---

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"Oh, come on, whiteboy," Jago said, rolling his eyes as he held a basketball underneath his shoulder. He stood in the middle of one of the basketball courts that the camp had. Newt at his side - Jago was just schooling some stupid ass boys on basketball. The twins were just walking by, bored out of their minds, when they saw these kids trying (And failing!) at playing some good old basketball. It was such a disgrace that Jago had to step in himself! And now these kids are saying they probably aren't good enough. "First, yo' dumbass playing basketball like a girl, and now you're acting like you're Lebron fuckin' James."

"Yeah, whatever, kid." The boy, around Jago's age, said. "I'm just saying that I'm the best in the camp."

"Bet you twelve bucks that I can beat you, and your gay-ass crew, on my own." Jago immediately looked bored.

"You can't even make a shot from across from the court to the hoop, so shut up." The boy taunted.

"... And what sort of basketball you been playin'? Imaginary?" Jago was just about ready to bitchslap this kid. Probably playing too many NBA games, and not out here, playing for real. Actually, Jago came up with an idea. "Actually, I'm going to pull this off. It'd prove I know what I'm doing more than your dumb ass."

"I'd love to see this...." The boy said, as Jago got on the other side of the court.

The plan was simple, just use his telekinesis to give that ball the push it needs. He held the ball by both sides, and dropped his weight. He did a little hop as he threw the ball through the air, it rolled off his fingertips. Now, all Jago did was subtly push it with telekinesis. Briefly, a faint dark-blue, aura surrounded it, as it went further and further through the air. Jago grinned as he gave it the last push, and it went right through the hoop.

"Oooooooooh! Thank you, thank, thank you, thank you-" Jago raised his hands above his head, hopping, and Newt ran over to him.

"Wait, you were cheating, asshole!" The boy shouted in the middle of Jago's victory, "Think you're going to come around here with that shit? Might as well whoop your ass." The boy's fist erupted in flames, and he charged Jago head on

Oh fucking boy. Looks like the dumbass wasn't that dumb. Well, Jago even doubted that if the dumb motherfucker wanted to pick a fight with them. "Newt." Jago rolled the basketball over to his twin sister. Normally, he would handle this himself, but this would be funny as all hell if pulled off just right.

Newt nodded her head as a devious grin had formed on her face when she grabbed the ball. When the boy got close, Newt held the ball by the top, and threw it at him with all of her strength. The basketball flew through the air like a god damn rocket, and hit the boy square in the face. However, it hit with so much strength that it knocked him backwards, doing a flip with his feet over his head. He landed on the ground, unconscious.

"Oooooh! And he did a flip!" Jago shouted, loudly laughing. "Well, take that as a lesson, kids! We'll fuck ya'll up!"

Jago started laughing as he stepped right on through the boy's friends. "If ya'll don't mind, we're outta here! Peace!"

---

---

One thing about this dumb camp that Diana could actually tolerate.

It's full of likeminded jackasses.

Too bad most of them are too dumb to realize that they're being had. Diana was sitting at a table inside the Lodge, on one of the tables, with three other teens. One a blonde haired girl, another a muscular boy with shaggy black hair, and another a girl with a short black pixie-cut - like herself. Playing poker, of course! She was ass at the game - but she had a little edge. That little superpower over paper and ink. Diana grinned. She looked at her bland cards, which would certainly cost her a victory. However, with one thought, the ink had changed on the cards. No one would notice it, since they couldn't see her hand to begin with. They changed to a Royal Flush... an Ace, a Queen, A Jack, and a Ten.

When everyone revealed their hands, Diana grinned even wider.

"Sorry boys and gals..." Diana spoke in a very mocking sympathetic tone as she put her cards on the table, and revealed them. "... but looks like I just won." Diana crossed her arms as she gave them a look.

"Oh, come on!" The black haired boy shouted. "You probably cheated!"

"Nah, nah, all skill, honey." Diana said with a grin, putting her hands out. "I'd like my rewards now, why thank you. Cash, no credit."

"Ugh, fine. I don't care." The boy reached into his pocket, and pulled out some crumbled five dollar bills. While the other two gave up similar rewards.

Diana happily pocketed the money - placing them in her breast pocket, before sarcastically waving goodbye and walking right out of there. She was right on the porch of the lodge. Laughing. Group of fuckin' dumbassess, they were. They just handed her their money without argument! Who the fuck would do that? Well, they probably knew what they were up against. Diana turned her hand into white paper. Before she consciously turned it right back. She could fuck someone up with this stuff. However, she didn't want to cause more trouble in this damn summer camp. Just get some pocket change.

The short, blonde, looked over her shoulder.

She hopes that they don't notice her at power training later on today.

Diana walked down the stairs. Now where did Wendy go...?

---

---

The view is just... better up here.

From above the treeline, Wendy was riding upon a giant paper bird (Like this) over the treeline. It almost looked like a monster had taken up the sky, since the wingspan was at least twenty feet! Wendy herself was hanging off the wings of her bird. Her body was weightless as the paper. She was riding on the wing by willing it forward. And it certainly felt good having the breeze in her long black, unkempt hair. She quickly passed the trees, and eventually went over the Jay-Thompson Lake. For a little... project that she's been working on while at the camp. She had to hope that a stray wind doesn't come blow and blow the girl astray! She can't swim, after all.

She looked up, and saw the eerie and foggy castle up ahead. The very same castle that you could see from the waterfront. It was so interesting to Wendy. That the girl wanted to take a few photos before she left the camp. All apart of her mission to take scenic photos of the camp for practice, and just to get something out of this camp. Wendy made it across the lake safely, and started her descent. She landed on the island, and hopped right off, her body returning to it's normal weight. She reached into her brown bag, and pulled out a heavy book. She pulled a long string of paper, and put the book on top of it. With her ability to repair paper - any damage done to it should be easily fixed.

With that done, Wendy reached into her bag, and pulled out her fancy camera. The tall girl grinned widely as she walked forward - taking photos of every scenic shot she could. She looked up at the castle... odd. Why is there a castle here? Why is there a Castle in America? They belong in Europe. Whatever. Wendy was moving through the grounds - and then the girl heard a flute. Oh God... This sounds like the start of a horror movie! Though, that meant that someone was here. She was unsure who - but she wasn't that paranoid. She decided to investigate. Worst comes to worst, and she'll just fly out of there. A light breeze assaulted her skin, and rustled her hair as she pushed in closer to the source of the flute. Pushing through the fog, Wendy managed to make sight of a figure, sitting on top of a rock. Holding a long object to her lips.

"Oh?" The figure said - her voice was insectoid, and distinct enough for Wendy to immediately recognize it.

"Fiona?" Wendy asked, raising an eyebrow.

There she was, Fiona Barrett. She hopped out from the obscurity of fog, and made small hops towards Wendy. Standing face to face, Wendy didn't even phase. They stood at nearly the same height, with Fiona standing a little taller. It was a little awkward, for both of them.

"What are you doing here?" Fiona asked curiously, clicking her mandibles together.

"Oh, me?" Wendy looked around, trying not to sound suspect. "I'm just looking around...." She said a little awkwardly, before she came out of her shell, and said, "Yeah, I'm going all over the camp, and taking photographs of everything before I have to leave here."

The Cricket-girl's antennae raised, intrigued. "Oh? That's great!" Fiona smiled, opening up her mandibles to show her lips curved upwards.

"This camp's kinda weird... I mean, weirder than I thought." Wendy noted. "Like, outside the camp there's a mansion, an abandoned mansion. A ruined military base...." Wendy trailed off as she turned towards the big castle that was looming overhead. "... And a castle." She turned back towards Fiona. "What exactly went on in this weird camp anyway?" She asked.

"I don't know." Fiona shrugged. "But it's fun to climb." She smiled again, but didn't open her mandibles to expose her smile.

"I'll have to take a better look at this place...." Wendy looked up at it. "... Later. I need to get back to camp before they yell at me again - Hey, how did you get here?"

"Oh, me?" Fiona asked, before her finger pointed over the horizon. "... Took a boat."

"Figured." Wendy shrugged. "I wish I could take you on my ride, but you need to be a Paper Mimic." Wendy smiled, and put up two fingers. "I'd love to come with you, but I'd hate to waste this paper. Especially if it rains." She turned around, and started running towards her paper bird. When she came up to it, she turned weightless, before she landed gracefully on the back of the bird like a leaf. "See you back at the camp!" She yelled, before she flew off.

Fiona sighed, and merely stepped over to her boat.

---

---

Loud snoring filled the lazy Kai Anaru's dorm room.

Apparently, the girl could sleep through even the loudest alert. Only awakening whenever the hell she felt like it. Kai was not the most graceful while sleeping. She was lying on her back, spread eagle, on the top of her sheets that haven't been made in God knows how long. Wearing her black sports bra, and a pair of blue and white boxers. Nor was she the most ladylike. A large pool of (now frozen) spit had flowed from her mouth onto the bed she was on top of. It wasn't long for the Polar-bear like Kai to awaken. Her eyes had lazily opened, getting a healthy barrage from the light that was leaking into the room. She raised her head, and looked around. Still groggy from her rest. "Huh...?" She groaned, half asleep.

Then she went back to sleep.

Twenty minutes later, Kai repeated the same routine, - opening her eyes, raising her head, and groaning - except, she managed to catch a peak of the clock. It was eleven. Her eyes immediately shot open, as the girl realized that she was going to be late for class! She immediately slid out of the bed, and stood straight up. The girl breathed - and realized that the room was as frigid as herself. Oops! She would have to apologize to her roommate (for the nineteenth time) for freezing the room, but she barely had time! Kai immediately went through her things, and grabbed her outfit for the day - a thick light-blue winter coat with a fur hood (Extra padded), and two pairs of extra baggy jeans (To help contain her chilling aura far better than what she has just demonstrated). She threw her clothes over her shoulder, and held some thick combat boots with her fingers.

Then she ran through the halls of her dorm building, wearing nothing but boxers and a bra. Making whoever was looking at her turn their eyes. This would normally be a very embarrassing moment for Kai, but she was more concerned with getting ready since she missed the morning call so badly. She made it over to the communal showers, and smiled in relief. Fortunately, it was pretty empty, so it was a matter of removing her underwear, and sliding into one of the stalls.

It was fortunate for the Polynesian girl that a little hot water didn't bother her. She turned the knobs, and her bare skin was immediately hit with the warm water. However, against her frigid cold body (And temperature dropping able), the water cooled to her level rather fast. Not that it was a problem. It just meant that the girl couldn't enjoy hot water like she could. The large girl quickly cleaned herself off.

Then she noticed that the water stopped being hot, and realized that her chilling aura was in effect. This was a bit embarrassing, but Kai ducked down, and looked into another stall, and noticed that the small amount of water droplets were frozen.

Oh... She definitely has to work on that. Kai quickly stepped out the stall, and tried to pretend as if nothing happened as she skipped over to her bench, and grabbed her attire for the day (Which has already been noted). She was capable of putting on clothes rather quickly. Fully dressed, Kai put her hands in her pockets and scrolled out the room. Her footsteps were quite heavy as she walked out. Maybe she'll get something to eat - before class started. Kai stepped out of the dorms, and started walking towards the cafeteria. There wasn't too much of a problem with Kai chilling an outdoor area like this. Especially since she's wearing an outfit that contained that cold she gives off in all directions.

Kai stepped into the cafeteria, ready to eat.

---

---

All things considered it had been a good day so far, for the most part. It was bright and clear, and Chloe just knew there would be some good sunny spots to sunbathe in, if she could find them. She had awoken slightly late and rushed her usually lazy morning routine in order to get to the showers before Kai, though luckily the ice controller had either slept in or had managed to keep her chilling aura under control today, as the water had been warm and the showers ice free. Since her roommate was already out, likely causing mischief, Chloe had decided to go grab some food and maybe find someone to chat to there. For now though she was tucking into her breakfast with a healthy appetite, knowing there was probably going to be a tiring day ahead.

The shifter had piled her plate high with food, though mostly meat, and thrown herself down at a random table in the cafeteria. Due to her rush earlier she was wearing the standard camp shorts and the t-shirt in orange. Her appearance was completely human at the moment, and the small smile gracing Chloe’s face showed her pride at her self-control. Another morning snake free, I think I might be getting the hang of this.
Her small self-congratulation session was ruined when a few glances from some of the other campers clued her in to the fact that she had, at some point, stopped chewing her food before swallowing it.

She sighed and hung her head a little in embarrassment.

“Damn it”

Rosie was asleep. Dreaming, actually. And like every night since she had been taken away from her brothers, she had nightmares. Nightmares that she would never see her brothers again, nightmares that they were dead. Nightmares of the fire. Nightmares that she might not survive the coming day. As such, it meant they tossed and turned, never getting a good night sleep. And it meant she woke covered in sweat, and terrified.

She closed her eyes tight, and rolled into her pillow, letting out a small sob. She drew in a few steady breaths, before rolling out the bed, and rising. She padded to the drawers where she had some clothes, given to her in her arrival. She showered, and dressed, fighting to make herself appear normal, trying to grasp her normal attitude, but falling short. She sniffled, her thoughts going to her siblings.

The young woman moved silently to the cafeteria, her head bowed, not wanting anyone to see her like she was, as she grabbed some food and found a table to sit at, alone, not particularly wishing to try and be cheerful. She was allowed to be sad. She had barely got over the shock of her parents dying, and she was grieving still, grieving for her brothers as well.

She stared at her plate of food, before starting to eat it, slowly. If only to keep her strength up. She wasn't the dying kind. Her food consisted off vegetarian foods, never really being a fan of meat Rosie tended to chose non meat products over anything else. She sighed to herself, and looked up, about the room.

She saw a girl, who seemed to hang her head in embarrassment for apparently losing some semblance of self control. Rosie supposed she had to be greatful for her own control of her powers, but she could understand the girls situation. Rosie hesitated, before rising and going over to the girl.

"hi. Are you okay?"

"Alright, tiebreaker, first to seven! Whichever team loses this round has to pay up!" She balanced the worn volleyball between her forearm and hip and smiled wickedly as she spoke. Her two teammates nodded, eyes glittering with anticipation and slight anxiety. "And this round we all get to use our powers! None of this 'holding back' shit!" Mary Jo glared hard at Ivan, his silver eyes, filled with bright morning sunshine, meeting her own hazel ones. "Why should we play normally? We all have powers here!" She spat as she kicked one of her bare feet onto the sand.

"Why? So Leonel and his bitch ass can throw sand at us?" Leanne had a blonde eyebrow raised and her arms crossed over her breast. The tank top and short shorts she was wearing was doing a poor job of covering her up, something one of the boys on her team had noticed and taken a liken to. Ivan had noticed, of course, but unlike Carter, wasn't openly drooling. "Yeah, I don't think so!"

"The issue isn't Leo, it's Mary Jo. What if you hit the ball too hard and break it? Do you really think Les is going to want to get in trouble because you can't win without using your powers?" Ivan interjected, holding up a hand to shield his eyes from the sun. Mary just laughed.

"At least you know what I can do! Yours is so gay you won't even tell us what it is!" Ivan huffed out in frustration, averting his eyes to the sand. "Are you scared that without mommy and daddy to protect your you lil trust fund ass is gonna get-"

"Hey, you need to stop-" Leanne interrupted, balling up her fists as lightning crackled, jumping between her knuckles.

"Whatever! I'll play your game. I could beat you with or without any powers." Ivan suddenly said, getting mild snickers in response. "But remember, whoever loses has to tell all of us something they wish no one knew!" He then smirked as he tugged his hoodie sleeves as high up as they would go.

"Can't I just buy y'all a bottle of pop or somethin'?" Les asked, as his team was preparing to serve the ball. They laughed, and Mary Jo hit the ball up as Leonel jumped up and slammed it with all of his might. The sound reverberated across the courts as the other three prepared to retaliate. Since it was three on three, they were all fairly spread out. None of them were telekinetic or could teleport, nor did any of them have superior strength or speed. Ivan saw it coming into his area and hopped up to smack it over to Carter. He missed. A few blunders later including the sand tightening around their feet (courtesy of Leo, of course), and it was team Mary Jo in the lead 4-0. "What happened to all your trash talk, Ivan?" Mary smirked as she set up the serve again. "Get ready to tell all of us how you lost your virginity to some- HEY!" A streak of lighting grazed her cheek, leaving some black ash on her cheek but not touching an inch of her peach fuzz.

"Ivan, it's cool if you want to play without your powers, but Mary Jo is way too annoying for me not to fry 'er up." Leanne nearly sang in excitement as lightning danced around one arm. He could only nod and stare at Mary Jo as she clenched a fist, her hands losing feeling as she turned them hard as stone. With a shout, she struck the ball herself, the volleyball moving much faster than Leo could have managed. Moving quickly, Carter quickly hit it up, giving Leanne the opportunity to tap it into one of their corners. Seeing Leo squeezing his hands, Carter suddenly had an idea and shouted it to his teammates. The other team couldn't hear anything over the crackling lightning, and Leanne hit it over. It was returned, and Leo concentrated.

Feeling the sand increase its hold around her foot, Leanne nodded to Ivan, who rolled his eyes, clearly not up for whatever his friends were planning. Then, suddenly, he stuck his tongue out at the boy who held their feet tight to the sand, and popped his tumble against his mouth. Leanne's lightning calmed down so that his voice would be able to carry. "Hey! Leo..." He squeezed his eyes shut before sticking his hands in his hoodie pocket and taking a deep breath. "I didn't know you were so into bondage! It's kinda... cute! You could have just said so!" Grateful he couldn't blush, Ivan instead let out a few chuckles as everyone else burst in laughter, the other distracted -appalled- enough to loosen his hold. That was all they needed. Quickly, Carter passed it to Leanne, who spiked the ball right at Mary Jo. She faced it head on- and it missed. "Ha! Now it's Mary Jo four, Leanne one!"

The game continued. Leanne fired the occasional lightning bolt at the enemy's side of the court, telling Ivan how when sand was overheated, it turned to glass. It certainly made them wary of where they stepped. He had suggested she turn their side to glass so Leo couldn't mess with them, but she shook her head. "Yeah, I'm not jumping up and down on shards of glass. 'Sides, Leo don't wanna touch you at all, even with the sand." A few more points, and it was Leanne 6, Mary Jo 5. Calling her group into a huddle, Mary Jo quickly made her plan clear.

"Alright, Leo, you're gonna whip up a sandstorm. Think you can manage?" He nodded, scratching brown-blonde hair and looking down at the smaller but much more imposing young woman.

"I mean I guess for a little while. If Ivan pulls some shit again, though, I'm gonna top everything and bury him six feet under!"

"Les, you're going to get the ball-"

"But Mary, you told me not to get the ball." She sighed, and rubbed her temple.

"You're going to put some of your sticky- whatever comes out of your mouth, and you're going to put it on your hands. When we pass the ball to you, you gotta coat it in the stuff and hurl it back. Ivan and Leanne won't touch something if its's sticky, and Carter sucks almost as much as Ivan does. Just pass it back to us and I'll knock Ivan square on his ass with it."

Meanwhile, Leanne and Carter were still laughing at Ivan. "Man, I didn't think you would actually do it!" Carter said between bouts of laughter. Ivan merely shrugged.

"It's not that bad. I've done worse." Leanne cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh? I might just lose on purpose so that you'll tell us all about it," She rolled her eyes and smiled at Ivan's horrified face, "Might. I would've done it if Mary Jo wasn't being so stupid today. God, she's so moody. I don't care how strong she is, I'd never pick her on my team."

"Alright! We're ready!" Leo shouted at the group, who returned to their positions. Ivan spun it around in his hands as he prepared to serve. Striking it over the net in a clean arc, he watched it intently and crouched as he prepared for whatever they were planning on when he felt something in his eye. Shouting aloud in pain, Leanne suddenly screamed in anger at Leo.

"You're a dick!" Her eyes were watering, but she could make out the silhouettes of her opponents as Les passed the ball to a short figure. Reasoning that the other must be Leo, she shouted as she blindly shot a streak of lightning in the other camper's direction. As the lightning bolt hit under his feet, Leo was prepared and quickly backed up, and was ready for Les to pass the ball. Carter, located farther away from the worst of the storm, was able to catch Les coat the ball in his signature sticky spit. Making a face of disgust, he realized that it must have been Mary's idea. Bitch. It was time for him to use his power.

"Leo! Pass it back to Les so he can spike it!" Mary Jo yelled, and Leo quickly complied, hitting it softly in a neat arc.

"Wait, Leo, he's-" Mary was too late, as Carter laughed victoriously, the ball hitting the ground as Les was more than unprepared for it. The sand settled down. She was red in the face, and opened her mouth to shout.

"If it wasn't for all your bitching, I wouldn't have been able to mimic your voice so well." He taunted, raising the net to reuince the two groups once more. Leanne arrived shortly after. "Alright, Mary, you first."

She sighed in defeat. If nothing else, she did keep her end of the wager. "Okay... I... I like kids cartoons." Leanne shrugged.

"So? I do too. Don't try to play it off."

"No, I like... I like..." She slapped a hand over her eyes in shame. "I watch Madame Muffin's Pretty Parlor, alright?!" At that, everyone laughed. "You go, Les."

"Well, see, I got this website and I got a lot of pictures of-"

"Ivan, what's up?" Leanne interrupted, noticing her friend with one hand on his knees as he crouched and the other covering his eyes. His teeth were grinding in pain. The other five ran over. "It was your sandstorm, douchebag!" She said, going on her tiptoes to smack Leo on the head.

"Well, sand comes out. Our eyes water when stuff gets into it. It's not gonna kill him, even if I wanted it to." He grumbled, still obviously unamused.

"It's whatever. I just need to wash them out." He said, brushing the spare sand out of his dark hair with his other hand.

"Open your eyes," Mary told him, and he clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Oh, so you're gonna be racist now, huh?" He lightly chuckled.

"That's not what I meant and you know it. Now move your hand before I move it for ya."

He slowly removed his hand, but kept his eyes shut tight. "Ivan, open up." Leanne edged, and he shook his head.

"Nah, I just need to clean em."

"We're gonna go... put the ball back." Carter suddenly piped as he and the other boys walked away.

Mary smacked his hands away and gently opened his eyes with her finger and thumb. "Eugh! Ivan, this is bad. Your eyes are all red. You better go to the nurse." He shook his head.

"Nah, it's not a big deal." She groaned angrily.

"If this is about you not wanting to let us know about your power, then fine. But you're going to the nurse, with or without us."

"And you're blinded." Leanne added. Ivan squeezed his tongue with his teeth. Well, fuck.

---

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---

It had taken Jesse awhile to get out of bed. Even after being at the camp for weeks now, he still wasn't used to waking up at a decent hour and reluctantly joining the other students in festivities. If it was up to him, he wouldn't be here. It was this stupid camp, or be in a maximum security federal prison. Just the thought of being in a prison where you couldn't use your powers made him shiver. He hated being in spaces he couldn't get out of. Having his density power caused him to develop claustrophobia over time and even being in a tight room for too long gave him an anxiety attack. But at the end of the day, he was still here. He couldn't pretend that being at Camp ThinkerRock wasn't better than being at home to a family that low-key hated your existence. Maybe that was a bit exaggerated, but he knew they were disappointed in him by not only his 'lifestyle' that Christians like to put it or the fact their son is a metahuman criminal. At least his mother cared about him somewhat more than his sister and his dad. Jesse didn't think he would ever rekindle a relationship with them ever again. Time would only tell.

Jesse found himself strolling across the lawn in his ridiculous camp uniform which he tried to fight the counselors from wearing, but he ultimately had no choice. It wasn't the first time he had gotten in trouble since being here. The Hispanic boy had a knack for not using doors and just phasing into places without warning. There were times he was wandering aimlessly and found himself phasing into a bathroom with the occasional 'Do you mind?!' or 'Its called a door, use it!' comments. It was weird that sometimes he didn't even need to take a breath when activating his power. Maybe they were growing which would be logical since the students were training all the time.

He phased into the Lodge where other students were up and relaxing for the day. He noticed that not many people were at the couches where the TVs were at so he made his way over there. He flopped down on the couch, snuggling into his jacket that he wore over his uniform and turned on the television to play some games. Video games were one of many things that helped him through his withdrawal from the drugs he did with his crew before being sent to Camp. If only they knew that he came out the closet and was a metahuman freak. That would be a hell of a confrontation. Jesse turned on the console and started playing some Mario Kart. Ironically one would think based on his appearance that he was a first person shooter type of person, but those games really gave him a headache with all of the movement. He would play them every now and again if he was bored enough. Letting out a huge belch, he played his game with that permanent bitch face he always had which seemed to detour people away from him most of the time. He had only talked to a few people since being at Camp and even then those conversations were always short. Eventually he would probably open up more to people.

"What the fuck dude," Jesse said to himself as his kart ran off the trail and he had to start all over, putting him in 8th place. "I hate this fucking game sometimes."

"hi. Are you okay?"

The new voice shook Chloe out of her mood. It was one of the other campers, a short girl, tiny even. No wonder Chloe missed her approach. She gave her a wide smile and quickly tried to remember her name from first day, it began with R, she was sure of it. Rosie.

"Ah, hi there! I'm fine, just need to remember that humans chew their food, not swallow it whole." It was only after she had said it that Chloe realised that would sound strange if Rosie didnt know her power. Oh well.

Rosie blinked at the some what strange answer, processing it for a moment. Shapeshifter? Or just didn't have a normal mouth? Or wasn't human? None of those answers would surprise her, not any more. She managed a smile, even if it was a small one.

"there's nothing to be ashamed off about not remembering that. If you act how you feel more comfortable as, then that's all that matters. No one should judge you here. We're all in the same boat, right?" she said softly, studying Chloe.

She shifted, feeling awkward. "ah, I'm Rosie. I haven't been here long...I don't particularly wish to be here, you see"

Chloe's smile shrunk slightly. She got the impression that alot of the campers here had been given about as much choice of coming as she had. Perhaps even less. If all of them were as nice as Rosie seemed to be, then she'd be very surprised, Chloe remembered what students who felt trapped acted like.

"I think alot of the other campers are in similer sitations. Still, its nice to meet others like us right?" The smile came back full force as Chloe pulled out a chair, gesturing towards it.

"Anyway, thanks, you're right of course. The more frustated I get the less control I have. Did you eat yet?"

Rosie didn't really feel like being positive about a situation she had no choice in, but Chloe evidently wished to be, and Rosie didn't have the heart to crush that faint hope. So she just nodded, "I suppose it is. But why are we here?" she wondered softly.

When Clhoe invited her to sit, Rosie hesitated for a fraction of a second, before sitting "my dad always told me, patience is the key to life, you can't expect anything to work if you are frustrated" she shrugged, the every day saying in her home a painful memory, but one she would never forget.

"I've had something" not much, but she'd eaten some of her breakfast.

Chloe gave a brief nod and finished of the last of her food, remembering to chew properly. Perhaps Rosie would be interested in trying something fun, it looks like she needs some cheering up.

“Well, I have nothing else to do right now. Do you want to go try and find where they’re hosting this power training thing? Maybe do a little bit of power practice ourselves? I mean, if you want to. We could just go hang out in the lodge” Her voice trailed off slightly towards the end, as she remembered that perhaps not everyone would be comfortable at showing their power, or using it outside training.

Honestly she was slightly nervous herself at what people would think after seeing her power. It was irrational, she knew that. Of all people the ones here would be the least likely to judge, and some of the bestial metahumans had it far worse than herself. Still, snakes tended to have a rather bad reputation.

Rosie was a tad uneasy about using her powers now, and hadn't really used her earth abilities since they had taken her. It might be irrational, but she was terrified what they might do to her now if she used them, and so she didn't reply for a few moments, trying to get a hold of herself, and not doing too good a job of it.

She bit her lip, Chloe seemed a little nervous, and so Rosie knew she wouldn't let the other girl go off alone tithe power area. She nodded and said "sure. Could be interesting, and certainly would be good" she managed to keep her voice steady, despite the underlying fear.

Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad. She missed the connection with the earth, that peaceful feeling she would get, and just the raw incredible power and beauty of the earth itself.

The plate was quickly cleared away by a humming Chloe, seemingly much more self assured now the other girl had agreed to accompany her. Chloe knew that her time at the camp would be much more bearable if she could make some good friends, which was much more likely now she was away from all those metahuman hating racists. The shapeshifter glanced back at Rosie as she waved her hand extravagantly towards the door. From what she had gleaned from the girl, it seemed that perhaps Chloe wasnt the only one who would benifit from making friends here.

---

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"So, I heard you took quite the fall yesterday."

Dressed for the morning, Penelope slipped one leg at a time into the purple skirt as Gwendolyn, her camp counselor and temporary aid, stretched the elastic band wide enough to be stepped in. Staying silent and avoiding the gaze of the older woman as the skirt was pulled up and adjusted along her hips, Penelope dropped her wings limply from her chest stretching her arms and letting her feathers splay out along the floor. "How'd you find out?" She finally responded, eyes still staring hard at her roommates bed. As much as she didn't want to talk about it, Penelope knew the topic was going to come up sooner or later. During a Power Training lesson yesterday, Penelope had taken a hard fall on the obstacle course. Stuck on a tree branch after slowly making her way up the tree, she had attempted to fly instead of glide down from her perch but all she ended up doing was falling hard on the ground. Taken to the nurse and earning some laughs and worried looks from the other campers, this hadn't been the first time Penelope had failed to fly.

Kneeling on the ground, Gwendolyn brushed a stray lock of blonde hair out of her face as she fixed the white poncho over Penelope's shoulders and chest, "Well, Ms. West told me what happened, and I thought you might wanna talk about it." Catching Penelope's gaze before she turned away, Gwendolyn continued softly, "Were you hurt?"

Stretching out her feathered appendage to show it was in good condition, Penelope gave a light shrug as her counselor stood from ground and sat on her bed, "I'm okay." Opening up about the embarrassment she had felt wasn't really on her to do list, but her bottled up frustration towards herself was beginning to reach its peak and Gwendolyn's next set of words didn't help settle Penelope's worries. "That's good. No need to push yourself either, you've got the whole summer ahead of you to get the hang of it."

"But I should be pushing myself! It's been three weeks already, and I still can't fly." Penelope's sharp response came as a surprise to the both of them, but instead of shutting down like she usually would Penelope kept on and allowed her anxiety to pour out, "Everyone here can do all these amazing things already, and I can't even stay off the ground for more than a few seconds! I mean," Swallowing hard and bringing her wings back up to her chest, Penelope stared hard at the ground as she forced herself to spill the beans, "What if I can't fly?"

Penelope's troubles brought a concerned look over the older woman. Raising her hand and intending to place it on the younger girls shoulder, Gwendolyn hesitated and dropped her hand to her side. Leaning her head to the side to be at eye level with Penelope, Gwendolyn gave the other girl a soft smile, "Penny, everyone who comes to this place starts off somewhere and for you that's flying. I know some of the other campers may seem more experienced, but they're all still learning about their powers too. And the summer's just started, kid. You've got time to figure all this out, so no need to be so hard on yourself." Despite her counselors words and some stress lifted from her shoulders, Penelope was still stuck overthinking her situation, but as the older woman continued to smile at her Penny couldn't help but feel almost forced to reply, "Okay, thank you Gwen. I think I'm going to go ahead and get breakfast now."

"Need me to come?"

Shaking her head, Penny shifted uncomfortably in her spot as she responded, "Ah, no. I think I'm just going to ask for a smoothie today." After her sudden outburst, Penelope had quickly closed her self off to her counselor and began to yearn for some space, wanting desperately to avoid opening up any further.

Gwendolyn's smile had slightly fallen upon the other girls response however, now fearing that she had only brought the younger girls self-esteem down even further with her words. "Oh, okay. I'll head back to the office then, come on by if you need me for anything."

With a quick nod, Penelope left the room before her counselor and slipped down the hall of her dorm building. Since it was a quarter to noon a lot of her fellow campers were more than awake, and it made moving through the short hallways of the dorms bearable for the more than socially awkward bird girl. There were two specific campers she wanted to avoid, the two girls that had laughed at her when she had fallen. They had poked fun at her after coming out of the nurses office, and Penelope was sure they were going to do the same thing at todays power training lesson. Hurrying outside and entering the small quad before the dorms, Penelope made her way towards the mess hall for breakfast in hopes that maybe Wendy, Chloe, or Fiona were eating breakfast as well.