Gus
Justice RIDES AGAIN!!!
It is always darkest before the dawn, they say.
IN OTHER NEWS, I TOTES FINISHED THE EPISODE III SUMMARY BEFORE EPISODE IV WENT UP!
Will post it here for commentary and editing suggestions:
Episode III Revenge of the Scheiffer
Afternoon operations at Sparrow's point on the 25th begin more or less as normally as they ever do. Out behind the school, Aaron is testing his deathtrap and is super excited to see how students will handle it.
Meanwhile, in front of the school, Nike, the new hire for Physical Discipline (AKA gym) class is holding an impromptu press conference. In the 11 days since Knight Day, the reporters have acquired a taste for blood and dirt, and have been pestering anyone they can find for more. Nike, however, handles them easily and photogenically, as if she were born to it. The one reporter who dares to push for more substantive comment gets an earful, and an end to the conference. Unfortunately for all concerned, most of them remain on the edge of AEGIS grounds, bothering staff and students alike as they arrive for classes. Some students handle this poorly. Some hang back, afraid to approach, others plow through, heedless of what the cameras catch them doing. There are several altercations. Eventually they leave, and students get to class. One student, Chris, is still in the hospital. His teacher goes to him. His teacher is Hunter Ward... Some kids have all the luck!
Classes proceed more or less as you'd expect. Political Powers begins a discussion of the ramifications of recent event, Physical Discipline starts getting warmed up for obstacle courses, Mental Discipline is distractified and scatterbrained, and Collateral Damage & You puts students in mortal danger rescuing mannequins from a death trap. First aid class is being taught by the other new hire, a golden retriever, and the whole lot of them are late to class. Emotional Composure class confronts the intractable problem of 'What even are emotions anyway? Give examples.' This last bit makes more sense if you know that the EC teacher is not so much trying to inform students as subtly research the concept for the benefit of the nano robot swarm animating his dead body. Most students are not aware of this, but today he has Jordan in class, who is a hyper intelligent hive mind himself, and sees right through McNabb. Takes one to know one, they say.
Business as usual.
It is difficult to precisely mark the moment when the day starts to go off the rails. It was not the telepathic shout of floofersnoof that echoed through everyone's mind. That, people just rolled with, and filed under #AEGISexperience. It might have contributed to Morgan Brahn's delinquency from class, but the day proceeded unhindered. It probably wasn't the battle of wills between the Lazarus swarm and Jordan either. The attempt to expose its true nature was deflected by the artificial being's cover story that the host body had suffered a stroke. Ironically, it was the nano-colony's superior grasp of the subtleties of emotions and the delicate politics of the classroom that turned the tide against the superior raw intelligence of the younger Brahn child. While the war is not over, this battle was handily won. One might argue that seeds of destruction were sown in gym class, with the confrontation between Danny Travis and the new teacher Nike Deschaine. Those seeds did not germinate however, until Danny left the class in disgust, thinking he has won the argument by default. Things didn't fall apart right away, but that was when the stitching began to fail. That is where a time traveler might have been able to set things right before they went wrong. But the adage of time travelers everywhen applies: “Hindsight is a vice... especially when it is foresight”
But for a while, things still seemed normal. Page Morgan, the school secretary expresses in no uncertain terms, the quite reasonable objection to testing students with a death trap. Hint: It's the death part. Aaron insists everything is under control. Students finally show up for First Aid class, nearly 20 minutes late. Cecilia defends McNabb from Jordan's probing attacks; to her he seems utterly unhinged. Honestly! Poking fun at an old man like that! He is a little strange, but that is what a stroke can do to you. Into the midst of the incipient chaos comes Gavin Dabbs, a brave young normal, hoping to find somebody to look at his sketches; he wants to design uniforms for 108's students, following in his grandmother's footsteps. Penny Urbain, the powerplant/troll in the basement starts a group chat to distract the others from class and herself from death by boredom. The golden retriever introduces his robotic holographic projector, which seems to delight in frightening children with lavishly detailed 3D portrayals of horrific injuries. Hunter Ward returns to 108 from hospital to greet the new student Sam Cassan. Did I say greet? I meant injure.
The second key step in the disastrous results of the day is a phone call. Denzil DeKlerk's mother is dying. He tells his class to continue their discussion and heads for the airport, booking a flight as he goes. On almost any other day, this would be fine. Students at 108 are taught to be resourceful and adjust to changing circumstances, and the staff generally cover for each other. But today, Danny Travis is stalking the halls, restless and still angry. And Klaus vos Scheiffer is on coverage duty.
One might argue any number of could haves or should haves, point fingers in any number of directions, but the facts of the case are these: Danny made Klaus angry, and Klaus responded by flooding the Political Powers classroom with poison gas. Mitch Castle copied his power and immunity. Morgan Neverlin was far enough away that she was not hit with the full dosage. But Danny stubbornly stood up to Klaus and took a deep lungfull. Due in part to his bleeding disorder, he started hemorrhaging into his lungs uncontrollably before collapsing in moral triumph at the discipline counselor's feet.
At this point, there was still time to stave off the worst excesses of the day, but only at the cost of Danny's life. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your perspective, Penny was watching on the security monitors, and shared the video. With everybody. From this point forward events move of their own accord. Tabitha Crane breaks Aaron's trap, ending testing for the day. Aaron gathers his class as all their phones chirp alerts about new mail. At the teacher's request, Mary makes a portal to Political Powers class. Aaron and Luci Tolbert go in. Victoria is asked to use her optic blast to push the desk out the window for ventilation. According to her paperwork, that seemed a reasonable request. Her paperwork is wrong. She takes a bead on the desk and removes her limiter headgear. Mitch gives Danny an antitoxic kiss and then is hurried out of the room along with Morgan by Luci with Aaron carrying Danny through the door shattered by the arrival of chief of security Riley Zdunowski. Victoria opens her eyes. The desk disintegrates. Riley is blasted out the window along with a sizable chunk of wall. She survives, barely, by being in the peripheral zone of the optic blast. The burst of purple light continues nearly two miles westward across the bay to the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The bridge is closed for construction, and the crew has knocked off for the day, thankfully. The optic blast annihilates one of the supports and a substantial span goes to the bottom of the bay. Not realizing Riley is no longer with him, Aaron takes Danny to McNabb, who transfers a small colony of the Lazarus swarm to Danny's lungs to stop the bleeding and clear the alveoli of blood. Klaus begins to realize just how deep and wide a lake of shit he is in and starts to edge toward the door. Ward blocks his way, practically daring him to make a false move. Director Swan charges into the room, takes stock of the damage, and sends all the students home, calling for an emergency staff meeting. He is, understandably, furious. In less than a minute, our heroes have done more damage to AEGIS's public image than the Knights did with months of planning and forethought.
TL
R: Everybody shows up for class even though reporters are douchey and the world is insane. Then it gets worse. Klaus goes psycho and tries to murder a student and the school wall blows out, beltway bridge falls in the bay, and Riley Z is nearly incinerated. Knights are totally jelly for how good the supers did at hurting themselves.
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