has to do with you and I need to say it before you go with Leon." He felt... confident? Maybe crazy. Maybe he was just getting himself into trouble, but he felt he needed to, like he would regret it if he didn't. "I-I... I feel... connected to you. Unlike anybody else in shchool, or Germany, or anywhere."

 

[The Suspicious Eye]

Men smiled and looked at him a bit confused. Trying to follow what he was saying. She slowly followed that he was confused about something. She wanted to do her best to help, but felt like this wasn't making much sense. Looking at him warmly she did followed till she thought she understood. She looked down at her feet and tapped the floor with her toe. Her cheeks began to flush with a soft blush as she looked back at him. "N-Nick I don't... umm, I don't understand what you are saying." She was a little bit worried about the answer. She could feel her heart beat even faster. She was just asked by Leon to the dance, was Nick going to...? No, I'm just being pretentious. It might be something completly different.


@Coriandr

 

[Penelope Burns]

Vi's left ear twitched as she heard a noise, and she immediately turned, anchored herself to the diving board behind her, and pushed. Trash and water flew everywhere before stopping at the wall, hitting nobody. She pushed herself forward, to where she heard the noise, to find nobody. "You imbecile. Our position wasn't clear! Whoever that was could have heard everything!" Vi said, making sure to keep her furious sounding voice low. Someone was likely to check out the loud noises that came from the gym when Vi's attack hit the wall, it would be best if they didn't hear everything the rat didn't catch.


"I'll get you your damned answers, but next time send someone powered . It's obvious that you're either powerless or just stupid, and I'd prefer not dealing with either when I'm undercover in a school filled with superheroes." Vi didn't hide her snark, though she kept up the lie. Her life could have been over, unless she found and eliminated that rat who was listening in on them. At least she knew it wasn't a Stealther or Speedster. Neither of those types wouldn't have made noise. That meant Lexi didn't know.


Yet.


-----


Nia nodded her head as Hare expressed her worry, making sure not to meet the other girl's eyes. Nialla couldn't trust herself not to turn more red than a crayon the moment their eyes met. "Don't worry, just watch." As if on que, a blur flew past, and the next second an announcement was made, stating that Bolt had made it through the trials. "Lexi wasn't about to let Leon fail like that." Nia wasn't confident about everything, but she knew that much about Lexi. She was probably going to do the same for Aiden, since cheating in favor of other competitors was, surprisingly, not against the rules in the first round.


After all, it was your future competition you were helping.


"Nia, there's something I need to tell you." Natalie said, sounding uncharacteristically nervous. Nialla raised an eyebrow at her mom, curious, only for her to shake her head. "Later. After you've won this thing." Stalling for time, that's what she was doing. For what, Nialla wasn't sure. She wasn't even sure why her mom brought it up, only to cut herself off. Whatever, her mom was weird sometimes.

 

[Coriandr]

"I-I don't understand either..." He said, "I need you to help me." He twitched his hand forward, then back, thinking better of it. What if she rejects him? It wouldn't be surprising, she did just kiss Leon. But then again... she probably would either way. He slowly reached out with his hands, trying to grasp hers. "I think... I think I'm..." He cut off, again thinking better of what to say. As if he wasn't going over the edge as it was, he wasn't so stupid as to completely throw any possible relation they had after that point away- she was one of the only people in the school he knew at all, besides just their names and faces. Maybe he was going too fast... or maybe not fast enough. After all he did miss his chance by not taking it early. "Don't take Leon to the dance."

 

[Willow Pillow]

(@Homage I honestly can't write anything to end this scene with Vi and Lisa. It was done so perfectly it needs to end right there)

 

[Willow Pillow]

Annalise twitched as she watched her son engage in the homosexual agenda while defecating the sanctity of the United States military. Her top row of teeth bit her bottom lip increasingly hard as the flat screen just focused on them.


RUSH. RUSH. RUSH. RUSH. RUSH. RUSH. People chanted, people got excited. It was like the religious fanatic worship that men had with Tom Brady. A sinful horrible man who apparently could do no wrong. Robert had a stupid shit eating grin off his face watching their son do this, behave like this. HOW DARE HE KISS THAT THING....the most concerning part about this.


How did he manage to stay conscience while kissing her?


THis would mean he would use this man/girl to gain more control. He was going to leave his mother forever now! He was never going to come back. HE WOULD NEVER NEED HER ANYMORE. With grit and resound thinking, she was determined to make sure....that this...this whatever it was....would never happen. Grabbing her husband's hand she pulled him off the bleacher's aggressively to speak with her son.


--


Today was by far the best day of his life. Nothing could go wrong. Aidan was in the dark with the Louise/Lexi debacle and what had happened. No one really filled him in on it. And why should they? He wasn't involved in this any way shape or form. He and his roommate for the first time he had been enrolled here were best friends. He had a solid group of people that cared about him. The girl of his dreams felt the same way about him, and he knew this because he felt it....he had control of his powers.


It meant that he could one day...not today....one day take care of himself. The possibility of something was possibly the greatest gift you could give someone.


Grinning like a happy idiot he tried making his way back to the gymnasium for when he would be called. When he managed to trip into people, he could see their memories, but he thought about how he felt her heart beat along with his and it kept him walking through, kept him from getting lost in a memory.


It even kept him focused enough that when he hear Nia's voice by his side he stopped. The grin wouldn't wipe off, but Aidan wasn't self-conscience about these sort of things. "Nia, you ready to go soon? I think you and I are in the same slot."

 

[Brinni]

"I'm here too lover boy, thanks for noticing." Harriet teased. "I'm with you guys too. How do you plan on making it through in time Aiden?"


She didn't want to admit it, but she actually liked the guy. He seemed friendly enough. Plus if nothing else it never hurt to make allies in this place, who knew when someone needed to call in a favor.


"If you really needed it I could help" she said shrugging. She checked her phone briefly seeing no new messages.


Guess they aren't coming after all. Oh well, can't say I didn't expect it.





@CosmicChangeling @Homage

 

[The Suspicious Eye]

Min looked at him a bit more worriedly, as he said he needed help. Looking down at his twitchy hand she took it with both hands. Smiling at him sweetly she tilted her head, and looked at him. "Hey, if you need help tell me. I don't know if I can help, but if you tell me. Maybe we can find someone who can." She gave him a soft smile as he spoke to her. Trying to guess what he meant to say. She wished she would tell him flat out. I won't judge him either way. Nothing can be that bad. Min watched him wrestle with his situation, before finally saying "Don't take Leon to the dance."





Min's mind raced, what did he mean? She slowly let go of Nick's hand and looked at him confused. "Wait...what? Why?" She reached up and tugged at the strand of her hair and began to worry. She didn't know what to make of it. Was Nick just jealous? Or did he know something about Leon that she didn't? This was curious and she didn't understand what was going on.

 

[Coriandr]

He thought for a second. "I..." Scheiße (Crap) Now he's done it. He avoided eye contact, looking around everywhere else. Then he looked back into them, and shut his eyes for a moment. There was no other way to say it in words without embarrassing himself, he thought. So he pushed his head forward into hers. He knew this wouldn't end well, but he didn't care. It wasn't like there was any other way to end well- he was too deep already to turn back.

 

[Willow Pillow]

Lover boy. Aidan gave a lopsided grin she loved him too. Rudolph, he now understood how that moment could make him fly. He was lost in his thoughts until he heard harriett say she would help him. Shaking his head, "No. No, thank you. I appreciate it, but if I'm going to win this tournament, I want it done by my own merit. I'm not going to cheat someone else out of an opportunity I didn't earn."


He never had made it past the first half mile of the obstacle, but that was ok. He could this year, all he knew was today his powers changed....which meant it was possible that maybe next year he could.


Maybe even today.


"Aaaaidan," He felt his mother seeing her hold a toddler like him across her chest as she touched his shoulders. "You didn't tell me you were around such....interesting women." She harbored a twitch in her eye as she held her sound down, eyes glowing as he looked on the virge of drooling. "I'm Aidan's mother, Mrs. Turner....and you are?"


The husband sighed and watched dead inside.

 

[Brinni]

"You can call me Vrel. I'm one of Aiden's classmates. Now if you'll excuse us" Harriet said, reaching for his hand, "I believe our turn is coming up soon. With the traps that are laid out, timing is everything so we really should be going. Unless of course you'd like to put him in more danger by messing up his timing...or his brain for that matter." She pointed her chin at Aiden's face to emphasize her point. Taking the boys hand she focused on the run that Moe had made. She knew he said he didn't want help, but he was blind! He needed all the help with this he could get. At least if he could see where some of the traps were, even if it was via memory he'd be better off. @CosmicChangeling @Homage


----


They've been gone a while. Maybe they already finished and Min headed towards the starting line. I believe she's up soon Leon thought to himself.


Swinging his legs over the side of the bed he made himself get up. He made his way towards the gym. His hand drifted to his lips as he thought about the kiss that Min had given him.


I may not have been sure she liked me before, but I am now. I only wish I had asked her sooner. Her lips were soft, and light, like a feather. It was...amazing. He heaved a sigh, distracted by the memory. Had he been paying attention he would have seen that in one of the classrooms he passed Min and Nickolaus were separating from their own kiss. He got into the gym and found his father. He sat and watched everyone line up, ready to go.


---


Looking at his son's face, Baylee Bellamy knew the look that was plastered all over it. It was the face of someone of with a crush. Instead of asking him about it, Baylee nudged his son and said "remind me to give you your other gift when this is all over. I've also got your swords with me."


He'll tell me when he's ready he thought

 

[The Suspicious Eye]

Oh..oh! Min's eyes widened as Nicke leaned in and kissed her. Her rosy cheeks turned into deep crimson as she didn't expect it. She really didn't know what to think. Her mind went blank for a moment. For a moment everything was empty, clear and calm. Then, she heard it laugh, a cold and ominous laugh. The sounds were all in her head, Nick wouldn't hear a thing. Min felt a warm breath against her neck. Steadily rising up to her ear as it whispered softly, soothingly, like a lullaby. Oooooo we like him... So new... innocent... delectable... Take him....we want to... You know we want toooo~o. Min closed her eyes and took a step back, breaking away from the kiss. Placing a hand over her lips she raised a finger up to stop him from saying anything.


She took slow breaths and pushed it back to where it came. She shivered at how close it came, she didn't want to hear it. Was it the cape? The day? Nick? She rarely let it get so close to her, but then again...the books... Min didn't remember what she wrote only to destroy them after. She shook her head, and took a deep breath focusing on the present. Min looked back to Nick and tried to speak. "Umm, Nick... I... I don't really" She bit her lip trying to think about what to say. "I don't know what to say...umm... Leon already asked me. I already said yes, but..." She felt a heavy sway on her. "Ummm, can I just have some time to figure things out, please?" She took a few steps back. "Just some time to figure it out." Then without a word she turned around and walked out of the room.


She made her way down the halls, past the nurse's office. She stopped and looked at the door. Biting her lip she debated about going in. Should I tell him? She tapped her foot for a moment before taking a step back and walked back down the halls. Passing countless rooms and doors her mind raced. She made her way down it only to stop as she heard footsteps in the opposite direction. She turned and looked down the hallway.


@Homage @Coriandr @Brinni

 

[The Suspicious Eye]

Bran stretched as he was called to the obstacle course. He crouched down into a runner's sprint position and steadied his breathing. Tossing his head, he moved the hair out of his face, focusing his eyes on forward as he quietly listened to his body. The air entering into his lungs, his intercostal muscles mowing to expand his chest as his lungs fill with oxygen. Then the release, as the air rises from the lungs and out the small escape of his lips. His heart beating steadily, calmly. He was ready.


BANG!





Bran pushed himself off the ground and ran. His body mowed like a machine, no stopping, no pauses, just work. He didn't focus anymore he let go, his mind scanned the area around him. He dodged every trap he could. His body twisting and flipping he moved with ease around them. Nothing was going to stop him, not now not ever. Keep moving, don't stop no matter what.


He moved through the stages quickly. His feet barely seemed to touch the ground. He let his body move naturally, from years of running. Running towards something, a goal, a enemy, a friend, the truth...family. He kept moving forward. The past left him with nothing, but questions. Forward was the answer. Move forward. He felt movement beside him. A wayward set of arrows came heading toward him. Moving swiftly he pulled his cloak around. Twisting it into a swirl he quickly and gathered them. Pulling two out he let the other go as he entered into the snowy portion of the course.


Breaking one of the arrows with his thumb and forefinger. He tossed the part with the notch away. He saw his foot activate one of the traps from afar and tossed the broken arrow at the trap, stalling it for the poor sucker behind him. Using the second arrow he used it as he slid against the snow and ice to steer him. He passed the finish line in mere minutes. His run beat even is brother's record by a whole minute. He let his body stop as he looked up through the mask breathing calmly. Hidden under the mask he smiled just a little bit. Then he walked back into the crowd hoping to just bend in. Then he saw Corbin standing in front of him with a stupid grin. "What?" Bran asked coldly.


"Do you know how fast you were going!? You beat my record!" Bran felt his body being nearly crushed in his brother's arms. "Oh you did good baby bro!! I'm so proud!" Bran struggled to get out, but sighed, "whatever." He thought about Lexi and that girl. Since he had nothing but time now, he might get to work on investigating. I'll start with the school records, see what I get there.

 

[Willow Pillow]

Agent Thompson, a black tailored suit, black boring tie and a clean boring cut of hair sat next to Principal Hapswell as the tournament continued. Rush's performance against Louise, her flickering here and there and just behaving like a comic book super hero had the crowd eating out of her hands. It allowed people like Bran to just slip in unnoticed.


"I see our girl is doing well," He mused.


Eating a bag of skittles Hapswell barely looked at him. "Thompson, thought for witness protection purposes, you'd be showing your mug during winter break or something.


"You and I both know she's more than just witness protection. POTUS sends his regards."


"Just not skittles."


"We want to know if you've figured out why she's different."


"I'm wondering where my bag of skittles are."


The agent gave a smile patting the old man's shoulder. "I'll be around, Hapswell."


With that, he stood up and slipped into the crowd.

 

[Penelope Burns]

Vi didn't wait for Lisa's response, she held onto the envelope and ran out of the room, scanning the hallway for her rat. She shook her head as she saw nothing, not a trace of the rat. Only a second later, she noticed a girl looking in her direction. Maybe she saw something? Maybe she was the rat, and decided to not act the part.


Regardless, Vi wasn't about to attack her in the hallway, the potential for getting caught was way too high. "Hey, have you seen anyone else running out of the pool gym?" Vi asked, not bothering to worry about why the girl looked confused, why she was running away from everyone else, or why she looked so familiar to the girl who the announcer said would have her race in a few minutes. Those weren't important, what was important was finding the rat.


-----


As Harriet introduced herself to the mother of one of Nialla's friends (She heard 'Aiden, but Nat chose not to say it aloud), Natalie offered a hand to the father. "Hello, I'm Natalie Blake. It's good to meet the parents of one of Natalie's friends." She tried remaining as cordial as possible when speaking to them, but the woman just gave Nat a bad vibe.


-----


Harriet made her excuses to leave, but Nialla wasn't quite ready yet. Once Hare was finished intoducing herself to Aiden's mom, Nialla extended a hand herself. "Hi! I'm Bloquear, I have a class with Aiden. It's nice to meet you." She looked at the woman and smiled, remaining as genuine as possible despite the fear she felt just by looking at the woman.

 

[Willow Pillow]

That little whore. Claiming she was giving her son brain damage. Her small hand dug further into his shoulder, aidan looking like he was one of those people hypnotized on a stage show. As Robert shook the hand of the mother of one of these nasty girls, she jerked her head glaring at him. What. Did. He. Think. He. Was. Doing? He was supposed to FUCKING SUPPORT HER.


THe smile was forced, and the glare in her expression was not changing. Annalise did not take the girl's hand. "Cute name," She lied. "I'm actually concerned the people he's hanging around with lately are putting him in danger. You do understand the severity of his condition, don't you? You wouldn't intentionally put someone with a disability in danger, am I right in assuming this?"


"My wife is just....protective. It's very nice to meet you," Robert said taking Nat's hand. "i'm just relieved he's finally making friends. He has a tendency to...scare them off. This is very good for him."


"Robert."


"Don't be afraid to ruff him up once and awhile, kid needs to be a normal kid right?"


"Robert!"

 

[Brinni]

Harriet rolled her eyes. "Intentionally? No, but danger comes with having powers. Whether its here in school where there are people to look out for us if things go sideways, or in the real world, danger's the name of the game. At least here he can learn to control his abilities. If you're so concerned you could always pull him from school...but something tells me he wouldn't forgive you for dragging him away from his friends. Your choice though, you are his mother after all. And a mother knows what's best for her child....supposedly."


She turned towards Nialla. "I'll see you two at the starting line. Don't keep me waiting too long." With a wink she made her way outside towards the line.


I really don't like his mother.


---


Leon watched as a group of students he didn't know take off. A couple of them only made it to the second area before they called it quits. One got knocked out from one of the side cannons in the third area, one just gave up there too tired to continue, and the last one got himself tangled up and hanging upside down from a tree in the last forest section.


Not the greatest candidates I see. That just means less competition.

 

[The Suspicious Eye]

Min saw the girl walk up to her, she shifted her weight. She looked familiar, like she'd seen her before. Maybe around school, but it seemed more recently than that. "Hey, have you seen anyone else running out of the pool gym?" Min thought for a moment, trying to remember seeing anyone in the halls. However, thinking back only brought up the cold feeling. He eyes began to glow softly as she pulled a hair trying to remember. Sliding up her leg, Min felt hands slowly tug her legs and cloak. Min looked down to see her shadow protruding hands around her cloak and ankles. She pulled the cape around her and made her way closer to the girl. The hands being wrenched away and returning back to to her shadow.


Her eyes glowed for a moment longer, before returning back to their normal red. "Um, no I'm sorry." Min looked at the girl and a tear broke through her emotional walls. She didn't notice it at first, she simply looked into the girl's face. However, as one tear came the rest followed. She didn't bawl or whimper or even wrinkle her face, the tears just fell. Steadily sliding down her cheeks and falling onto the floor. Trying to brush them away she apologized again. "I'm sorry. I..I don't know what's gotten into me." She kept trying to stop them, but the tears kept coming.


@Homage

 

[Penelope Burns]

Natalie smiled at Robert's welcoming nature, pretending not to notice Aiden's mother's reactions. If she had, she would have called the woman out for acting so rude to her daughter. But Natalie was tired of yelling at adults for acting like children (Tim), at least for an hour. "It's a pleasure. And you must be Aiden's mother, it's good to meet you." Natalie took the pressure off of the girls by speaking to the woman herself.


-----


"Nia, go get ready for your turn, I'll be here to congratulate you when you get back." Nialla nodded and waved goodbye to her mom as she followed Hare to the starting line. It was almost time for them to begin.


She wanted to talk to Hare about the wink, but felt nervous about asking. Was she really interested, or was she just playing with her? Nia was too afraid to be wrong, so she avoided the subject. "You excited, Hare?"


-----


Vi internally grimaced as Min, the girl Leon wouldn't shut up about, starting crying right in front of her. It was an odd thing, watching her cry. She didn't show much emotion as the tears fell, but she was crying. She didn't want to stop, didn't want to lose the trail she had on the rat, but Vi had no choice.


"You're the girl Leon's fawning over, right? I need to find whoever... Played that prank, but I don't think Leon'd forgive me for letting you cry. What's wrong?" She didn't need the distraction, but part of herself was already excusing the moment of kindness. It was strategic, for Leon's sake. And besides, she had no chance of finding the rat.


Right?

 

[Willow Pillow]

(ah fuck it, everyone post their runs, Derp will prob do it the same time and it still works.)


Robert took his wife's hand off their son's. The glow faded, Aidan popped up on his feet looking dazed. "Your race is about to start. Last longer than five minutes, kiddo." Pretty much the only wish his father could give their son. There was no way in hell their ditzy little kid was going to make it the first trap that hit him. They were just lucky he was still this good person....least there was that.


"Oh. Right. Yes! Love you too!" His mother had robbed Aidan of actually meeting Nia's mother since he was lost in memories before he even was aware that Nia's mother was around.


Annalise looked at the hand Nat held out and didn't return the handshake. "My son is very...impressionable. He suffers from seeing the memories of others. At home...I can make sure he can see...proper...wholesome...memories. Where is your daughter's father?"


"WHAT SHE MEANS," Robert interjected. "Is...he sometimes can see very violent memories. That's all she's implying here. When he was two and we moved to our new home....kid wouldn't stop screaming. It took us awhile to figure out what was really going on, there was a murder in that home 10 years ago and he was seeing the events that happened. She just means she's worried about him seeing violence. I swear."


"She knows exactly what I mean."


"That's what I'm afraid of..."


--


BANG.


The gun went off and the race began. Five steps in feeling the heavy impact of a 20 weight ball crushing his chest and knocking him onto the ground, Aidan had successfully beaten his record of getting out faster than he had ever done before. Gasping for breath, he saw a flicker of himself tripping over a student's backpack. Like looking at a photograph and all of a sudden he was standing on his feet.


Lexi?


Step number seven, he felt himself being spun out of danger, catching a photgraphic image of himself smiling and feeling his own heart skip a beat at seeing himself.


Lexi...


As the race continued Aidan would be flickering right of danger at a moment's notice, each time the boy saw frames of himself, whatever it could capture while the ginger speedster kept plucking him in and out of danger. By the desert, aidan had physically stopped walking, crossing his arms. "Rush, stop. I can do this!" But it didn't stop, it just continued. All the way until Aidan's last protest of sitting indian style on the ground 55 meters from the finish line and he flickered, still sitting, over the line. Rush was sitting next to him, grinning ear to ear, she placed both her hands on his knees, Aidan's eyes began glowing but his pupils remained where they were. "You did it! We're in the-"


"I didn't ask you to do this, L...Rush."


"Oh come on, like I was going to let you get hurt in there. You deserve to see this through."


"It wasn't your call to make," He snapped. "I needed to earn the right to be here, not having anyone just assume I should have it."


"That's not...A-Recall I just wanted to-"


He gave a sad smile his hand moving around on his leg until he found one of her hands, lightly squeezing it. "I love that you are embracing who you are....and that you're not so sad anymore. Not today. But don't lose who you are while you're embracing the mask. I like that girl, that girl would be at the infirmary with me right now lecturing me why I need to take better care of myself." One squeeze of the hand he let it go pushing himself up to his feet and walked away.


Lexi sat there on the ground unable to process what just happened here.

 

[The Suspicious Eye]

Min looked up at her as she mentioned Leon. Did he really talk about me that much? Her cheeks flushed slightly it was odd on such a still face. Min really did like him, that wasn't the problem. Nick wasn't even the problem. She could feel all her thoughts rush to the surface all at once. "I'm not strong enough. My mother is right, I'm not strong enough. I shouldn't have left my home. I'm failing. I'm not strong. I'm a monster and a terrible person. I should just leave. So many people and so many things that I've been through. I don't think I can handle this. I don't think I can handle it. How am I supposed to handle anything?" She ran her fingers through her hair frantically. The voice in her head hissed Quiet! Calm... We want what we want, There is nothing wrong with that. Min felt a calm waft over her.


Closing her eyes she took a deep breath and spoke slowly. "I'm sorry." She stopped crying and finally wiped away the tears. "I.... I'm just overwhelmed. My mother isn't coming and I'm just emotional. I got kissed by another boy and I don't know...how I feel about it. I mean I know how I feel about Leon, but there's a urge I need to settle." Pausing she looked at the girl. "This urge scares me and I don't know what to do. Should I try to quench it or struggle to hold on. I know I shouldn't quench it, but in the end I don't think I'll have a choice."


@Homage

 

[Brinni]

"It's Vrel today, remember? Excited doesn't even come close. I'll see you at the finish line Bloquear. Try to make it in one piece okay?" she said.


BANG


Vrel took off like a rocket. She cleared the course in about five minutes. It really was no problem. And, to all but the those who knew and those that were looking carefully at her feet (when the cameras could keep up) to see that she changed the weight of her feet to make tight turns, it still looked like she was just a speedster. It wasn't until the finish line she saw something was off. Aiden of all people had reached the finish line before her.


There's no way he did that without help from Lexi. Well...that could be trouble for the pair of them since she didn't know he wanted to do it honorably. As she had the thought, she heard Aiden explain that very thing. He walked away, unable to see the confused and hurt look on the speedster's face.


And there it is


She made her way to find Moe. He had said he wanted to talk to her after her run about something important for the second half.


Finding him with a book in his hand he slapped him on the back and asked "what's the story morning glory?"


----


"You're gonna want to read and memorize this" he said, a glint in his eye. At the confused look he got he explained "all of the riddles for the next portion are in this book."


Harriet gasped. "Where did you get this?" she asked.


"Let's just say I knew the right question to ask the right person" he said. "Just don't spread it around."


---


Leon stood and cheered as each of his friends crossed the finish line, he even did so (albeit less emphatically) for Harriet, or Vrel as she was referring to herself as.


Turning to his father he said "Allons chercher mes épées. Je sens que je pourrais en avoir besoin pour le round de combat, en supposant que je fais passé l'étape suivante. De plus, vous pouvez me donner tout ce que le reste du don." (Let's go get my swords. I feel like I might need it for the combat round, assuming I make it past the next stage. Plus you can give me whatever the rest of the gift is.)


------


Baylee nodded and made his way out to the car he drove in, his son in tow. First, he gave him a long case with a handle. Leon could tell by the weight that it was his fencing swords. Then Baylee gave his son another case, not as wide as the first. "Be careful it's fragile."


----


Leon opened the second case to see several glasses and a couple bottles of wine. Reading the label he saw they were imported from France, and were expensive ones too. "I'm not sure how it will go if they find out I have this, but thank you. I'll go put it in my room now." And so he did, hiding it under the bed.


Tonight, after the tournament, we can all celebrate. Win or lose, first place or last, we did it together...and I suppose it can be a birthday celebration of sorts. I'd like to think Aiden kept the fact it was my birthday under wraps, but knowing him it's unlikely. Ah well. It was bound to come out sooner or later.

 

[Penelope Burns]

A normal person would have been reassuring or comforting when Min called herself a monster. Vi decided to laugh. "You, a monster? You aren't a monster. A monster murders strangers in the streets. She lies to one friend and murders the other. She ends up locked in prison with other, slightly worse monsters. Leon wouldn't have fallen for a monster. I may not know you too well, but I know him." Vi was walking a thin line by bringing up her own crimes, but it didn't much matter. When she heard the starting pistol, Vi knew their time was limited anyway. Min's turn was next up there.


"When I have urges, I try my best to fight them. When you let those urges in once or twice, it's fine, but you always risk overexposure. Giving in and letting them control you..." Vi looked Min dead in the eyes as she continued. "It will kill or alienate the people you love. Fight those urges, out of spite of nothing else. If people say you have no control, or that you don't deserve your power, you hold on, you keep yourself in control, not because of morals or beliefs, but just to make those naysayers shut the fuck up." Vi actually felt passion for a moment, before it faded. Spite was the best motivator there was, sometimes.


"Now then, with that poor excuse for a pep talk out of the way, I have a prankster to catch, and you have a race to win. You'll be a few minutes late, but you seem competent. I doubt you'll fail." Vi didn't say anything else, she just got up and disappeared around the corner, not even bothering to look for the rat. They were already long gone, without a doubt.


@The Suspicious Eye


-----


Nialla waited at the starting line for Min or Aiden, feeling increasingly nervous as they didn't show up, but continued standing. Hare was already long gone, probably utilizing her super speed to beat the track in five minutes. After another minute passed, Nialla sighed and surrounded herself in a double barrier before beginning her run across the track.


She was slow moving, in part because she was cautious and in part because she was constantly looking back for Aiden or Min, only for neither to appear. Eventually, after over forty minutes passed, Nialla made it to the end, only slightly out of breath. When she got to the finish, she saw Lexi standing alone near the finish line, looking more than a little upset.


"Hey Lex- uh, Rush. You feeling okay?" Nialla was worried. Was Aiden okay? Did something happen that caused him not to show up for the race?


@CosmicChangeling


-----


DuValt followed Moe to the library, careful not to get Louise's attention as he made his way there. When he arrived, he found Moe reading a book with a girl, Harry, he thought her name was. "Hey Moe, I wanted to say thanks for that. I've never made it passed round one before, because I'm never fast enough or have the energy. If you need anything, just ask." He gave the offer before immediately adding a caveat. "But it can't have anything to do with Louise. She'll kill me if she finds out I did this behind her back." It was meant as overexaggeration, but part of him was afraid Louise would go that far. She didn't limit herself like a normal person.


@Brinni

 

[SirDerpingtonIV]

Rachel Miller



​

Rachel took her position at the starting line, feeling quite bored. She was in no mood to participate in the obstacle course, with all the judging eyes upon her, but she knew she would have to anyways. She planned to take the whole thing easy, keep it at a slow jog for the whole race, ignore everyone else, and nothing could go wrong. She didn't know where Bran was, and grinned. Maybe he hadn't met the height requirement for the obstacle course, something she would remember to pick on him for later on. However, only a few seconds later, he showed up at the starting line rather late, which made her curious. "Ey Bran! Why'd you show up late? I thought you were short on time?" she asked tauntingly, with a grin plastered on her face.


As the fake pistol shot, she began the obstacle course with a slow and steady pace. She maintained this pace throughout most of the course, determined to keep the Beast under control, to ignore any possible attacks from the other students to prevent it from ceasing the chance to ruin anything else for her. She saw Bran streak off ahead, gracefully dodging the traps, moving too quickly for any of the others to catch up. She only chuckled, shaking her head as she followed in his wake, letting the other heroes pass her. They didn't pay much attention to her or her slow pace, as she was easy enough to pass as it was.


She past the traps without much effort, ducking here, dodging there, picking up a large rock and smashing a cannon, simple, easy work. It almost became clockwork, as she moved mellowly through the course, passing a few of those who bad been running with her, giving them mocking grins as they lie upon the ground after failing a few traps.


Eventually, after nearly 3 times as long as Bran, Rachel crossed the finish line, sat down on the sidelines, and began to take a nap.

 

[Willow Pillow]

Lexi had sat down for a long time staring at the crowd until eventually she could feel her own legs again standing up. Part of her wanted to run after him. To apologize. If she had known, she'd start over again and just take him to the nurse. When Nia approached her, the helmet came off as Lexi held it in her hands idly. She hadn't realized a few tears slipped down her cheeks.


"When my grandpa fought the war....his surviving buddies always told me....he was a firecracker, a wise ass. If anything, he'd make light of the situation, but they all respected him and he was a hero." She grimaced and looked at it, then back at her friend. "I don't know how to be one.....and after what happened with Louise I thought if I channeled Papa....I could do this....Nia....I don't think I'm being heroic anymore....I don't think I'm being a good person anymore."


Was he right? A few weeks ago...all she would be doing right now is using her powers to take injured students to the nurse. Now she was just....she helped Leon across the line, and she basically dragged Aidan across from it.