Rita Rexen:

When Todd commanded her to put Kyle down, Rita scoffed and cursed under her breath. She hated the former Robin so much. He was such a absolute dick about everything, acting like he was better than everyone else, like he knew better. And the fact that he humilated her in martial arts training at the start of the year hadn't helped, either. People laughed at her when she got her butt kicked by a man who's head should could squeeze between two fingers. All that hate she felt for Jason was condensed into one glare that she sent at the kid she was currently manhandling. Her blue eyes could hit just as hard as her fists.

Staring at him, she put him down on the ground in one instant, making the boy fall about a foot into the grass below. “You owe me an explanation after class.” Her words rang, her words made it a statement, but her tone made it a threat, she would instead head off into Class, preparing for the ARC session later that day. Here's hoping I get to punch someone. she thought, lighting a cigarette on her way to class.

As the group began reading through their copies of Star Wars, Casey had to hold back his amazement as no other than Richard came to sit down among them. Surely this wasn’t actually happening? Hadn’t Casey just rudely instructed someone who was beating the kid up to break his stupid wand? It would assume Gandalf here hadn’t heard. Either that or the kid was just extremely desperate to make friends, no matter what they had done to him in the past. Whatever the reason was, Casey didn’t care. He neglected to say anything to the kid however as the lesson progressed, although the fairy made sure to appear bored or irritated every time the guy read a line.

Other than the inclusion of Richard, Casey enjoyed the lesson, with the sound of the bell briefly filling him with a small amount of disappointment. Realizing that his next lesson was the A.R.C., the fey slowed his actions, planning on delaying his journey to the simulation session in some sort of half-assed protest. He filled his messenger bag with his new book, saying a short, silent goodbye to his future role on the cover, Darth Vader, as he did so. Bidding goodbye to both Tanya and Mari, he made his way out of the room and down the corridor behind the rest of the student horde heading towards the A.R.C.

Luckily the rain had now stopped, despite how emotional Freddie was probably feeling at this point. Casey made his way swiftly through the school despite this though, just in case another downpour started. Striding into the A.R.C.’s foyer, the green haired teen began to dart his eyes around the room, attempting to hone in on a familiar face. Catching site of that all so familiar yellow umbrella, Casey’s heart skipped a beat. Smiling, he crept forward, his bare feet masking his approach with silence. As he approached, Casey listened in as she spoke, recognising the Galiac language instantly.

“Well that pretty much excludes everyone from this dump.” Casey interrupted, moving around Mailsi’s left side and flashing her a smile once they were face to face.

Glancing around the room at all the fellow students, Casey too began to internally wish the same thing his friend had. He hated the majority of these sessions as it was. He wouldn’t be able to take getting placed on a team with one of Corrigan’s less gifted students as even if the games were trash, it was always nice winning. Hopefully he’d be placed with people he actually liked. Like Mailsi.

“How was…um…whatever you just had?” Casey asked awkwardly, attempting to both keep up a decent conversation, as well as remember his friend’s time table. “Theatre was a bore.” Lie. “Had Richard come and join us. Urgh.”

After some intense training with his bud Jake, they now had to go to math class and two of them groaned at the thought of doing such wimpy and nerdy bullshit.

"Damn I hate doing pussy crap like math. Are we men or nerds?" Jake asked out loud. Mars nodded and got what his buddy was getting at, he too hated math.

"Apperently math is just as much of a necessity as actually learning how to fight and control our powers when it comes to hero work, sounds like bullshit to me as well" Mars said with sigh as they walked through the grounds. He noticed the altercation between Rita and Jason Todd. When he saw her drop him Mars was sure that she probably get detention or some punishment, attacking a teacher seemed pretty illegal in this school.

"Man that bitch is crazy" Jake said shaking his head.

"Yeah I like Todd, he's a great sparring partner" Mars commented.

"What and I'm not, you asshole?" Jake replied with a fake look of anger.

"Nah, you're a good warm up when you're not being an arrogant ass and get your but kicked" he said with a smirk.

"Oh you better watch yourself in the ring next time because I'll drop your ass so bad you won't be able to get a girl ever again" Jake growled. They weren't being serious and just considered it playing around. Either way they still had to deal with the fucking annoyance of doing math and they just wanted it over as soon as possible.

"Try not to fall asleep this time Alpha" Jake said with a grin referring to Mars by his alias.

"Speak for yourself" Mars replied a chuckle and they soon came to their math class and now the horrible boredom would commence.

"You know what? Fuck the idiot whoever came up math" Jake growled as they took their seats.

Julian had finished up the board meeting at Lexcorp, making his way back to Star City from Metropolis. Using the teleportation technology the League had created, the Zeta-Tubes, Julian made his way to Star City within moments. His driver, Caleb greeted him at the airport in the black sedan, as the two drove to Corrigan for Julian to attend his lectures that he could still make it to. Responding to the text he had gotten earlier from Kieran. He wasn't in a talkative mood, still. The board members had exhausted him, and the young billionaire was surprised to find that he was actually mourning his 'father'.

After a 20 minute drive, a drive Julian had changed from his 3-piece suit into chinos, a muscle shirt and leather loafers. the pulled up on the school grounds, Julian told Caleb to drive home, Julian would give him a call when he needed a ride next. Truth was that the Luthor just wanted to be alone. He needed to clear his head. Slinging his backpack over his shoulder. Heading into the school grounds, A.R.C Session would start soon, so he was looking forward to that. He had a backpack of new gadgets he had picked up, and made while at Lexcorp, that he looked forward to trying out.

Kyle didn't think the situation could get much worse. Hanging limply in Blondie's grip, he focused on not touching her again. Of course then she turned her gaze from Professor Todd to him. Kyle couldn't help the small shiver that ran through him. They locked gazes for what felt like an eternity. Was she going to harm him? Kyle wouldn't stop her, but it didn't mean the prospect appealed to him.

Then she dropped him forcefully onto the soft grass. Thankfully soft grass for by the time he stopped moving he was nearly up to his knees in it. He was still staring at this trapped legs when she spoke.

Kyle's head snapped back up and he gaped at her. She was going to hunt him down? After class? Well, he did owe her an explanation. He could have killed her. But he didn't want to see her again. She was up there with S'tann: scary.

As Kyle gaped, Blondie walked off. By the time he had collected his thoughts she was gone. Kyle blinked and looked around to see if the Professors were still around. Part of him wanted them gone, a large part, but Todd was still there. Professor J'onzz had gone when Kyle wasn't looking.

Professor Todd looked extremely disapproving. As if it was Kyle's fault he was out here and ruining his day. Which wasn't a new look for the professor. Just a less likable one when he was ankle deep in mud and grass and more than a little stuck.

Kyle wiggled one foot then the other. Both were stuck fast. If he pulled out his feet he was going to loose his shoes. Kyle covertly looked back at the Professor who was looking more and more unhappy. Right. Kyle told himself. No time for waffling. Kyle yanked out his feet from their trap as fast as he could. He barely winced as the soil tore at his soft skin. At least his socks protected most of his feet.

Now free, Kyle stuffed his hands down the holes he had made and pulled his shoes as hard as he could. Nothing. Kyle readjusted his grip and tried again. Still nothing. Kyle worried his lower lip as the Professor began to grumble. Kyle gave one last almighty heave and one shoe popped free of the mud.

Kyle surprised at the sudden lack of resistance ended up falling backwards onto his butt. He could feel the cold and wet soak in to just highlight the day. Getting covered from head to toe in mud was not on his to-do list.

Still there was still one shoe. With another glance at Professor Todd, who was now glaring at him, he struggled to get his other shoe out of the ground.

Julian made his way onto the grounds, heading for the mess hall, but on his way there, he saw quite the sight. The esteemed physical education teacher, former Superhero, ex-convict, and previous Robin, Jason Todd, a.k.a 'that guy with a really long résumé' towering over a fairly small - more so emotionally than physically - person. Who else but Kyle Julian thought to himself, casually walking towards the two. His suspicion had been correct when he saw his friend crawling in the mud, the Physical education teacher glaring at the poor kid. Julian tapped Todd on the shoulder with his robotic limb, Jason smirking. "Reminds me of Arsenal." he mentioned - a comparison Julian had grown used to hearing from Todd.

"Care to not gloat at the poor guy?" Julian asked politely, Jason smirked and headed off to whatever it was that guy did. Hunching down next to Kyle, Julian looked at him. "Hi there pal. Pardon my pun, but.. Need a hand?" gesturing with his prosthetic.

Kyle, so intent on his task hadn't seen the new comer. Not until after he had been spoken to. Though it took a few seconds for the fact to sink in. Kyle stopped struggling with the shoe and looked up at the extended hand and blinked.

"Julian? When did you get back?" The incongruous appearance of his friend threw him. And made him realize just how ridiculous he must look, kneeling on the grass, reaching into a hole and plastered in mud.

A warm smile on his face, the ginger chuckled. "Just now, pal. What did you even do to get yourself into this mess?" seeing his friend reaching into the ground, and his sock-clad feet, Julian quickly pieced together what was going on - well, almost. "S'Tan put you through the ground? You do know I have a flamethrower, right?" Julian said, half-joking, folding his long sleeved shirt up on his prosthetic arm, before jamming it into the ground, pulling Kyle's shoe out with ease thanks to the mechanical strength. Handing the shoe to Kyle, Julian smirked.

"Class starts in a bit, but you should get cleaned up. Besides, I have a surprise for you, I brought something pretty kickass with me from Metropolis." Luthor said, chuckling slightly.

"Thanks." Kyle mumbled as he accepted the newly liberated shoe.

"First period's over." Kyle pointed out. Grasping at the normal part of the conversation. Something he desperately needed. For if he stopped to think about what had happened this morning, he just might lose it and do something embarrassing; like cry. And wouldn't that be the cherry on top of everything?

"A surprise?" A glimmer of life returned to Kyle's eyes as slowly stood from his muddy wallow. "What is it?" Kyle completely ignored the fact that Julian tried to mother hen him into decency, more interested in a potential goodie. A fact made even sweeter because it was for him.

"Seriously, though, pal. You need to shower and a change of clothes. ARC session shouldn't start for another 20 minutes, should be enough time for you to not look like Oliver Twist." Julian noted, pointed for Kyle to head to the dormitory. "Besides, my gift is a bit complicated to explain." Julian promised Kyle, as he headed towards the dorms.

Kyle frowned at Julian as they walk and sighed. "Yeah. I know." At least Julian wasn't going to dangle a surprise and never tell him. He had known the guy long enough he should stop expecting the worst, but habits were hard to change.

"So if I shower, you'll show it to me? I'm sure I can keep up." Kyle nearly pleaded, trying to sound like he didn't care, but failing. He also was forgetting he sucked at technology and technological terms and he probably couldn't keep up. Unless it was very, very simple.

Julian nodded, headed off into the dorms, it was just a couple minutes of walking, as they arrived in Kyle's dorm. Julian opened up his bag, getting out several gadgets, four different types of grenades, for instance. He smirked at Kyle, nodding for him to head into the shower. Julian was talking through the door as he heard the water running inside. "So, you know how I said that I'd help you out, first day of the semester when we were partnered up for orientation, right? I accidentally touched your skin and it fried my hand. Good times." Julian began. "Well, when I was over in Metropolis, I had a few days to go through my.. Uh, Dad's stuff. And he had a design that set my mind in motion." sounds could be heard of him digging through his backpack.

"I made something for you in the Lexcorp lab. I think you'll like it, pal." Julian explained, waiting for Kyle to get done so he could reveal his surprise.

Kyle tugged on a new set of clothes and emerged still towel drying his hair. "Do you always have to bring up the hand?" He groused, not all that upset about it anymore, but still going through the old routine.

However he quickly changed the topic when he spotted the items now lying on his bed. His black eyes widened.

"What are those?" He asked inching closer, but not daring to touch.

Julian smiled. "I believe that was a vine-trend quite some time ago." he remarked, before turning his attention back at Kyle's question. "These? These are new gadgets I made, or modified from my father's old arsenal. I also found a whole power-armor, it was pretty cool, but I couldn't really fit that in my backpack." Julian began. digging into his backpack. "I unpacked to show off, but also to get to your gift." Julian said, pulling out a plastic bag, like the kind you'd get from clothes stores, and handed it to Kyle. "Put it on." Julian said, nodding at the shirt Kyle held in his hand now.

Kyle stared at the shirt in his hands. Then back up at Julian. Then back down to the shirt. The finally back up to Julian.

"Um, what is it?" Kyle hesitated to touch it outside of it's safe wrapping. Was there something in it he could ruin? Knowing Julian there was bound to be come electrical component in it somewhere. "And are you sure it's okay? Because I'm not."

"I'm sure. It's got no technology in it. It's all non-electric. Your powers won't interfere - quite the opposite, in fact. Put it on and you'll understand." Julian promised with a smile, his confidence near overwhelming.

With a skeptic look at Julian, Kyle tore open the plastic and carefully extracted the shirt. When nothing terrible happened the teen grew a little more confident, stripped off his old shirt and replaced it with the new one. It was a snug fit but not tight. Kyle wasn't quite sure about it, but it was a nice look and had the long sleeves that were an absolute must.

There was no understanding on Kyle's part. But admitting that to Julian wasn't something he wanted to do. The genius the older teen exhibited always daunted Kyle. And Julian wasn't someone he wanted to let down. He let himself run a hand over it, feeling the texture, but still not getting it.

"It's," Kyle hesitated. "Nice?" He wasn't sure quite what to say. Julian grinned, seeing the look of hesitation, then confusion on Kyle's face, but the younger teen quickly changed his facial expression, probably didn't want to let Julian know he was confused. Luthor understood the sense of pride Kyle had, and didn't call him on it.

Julian smirked. " You don't feel different, huh?" Julian asked, taking a step forward towards Kyle. Making sure that Kyle didn't have time to react, Julian threw his left hand - one still made out of flesh, into Kyle's right arm, to shake his hand. Much to his delight, Julian did not end on the floor in a seizure. Their skin touching only for a second, before Julian pulled away. "Holy crap it worked!" Julian said, putting his head down to take a relieved sigh. "I'm sure you're confused - but the shirt absorbs the bio-electricity your body generates - well, most of it, at leas -" Getting stopped by Kyle.

"It worked?!" Kyle nearly screeched, his brain processing the fact that for the second time this day he had full on skin contact with someone. Made worse by the fact the first one ended up having a freaking seizure!

"What do you mean it worked?!" Kyle continued. "What the hell were you thinking? I could have seriously hurt you and you didn't know if it WORKED?!" He emphasized the last word by nearly yelling it.

Kyle couldn't take much more of this. The teen sat down on the ground hard and focused on breathing. Breathing was good. And simple and he didn't have to think about the fact his only friend in the entire world was trying to get himself killed. Suicide by Kyle.

A muffled hysterical laugh/sob escaped Kyle before he could stop it.

Julian began chuckling when Kyle started questioning what he meant. Julian sat down on the other end of the bed to Kyle, smirking. "Well, first off, am I a genius, or what?" He asked, with a brief laugh. "Secondly, like I said, it absorbs the bio-electricity you generate. The shirt hinders your skin from sending out the electrical impulses that well - messes up just about everything - people included. " Julian began "But, I haven't tested it enough, couldn't do that at Lexcorp, so I wouldn't suggest you start hugging people just yet. But the shirt should prevent you from zapping someone if they graze you. Extended exposure to you might still hurt someone." Julian said, a grin on his face, when he saw Kyle start to laugh, and sob at the same time. "But dude. I now know that my idea works. I'll make it better as soon as I can. Consider this training wheels, and I'll make better ones for you till you can control it on your own." Julian promised Kyle, smiling as he did.

Having Julian laugh off Kyle's fears, didn't quite make the teen feel better. However the reasoning behind it was a slight balm. And since he was focused on breathing, he couldn't interrupt and listened to the entire spiel.

When Julian was finished Kyle gave him a reproachful look. Where were you earlier? He couldn't help but ask mulishly, if only in his head, his mind replaying Blondie twitching on the ground. But it wasn't fair so he didn't say it.

Then Kyle sighed and sagged into himself, trying to let the anger go and focus on what Julian had done for him.

"How long's extended?" Kyle was trying to be happy, he was. He just couldn't wrap his brain around the fact that he could touch someone without harming them. It was too foreign a concept.

Julian smirked, but his smirk was washed off when Kyle asked his question. "Well, I can't know for certain. But after school, we could head into the tech wing, I'll borrow Carter's lab, and we should be able to run a few tests. I sadly don't think you can have contact for more than a few seconds. But, like I said. I'll build something better, now that I know this works." His tone was cheerful, almost happy. He was happy for helping Kyle, but Julian's mood was still not the best.

Anyway. "Wanna head to A.R.C? I heard Stewart's in charge today. Don't want him to send us to Green Lantern Boot Camp."

Nuclear Physics was boring; like usual. It wasn't really the professor's fault. Martin Stein was always an animated teacher. He spoke with his hands, taught loudly when he became excited and knew the material backwards and forwards. He was the mind behind the firestorm matrix, after all. Sadly, no amount of excitement on the doctor's part made learning Nuclear Physics anymore bearable. But S'tann had to stomach the class if he wished to improve his chances of joining the Teen Titans. Legacy had never told anyone before, but his ultimate goal at Corrigan was to get recruited into one of the various Titan teams located across the states. The Teen Titans was just a stepping stone to the Justice League; without time on one of the junior teams, his chances of passing the Justice League's rigorous and relentless recruitment process dropped dramatically. While it was possible to make it onto one of the offshoot branches without prior experience, the main team (who's roster only changed when one of the big names died or retired) wanted only the best. Then S'tann would be one step closer to becoming a full-blown Manhunter.

The mere thought was enough to make the Martian momentarily stop hating Nuclear Physics. A Manhunter! Every Martian child dreamed of joining the Corps that so vigilantly protected Mars from invasion. It was not only a badge of honor but an exciting position that promised perilous adventure after perilous adventure to any who worked hard enough to achieve the esteemed rank. Except..there was no Mars. Well, there was; technically. But the population of the Red Planet had been all but wiped off the map. S'tann and M'gann were suspected to be the last White Martians that hadn't gone absolutely insane; the rest of them were imprisoned in the Phantom Zone. J'onn was the only Green left. He killed the last of his kind, a woman named D'kay, for attacking his adopted niece.

They were the last of the Martians.

That's why S'tann would rebuild Mars. With his own two hands, he would find a why to repopulate his homeworld before his uncle passed. J'onn had fought so diligently to save his fellow Martians. Yet, the one day he was not in the Sol System, he showed up. The one who shall not be named. The Dark Lord. The Master of Darkness. That Dark God who's armies of demons poured forth from their boom tubes and burned Mars to the ground. The Manhunters attempted to fight back. But there was no stopping him; nothing that could slow him down. Everyone perished, in time. If J'onn had been there he likely would have fallen as well. S'tann could still remember the fire...That unnatural, dark flame consuming his lush planet. Mars was so fertile. But all that life served only to fuel the inferno. Mars, once green with life, was stained red with the blood of billions.

Mars...

The bell rang and S'tann was jolted from his thoughts. Doctor Stein gave the students their assignments and the horde of half-awake zombies shuffled out into the hall. S'tann density-shifted his way through the wall and joined those lifeless corpses in their walk to the next meaningless class. Speaking of class...He wondered to himself, retrieving a schedule from the backpack of a student in front of him. Ah, yes! A.R.C is this hour! A.R.C was easily Legacy's most interesting class. He got to learn while also reveling in his favorite activity: kicking the shit out of other supers. John Stewart was the instructor today, if S'tann remembered correctly. Green Lanterns fascinated him. Their rings were so powerful and guided by an energy source modern science couldn't explain. I wonder what a Martian with a power ring would look like.. Probably terrifying.

Once he was out of the Quadrangle, Legacy took to the sky. He soured over the heads of the other students, heading towards the circular dome that housed the Augmented Reality Center. He moved as quickly as his telekinetic-based flight would allow; he didn't want to be late to the session. Okay, so there were two classes S'tann didn't hate. (He changes his mind often. Want to fight him about it? No? I didn't think so.) Anyway; the Martian reached the dome after a little less than a minute, landing outside the building. He phased his way through the other students, pushing through the door into the building's foyer. The Martian floated a few inches above the ground, maintaining his original form as he scanned the room for threats. He noticed Mailsi, the Silver Banshee, talking to that fairy king. She'd be trouble; her wail could put down any of the heavy hitters. Casey wouldn't be a problem for S'tann. He didn't know the guy well, but from he'd heard all he knew were a few parlor tricks. Mari was supposed to be around here somewhere. Julian, too. There were a number of students Legacy didn't recognize.

Hopefully Kieran was signed up for today. He'd make this really interesting. What with their altercation earlier, and their relatively close power levels. There was only one student the Martian secretly hoped hadn't showed up today. She might be out sick. Or in a coma from a car accident. Maybe she upped and left the school for good; that'd be the best news S'tann had heard all year.

Then she walked through the doors to the A.R Center.

Nora Norwich.

Oh god in heaven. S'tann floated away from the front of the center, nuzzling himself into a corner behind a group of conversing students. He tried to play it off as cool; like he didn't really care what was going on. He crossed his arms, shape shifting into his human form to make himself appear smaller. S'tann thought of himself as pretty brave. He'd throw down with Sinestro any day of the week. He'd face Black Adam head on. Hell, Legacy wouldn't flinch if someone told him he'd be fighting Professor Zoom. He could handle them. But what he couldn't handle was fire; especially black fire. He'd rather take on Superman than that girl.

Maybe she'd trip and kill herself.

Yeah, let's hope for that.

Kieran was pretty distracted in today's Calculus class. He was sparsely paying attention to what was going on around him. He was more focused on what he had next. He had an A.R.C. Session next and he couldn't wait. Normally he wouldn't be this excited for one, but the situation earlier with S'tann got him "pumped". He was hoping the Martian would be in today's lesson. He knew without a doubt that it would be an interesting session. They had the Green Lantern John Stewart running the lesson this time. The guy's imagination was something noteworthy. He thought everything through along with it. He came up with some of the best sessions. He hoped he'd make the perfect one today. One that would really put Kieran against S'tann.

Kieran knew the point of the A.R.C. Sessions was to put the students in scenarios that they'd go through as heroes so that they would be more prepared when it came to being actual heroes as members of the Teen Titans or just freelancers until the League thought they were ready. Normally he would care about all of that, but right now his mind was focused on knocking S'tann down to size. It was about time that he stopped thinking of himself as superior to everyone. With that mindsight there was no way he'd end up being ready for the life as a hero. Kieran, in a way was helping him out. That's what he told himself anyway.

He didn't even notice when the bell rang to dismiss class. It took Kara to get his attention. "Late to class and not paying attention? Kor, you have to do better than this. I'll excuse it this time because it was your first. You're usually a better student than this. Is it because of what happened with S'tann and Kyle?"

He knew she was disappointed in him when she used his Kryptonian name instead of his Earth-given one. He didn't even bother asking her how she knew about that. Gossip around here spread like wildfire. The spreading of normal High School gossip was nothing compared to Corrigan. "I can't hide anything from you. You're right. It's about that. This A.R.C. Session gives me the chance to settle things."

"Settle things?" She asked with a very intense stare.

Kieran felt like she was trying to stare into his soul which caused him to be a little more than just uncomfortable. He stirred a bit in his seat and stood up. "Don't worry. I'm not using this as an opportunity to pick a fight. It's not what a Super would do. It's not what a hero would do." He gave her a reassuring smile before leaving the classroom. He still wasn't sure he wanted to be a Super, but he didn't want to let them down either. This was kind of complicated. When he got out of the room he noticed that Mailsi didn't wait for him. She was probably already there. He checked his phone for the time and just noticed that Julian had responded to his text. He wondered if he was already back here. He'd find out soon enough.

He walked to the center and noticed students were already heading inside. He followed suit and looked around once he got there. The group was already starting to look interesting. He just needed to find Mailsi. It wasn't hard. There weren't many students with hair like hers. He found her with Casey. He made his way over and said, "You forgot something in Calculus, Mailsi. Me."

---

You would not believe what happened this morning.

S’tann was being a dick (well, that’s a given. Anyone would believe that.) – and I didn’t say or do anything to piss him off even more! (There it is.)

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “But Andy, pissing him off is like the coffee to your hangover!” And while you might not be wrong, I am going to say that, in my defence, I had a weird morning. So, here’s the deets: I got out of bed, right? And I wanted breakfast, so I went to get breakfast. And then… I didn’t go over to Mari and Freddie to initiate our regular conversation.

“So…”

“The fuck up, Andy.”

And I didn’t go over to Amethyst to try and talk to her (which turned out to be a good move), and Julian was away, so I couldn’t hang with him, because he’s a dick like that. But here’s the real weird part: When I have no one to talk to, I normally find some random to mess around with. It’s a good strategy that works nine/ten times, because I find that people at Corrigan are nice, with the exception of my friends. My friends are arseholes. (See above conversation for evidence.) But I didn’t do that. No, I just got my breakfast, sat alone at a table, and ate it. Yeah. And then S’tann was a dick and stuff and it would’ve been a perfect opportunity to get him started up, but I didn’t.

It was strangely mature of me.

Drama went about as expected. Ms. Brown announced this year’s production, Freddie got mad, and I fist bumped the guy sitting next to me, because Star Wars. Freddie stormed out of the room (Ha. Get it?), and I felt obliged to do everyone else a favour and ask him a question.

“Hey, Fred, mate, my British coz, since you’re leaving, could you maybe make the rain go away? It’s kind of a bummer.”

Turns out it was a stupid question, because he ignored me.

The bell went, and, excitably, because I was excited, I jumped out of my chair to race for the door, because I knew what was up next – an A.R.C. Session. With John freaking Stewart. The only thing that stopped me was someone’s groan, a sound which could only have belonged to either a dying whale, or someone going through a really tough time.

Oh yeah, and Mari.

In an attempt to break out of the weirdness that was earlier that morning, I decided to approach her, cautiously, because one wrong move and she could tear me apart with words. Some would say she even rivals me in her sassmastery.

And so, strolling up to her, I asked, “Rough morning?”

Because I’m a good person, and I care about my friends.

Mailsi smiled back as Casey as the smaller kid entered her line of view. She couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her lips, even if she had wanted to, as she watched his face. When he turned back though he tactfully changed the conversation. He was a better person than she was. Granted, a lot of people were better than her, not that she really cared. As long as she didn't go full on Super Villain she counted herself as a win.

"Calculus." Mailsi made a face, making sure to respond in English, not her native language. Because that would be rude. "It was fine. Though I don't think I'll ever get over Aunt Kara teaching it. It's weird."

Mailsi shifted on her feet and laughed at Casey's next remark about theater. She didn't call him out on it, but still. "Richard... Richard..." Mailsi mused, trying to put a face to the name. Before she was able to exert too much mental effort her thoughts were interrupted.

"You forgot something in Calculus, Mailsi. Me."

Anyone who knew Mailsi would recognize the faint blush and the slight tilt of her shoulders as shame and embarrassment. But it was gone in less than a second and her cocky bluster was back.

"Relax Kent. I didn't forget you, I abandoned you to the wolves." She smiled broadly and reached out to ruffled the Krytonian' hair.

"But seriously," Mailsi continued. "With the glare Aunt Kara sent my way, there was no way I was gonna stick around." She made a face to emphasis the unspoken fact that she stood no chance against her Aunt, super powers are not. Aunt Kara had just but ask and Mailsi would do anything for her, even take over the world. Not that it would ever come to that.

"Did she yell loudly?" Mailsi was dying to know why Kieran had to have a heart to heart with Kara. "Are you in trouble?" The last was actually tinged with concern. They weren't best buds by any means. But he was still almost family, and Mailsi had precious few people that counted. While she might come across like a witch, but with a B, she still cared. She just didn't show it often. Or at all sometimes.

The bell rang signalling the end of Mars' torture of having to sit through this awful math class and he gave Jake a high five when that loud and sweet bell's rang entered his ears. Mars' gathered up his things and moved quickly to get out the terrible class. Jake followed quickly behind him and caught up with him the hall as they joined the mass of students leaving class.

"Damn that was painful, I can't believe we have some stupid shit test next week, God that will be total torture" Jake groaned while Mars checked his scedule for what was next on his class list. He then smiled when he saw that training at the A.R.C. with John Stewart was their next class and felt some excitement go through him.

"No need to worry about that, we have training in the A.R.C. as our next course and that will be fun. We'll get to kick some major ass and take some names" Mars said to his bro and Jake gave a grin at the thought.

"Oh yeah! I'm ready to bust open a face!" he said excited to get in some physical training. The two of them headed for The Augmented Reality Center, for once hoping that they weren't late for the party and ready to get on with hitting stuff. The large building was easy to find even without a map since it was so big and soon they entered inside to find that several of the other students were there already. Mars and Jake then noticed that S'tann and Kieran were also present.

"Hay Mars look whose here! Blue Boy and Green Dick! You now have a chance to kick both of their asses!" Jake said grinning in triumph.

"Well I guess today is a lucky day" Mars said smiling. Jake then pointed at Kieran and opened his mouth to speak.

"Hay why does Supes wear a cape? Capes are for pussies!" he said with a laugh and Mars doubled over in hysteria.

"Good one bro!" he managed to say while still laughing his ass off.

"You know it!" Jake replied giving his buddy a fist bump. They were eagerly excited to start this session and wondered when their teacher was going arrive and get this thing going. Time to punch up or shut up.

---

---

Calculus

Aiden sat in the middle of the classroom, a smile plastered on his face as he avidly scribbled down the various notes and examples Miss Kent had put on the white board at the front of the classroom. Despite feeling like a stereotyping misogynist, Aiden couldn’t help but hold on to some disbelief that the woman who used to fly around in a belly shirt and skirt was now teaching geometric vectors to the young minds that would one day fulfill the future ranks of the Justice League.

Rolling his eyes when a pair of muscle bound gorillas walked into the class, Aiden turned his attention back to the lesson at hand. While many would likely frown on Aiden as being something of a nerd or a teacher’s pet, math was important to the efficient use of his powers. Calculating angle and force allowed Aiden to optimize the use of his optic beams in combat and other practical situations. Some of the other meta-humans on campus had snickered at Aiden’s eagerness to learn, a younger student especially at lashed out at Aiden calling him too soft to strike fear into criminals and uphold the law. Based on the younger boy’s appearance and Aiden’s cultural studies he had to assume he was a Green Martian. That said, neither the Martian Manhunter nor Miss Martian had ever displayed such an irritating personality according to his teachers.

As the class began to empty out, Aiden gathered up his books as he placed them in his messenger bag and swung it across his chest. Making his way towards the large dome shaped building, Aiden eyed the Augmented Reality Center with a heavy sigh. Compared to some of the other students, Aiden was seen as weak. His powers didn’t make him invulnerable, they didn’t allow him to fly and he wasn’t an alien. Aiden had the ability to fire ‘lasers out of his eyes’ as most of his classmates would say so delicately. Of course it was more complicated than that, Aiden’s body was capable of creating thermal energy which was then converted and focused through his optical lenses. But it seemed that there was few aside from him who truly cared about the science of their abilities.

Entering into the A.R.C., Aiden moved into the lockers. Hanging his bag inside, Aiden pulled out a training suit and quickly changed into it before entering into the waiting lobby. The sounds of simulated gunfire and explosions echoed from within the dome as Aiden moved to a viewing window. His eyes widened as he saw a team of senior students under siege from enemy tanks. It was pretty impressive to note that this could very well be the next team of Teen Titans. Aiden couldn’t help but feel pride swell within his chest knowing that despite his abilities he had been sponsored to attend Corrigan. As a tank was hurled across the simulation, the room began to dematerialize as an alarm went off signalling the end of the period. Moving back to the lobby, Aiden decided it was best to join the rest of his classmates as they waited for further instructions from John Stewart. He almost let out an audible groan as the muscle bound gorillas joined the group and immediately began insulting the local aliens.

“Geez, wish those two would just get a room.” Aiden muttered to no in particular.

---

---

“Rough morning?”

Mari turned at the familiar sound of her favourite accent. Freddie might be all prim and proper but Andy had that roguish charm with his sound from down under.

“Rough fuckin’ night carried into a very fuckin’ rough morning.” She answered with a forced smirk. “The idea of flying around dodging fireballs and bullets isn’t overly fuckin’ appealing.”

Looking around for Freddie, Mari didn’t see any sign of her friend. Not that she was actually expecting him to show up since his display in theatre studies. Shooting him a quick text, Mari decided it might be best to remind Freddie that he needs to actually attend the A.R.C. session. Sometimes Freddie got a little caught up in his own world.

“So, fuckin’ Star Wars eh?” Mari said turning back to Andy. “Any idea who you’re going to try out for?”

---

“Rough fuckin’ night carried into a very fuckin’ rough morning.” She answered with a forced smirk. “The idea of flying around dodging fireballs and bullets isn’t overly fuckin’ appealing.”

“Yeesh. Well, such’s the life of an aspiring superhero,” I replied, unable to help the smirk that found its way onto my face. If there’s one thing that girl’s got, it’s a colourful vocabulary.

“So, fuckin’ Star Wars eh?” Mari said turning back to Andy. “Any idea who you’re going to try out for?”

“I’ve always fancied myself as a Han type of guy. I’ve already got the roguish charm and the dashing good looks, so why not?”

We walked into the A.R.C., joining the moderately-sized gathering of students. S’tann was, of course, already there, as was Kieran, the last of which I waved to. Good guy, Kieran is. He’s everything a successor to the big ‘S’ should be. He’s one of the top contenders for the next wave of Teen Titans, for sure.

And then there’s these arseholes: Mars and Jake. Two meatheads with no apparent brains, I swear to god, if they wanted to fight, I’d be first in line. Damnit, some of the things they say just make me want to bash my head against the wall until my brains leak out.

“Hey why does Supes wear a cape? Capes are for pussies!”

Like this.

God. Damnit.

Trying hard (and failing) to ignore them, I turned back to Mari, pinching my forehead between my forefinger and thumb. I let out a sigh, then asked, “How about you? Got any idea for a role?”

Well, people were clearing the classroom mighty quickly. Starting with Mari, Tanya watched as everyone left the classroom. A quick glance at her phone made Tanya roll her eyes.

Today was A.R.C training.

She totally glanced over that. The girl needed time to mentally prepare herself for the superpower circle-jerk that was A.R.C training. It went without saying that Tanya didn't exactly like training. Given that she was a peaceful soul, going straight into what had to be a warzone was hard... Though, she had to accept that fact if she was going to be a superhero. Though, honestly, she doubt if she could make the cut for the Teen Titans (If the Birds of Prey are looking for another member, then she's down!). She let out a sigh.

Tanya figured that she'd head there fast as possible. Figuring that she'll put on a good show... Maybe she'll punk S'Tann this time. She quickly ran out the doors of the Quadrangle, and in a bright show of power, she converted into her Bird of Paradise form. She quickly made her way to the A.R.C building, and landed outside of it by turning back into her default form. Kiwi flew on her shoulder as she sassily walked into the building..

Now, this is where it gets interesting. They had one hell of a group gathered for ARC training. She immediately spotted a few. Tanya saw Kieran talking to Molly. She would have had a chit-chat with the school's superman, but she was going to play it cool. She'll make her moves eventually. There was also the resident dickbag, S'Tann. Doing his thing, and acting edgier than a Linkin Park Album. Long as she's not on his team, she's going to be hunky dory. Andy was chatting up Mari... hmph. She found the boy kinda annoying sometimes, but overall a lighthearted and kind person. At least he was somewhat funny. Another situation that Tanya wasn't going to insert herself into. For the best. She'd hate to piss off John Stewart again for chatting it up in class.

"Hay why does Supes wear a cape? Capes are for pussies!"

That's when Mars and his "bro" entered the room, and ruined the peace of the room. Tanya almost spoke up when they insulted Kieran for no good damn reason. These two, between S'Tann, were probably two of the most hated kids on campus. At least, that's what she thought. Only difference was that at least S'tann knew that people didn't like them. Tanya was never one for insulting peoples sexualities, but that closet is so damn transparent that you can't even hide a chameleon in there.

Some other red-haired gal' - Tanya ID'd her as Sugar - walked into the room started speakin' up against the two, and that's when Tanya decided to... bow out. At least to go put her suit on.

Kiwi flew into the room behind her as she went into the lockerrooms, and found her own personal locker. But, before she got into that, she ordered Kiwi to fly off and take perch on top of her locker. Last thing she wanted was her precious bird in the middle of a warzone. She was magical, but her bird wasn't! Now where was she...? Tanya pulled out her training suit, and slid it on. It was a nice green color. With her suit on, Tanya decided to simply bid farewell to her parrot, and step into the hallway outside.

Now, she hoped that Sugar didn't tear up the building just yet.



From an outsider's perspective, it would appear as if Sugar's training suit zipped itself up.

Sugar, or (very begrudgingly known as) Blathnat Balore, was one of the first people to arrive in the ARC building. She already got suited up with the relative comfort of not being intruded on (Well, not that she had to worry about getting pervved on in the girl's side of the lockerrooms). However, she was never alone. Not as long as he was with her.

Floating behind her, always guarding her, was her invisible guardian. A psychic entity that she gave the name Sir Reginald. Last time a perv thought about catching a peak, he, instead, caught a hand, and one hell of a flurry of insults as he left with his tail in between his legs! Just another in a long line of stories involving Sugar, and the adventures that her comical temper has lead her to (Many times, ending in detention). Though, not that she enjoyed it. It's everyone else, being cunts, that's the problem! Sugar looked down, and was quite surprised that this training suit had a prosthetic leg. Finally, after years of complaining that ARC training keeps breaking her prosthesis! Now, she was ready. Sugar stepped out of the lockerroom, with her transparent friend ever so vigilant.

When she stepped back into the main room, it filled up quite fast! Familiar faces! Though, Sir Reginald telepathically urged her in a certain direction... S'Tann. While S'Tann didn't pay Sugar any mind, she was ever so curious about him. Not in the romantic way, but the telepathic abilities inherent in Martians made Sugar interested in them. Sir Reginald's telepathy wasn't as strong, but he was certainly strong enough to keep the Martian out of her head. While most people hated S'Tann, Sugar was hesitant, only curious because of his telepathic abilities. Though, if he wanted to take it there, Sir Reginald was not weak either!

Other than S'Tann, there were the usuals: Mari, Tanya, Kieran, Molly (Oh, Molly!), and so fourth. She was wondering who she could talk to that would keep her at least somewhat entertained before John Stewart begins power training.

"Hay why does Supes wear a cape? Capes are for pussies!"

... And it looks like Sugar found the perfect people to talk to. Jackass 1, and Jackass 2. Honestly, Sugar was wondering if the whole muscleheaded douchebag act was just a joke just to rile up the class. Sugar isn't laughing. Because every time she gets near these two, she feels like she's trapped by a four-by-four prison cell with nothing to do but blow herself. With one brief telepathic sweep of the room, Sugar was able to glean surface thoughts, and they all had the same sentiments: Mars and Jake were annoying. Yet, no one was speaking out against them. So it looks like it's up to Sugar to be the blunt one and address the elephant in the room.

"Hey jackasses," Sugar called out to them, giving them a completely bored look. "Can you stop with the gorilla act? For just one second? It's annoying as hell, and I kinda want to have some peace and quiet before we start this cluster for crying out loud."

Sugar grunted.

---

RICK ALLEN Star City; Corrigan School for

---

With a newly recieved copy of Ian Doescher's Shakespearan Star Wars, Rick Allen had raced over to the A.R.C in a flash of white-and-gold lightning, arriving there before everyone else. He quickly got into his training suit, then found himself a quiet corner and began to read the script for the play. Thankfully, as everyone else piled in, he became more and more unnoticed, and was left to contently ponder the means of which he could achieve the part of Luke. He'd been flicking through and taken a certain liking to an exert that had caught his eye. He muttered it quietly to himself in multiple accents, trying to find the right one.

"Alas, poor stormtrooper, I knew ye not, yet have I taken both uniform and life from thee. What manner of a man wert thou? A man of inf'nite jest or cruelty? A man with helpmate and with children too? A man who hath his Empire serv'd with pride? A man, perhaps, who wish'd for perfect peace? What'er thou wert, goodman, thy pardon grant unto the one who took thy place: e'en me."

It would need some work, of course, but he knew the role his heart was set on. With this decision in mind, he crept over to his locker and placed the book inside, before heading back to his little corner and watching the people as they came in. There were a few he didn't recognize, so he just decided to spy for the ones he did know. Mar'i was the first to come in (not counting Rick, of course), followed by Casey (who decided to talk to the Banshee girl, of all people), S'tann, Kieran, and then there was Tanya, swaggering in as if she'd beaten him for once. He smirked from the corner, hoping not to draw attention, but also hoping the opposite at the same time. Little birdie needed to learn a few lessons.

He decided to get up and mingle a bit, now that the usuals (and the not-so-usuals) had made their way in. He walked over to Tanya as she emerged from the locker rooms, adopting the same "swagger" she'd previously had, and leaned against the wall.

"Hey, little birdie! What took you so long?"

He spoke obviously jokingly, as he wasn't actually as much of a dick as people thought he was to Tanya. They both had their tone of voice they used with each other in the friendly rivalry they had. Just to make sure, though, he flashed a litte grin.

"You know, I was thinking, if Mr. Stewart puts us in the same team, we could speed around those two meatheads over there."

He pointed to the two gorilla boys rustling up Kieran and S'tann. Boy, was he looking forward to this lesson.

---

Back in his dorm room, a cruel flick of Freddie's wrist sent a barrage of crimson splashing across the white surface; staining it with silent rage. The floor and furniture around him was draped in white sheets, catching the collateral splashings of paint as the boy followed up with similar attacks of blue, black and purple. More red.

He breathed heavily, the violent hammering of Björk's 'Pluto' raging through its sixth or seventh play since Freddie had returned to his room. The Icelandic songstress was one of his favourite artists and, though she hadn't released any work in more than ten years, he held hope that she would return from retirement so that he might one day see her in concert. Her music didn't bring him comfort, per se, but it helped him to determine how he felt; so tempestuous were his moods that often they were difficult to pinpoint, and emotive music usually helped to bring cast aside the chaotic fogs that shrouded them.

He withdrew several long nails from a drawer, and drove them into the canvas in hectic arrangements, bending them with pliers and twisting sharp wire around their curves; stringing the imposing barbs like decorative garlands over his raw expression. The song finished, and swiftly began again: "Excuse me, but I just have to explode..." He dipped the paintbrush into a shade of toxic green.



The room sat in relative silence now; the only sounds the gentle tinkling of paintbrushes rattling against their glass jar as Freddie packed away his supplies. He sighed heavily; the painting process was intentionally exhausting, as much as physical exercise as a mental or emotional one. Several thick strands of his previously immaculate styling now hung loosely over his face, which shimmered faintly in exertion. He closed the drawer with a gentle firmness, and stashed the canvas beneath his bed to dry away from the prying eyes of his roommate. His breath steadied.

Sat atop his neatly-made bed, Freddie considered showering; layers of paint had accumulated on his hands and arms, managing to find their way up beneath his nails in a thick crust of dried pigment. Wondering how much time he had until his next lesson, he leant over and checked the clock on his phone. He'd missed a text from Mari.



"Fuck!", he exclaimed aloud. He'd forgotten they even had the ARC session today, nevermind that it was so soon: due to start in two minutes, according to the time displayed tauntingly on his phone screen. He scrambled to pull on his boots, knowing that he would not need to take any belonging with him for the activity. He was not particularly excited for the session: he hated Coach Stewart almost as much as Coach Stewart hated him. He was also among the less athletic portion of the student body, and often worried of making a fool of himself in physical activities such as this.

Alas, if the message from Student Services that had accompanied Mari's text was anything to go by, it seemed his behaviour in Theatre Studies had unsurprisingly landed him in some trouble. He knew better than to piss off two members of staff in one day; but more importantly, he knew better than to piss off Coach Stewart. And he was already going to be late. Begrudgingly, he pulled his lace tight with a scowl, and set off out the door.



When he arrived, Coach Stewart was already in the middle of addressing the gathered students. Freddie, now clad in one of the compulsory costumes students were required to wear in the ARC, did his best to enter as stealthily as possible, silently sliding into the lobby area and joining the back of the group. He noticed Mari and Andy stood together and shot them a sheepish glance before breaking eye contact. Blushing slightly, he realised that he might have made a bit of a fool of himself in Theatre Studies.

He just hoped Coach Stewart wouldn't spot him arriving late and continue the humiliation into his second semester of the day.

Oh, looky here.

Another fellow speedster! Tanya was just going to walk over to a seat when she was joined by the glorious Rick Allen. She didn't miss his little swagger (In fact, she found it kinda cute). Tanya merely put her body-weight on one foot as she leaned back a little bit. Putting one hand on her hip of the same side. They had this little funny rivalry - only because of Tanya and Rick's competitive spirit! Or was it just "Speedster Pride"? Whatever it was, Tanya found it quite fun.

"Hey, little birdie! What took you so long?"

Tanya shot him a grin from the side. "Oh, I got the feeling that people were gettin' a little fed up with me arriving first." Tanya gave him a grin to the side. "Figured that I'd take the long way, hun. Breath in the scenery!" She started laughing.

"You know, I was thinking, if Mr. Stewart puts us in the same team, we could speed around those two meatheads over there."

A fun idea... Few people really took Stewart's training seriously. Tanya was not one of them. She looked over to Mars and Jake and shrugged. Well, those two must have a death wish to begin with - with what? Picking on two of the strongest people on campus - but she figured that it wouldn't hurt to screw with them. Just a little. It was very unlikely they'll put two speedsters on the same team. Though, that wouldn't stop Tanya.

"Heh, it'd be fun, yeah." Tanya replied. "Even if we aren't on the same team, it'll be funny as hell to keep trippin' the meatheads. They won't even see us coming!" She started laughing. Even without her speed, Tanya could easily knock over someone like Mars with her control over the winds.

Fen sighed as he looked at the clock on the wall as he realized the time, popping the rest of the croissant in his and briskly pushing down the lump down his throat with the rest of his coffee. He standing up once he was done, Fen brushed his clothes which effectively removed any crumbs and left once Jack too was ready. Heading outside the coffee shop the bell clearly already rang as students were walking around the campus now although few in numbers, suspecting that they only had a few minutes at most to make it the ARC room.

"Hey, I'll race you!" Fen said with a smirk before he got a head start, bursting into a sprint towards the massive building center for the ARC. While Fen may have had a head start, Jack's body was simply just more athletically capable of passing someone like Fen a relatively normal person. But despite this, the two would make it to the center hopefully in time with a bit of spare time, but at the sight of Freddie too rushing dampened their hopes. Proven too that they were indeed late, they saw Coach Stewart was already in the middle of addressing the gathered students. They too have thrown on their own ARC suits as they watched Freddy enter the room first, before Fen next and then leaving Jack for last. Trying to look inconspicuous as he entered the room, he glanced at who else was in the class looking around for something to talk to and blend in.

Fen looked at Rick and Tanya before he decided against walking to them and sighed as he leaned up against the wall and just waited for the session to start. He kept an open ear out to any conversation that he heard, and grinned at the two speedsters' conversation on their plans to screw around with the two gorillas. They were asking for it, as insulting S'tann was just plain stupid and then with Kirean they were just asking for more spite to be added on top. But besides the meatheads, and the obvious lack of S'tann Fen looked before deciding to give up and he pulled out his phone and played with it in the meantime with the classic theme of tetris playing silently as it was drowned out by the conversation of the other students.

After his class was over Jason looked at his schedule to see what was next, according to it he had a break between classes and decided to go have some relaxing time to himself. He then noticed the A.R.C. session was going according to the schedule and decided that he would go and watch it instead of participate. With a bottle of Root Beer in his hand Jason calmly walked over to the Augmented Reality Center and upon entering he saw that there was drama going, especially from the two ass-headed jocks. Seeing S'tann there was also a bit of turn off, but Tanya was there as well so it didn't seem too bad. He put on his sunglasses and gave Tanya a wave.

"Don't mind me, I'm just here to watch" he said sitting down lazily and taking a sip of his soda. Relaxation did wonders for the body and mind in Jason's own opinion. He wondered how this thing was going to go down, no doubt with S'tann, Mars and Jake here thing were probably going to get rather messy.



Mars almost laughed at Sugar's response, but he did chuckle badly and Jake gave both him and her a glare.

"Back in Harlem people lose teeth when they say shit like that, be thankful that this a nice ass school and not like my old school back in the hood" he replied angrily and Mars just patted him on the back.

"Don't let her get to ya buddy" Mars said to his friend. When he noticed Rick enter the room Mars almost immediately walked up to the speedster and offered his proposition.

"Hay kid, I think that super speed of yours could make you the best Wide Receiver or Running Back in the game, how about you come try out for the team?" he asked him curious to hear the boy's answer.

---

---

The large pneumatic doors slid open with a solid 'HISS' as a fit man with graying temples exited from the main room and looked over the gathered class before him. Standing there silently, he looked each student up and down before pulling out a tablet and sliding a hand across it.

"If you aren't in this class, now is the time to leave." The deep baritone voice of John Stewart echoed through the hall like a drill sergeant addressing his platoon.

"For some of you, this may very well be your first time in the Augmented Reality Center." He stated, pausing as he looked towards some of the younger students in front of you. "For others, you may be feeling sick to your stomach remembering just how much time you've spent within this dome over the past four years. But let me tell you know that if you truly feel that way then you'd best grab your diploma and get out now. As a Titan, hell as a hero you'll be needed to suit up more times than you can care to count. You'll march through the jaws of hell and back and face far more than even your worst fears."

He paused, looking at the class, gauging their reactions.

"My job is to prepare you for that. To shape you into heroes who can go out there and stand against hell and emerge as signs of hope, truth and most importantly justice." He took a step forward, walking through the students as they parted to allow him to pace. Stopping in front of Jacob Jackson, John turned to the young man and stared him down.

"You're not in this class Mr. Jackson." Stewart snarled. "Get out." He ordered as Jake reluctantly took his leave. "Today's session will be done in two teams. The simulation will be pitting the 'Suicide Squad' against the 'All-Star Squadron.' Miss Kelly!" John snapped with a raised voice as he spun on the heel of his polished boots. "You will be leading the All-Star Squadron alongside Mr. S'tonn." Walking back towards the front of the room, he stopped suddenly and turned towards Aiden. "Mr. Roth, you will be leading the Suicide Squad along side Mr. Kent."

Pulling up his tablet, Stewart quickly rolled through the rest of the names. "Allen, Blackwell, Harper, Hughes, Kama, Lamont, Lancaster, Luthor and Norwich. You'll be making up the Suicide Squad under Mr. Roth and Mr. Kent." Turning to those whose names had yet to be called, he looked over the rest of his list. "Balboa, Balore, Bordeaux, Dowie, Grayson, Kyle, Linden, Murray and Rexen. You nine will be joining Miss Kelly and Mr S'tonn as the All-Star Squadron. Please move to the left side entrance while the rest of you head to the right to take up your starting positions." Pausing Stewart turned to give Jason an extra look as the boy seemed intent to side on the sidelines.

"Mr. Kama, I suggest you'd get off your ass and get into the game. There are no sidelines once you're out of these walls."

---

---

"Han eh?" Mari said with a smirk. "I'm really thinking this play needs to shake it up. I'm thinking what it really fuckin' needs is a Hannah Solo." She responded but any further conversation was cut off by the entrance of John Stewart. Over her past three years at Corrigan, Mari had participated in several A.R.C. sessions, none of them had been particularly enjoyable. One had even ended with a student having both of his legs broken when a super strong meta loss control of his emotions. As the class was split into teams, Mari reluctantly bid goodbye to Andy realizing that all of her friends were on the opposing team. Following behind Mailsi and S'tann, she cursed to herself at her luck so far today.

Entering into what was known as the 'Waiting Room', Mari stared at the timer above the door as it began to count down. As if on cue, Stewart's voice came in over the intercom as he began to issue the team specific instructions.

"Hello All-Star Squadron. As some of you are aware, each team has specific goals to accomplish throughout the course of the A.R.C. session. As the 'heroes' of our simulation you should be aware that the 'Suicide Squad' has taken over a remote research location in the Antarctic. In doing so, they've taken several hostages and have rigged the lab to explode. Your goal is to free the hostages and disable the explosives. Bonus marks will be given if you can recover the labs hard drives and re-active the neutralization bombs planted in the neck of each member of the Suicide Squad. Best of luck."

With his final words, the counter entered into his final ten seconds as it began to beep with each falling number until it reached one final louder beep. The doors opened to the simulation as the group was blasted with a gust of freezing air as snow washed over them they were pushed into the Antarctic. Snow suddenly found its way to Mari's feet as she jumped in surprise at how cold it felt, returning to her normal mode of floating as she looked at the rest of the group and to the building on the horizon.

"Of course it's all the fuckin' way over there." She groaned before turning to S'tann and Molly. "So oh appointed ones, do either of you have any ideas for the best way to go about this?"

---

---

Entering the wait room with Kieran, Aiden turned to him with a solemn nod. Of all the students who could have been assigned to him as a partner to lead, Aiden was grateful that it was the next member of the Super-Family. If anyone was able to inspire their team to follow them, it had to be a man with an 'S' on his chest.

"Hello Suicide Squad. As some of you are aware, each team has specific goals to accomplish throughout the course of the A.R.C. session. As the 'villains' of our simulation you should be aware that you have currently taken over a research facility in the Antarctic. In doing so, you've taken the scientists hostage and set several explosives around the lab. Your goals include keeping the hostages from being rescued and ensuring none of your explosives are deactivated. It should be noted that you may kill the hostages but you will suffer a penalty to your marking and lose leverage over your opponents. For bonus points, erase the data on the research station's computer and load any samples from the labs into a waiting helicopter without having any destroyed by the All-Stars. Good luck."

Turning to address the team, Aiden nodded to Kieran to follow his lead.

"Alright gals and gents, time to think like a villain. Frederick, can you give the base some cover? Maybe use the weather in Antarctica to our advantage? Julian, can we count on you to delete those drives? Kieran can you move the samples in the helicopter?" The timer behind Aiden seemed to begin to rapidly fall as he scrambled to issue orders.

"Nora, Andrew, Kyle and I will keep the hostages safe. Tanya, Casey, Rick and Jason, you four will tend to the explosives." Aiden managed to spit out as the timer ended, the door opening as the team found themselves inside the cold steel walls of the research base.

"Any objections team?"

---

RICK ALLEN Star City; Corrigan School for

---

"Heh, it'd be fun, yeah. Even if we aren't on the same team, it'll be funny as hell to keep trippin' the meatheads. They won't even see us coming!"

"Hell yeah!" Rick flashed a smirk, "You know, I'm beginning to think you and I make a helluva speedster pair."

At that moment, Meathead #1 began walking over to them. Rick quickly put his finger on his lip to signal to Tanya to be quiet, and stepped forward.

"Hay kid, I think that super speed of yours could make you the best Wide Receiver or Running Back in the game, how about you come try out for the team?"

"Yeah, sure, I'll meet you at break to talk about it." He said, breathing a sigh of relief as the meathead walked back off to his friend, before said friend was dismissed by Mr. Stewart. Goosebumps ran down Rick's spine as the coach hissed at the guy. Rick folded his arms and leaned next to Tanya as they were prepped by the coach. From what he learned, this session would be the Suicide Squad versus All-Star Squadron. But what really excited Rick is what Mr. Stewart said next.

"Allen, Blackwell, Harper, Hughes, Kama, Lamont, Lancaster, Luthor and Norwich. You'll be making up the Suicide Squad under Mr. Roth and Mr. Kent."

"Fuck yes! Ain't gonna put two speedsters in a team, huh? They put in three." He nudged Tanya with a grin, before the two walked into the wait room to be briefed by Kieran and some kid named Aiden.

"Alright gals and gents, time to think like a villain. Frederick, can you give the base some cover? Maybe use the weather in Antarctica to our advantage? Julian, can we count on you to delete those drives? Kieran can you move the samples in the helicopter? Nora, Andrew, Kyle and I will keep the hostages safe. Tanya, Casey, Rick and Jason, you four will tend to the explosives."

The door hissed open to give way to the steel walls of the research base.

"Any objections team?"

"No objections, just a suggestion - Tanya and I can sort out that meathead Balboa if he gives anyone trouble. Just holla and we'll give him hell." He flashed yet another grin to his newly appointed teammate.

But just then, it hit him. As the cold air crept over his skin, Rick Allen realised one vital thing - he couldn't function in the cold. His healing abilities, his speed... all reduced to a pimp. Fuck.

"Scrap that, objection. We need Freddie to make it warm. And I mean warm. In the cold, I'm useless. I might aswell just put on ice skates and be a sitting duck for the All-Stars. We need to think, guys. Quick.

S'tann S'tonn is an annoying prick. He knows it. Everyone else knows it. Most people don't like him because of that fact. But S'tann is of the firm belief that he's only the third most hated student on campus. Who can be more unlikable than that asshole? You, hypothetical person that exists within S'tann's subconscious, might ask. Well, they just arrived in the Augmented Reality Center, and they're up to their usual infuriatingly moronic antics. Mars and Jake didn't waste a beat, the two of them calling out S'tann and Kieran, the most powerful students present, immediately. They weren't even being clever, either. Just annoying. S'tann's scowl darkened and he sunk further into the crowd, hoping beyond hope he'd get the chance to bust their skulls open during the A.R.C session. He considered fighting them on their bullshit now, but the chances of John Stewart appearing and dishing out a loud of ass-kicking were far too high for S'tann's liking. So he stayed silent and waited for them to begin. A handful of other students arrived and mingled together in the lobby. The Martian recognized a few of them from earlier.

A few minutes passed. S'tann wondered if John would actually be late for once, something unheard of from the ex-marine turned Green Lantern. But alas, the familiar hiss of the center's automated doors announced Coach Stewart's appearance in the foyer. S'tann shuffled into positions along with the rest of the student body present, giving John his full and undivided attention. He briefly made note of the doors at the back of the center being shoved open multiple times by students arriving late. Hmph. He could understand being late to the normal classes. Those were rather boring. But an A.R.C session? That was fucking suicide. Especially if Todd was in charge. Luckily for them, Green Lantern didn't acknowledge their blatant tardiness. At least not yet. John spouted off the usual 'this is really important, so pay attention' speech. S'tann listened with a small smirk on his face as John forced Mars' boyfriend out of the A.R center before getting into the real meat of his talk: the mission and the teams. Now that was interesting. Silver Banshee and S'tann would be leading the All-Star Squadron against Aiden Roth and Kieran Kent's Suicide Squad. Not the teams most people would expect, given the personalities of the leaders. But S'tann was ecstatic. He'd finally get to show Kent what happened when you tried to stop a Martian Manhunter from doing their duty.

The teams made sense. The majority of magic users were assigned to the All-Star's, obviously meant to counter the Kryptonian on the Suicide Squad. The pyrokinetics were on the Suicide Squad as a counter to Legacy. That would be problematic. Very problematic. The addition of Mars, Jack and Fenris to team All-Star seemed very intentional. That pissed S'tann off. He hated the three of them with a burning passion. Which is most likely why Stewart stuck them together in the first place.

S'tann made his way into the left side entrance. He quickly grabbed one of the training suits and adapted it to his shape shifting physiology before getting into the ready room and awaiting further instruction. This would be a difficult fight to win; that's for sure. The odds seemed stacked in the Suicide Squad's favor. But that wouldn't deter S'tann. If his last few years here at Corrigan had proven anything, they proved that S'tann would do whatever it takes be the very best (like no one ever was.) He'd been in his fair share of bad A.R.C sessions. This one would be one for the record books, though, if it went anything like S'tann thought it would.

John Stewart gave All-Star their mission instructions over the intercom. Extracting hostages, capturing data drives and deactivating explosives. All in the Arctic. Great. Snow and Martians never really agreed with each other. At least they weren't anywhere excessively hot. S'tann held his breath, his eyes glued to the count down above the door. Once the doors opened, the cold air washed over his skin and goose bumps dotted his pink flesh. S'tann entered his Martian form, standing at least a head over everyone else in the room. He looked around at the rest of the team. Here we go. He thought to himself, stepping out into the snow. The first one to speak up was Mari, asking Molly and S'tann what the plan was. The Martian glanced over at Silver Banshee and back at Nightstar.

"Yeah. I have a few ideas." He started. "We'll split the team into multiple squads, to try and deal with as many objectives at once as we can. Alpha team will be composed of Amethyst, Richard, and Rita. Your job is to take down Kieran. The Kryptonian is their biggest gun; without him, they'll be demoralized and easier to defeat. Once we're closer I'll be able to telepathically scan the base and determine his location, and then relay that information to you."

He then turned to the more human members of the team. "Fenris, Raphael, Sugar. You're Beta team. Your job is to get to those hard drives and reactivate those explosive collars. If you can manage that, the game is basically ours." S'tann then looked specifically at Jack. "Catboy. Your job is to sneak inside and disable the bombs. Don't let them see you, alright?"

Finally, S'tann addressed the rest of the group. "The rest of us are on Delta team. That's Molly, Nightstar, Mars and myself. We're going after the hostages; and we're going in loud. Any questions? Or do have a better plan, Silver?" S'tann asked, looking around at the group and resting his eyes at last on Mailsi.