Fantasy The Tudor Lestrange Institute of Villainy and Henchmanship - Main (Reboot)

[StrixDesmodus]

Budding minds may become the next great dictator, but not everybody is here willingly, some kidnapped in order to fill in a quota at this high school for future villains. Whether your parents enrolled you, you came on your own, or you were kidnapped from wherever you were before this…. Well, you’re stuck here, like it or not.
Welcome to the Tudor Lestrange Institute of Villainy and Henchmanship.

 

[StrixDesmodus]

Mrs. Persephone Skinner

It was an hour before lunchtime at Tudor Lestrange Institute on opening day 2035, and Mrs. Skinner was on duty greeting new and returning students. So far, it was uneventful, and she hadn't so much as heard a comment on her outfit - which included indigo dress much like a flapper would wear and a wide-brimmed hat with branching antlers on either side of it- an outfit which she was very proud of too! Most of the students hadn't done more than greet her, as those who arrived early were either returning students, or those who hadn't awakened yet from being drugged. Those were scattered around campus, most of them unconscious. She sighed at the sight of one of those unconscious students being kicked by a conscious counterpart. Some things never change.


Knott Lazarus

Knott was in a scramble to get their belongings from one room to the next. They weren't aware that their room would be changing until just recently, and they were in a rush to keep their more dangerous items and supplies out of the wrong hands. They didn't even have time to worry about their reputation catching up with them, though it was well known how ruthless they were before their conscience caught up with them, leading them into a deep and depressive mental breakdown. Still, whether they were known as the jerk who was probably on their way to becoming a dangerous villain, a has-been who forgot what was good for them, or just any other expendable, damned by the asterisk next to their name on the rooming charts, it wasn't on Knott's mind right now.

 

[Mitheral]

Elektra Maize
Elektra was one of those rare individuals who had sought TLI out. She had left home shortly after the end of her sophomore year of high school. If the task had been within her skills she would have ghosted herself. But the simple truth was that her family had kept far too many records to make it possible to get everything. The best she could manage was her digital footprint and even that had been hard.

She had arrived outside the school and just started to stake the place out while attempting to hack in - again - to check on her application. She was a little surprised to find their cybersecurity waiting for her. She had even been a little red faced to realize that she had been so predictable. Then she saw the image file they sent of her staking the place out. So she gathered her suitcases and checked out of the pay by the week, day or hour apartment she had found. They had taken cash and asked no questions.

She had been a little disappointed at the lack of concierge or porters upon arrival. She had to hike her own things in. But she soon realized that many students weren’t even there as it was summer. That surprised her. Since when did crime take time off? There were still students there though. She would soon learn that many were kidnapped, others forcibly enrolled. And then there was a bottom feeder class called Expendable.

The next major disappointment had been the room assignments. She had expected a room of her own - or at the very least a room in a quad. The whole room was bigger than her room back home, but not by much. And it was like slumming it. Still it was a step up from the rat hole she had been staying at. Her last next door neighbor was a woman who had had a LOT of “uncles” all named John. She shuddered as she recalled how many times the uncles got the room number wrong.

She had summoned Matrix and put him to work customizing her quarters both in the Tellurium (our realm) and Umbra, creating a veil to provide privacy. One and Zero she let roam freely - within her room for now. And Dude she had Matrix build an aquarium for. Finally she got rid of the bed and had Matrix build a framed hammock for her.

The first thing she asked for was a list of the Rules.

Ian Colter
Ian had NOT been amused. In his sleep the 40 foot ISO shipping container had been picked up and moved across the city and into the school. He had considered putting up a fight, but he had been in human form and outnumbered. He had the distinct sense that the torture of his childhood was over and a new phase was about to begin - not that he was interested. Being born to be bad did not mean he HAD to be bad. At least he thought he had a choice in the matter.

He was soon moved out of his container and given a room assignment.

 

[wowie]

Pincushion
Waking up outside on the Institute's lawn, Pin groaned as the blobs above them slowly focused into students before a foot was jabbed into their skull. 'How unfortunate," They thought with dwindling patience as the gaggle of upperclassman continued to torment Pin. Lunging forward they shove one of the students, a young cyclops, to the floor before grotesquely punching a hand through his retina. The resulting screams drew a soft smile to their face as Pin stood up to stretch, dislodging their arm from his eye with a sickening pop. 'Neutralized. Now to enter.' Calmly they wiped a blooded forearm off on grey slacks while advancing to the school unfazed in the slightest by the frenzied panic of other students following the altercation. With a nod to Mrs. Skinner Pincushion continued inside to find their rooming assignment, tracking scarlet dots of blood to mar the pristine white tiles.
'Red's a nice color for this place.'

Previous day ~
"#04 you've been assigned to next semester, excel in your studies and you will be rewarded. Now please proceed to testing," An intercom above Pin's cell dictated to the captive individual. Placed in isolation following successful genetic experiments they were offered a chance to regain limited autonomy if enrolled at the Tudor Institute. At the very least they'd get better clothes than a prison jumpsuit and shock collar, both unfortunately in stark white which did little to flatter 04's figure. Hoping to investigate further into what circumstances brought them to this facility Pin accepted with every intent to exact revenge on the scientists involved following release. Their cell opened to an armed escort wielding a blowtorch (to combat their regenerative abilities), faceless as every being remained in the hellhole thanks to instilled glamours utilized to protect their identities. Once tied on a steel medical bench the quick jab of a needle sent the room spinning as white lab coats swarmed over 04's unconscious body.

Current ~
Snapping from the unpleasant memories Pincushion realizes they've reached a room brandishing a plaque detailing, 'Finbar/ Pincushion/ Evilman.'
'Well at least they gave me a proper name'
Grasping the doorknob with a crimson hand they push it open to find...nobody. Shrugging Pin quickly takes stock of one bunk bed and a single, choosing the latter. After placing dibs with their jacket a brief search reveals clothing provided by the Institute along with a deck of tarot cards. "Interesting," Pin murmurs with a gravelly tone prior to cleaning up the remains of the lawn's scuffle. Once everything is settled they collapse onto the bed to promptly fall asleep.

 

[StrixDesmodus]

Finbar Cody

The last thing Finbar could remember was on his way into town to meet some of his buddies, only to find that he was dizzy and falling off of his horse, having not even noticed the pricking of a dart in his arm or thinking much of the unmarked van that he had passed by seconds before.
"Ember.... Ember, where are ya?" It no longer felt like he was in the saddle, which must have meant that the horse was unaccounted for.
Then, he couldn't believe his recently opened eyes.
Now that he awakened on an unfamiliar couch, surrounded by luggage- three pieces of which looked suspiciously like the suitcases he took to visit his grandparents across the province in St. Johns- he briefly wondered if his riding helmet had failed him and he had suffered some type of brain injury. Looking forward, there was a banner hanging from the ceiling that read "WELCOME" in Comic Sans. Not much else was there in the way of context clues.
Picking his malaised body up, then lifting his head under his arm, the new angle revealed a bulletin board on the wall, some messages pinned to it, and even more papers taped to the surrounding wall. He approached and inspected the messages, wondering what the hell kind of institute he was in, and who this Tudor Lestrange was.
Alright, so this says something about teachers and students, he thought, So this is a school? Rooming assignments.... A boarding school. But what in the world am I doing here?
Then, he noticed his name on the list, a chill going down his spine. The names next to his didn't make much sense to him, though. He didn't even recognize them as names, for that matter. Hardly anything had sunk in until he turned around and saw several people, none moving, sprawled between pieces of luggage. He considered swearing, but recalled the potential danger in it, so instead just gasped, feeling his blood rush with acuity.
Turning back to the bulletin board, he scoured it for answers. Finding none, he just read the line of text that contained his name. Finbar, Pincushion, Evilman. What does it mean?
Turning around again, and finding the out-of-place smile of a woman dressed in dark blue and fearing to make eye contact with her. His averted gaze met blood on the floor, following it as it led down a short hallway, which a large-texted sign labeled as containing dorms 1-001 though 1-006. Finbar recalled that the number in front of his name was 1-005. Perhaps it was a dorm number after all, but that still didn't give context to "Pincushion" and "Evilman." But perhaps there was somebody injured behind the door the blood led to, and Fin would be remiss not to find out, let alone not help them if he could. At any rate, that woman by the larger doorway shouldn't have been smiling like that, not with blood and bodies about.
He followed the blood trail, for better or for worse, freezing at the sight of his name on the door, beneath "1-005' and before "/ Pincushion / Evilman"
He swung that door open, surprised that it was unlocked, and revealed to himself some beds, one an empty bunk bed, the other a single bed that had bloodstains on the sheets and a fully clothed person snoozing in it.
"Jesus Murphy." He exclaimed under his breath, standing in place.

 

[Burberry Preserves]

"Evilman" & Sebastian

"I'm evil. Yes, I'm very evil. I eat babies. And I kick puppies. Yes, this is me. Evil Evilman," Evilman muttered to himself as he walked down the path followed by Sebastian, who was texting someone on his phone while chewing some gum. This place was disgusting. He could feel his feathers curling up from the sheer taint of evil coming off of this place. While he had hoped that arriving early would spare him the stink, it seemed that some sinners were quite prompt...

"Sebastian, Sebastian," Evilman prodded his partner-in-justice in the side. "Do you have our room assignments? Are we roomed together?"

"Nope." Punctuated by a pop of bubble gum. "Here's your luggage. Seeya, V-Evilman. We'll probs have class together, ay,

"What!!! No! That can't be!!! This has to be a mistake!!" Evilman protested loudly, as Sebastian left him steadily in the dust, eager to get away from the loud angel-hybrid. "Wait, Sebastian! Come back! We're supposed to be evil together!"

Sebastian

Even though he was supposed to be Virtue's (or, well, Evilman's) handler for this undercover mission, Sebastian really... didn't want to hang out too much with the angel. He adjusted his luggage, careful not to disturb any of the more volatile machinery he had stowed away. Pretending to be evil, huh... it was a waste of time, if anybody asked. But, orders were orders.

With a sigh, Sebastian opened the door to his room and shoved his luggage on the bed nearest to the door. He popped a cigarette into his mouth and lit it up quickly, before turning to the only other person (Ian) in the room with him.

"You my new roommate? Er..." He quickly checked the rooming chart given to him. "Ian or... Vex...? I'm Sebastian. Nice to meet you. Hope you don't mind if I set up a little of my junk around here." As Sebastian said that, he began laying out an array of pastel-colored plushies on his bed, and putting up ribboned wands. All of them deadly weaponry fit for a junior sidekick, of course. Or, uh, junior villain.

Evilman

Alas, abandoned by the only person he could trust in this place... this was truly a cesspit of evil and horror! He almost wanted to cry. In fact, he really did weep a few tears of sadness that dissolved into ethereal fragments of light. No, evil people didn't cry. Evilman must stay strong. For the sake of his mission. He shook his head, and smacked the side of his head a few times to keep his composure.

Time to meet his roommates. C'mon! Into the fray, Evilman! You're an evil man, wearing the latest evil fashion from the evil magazine!

Putting his most evil grin on his face, Evilman burst into his room loudly, ready to greet his two undoubtedly diabolical and nefarious roommates. "Bad morning to you all!" He took a moment to take it in. One (Pincushion) was covered in blood, already snoozing away... how slothful! Unforgiveable! It was almost lunchtime! The other one (Finbar) appeared to have just entered, staring at the room... "It is I, your new roommate, fellow villains, Evilman Notgood Justicehaticus!"

He carried his luggage over to the bunk bed, smiling at the only person in the room who was awake, and began unpacking his stuff. "Very bad to meet you, roomie! I hope we do not get along!"

 

[Mitheral]

The Greyson Twins
Daniel and Danielle had caught the attention of the Institute some months ago. There had been three victims of Kessick unaccounted for. Two had been kept in smaller cages for prepubescent teens; one in a cage for an adult. The adult’s cage had been opened in a very unusual fashion, the bars and mesh sliced by an impossibly sharp edge.

Their mother had drawn attention with her behavior. Her deeply instilled phobias had made her an easy target. Of course, the family’s paranoia had made her kidnapping difficult. They were amazingly creative with traps and counter intruder measures. But once they had her, getting the kids to cooperate wasn’t too difficult.

What was impressive was how quickly the twins adapted and learned. They had escaped at age 10, returned for their mother at age 12. In that time they learned enough to call 911 anonymously, break back in and extract their mother - all without drawing the attention of the police to their existence. They had managed to travel from the backwater off grid Lab in the bayou of Louisiana to Albuquerque. In 5 years they homeschooled themselves to a high school level, established identities, and enrolled in school.

Over the summer they had been tested for their aptitude, which seemed to be in medical science. For this they had been placed in classes with Dr Pennhurst and Mr Scratchwick. They had made one demand before agreeing to take the classes. They wanted to see their mother daily. The school compromised and agreed to a weekly family dinner.

*********

It was the first time in their life since their escape from Kessick that they had been separated. Escape now seemed impossible with the new collars they were forced to wear. Each had found themselves assigned to a roommate.

StrixDesmodus

 

[StrixDesmodus]

Sharon Angler

Sharon didn't have much to move when it came to her belongings, as most of what she needed was kept in a special corner of Hell, courtesy of Thorntalon. All she had to do was carry his perch to the new room and then wheel over the mini freezer of frozen mice, which thankfully she managed to do before they all thawed. She didn't really understand why she had to do this stuff manually, but a part of her contract was to do whatever Thorn told her to do, and she didn't really question it since it worked out most of the time.
Now, she and Thorn just sat around, sipping from a smuggled-in bottle of Dr. Brown's ginger ale and wondering who would occupy the rest of the dorm- She didn't bother to read who would room with her, as she wanted to be surprised.


Rathbone Diggs

From the earth, directly beside the parking lot, the ground shifted and turned as what could have been a millipede the size of two train cars. Well, if millipedes were chrome plated and worked by a noisy motor. Its full glory shone in the sun as it skittered out of the cavern it had made, then came to a stop parallel to the path from the parking lot to front doors.

"Well Rath, we're here!" Rathbone's older sister declared.
"Maggie, why did you have to burrow this cursed thing through the ground? We're going to get into trouble for making such a big hole!" Rath was furious that Margaret had insisted on taking the Skittermobile to TLI. It was too conspicuous, and certainly not vampiric enough.
"We're not supposed to lead the authorities to this place, now are we?"
"We could have taken the truck, you know."
"You just don't know how to make an entrance, sib! Besides, we beat that traffic jam."
"Whatever. Is the plan still for me to keep Boomer?
"I'm not taking him back home with me, if that's what you're asking. And hell if I'm helping you carry your luggage."
"Whatever."

Rathbone unclipped thons seatbelt, made thons way to the cargo hold, and pressed a button, causing a segment of the vehicle's carapace to pop up. Maggie handed Rath a smart tablet. Unlocking the screen, Rathbone soon had the quadrupedal robot released from his involuntary stasis, but not before Maggie made sure that the wooden chest that was on his back and the bags that were strapped to his sides were all in place.

"C'mon Boomer!"

Boomer considered printing out some words of protest, but instead followed Rathbone down the long path to the school's front door.

 

[Mitheral]

Friday
Friday … or Ms Friday as she would write on her blackboard for the sake of new students was a diminutive woman who for over two centuries had been mistaken for a male dwarf. She looked around her lecture hall. It was a small indoor amphitheater in design, but with all the convenience of the 21st century.

Her mind slipped backwards through time as she remembered the Count. He had been a kind man, too kind for the people all around him. He would never have approved of the Institute. She remembered how the superstitious villagers had gathered pitchforks and torches to drive them out of town. She remembered how they had found Jalut, beaten and bloody at the hands of the master of a freak show. Jonathan had nearly torn Jalut’s jailer apart. Instead he had offered the owner a small fortune.

It was Jonathan who taught them both Sign language. He treated Jalut’s injuries. And most importantly he treated Jalut like a human being.

When Jonathan had ascended his wealth was left to them. But it was hard to spend their wealth given their natures. Prejudice was everywhere. Every now and then they would run into trouble with the law simply for their strangeness. And so they began to seek out people who would tolerate them. As it turned out, it was the occasional mad scientist who was normally grateful for their help. Soon, however, it became apparent that they knew more than their new masters.

For nearly a century Friday and Jalut had moved about, always trying to stay one step ahead of those who sought to lock them up and throw away the keys. More than once Friday had had to rebuild her alchemy lab. Jalut had taken up archaic weaponsmithing and rune etching. Finally they found the Institute. There they could pursue their studies and arts without the prejudice of the ignorant masses. Friday took a position as an instructor. Jalut was mute. He accepted the role of a janitor, while he began to forge weapons of power.

Here in the lecture hall she would open young minds to the art of Alchemy. Some of her students would be stuck ‘Tending the Master’s Fire’ or be sent to collect materials. Part of those skills would be learned in Mr Scratchwick’s class. The problem with her plan to teach Alchemy was that it took a great deal of patience, high intelligence, nimble fingers, and years of study just to get past the Apprentice stage. Those without steady fingers would need a year of learning basic lab techniques. But those willing to dedicate their lives to the art would become indispensable to all other mages. The products and byproducts of alchemical processes were invaluable.

But seriously, Friday was wondering if she would have even one student.

 

[StrixDesmodus]

Finbar Cody

Finbar's eyes bugged out at Evilman's brash entrance. He was startled at first, but then he smiled. This was Evilman? It was someone's name? He'd heard of the growing Evil movement, but it had yet to come to his corner of the world, and as far as he was concerned, it was mostly just some whack-jobs from America. Sure, he'd heard of some Villains in places like Alberta and BC, but in Newfoundland it was an off-color joke, or at least it was around Port St Augustine. That, or a worry for travelers.

"So you''re Evilman? I'm Finbar. " He held out his free hand to shake, hoping he could get some answers out of this guy, and hoping he wouldn't somehow regret it. This place had an air of danger to it, and it still nagged at the back of Fin's mind.

 

[Mitheral]

Ian Colter
Ian looked about as ordinary as you could get, like some teenagers off the streets - minus anything possibly crime related. He could have been the kid you got stuck with at any boarding school. His most valuable possession was what resembled a cross country bike, but was clearly built from parts from several bikes or custom made parts. It was beaten and banged up. And it was currently disassembled and locked up.

A memory foam mattress was on top of the regular mattress the school had given him. On top of that as an old Army blanket and a comforter. The nice bedding provided by the school was neatly folded up and placed at the foot of the bed. Parked by the head of the bed was an ice cooler.

There was a mountaineer's backpack slid under the bed.

He glanced over at Sebastian as the new kid introduced himself. There was something about the guy’s clothing that didn’t look ordinary. But who was he to judge? “Ian. Ian Colter. This school is Dad’s idea. What’s your story?”

StrixDesmodus

**********

Danielle Greyson
The collared teenager entered her new room assignment. She was escorted by a giant who stood a solid 8 feet (Jalut) who carried her things - which wasn’t much. The giant was silent as he waited for Danielle to make sure it was safe to enter. But she just turned back around and took the box and thanked him.

She had checked the name on the nameplates before entering. Sharon. Easy name to remember. She sighed and turned her mind to the task of setting up her place in the room. There wasn’t much to do. She just set her box of things next to an empty bed to claim it as hers. Then she nodded silently at Sharon.

 

[StrixDesmodus]

Vex Von Brandt

Mitheral Burberry Preserves

It was another year at TLI, and Vex was sure it would be great. It was certainly worth the long car ride, which had cramped his wings. No matter, though, as he'd show those magic users what was coming soon enough. His father, Dr. Von Brandt had encouraged Vex to take some of their latest invention with him, a first generation injectable magic suppressant known as sectulam, ready made in case of early disaster. A few pre-loaded syringes and the instructions for making more of it were carried in the right hip pocket of his lab coat.
As he entered the school, bags in hand, he checked the acceptance paper for his room number, then made his way over to the door with the matching number and his name on its plaque.
"So which one of you is Ian and which is Sebastian?' He said as he entered, flexing his wings for the umpteenth time since he gotten out of Dr. Von Brandt's car. "I'm Vex."


Sharon Angler & Thorntalon

Mitheral

As she watched Jalut bring in a newcomer, surely Danielle. Judging by the collar, and the fact that she didn't come on her own, Sharon guessed that her new roommate was not just a fellow captive, but one that the school was making sure to keep in line.
"I'm Sharon, and this is Thorntalon. It's great to meet ya!" She gestured to the bird on her shoulder, a male American kestrel to those who knew their birds but a demon in disguise, to those in on the secret. The alleged bird stared at Danielle, tilting his head, then turning to Sharon as she got up from sitting and spoke again. "Thorn, be a dear and get some ginger ale for her."
Sharon approached the window, opening both the glass and screen portion, and Thorntalon flew out and dived out of sight.


Jolene Wildwood

Mitheral

Jolene wasn't sure if she'd reached the institute on time, but it was surely right in front of her. She hadn't even been caught, which was good. She wasn't going back to that stupid foster home, answering any questions asked by law enforcement or the media, or waiting around to see if she was some lost princess or just some orphan now. Even if she was the lost princess, she wouldn't co-operate now that the only mother she knew was in jail. She dismissed those thoughts from her mind, reminding herself that she was finally back at TLI. What mattered most was that there was probably still a bed waiting for her.

"Ok, you can stop now," she told the deer as she dismounted, a doe which had carried her, and a doe and a buck which carried her belongings."Thanks for bringing me here. Hold on a second while I get your payment."
With that, she unsnapped the strap of her backpack from around the buck's neck and slung it over a nearby tree branch, unzipping one of the smaller compartments. She extracted a plastic bag of field corn kernels and poured it onto the ground. As the deer ate, she then slipped her banjo off of the other doe's neck. Inspecting it for damage, she was satisfied that there wasn't so much as a string out of tune, miraculously.
Re-zipping the backpack and putting it on, and slinging the banjo over her left shoulder, she marched into the school with the confidence of someone who hadn't thought of the possibility that someone would bring up the recent events which Jolene wished she weren't a part of.
Sauntering through the school, her room number was etched into her mind, and she entered it soon.
"Phew! My name's on the door alright. Jolene Wildwood."

 

[wowie]

Pincushion
Evilman's rather overzealous entry awakened them from a rather funny dream involving a dancer spider performing acrobatics, although Pin discreetly kept silent. Deciding instead to listen in they grew a miniature eye embedded within the back of Pin's neck to take evaluate the situation. Both roommates appeared to be bizarre in their own right with a headless man conversing to what appeared to be a pink angel? Pondering the rather unique students enrolled at Tudor, Pin decided to offer a formal introduction to the pair.

Sitting up on the bed they turned to crack their spine, feigning a yawn as the third eye assimilated into Pin's body. "Finbar. Evilman." They nodded at both although pointendly refraining from offering any handshake. Eyeing Evilman suspiciously Pincushion inquires, "An angel I presume? What made you fall?" The presence of such a universally recognized upholder of virtues attending a school designed for unholy trainees seemed strange, even in the wake of a headless horseman. Realizing any pursuit of reason would prove futile Pin amends his question, "If that's offensive you’re free to ignore the question. I'm rather new to these sociabilities so excuse me."

StrixDesmodus Burberry Preserves

 

[Mitheral]

Elektra Maize
Elektra had already been living in her room for a couple months and was well settled. She had been out, checking out a couple more books at the Library and grabbing some more veggies for Dude when her new roommate showed up. The lack of any human sized web sacs told her that no one had disturbed anything. She glanced the girl up and down. She could SEE that the girl wasn’t any more ordinary than she was. Dude was the only ordinary thing in the room.

“You must be Jolene. I’ve been here all summer. I sort of enrolled myself shortly after I got out of mundane school. Scholarship. I’m a year round student now. I picked a corner. Can’t move it though - not unless you want to have a fight with an immortal pony sized spider. Matrix doesn’t take well to anyone damaging her constructs. I needed a quiet place to study. But, if you like hammocks, I could probably sweet talk Matrix into spinning one for you.

“I hope you don’t mind spiders - or Iguanas. Dude - my iguana - is half the reason for the veil around my personal area. Keeps him in and others out. He has a habitat, but he likes to wander.”

A tarantula sized silvery digital spider materialized on her shoulder. “And that is … uhm … Zero. Don’t worry. He’s harmless. One is probably in my laptop … which isn’t quite here.”

She rarely spoke so much unless she was being intentionally shallow. Then she realized she hadn’t introduced herself. “Elektra … with a ‘k’. Looks like we are roommates.” She frowned. “You would think that as much as we pay, we’d at least have the privacy of our own rooms.”

She smiled inwardly. She COULD change that. But doing so might upset the Staff. She wasn’t ready to do that just yet. However, course selection, seating arrangements and such were fair game … if the right cute guy came along … or the wrong student pissed her off.

StrixDesmodus

 

[Mitheral]

Danielle Greyson
Danielle still wasn’t feeling very sociable. As far as she knew most of the students were here under their own volition. In her case that was a debatable matter.

“Danielle.” She really didn’t want to talk. But something told her that wasn’t going to help anything. “I miss Albuquerque already. Things were just starting to go well. Too well I guess.”

In her mind she could feel Daniel studying her roommate. *Daniel. Talk. Being reclusive isn’t going to get Mom out of here.*

Sharon’s last command suddenly registered. “Your hawk … fetched sodas?” There was a look of bewilderment on her face. “I guess that explains some of the tests they gave us - my brother and me. We’ve been doing aptitude testing.”

StrixDesmodus

Ian Colter
Ian spoke up and indicated himself. “Ian. Him … Sebastion. That’s my bed. That one is Sebastion’s. You get to choose yours from those last two. Seb was just about to tell us his life story.”

StrixDesmodus Burberry Preserves

 

[StrixDesmodus]

Jolene Wildwood

Mitheral

"I love hammocks." She said with a smile, "And I don't really mind any animal as long as they're not rude to me."
She realized that the latter statement was not the typical way of talking about animals, and so explained herself.
"I can talk to them you know, and they understand me. I understand them too. Figured you'd find out sooner or later, so.... Yeah."
Jolene wasn't sure that she'd be able to communicate with the spider on Elekra's shoulder, as she could only really communicate with regular animals. Constucted animals, shapeshifters, or artificial intelligence with animalistic mentation were subject to language barrier- If they didn't speak English, she couldn't understand them.
"So, what do you think of this place so far?"


Sharon Angler & Thorntalon

Mitheral

Sharon grinned at Danielle's comment.
"He does all kinds of things." With that, Thorntalon re-entered, an ice-cold bottle of ginger ale in his talons. He landed on a nearby bed, let go of the ginger ale, then returned to Sharon's shoulder. "So, you're already in aptitude testing? How's that going?"


Vex Von Brandt

Mitheral Burberry Preserves


Vex set his bags down by the empty bed.
"Really now? Go on. I'd love to hear it." He said, turning to Sebastian.

 

[Burberry Preserves]

Evilman

"Finbar? So bad to meet you. I am so not happy that we met today on this very day in this very school." Evilman shook Finbar's hand vigorously and enthusiastically, before whipping around to stare at their newly awakened roommate. The bloody, slothful one!

"What! Angel!!!" Evilman shook his head wildly, his wings twitching in agitation! No! It couldn't be, his cover was broken already!??! Where was Sebastian when you needed him! "I'm not an angel, silly... I'm just... a bird person! The only times I fall are when I trip!" He smiled radiantly, his head shining with a clearly holy and angelic halo. Technically, he was an angel hybrid... "

wowie StrixDesmodus

Sebastian

Ooooh, son of the school's headmaster, or one of the members of the school board? Spicy. Very spicy. The feds would love to know more about this. He propped up another one of his plushies--this one could shoot heat tracking missiles until his superhero teacher told him heroes didn't use missiles--on his bed, thinking on how to respond.

Then another schmuck came in, this one with wings. "Sebastian here. Howdy, roomie. Cool wings. Life story? Lemme think..."

"Y'know. Same ol' same ol. Grew up on the streets, no parents, parents died because of tax evasion, developed the intense craving for power and freedom through villainy, decided to come to this here school to achieve my dreams of becoming a professional tech-villain." He flashed a peace sign, flopping down on his bed. Just a fabricated backstory, but they wouldn't know that. Villains were supposed to be liars, anyways. Lord that sounded like something Evilman would say.

A lazy grin spread on his face. "Now that I shared, ya'll gotta share too, eh? What brings you here to this lovely institute?"


Mitheral StrixDesmodus

 

[StrixDesmodus]

Finbar Cody

wowie Burberry Preserves

He crinkled his eyebrows at Evilman's continued strange declarations. For now, he'd play along with whatever was going on.
"Do you feel unwelcome?" Finbar wasn't sure what Evilman had meant, and was still unsure of where he was, but recalled that one of his friends, who had autism, sometimes would not always get intonations or facial expressions "right" when she spoke. Perhaps Evilman had the same problem, or so Fin speculated.
Fin wanted to be considerate, though his curiosity was piqued by what Pincushion said.
He'd never met an angel before, fallen or otherwise, but he figured he knew one now that he saw one.
"What's with the halo, then?" Fin was unsure if he should have asked that question, but he planned on asking more later, so he figured he might as well ask any question first.


Francis Sato

Mitheral

Francis was on a hard floor, but barely cognizant of it. He was so tired that he could barely open his eyes. But he was so uncomfortable too.
He almost couldn't tell he wasn't still on a park bench, but he knew he wasn't in his house. He had almost forgotten about how things had boiled over with his mother, but the fact that his hair was cut short now served to remind him that he was probably no longer in that dreadful domicile.
Come on Francis, He thought to himself, There's something wrong. Why is it so cold?
He sprang up, finding himself in a hallway. Definitely not outdoors.
"Where am I?" Wondering aloud may not have been the best idea, nor was ducking into the nearest door, but that's exactly what he did. By coincidence, it was his assigned room, though he didn't read the door.


Vex Von Brandt

Mitheral Burberry Preserves

Vex was all too eager to volunteer his life story. Despite the risk of offending magic apologists, It was separating the wheat from the chaff in his mind. Plus, he like to brag.
"I grew up in a laboratory. It was cool, I guess. I got to help my dad with research a lot, especially over the summer. We've been studying the biological basis of magic and how to stop it from happening, which is much needed if you ask me. You might even have heard of him, Dr. Brent Von Brandt."

 

[Mitheral]

Ian Colter
Ian stared blankly at his roommates when it came time for him to tell his story. But in moments it was obvious that they expected him to share. That seemed a little unfair when it was painfully obvious that Sebastian was outright lying. Even if he couldn’t read the lies in the guy’s voice, everything else about the guy screamed lies. But he sensed fear too - or at least tension. The guy needed to learn how to lie better. But Ian chose to let it go. He really didn’t care. And it might mean he had an ally in this place.

“What brought ME here?” An irreverent smirk flashed across his face. “About 200 mercenaries armed with a little advice from Dad or one of his henchmen - maybe one of my old trainers. They thought it was overkill. Caught me at home. You know they actually stole my whole house - with me in it? Used so many flash bangs I’d swear there was no place that didn’t see the light of day. I saw a couple of the mercs later. They had sunburn on any exposed skin. My ears are still ringing. And I swear I was shot at least a thousand times at close range. Rubber bullets. They were trying to capture, not kill.” Ian muttered an expletive or two.

He walked over to the window and put a fist into it with full force. He didn’t even make a mark or smudge. The glass was so clean it looked like air. “Glass steel spell or something. Self cleaning. Super transparent to prevent reflection. All for my benefit. They also used paintballs on me. Pink ones just to be bastards about it. They used those on every mirror. You won’t be able to open the window. They know I’ll escape the first chance I get.”
StrixDesmodus Burberry Preserves

 

[Mitheral]

Daniel Greyson
“Welcome to the Tudor Lestrange Institute of Villainy and Henchmanship. That’s what they call this place. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. Isn’t that how the saying goes? For this place it fits. They kidnapped our - my - mother to use her as bait. My sister’s here too.”

Daniel gestured around the room. Feel free to pick out your bed. I picked that one there, but won’t get all choked up about it if someone else wants it. I don’t want to be here anyway. “Name’s Daniel, Daniel Greyson.
Tags: Francis

Danielle Greyson
Danielle caught the ginger ale deftly. “Thank you … Ttttthhorntallllon?” She drew the name out with a little uncertainty hoping she got the name right. “Thorntalon?” With no corrections forthcoming she continued. “Pretty much finished. Been here for a while now. I guess they were impressed because we worked out something of a deal with them about our mother. They all seem to be fighting over us, but it looks like Mr Penhurst will have a priority; Mr Scratchwick next. But they ALL want us in their classes. The only one who offered, rather than tried to fight with the others, was Friday - or Ms Friday. She says either is fine. She’s the most interesting teacher.

“So how about you? What are you in for?”
Tags: Sharon and Thorntalon

Elektra Maize
“Not really impressed to be honest. I have yet to see any credentials that make the teachers qualified to teach. Not saying that they have none, but they haven’t provided any - not even claims of deeds. You know, like I once did this, or I once did that? Or the ominous claim, have you ever heard about some famous disaster? And they seem to think they have to lock students in.” She rolled her eyes.

“Anyway, I’ll summon Matrix and ask him. I’m not sure he will qualify as an animal. He’s sort of mindless beyond doing what he does. One and Zero have more sapience than him. And Delete?” She shrugged. “You don’t want to find out. He’s pure qippothic entropy. Uhm, think of the stuff of H.P. Lovecraft. He’s not even allowed on campus. The teachers actually turned pale. He’s like the most powerful type of bane there is. Banes are sort of like demonic spirits. Really I just keep him around in case I need to get through an obstacle. I have to keep Delete and Matrix apart. They hate each other.

“They are all really spirits. Zero and One understand cyberspeech - the digital language. Anyways … here goes.” She looked away and a pony sized greyish silver spider materialized on top of Elektra’s bed. The teenager gestured over where Jolene wanted her hammock and the giant spider moved over and started spinning rapidly.”

Elektra smiled. “Yep. Really just a matter of paying for the work. Fortunately I had mine made long ago. So I’ve had plenty of time to save up Essence.”
Tags: Jolene

StrixDesmodus

 

[Mitheral]

Bornite lay coiled up in a tight coil near the entry to the Cave-in-a-Cave-of-Caves that the humans called ‘rooms.’ He had clawed a neat trough to indicate HIS territory just to the side of the door. The trough was only an inch deep and just big enough for him to fit in with his Things. He had tried at length to explain the necessity to have a separate cave each for TD and himself. But they simply didn’t understand that TD had her horde. That was ever more important than their roommate assignments. Odds were that if a human showed up she would consider them “room service” - a human term she had quickly learned - and learned to love. TD was NOT the sharing sort. That especially included HER cave. She did NOT care if Bornite’s name was on it.

After a little while he decided to roam about the building. He had smelled water. Being amphibious he missed water. It didn’t take long to locate the source of a large pool in a garden area. He sniffed the water. Freshwater, but it would do. He climbed right in and made himself at home. This was nice. What would be even nicer if it were stocked with eels or - what had the humans called it - calamari! The thought prompted a memory of the giant calamari beast that had almost made a meal of TD and himself. They had feasted well that day - though getting TD to share the arm that was bigger than herself took some effort.

A fish flutter past his snout as he eyed it hungrily. “Well, he thought to himself. Surely they won’t miss one little fish?”

 

[Burberry Preserves]

Evilman
"Unwelcome??? An... a villain like me? Of... of course not!" Evilman laughed awkwardly behind a raised hand, using the other hand to try and block the light coming from his halo. "This is just special effects! SFX! You know, like in the movies! I'm not an angel, I'm actuallyyyy a..." He took a moment to think about what the right term was. "Genetically modified... guy. It's going to be my, er, future villain image! Imagine! A villain angel turning people into piles of ash!"

Ohhh, though, if that were the case, he'd like to only be smiting the deserving into pillar of salt... With every word that came out of Evilman's mouth, it seemed more and more like he dug himself into a deeper hole...

"ANYWAYS, enough about me! What about you two?! Why do you have so much blood on you, Pin? Why are you both here at this school?"

StrixDesmodus wowie

Sebastian
Laboratory assistant (or maybe lab rat might be better) of Dr. Brent Von Brandt, haters of magic, and the unwilling kidnapped son of the headmaster. "Oh, cool, one of 'em anti-magic dudes? Lucky me, I don't use magic. Guess that makes me cool in your book." He might make some of his gadgets look like magic wands, but it was really all science in the end. Evilman was the supernatural one.

"Wow, 200 mercenaries? Couldn't they have just sent one guy with a tranq-gun or two?" He chuckled a little, putting his arms behind his head. "Though, you sound pretty tanky yerself. If I got hit by a thousand rubbers my insides would be minced meat."

A wannabe escapee. Could be a potential ally.

"Hey, I'm sure you'll escape eventually. Just gotta bide your time or whatever." He looked at the window, tapping it with a nail. "Sucks that we can't open the window. I'd like a bit of fresh air." A grin played on his face. "Maybe we all gots interests that align. Vex, interested in seeing if we can't void the magic on this here window somehow?"

StrixDesmodus Mitheral

 

[StrixDesmodus]

Vex Von Brandt

Mitheral Burberry Preserves

Vex gave the window a crabby-looking stare, almost wishing that his hate alone could open the window. He didn't have quite the self-awareness to realize that such a mechanism of action could count as magic, but nonetheless dismissed the thought.
"Wish I could, but the only thing I've got is a Norlan's Chemical Antagonist. It only works on living things as far as I know, so I don't think it'll work on the window. We could try, though." He shrugged, looking from roommate to roommate, to his bags, and back to the window.


Finbar Cody

Burberry Preserves wowie

"I actually have no idea why I'm here." Finbar admitted. Though he didn't say it quite fast enough to count as blurting, the feeling was very much the same. "I... I don't even know what here is, to be perfectly honest." Gritting his teeth and directing his eyes to the floor, he scolded himself internally. Bloody hell! I'm trusting this situation far too much.


Francis Sato

Mitheral

Francis's eyes bugged out. The mention of mothers and the idea that he was at some villainous place brought him to a panic despite not having completely processed what Daniel had said.
"My mom's going to kill me!" He declared with horror.



Jolene Wildwood

Mitheral

Jolene shrugged, but her eyes were in awe as she watched the digital spider at work.
"I'd probably have better luck with the lizard. This is amazing though.... I'm not the best with most magic, but I guess you can tell. I'm better with words and music, really."

 

[Mitheral]

Spoiler: ”School Rules”

Students are not allowed to attack teachers.
Students must not destroy school property without permission.
Students may not partake in debauchery.
Students aren't allowed to directly sabotage student's studies without permission from a teacher. Sabotaging other students by attacking them, cursing them, or attempting to murder them is encouraged.
Students may wear anything as long as they are actually clothed, except on field trips and inspection days, when they will wear the uniform.
Students may leave campus only with written administrative permission.

Inserted here for convenience

Elektra Maize
Elektra nodded. “Well, enjoy the hammock. I am going to work on some homework - early reading stuff. They have a library here. Oh, Dude eats veggies, not meat. I have him on a diet. Please don’t feed him without asking. Other than that he is very friendly - at least with me. Not so much with strangers. But seeing as you work with animals more magically, maybe he will like you.”

With that she stepped into her indoor tent and sat down at her student desk. She wanted to look over the Rules. Which one to break first? How could a school teach evil and expect the students to adhere to rules? She scanned the list her eyes stopping on the last rule, Rule 6. Slowly she smiled. That would be the easiest rule to break.

Ian Colter
Ian looked at Vex and shook his head. “Save it.” He looked over at Sebastian. “The window might open for you guys though. I think they have it in for me. Anyway, I am not going to just sit around in my room and sulk. I a going out to see how many other students there are. I’m sure we aren’t along.”

He walked over to the door and stepped out into the hallway.

“HELLO?! SCHOOL DOES NOT A PRISON MAKE!” He started walking down the corridor to bang on doors. “AND DIDN’T SOMEONE SAY THIS SCHOOL IS CO-ED? PROVE IT!”

StrixDesmodus Burberry Preserves wowie

 

[RealBillClinton]

Warden

Interactions: StrixDesmodus (Persephone Skinner) Anyone Outside

Today was a very important day. It was the first day of the school year! And perhaps more importantly, the first day that security mattered. As such, four corpses marched in formation down the hall, clad in 18th century British uniforms and with cannon in tow. The one leading the collective, let us call him Warden and ignore that all corpses are one and the same for narrative purposes, pauses at the open double doors. He turns, his face permanently set in a smile due to his lack of flesh and waves a bony hand to Mrs. Skinner. “Good morn! I’ve taken to wake the young whippersnappers from their dreams!” With that, two of the corpses brought the cannon to the edge of the steps and tilted the barrel into the air. A loud bang and a rather large puff of smoke ensued, waking several of the students and no doubt terrifying them. As slight panic and rapid talking travelled among the group, yet another undead began raising a flag with the Institute’s logo emblazoned across up the flagpole. “Good work lads, we’ve calmed the crowds, now please do return the cannon to the barracks”, Warden said, before turning back and admiring the newcomers and returning students.