---

Harmon was holding a bundle of paper towels over the base of the loose shard, soaking up the blood seeping from the root. He stumbled through the school grounds lazily, his head having returned to an uneasy sensation. His ear canals kept up a low ringing, and his vision through his camera had become prone to random flashes of static. Everything ahead of him occasionally became blurry, causing him to stop and rest on something for a moment. Maybe he should have let Lenny help him. This situation wasn’t pleasant.

Another bout of ringing. But there was something accompanying this time. Some kind of… shriek, or roar. Harmon barely heard it though, the ringing clouded it too much. After a short pause, he continued to walk forward, towards the garden entrance. Strange how often he ended up in this part of the Academy. It’d always been something of a hub. The lamplights were on, thankfully, guiding him along the path. His vision was slowly worsening, so he attempted to pick up the pace. Halfway along his trek, however, the lights – all of them – dissipated.

Harmon stopped. His mouth hung agape as he frantically grabbed the camera from his coat and help it upward. All was dark, but he had the proper remedy. A bit of focusing was all it took to make the built-in light on the front of the camera shine forward. This, however, came at the cost of rapidly draining the batteries – and he hadn’t replaced them in some time.

Suddenly, a noise. Behind him. Sounded like… growling.

The ringing returned as Harmon quickly held the camera over his shoulder, to look at the space behind him. The light illuminated a figure in the distance, facing towards him, head lowered, teeth bared. He didn’t bother examining the other features of that… beast, he just returned the camera to its former frontward direction and began running. And the growling turned to a loud snarl as the beast gave chase.

Harmon let out several quick, panicked yelps. His grip on the camera became sporadic, the light shining everywhere. His head ached as he attempted to keep the camera steady, but the beast was quickly catching up. He was never a good runner. But, again, for this, he had the proper remedy.

A brief veil of static enveloped Harmon, and he was gone. In that same moment, he reappeared a bit further ahead, right in front of the side of a bench, which he quickly slammed his leg into, causing him to keel over. His vision was not doing him any favors tonight. He did his best to get back up quick because he knew that thing was not far behind. He didn’t take another step, though. Instead, he focused, aimed his camera forward, illuminated the path ahead, and vanished again. This time, he managed to land himself in the near-middle of the path, but he wasn’t out of the garden just yet. He kept his camera raised, continuing to teleport further and further ahead each time, doing his best to ignore the stamping of the beast’s feat on the pathway behind him. A few more rapid transitions, and he found himself before the exit leading towards the cafeteria. He wasted no time in making one more shift towards the double doors at the front of the building.

The beast, however, was still close behind. Every time Harmon had teleported, it had taken the place of his previous position not even a moment later. Harmon stumbled as he got up towards the doors and pulled one open frantically. Once he was inside, he hurriedly shut the door behind him and reached into his shorts pocket, pulling out his utility key. Thank God he was a staff assistant or he wouldn’t have had it on his person.

He shivered as he jammed the key in the lock and turned it, sealing the doors. He backed away, not bothering to stick around in case the beast was about to slam itself against them. He stumbled again, falling backwards, on his rear. Breathing heavily. Sitting in the dark.

Up until now, he was doing a good job of ignoring his head pains during the chase. That feeling quickly returned, along with the ringing, and he cradled his head once again.

---

Mason stared at the mirror for a while. The dormitory was empty, save for himself; Harmon was probably finding some way to entertain himself. Regardless, this suited Mason... He needed to concentrate, and some solitude would aid that - not that Harmon was ever particularly distracting, of course. The two had been getting along well.

But still, the mirror called to him. It seemed to sing out in vibrations only he could here, humming enticingly. He glanced at the crumpled paper in his hand, Professor Tarblatt's diagrams scrawled across it in black ink. He looked back at the mirror. It all seemed to make so much sense... Perhaps it was Mason's creative mind, but as absurd as it seemed, he actually felt like it could work. And if it did... Well, that certainly opened a lot of new opportunities for Mason.

He drew a deep breath and rose to his feet, approaching the mirror with an air of apprehension. He stood before it for a moment, simply breathing and focussing on what Ruben had told him. He swallowed, and pushed forward through the glass, entering into the black abyss he was becoming familiar with. According to Tarblatt, if he ventured out into the blackness... He might just find other mirrors, other ports of entry back into reality.

He shivered. It was always cold here, and he wrapped his arms around himself for warmth as he began to step away from the mirror he had passed through. He was nervous at first, with no visible floor or walls it felt almost as though he could fall into the nothingness at any given moment. But it felt solid, and the more steps he took the more comfortable he became in pressing on. Further and further into the darkness, he kept walking, straining to see a square of light like the one he had used to get here amongst all the black.

But that's all it was... Black. Just black. Endless, nondescript black. Mason began to realise that perhaps Ruben had not known as much about all this "pocket dimension" schtick as he thought. Or perhaps Mason was the problem, maybe he was doing something wrong... Regardless, it was clearly not working. Mason had lost track of how long he had been walking, but there was not a mirror in sight. He sighed, and turned back on himself.

He stopped. He couldn't see the mirror.

'Must be this way,' he thought to himself, reassuringly. 'This is the way I came.' And so he continued, walking at a much faster pace in his eagerness to get back to reality. But something wasn't right... He kept walking, but it still wasn't there. There was no sign of the mirror. Mason began to panic. 'Maybe it's this way,' he thought, more in desperation than any actual reasoning. He ran to his left. Nothing. He sprinted back in the opposite direction. Nothing.

Overcome with dread, Mason began to hyperventilate. His breathing was sharp and violent. He was the calm and collected one in situations of disaster. He was always the one who knew what to do. But in this instance, he had absolutely no idea. The thought terrified him almost as much as the prospect of being trapped here.

He continued running in all directions, desperately hoping to see the faintest trace of the mirror amongst the abyss. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he began to realise it was no use.

"Hello?!" he pleaded, his voice echoing through the void. "Somebody, please! HELP ME!"

But no one could hear him.

---

@He Who Walks Behind
@SepticGentleman

---

In the middle of Diego's meal, the lights snapped off. Perfeeeeeect. Not only was Diego on edge, but now shit's dark. Worst of all, it had to be when he was with Cassidy. Either way, a little light wouldn't hurt. He snapped his fingers and his hand was engulfed in an orange flame. He raised his fist to face-level, and the firey light was cast on the environment. Diego reached down and took a bite of his chicken with his free hand - quickly stripping the flesh from the bone. He dropped the bone onto the plate and grabbed another piece - hastily eating it. While this simple fire didn't take too much away from Diego, he still needed to replenish what he lost during that first skirmish.... He also felt like he'd be fighting soon. Though, Cass was talking to him, he adjusted his hand so that he'd shine the light on her face. She made a comment about holding his hand, to that, Diego smirked. "I don't know... I might burn you." He outstretched all his fingers and pivoted his hand a bit. He wasn't too worried about this school becoming a horror movie... on his fist day. Probably just the power going out. Nothing to be worried about. He reached down and took a few fork fulls of his mashed potatoes. A hot-pink light shined into his face, which made him raise his head. He looked, and saw someone very familiar on the other side of the room. "Lupe?" He raised his head.

"Diego? Yoooo, why is it dark in here all the sudden? I can't see shit!" Lupe shouted back, as she closed the distance between herself and her brother. She had her power activated, she created a orb of her energy around her hand that was bright enough to illuminate the area around her. Along with a few other cosmetics (Her hair was a gassy plasma, her forearm started to glow, and there was a thin layer of light around her). When she stepped up, she gave off a bit of heat - which wouldn't have bothered Diego. When she walked up, she was at a lost as to what to do/say next. "Sooooo..." She said, until her eyes drifted towards Cassidy. A pleased smirk found it's way onto her face. As she said, "Nice."

"Um..." Diego scratched the back of his neck. Okay, it wasn't like that - at least not yet. Still, he should get the introductions out of the way. "Cassidy, this is my older sister, Lupe. And Lupe, this is Cassidy... a friend." He stumbled on that last word. He didn't know what to call Cassidy, honestly. He shrugged. He snapped his fingers and dispelled the flame. Lupe's Energy was much brighter.

Lupe laughed quietly underneath her breath. Trying not to embarrass Diego. She walked over to Diego, and slapped her hand onto his shoulder. ".... I know what it is, no need to beat around the bush, lil' bro." She took a step away from Diego and turned towards Cassidy. Keeping that smile on her face. "Nice. To. Meet. You...." She would have extended a hand... but that would be painful. For her, that is.

The cafeteria doors slammed shut, interrupting their conversation. Lupe shined the light on them, and saw that some.... thing, scrambled to lock the doors. They didn't know why he was locking everyone in here, but they were going to find out. Diego and Lupe walked up to Harmon.

Lupe looked at the strange little creature before them. Her light made it hard to see him, as something was reflecting light off his head. She dimmed the lights a little to get a clearer look at him... and he looked fucking weird. Tall-ish, white skin, no eyes or ears, and these shards in his head. Like hot damn, wasn't that painful? You look like something off a death metal album. She thought to herself. She kept her eyes on Harmon. Despite his looks, he's still human. "Hey, loco, what's the problem?" She shifted her weight, and put her hand on her hip. "Just breathe, honey, it's all gonna be okay." Her eyes drifted towards Diego. She put her arms out, shrugging.

Diego just rolled his eyes. Something was wrong here. He noticed the blood seeping from Harmon's head. He took a step forward, ignoring Harmon's freakish appearance. He asked "Hey, you're bleeding, are you oka-" Diego was interrupted by the commotion that came from the door.

Something crashed into the door with enough force to send a loud crash through the room. It wildly growled as it pulled back, and slammed into the door again, breaking even more of the wood. It repeated the process a few more times.

"Oh shit!" Lupe shouted. She took a few steps back from the door, and outstretched both hands tipped off with orbs of her energy. If one was observant enough, they'd notice more of the energy quickly traveling down her arms into her hands.

Diego did the same, spreading his legs shoulder width, then dropped his weight. He balled his fists up, and they exploded in flames. Just set whatever is barging through the door on fire.

However, nothing happened. The slamming stopped, and they heard the beast skitter away.

"Uhh... let's all take a few steps back, a'ight?" Lupe deactivated her powers, and started taking steps steps - with Diego not too far away from her.

A loud crash of metal and glass, followed by a bestial roar, could be heard not too far way from the cafeteria.

---

---

It wasn't long before Mika found herself back in the school. Guided by her make-shift flashlight, she made her way through the halls of the school, before she met in the very nexus of the Academy. The Garden. She looked around, shining her flashlight. Surprisingly enough, there wasn't anyone in the Garden. Hm. They're all likely heading back to their rooms, or at the Cafe. She kept it moving. She would enjoy the scenery when the lights were back on... She was certain that somebody would be trying to steal out of her room. That's just what a redneck would do. Steal what they're too dirty to acquire themselves. She kept marching through the Garden. She preformed a telepathic sweep of the area - just to make sure that nobody was nearby. However, she managed to pick up something, a thought process so frantic and frenzied that it overwhelmed her search.

"N͜͜O̷͜Ņ̷̸O͜͏́N̡͜ỜN͠͡O͜Ń̸͜ƠN̨͡ON͟͠O͢͜N̵O̴̧͜N͏͞ON̶͏O-̡"̀

Har... mon? She asked, she recognized the voice in his head as the strange creature that she met yesterday, and also participated in Ruben's class. His thoughts seemed... erratic. Something had him terrified. Before Mika could even ask him, he was long gone, out of her range. She wanted to know what was wrong, she heard something... animalistic. Something was telling her to turn away, while something else was telling her to follow. He was heading in the direction of the dorms anyway - so she could just retire to her room for the rest of her day. She started following after Harmon, going in the direction she felt his telepathic presence go. She continued down the hall very slowly. Shining her phone's light ahead of herself. She heard something walking up... four legs, followed by inhuman noises... almost like laughter. She stopped, and took a few steps back. Mika shined the light ahead of herself and nearly dropped her phone.

She didn't see much of it - but what she did see made her heart race. She saw... teeth. A creature with a blackish-purple skin, and her light shined on what had to be it's mouth. Rows and rows of teeth. Nothing but teeth. That wasn't the only thing, there was a... there was an arm... dangling from in between it's teeth. Mika didn't even pay enough attention to tell that it belonged to a girl.

Mika started breathing heavily, taking steps back. Her heart was racing. With every step she took, the beast took another step towards her. Mika's eyes shot to the left and right - hoping there'd be an easy exit. She spotted a vending machine. Quickly, she switched from Telepathy to Telekinesis and quickly slammed her hand on the side of the vending machine. Just as the beast turned it's walk into a fierce pounce, Mika dragged the vending along the ground with as much willpower as she could and slammed it into the creature's side. It let out a pained roar. The resulting momentum bashed the monster against the wall, causing a cloud of concrete and wood to carpet the area and cloud Mika's vision.

A wave of pain overwhelmed Mika for a moment, she knelt over and clenched her head - but it was fortunately brief. Mika stood straight up, and immediately turned around, and ran. She was obviously never the most athletic sort, but like hell if she was going to let that stop her. Mika ran as fast as her legs could take her - not looking back. She didn't hear it behind it, and she didn't want to check if that attack killed it or not. She was going to find out later.

One way or another.

Cassidy Lynn Daniels

"What," Cassidy asked, "Is a first meal at a new school without a trip to the ER? Burning makes for a good story. I don't use my left hand that much anyways. Cass turned as Lupe approached, and had an immediate rapport for the girl-she was bold, willfully awkward, and, of course, a flatterer. We will get along famously. "A friend? My my, Mr. Bellasquez, I was a mere stranger fifteen minutes ago. I'm moving up in the world." Cass raised an eyebrow, admiring the girl's luminescent form. Yes, this Academy would certainly be very interesting-two walking lightshows already! The Fourth Of July alone would make the whole ordeal worthwhile. Assuming, of course, the power was restored and no bloodthirsty monsters devoured them. Perhaps Diego's ghost just needed a friend. "Pleasure to meet you, Miss Lupe. With lights like that, I imagine you're a big hit at raves." Cass' grin never wavered, and she took the whole mini crisis-which seemed to be steadily worsening, what with the general aura of panic and fear that was seeping through the cafeteria-with wonderful decorum. This, of course, is because she was entering the same state of denial that she normally utilized to combat all her fears. The whole world's a stage, and life's just a matter of not breaking character. She slid her hair back into place, away from her eye, and threw her jacket over her shoulder. These were subtle but definite tells-something did tell Miss Daniels that, in a school full of the superhuman, there were very few things that could be attributed to pure coincidence or accident. Lights going out, the hints of distant screams, and the rapidly spreading mob panic were all less-than-comforting. She would be ready. She toyed with the knife as she cut her chicken, calmly chewing another bite. Someone more observant may have noticed that her spoon had disappeared into thin air.

And once Diego and Lupe turned to examine Harmon-who, Cass could confidently say, was the strangest thing she had ever witnessed in her life-her knife followed suit. Cass slid out of her suit, idly walking up to the panicked (she thought-it's rather difficult to gauge when one looks as Harmon does) individual and sizing up the situation. Tricksy, tricksy. Someone was pulling one morbid prank, or there was a ghost amongst them. Cass viewed either option with equal parts hesitation and eagerness: whether someone's comedic tastes were this dark, or a threat was so easily able to slip into the school, it did not bode well. "Well," Cass quipped, "I think it's important we all try and save face in this situatio-"

Her less-than-tasteful pun was interrupted by something slamming against the door, and her facade wavered for a moment as she flinched back. One of the few genuine, combat-ready powers available to Cass was her superior reflexes and dexterity-Cass had recovered by the time the others were flinching, and she she stood ready to throw her coat at whatever burst through the doors. She was not a fighter, but she was an improviser-she would roll with the punches now and shiver with the bruises later.

Time to plan. As adrenaline soaked through Cassidy Lynn Daniel's cells, tempered by the experience of dozens of high stress situations before, her mind began to run through options in double-time. Escape. Running away. Not a possibility. More noises. Either the creature is fast or there are several. Bad decision to flee now-strength in numbers. Stay in the kitchen, leave if it gets in. Use other students as distractions.

Cass's thoughts stutter-stepped over this abhorrent pragmatism. I don't want to die here.

Fight, then. Yes. Cassidy did not have access to her sword, which was locked up in her room-of course. Perhaps she could ask politely to be allowed to fetch it before fighting for her life. "Miss Lupe, Diego, Harmon, I believe your name was, I'll return shortly," Cass side, a slightly higher inflection to her voice the only betrayal of her nerves. One hell of a first day, no? If this did turn out to be a prank, they wouldn't be turning Cassidy into a whimpering wretch over it. Cass turned and briskly walked to the silverware, grabbing a few more knives and tucking them into her sleeves-no, wait. That couldn't be it-her hands fell back to her sides and no dull kitchen knives came tumbling out. Where had they gone? Cass proceeded to move to the condiments area, where she repeated this trick with a hypertension-inducing sized pile of salt. Cass scanned the room one final time. They wouldn't let her back behind the counters to get her hands on some boiling oil or steak knives. This would suffice.

"Float like a butterfly, old girl," Cass murmured to herself, returning to the trio with her blue eyes sparkling with forced confidence. She observed the whatever-it-was slamming into the door and cocked her head to one side, one hand hanging onto the coat hanging over her shoulder, the other with tense fingers dancing by her side.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are..." Cass murmured.

Titus MacArthur was in the middle of a lift when the streetlights flickered out. Under his panting breaths he cursed and sat the Prius down in the parking space in front of him. Dammit. Now he couldn't finish his superset. He grabbed his water and began to walk up the side of the steep hill to the dorm rooms. His breaths were hot and heavy like his footsteps. He approached one of the side doors to the cafeteria and walked in. It was dark inside until an orange flame lit up the room. Slowly he looked around to see if he recognized any familiar faces. Then he remembered that it was dark and that darkness is not a condition condusive to sight. He walked up to the table where the flaming boy was standing and sat down with an echoing "BANG!". Then he slammed mini-fridge of a lunch box down on the table. It was about two feet long and one high, filled with Titus' post-workout snack. From the box he pulled three peanut butter sandwiches, a giant gatorade, and three apples. Noisily he devoured two of the apples, core and all, and spat the seeds into a napkin.



Then someone tried to bust the door down. Titus crushed the third apple into pulp as the doors buckled. He stood up violently, sending his already-bending chair skidding across the floor. As soon as the beast ran off down the hall he took off, kicking a table out of his way as he made a b-line for the door. He pulled the handle off of the "push" door and mumbled "fuck!" under his breath. Then he pushed the door and found that it was locked. But a locked door never stopped Titus MacArthur. Without much thought, he kicked the door square in the lock, sending both doors flying backwards and one off of its hinges. What was left of the lock skidded across the floor. Door unlocked. Up ahead he heard the crash of metal and glass. This thing was big, and Titus liked that. It would be a good change to finally fight someone his size. After all, Titus never got a chance to finish his workout.

He turned the corner just as the...thing hit the wall, causing concrete to shower down from the ceiling. It was not in Titus' nature to dive in headfirst to a fight before calculating his odds of victory. As the cloud of dust descended, Titus let out a mighty barbarian roar and ran at the gigantic beast full speed. Obviously the most logical thing to do when confronted with a gigantic behemoth of a monster with a ridiculous amount of teeth was to tackle it.

Why, you ask, would Titus MacArthur throw himself headfirst into the literal mouth of hell? You will ask yourself that question many times before this story is over, my friend.

After finishing her meal with Lucy at the restaurant, Beth had made her way back to her room so that she could get around to unpacking her things and generally getting settled in. Beth couldn’t decide whether she should be surprised or not by the fact that her roommate wasn’t in the room when she arrived, though she was grateful for the solitude regardless, as it meant that she wouldn’t be pestered with questions while she unpacked everything.

Listening to dubstep on her phone while she worked, Beth managed to find a workaround for just about every issue she encountered with the furnishings that the school had provided, from managing to stuff her clothes, not that there were really that many, into the drawers of the wardrobe to using her pillows as cushions on the computer chair so that she could actually work at the desk.

Fortunately, the issues posed by the furnishings in the room didn’t require workarounds that were too time-consuming or complicated. They were just a little annoying was all, but nothing that she wasn’t really used to to be perfectly honest. Overall, it only took her a few hours to unpack everything that she had brought with her and put it where she wanted it, coincidentally the closest she would get to actually being organized.

Though she had wanted to do nothing but kick-back and relax after storing her belongings, the rumbling of her stomach put that idea on hold. Despite having eaten with Lucy not that long ago, she was hungry again, which wasn’t that much of a surprise considering the fact that her metabolism was quite fast and the workout she had gotten from doing the obstacle course earlier.

And so, sighing to herself, Beth slipped her shoes on, fastening the Velcro tabs, and made her way out of the dorms and towards the cafeteria, which happened to be the closest source of food. The first thing that Beth did after entering the building was claim a table in the corner of the room by setting her phone down on it so that she could enjoy relative solitude while she ate. Once her spot was claimed, she went into one of the lines and got a plate of chicken fingers with a side of mac’n’cheese and a glass of chocolate milk.

Just as she was about to finish her meal, the lights in the cafeteria went out, resulting in more than a few nervous chuckles. Though Beth wasn’t the most comfortable in the dark, she wasn’t too concerned, as her phone could provide some light almost infinitely so long as she applied charge to it. Other people seemed to have powers that were equally useful at dispelling darkness, as one individual lit their hand on fire to shed some light and another began enveloping theirself in a pink light.

The nervousness that the students were feeling reached a higher pitch when another student opened the door and practically threw himself inside, frantically closing the door behind him. Unfortunately, something slammed on the door enough to cause it to buckle, resulting in a shift from nervousness to distress in most of the students. Though Beth liked to keep up her facade, she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of fear turning her stomach into knots. Something wasn’t right about this whole thing.

Though she would rather have gotten up and left immediately, the thought of being a coward motivated her to get up and walk towards the others that had gathered by the door, apparently ready to defend themselves from whatever was on the other side of the door. She was glad now for the fact that she had neglected to discharge her bracelet in the last several hours, as it meant that she wasn’t going to be completely useless. The best ending, of course, would be for whatever it was to just leave, but that didn’t seem all that likely, so Beth tried to prepare herself mentally, casting away every desire to flee. There was no way that she was going to let what had happened to Ben happen to anyone else.

Before the situation could really escalate, it appeared that whatever was on the other side of the door retreated, the sound of feet skittering away down the hall. It seemed that the students in the room almost let out a collective sigh of relief, except for a massive individual who could give Michelle a run for her money. Instead of being relieved, he decided to chase whatever it was, first ripping the handle of the door and then kicking it down before darting off down the hallway after the thing. Unsure of what to do from there, Beth stood around and waited for someone to step up and take the lead.

It had recovered from it's blow just in time for more prey to enter it's crazed jaws. It began shaking it's body, getting the bits and pieces off it's body. Titus's display of boldness was quite amusing. So, in response, the beast grinned upwards.

Swallowing the hand it had in it's mouth, it pounced onto Titus...

---

@He Who Walks Behind
@TaliPaendrag

---

Both siblings watched as Cassidy gathered her... arsenal.

"What?" Lupe said to Cassidy the second the girl had returned, her demeanor changing from terror to a more amused and playful demeanor. She was smiling like a fool - but you'd have to be a fool to intercept it as a real smile. It was her attempt to make light of... whatever the fuck just happened. "You think those little knives and forks will scare off the big bad monsta'?!" She threw her arms behind her head, and kept that smile on her face. Not breaking eye contact with Cassidy. This was one hell of a day, yes. She went from being bored out of her mind, to being forced into a god damn horror movie scenario. She wasn't sure if that was good or bad! But long as she kept her chin up, maybe this will end up looking better than she think it will.

On the side, Diego merely nodded at Cassidy. Eh. Things are looking shittier by the second. He needs a smoke - oh yeah, the cigarette Cassidy gave him! He didn't give a rats ass if someone busted him for this one, he needed this to calm his nerves. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out that near empty carton and placed the correct end of the cigarette in between his lips. He cupped his cigarette with his hand as he set fire to it, igniting it. He took in one puff, and that damn rush of nicotine was great. He closed his eyes and smiled. It'll all get better.

... Of course their optimism just had to be dashed away by some musclebound meathead. They didn't know who it was - other than the fact that he was fucking huge - but what they did know that he was incredibly stupid. He ran up to the door and, for whatever goddamn reason (They couldn't find anything to justify this), kicked it down. Effectively ruining their first line of defense should the damn thing come back (Or, even attracting the thing back to them).

The cigarette dropped out of Diego's mouth, as he watched on, dumbstruck. "Hey man, chill!" He hopelessly shouted.

Lupe slapped her hands onto the sides of her head, clenching her skull very tightly as she watched on. If this was a TV show, this spectacle would be the show's moron ruining the protagonist's hard work unintentionally. Except far more cringe worthy! "Wait, dumbass! Don't break the door!" She threw out a hand that was engulfed in energy - nearly shooting a blast at Titus.

However, despite their protests, Titus kicked down the door and rushed into the unknown. Making both of the Bellasquez feel as if they've dropped the soap.

"... Motherfucker broke the door?" Lupe asked (Absolutely no one), raising an eyebrow. After she dropped her arms, she aimlessly stared at the door. For seconds on end. Fucking astonished how some buffoon basically fucked everyone in the cafeteria at once. And he didn't even need multiple dicks to do it. However, that astonishment turned into complete rage in a second's flat. "Motherfucker broke the door!" She screamed, digging into her pompadour with her fingers. It immediately lit up with her gaseous energy, glowing a brilliant color! Lupe ran into the open door (but didn't get too close, that'd be retarded), and screamed, "I hope it eats you, retrasado! Vete a la mierda mientras estás en ello, chilito!" Of course, as she ranted, she digressed into Spanish. Force of habit - but this little dicked fucker really pissed her off! He deserved whatever-

".... Come at me, you dirty mother f-AH! MY LEGS! NOT MY LEGS, NO!"

Titus shouted back at them. Of course, his badass boast was cut off by, what had to be, the monster mauling him. Yes, sounds of growling, screaming, and biting could be heard - it sounded much like a dog attack. Except much bigger, and much scarier. Harmon was terrified of the display, and while they were focusing on Titus's vicious ass whooping at the hands of the monster, he slipped away. Hiding himself in the bathroom for the remainder of this incident.

Lupe, naturally, took a few steps back. "... I didn't mean it!" She tried to shout back, but she said it oh so weakly.

".... What." Diego just flatly said - not even a question! Well, that confirms it - there's definitely a monster out there. Or something. It definitely isn't of the nice variety. That just left a few questions and loose ends. For starters, what to do? They were standing here with a thumb up their asses with an exposed entrance that anything could enter. If they were going to stand a chance, they needed to do something-

I know of a something you can do, boy. Agni's demonic whisper returned, after being absent so long that Diego almost gotten used to the silence in his mind. I've donated my power far too many times, but never before have I personally lead a battle. You can personally allow me to tear this beast to pieces...

That... no, no, no! No! Diego hated that idea. Agni would destroy everything. Ruin what Diego tried to build. He looked upon Cassidy, and wondered what she would think of the demon that resides inside of his heart. No, I can't allow you to do that, Agni....

... It's as if you think you can stop me. Diego felt Agni... get "closer". He didn't know how to explain it. It was like something shifted inside of him, like Agni got larger. Remember... you control me as much as I control you... like you said before, boy....

Diego growled, and clenched his fist.

Hehahahahahahahaha! Agni began to laugh. If you don't want my assistance, then I believe you want my powers, then? You wish to do the dirty work as always?

It worked so far.

... Only for so long.

"Oh shit! How long you been standing there?!" Lupe said, suddenly enough to ruin Diego's argument with his mental figment. She was suddenly surprised by the little girl standing near them. Little bitch just snuck up out of no where. Lupe shined the light on her, just to get a good view of her. Well, the chicky looked really young - like really really young. What? Does this school have a fucking kindergarten? Lupe thought to herself as she crossed her arms. Other than that, the chick was some redhead. Obviously, this is normal behavior for a child like that since her brain didn't develop yet. Like, isn't this past her bedtime?! Jesus. "Oh c'mon, kid, don't be walking up to people without saying a word like that." She crossed her arms, and shifted her weight onto one hip. "Anyways, you need to get out of here, sweetheart; it's dangerous. There's something really scary out there, and we don't want you to get hurt. Okay?" It seemed... off to let a kid like her fight - even if she has superpowers. You see, Lupe and Diego actually been in a few fights, with and without their powers. They know their way around combat through experience. A kid like Beth doesn't have that, plus she's small, young, and impulsive. She'd just get in the way!

Yeah, Diego had to agree with Lupe here. No place for a kid. This isn't some movie - whatever is beyond this door could kill any one of them. He walked up closer to the group, standing in the middle. "While I agree... we really need to come up with a plan here." He looked around, and a fire briefly appeared in his iris, before fading. "There's obviously something out there, and we're standing around here doing nothing but chit chatting. We need to think of our next course of action, fight it, run away, something." He pointed at the door.

"... Because that something is about to come in here and give us trouble."

Cassidy Lynn Daniels

Cassidy did nothing but click her tongue as Titus burst through their door to face whatever faceless horrors waited in the hallway outside. So crude. Strong, obviously-one look at him and you could tell the boy wasn't exactly a welterweight. Knocking down the door was....problematic. The group inched away from the open space, and while Lupe's luminescent form and Diego's wreath of flames offered them some degree of light, there was still a considerable amount of uncharted darkness beyond the threshold. "So, we have our firebreather, our lightshow, our magician...and our strongman. Perhaps when we graduate we'll put on a circus," Cass spoke to herself, rolling a half dollar across her knuckles. She glanced over as a little girl approached them-none of the others reacted, so Cass didn't, but her first instinct said not to trust her. The girl moved and dressed with maturity, and Cassidy got the feeling her looks might've been deceiving. She initially assumed that this girl was connected with these events-after all, if she were to break into a school, she'd masquerade as a cute innocent little thing.

...but she had seen the little girl in here before, when she was getting her food, hadn't she? Cassidy was usually fairly observant, and she was pretty sure that she'd spotted Beth in the cafeteria before the chaos had ensued. Pretty sure. Don't let fear get the better of you, love. The lights will need to be out a while longer before you turn on them.

"Don't believe we've met," Cassidy said casually, turning back to face the door. "Cassidy Lynn Daniels." She absentmindedly clenched her fingers around the coin and opened her other hand to begin rolling it across there.

Lupe threw in a few less than helpful comments. Nerves, yes...she'd seen it before. Cass had done her fair share of stage work, a few stints in acting, some magic stuff, talent shows, the works-and Lupe's type was common. This was what could conservatively be labelled as terrifying, and there was no point in turning on her for it. "No, Miss Lupe," Cassidy said with utter serenity. "I just don't want to eat this thing with my bare hands."

Titus began to scream.

Cassidy's face twitched but her smirk recovered soon enough.

"I'm not the heroic type," Cassidy murmured, "And the fool was certainly asking for it, but it does seem a bit cold to let him get turned into puppy chow out there. My suggestion is this-shock and awe. Lupe and Diego, you'll both kill your lights. We move up quick and quiet-I, and I don't intend for us to start a dic-" She cut her eyes at Beth, whose exact age she was still unsure of "...a, uh, measuring contest, here, but I believe I'm the quickest out of us. I will take point. If it comes at me, I sidestep it and you two light up as bright as you can. I'll try and land a few quick shots, but I'm not much of a fighter. Then you two unload upon it. I'll move and get our now legless friend and try get him out of here. Then we all come back here, cauterize his stumps on the stoves, and continue eating our dinners." Cassidy paused, looking around. "Damnit. Damnit.. I left it in the room. Please stay here for just a moment?" Cass turned and walked quickly to the nearest person wearing a hat-some boy who appeared to be a few years older than she, a ten gallon hat firmly squished down onto his head. Cass flashed him a smile and lifted it up, revealing the boy had small horns sticking out of his scalp underneath. "Haircuts must be tricky. Do you mind if I borrow this? I think it'd go well with my ensemble."

The boy stared at her blankly. She took that as yes.

Cass returned, flipping the hat on top of her head and running over her general plan in her mind. "Good, good. Not about to get devoured without a touch of fashion. Are we ready?"

Cass took a deep breath, slid past Diego, Lupe, and Beth, and began walking towards the darkened door. With her face hidden from the others, she let the facade drop and attempted to steel herself against the unshakable, nauseating fear welling up in her gut-the sounds of TItus' screams, the...chewing...

"Showtime." she muttered, taking the hat and holding it loosely against her side.

Titus

As Titus smashed into the massive shadowy form he felt his momentum immediately begin to fall back. He grabbed the sides of the monster's jaw like a bull fighter grabs a steer's horns and began to shove it backwards towards the wall. The creature growled and snarled and spat. Titus roared with laughter. In the background, he heard someone screaming from the cafeteria. How funny, they thought he couldn't handle himself. I'd better add some flare he thought.

"Come at me you mother-"

Then he slipped on a piece of broken pipe. Titus fell on one knee and the monster pushed off of the wall, sending him flying across the room. Before Titus could even react, the monster was on top of him. An arc of pain shot through his leg and blood splattered against the brick wall. "-AH! MY LEGS! NOT MY LEGS NO!" The monster tore into him, taking a chunk out of his quadricep and slashing him across the chest. He felt a rib break. Blindly he kicked at the monster with all of his strength. He heard the monster snarl as a kick broke one of its many teeth. It bit into his massive left shoulder and tore out a chunk. He screamed again. Something grabbed him by the leg and launched him across the room. He crashed through a wall and dented the concrete. Several more ribs broke.

Titus looked down at his leg. There was a chunk the size of a basketball out of his left thigh. Already skin was beginning to reform over the wound, and the muscle cells were replaced. His broken collarbone snapped back into place. The wound in his chest was halfway through closing up. In his brain, the adrenaline rush kicked in and his pituitary gland kicked into overdrive, filling his body with testosterone. The adrenaline began to block out the pain, and slowly he struggled to his feet. His pupils were dilated to their fullest extent. The monster was approaching again, its wicked white teeth glittering and dripping with blood. Titus grabbed the smashed vending machine and, holding it over his head, launched it with all of his strength at the monster.

"GRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" he roared.

As could be expected, the others were quite upset at the musclehead who had broken down the door, which also happened to be the only thing standing between the students and whatever had been on the other side. To be honest, Beth wasn’t happy that the door had been destroyed either, but she figured that it had only been a matter of time before that thing broke it down anyway.

The black-haired girl that was wrapped in pink light was the most vocal about her anger concerning the broken door, rushing up to it and shouting in the direction that the musclehead, though she cut off when his screams could be heard echoing down the hallway. Beth’s face paled as her imagination ran wild with thoughts of what the thing could be doing to the poor guy.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the black-haired girl’s exclamation when she noticed that Beth had joined the group. ”I’m sor-,” Beth replied when she complained about how quietly Beth had walked up to them, only to be cut off by the girl explaining that it wasn’t the place for kids.

Before she could explain that she wasn’t actually a child, a boy that looked like the girl clad in pink light’s brother spoke up, agreeing with the girl and subsequently dismissing her and turning to the others for ideas on what to do about the monster, which included another girl dressed like a stage magician who seemed rather cautious around her, as she censored herself when she was about to say something that sounded inappropriate.

The magician girl, who had introduced herself as Cassidy Daniels, moved about rather eccentrically, gathering supplies for the execution of her plan for dealing with the monster. To Beth, it seemed like it was crazy, as they had no idea if the monster even could be killed by conventional means. But, the group seemed content to ignore her completely, much to her frustration.

”Excuse me!” Beth shouted, hoping to make them listen to her, if only for a moment. ”Don’t you think that we should try and get a teacher or something before we decide to attack the mystery monster? They would know how to handle this.” Of course, there was the safety of the other students to be concerned about as well, although a lot of them seemed to already be making their way out the back door.

The sound of something heavy smashing into something else equally heavy echoed down the hall, momentarily silencing everyone in the cafeteria before hysteria overtook them again. It seemed that the musclehead wasn’t quite done for, which was a good thing. If they did decide to attack the thing, it would be better to have the extra help of someone as strong as he appeared to be.

---

And then the lights.

Reagan groaned and took out her phone, ignoring the texts from various males and turning on the flashlight, and shined it onto Maurice, who was struggling in his attempt to get his own phone out of his pocket. When he did so, he found Reagan's amused face. Eyebrow raised and arms crossed. He rolled his eyes and began to pick up the checker pieces, turning to shine the flashlight on his backpack and taking out his box to put the various pieces and board away, as to not lose them.

When he looked up, Reagan was right in front of him, standing up. He began to speak, but was cut off by her leaning down and planing a peck on the top of his nose. His eyes shot up from the sudden and very close proximity, but he remained silent. He shined the light at the other two who had joined them, who looked genuinely alert, and in Fiona's case, somewhat upset. His eyes trailed back to Reagan's and he stood up. "We should probably get going," he finally said out loud. Something was giving him the heebie jeebies and it worried him. "Well, I think it's about time we got going. Goodnight, Fiona. Goodnight Michelle. It was nice meeting you... Stay safe tonight." he finally stated. He nodded to them both and then grabbed Reagan's hand pulling her along out the door, walking a bit too quickly. Reagan wrenched her arms out of Maurice's grasp and stopped.

"What the hell was that?" She questioned, gesturing to the cafeteria. "You never just... walk out on people like that! They probably think us rude now, Maurice, why-"

"I dont know. Ever since I got your power a few years ago I've always felt things a little bit differently. I noticed their sudden attention being drawn away, almost in unison, and I got a sinking feeling and I-" he began to explain, his arms gesturing rapidly back and fourth, only for Reagan to finish his sentence for him. "You wanted to get out of there, right? You felt like something was happening and you wanted to get out." she said, crossing her arms. Maurice's hand went over his forehead as if he were whipping sweat away. "How did you know?" he questioned, as Reagan uncrossed her arms and grabbed his hand, leading them back to their dorm. "Because now that you're pointing it out I'm feeling it too." she said bluntly, ending the conversation.

They walked briskly in the dark, Reagan, just about ready to begin her transformation at any given moment. Both replicator and demon were on edge and, as they walked, they could hear yelling and other, inhumane noises not too far away as they got to the dorms. Maurice could feel the hair on his neck stand on edge and wrapped and arm around Reagan's shoulders, who was hunched over, having cramps and in some pain as her transformation began. He could feel her muscles flexing and growing taught under her clothes. She was resisting the instinctual urge, he knew it. He had done it himself. She was much better at it than he was. She groaned some, and leaned against Maurice for support. He looked around nervously and hugged her closer, walking them both to their dorms.



They reached their room safely, and Maurice struggled against the door lock int he dark, eventually getting it in and getting the two of them inside. As they stepped in the lights turned on automatically sensing movement and lit apartment like living space, revealing nothing, thankfully. He turned around to shut and lock the door behind them, grabbing the nearest desk chair and put it up against the doorknob for extra support. Now that their security was ensured, he turned to Reagan, who had collapsed on the couch, groaning louder now. She was sweating, her hair clung to her head and her skin was tight and the tones of her muscles were more visible, as if she had just been to the gym on a heavy workout. Her skin was turning red and her forehead began to bleed some. Panicking, Maurice ran to the bathroom and quickly took the rag he used to wash his face in the morning and doused it in water from the sink. Running back over, he pressed the wet towelette onto Reagan's forehead, creating a hissing sound. Reagan's eyes shot open, revealing her still blue irises, but elliptical pupils. Maurice, removing one hand from the towel, opened her eye wider with his fingers to inspect her eye for any trace of yellow.

He released a sign seeing none. Good. The transformation had yet to proceed too far to be reversed.

He wrapped a blanket around the woman, and slid his hands under her body as to avoid being burned by her incredibly unnatural heat. He set her down onto the cool tiles in the bathroom and, cradling her head with one hand, turned on the water with the other, running a cold bath. He knelt down, holding her head carefully as she whimpered quietly in pain. They remained this way for a minute or so, Maurice removing her clothing meticulously and carefully as he did so. She was nothing new to him, and there was nothing sexy about seeing her like this. His mind was on her health. As the tub filled up he, being unable to touch her skin, was forced to place her and the towel into the tub of cold water. There was an audible hissing noise and steam rose from the surface as she settled into the tub, and even more rose up as he removed the towel from the water, wringing it out above the parts of he body that were not in the shallow water to try and cool down any skin she could.

"Thank you..." she said quietly. Just above a whisper. "Thank you... thank you... thank you..."

She was much more in tune with her more... demonic self, and he wasn't sure why he himself hadn't begun the transformation. Maybe it was because he wasn't as scared as she was, or maybe it was because he was so focused on her. But he didn't care. His eyes remained on her the whole time and his mouth remained quiet, and he held her still warm hand for several minutes into the night in the dim light of the restroom, dabbing her head to remove the pinpricks of blood that had begun to leak ever so slightly from two specific points on the sides of her forehead. When he deemed her safe to remove, he drained the water around her, and then helped her out. She had stood on shaky legs as she held his hand stepping out onto the slippery tile floor. He held her tightly to ensure she didn't fall and helped her dress herself, and got her to bed. She was out like a light before she hit the pillow.

After a few minutes and a change into some sleep clothes himself, he joined her to do the same. But after the light of his bedside lamp was turned off his eyes remained on the window, as if waiting for something to peak in at them. Nothing would come, that night. He sighed, and eventually closed his eyes to sleep. This had happened a few times in their relationship. The first time it had happened to him, she had nearly been too late reversing the transformation. It had been very... very painful. The muscle cramps had left him aching for a week. This would be one of those few nights that she would probably not remember, but either way, it would be a night they would both choose to forget.

The creature once again grinned. It took an attack like this before, and it'll certainly take it again. The monster took a few steps back, and bent it's legs. It took the vending machine to the side of it's body, and was sent flying backwards, doing a roll on the ground. While it looked like the creature took a heavy blow, it simply got back up, shook off the pain, and started walking forward. It was gearing up for another pounce. However, a pink light flooded the area behind Titus...

---

@He Who Walks Behind
@TaliPaendrag

---

While what Titus did was irritating... Cass had a point. Whatever is out there is slaughtering him! They didn't know if he was dead or not... but there's only one way to find out. People like them shouldn't have to find reasons to help people. Fortunately, Cassidy came up with a plan. A simple one. While it's murdering Titus, the three sneak up on it, and unleash hell. Well, they could safely say that Cassidy isn't the best tactician, but it's better than what they're doing now.

"So, you want us to cook the thing, while you go in with your knives to eat it?" Lupe made yet another wisecrack at Cassidy. She just couldn't resist it! "No measuring contests here." Lupe shrugged, with a grin on her face. Fear and terror was turning into pure excitement. Not even a day in, and she was about to fuck up a monster! Shit sounded tight! Lupe pulled her comb out of her pocket and ran it through her pompadour, straightening it out. "You're the fastest, Diego's the toughest... but me...?" She knelt forward somewhat. ".... I'm the hottest, perras!" She followed it up with a bout of playful laughter.

Diego loudly groaned. Honestly, he couldn't understand that girl sometimes. However, now was not the time to wonder about the complexities of Lupe. They need to hurry and save Titus. Though, neither Lupe or Cass were in too much of a rush to go help him. Cassidy walked off - hopefully she was getting something necessary for their grand plan. Which left him alone with Lupe... and the kid. Oh yeah. Lupe said some really less than cordial things to Beth when she first walked up. He wasn't sure if he should apologize, or she should. "Since... we're doing introductions." Diego scratched the back of his neck. "I'm Diego, and this is Lupe.... We're... brother and sister."

Dispose of the child, she is merely going to get in the way... unless you plan on using her as bait. Agni mentioned.

"Yeah, yeah..." Lupe furrowed her eyebrows, and threw her arms behind her head. Her eyeballs drifted to the side. "I meant what I said, though, shi- this, this right here, is dangerous." She asserted her point, in case the little bit wanted to come along with them.

However, it seemed like the girl had something to say here. Oddly enough, she talked with a surprising amount of maturity, even though she looked very... young. ”Excuse me! Don’t you think that we should try and get a teacher or something before we decide to attack the mystery monster? They would know how to handle this.”

She had a point, but at the same time, Lupe had another point. "Look, sweetheart," She shifted her weight to one hip, and gave Beth a narrow look. "Nobody calling themselves a teacher has yet to step up. Which means they are not here." Her point proved itself, really. If there was a teacher here, then they should have done something by now. Unless that teacher is nothing but a limpdick with no bravado. Cassidy came back... with a hat? Okay, Lupe had to do a double-take here. This bitch, went off, to get a hat? "Plus, by the time we go find somebody, we don't know what will happen to that guy." "In short; nobody's taking that initiative, so we are."

Diego had to agree with Lupe here. They can't waste time running around searching for staff members when somebody's life is in danger here. It'd just be stupid.

Cassidy came back... with a hat? Okay, Lupe had to do a double-take here. This bitch, went off, to get a hat? It wasn't even a cool hat! "Can't blame ya' there, Cass, I'd want to die with a little bit of style, too..." Lupe whispered to herself.

Diego certainly thought that Cassidy getting the hat was odd, but he wasn't going to judge. Right now... the spotlight fell on him. Nobody said anything, they were waiting. Waiting for someone to take action and lead the way. No, simply unacceptable. No more waiting. Now is the time for action. And Diego was the person who was going to lead the way. "Enough talking." He said, as he deactivated his power, the flames disappeared and the light that illuminated his tattoos his tattoos vanished. "We're ready, it's time to go." Diego lead the way, walking straight for the cafeteria door. Which was followed by Lupe (Who had deactivated her power). Though, the closer he got to the door, the worse it felt. It was like... walking into the mouth of evil itself. The sounds of Titus getting attacked echoed through the halls - I hope we aren't too late - which gave them a good idea of what is going on. He stepped through the doors, walking in the darkness.

Heh, Diego thought that this would have been a bad idea if they didn't know where the monster was. Though... what was disconcerting was the fact that there was a few crashes.... That didn't sound go good for Titus...

They quickly came up onto the scene. Titus seemingly gotten the upper hand, he tossed the vending machine at the beast, but the beast dealt with that without a scratch. Titus got fucked up by the monster, he was bleeding everywhere. Which means they must act.



Lupe nodded at Diego. She took a few steps forward, and activated her power. A brilliant pink light filled the hallway, and she outstretched her hands, surrounding them in a massive glowing orb as she charged up for the big one. Though... she should give Titus a bit of warning. She hate to waste this attack on the idiot (Though, she felt like he'd jump in front of it). She shouted, "Eyo, big man! Get out the way!" It couldn't get anymore clear than that. She just had to add on the boast, "It's about to get hoooooooooot!"

Fortunately, Titus got the hell out of the way. Which meant it was time for Lupe to cut loose. It was only fair that the best looking, and most talented, girl got to take the first shot. But enough of that, an evil grin crept onto Lupe's face. She let out her battle cry of, "Ayyyyyyyyyyyyehahahahahaha!" as she unleashed her attack. A beam, a simple beam. However, it looked so incredible and intimidating because of how much of the hot pink light it gave off. Fluctuating between pink, purple, and blue. The energy blast filled the hallway with heat - since Lupe was trying to burn this thing to a crisp. Only people with a resistance to heat would be able to tolerate even standing in the room right now. The beam climatically collided with the side of the creature - and it let out a massive roar in pain that echoed through the halls of the Academy. It burned. So much. The beast fell over.... Not that Lupe would have noticed, since she couldn't see shit.

A few seconds after the energy struck the beast, it disappeared, and so did the light. The blinding light faded and allowed Lupe to see, and she was quite impressed by what she did. She left a burning hole in the creature's arm. That should do it. She slain the beast! All eyes on Lupe Bellasquez! The fuckin' hero of Academy 218! However, the creature got back up to it's feet. Growling loudly. "Shit, you're tough!" Lupe said, that smile turned into an agape mouth, as her eyes opened wildly. Looks like the thing has a bit more of a fight left in it, eh? Well, it's time for Lupe to tag out, lest she overexerts herself. Lupe smiled cooly, and took a few steps back, and let the lights that illuminated her body fade. "Your turn, lil' bro!" She extended two fingers, and gave the monster a salute.

Yeah, up to Diego. He walked up past Lupe, towards the beast, with his hands flaming like a torch, and his tattoos glowing brightly through his clothes. He was ready for this one. Though, he shined his light brightly so he may get a better view of the monster that is terrorizing the school....

The beast is a massive creature that is an aberration from the dog. It's body alone has the size and girth of a minivan. It's body appears to be skinless - every muscle, bone and tendon is exposed - however it appears to be covered in a black exoskeleton. It's skin is wrapped tightly around it's rib cage, with it's spine exposed. It's limbs are thin, and tipped off with broken, long weathered, claws. It has a,long, thin, bony tail that is topped off with a blade - almost like a scorpion. It doesn't even have a face, it has no eyes, only a gaping maw of teeth after teeth. Broken and bloody. Along with it's upper body being covered in cuts, burns, and other wounds it has sustained fighting the students thus far.

It... was something else entirely. Something beyond natural. This is not what God wanted to see when he created the Earth. Not what he wanted to see when he created man.

... Not what he wanted to see when he created Metahuman.

Something that Diego must righteously strike down. However, he was hesitant to kill it. He didn't know if it was a human or not - if it was a Metahuman who had lost control of his powers. Which is why he aimed only to wound it. The creature stood straight up, and roared at Diego.

Taking steps towards it's own destruction....

---

Harmon barged into the room after he rushed to unlock the door, panicking all the while. He turned back, shut it, and locked it again straight away. He leaned against the door and attempted to regain his composure. He let out breath after breath and cradled his head. He’d just spent a good bit of time escaping from the scene in the cafeteria, running out of the building, teleporting every which way to the educational wing, and finally making it to Ruben’s classroom. It wasn’t safe over in the cafeteria, both because of the creature and the absolute hell the students there were going to raise to fend it off.

And he wasn’t going to have any part of it.

“Harmon.”

Harmon turned towards the back of the room to see Ruben, off in the distance, slowly forming a body under his Brainvault as he emerged from his resting station. Tendrils formed to disconnect him from various wires and tubes. “What. Is. The matter.”

“There’s, there’s-…” Harmon responded frantically, “C-creature! Creature, in the-”

“Harmon. Calm. Yourself.”

Harmon ceased talking and attempted to catch his breath. As he did, however, the rush of pain in his head returned. That one shard was still loose but, thankfully, it wasn’t bleeding as much anymore. Ruben looked down at Harmon, examining the shard, and decided an explanation would have to wait.

“Remain. Seated.” He said, turning to go fetch the appropriate tools for the job. “I. Will. Assist you.”

Cassidy Lynn Daniels

Getting a teacher before handling this? Well, admittedly, that hadn't occurred to Cassidy, who even in the most desperate of times generally tended to shy away from getting the help of authority. This, of course, qualified as the most desperate of times, but there didn't appear to be much of a choice-no teachers were stepping up to the plate, and there didn't appear to be anyone noticeably older amongst their ranks. Of course, as the "little girl" had demonstrated, looks were certainly not something that carried much weight at the Academy. Cass continued walking down the hallway, gauging by sound how close they were to the beast.

A few more snide remarks from Lupe, mostly regarding the hat. She took these in stride-literally-and continued onwards to the beast. Ugh. How disgusting. It appeared to be some sort of...wretch, it was certainly unlike anything Cassidy had come across before. Her smirk twisted into a snarl, and she readied herself in a fencer's stance, turning to the side to minimize how much of her was able to be ravaged by the monster at one time. Lupe fired a blast of light at the thing, shearing the hallway with a blinding pink glow-yes, good. That would hopefully knock it off guard a bit, although predators tended to not have the best eyesight anyways. Then Lupe's attack faltered-Cass still stood a few feet ahead of them, hat turning over in her hands. Lupe shouted to Diego for him to take the reins, but nothing came. What? Were the boys powers psychic or something? That didn't seem to mesh with the earlier lightshow...

Grr. No time to figure this out now, damnit. Diego, whether he was paralyzed with fear or his powers were acting up, wasn't doing much. "Lupe, hold your fire!" Cassidy barked, her normal easygoing tone replaced with harsh professionalism. Cassidy began walking calmly towards the monster, forcing the fear down, attempting to contextualize what she was doing. These were just tricks. This was just one big ugly fencer. Don't let him land a touch on you, eh?

The beast turned, rearing its deformed mass of a skull and beginning to come towards Cassidy.

And that was when the show began.

In the ambient light of her bioluminescent comrades, Cass twirled the hat around and flipped it upside down, reaching inside and throwing out a fistful of doves at the beast. The baseball cap seemed to crumple inwards as four or five of the birds squawked with terrified confusion and fluttered right towards it-this was, of course, not of Cassidy's accord, but given the distance and angle, there wasn't really anywhere else they could fly. Before the beast had time to register what the fuck had just happened, Cassidy was moving, one hand staying on the jacket draped over her shoulder to keep it from falling off-the jacket was crucial, yes. Completed her look.

Cass leapt to one side, dodging the beast's angry swipe about a full second in advance-it crushed a few of the birds, and the sole survivor flew off into the darkness, screeching for a moment or two more. If one were to follow the exploits of this dove as opposed to the exploits of Cassidy Lynn Daniels, one would find the bird simply faded away into nothingness within a few moments, but no one was paying very much attention what with the man-eating abomination in the hallway. Cass spun, coming out of the twirl with a dull kitchen knife glittering in her hand. She hurled it at the beast, not expecting it to stick-she was no ace knife thrower, and knife throwing was difficult enough against stationary targets, let alone with the chaos of a fight such as this-but she had several to burn, and the goal was to disorient it long enough for help to arrive. Either it landed and hurt something or it bounced off and confused it a little more-it was of no matter to Cassidy, who fought with a kind of erratic grace. She did not know what she was doing, what she hoped or expected of her endeavors, and therefore her opponents never could, either.

The beast swung upwards and Cass ducked down, taking a step and sliding under its swiping paw. As she rolled out of the slide, another knife slid out of her sleeve and into her hand. The beast was off-center, having twisted to slash at her. To the girl whose reflexes seemed to dance about two beats ahead of the others, this was her golden opportunity. The knife was not sharp and Cassidy was not strong, but adrenaline did her the courtesy of shutting off her inhibitors. Cass stabbed down with the knife at the other front leg-which was now holding the front half's weight. As she did so, she curled up her other fist, smashing a fistful of salt down onto the wound as she ripped the knife out. Cassidy had once heard of people using rock salt in shotgun shells-she was not a doctor, but this certainly seemed like it would hurt like a motherfucker. She held onto around half to be thrown into the beast's eyes, should push come to shove. Of course, if her fears were accurate, this thing used scent more than it did sight, and all three of them had traces of Titus' blood on their clothes. That thing must've ripped open an artery to paint the walls and floor as red as they were-and yet he still seemed to be alive and kicking,

At this Academy, Cassidy had time to ponder as she darted backwards, perhaps nothing could really be reliably counted on. Cassidy stepped back and narrowly avoided slipping on the hat-she kicked it towards the animal just to clear it out of her way, and moved back towards Lupe and Diego, straddling the middle between the two parties-if the beast rushed, she darts around and begins to harass it from the flank and rear. If it stays back, she can rush in again and keep it from tearing up Titus. They couldn't keep this up forever-Cassidy was feeling a bit of a strain-nothing that would cost the girl her life, but people often underestimated the raw physical toll of heavy fighting. The beast seemed to be doing fine, but she doubted any of them could keep up intense close quarters combat for very long, especially when one factored powers into the mix. Taking shifts, they could last a bit longer, but she didn't count on more than three minutes before one of them slipped up.

Not to mention that Diego's powers-if he was a pyromancer, as his flaming hand would suggest-weren't conducive to team play. If he unloads on the beast, there's a good chance he either flash-burns Titus or ignites the entire damn hallway. Cassidy let her right hand fall to her side and the last of her knives slid into her palm. She dropped it to the floor and kicked it back to Diego, letting it skid across the tile. "Diego," Cassidy said, "If you're able to do so, try heating that thing up. I can distract it and then you shove it inbetween its ribs or somewhere. Don't unload with your fire or we'll all die here."

Standing with her torso facing the wall, Cassidy was able to spare a quick glance at Lupe, her green eyes glittering with the fear-frenzy of battle. She had never been in a situation like this before. It was...terrifying. But some primal aspect of it felt right, and as much as Cassidy wanted to run and flee and hide another part of her wanted to show them the sorts of tricks they'd be talking about for years. Let us see if this beast can survive being sawed in half, eh? "And that would be a shame, wouldn't it?"

Titus

Titus jumped out of the way as the flames began to fly. The room got so incredibly hot that he ran to the other end and dove behind an overturned table. The light coming from Lupe and Diego burned his eyes and he felt a few small burns on his back and legs. The fire died down after a few moments and Titus, shoving the table away, decided to join back into the fray; he wasn't the kind to run from a fight. He grabbed a chair and whipped it across the room at breakneck speed and then began to sprint towards the monster, the adrenaline growing in his body. It was ridiculously hot, but he could handle it. The chair struck the wall just behind the creature and busted into pieces, sending shards of metal flying.

As Titus ran he noticed that there was more than one other meta fighting. He shouted "Hey asshole!" and caught the creature's attention. It pounced at him, but he was ready this time. As it approached him, Titus struck the monster open handed on the right shoulder and sent it flying across the room, where it crashed through the drywall and hit the brick facade of the cafeteria. Dust descended from the bricks, obscuring where the creature struck. Titus balled his fists and cracked his neck loudly. He felt a trickle of blood running from his left shoulder where the creature's whiplike tail had struck him, but it didn't bother him much at all. The adrenaline in his system blotted it out.

"Any of you guys got a plan?" he asked.

Spencer Holloway

In another part of the Academy, on a stone bench under a wise old oak tree, Spencer Holloway sat reading a book in the light of the moon. Though he didn't require moonlight to see, he loved how its silver shine dappled gracefully upon the pages. The book was Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston.

"All gods who receive homage are cruel." He read to himself "All gods dispense suffering without reason. Otherwise they would not be worshipped. Through indiscriminate suffering men know fear and fear is the most divine emotion. It is the stones for altars and the beginning of wisdom. Half gods are worshipped in wine and flowers. Real gods require blood.”

Spencer heard a shout in the distance and looked up at the serene evening. He had only been at the school for a few short days, but he already knew that it could be a rather violent place from time to time. Some of the metas here were gigantic and aggressive, two things that Spencer knew from his Mendel days didn't go well together. From the sounds that he heard, he knew a fight must be going on. Nearby the lights of the cafe were beginning to dim. They would probably close soon. Spencer looked down at his watch; it was getting late. He should go to bed soon...But, on second thought, his classes didn't start until later tomorrow and this was a good book. He looked back down and continued to read his book.

"Real gods require blood." he mumbled to himself.

”I didn’t mean that we shouldn’t help him,” Beth said weakly in response to the girl, who was introduced as Lupe, shooting down her suggestion. But it was no use, as she had already been dismissed again. It would have taken no more time for them to send someone fast to find a teacher than it had for Cassidy to grab the hat from the boy with horns, but she hadn’t had enough time to explain herself.

Figuring that there was a slight chance she could come in handy, Beth trailed after the group, falling behind rather quickly due to their pace. It wasn’t long until she caught up, however, as the beast hadn’t made it that far down the corridor, the bright pink light being especially helpful for seeing how far ahead they had gotten. In fact, Beth arrived just in time to see the doves fly out of the hat Cassidy had appropriated.

Upon seeing the beast, a massive dog-shaped thing that appeared to be covered in some sort of exoskeleton for the most part, and the gore covering the walls, Beth stopped, turned, and emptied the contents of her stomach onto the floor, though she figured it was virtually impossible to hear over the sounds of the fight in front of her. Admittedly, she was a little embarrassed by how weak her stomach was, but she tried to ignore her pride and focus on the situation at hand.

When she recovered, she turned to see Cassidy toss a knife to Diego with some instructions to get it hot and stab the monster with it, as his fire would not be very effective here. Her face still pale, she walked up to Diego and tugged on his sleeve to get his attention, an idea popping into her head. ”If you can stab whatever it is close to the heart, if it has one, then I might be able to slow it down,” she said, holding her fingers apart and generating a spark to demonstrate what she intended.

As she was speaking, the musclehead from before got up, which was impressive considering how much blood covered the walls,and threw a chair at the monster, only for it to shatter against the wall behind it. If that wasn’t enough evidence that he was ridiculously strong, he then proceeded to slap the thing with an open hand and send it flying down the hall, though Beth doubted that it would be enough to stop the thing for long.

The fierce offensive by the students was almost too much for the beast of the woods. First, it attempted to attack Cassidy - but when it swiped, she dodged and stabbed the creature in it's leg. It let out a hoarse screech as it raised it's wounded appendage, blood dripped down. What was worse was the fact that Cass literally rubbed salt in the wound. Which was not pleasant. It dropped it's clawed leg, and shook it off. It growled, and pushed in for a quick attack on Cassidy, intending on getting a quick strike on her. However, it's previous prey the big fool, managed to get another hit on it. He delivered an open handed slap that sent it barreling down the hallway. It rolled at least five times before coming to a stop. It tried climbing up to it's feet, but...

---

@He Who Walks Behind
@TaliPaendrag
@Maxx

---

A little danger, a little excitement. Both of which was a recipe for a great time! Lupe was certainly having her fair share of fun with all of this! Everyone was showing their talents, while she was just sitting back and watching. It all started off with Cassidy taking the scene from Diego (C'mon lil' bro, don't let her make you look like a bitch like that!). Despite those snide comments Lupe made before... it seemed like Cassidy really knew how to fuck things up. She cut up the beast with knives just like it was nothing. Slamming a knife into it's foot, and cutting it up a few other times with a surprising amount of speed... and grace, the kind of grace Lupe didn't have. Lupe was never going to admit it, but she was a bit frightened at the idea of getting into a fight with her. Then the big man decided to get up and fight the monster. Lupe smirked. Looks like you really can't take the fight out of the dog. She thought to herself. What was most surprising was Titus's counterattack, he rushed the monster and bitchslapped it down the hall. Even though he lost... at least a good few ounces of blood. He asked if any of them had a plan. Since Lupe was the only one not currently occupied. She stayed on guard, just in case the monster went for her. "Well, big man, the plan was to save your ass and get out of here. Looks like we're going to finish this thing!" She outstretched a finger, and pointed towards Titus's wound... That just didn't look comfortable. This guy must be as tough as he looked, because most people would be on the ground crying. "But, don't push yourself, big man. Lose enough of that precious red stuff and you'll go into shock, and I don't think any of us can carry you to the hospital." Lupe noticed that Beth was there, and was just about ready to flip her shit, when more pressing matters were at hand....

Cassidy had her turn. Titus had his... It was just about time for Diego to have his. Cassidy handed him the knife, and he nodded his head. Titus sent the beast down the hallways, and it's wounds were getting to it. It looks like Diego was going to finish it off. Heat up the knife. Seems simple enough. Diego hesitated before because he was... unsure if he should cut loose like he wanted to. But with this knife, he could do something to it. A heated blade would cauterize the wound, but it wouldn't be pleasant to have inside of you. Diego enshrouded the knife with fire, and heated it up as quickly as he could. When Beth spoke, his focus was broken somewhat. She offered a suggestion, stab it near the heart. Well, he didn't know monster anatomy, but he was going to take a guess here. "Alright." He nodded, acknowledging her. He took in a deep breath, closing his eyes. When he released the air, he let out sparks, and his eyes slowly opened. Except, now, they had that fierce determination within them. That drive to redeem himself, and save everyone. He started charging forward, holding the burning hot knife in his hand.

The beast was still on it's side, vulnerable. Diego kicked off from his legs, and leaped through the air, holding the knife above his head and poised to stab. This was the moment - except, it was the moment where the monster retaliated. It quickly perked up, and one swipe of it's tail hit Diego square in the stomach and killed momentum. He let out a volly of steaming spit as he fell backwards, the wind was knocked out of him. The monster grinned as it jumped up to it's feet, and quickly ran over to Diego. It jumped on top of him, and opened it's mouth to engulf his head in it's teeth.

Diego exploded in a burst of flames, burning his clothes, and the monster. The creature was completely engulfed in flames for a few moments, and onlookers would fear the fire would spread. Diego took this moment to grab the creature by the legs, and deliver one hell of a kick to it's underbelly. Which didn't get the beast off of him, but it had enough, and leaped out of the fire. Diego quickly absorbed all the heat and killed the fire. He took in a gasp for air - his fire ate quite a bit of the oxygen. He tried climbing to his feet, but he kept gasping.

"Diego!" Lupe screamed down the hallway. Which prompted Diego to look down the hallway at the monster. Only to see that it was mid-pounce. Flying through the air, and he knew it packed enough force to crush him...

Good grief, do I really have to save you....? Agni whispered, before he finally took action.

A whirling mass of flames, almost like a tornado, quickly erupted from Diego, and stood in between Diego and the creature. "Heheheheheh... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Agni's maniacal laughter filled the hallway as he took shape. A tall, glowing, demonic entity, seemingly made out of obsidian and magma rock. Looking just as frightening as the monster. This was Agni. The sin within. Once the monster got in range, Agni quickly delivered a punch that impacted the monster's snout that stopped it midflight, and cracked many more of it's teeth. It was sent flying down the hallway yet again. It hit a wall with a smack that wrecked drywall, and fell limp. However, Agni reduced himself back into whirling flames and returned to Diego's subconscious.

"... Thank you." Diego had to thank Agni... Despite being a vicious bastard, he was useful. He would have to thank Agni later - the creature was exposed. This time, Diego wasn't going to fall for the last trick again. He ran up to the beast, and using both hands, he brought down the knife into the monster's side. The torso of the beast. It didn't pierced too much, but it was certainly stuck. The creature tried out in pain, and flailed around. Diego dove out the way, shouting to Beth,

"Now's your chance, do it!"

---

@Maxx

---

All the crashing, screaming, and roaring that Mika heard behind her was utterly insignificant. At this point, they could be throwing a parade, but she didn't care at all. Long as she was as faaaaaaar away from... what the hell that thing was, she would die happy. She was rushing through the garden, heavily panting as sweat dripped down her face. her stamina was already drained. This ruined her elegance, indeed. Reducing her to the level of some common redneck. She was in no position to care. She was just happy to be alive. Now, where was she going? Anywhere that wasn't where the monster was. Running through the garden, she had one place in mind: the cafe. She saw it in the distance, and it got closer and closer. Though, her severe lack of athletic ability was starting to get to get to her. She couldn't even make it through the doors before she just had to stop and kneel over. Panting heavily. She just needed a second to catch her breath again. Hoping that the monster wasn't anywhere near her.... Just to be safe, she switched to her telepathic abilities and started scanning the area mentally. If the monster was stalking her, she would have picked up it's presence, and would have some warning to dodge.

No monsters... Only a boy (Spencer). Who was sitting on a bench, not even five feet away from her. She stood straight up, and wiped the sweat off her soaken face. She adjusted her hair, moving her pony tail. "... You didn't catch me in my finest moment." Mika casually said... attempting that polite, sophisticated, demeanor she always had on. Still, she found herself slipping. Damn it, I need to focus. She nodded her head and looked around. This is awkward, she had to admit. Very awkward. Chased around the school until she was sweaty, and exhausted, and has no choice but to talk to someone. In truth, while she would normally walk off, she felt safer in the presence of another human being. Still, she was still wondering if she could come up with something else to say than that. "I.... should warn you that there is a strange creature in the Academy." He nodded her head. She opened her mouth to say something - but smacked her lips together shut. She closed her eyes and focused in order to preform another telepathic scan. The area was clear, save for Spencer here. Which was reassuring, at best. But she knew that any second now, that safety could change for the worse. She nodded her head, and continued. "I don't know if it was a student or... but it tried to attack me and chased me here... Going off the shouting coming from that area, someone is fighting it. But I would stay on guard, just in case something happens..."

Mika looked around again - towards the direction of the fight. She heard plenty of smashing. "Perhaps we should get formalities out of the way: I am Mika Baozai. You might have heard my last name on the news somewhere..." But, at the moment, that is completely irrelevant.

In all honesty, Beth wasn’t super thrilled when Lupe explained to the musclehead that their plan had been simply to save him somehow, though she had to agree that it appeared that they had the monster on the run. The small smile that had made its way to her face when she realized that the whole ordeal might be ending shortly withered when Beth noticed that Lupe was not happy that she was there.

Fortunately, she didn’t get the chance to say anything before Diego nodded his assent to her idea for incapacitating the thing, which wasn’t quite the response that she had expected. She wasn’t going to argue, however, taking the time to get close enough to use her powers without adversely affecting the others while Diego charged at the beast.

It became readily apparent as Diego jumped at the monster that it had probably been pretending to be stunned, as it lashed out with its tail and struck Diego in the stomach, knocking him back a few feet before running over and jumping onto him, mouth wide open and aimed for his head. That wasn’t enough to stop Lupe’s brother, however, as he burst into flames and kicked at the underside of the monster and coercing it to get off.

Beth gasped, heart fluttering, and Lupe screamed as the monster came back for another go while Diego seemed to be recovering from the exertion, panting for air while trying to rise to his feet. That was when Diego’s form changed from that of a black-haired male of Spanish descent to a massive body of molten rock and heat, a transformation that was accompanied by maniacal laughter that sent a shiver down Beth’s spine despite the heat.

Almost immediately, Diego slammed his fist into the monster’s gaping maw, knocking several teeth loose while sending the monster flying back down the hallway. The molten rock and flames that had surrounded Diego subsided as drywall dust rained down on the beast. Diego didn’t take too much time to recover before darting forward and slamming the blade into the monster’s torso before diving out of the way and shouting for Beth to do her part.

Nodding, Beth began pulling the charge that had accumulated on her bracelet over the past several hours into her hands as she hurried a little closer to the monster, though not so close as to be in danger of it lashing out, to increase the effectiveness of her ability. ”Cover your ears!” Beth shouted when she was within a suitable range and the bracelet was void of charge, promptly clapping her hands to her ears and holding her breath while she formed and launched the arc at the knife that was currently sticking out of the monster’s flesh.

A loud rumble, roughly equivalent to a jet taking off, filled the hallway, shattering the windows with the sudden force caused by the sound waves, as the arc leaped towards its destination. At the same time, the sharp odor of ozone filled the area immediately surrounding Beth, the oxygen in the air having been given enough energy by the electricity to transform into the less stable gas.

Once the arc had completely entered the body of the monster, melting the knife and causing the beast to spasm as the electricity wreaked havoc on its nervous system, Beth turned and hurried back to the others before removing her hands from her ears and taking a few deep breaths of air to make up for having held her breath for the duration of her attack.

Her face and arms had also turned a rosy shade of pink due to the waves of heated air that had washed over her as the arc passed through the air, and her ears were ringing something fierce, but there was a smile on her face. She had contributed to the safety of the Academy, even Diego and the others had done most of the dangerous work, and it seemed that the monster was down for the count.

”Do you think that that did it?” Beth asked the others, shouting in order to hear herself over the ringing in her ears.

Cassidy Lynn Daniels

Cassidy flickered her weight from foot to foot, her whole body swaying as a lion's tail about to strike. She was very sorely missing her sword-while a sparring match was not quite as intense or high-stakes as this, it would've been comforting if nothing else, and she certainly wasn't as familiar with knives or anything else-Cass hadn't been in very many real fights, and was merciful for the many hours of fake ones to sustain her.

Then the human leviathan decided to join back in-Cassidy figured he must've had either the right hand of the Lord or regenerative powers watching out for him, as he'd been pretty close to kicking the bucket when they'd arrived. So their little rescue mission hadn't been for naught after all-assuming they all made it out of here relatively unscathed (and Cassidy didn't get another scar to match...) she'd feel just a smidge proud of herself. But that, she thought, was putting the cart before the horse.

The brute began to deliver some serious punishment on the beast, and Cassidy felt another mild instance of fear. While the monster was certainly...disturbing, as most things which could devour a human being were, this boy was simply so...strong. Jesus. He tossed it effortlessly and shook off one hell of a beating. Six thousand years ago one of his ancestors was struck dead by a boy with a slingshot, Cass was quite certain. Cassidy smoothly stepped to the side of the dust cloud that burst out from Titus' bodyslamming the creature through a wall, and idly swept some of it from her suit. In the insanity of what was going on around them, something about that act brought her a token of serenity, and Cassidy fought to keep her panicked, darting-in-a-thousand-directions mind honed on the rather daunting adversary before them.

"Our plan was to try and teach it to love," Cassidy muttered. "It would seem you've dashed that possibility, so I suppose now we just beat the hell out of it." Cass' watched Diego rush the beast, and briefly she pondered their synergy as a group. Rushing the damn thing one at a time didn't seem like the best application of their numerical advantage, but she supposed they really couldn't work in tandem, not in these closed quarters. Titus was far too big, careless with his power-one stray blow and he'd pulverize all two hundred and six of their bones by accident. Lupe's lightshow didn't seem to be particularly discriminate about who it wounded, and neither did Diego's flames (Cass took a half step back from the scorching heat as the boy ran by. Explained why he wasn't concerned about smoking). Jesus Christ he's going to burn this place down Cass began moving backwards steadily, eyes locked on the soon-to-be-well-done monstrosity, but Diego sucked the life from the fledgling inferno and came back to them. Thank Christ. She wasn't getting "accomplice to arson" pinned on her in the first twelve hours of being here.

And yet the boy wasn't moving back-he fell, and Cass began to dart forward to...do something. She wasn't entirely sure what, and as soon as her momentum had shifted she realized the folly of this plan. Nothing to do now but-

Agni erupted from the boy and Cassidy quickly shifted her weight, forcing herself to fall back on her ass instead of face-first into a demon. Christ. There is a possibility I am in over my head. And then, simultaneously, there was a roar, the sharp reek of ozone, and the little girl shot half a hurricane's worth of lightning into the monster. Cassidy rolled-she had to look graceful, and not deafened, blind, and flash-burned by what these fools had done-and picked herself up into a crouch, hand grasping her coat to make a hasty getaway if the monster recovered.

There was no way in hell that thing was getting back up-Diego was making his way back to the safety of the group and the monster seemed to be trudging off to lick its wounds. Cassidy quickly mulled over following it-no, there was no point. With as much of a racket as they'd made, nobody was unaware of its presence, and teachers would be here in a matter of seconds. Following would just get one of them killed, and as weakened as the creature was, it wasn't likely to do much more damage. Famous last words.

"Well," Cassidy muttered, trying to run a hand through her hair-it was all standing up and messed up thanks to the little girl's electrical spasm-"Is everyone alright? I must say, this is probably the worst orientation I've ever had."

As the electric strike devastated the creature's body, it let out a bloodcurdling scream - not a roar, this sound it made showed more pain than ever. It's body violently shook against it's will. It's skin burned, and the knife Diego implanted melted into it's flesh. The electricity left it's body through it's tail, and left a jet-black mark on the carpet. It went limp.

---

@He Who Walks Behind
@TaliPaendrag
@Maxx

---

When Beth said "Cover your ears", that directly translated to "shit's about to get real".

"... Got it!" Lupe shouted to Beth, and intelligently ran down a hallway as fast as her legs could take her, and hopped right on her stomach. She covered her ears the second she hit the ground - because she felt as if she was dodging a fucking bomb here. She didn't know what freaky trick the little girl would pull out. And it fucking felt like a bomb. There was a loud ass bang, which Lupe felt from all the way down the hall. She didn't close her eyes, and felt the intense light barrage her. It didn't bother her. She was used to lights like this because she created equally bright displays (Possibly another power working in the background). Moments later, things died down, and she could fucking hear. Lupe stood straight up, and walked back towards the scene, and took in the carnage. Broken glass... fire.... All that stuff. The hallway went dark again, but Lupe was quick to raise a hand to the same level as her shoulder. And created a pink light that acted as a flashlight.

Diego, fortunately, was already out of the way. He slapped his hands against his ears and closed his eyes shut. Whatever Beth was about to do, it was going to be big. And lo and behold, it was bigger than Diego expected. Covering his ears only helped so much. He could hear the monstrous bolt of lighting, accompanied by the sounds of glass shattering - of course, he couldn't tell one thing from another at this point. By the time the smoke cleared, the moment when the sound stopped, the bright flash of light still filled the room and overwhelmed the very unprepared Diego. "Argh!" He shouted, cupping his fragile eyeballs. A minute or so later, Diego slowly peaked, and saw that the light was finally gone. He stood straight up, and looked around. Lupe had already created a light to fill the room.

The siblings stood side by side, staring at the burnt corpse of the monster that once harassed the Academy. Reduced to a burnt crisp.

"... Damn girl..." Lupe said out loud. Not caring that she was swearing in the presence of children. "Guess I underestimated you, you're a real firecracker, aren't you?" She turned her entire body back towards Beth, and looked at the tiny redhaired girl. Giving her a smile. A smile that would convey approval.

Diego on the other hand stared at the beast's body. It was burnt to a crisp - no way the thing could have survived that... Could it?

She holds... great power.... She could be a threat to us... Agni mentioned.

No... Diego immediately replied. I see a friend. A friend in everyone here. His vision drifted from Beth, to Titus, to Cassidy, then Lupe.

Keep thinking like that, and they'll be the ones to kill you. Agni said, before he stopped talking. Choosing to observe.

... Of course Lupe suddenly turned towards the monster, and pointed her glowing hand at it. She fired off a few concentrated shots, the size of her hand, right into it's body. Before she put her hands on her hips and turned her body, looking at everyone much like Diego did. "Well, this was pretty damn fun." She said to the group, with a smile on her face. "I have to say, each and every one of you are pretty ballin'." She shrugged, closing her eyes for a moment. "I'm going to add each and every one of you to my friends list, 'kay?" She said with a smile. The mentions of "friends" quickly reminded Lupe that they haven't properly been introduced. At least Titus and Beth weren't. "Oh yeah, I'm Lupe, the girl who's gonna spice up this cool. You two are...?" She was going to leave Diego's introduction to him. Still, she gave him a narrow look. What was that thing which spawned out of him? She had no idea, but it looked like the devil himself had shown up. There were things he wasn't telling her. Things that she was going to get out of him later.

"Diego." He dryly said. He walked up to the center of the group and threw up his hands. "But before we start getting all nice with each other, we need to find a staff member ASAP." He quickly said.

"... And get you some medical attention." Lupe pointed at Titus's massive wound. "Like, Jesus, how are you still walking?"