~Meredith Hillard~

It didn't take Meredith long to reach the arrival platform along with the rest of the students. Most had gotten over the initial shock of the situation, some starting to talk quietly among themselves in the process. Meredith herself, was humming the same pleasant tune from earlier as she marched down the railway, with the bonesaw still slung across her shoulders, seemingly not caring that she was about to walk back into the school with it. As the group finally made their way to the platform, Meredith turned to face the students again as she hopped up off the tracks.

"Alrighty! Here we are, Herculean academy!" She said, spinning on her heels as she said it. "If everyone could just waiiiit here for a bit, that'd be great! Feel free to mingle, chat, converse, make out or do whatever else you silly little humans do in your spare time! The Vice Principal will probably be here shortly, and we'll move things along then!"

With that, she left the students to mingle, and talk so that they could get to know one another, before she spotted Dorian in the distance, walking up to the doctor with a friendly smile. "Heya there Dorian!" She gave him a friendly smile. "How are the injured students doing?" She said, sticking out a hand for a handshake. Well, sticking the bonesaw out for a handshake as if that was perfectly acceptable, having it slowly morph back into her actual hand as she waited for him to shake it.

~Alexis Sinclair~

“Definitely. Right behind you.”

Alexis Grinned, following right after Graham, briefly turning and waving bye to the girl named 'Olivia', that was supposed to be escorting her. She was't two. She could walk perfectly fine on her own. She quickly caught up with Graham, casually walking alongside him in the process, following the other students to the school. Honestly, she was a bit surprised he did actually have her back on the tram. She had expected him to remain quiet, if not outright tell the truth. Whatever the case though, she was feeling in a much better mood now, and it was showing.

"Thanks for having my back there." She said, giving him a grin. "You really aren't so bad, Graham." She continued, still walking with her hands in her pockets. She didn't know what much else to say at that point. Being 'Friendly' was all kind of new to her. Being a shut-in gamer who just so happened to have some skill with hacking computers, made her social skills a bit less than zero. "So, uh, yeah. If you ever need anything, I'll help ya." She somewhat awkwardly continued, turning her head slightly away from the other kid.

By now, they had reached the platform with the rest of the students. Meredith said something about them staying put until the Vice Principal gets there. She had no objection to that, though now she wanted to find Kitty and see how she was doing. It didn't take her long to find the other girl, who currently seemed to be talking to another girl and asking her to sign a cast. Crap...did she break her arm? Alexis felt...a bit terrible about that, since she had technically been the cause of it.

"Kitty!" She called out, giving the other girl a wave as she walked up. "Oh, hey, you got cast! Can I sign it?" She asked, giving the object a little poke.

”So yeah guys, welcome to Herculean Academy. Now all that’s left to do is set up roommates.”

Big Tony belted that one back to the group. The group broke out into murmurs as students discussed their living arrangements with those around them. The group had expanded as they spilled out of the train. Many looked unfamiliar to Graham. It made sense. Who could expect a man to learn this many faces in less than an hour?

Still, Graham found himself anxious at the thought of living with someone else. He was an only child, never actually having to share a room. He didn’t think he’d mind though. It could be fun. Anything could be an adventure if you put your mind to it.

He was about to speak up, starting an auction with only one item: the pleasure of being his rooming companion, when Alexis caught up to him.

"Thanks for having my back there. You really aren't so bad, Graham. So, uh, yeah. If you ever need anything, I’ll help ya.

Graham laughed again and unconsciously scratched the back of his head.

Honestly, he hadn’t planned on saying anything. And if he would have thought, he very well might have spilled the beans. But it just so happened that instincts kicked in over logic. Or rather, his loyalty beat out his honesty. Go figure.

“Hey, don’t worry about about it. What are friends for?”

Graham puffed out his cheeks and pulled the most ‘serious’ face he could manage.

”Oh. Yeah. That’s your punishment for dragging me into that. We’re friends now. Whether you like it or not.

Then the platform came into view. Then they were on the platform. Given the order to stay put, Graham couldn’t find much of a reason to argue. His options for escaping were to either head further into the unknown facility, or retreat back into the tunnels, into the dark unknown. If he was going to be completely lost, he’d much rather be able to see his toes, if need be.

Alexis must have spotted their short, injured friend. That or she saw an actual kitten. She veered off, and Graham followed like a lost puppy. Follow the leader, Mr. Turner.

And then there was Kitty. And the sleeping shortie. And glass-girl.

He really had to figure out some names.

"Oh, hey, you got cast! Can I sign it?"

Graham noticed the cast. And…

Pokemon Stickers.

“Whoa! Those are awesome, haha! I want some...where’d you get ‘em?! And I call next!”

He couldn’t help himself. He was a kid at heart. Well, even more of a kid. Oh well. Act young, be young. He was fairly certain that the elderly said that. Somewhere, at least. After his moment of nerdy weakness, he turned his attention to the other two.

“Oh, heya! Sorry about yelling at ya’ll. The name’s Graham. Nice to meetcha.”

Starring Vice Principal Nina Smith!

~Alexis Sinclair~

Alexis grinned as Aspen floated the marker over to her. She was going to sign her name as big as she possibly could onto Kitty's cast. Like, big enough to probably take up half of it. Why? Well, why not? It's not like no one told her she couldn't. Not yet, and even if someone did then she would do it anyways.

“Alexis! Graham! How are you? I missed you guys! Oh, wait, did I miss a lot? I got carted off—what happened? What took you guys so long! Fill me in!”

Alexis listened to Kitty as she spoke, signing her cast in the process, in big, neat cursive letters. It would probably be surprising to most that she had anywhere near good - some might say, elegant penmanship. The letters were big, exactly like she wanted, taking up most of the cast in the process. She focused on her 'artwork', seemingly engrossed in signing it as best as she could while everyone else continued talking.

"Anyway! So what's big? What's new? Oh, yeah, and what happened with that girl? The one who was being mean? I'm pretty sure I dripped blood on her shirt, actually."

Alexis rolled her eyes. Who cared? She wasn't here, that was all that really mattered. Still, ignoring Kitty would probably be a bit rude.

"No idea." She replied, still working on her signature. "We were told to come back separately. I came back with Graham, and some chick named Olivia escorted the other one back. That teacher over there is an idiot for letting us off so easily. I mean, come on."

With that, she finished her signature, taking a step back with a grin as she looked at her work of art. It took up almost half of the cast, despite the other signatures already on it. With a laugh, she stuffed her hands back into her pockets. "There! All done!"

Soon, another student - he said his name was Paul - walked up and did something to the cast. Something about imbuing it with the 'healing properties of earth'. Whatever that was. He said it'd make the arm heal faster though, so that was good, if he was telling the truth. He then warned them about that teacher - Meredith, causing Aleixs to scoff a bit. That teacher was probably going to be the easiest one to fool. She looked to be nothing but a childish...creature that couldn't tell if someone was lying to their face. Whatever, though, if the older kids were afraid of her then she'd just have to ignore them. Before she could say anything else, however, he had left.

"Man, what a noob." Alexis sighed, obviously finding the Paul guy boring. "Well, anyways, sure, nice too meet ya guys. I'm Alexis." She introduced herself to Aspen and Cheol.

Before she could say anything else, however, a bright flash was emitted from some sort of...crystal ball, being replaced by a woman claiming to be the VP. She seemed entirely too friendly.

She immediately didn't like her, though she stayed quiet as the woman spoke.

~Meredith Hillard~

"They're doing fine, No thanks to you, you psycho. What the hell was up with stopping the train? You should have known that students were going to get hurt! Didn't you think that actually, you know, going to the compartment to break up the fight would have been better? You'd probably have ended up scaring them into submission anyway!"

Meredith visibly pouted, faking being hurt by his words. She placed a hand over her heart and gave a little gasp as he berated her with insults. Dorian was always a fun one to mess with, if only because he was such an easy man to irritate and make angry. Really, if he acted more civil she would probably leave him alone more. Not that he ever should probably know that. Even if he did, he probably didn't have the self control to anyways.

"Well excuuuuuse me Prince. Sorry for doing my job~" She giggled, clasping her hands behind her back with a smile. "Really though, I couldn't let those students fight any more. Stopping the train was the most logical conclusion. It ended the fighting and prevented further injuries that could have been worse, if the two students continued to fighting. The two fighting were ones with some rather powerful abilities, and could have easily gotten out of hand if we left them unchecked. But then again, I suppose you'd just rather them kill each other and save you the work~" She giggled, finally silencing herself as she looked at the students as Dorian gave his speech.

Meredith remained silent, waiting for the VP to show up - going back to her previous seat on a bench after pushing a student off of it. She pulled a celery stick from seemingly nowhere and went back to doing...whatever it was she normally did. That was, until the VP decided to make her appearance with all the flash and pomp one might expect.

"Welcome, Welcome all. I am Vice Principal Nina Smith. I have been waiting for your arrival. I trust that everyone is in reasonably good condition? You did take a lot longer than expected."

"Nofing Dorian anf I coulfn't handlf." She spoke, mouth full of the vegetable. "Tere waf a fight, I stopped it cush I'm aweshum." She finally swallowed the vegetable, hopping up and standing on the back of the bench with almost unnatural balance, looking right at the Vice Principal. Somehow, the bench didn't fall over..."Ahem. A few students decided to have a little duel on the tram. No one was seriously injured, though someone broke their arm from some teleportation cuffs." She re-iterated with a mouth that wasn't full of food right now. "But other than that, nothing serious."

Welp. That’s uh...yep. A floating pen. Glassgi-err... Aspen signed her name. A floating pen. Things just had to be weird, didn’t they? Oh well. Graham was in a damn fine mood. Things like this? Just made things interesting, really. The boy wouldn’t notice at the time just how quickly he was adjusting to the whole shebang. But who does, when in the moment?

Cast or no cast, Kitty seemed rather upbeat. Graham was pretty surprised. That was a helluva quick response time, but the cast was there. Arguing with his eyes would get him nowhere fast. She pointed out Mr. Dorian, a guy hanging out with the monster, as the source of Pokemon stickers. He starting plotting out a way to earn some stickers. There was a Donphan sticker with his name on it somewhere.

Then the teleporter introduced Aspen and Cheol to him. Graham kept smiling. The day kept getting better. When Cheol mentioned getting along, Graham gave him a thumbs up.

“It’s gonna happen. Destined to, my man. We’re all newbies, here, yeah? We’ve gotta stick together.”

Graham beamed to the group. People were awesome. This place was awesome. Life was awesome, man. Alexis had just finished signing her name, rather large and neat surprisingly, and Graham was just about to take the pen. He must mark his place forever on the girl’s Metapod arm.

And then there was smughead. One of the upperclassmen from the tram. The one that had detained Monstro 2. He cut in, grabbing Kitty’s cast, saying something about the earth and introducing himself a Paul. Then he signed it.

Not cool, bro. Cutting in line? At a cast signing? Might as well kick ‘em in the teeth.

Then Paul deemed it fit to lecture them about Meredith. Graham didn’t miss the slight. Talking about lying while looking right at Alexis and him? The boy felt his good mood start to crumble. The hell was this guy? What did he know? He wasn’t on the tram to start with. Was he?

Graham couldn’t remember, but he noted Paul’s face and mentally added a frowny face. Jerky smughead. The boy wasn’t sure what the hell a smughead was, but he found it felt oddly appropriate. Alexis might have agreed, having called the guy a ‘noob’ as he walked away. This cat...she knew how it was.

At least that was over and he could get to signing his frie-

Captain Large-And-In-Charge strolled over. He asked how everyone was, then out of his FREAKING FINGER popped out a PEN. wut. wha...WHAT? WHAT?! Graham would accept magic. He would accept teleporting. Heck, he would even accept horrors from beyond the realm of human understanding. But PENS in FINGERS? NO! STOP! JUST NO! There is a line that should never be crossed. Well, he asked to sign the cast. And he did. Alright. Cool. DON’T RESPECT THE LAWS OF LINES. Graham sighed angrily in his head. It’s just a cast, man. It didn’t ma-

He signed right by a Donphan.

Oh hell naw.

“Sorry to interrupt, mate…” a voice started. Graham was floored. Another one? He gripped his pen tightly, waiting for Tony to move. As soon as he did, Graham snuck in and quickly plopped down his full name in his usual small and tight script. Beside a Beedrill. Thanks Tony.

But his worry seemed to be for naught. The newcomer was just as lost as the rest of them. Another newbie. Graham turned, smiling that smile of his. New party member! Graham laughed to himself, but quickly stopped. He didn’t want the new guy to think he was laughing at him.

“Welcome to the party, dude! Just stick around, we’ll probably find out what to do soon.”

Graham finished the same way he started: with a grin. His mood had already recovered. Life was good again.

Then there a flash. Some flashy woman flashed them some flashy words. Graham couldn’t exactly pick out what it was. His headache had begun to take root, starting by ringing a cowbell in his ears. Thanks for that, brain. Really appreciate it. Again. She began to chat with some of the teachers. He supposed whatever she wanted to say must not have been that important. He gazed about the group. Go figure. The ‘Loser Trio’, as Princess Probably-Wears-A-Diaper, had so graciously labeled Alexis, Kitty, and him, looked like it was going to gain some friends.

Not too shabby for some Losers.

~Reginald Wagner~

Nineteen.

Twenty.

Twenty-one.

Twenty-two.

Twenty-three.

It came.

The train rushed forward, charging at speeds it ought not hit. The passenger beast tried it’s damnedest to hold onto the tracks, but it was for naught. It rocked, once. Twice. A horrible screech flooded the air, the sound of brakes grinding into nothingness, desperately trying to perform their job. It rocked the third time. It had had enough. The train, for the smallest moment, had become a bird, a plane...no...a burning wreckage. It left the tracks, and collided with the wall of the tunnel, stopping instantly. Brakes, eat your heart out. But the rest of it kept on it’s path, trying to drive through the train.

It succeeded.

The first car lie split in two, it’s passengers either gone or going. The second car had met with it’s fate as well. And the third. Something exploded. One of the passengers, a young super possessing some form of Fire control if Reginald had to guess, had in his final moments, met with extreme emotions. And that fed the fire. The tunnel collapsed around the wreckage, an impromptu tomb.

All those lives, snuffed out in just a handful of seconds…

Then he was no longer watching the train from an impossible angle. He was sitting at his desk, hands holding his pulsing temples, surrounded by wadded up papers. It was too much. It was the first day, the day the students were to arrive, and as usual, the daydreams were terrible. Always terrible. Always…

It had been the twelfth vision he had had that morning. They were constant. One after another. He had thought the last had hit him...even started to write a little to occupy the thoughts, but he had only hit the interlude. The last one had been one of the worst outcomes. But the familiar question, one he hated to ask himself for he had no answer, rose to the lips of his mind. Would that be his reality? Was that the world in which he lived? Or would it be another?

Drained both mentally and physically, Reginald could hardly find his legs. He didn’t want to. He’d much rather just collapse into a dull nothingness. His thoughts flew to the third drawer down on the right in his fancy mahogany desk. Just one or two might be able to…

The tall man rose, slowly, letting his balance come to him. He looked down at the mess, and without thinking, starting picking up all of the wads. Three, then throw in the bin. Three, then bin. It had to be three. Two would not suffice, and four would break it. Break...what? Reginald wasn’t sure. He didn’t care to find out. Were the walls of this world so thin that such an act would tear them down, Wagner refused to be the one to poke the first hole. Let one of the others do it.

Three, then bin.

Three, then bin.

Three-

A growing sound from outdoors alerted the man. He binned the paper with a grimace. Was that enough to throw it off? Please no… He squatted by the bin, pulling the wads out. Three, then floor. Three, then floor. Once the last had left his hand, he stood, walked to the window and looked out. He saw students forming on the platform...but he hadn’t saw the train. Had he seen this version before? He couldn’t be sure. The lines were...blurry as of late. He saw the nurse, Lost and Meredith discussing something. Then Schmidt joined the fray. Nobody looked particularly banged up. There didn’t seem to be any rescue teams forming.

Wagner closed his eyes, suppressing tears. He hadn’t seen this outcome. He liked it much better than the others. He pleaded with the nothingness, begged for this to be what he saw when he opened his eyes.

So he tested the waters. One eye slowly opened, eyelashes pulling back the curtains to the world.

And there the same scene stood, a painting formed by the world.

Reginald smiled an uneasy smile. Then turned and returned to the bin.

Three, then bin.

Three, then bin.

Three, then bin.

The commotion outside had picked up a bit, students obviously glad to stretch their legs and get to know the ones around them. It hadn’t surprised him. New supers were usually always ecstatic to meet others like them.

He hadn’t...but he had saw them before he met them. He had saw them win, achieve victory and glory. He had also watched them lose, losing their lives in the process. Some of the ones he would have never guessed were the ones who begged and pleaded the most pathetically. He was rather numb when they had found him, coming out of one of those relentless spells, sprawled out by (not on) on his bed, wearing nothing but his skivvies and clutching a bottle so tightly, it might burst in his hands. He had known they were coming, obviously. As to who it would be...well, that differed. He was either to die, to be recruited, or to be ignored. There were other options, but those were the most frequent.

His truth turned out to be the second.

Reginald shuddered. He didn’t like thinking about the past. The future was bad enough. When he started delving into things that had happened…

The mans hand shot to the drawer. He produced a key from somewhere. He always did, not that he was ever absolutely positive where it had come from. His hands trembled, but he managed to get the key in the lock, turning it.

He pulled the drawer open. Laying there was freedom in a brown paper bag. Peace in a bottle. Liquid relief. He couldn’t hold himself anymore. He shakingly brought the paper bag out of the drawer, along with a small glass. He sat back into his brown, comfy high-backed chair. He laid the glass out and reached into the bag, unscrewing the cap. He tipped the bag, allowing the dark, amber river to flow into the glass. He watched the lake fill, and when he was certain it would take no more without overflowing, he ceased, screwed on the cap, and returned the bag to it’s home.

He stared at the drink for a moment. Then his hand closed around it.

“Un, deux, trois.”

Bottoms up. The glass hit his lips, and Wagner threw his head back. Over the lips, past the gums, watch out stomach, here it comes. He winced. He always did. Then he opened his mouth and drew in some air in a gasp. The burn was awful. But the burn was also much better than those visions.

Those damned visions…

~Reginald Wagner~

A squeak proceeded the good Dr. Archer into the dark office. Wagner had the lights turned off and the blinds pulled, a fiend of the night trapped, desperately trying to avoid the burning sun and its tendrils of pain. He had just finished his third drink, and placed the small glass on his desk, not a hint of surprise touching his face. He met Dr. Archer’s disapproving look with a mischievous grin.

Busted.

“Well, how do you like that? Hemingway enjoys a drink or two before noon, and he’s celebrated by millions. Reginald Wagner has a shot, and all he’s treated to is the disappointed scorn of his oldest and closest beloved colleague.”

He ended with a humorless laugh, his gaze lingering on the old man’s for just a moment before dropping to the glass. He was quiet for a moment, his smile fading to pure defeat.

“I suppose the cat’s out of the bag, then. You’ve caught me at my worst, my friend. I suppose I must seem quite the cliche. Oh, what is it that Poe was oft to say about the monkey on his back? ‘I have absolutely no pleasure in the stimulants in which I sometimes so madly indulge. It has not been in the pursuit of pleasure that I have periled life and reputation and reason. It has been the desperate attempt to escape from torturing memories, from a sense of insupportable loneliness and…”

A dread of some strange impending doom. Wagner left the last bit out, trailing off into silence.

Although drawn to the dramatic from time to time, Reginald did consider Dr. Archer a friend. He respected the man, both as a physicist and as an educator, and saw him as a mentor of sorts, what with his having been with the Academy a bit longer than the futureseer.

But that look…

Damn that look. Damn the scorn. Damn the fool that dare question I. Who can understand the burden placed upon these tired shoulders? He cursed to see all. Why if one wanted to ease that, to experience a bit of relief, than who can truly deny him that?

No. No, those were not his thoughts. The alcohol was already spreading it’s poison to his mind. How queer... he had expected the warm embrace of numb stupidity, but not this quickly. Then it dawned on him that he had yet to eat that day. He had been awoken by a sudden vision...which lead into another. It truly had been an eventful morning already.

Wagner rose to his feet and crossed to the window with all of the stability and confidence of a man ten years his junior and three shots less drunk. He split the blinds and gazed at the platform below, covered in bright, young faces. Silence hung for a moment more. Then he broke it.

“She’s down there, is she not? Your granddaughter, I mean...?”

Wagner didn’t wait for an answer. Of course she was. He had seen her plainly enough to know. He was heading down a trail that he would normally never pursue. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe another force, but Wagner had to talk. Those eyes, those goddamn accusing eyes...He felt as if he had no other choice than explain himself.

He almost did. But something stopped him. Ask Wagner a thousand times and he’d still swear that he didn’t know what stopped him. The urge just vanished. Completely. The man turned, leaning back on the windowsill. Another smile split his lips.

“Oh never mind. Where are my manners? By all means, Doctor, do come in. Might I offer you a drink?”

The thin man offered one hand to the glass upon his desk. Tired, bloodshot eyes met Isaac’s. His grin did not meet his eyes.

___________________________________________________________________________



“Me name’s Scorpio. Scorpio McRae, but ye can call me Scor if ye like.”

Graham liked the guy already. His accent was just awesome. Or maybe he himself was the one with the accent now? Where even was this school? Was he still in America?

...Did it matter? What could he do even if he did know? Flap his arms and fly home, guided by nothing more than the North Star and his own intuition? Graham mentally shrugged. Gone was that question and all that which it meant. Now he was just focused on the people at hand. He took a bit of a survey.

Aspen looked a bit worn out. But she seemed nice. And she moved things with her mind. Always a plus. Well…always might be pushing it a bit. An hour ago and he wouldn’t even believe what he was thinking at the moment. But encountering Eldritch Horrors did do a pretty good job at broadening one’s mind.

Scor was...Scottish? No, that sounded a bit more...Irish? Do Irish people have an accent? Suddenly, Graham’s lack of knowledge on world culture hit him. He’d ask Scor sometime. Preferably somewhere more private, that way he could minimize the number of people calling him out for being a dumbass.

Alexis seemed...oddly interested in the VP. He was definitely picking up some harsh vibes emanating from her. Did she know the woman? Well, why else would she have that look. You don’t just have that deep a dislike for someone without having met them. Add another thing to the list of questions.

Kitty was, well, in her own little world. She seemed content with just playing with her hair. He couldn’t blame her. Most everyone silenced after what’s-her-name showed up.

The tension was getting to him.

Cheol looked a bit pained. He uh, well, poor kid had a perfect( i.e. horrible) angle with which to catch the flash. Not cool, Big Mama. Don’t pick on Cheol. Well, maybe it wasn’t picking on, persay, but it was close enough.

Tony, the line-cutting, sticker-hijacking scumlord, looked like he had been around the block a few times if ya catch my drift. Maybe he knew what they needed to do? After all, the adults seemed pretty distracted amongst themselves.

Wait.

More important questions.

Where the hell was he going to sleep?!

They weren’t going to force them all on the train everyday...would they?!!

“Toooony, ol’ buddy, ol’ pal.” Graham started, turning to the human swiss army knife. “What’s the uh...whole sleeping situation around these parts? Do we just pick a bush? Or are we all in a big ol’ room, Full Metal Jacket style? If we need tents, I think I’m shit outta luck. Actually, if we need anything, I’m shit outta luck.”

He cut himself off after noticing he was starting to ramble. And just slinging curse words. Rude, dude, don’t be crude. Hey Jude, you like a prude? I’m in the mood, then she cooed. Graham blinked. Weird time for one of Mama Turner’s favorite phrases to hit his mind.