Upon seeing the new girl arrive, Casper couldn't help but sip his drink and focused on the conversation taking place in front of him. She was talking to the instructor who had been with the students in the danger room, and apparently this girl was supposed to have been there but didn't arrive. What was it? She overslept? Damn, Casper's mom would have had his head if he overslept. It was perhaps not the first thought going through a person's head when laying eyes on him but behind that 'Gives not shit' exterior of his was a very disciplined boy. He was always on time, never late and was a perfectionist to an almost clinical level. Everything always had to be in order, everything had to be in its place and it had to be tidy at all times. If there was one thing Casper couldn't handle, there were a few, but if there was one thing in particular that Casper couldn't handle, it was someone that was messy. He didn't expect others to be on time and he didn't expect good results from whatever they were doing, an incredibly cynical approach, but it was what it was. Casper didn't expect anything from anyone anymore because he was bound to be disappointed if he did, like he had been so many times in the past. However, when it came to where he slept, he demanded a tidy room, expectations be damned. Actually, Casper had his own room. It was probably the smallest one in the house, something that used to be a walk in closet. It could only fit one person and since he was probably the smallest little shit around, he was granted the reconstructed and remodeled room. It was located right next to the other dorm rooms, though before the mansion became a school, it was never intended to have a bed in it.

Breaking free from the thoughts he so often lost himself in, Casper's attention turned back to this girl Miranda as the teacher left. He had to admit, there was something charming about her. Yes, she was late and she obviously lacked discipline but her aura, her personality, they spoke to the boy in a way he couldn't understand. She was just, well, in lack of better words, she was just rather cool. They had come into the cafeteria just as Casper said hello to Flower Power and Danny never got a chance to respond before the other two came in.

So this was a student who was supposed to be in their little crew of misfits. How many other people were late or just didn't show up? Just how big was this group? "She appears to be unlike all the others. I never expected to be thrown into a group of over sensitive, fragile eggshells of people...but this girl appears to be a bit different from the rest..." One shouldn't be too hard on any of them, though. Casper had lived an incredibly comfortable life with two parents that loved him and a little brother who always stood by his side. Casper had the ideal family, something most people here couldn't even dream of. A lot of them had been abused, hit, tortured and cast aside like vermin because of who they were. It made more than a little sense to see them sensitive and fragile. They were all exhausted from what they had been through and Casper knew that it was unfair to assume anything of them, even less so judging them. "I feel sorry for the bunch, I really do...dunno' how much of their crap I could have handled...I'm just worried about how much of that shit will spill out in the face of danger. If one of us messes up, we all do..." This place was supposed to teach the fragile people within its walls to grow thick skin and stand against the cruelty of reality. No matter how abused a person's been, no matter the hell they came from and no matter the darkness they had been chained to, the academy was there to rebuild them and their sense of self. "Fuckin' hell...instead of complainin', at least I can try to help these poor eggs to hatch into chickens...right?" Taking another sip of his drink, Casper looked at Miranda with his large brown eyes analysing her intently. Due to the wet strands of hair still atop his head, his bangs covered most of his eyes but he barely noticed it anymore. "Hi." The boy repeated the same greeting once more but just as he did, he noticed yet another couple walking into the cafeteria. It was Conner and his girlfriend Kimberly.

"Sleepin' instead of workin', huh...?" The boy grinned a bit before he took a bite of his sandwich. His voice was quiet, yet light as would be expected from a boy his age. One could perhaps find some sense of serenity in his vocals, as calm and confidant as they were. "Casper..." He nodded slightly before motioning towards Danny. "Flower Power..."

---

---

Miranda found a spot to where she was going to sit down and chill having something eat, She saw a few more come in, A boy and a girl, she had seen them around but never really directly engaged with them and the same went for the two lads sitting at the table already to which one had already spoke up and said hi to her. She thought for a moment while looking at the young kid, his bangs covering his eyes a bit, again another person she never really conversed with. ' What the hell, you only once right?' She thought to herself then smiled as she walked over and placed her breakfast on the table. "Hey," She replied before sitting down opposite them and listened to the young boys question.

'Wouldn't you like to know?' she mused in her mind. " Aye, I wasn't really sleeping, well okay, maybe overslept a little, But not for long because ended up taking a nice hot shower instead" She replied with a sly smile before she took a sip of orange juice from the class before she would start eating her breakfast. "Name's Miranda." She nodded to the pair taking a bite of her Ryvita. " Flower power..?" She raised her eyebrow, There were namy names this guy could get called but that? was kinda amusing, she knew the guy, not in person but by his reputation of being a eco warrior, But really was just overly passionate about saving the planet.

"Keep doin' that...and Pierce will fuck you up..." Casper returned, his grin persisting as he placed his lips around the soda bottle agian and took another sip. This girl was rather funny, she was a nice variation from the rest, but Casper just had to wait and see. He wasn't going to get his expectations up too far. "Yeah...Flower Power...He's a plant..." That sounded wrong, didn't it? Well, yeah. Chuckling slightly for himself, the boy did a good job at showing his immature age if only for just a moment before he straightened himself up and took another bite from his sandwich. He barely even knew Danny and he was already picking jokes at the guy. Oh well, Casper wasn't exactly a people person. Perhaps it wasn't always the bully's fault that he got beat up half the time.

Miranda smiled even more, "He is certainly welcome to try.." She was confident in herself even if Pierce would actually bust her up some with his larger size and strength, but that wouldn't stop her from having a go. She took a few more bite's out of her first ryvita. avoiding choking on her food a from a chuckle she just had to ask. " So a plant called flower power... Would you like to confrim or deny this.." She teased.

It hadn't even been a few minutes before someone had came over and joined Danny next to him at the table. He looked over and noticed that small emo looking boy just sitting there staring at his beverage as if it was about to come alive. The red headed boy couldn't help but chuckle at himself before the boy named Casper decided to speak up and say hi. That was quite a surprise since he wasn't known for speaking that much just like that Nathan boy. Not that he could judge since he was like that at one point.

"Um hi," Danny said trying to contain his laughter. "I'm sorry if I seem quite giddy. Its just funny how you came and sat next to me pretty much not saying a word." Danny was about to make a second comment when he had seen a girl coming to join the two of them. This was all new to him as no one ever seemed to want to hang with him or even sit next to him of fear that he may go into some kind of rant about the planet. He did make note to stop doing that all the time.

It didn't take long for the girl Miranda to start having a conversation with them with even Casper joining in. He had overheard the girl being scolded by a professor already for being late, although he didn't really pay that much attention since he was too busy catching up on the news. He decided to take the remote and turn the television off. Before he could say anything all he could hear was that name 'Flower Power' that really dug into his skin but of course he never liked to show it.

"You'll have to excuse small pint here. I don't exactly know him that well, but my name is Danny. Not 'Flower Power'" he had said through his teeth. He smiled and took another bite of his wrap. "But it was good that you didn't join us this morning. It was kind of a hot mess to say the least."

Finishing his sandwich, Casper leaned back in his chair and breathed out, the boy's attention turned to Danny for a moment. "Bein' small has its advantages..." He spoke casually, that small grin on his lips lingering. One could clearly see the confidance in his spirit through his body language and the way he spoke. Most people thought he was quiet because he was scared or because he was shy, but the truth of the matter was something else entierly. Casper decided to be quiet because he didn't feel like talking much was worth it, or rather, there weren't many words people needed to hear. However, when Casper was in a more or less talketive mood, he wasn't going to be completely quiet as if on principle. Sure, he was a boy of few words and uttered a select few when he decided to speak, but he wasn't afraid to utter his mind by any stretch of the imagination. "He means we got fucked..." Casper shot back at Miranda, concerning what Danny had said. "Robots...ya' know...?"

Miranda was actually feeling amused, the two seemed to have nicknamed each other already and she had not even been with them for like five minutes, sure she didn't know how well they knew each other until Danny, that was his actual name had said so. It also turned out that they are both from the group she was suppose to be with this morning. 'Great I get told of by the professor in front of two people that are from the very same group she was talking about, way to go Miri.' She thought.

It seemed as though the group session this morning didn't go to well either judging from there comments, of course she had no idea what it was they were actually doing so was a little surprised and raised a brow once more when robots was mentioned. " So... what is it they had you guys do exactly? I mean robots, your pulling my leg right, I mean robots in the fricking training center, your shitting me?"

"Shittin' you...?" Casper raised his eyebrow, looking her over. He was starting to really like this girl. Damn, she was cool. "Heh...yeah..." The boy nodded. "We actually..." He took another sip of his soda, noticing how it was nearing empty and stood up, reaching for another in the fridge. Casper had an unholy addiction to soda. "..." Seeing how he could choose between four different tastes in the fridge, the boy stood dumbfounded, looking between the bottles like an addict unable to make a decision. If only there was one that tasted like all of them at once. Grabbing a random one, he turned back to Miranda and closed the fridge before leaning against it and finished his old bottle. "...we expressed our love...it was sweet...we shared our feelings..."

Miranda crossed her arms and leaned back in her seat, stopping from drinking and eating for a moment, she chuckled a little. "Somehow, I find that harder to beleive than robots in the training center." She paused. " So what they really did is put a bunch of you in sort big arse room and fight robots, And for what, to get Arse whooped?" Her Irish accent was probably more notcable with certain words, not that she really cared if people liked it or not, but it certainly was not what she was expecting from a group session.

The conversation was actually going surprisingly well considering none of them actually knew each other. Maybe there was hope after all they the group could actually get along. The entire time Danny had just been nodding and smiling as Casper and Miranda were speaking. Finally he spoke up again about the Danger Room session they had to endure.

"Well. I'd like to think they did it so they can whoop our asses. But according to them it was just a test to see how well we'd do. Even the teachers were in there with us. Amazing actors they were to believe they actually got injured." Danny had finished his wrap and down the rest of his water as if he hadn't drank anything all day. His body was like a plant so it needed every last drop to function. "But in the end, we got creamed. Badly. Like we probably would have died had it been a real Sentinnel. That would have been anticlimatic." He shrugged and got up from his seat to throw away his trash in their respectable recycling bins.

Honestly, the Danger Room seemed like a really fun place if used right. Casper imagined all matter of different scenarios playing out in there. They could train against simulations of other mutants or whatever the world was going to throw at them, they could train to prepare for any kind of danger. Hopefully the next times were going to be better, though. They needed to be prepared. What happened that morning was nothing a kid like any of them could stand up against, especially not unprepared. Speaking of which, they didn't even know that those huge robot things existed to begin with. Nothing was on their side in that fight, it was completely one sided. "Nice moves, though...Flower..." Casper complimented...as much of a compliment as one could expect to get from him.

"Ah so they wanted to see how well you would of coped without them around and function as a team to survive and gauge our abiltiy to use our powers" Miranda thought for a moment after taking everything in that was being said. "Still that is taking the biscuit, I mean sticking a group of students into a room to what? To combat some bloody robot sentinal thing as some test, Next thing you know they'll stick everyone in spandex and be like 'Off you go'." Miranda finished of as she decided to actually eat her breakfast some more than gas bagging.' If anyone expects to see me in spandex, I want dinner first.' Miri mused to herself.

There he goes again with that 'Flower' nickname again. There was no use in fighting it as it was probably going to stick the duration of the time they stayed in the institute.

"Thanks, small pint," Danny said winking at the smaller boy. "But yeah that was pretty much what happened. And speaking of spandex, that boy named Alex was wondering if we were going to get codenames and a costume. After he mentioned that, I left. It all seemed a bit silly but at some point we are going to get our names and attire. I've been thinking about my codename for awhile and no it isn't Flower Power," the red headed boy said, glaring at Casper next to him. "But anyway, I'm off to save the planet. And by that I mean tend to my plants outside. Good day to you both," he said warmly as he walked out of the kitchen and outside to the garden.

Darkness. That's all Damian could see. Just darkness. He lifted his hand to look at it but he couldn't even see that. The world was just black.

"You did this, y'know? It's all your fault. You destroyed the world. I don't think you could have screwed up any more than this," a demonic sounding voice said.

"H-how? How could I do this?" Damian asked the voice.

"Because you were scared. You were scared of failing, so you tried to become more powerful. Now you have nothing," the voice responded. "Have fun with your self-induced Hell."

Damian awoke in a cold sweat in his still unfamiliar room and unfamiliar bed. Despite having been attending Ashford Academy for a few weeks now it still felt strange, like it wasn't quite home. Still, it felt more like a home than his real home with his parents. He looked over to the digital clock that sat on his nightstand but saw that it had fallen on the floor and had become unplugged during the middle of the night. Damian must have accidentally used his powers in his sleep and knocked it over. Still dressed in a set of flannel pajamas, the boy walked toward the door and peeked out into the hallway to see if anyone was there. How long did I sleep in? And did we have class today? "Please don't let me be late if we do," he said aloud.

"Heh...save the planet, huh? When the apocalypse comes, Flower Power and Cap'n Native can get married and live in his olive garden..." The smirk on Casper's lips in reaction to Danny's words soon faded into an almost melancholy expression. His eyes lowered themselves to the floor, his fingers around the unopened soda bottle gripping it tightly as his mind traveled. "Wonder what it's like...bein' able to do that shit...get married and crap, find a partner... Removing the cap, Casper fell silent again, his mood quite obviously turned around from the sarcastic boy he had previously been. "I...need to go...do something..." Looking up at Miranda, Casper quickly looked away once he met her eyes, unable to look anyone in the eyes while in such a pathetic state. "You little dipshit, snap the fuck out of it...you're seriously gonna' let something as stupid as this bother you...? Fuck off..." Without saying another word, the boy turned around and started down the corridor. He had tried to get it off his mind, but it was hard to completely discard the thought. This wouldn't have been so bad if his powers matured at a later age, like eighteen or older. However, everyone knew that mutant powers and biological age had little to do with each other in sense of maturity.

"The fuck are you mopin' for? You're gonna' live forever! Heh...that's so cool...isn't it...? Everyone else ages and dies but you...don't...you're gonna' be around forever and see everything...you can travel the world and..." Clenching his teeth, Casper stopped in the middle of the corridor, his fingers around the soda bottle holding onto it tightly. He could feel his body shivering, a sense of anger and frustration making its way up his spine. "Stop it! You're not like the unstable fuckers around here! You're not a fucking crybaby like the rest! They've gone through hell, haven't they? Well, you haven't so pull yourself the fuck together!"

Thinking back to the time when his parents wanted to put him in the mutant academy, he remembered how it was because they wanted him to meet others like him. They wanted Casper to be able to finally make a friend, and finally lower that barrier of his. Around other mutants, they thought he'd feel safe and like he belonged but the truth was that no one felt like they belonged. Sure, they were surrounded by their own kind but that didn't mean anything. Everyone's mutation was vastly different and it came with vastly different issues. No one understood one another even if they were all mutants. "This was a bad fucking plan..." Taking another step, Casper sighed heavily and had his eyes on the floor. Where was he even headed? He had absolutely no clue. The most frustrating part was that the day had only just started and he was already losing his shit. He needed to survive through the rest of the courses, bending over and throwing in the towel now wasn't going to work at all. "I'm just a kid, right...? So why does all this crap fuckin' matter to me? Finding someone, becoming an adult, bein' able to live my life without needing anyone else because I'm too little...fuck...I should worry about this crap in like ten years when I still look like this...not now..." Taking a swig from his soda, the boy stopped and leaned against the wall, his eyes traveling to the ceiling.

Was he seriously having anxiety? The reason felt petty, but worrying about the future was all he could do at the moment. Living in the now felt difficult because the now appeared to be permanent. It hadn't gone so long since that japanese doctor told him that he couldn't age, and it still needed to sink in. Every kid his age looked forward to getting older and being able to do everything society allowed them to do. Moving out, getting a house, going to bars if that's your thing, finding a partner, creating a life for yourself. Casper felt cheated out of that, though all he could do was to accept it. There was still a ways to go before getting to that point, however. "Where's my next freaking class gonna' be?" Looking from one side to the other, the boy kept going in the direction he had started. His next class was supposed to be social studies, rather amusing considering how much he had actually thought about that. Perhaps this teacher of his was going to clarify some points. After all, this class wasn't about the politics of Africa or the Middle East, it was Mutant Social Studies in America. The class revolved around a mutant's role in society and how they're being treated. Hopefully, the answer to Casper's questions resided within the walls of that class. It was supposed to be located on the first floor, rather close to the entrance.

"Hey, kid." A masculine voice stole Casper's attention once he bumped into a large male as he turned around the corner on the bottom floor. "Watch where you're going, will you?"

"You watch where you're fuckin' goin'..." Frowning up at the larger male, Casper's fingers around the soda bottle tightened again, his eyes meeting the much larger young man in a steeled stare. "You bumped into me..."

"What? Kids like you shouldn't walk around picking fights, you might get hurt."

"Yeah...?" The boy grinned, taking a step back. "Gonna' hit me...? Stop bein' a pussy and swing..."

"Hit you? Kid, you're nuts."

"Uh huh..."

"You've got some issues, don't you?"

"Yeah...you're one of em'..."

Staring at each other for a while, the larger male simply shook his head and walked away, not wanting to waste his time with a kid who obviously had a chip on his shoulder. Truth was that Casper was very easily ticked off right now. The whole day had started on a bad note and was only elevated by a killer robot trying to tear him apart. Dropping down on the floor, Casper leaned against the wall next to the classroom he was supposed to attend. This was going to be a long day, wasn't it?

Alex had spent the better part of a half hour with the tutor, asking dozens of questions regarding her time as an x-men and being a leader. For comfort, Storm had created a benched table with chess pieces for them to sit at as they talked and moved pieces. Most of the replies were suggestions on where to look up things and who he should study rather than direct answers. That is until she held up a hand to stop his next question.

"If you leave right now, you can make it to the library to pick up Sun Tzu's art of war as I have sent a message to the librarian to pull the book for you. And still make it to your first period class. I refuse to answer any more questions until you have finished the first section: Laying plans."

Alex rolled his eyes and stood up from the constructed seat with a smile. As he did so, the danger room melted back into its base form before the robots attacked with no sign of scene or simulacrum.
"Great, even the tutor is giving me extra homework. Thanks, Storm."

He broke out into a jog to the locker room for his bag and didn't even bother to change shoes as he picked up the pace with a renewed vigor. With the gripping Tabi, he took off into a full run across the field and up the library brick wall. It wasn't a great wall scaling, but it was enough for him to take the bricks up to the second floor patio and slip inside.

The library was open aired three floors of rings of learning, crossed by catwalks kitty-cornered with easy access to each floor by ramping walkways in a double helix around. The topmost floor reserved for fiction had a glass ceiling to let the most natural light in with the most reading seats and station in various levels of comfort to accommodate the lazy loungers in stuffed chairs or the rigid reader with hard benches and high walled tables to block everything out. The second floor he had entered in by the balcony was for non-fiction with warm wood paneling to not seem so claustrophobic with more rigid topics of facts and truths of the world. Making ones way down to the first floor is where they kept the computers under stringent watch and electronic monitoring or the few thing unable to be removed from the building.

The students were starting to mill and get up from their tables as the general feel of dread from first period got them going to class. He was trying to flag down the librarian to get the book when he saw a pretty and petite brunet still looking for something in the aisles. She seemed to be the only one there not reading, in a library, which made her stand out just enough for him to risk her attention. Perhaps she was a library aide

"Excuse me, Do you work here? Have you seen the head librarian or anyone else working here?

He was still in his tanktop with camoflage coat tied around his waist. He had taken a moment when he got his duffel to toss the twin tomahawks inside with his boots so he still had on the single split open toed shoes. He wasn't wining any fashion shows at the moment but at least he didn't stink, he used a cologne made from 'Geosmin' to react to his natural bacteria. He literally smelled like fresh turned soil the more he sweat.

The pages of the books were so many... it didn't even interest Amarie one bit. She sighed before closing the book, looking around the library to try and find something for her to do. Amarie couldn't think about her parents.. and even if she did, her powers might get triggered, eventually bad things would happen around her. Everything around her was quiet.. not many people were in the library because she couldn't sense none of them around. Amarie walked over to the section where the books about mental abilities were, she'd spot a book about Empathy and how to control them. A book wasn't really going to do anything to her.. it all depended on how she wanted to train her abilities.

"Damn it!"

Amarie swore while slamming the book on the bookshelf, her hands were on her hair and just as she was about to leave. A manly, deep voice came from behind, quickly, she turned around noticing a guy standing behind her. Amarie took a step back, bumping into a chair but she didn't honestly feel anything all that there was in her head was the guy who was standing before her. He looked really good, strong muscles and his hair was beautiful. Amarie closed her eyes while her fingers wiggled a bit as if trying to control her emotions. "Not here, Amarie.. please not here.."

She slowly turned away from the guy before speaking in a quiet tone, her accent seem to be showing off as well. "N-No.. I'm not a librarian. I'm a student.. and what are you doing here....?" Amarie asked before grabbing the bumped chair and plopping on it while staring at the bookshelves. Her sense was getting stronger, nothing of lust, but more of sensing other people's emotion as they walked inside of the library. She shook her head, placing both of her hands on her head before quietly whispering to herself while rocking back and forth.

Now was his turn to take a step back with hands raised in the universal peace gesture. His copmom had told him countless times about the bad things that happen to girls and to watch out for signs of PTSD like her wiggling fingers. Slowly he crouched until he was on his knees as she turned her back to him and started to rock while holding her shaking head.

Its a library, I'm here for a book before first period, American History. I'm Alex.

He was keeping the information in small bursts, nothing too complicated as she seemed to be having a fit. So many people get headaches from their powers or fucked up pasts it’s no surprise she is having some sort of attack. For him, because his is a physical mutation, his bones burn and muscles cramp or spasm like a grand maul seizure victim who can lift a quarter ton.

Do you need medicine? A specific help? Do I need to go away?

No no no, there was no way that this was happening to her right now. All she wanted to do was to get away from the students to try and take some time on her own but now this handsome teenager just appear out of no-where and speaks to -her- that was so unexpected and made Amarie want to glomp him. "N-No. No no no. It's fine.." she'd say before slowly standing up from the chair while making her way over to Alexander. Half of her face was covered by her beautiful brunette hair, though, she simply pushed her hair back to reveal her full facial expression. Which was a simple smile with her left hand extended right in-front of her. It has seem that now she was getting in-control of her empathic abilities. Amarie bit her bottom lips while staring into Alex's eyes as she spoke in a calmly tone of voice.

"My name is Amarie... I'm so sorry of what you saw back there... it's just. I have this ability that makes me sense and feel other people's emotions. And I don't have them controlled as of yet so I tend to stay away from others... but you... aren't feeling anything.. and I do not need no medicine.. I'm fine.... Amarie offered him a small smile while she stared at his eyes.[/center]

As she rose up from her chair to approach him, he slowly stood up as well, he was only half a hand-span taller than her so neither one was breaking their necks for eye contact. The way she had her hair over one eye reminded him a bit of Jessica Rabbit for a moment and all that entailed. But the moment passed as she moved the hair and bit her bottom lip while looking up at him while holding out her hand to him.

He took her offered hand with a smile but raised an eyebrow at that comment, surely he wasn't emotionless like she said. He was just in risk assessment mode when he thought she was in danger. Wasn't it? He'd always been taught to look at everything as options or tools, including people. It’s how you survive.
Mentally he tried to let himself relax with a thumb stroking over her first knuckles so of course the first thought in a teenage boy's mind bubbled up to the surface as he takes a second look at her wardrobe and physique.

A tone goes off overhead from the speakers, its soft but unmistakable ring of a grandfather clock. Crap he was going to miss history if he didn't go, and he didn't get the book! The mental walls came back up as he tried to map the fastest place out of here and to class. But he didn't let go of her hand just yet.
"I'm sorry but I got to go, I've got history with Finn. Do you have class or is this your free period?"

Amarie couldn't stop staring at the guy in-front of her. As their skin touched, there were a few things that Amarie thought about doing with this guy. Nothing sexual or anything though. Amarie pulled her hand back to her side, as she smiled at Alex before hearing the bell ringing. It was time for her class of the day, since she had missed the other class today, Amarie couldn't miss this one as well.

"Oh.. yeah.. I have history as well with Finn. I'm guessing we can go there..?"

she'd say with a smile before taking a few steps back away from Alex, wondering what they were going to do next.

"Oh! I forgot."

Amarie turned around, getting the book that Alex needed for his next class. It was closer to Amarie's table, so he was pretty lucky to have found her. She walked over to the guy, handing him the book before speaking in a nervous tone, and this was the first time that Amarie has ever gotten nervous around a guy like himself. This is the book... that you needed for our upcoming class. But we should kind of go now before they mark us late.." A small smile formed on her face, as she walked towards the door with hopes that Alex himself was following her.

The silence was anything but awkward as she took her hand back and stepped for some space as that smile of hers never faded. If she had the same class as him, that meant he couldn't run his 'minute mile' or do the encouraged parkour without piggybacking her or the like, that pulled a lot of routes off the table. Or did it?
She came back to him with a book, it wasn't the 'art of war' his tutor had asked for, but it WAS the library copy of the American history textbook he'd need in a minute, he didn't have time to pop off at his dorm or his locker. She just saved his bacon! Her voice seemed to flag a bit as she spoke up again about them having to go.

As he took the book from her, she led the way out of the library and he did not mind the view of walking behind her. Tucking the book into his duffel, the obvious kindness struck his mind as he picked his bag back up to leave."So, since we don't want to be late. Can I carry your books for you?"

There was something about Alex that surely made her act a bit nervous, she hasn't done that around anyone just only him. Why was it exactly...? Probably was because he is the first guy to have ever spoken to her without actually wanting to touch her or something. Amarie smiled at Alex, admiring his gentle nature, it was nice to see that he was a gentleman. "Mmm? no no no. It's fine.. Alex. I can uhh manage to carry them myself. But thank you for your nice gesture. You are very sweet..." she'd say with a smile before walking out of the room.

Sweet was a start, at least he didn't intimidate her, he just needed to keep his walls up; it seemed to comfort her if she can’t be in his head. He could guess it’s like a radio, listening to everyone's thoughts all at once would make anyone lobotomize themselves. People with mental discipline like him are probably a moment of silence in the never-ending noise.

*

It was just any other day, as drab and boring as any other, another day to be walking through the endless hallways of the academy, enduring mindless chatter with her classmates. But that was quickly changed soon as Alex appeared. Amarie wasn't possibly in love with Alex or anything. He just seemed to be there and it actually changed her ways of thinking. Guess not everyone in the academy is a stupid pothead, but then again Amarie didn't exactly know everyone in the academy. But their emotions did change her to think that way. And now they walked towards the classroom, Amarie pulled down her dress a bit since it was too high up, since her dress was short and obviously some of these boys have no self-respect.

Walking along behind, he saw she kept pulling on her skirt to lower the hemline. If she picked out the outfit, why would she keep trying to fix it? He got his answer in a threat assessment sweep at three identical guys all but drooling at the brunet. He popped open his survival kit in his pocket and emptied the contents into the fabric of his pants. It was all cursory wrapped in a hankerchief he can use for string or firestarter so it should stay contained until the end of class. A flick of the wrist and the one ounce of material flew from his hip to smack the blond in the middle hard enough to make his head snap back. The other two broke their eyes from her to see their friend with a bloody nose from an...Altoid case?
Chuckling to himself, he followed in a little closer to her as he put the bag on his shoulder, subconsciously showing off his muscles in a protective manner behind Amarie with the bag adding breadth to his frame. He held the door for her to go in first and two others before he got the opening to get inside before the bell rang.

*

The classroom was as eclectic as the teacher, he was an older man that reminded Alex of hellboy's dad meets Einstein. The seats were arranged in arced circles like a rainbow or a spiders web and each table had some sort of memorabilia on its surface on to of a stack of papers face down. Most of the other kids were manhandling the things on their desk and there were only a few seats left, but only two were side by side. One had a Rubix cube and the other had a Quill necklace.

History with Finn. Amarie -hated- history and she didn't know shit about it. It wasn't that Amarie wasn't smart, she is. She's just not focused and doesn't put much effort into something that she doesn't care about. Amarie already missed one class, she doesn't see the point of going to school where they were going to teach the students a subject that 'normal' schools could teach.
"Mmm. So, do you uhh want to sit together in class? Or perhaps they assign seats? It would be nice to sit next to you, s-since I know you and wouldn't want to be alone... and stuff.. but uh, what exactly is your power? If you don' mind me asking." her eyes slowly went onto his muscles, she stared them for a good of couple of seconds. It made her look a bit creepy, but knowing Amarie, she already was compared to what other students look at her as. She quickly snapped back to reality as her eyes went back onto Alex's waiting for his response.

"Sounds good to me, Amarie. Two by the window."
He smirked at the rhyme and took the lead now to stake his claim by setting his bag down on one seat to save it then take the other beside it, moving his bag out of the way when she came to sit and trying really hard to not look at the hem of her dress as she sat. He avoided the low hanging fruit of sitting at the American necklace and went for the puzzle instead. Besides, he could tell it was a tourist necklace by the thinner bands. There is no-gender distinction in most jewelry, but the number of bands can denote what would resemble rank or importance. There we no set rules and it varied from tribe to tribe.

"As for powers... I'm perfect." He broke into a wry chuckle and held up a warding hand before reprisal as his eyes so dark a brown they edged on black looked into her hazel gaze. "Alright, that is a bit of an exaggeration. I'm faster and stronger than normal humans and it seems to be still growing. When I first got discovered, I was twice as fast and strong as someone of my size. Now it's four. Before my awakening I could bench three hundred, not a record breaker by any means. Now I bench twelve hundred and can literally go a mile a minute. I also have the standard durability that comes with super strength so I don't break bones when I lift things."



Alex jumped a bit as the professor loomed over him with the bushy mustache and smelling of old leather. Satisfied that he had everyone's attention after that embarrassment, he began to wander up and down the rows or aisles of the students, clearly his wandering nature was the reason for the desk arrangement, there was no 'front' or 'back' to hide from him.

"Good morning class, I am Professor Finn and this is American History. Today we are going to start things off by learning about YOUR history. Before you is a piece of my collections and under that is one hundred questions, I want to know about you. Today's assignment is simple: each day, for the next fortnight, you will answer ten questions in class. You may choose to not answer ten of them for personal reasons, after that treat the remainder as hypothetical.
After those ten question are answered, you can leave. But, here is the catch, someone else must ask the ten questions on you and write your answer down in their hand on your sheet. You may pick the same person ten times and develop a repertoire with someone else or you may spend each day getting to know a little bit more of everyone else around you. But for today, ask ten and you are free to walk out the door.
I see we are at an odd number of students today, so I shall offer myself as someone to be asked or you may gather in groups and round-robin ask of each other."

He took a moment to reach up and take a grimy goblet made from a human skull off the book case and sip from its contents before speaking again. This theatrical gesture made some students gag.

"Mmm, cherry. In addition, your only homework is a fortnight project on the object on your desk. Not knowing this when you sat down, you may trade with someone else, but I prefer to think you chose your chairs based on what interested you on the desk. By next Freya-day I want one full page, times new roman, double spaced. You may begin and you are dismissed."

With that, the teacher took a seat in a student chair with a penny as its object of attention and turned over the pages to the assignment.


As Alex explained his powers, her eyebrows perked up with interest his abilities were far better than hers was and he actually knew what to do with them and had information about his abilities. Amarie in the other hand didn't control her powers, she was a bit off with them. "I am really interested in seeing how you show off your abilities...." Amarie smiled at Alex while biting her bottom lips softly as she turned her head to take out the books and her binder out of her bag. It was time for the teacher to start their classwork, and even a soft giggle escaped her lips when the professor called out Alex. Amarie looked up at the professor as he was instructing his students with the upcoming activity that they had to do. The project didn't sound so bad, and to be honest.. it was a good thing that they were going to do this. It was a perfect way for the others, to get to know each-other well.

The empath could feel pride and embarrassment rolling off of him while his walls were down. Alex didn't answer at first as he turned over the 100 questions and pulled out a mechanical pencil from his jacket still tied around his waist. Self-consciously from being pointed out by the teacher, he used the retrieval of the pencil to put his jacket back on over his bare arms and goggled a bit from the many questions, taking time to read over them all instead of just the top ten. As he looked them over, he put his pencil between his teeth like a bit & bridle to concentrate, showing off pearly whites and a purple keloid scar that ran down the middle of his tongue from about an inch back to the tip.
"Maybe after class I can show them off for you?"

Amarie's cheek turned slightly pink as she heard Alex speak about showing his abilities to her. It was the first time that she would see someone else showing off their powers to her, a soft giggle escaped her lips as she cuffed a string of her brunette hair behind her ear.

He watched her bite her bottom lip as he finished scanning the questions but tried to keep his wall up as he went over some of them a second to see what he would have to treat as theoretical and which he would have to avoid. Finally, he looked back up as he took the pencil out of his mouth to ask her: "So, want to do each other?" Eyes go wide and he face-palms himself at how that came out, embarrassment boiling off his skin now. He let the moment pass as he put his walls up for her. "You know what I mean, right? I'll as you the ten then you can ask me my ten, instead of back and forth. You don’t have to ask me the same ten back but if you want to get this over with we can do that too." To be honest, he hadn't realized just how personal he could get with her with some of these or his own answers.

Amarie reached for a pen and paper but quickly stopped as she listened to what Alex said about the two of them 'doing each-other'. Her eyes widened as a cough escaped her lips, she tilted her head to the side while staring at Alex. It was really awkward for him to have said that to her, but at the same time.. it was so adorable. Amarie laughed quietly before speaking with a nod, as if accepting his offer. "Yes, yes; we can totally do each-other." she teased him before staring at the questions that he has given to her. Amarie cleared her throat as she got ready to answer all of his questions,

What really makes you angry?
"What really makes me angry.... it would have to be... bullies. I dislike others bullying younger or weaker people."
This made Alex smile as they already had something in common. His parent’s situation made him an easy target growing up so he spent most of his time in the office for fighting bullies. Not even his own bullies, just bullies in general.

What is your favorite book to read?
"I like to read witch-craft books."
"As in historical and religious, or clearly fantasy and fiction? Are you Pagan?" It wasn't on the paperwork, he just wanted to know. His biological mom was Powatan and he grew up hearing the stories of his people while his mama was mexican catholic.

Would you rather vacation in Hawaii or Alaska, and why?
"I would rather go to Hawaii.. just because it's a beautiful place and I always wanted to go to the beach."
He jotted that down, picking hawaii as well in his head for vacation but alaska if he had to do any survival training. Vacations are for relaxing and he couldn’t focus in a paradise like that nor could he relax in freezing temperatures.

What is the best gift you have been given?
"I have never gotten a gift before."
He looked up at her like she grew a second head before writing that down, that would have to be something he fixed soon, everyone deserved a gift from someone. Would a nice buck knife be considered a bad gift?

How many pillows do you sleep with?
"Just one pillow.."
Then again maybe just a second pillow would be a good idea.

Would you rather trade intelligence for looks or looks for intelligence?
"To be honest... I'm not that intelligent.. and I am not that good-looking.. so I'll say.. I would prefer to trade my look for the intelligence. I prefer to be smart."
He nodded with an approving smile that they had another thing in common as he wrote it out. Mentally he disagreed against her self-demeaning statement but kept it to himself

How old were you when you learned Santa wasn't real? How did you find out?...Wait, Santa isn't real? I thought he was a really old mutant like apocalypse.
"I never believed in Santa..and I think he is...?"
Another to jot down, his moms had explained Santa a few ways to him over the years, but the upsurge in mutants gave them his answer that Santa had powers, just like him. Tt was a great comfort and something he planned to use if the situation ever came up.

What three items would you take with you on a deserted island?
"My teddy-bear... my clothes... and food..."
Clearly she wasn't a survivalist like him, but at least she remembered food and protection from the elements. Now he knew she has a teddy bear.

Who was your first crush?
"I have.. never had a crush before..."
"Really? Boys, girls, Moviestars or musicians? No one you ever liked but never told you liked them that way?"

How many languages do you speak?
"I just speak one language..."
"So where does the accent come from?"
"Well, I speak russian but not that much... it is why I have this accent.. heh.."

Amarie's face was already looking like a tomato, literally, her face was red from the questions and he was the only one who knew most about her. As she gave him the papers, she cleared her throat and asked him the questions for himself, with a bonus question just in-case he wasn't too confident in answering them all; This was actually a very exciting project for them to do and to be honest, Amarie couldn't wait to hear Alex's answers! Her eyes closed as she took a deep-breath, feeling Alex's emotions, her fingers wiggled a bit before slowly turning her head towards the prideful mutant. "Oh...? Someone feels pride but then embarrassment at the same time.. I wonder why...? I'm not the headmaster or anything. Just a regular girl who wears dark clothing...."

He watched her blush and smirked a bit, growing comfortable in her presence, but that soon paled as she poked holes in his emotional state. Now it was her turn to put herself forward as she pulled her hair away from her face to get ready for the assignment. Now it was her turn and she was blushing furiously at his questions but she could center herself as she probed him, with her empathy she could probably tell if he was lying or not. Damn, that would make her a great cop.

"Alright! So! Who is your hero?
I have a couple, both of my moms because one is a cop and the other is a fireman. Even without powers they risk their lives. For superheroes, I like Captain America cause we both have a lot of the same powers, but he got his as an adult and I've still growing into mine. Someone pointed out to me there are many Native X-men, so I'm going to find out more about them.

What do you do to keep fit?
Exercise, I run in the morning but Mr. Pierce has me doing freeunning now, it's like Parkour. After that I do weights in the Gym or else use my truck for lifting. I don't do swimming though.

What are your hobbies?
Well I'm a doomsday prepper, I always read the survival journals like "how to identify and eat wild flowers" and stuff like that, so for me I love camping and hiking. I spend time at the shooting range, I prefer the Taurus Judge .45 for handgun and the Mosberg 500 for shouldered pieces. And I tinker with my truck once a week.

What is your biggest fears?
Like actual Phobias? I can't swim, so I avoid deep water more than three feet. For the more out there stuff? I'm always afraid of when I hear about the things like New York cause my moms say my dad died on 9/11.

Where do you see yourself in ten years?
Well it depends on what happens to me. If my powers level out without any surprises, I'll probably be ten times as strong and fast as a human, so I'll want to do either the x-man thing or else be a firefighter like my Mom.

What is one thing you will never do again?
Try to keep a pet skunk. Smart as dogs, clean as cats... But the smell never really goes away.

Do you collect anything?
I'm always picking up stuff people leave behind to find a second use or survival function for something. I can turn a milk jug into an outdoor toilet paper dispenser with a knife and a chopstick. This leads a lot of people to call me a 'garbage digger' or 'eco-warrior' Like Danny, one of the people on my team. But, fuck'em-Er, sorry. So yeah, I collect survival stuff so I have a knife collection too. Um, anything not survival, I collect animes, sort of.

Are you a clean or messy person?
I try to be clean and I'd like to say my room is clean. But my hobbies are filthy, so let's say I am organized but grungy.

If you could share a meal with any 4 individuals, living or dead, who would they be?
Washington, Lincoln, Kennedy, Clinton and show them where their dreams for this country went wrong.

What really makes you angry?
Like you had said: Bullies. I found out about my powers when stopping some bullies gang up on a kid.

Who was your first crush?
Not to sound creepy, but probably my aunt, Tia. She's ten years younger than my Mama and ten years older than me. First time I met her I was 13 and this 23 year old came running through the house in a Bikini with a sarong to give me this big hug. It was a strong impression and I followed her around the house like a puppy for a week before she straightened me out.

Alex was surprised he found himself speaking so freely about some of this stuff. He had meant for simple answers to simple questions, but something about her made him feel okay to open up. The hazel eyes and long brown hair didn't hurt the sliver of pride trying to impress her. But she answered hers and he answered his.

Amarie was seriously interest in what Alex had to say, he was good-looking very sexy and his voice was perfect for his looks. It matched him well. As he started answering the questions, she couldn't help but to blush while her eyebrows perked up of how interesting his answers were. Amarie started to feel closer to Alex, she felt safe... she felt as if finally she had a friend that they could talk about anything. And more importantly, Amarie felt comfortable. "Haha, you had a crush on your aunt? That's so adorable!" she pinched his cheeks when the word 'adorable' came out of her mouth. Amarie giggled slightly before speaking once again, running her fingers through her brunette hair while ruffling a bit;. As the two finished their little team-work project, "Come on. We should talk more." she'd say with a bottom lip bite.

Amarie grabbed her things and stood up from her chair, she fixed the skirt part of her dress a bit before motioning Alex to follow her outside before bumping into one of the students. The student was a male and he obviously craved some incredible lust towards Amarie while he stared at her. Amarie's eyes widened, feeling the emotion running through her body as her eyes quickly moved over to Alex, she walked over to him before placing a hand over his left cheek. Slowly, her head leaned forward to plant a very passionate and sexual kiss on the lips. As soon as the lust student left the classroom, the emotion left with him, thus making Amarie come back to normal.
Her eyes widened, as she took a few steps back.. It was so embarrassing and now how the hell was she suppose to explain to Alex? He did know about her powers but it just happened too fast! "No no no, this cannot be happening.." and she ran out of the classroom.

Alex watched her face, trying to read the empath with what his copmom taught him about facial ticks and body language. He had noticed the way they had leaned in on each other as they talked over all the other voices of people sharing themselves. All in all it was quite intimate in more than one way to have shared all of this. Then the tenderness getting jarred a bit as she pinched his cheek.
"Haha, you had a crush on your aunt? That's so adorable! Come on. We should talk more."

As she moved to leave, she bumped into someone else, a male metamorph who was growing thick rows of spikes over scaly skin. There was a physical jolt in her movements as she looked around the room in overwhelmed confusion once before locking back on him. He had just looked away to gather up his things when he stood and found himself eye to eye with Amarie and a hand upon the same cheek she pinched a moment ago. It was his turn now to blush as she leaned in and kissed him passionately with more flicking of the tongue that he was ever expecting from someone like her.
He heard the huff and loud bang of someone knocking over a chair then the door slamming open, but that was nothing to the whoops and catcalls from the other students at the PDA for all to see. Just like it had come, it had left.
She broke the kiss just as he had the wherewithal to try and kiss her back and left with empty space and a horrified girl staring at him like he killed her cat. Next, she was out of the room behind the horny-toad.

Alex stood dumbfounded for a moment before professor Finn burst out.
"After her, you foolish boy!"

Oh, OH! Right! Off Alex ran after the empath, leaving his bag behind. His footsteps growing more faint as he ran south down the hallway... only to be heard running back up the hall and down the other way as he had gone left when she went right.

___________________________________________________

Though he had begun to grasp most of his self control by this point, Nathan hadn’t expected what happened during this little gathering he had created by mistake. The first thing to note was how the young teen Casper, who was in appearance almost still a boy, had coldly just walked away after making sure that Nathan was going to be okay. That was strange enough as it is, but he could handle it. Then Ali spoke to him, obviously trying to sooth him and get his mind off of the negativity that had just happened. Her words actually completed their mission to a small extent and just seeing a friendly face seemed to help him tremendously more than he could have guessed. The redhead asked him about his powers after caringly scolding him for jumping in front of the blast so recklessly. She seemed to care even though she didn’t know him...that was a new experience for him, and something that truly meant more than he could ever relay. As he was preparing an answer for her regarding her question on his abilities the rhyming pattern of strangeness struck again. The stranger among them, the beautiful brunette that had come to his aid despite having never met him, stepped forward and reached out, advancing on him seemingly in an attempt to touch his face. With caution and curiosity, he let her.

As her fingers touched his cheek he felt it, her abilities activate. In an instant she was inside his head, not in his thoughts but in his emotions. He sensed her feeling his anger as though it was her own and he could tell that she was getting the full blast of anxiety, sadness, resentment, hatred, darkness, and rage that blew about the storms in his head. Thank god she couldn’t see his memories. He felt violated at first, but after only a few seconds he began to feel understood to a degree that he had never been before. She backed away from him quickly, her eyes still closed.

“I...I have to go….” She spoke, never looking at either of the remaining participants of this event and suddenly turned to leave. Nathan watched in shock and quiet as she walked away. There was a rather long, awkward moment of silence before he turned back towards Ali, remembering her question. He looked on at her with a look that explained all too well that he didn’t know what the hell was going on, but after shaking his head a bit in acceptance he replied to her.

“Umm...Sorry about that I guess. I uh...Yeah my powers let me absorb different types of energy. I’m not exactly sure about the extent of it, but that’s pretty much what I am.” He forced himself to smile, which honestly felt good in this situation given the madness that had just occurred. “I’m really sorry that I scared you...It wasn’t my intention at all. I’m an idiot. I didn’t even think about it being some kind of test I just did the only thing to think of to save you...and everyone else. I didn’t know what else to do. All I’m good at is taking a hit I guess.” He chuckled nervously a bit after the last part of his reply before adopting a more serious expression. “Thanks, by the way, for uh...coming after me. I just needed a minute to breath. I’m sorry for worrying you all. It means a lot though, really. I’m not used to people caring like that.”

Damian Hill

Not seeing anyone in sight, Damian walked back into his room, changed out of his pajamas, and into a more presentable set of clothing. More specifically, he was now wearing a pair of jeans, a solid black t-shirt, and a red hoodie. If one were to know his powers, they'd understand why it was that he had such a disdain for bright light and why the hood was pulled so far over his head. To anyone that didn't know his powers though, he most likely looked very unsociable and like he was trying to avoid people, when it was quite the opposite.

As Damian was walking through the hallway, he spotted a vending machine filled to the brim with candy, snacks, and other unhealthy goodness. His stomach growled at the sight and forced the boy to begin digging into his pockets for loose change. Nothing. Not even a dollar. Why couldn't my parents have given me some money for things like food. Turning away from the crowded display of junk food, he turned to the students passing by him. "D-Does anyone have a... dollar?" he asked quietly. When his question went unanswered, he tried again by asking other students individually. The responses he got back ranged from the polite, "No sorry," to the rude, "Leave me alone." No one seemed willing to give the shy student a handout.

Anyone paying attention to Damian might have noticed his shadow beginning to change shape as it inched toward the vending machine. They wouldn't want us to starve would they? No one would notice if I- The thought was cut short as the boy's conscious spoke up. That wouldn't be the right thing to do. Damian's shadow soon returned to its normal form as he slumped against the container filled with junk food in defeat.

Staring out the window, Casper's attention was at the teacher as he spoke, but he didn't bother laying his eyes on the whiteboard they had set up. This room appeared to be a remodelled break room, something that used to contain sofas and coffee tables and as such was rather quaint. Housed within its four walls were as much as thirteen students all sitting at their individual desks. Rather than sitting down himself, the teacher stood so that he could walk about freely in front of the class. Given his rather passionate way of expressing knowledge, this was a welcomed addition. In lack of better words, the man was rather entertaining. "Would anyone like to share their thoughts?" The teacher continued, gazing upon his class with a bright smile. Mutant Social Science was among the most interesting classes to Casper but even so the boy was barely looking at the teacher, never mind the other students. He was more interested in the scene unfolding outside the window. Grass moved in a soft motion, the wind licking past each strand in a careful wave washing over the sea of green, trees gently danced in tune with mother nature's long breaths and birds traveled freely across the sky. How could something be so beautiful in a world so utterly fucked up? It was truly astonishing to see the blatant contrast between nature's beauty and humanity's disastrous tendencies. "I believe your name is Casper, no?" The teacher zeroed in on the boy daydreaming by the large window, the bright smile still ever present on his lips.

"Huh...? Oh, what does he want...?" Straightening his back slightly, the boy looked into his teacher's eyes and returned an answer. "Yeah..."

"If I would ask you; What leads mankind to fear us, what would be your response? Of course, take note everyone that this class is here to encourage discussions and critical thinking."

"The fuck does he want to know...? People are idiots...that's it. Though, I am guessing I should give him a better response than that crap." Preparing an answer, Casper leaned back in his chair before turning his eyes down to the notebook on his desk for a moment. "Guess it's reasonable to fear someone who can shoot fire outta' their ass..." The boy shrugged for a moment, earning a few snickers from the rest of the class, even the teacher. He was not done, however. "Fear comes from ignorance...if you know how to beat your enemy, you won't fear em'...Wait until every human says hello with a firearm, and you'll see how the fear goes away...

The other students looked at the boy and blinked in shock. Had he seriously just jumped to something as dark as death as a simple answer to fear? At this point, there was some whispering going on in class but none of it seemed to phase Casper as he sat looking into the teacher's eyes with the boy's usual, bored expression on his face. "Are you saying that non-mutants are our enemies?" The teacher maintained a calm mood and still sported his bright smile, quite obviously used to debates.

"You tell me..."

"I believe it's not so black and white. You are right to say that fear comes from ignorance, but is there a way to remove this ignorance?"

Moving his bangs from his forehead, Casper responded. "You can teach all ya' want...people who don't want to listen...won't..."

"So you're saying that teaching, knowledge, cures ignorance? Indeed, it's a fact most would deem obvious but it is much deeper than an obvious truth. Many fear knowledge itself because we find safety in our established truths. Fearing mutants is an established truth, we appear dangerous and thus fearing us is a person's response." The man wrote a few lines on the whiteboard. "As you say, how can we teach someone who does not want to listen?"

"Force em'" Another student added, laughing as she did.

"We could try to appeal to them. I mean, every mutant is someone's child, right? A lot of students here have been thrown out of their homes because of what they are." A second student presented his opinion. "While that's horrible, I don't think most parents would do that. What I'm trying to say is that we need to make them see the misery of their actions."

"Ah! You're saying we should use emotions to get our point across." The teacher nodded, writing the words 'Emotional Enlightenment' on the whiteboard.

"He thinks we can stop this shit with rainbows and glitter...? Worked in My Little Pony, I guess..." Casper listened to several students mentioning their solutions to the issue, and all of it made sense in one way or another, but with the boy's incredibly cynical view of life, he didn't think that any of it would help. Sure, some people would love you no matter what but those that actually stood in power tended to follow the same cycle of incompetence.

"I think most people who hate us are too old to learn or too young be critical of what they're told." Someone actually made a lot sense with that sentence. "A lot of the hatred towards us includes all of us, no matter what we can do. My mutation allows me to repair objects that I touch, I can't really hurt anyone with that power. I have been attacked several times for being a mutant, though. People are told to hate mutants, not powers." A lot of sense indeed and he was right. Casper couldn't physically hurt anyone with his powers either, neither could many of the students in the academy. A lot of them had passive abilities or even mending abilities that did the complete opposite of harming anyone but yet they fell under the same category as the person able to burn a building down with a thought.

"I agree..." Casper spoke up again after a while of silence. "This shit seeps down from the top...from the old to the young...either we get to kids first and convince them that their peers are retarded, or we go for those who are too afraid to listen..."

The discussion continued for the remainder of the class, many interesting ideas and theories popping up but eventually they had to end the lesson. There wasn't going to be any homework as of yet, but the class was urged to think about this in a critical manner and learn how to deal with the politics of the outside world with thick skin. It was good to hear everyone's opinions on this and Casper could quite clearly establish that most of them still had hope for coexistence despite the shit they had all gone through. "Maybe there's still some strength in these broken shells..." Saying that Casper had given up was taking it too far, but he wasn't expecting change anytime soon. Also, he had a hard time believing that mutants could reach the hearts of others when friends and family stood much closer. It was going to be difficult to say the least.

Turning his music on, Casper started down a corridor on his way to the boys' dorms. Moments after he did, saw Captain Native storm by. "Seriously...?" What was up with him? Everyone had an issue, didn't they? Standing up, Casper walked away from the corridor only to see a girl running past him, the same girl he had seen before who made it her business to touch Nathan's face. "Uh-huh..." It didn't take long before the boy laid eyes on a toad like creature who also seemed to be in a hurry, albeit not as much as the other two. "What the fu-...fine! Shit's off here...I get it! Fuck..." Just like any other school, huh? A native, a chick and a toad ran down the hall, it sounded like a freaking start of a joke. "If they were looking for each other, it's fucking hilarious how they all went in different directions...heh. Oh well..." Was this what it was like to have friends? Running around the corridors looking for each other? Honestly, that appeared more entertaining to see rather than being part of.

Returning to his dorm, Casper sat down on his bed and breathed out, reaching for the cellphone in his pocket. It was around 10.00am, what was up next? Rummaging for his schedule, the boy stretched his hand into his bag and wrapped his fingers around something he had often used against his brother. A soft chuckle left his lips as he retracted his hand and saw the airsoft pistol he had managed to acquire. "You actually put this in my bag, Leo...? I miss you..." His eyes lingered upon the battery driven airsoft pistol he had used vigorously in 'combat' with his brother throughout the house. The scoldings they got for making a mess was always just around the corner but when their parents joined in, things just escalated to a full out war. The boy couldn't help but laugh at the thought, his fingers wrapping around the plastic handgun. "I'm doing well...I hope you are, too..."

Ali watched the scene between Nathan and the pretty brunette with surprise. She couldn't put a name to the face and judging by ht elook on Nathan's face, he didn't know her either. When she reached out though, to touch the boys cheek lightly, it became rather clear that this was a mutant power thing. It didn't take long. She back away quickly, then turned, excusing herself as she started hurriedly leaving them behind. Not exactly an uncommon occurence in this school, unfortunately. They were, after all, all still learning to handle and control their powers and for some that meant having to be on their own to calm down. For some, it was even dangerous if they lost it in the presence of other people.

Ali watched her leave silently, Nathan did as well. She turned back around, feeling a little awkward and still sort of waitng for him to remember and answer her questions. At least, it looked like he had calmed down usfficiently for now.

“Umm...Sorry about that I guess. I uh...Yeah my powers let me absorb different types of energy. I’m not exactly sure about the extent of it, but that’s pretty much what I am.” The smile that followed seemed rather forced, but Ali didn't comment, just smiled reassuringly back at him and let him talk on. “I’m really sorry that I scared you...It wasn’t my intention at all. I’m an idiot. I didn’t even think about it being some kind of test I just did the only thing to think of to save you...and everyone else. I didn’t know what else to do. All I’m good at is taking a hit I guess. Thanks, by the way, for uh...coming after me. I just needed a minute to breath. I’m sorry for worrying you all. It means a lot though, really. I’m not used to people caring like that.” She was a little surprised at how seriously he said the last part. Sure they had pretty much only just met, but they were going to be a team and she thought it was the right thing to do to care about your teammates, even if things had only just gotten started.

"No need to apologize, Nathan." she told him warmly, with a smile. "Really. We're going to be a team and so we'll obviously see much more of each other, so I think it's a given that we should look after each other. And I was just startled at, actually, at pretty much everything that happened in there." she gestured back towards the Training Center. "Certainly would have helped if we had all known what the others could do. Actually, I think what they did, you know, locking us in there and putting on that show and making us fear for our lives, was horrible. Even I'm angry, and I don't exactly get angry easily." She grimaced. "So, like I said. Don't worry. And don't apologize. We did what we could, I guess. I mean, you all I managed was make two people vanish and then I was pretty much useless. My power isn't exactly very useful in a fight." She decided that was quite enough of babbling on about herself. "I'm just glad you're alright." she allowed herself to add.

Alison glanced back at the school. "Do you need some more time? Or do you have classes to get to?" She quietly wondered to herself how much they'd already missed wit the whole TC thing. She guessed the teachers knew about it and wouldn't make a fuss overmissing some classes, though.

At this point in time, Valentina didn't know what to do. She should be in class, the problem with that is she's already graduated from high school. She was skipped a year of school due to her father's meddling, and graduated early but she didn't know of any mutant colleges, so this is where she was at. Technically in America she should be just starting her junior year, so she decided to mostly take electives as well as a couple science classes, since she always liked the sciences. An easier senior year than she had the first time around, to say for sure.
Even easier if she never showed up to class, which she actually really felt bad about. She had never slacked on her school work, never missed a day, never missed a minute.

She felt bad for it, especially as she approached the instructor.
"Miss Naryshkina, how nice to see you today. I was beginning to think that I would have to hunt you down. I heard you hadn't been seen since this morning." Tabby was one of her favorite teachers, ever. Not that she had much competition, since her teachers had the threat of death looming over them if they messed up. It didn't make for good conversation.

"I'm sorry Professor." Val wanted an excuse, something to explain why she hadn't shown up but she didn't. Tabby eyed her for a long moment before she nodded.

"While I understand why they do what they do, I don't quite agree with them. Scaring teenagers isn't why I started working here. Still, it's always good to show students their enemy. That way they are informed of what their up against." Tabby mused and Val stayed silent on that point.

"Well, since you missed my class, you can spend your free period making it up. We were just continuing on our watercolor paintings. You know by know where the things are." Tabby smiled vividly at her and Valentina smiled back at her, a lot less vividly but a smile none the less.

Valentina grabbed her half done work, the paints and her brushes. She stayed for an hour before Tabby finally let her go. She cleaned up quickly before she meandered her way through the halls. She didn't have another class for awhile, actually.

She eventually came across a student asking for money to get something from the vending machine. She leaned against the wall and watched him for a few minutes before she decided to speak up.

"If you're hungry, the food in the cafeteria is free." Val offered him with a raised eyebrow.

"Otherwise, there's this neat little trick that I've come across." Val pushed off the wall and over to the vending machine. She hit it and zapped just a bit of herself into it, overloading something, and a pop tart fell down to the bottom. She bent over and grabbed it before handing it to the kid.

"I'm Valentina by the way, but you can call me Val." Valentina had already decided to shorten her already shortened moniker to the American standard.

___________________________________________________

“Do you need some more time? Or do you have classes to get to?”. Allison asked him caringly. He actually hadn’t memorized his schedule yet, but knew that he wasn’t supposed to have another class today until around lunch time. The other part of her question would be much harder to answer. He did need more time, in fact he didn’t know if he was ever going to get over what had happened...what he had done. He wanted to explain to her why he was so screwed up, everything that had gone down during his early years, and the events that happened the night that his “powers” were awakened… At first he had perceived them as more of a curse than a gift, because SHE had used his abilities as the sickest form of blackmail to brainwash him into doing whatever she demanded of him. The she that was referring to was his mother, his sick and vile human being of a mother. He was losing it again, but only on the inside. Thankfully he realized in time to pull himself back together. That bitch was dead anyways, even though no one but him knew that it was by his hands.

“No I think that I’ll be alright...eventually.” Nathan answered with an obvious honesty, finally gathering the courage to look Allison in the eyes for more than just a millisecond. Her eyes were a soft green, as stunning as could be. She was honestly one of the most beautiful girls that he had ever seen, far too beautiful for someone like him; he understood that and so he didn’t even fantasize about that possibility...even though in this moment of vulnerability he was wishing that he would. Her kindness had truly meant a lot to him and he hoped that she could sense that. “I don’t have class for a few hours so I guess I have a bit of free time ahead of me. I hope that I’m not causing you to be late for anything Ali. I appreciate everything just now and I’ll go ahead and stop wasting your time and let you get back to it.” He smiled at her, this time genuinely with warmth. “And don’t for one second discount what you did in there. You were great. I don’t blame them for throwing us into the fire like that, it was test…an example of what we might be up against one day. Given the circumstances I think that we did as good as we could have, and you were a part of that.” After finishing his words he smiled at her again. “I’ll let you get back to being amazing….see you later.” He backed up against the fountain and took a seat on the side. He didn’t really have anywhere to go and the running water was very tranquil to him. He assumed that she was probably wanting to get back to her business and he felt like he had wasted enough of her time.

Pulling the trigger, Casper felt the gun's light recoil traveling down his hand as he shot down a can he had put up on the other side of his room. The tiny BB bullet connected with the aluminum exterior of the can and knocked it down to the floor. Its contents had been emptied already so there was no risk of spilling soda over the floor and Casper's fanatical view on keeping it tidy would be severely triggered if he managed to make a mess. He picked the can back up and tossed it in the trash before dropping the gun into his bag. This peaked some craving he hadn't been able to satisfy since he got to the academy. He wanted to shoot something. Despite his fragile and innocent appearance, Casper was a gun nut. He loved firearms, he loved shooting and he loved spending time at the shooting range. This was the one thing he wanted to do in the Danger Room but it wasn't like he'd be allowed to go in there by himself and activate a simulation on his own.

Unlocking the door, Casper stepped out of the remodelled walk in closet and started down the corridor, his hands in the pockets of his cargo pants. Was it even allowed to walk around with an airsoft pistol in your bag? Captain Native walked about with a fucking arsenal of real weapons. It was a mystery that he hadn't been scolded for that. Either the whole power thing downed the weapon rules or everyone at the academy was just too laid back to give a shit.

"Hm, you again?" Looking up, Casper was torn from his thoughts and stood face to face with the same young man he had bumped into last time.

"Are you fuckin' kiddin' me...? Shit, I wish the gun was real..." Crossing his arms, the boy raised an eyebrow as he watched the much larger male speak to him. They had almost bumped into each other again. "Whaddya' want...?"

"Has anyone told you that you've got a bad attitude?"

"Yup..." Casper nodded, completely agreeing with him.

"Why? You're going to get your ass kicked one day, kid."

"Happens..." Casper shrugged but he wasn't too tempted to keep the conversation going with this guy. He obviously had an issue with the kid but Casper wasn't exactly good at solving issues his attitude tended to create. It was a shame, truly. Casper was in fact a good guy, he was just not letting that side out very often. He probably knew that more than half of the arguments he ended up in could be solved with ease but he chose not to because he was a stubborn ass. Giving the much larger male the cold shoulder before he could respond, Casper walked past him but felt his arm being grabbed before he was pressed against the wall.

"Kid, you should really learn to show some respect. See, I don't usually get pissed, but you're something else, you know that?"

"Uh-huh..." Despite facing a person more than twice his size, Casper appeared completely calm in a nearly apathetic way. He looked into the larger boy's eyes without averting his gaze once.

"I could snap you like a twig, so why do you keep intimidating me?"

"Insecure...?" Casper's one word response tightened the grip the larger boy had around him. It was safe to say that no matter what Casper said from there on out wasn't going to make the situation any better. "Oh well...so much for goin' to a school where I'd 'fit in'. Sorry, ma'."

"Are you calling me insecure?" With clenched teeth, the larger male was starting to get highly flustered. Whatever button Casper had pushed, it was the right one.

"Big ears..."

"That's it! Since the moment I saw you, you've been nothing but a little asshole!" Easily throwing the boy to the floor, Casper was then pulled up by his shirt and shoved against the wall again. "Having an attitude like that in a place where everyone's super powered is a bad idea, kid."

"What's yours...?" Casper spoke, his hands on the male's clenched fists. The boy was easily outmatched but his pride prevented him from backing out. Well, that and the iron grip he was stuck in. "Butthurtness...?"

"For fuck sake, that's it!" Punching the smaller boy in the gut, the young man grabbed him by the throat. "Are you still snarky, huh?"

"'Bout...that..." Casper managed, a grin crossing his lips as he forced his words out moments before he kicked his captor between the legs. It was a cheap shot, but Casper wasn't one for honor. The kick wasn't enough to set him free, but it was enough to catch his opponent off guard before he managed to squirm out of the grip and moved away.

"You little shit!"

"Heh..." Standing a few feet from each other, Casper had the chance to run away but he didn't take it. Sure the kid was nimble and was good at not getting hit, but in the end he would probably lose this fight. "Oh well, I mean...it was about fucing time..."

“I’ll let you get back to being amazing….see you later.” he finished with a smile and went to sit down by the fountain. Ali blinked, utterly surprised at the complete change she had just witnessed. She honestly couldn't remember the last time anyone had been that sweet to her. Especially because of Nathan's social awkwardness, which was hard to miss especially if you paid some attention, and the fact that it had taken him most of their conversation to so much as look up and really meet her eyes as he talked. And then he actually smiled at her and she found that expression definitely suited him very well. In fact, he was quite handsome. Which was probably not a thought she should think further considering that they were going to be working together for quite some time.

Alison looked at him sitting there and before she could think too much about it, sat down next to him. Not too close, in case he would be uncomfortable with that, but obviously beside him. "You're no trouble, honestly. I don't have class until after lunch." She had the vague suspicion that their schedules had been lined up with those team-meeting and all the ones they were going to have. "And I still think it was a bit too much, for a test. Although I guess they meant to shock us. Which certainly worked. Also, it gave quite the opportunity to see how our teammates are going to react in that sort of situation and what to expect from them." For example, Alex would have to be reigned in a bit to keep him from going off on his own to be a hero, Danny was really reliable to do what he could to help his teammate out even if he was sort of pushed into it and Nathan was actually the hero type without even knowing it himself. Ali was still processing everything else that had happened. It seemed that would take a while.

She glanced over at him. "You don't mind if I sit with you for a bit, do you? Tell me if you do, I promise I won't take it the wrong way. Actually, always do. I'm very patient and really hard to anger, just so you know." she told him earnestly, letting her eyes wander around the school grounds in her field of vision. She waited for him to answer, to give him a chance to do what she had pretty much just asked of him, to make sure she wasn't being a bother.

Finishing their meals, Conner and Kimberly moved on to their classes.

"So what's our classes?" Kimberly asked Conner.

"I think they were... Social Studies? No wait, Mutant Social Studies, that was it," Conner replied.

The two made it to class, which was a blur. Conner merely listened to the debate of mutants and ignorance, never interjecting himself, while Kimberly zoned out every now and again.

The two kids then went their separate ways, going back to their rooms. Conner took his usual route back, plopping into bed after entering. Conner grabbed a book from a nearby bag and began reading it from a page he had bookmarked. Some time passed, and Conner began hearing an occasional tap sound from his window. Wondering what could possibly be causing that, Conner closed his book and looked outside, only to find Kimberly throwing pebbles from a perch on a tree branch. As she gave a wave, Conner opened the window and said to her, "The hell are you doing? Get down from there!" Kimberly's response was to come closer and leap, catching the edge of the window sill and pulling herself up. "I got a bit bored, ok?" Kimberly replied, still hanging.

Conner sighed, then helped her up into his room, Kimberly barely managing to fit through the window. Crisis averted, Kimberly dusted her hands off on her shorts, then looked around and said, "Nice room."

Conner, annoyed, said, "Kimberly, don't ever do that again."

"Why not?" Kimberly asked. "I did it all the time at your place, and I made sure that the tree was safe."

"Even back home, I told you not to do it. You know how dangerous it is, and I don't care how careful you are," Conner said. "This is the second floor. I don't want to see you get hurt because of some stupid stunt."

"Mm-hmm, I see," Kimberly said, a smirk on her face as she leaned towards him.

Conner, realizing he had said too much, decided to change the subject. Clearing his throat, he said, "Alright, fun's over, I'm getting you out of here." Conner also muttered under his breath, "You're lucky my roommate isn't in yet."

"Come on, I just got here," Kimberly whined, but allowed herself to be dragged away.

As Conner was about to turn a corner, he suddenly stopped and held Kimberly back. "Wait. Someone's there," Conner said quietly. Kimberly couldn't resist peeking around the corner as well, seeing Casper and another guy having a confrontation. "Should we go help him?" Kimberly asked. "No, let's go find another path," Conner replied. Kimberly continued looking, concerned, and saw the argument getting physical. "Conner, come on, or I'll go without you," Kimberly urged. Conner had an inner turmoil for a second, then sighed and muttered, "Dammit."

Conner extended his arms for a hug, to which Kimberly smiled and gave. As the two embraced, their silhouettes turned white and merged together into an orb, which then transformed into a young woman with blonde hair and a suit. Wasting no more time, the woman rushed around the corner, quickly stepping between Casper and the aggressor. "You have one chance to back off or you face us," the woman warned the aggressor.

---

---

Danny couldn't help but give a slight smirk on his way to the garden after having a pleasant conversation with his peers that apparently he would be working with the duration he stayed at the institute. They were an interesting batch to say the least and if they were a hot mess now, he dreaded how they would be down the road. Hopefully they would improve before they found themselves in a real situation that could cost them their lives. Caspar seemed to have that fuck all attitude while Miranda seemed a bit flustered at times which was an interesting dynamic within the group atmosphere. Danny had been exceptionally curious to what Miranda could do since she had missed out on the training session and was eager to find out a little bit more about her as well as 'small pint.' That boy was something else and seemed to have a small confidence about him despite his introverted nature. Something told him that there was more to that boy than meets the eye which wasn't much since he was only a whopping five feet tall. Danny was the type to get along with pretty much everyone and tried his best to stay away from conflict or anything that would cause a problem. However when it came to lecturing those on the importance of recycling and not littering, all of that went out of the window.

The red haired boy closed his eyes and let the rays of the sun sink into his smooth skin that felt like a battery getting recharged after a long day of usage. Replenishing his body with nourishment with some sun afterwards really made all the difference to his body more than the average person. He made his way through the bushes that came to about his waist and sprouted his hands above them as he passed by. One by one, the bushes began to grow slightly more and developing a more green color all in a matter of seconds. Cute little flowers even began to sprout sporadically on the branches of the bushes just to provide some color that would be easy on the eyes. He was in his element. Taking care of his babies and making sure they were in tip top shape. Even though he did water his flowers daily, sometimes he did get a little impatient and decides to accelerate the process. In actuality he didn't even need to provide them anything, he could just grow them instantaneously with no effort. He wanted them to grow naturally as it would be all the more satisfying that he knew he didn't have to resort to other means; which rarely he ever kept to.

With just a few minutes to tend to his plants, he made his way indoors to get to his first class which was AP Biology. Even though he excelled in all of his classes, this one in particular was obviously his favorite as it hand to do with living organisms and even plants. Danny took a seat in the front of the class like the overachiever he was when the lecture had began. Today they were going to be discussing the importance of food chains and why they were necessary in an ecosystem. The instructor looked about to see who had an answered and called on a girl who had been sitting next to Danny.

"Natural selection. The weak die off leaving the strong to survive. We need this for our world to survive and function. We have plants and bacteria, the lowest on the totem pole, and then its insects, then animals and lastly humans. We're the dominant species," she said, rambling on twirling her platinum blonde hair. Before she could finish her statement, Danny couldn't help but interject as some of the points she was making really got under his skin.

"Plants are not the lowest on the totem pole. They provide equal validity like other creatures on this Earth. Without plants, this planet would be nothing," Danny said sternly.

"Duh I just said that. We need plants in order for the food chain to function. The only purpose they serve is to be eaten by us and to be chopped down for shopping malls." Everyone erupted in laughter as Danny sat there with a frown on his face. What an idiotic statement one could ever make.

"And the only reason why they get chopped down is because humans are a virus to this planet. We treat Earth like a step child and we're destroying it with all of these chemicals that we're releasing into the air. This planet is dying and we need to do something to help it."

"Oh god here he goes again with another one of his nature agenda rants. Can't we just enjoy class in peace with hearing why salads can cure cancer or why processed meat his bad for us? Newsflash, get over it Flower boy. Things are never going to change." She rolled her eyes, taking out her lip gloss to reapply to her pink lips.

"Not for long. Plants are going to start fighting back. Nature is the most powerful thing on this planet and we're foolish to underestimate her. We should learn to cherish what we have," he said standing up as if he was giving a monologue. Sometimes he couldn't help himself when it came to standing up for what he believed in. He stayed quiet on most things but when someone decides to mock nature, he couldn't let it slide.

"Alight class, settle down. Moving on from this topic..." The professor rolled her eyes and began moving on with the lesson. Danny sighed angrily and sat back down in his chair crossing his legs and arms. They would all see soon that plants were nothing to make fun of.

Damian Hill

Damian looked up from the ground when he saw the blonde girl's feet in the edges of his peripheral vision. "If only I knew where the cafeteria was," he replied in a lighthearted tone while rubbing the back of his neck. It may have sounded like a joke, but he was actually serious. The boy had gotten completely lost while exploring the campus and wasn't even sure which direction the lunch room could possibly be.

He watched in amazement as he saw the girl he had just met make the snack machine cough up a single pop-tart. He accepted it with a grateful smile across his face. "That's amazing. Thank you," he said to her. As he began to open the small, frosted pastry, he stopped for a moment as he realized that he just accepted something what was technically stolen merchandise. The thought quickly passed and Damian took a large bite of the sugary rectangle. He shouldn't feel bad right? After all, it's not like he was the one who stole it.

After swallowing the piece of the pop-tart that he was eating, the boy replied, "M-My name's Damian. I don't have a shorter name for you to call me by unfortunately." At first, he began to chuckle at his own joke, but Damian quickly realized that it wasn't really that funny and the small laugh seemed to awkwardly end all of a sudden. "It's nice to meet you though, Val." Suddenly remembering that most greetings usually involved shaking hands, Damian's hand shot out like a bullet as he tried to make up for forgetting his manners. "So how'd you do that with the machine. Do you have technopathy or something?" he asked before realizing that she might not realize what that meant and adding on, "That's the ability to talk to machines."

Laying his eyes on the new arrival, the young man looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "If you knew how much of an ass this kid is, you wouldn't protect him." She appeared to be older than a student, a teacher perhaps`? Neither Casper nor the aggressor had seen this person before. Was she new? Had she just arrived? Perhaps she was an older student or a teacher who hadn't been introduced yet.

"He's right..." Casper nodded, placing a hand by his hip with a grin stretching across his lips.

"Shut up, you!" For a five foot tall little guy, Casper knew exactly how to tick people off and that wasn't a feat to be very proud of but he wore it like a badge. It could have been because of his apathetic view of the world, his pure lack of care. No one had managed to get close to his heart and make him give a crap, so to speak. Since he actively pushes everyone away, getting close to him is that much harder. One could call it a chore.

"Who the hell is this chick...? Ugh, I don't wanna' be 'saved'. I don't need anyone to step into my fuckin' battles..." Raising his hand, the boy scratched the back of his head before grabbing a hold of his headphones and slipped them over his ears. "Cya..."

"Wait, what!? You're not running away!"

"Walkin'..." Casper returned, calmly walking away from the battle with music now blasting into his ears. At this point one could start noticing a trend. Everytime he felt like he could leave, he actually did. He didn't thank the new arrival nor did he show any kind of appreciation of her interferral. Her standing in the way prevented the aggressor from following him, though. "Say thank you, Casper...C'mon, you can do it. Come on...Show some appreciation to the person who gave a fuck..." Stopping dead in his tracks, Casper turned around, almost a forced action before he finally managed to utter a 'thank you' with his light and quiet voice. "Thanks, Lady..."

"You do not deserve to be saved, kid. I swear, one day you'll piss off someone much worse than me and you'll end up with all your teeth knocked out." Turning around, the young man walked away from the scene, frustration quite apparent in his body language. Once he turned around the corner he was gone but at this point, so was Casper. Casually walking down the corridor, the boy couldn't help but sigh, his eyes trailing the floor beneath his feet.

"Why did she do that...? The fuck does someone have to gain from getting involved with me?" Clenching his teeth, the boy walked outside the mansion and stepped onto the large green field stretching out around the building. A warm breeze immediately struck, washing over his exposed arms and skin in a gentle fashion before passing him by. It was calm outside, a source of silence he would enjoy for a while. Closer to the gate he noticed a large tree where he could sit down and relax for a moment, his thoughts traveling in every possible direction. Dropping down against the tree's trunk, the boy sighed heavily and pulled his legs up to his chest, resting his chin against his knees. "Why are people so obsessed with getting close to each other...? Why waste their time on saving me when they could just go and do whatever...? It's not like I have anything to give back to them." His eyes trailed down to a small dandelion growing out of the grass inches from where he was sitting. It was calmly swaying in the wind, its yellow shape ever lingering as it danced in front of the boy. "A team...huh...? How well can I trust these people, anyway? It's not like we're soldiers or anything...we're just a bunch of fucking kids thrown together..." Loosening the grip around his legs, Casper moved to a more comfortable position and resting his chin against his palm.

"Such a beautiful school." The sudden voice brought Casper back to reality and revealed man stepping through the gates. They weren't locked, so anyone could come and go. He was dressed in all white, an expensive suit stretching across his body with a vest licking his thin frame beneath. Something that stuck out quite clearly in all the white was the rose shaped cufflinks he was wearing. Casper remained silent, simply observing this man. He had an aura about him, something that could easily draw people in but it wasn't a mutation, nothing akin to mind control or charm, it was natural grace. "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe." The man continued, placing a hand on his heart as he spoke. He didn't appear to walk any further however, content by only watching the large building from where he was standing.

"What...?" Finally speaking up, Casper stood and kept on his guard. There was soemthing about this guy who rubbed him the wrong way. He was too perfect.

"A quote from the Good Book, dear child." The smile on this man's face was enough to calm a lion. Was he a mutant? He had to be. "It is wonderful to see a steadfast castle such as this housing the future of this world within its protective walls."

"What? What the hell is up with this guy?

Turning to see the boy head on, this man offered him a respectful bow, placing his hand in front of him in a noble manner as he did so. "You are quite the silent child. My name is Gabriel, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, young one."

"Casper..."

"Indeed? Quite a fitting name." Gabriel's smile was ever present, his head turning to the school once more. "I wanted to gaze upon this place and its glory for myself."

"Then go inside..." This man Gabriel seemed to like making things difficult for himself.

"Ah, I cannot my dear child." Taking a few steps closer towards the school, Gabriel breathed in and spoke silently. "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. May this wonder stand forever under God's protection and those who act as His knights."

Struck with a sense of confusion, Casper looked at him with an obvious look of skepticism on his face. Whoever this man was, he was weird. Well, everyone at the academy was weird but this guy took the cake. "Okay..."

"I shall take my leave, dear child. Walk with God, and remember that you are protected, always." Turning around, Gabriel took a deep breath and smiled at Casper one last time before leaving through the gates. Still, Casper stood frozen to the spot, trying to sort everything out. What had just happened?

"Can't go anywhere without bumping into someone, can I...?" For someone so small, Casper appeared to run into people very often. Deeming it best to just go back into the building, Casper slipped his headphones on again and started across the grassy field on his way to the front door.

Sabrina De Luca was adjusting well to her new life at the mutant academy, so well in fact that she had overslept for the fourth time since coming here. Indeed, while most of the students were out and about going to classes and getting ready for lunch, Sabrina was still very much asleep, her arms and legs sprawled across the bed, half-covered by her sheets as she silently drooled on her pillow. She would have kept on sleeping the day away, had she not forgotten to turn off the extra alarm she used to wake up when she was dealing with the jet lag after flying over from Italy.

The alarm that she set to play an air horn sound effect.

BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

"Era l'uomo con un braccio!" Sabrina yelped, leaping up out of her sleep and attempting to break into a confused fighting stance, only to get tangled in her sheets and tumble to the floor with a resounding thud. Blinking the sleep away, Sabrina quickly came to her senses and started untangling herself from the bedding that she had somehow wrapped herself in. Leaping back to her feet as though nothing had happened, she shut off the alarm by banging it twice against her nightstand.

"Stupid thing won't shut...oh wow it's almost lunchtime," Sabrina observed from the time displayed on the clock before shrugging and setting it aside. "Well, it's a good thing I don't have any morning classes today. Pretty sure I don't, anyway," Taking a moment to look around her messy room, her eyes lingered on the custom-made orange motorcycle helmet sitting on the table until she heard a very ominous growling that made her jump before she realized it was her own stomach making the noise. "Ah, the lunchtime siren calls," Sabrina announced with a suitable amount of comedic gravitas as she made her way to the music player sitting on top of her dresser and dramatically flipped the power switch. "Music, maestro!"



Sabrina danced her way to the bathroom as she got ready for her day in time to Blue Oyster Cult, taking a quick soak to tame her fur, brushing her talons and pearly whites to near-perfection, and styling her "hair" for the day's journey. Looking at herself in the mirror, she was surprised at how common it felt to see that hairy tarantula face staring back at her now. She still remembered bursting into tears after seeing her reflection a few years back, and she'd be lying if she said a part of her didn't want to wake up one morning to see a single pair of green eyes in the mirror again. Still, it's like her Papi always said, "Life's too short to look backwards, take what you have and make something better." It worked for him and his career, and Sabrina was sure it would work with her too. Besides, for a four-eyed hairy tarantula girl, Sabrina thought that she looked pretty darn good today. Granted she didn't know any other four-eyed tarantula girls, but hey, still counts.

Emerging from the bathroom refreshed and ready to go, after paying herself a quick compliment for a good job cleaning up, she tossed on her usual blue tanktop and jeans and danced her way out the door, singing the last few bars of the song as she went. "I'm burning, I'm burning, I'm burning for yoooooooou!" Sabrina finished before bumping into someone coming in the opposite direction, a short reedy girl with mousy brown hair and thick glasses who squeaked when she saw what she just walked into. "Oh, scusami, I'm just jamming out to BO....C?" Sabrina trailed off as the girl backed away slowly before suddenly vanishing in a puff of smoke. With a glum sigh, Sabrina continued towards the cafeteria with a little less of a spring in her step. She may have been somewhat okay with her own bizarre mutation, but Sabrina didn't need to be reminded of what other people thought of it too. She wanted to be tolerant or god forbid happy with her new form, and people running away in fright didn't exactly help Sabrina see herself that way.

Trying not to think too much about the chance encounter, she turned to thoughts about the cafeteria, and the succulent meals that no doubt awaited her. Burgers, pizza, chicken tenders, and every other meat she could think of. Putting on a little burst of speed, she was darting through the hallways at a good pace and even started to a hum a few bars from the song she was listening to, before she skidded to a halt next to a boy in a red hoodie talking to a blonde girl in front of the vending machine, where she had spotted a familiar candy wrapper. Her eyes locked onto the machine instantly as she dug around in her pocket for change.

"Is..is that...a butterfinger?" Sabrina asked them as she licked her lips hungrily.

Alex had burst out the door no more than a minute after Amarie and took off left to the southbound entrance of the hall. He was not moving at full speed because he didn't want to slam into anyone. He made it all the way to the glass double doors when he came to a stop, clearly she hadn't come this way.

"Hey, Hatchet-packer. Yeu think that's yeur girl?"

The door to the bathroom squeaked and Alex turned to see a whole lot of lizard-man in sweatpants and a bunnyhug, the name made this monstrosity just a little less intimidating as he had to look up to the 6'6" looming over him. It was they guy from history class who bumped her and stormed off first.

At first, Alex wasn't sure what the comment was supposed to mean, he was well known to carry an axe on hand and mentally wincing that BOTH of them were in his bag, down the hall...Damnit. Maybe this guy just didn't know Alex's name, but by the way he spit the words, it seemed unlikely.

"Not mine, not yours, she's her own person. You seen her?"

The metamorphic mutant took a deep flared nostril snort like hawking up a loogiee as he squinted his eyes. This kid used to be the american dream, his dad was an oil rigger in the south and he was going to go all state. When his mutations activated, he was just bulking up and getting better with a skin condition. But when the mutations got too much, he lost his scholarship and his dad lost his job. They cited affirmative action and lack of racial disparity rather than guilt by association. Now he was at a school of freaks and here comes some pretty-boy who's kind took his dads place at work.
"I saw her, I saw her first. Back eff ef her, er i'll break yeu in half. Chug."

Now that one, Alex got. He looked up to the heavens, or at least the ceiling tiles ~Really? Racist mutants?~ Unfortunately, he did take his eyes off of the lizard and he didn't need a mommaslap to remind him that was a bad idea as the guy sucker punched alex with a right cross to his left cheek, the spiny scales adding to the hit but not tearing his face up.

The Powhatan pushed himself with the powerful punch to penalize the punishment and pry some proportion to the predicament. He could not be bothered with this guy right now, but he was sure to take this up with HR later and let some psychic deal with it. Without fight, all that was left was flight, he could try out the door he was backed up against, but that meant turning his back and he knew she wasn't this way.

Already against the wall, he took off as fast as he could, hoping he was faster than reptile reflexes. There was a wet splashing sound and he felt his foot get heavy like mud but it only threw him off instead of stopping him. Alex managed to hobble away faster than the other followed and looked down to see his foot was soaked in some sticky dark red stuff. Now he really wanted his bag.

Finally, after a near miss with a school bully, he passed Casper but didn't stop to talk to him. He thought he heard some commotion near the ladies loo. He came around the corner hoping to find out what happened in history class and put that mess behind him.

Footsteps would be heard through the halls as Amarie ran away from the classroom. What she did wasn't really her fault but deep inside of her it that she felt inside of her towards Alex. She didn't know what else to do.. Alex probably was laughing at her because she was a bad kisser or maybe he was vomiting or something. Those thoughts were going through her head as she ran towards the ladies bathroom, inside the bathroom, Amarie went to a stall closing the door and sitting on the toilet as she began to curse herself. Both of her hands were placed upon her head as she slowly started to shake it. "No no no. I can't believe that I did something like that to him... no he is going to hate me..!"

Several emotions were running through her head, and because of that it caused the door in-front of her to fly open and smashing towards the wall. Some teenager girls were running away from the bathroom as they heard the door shooting open and flying away towards the wall. Amarie yelled before running out of the bathroom and accidentally bumping into the guy himself, Alex. FUCKING SHIT.

Amarie's eyes widened while staring into Alex's eyes, there were so much embarrassment written all over her face, she slowly took a few steps away from him. But was stopped due to her back being against the wall while staring at him. she spoke in a nervous tone; "Please... don't hurt me. I didn't mean to give you a kiss..." Amarie would say while looking away, her hair covering her face while staring at the ground. A tear slowly started to come out of her face, her only friend and she might have blew it already with Alex.

Alex first bumped into two other women as he rounded the corner, a black beauty with brilliant blond hair and a freckled flower-child bedecked in hemp. He sidestepped them only for Amarie to come out after and ricochet off him like rubber to put her back to the wall. She looked at him like she was the one to kill his cat now as she found the floor fascinating while apologizing and begging for him to not harm her.

He reached out to touch her, but stopped as he didn't want to give mixed signals. Instead, he squatted down to look up at her as his raven locks all fell over to one side of his head, brushing the ground as he canted like a confused dog. He sat there for a few moments to sort his thoughts before finally speaking up.

"You told me, you sense and feel other peoples emotions. I just bumped into the lizard who touched you and he has a hard-on for you for something fierce. My question is Simple: Did Amarie kiss me because she likes me, or did she kiss me because hornytoad wanted to kiss her and she took it out on me?"

Amarie blushed as her head slowly started to turn over to Alex, she stared at him for a bit before speaking. But Amarie decided to say the turth instead of lying to herself and to others. Actually, being as how she is an empath, Amarie could sense if others are lying or not.. living with a guilt of her lying to Alex, wouldn't have ended so good. "Because... I felt his emotion and my eyes went up to you... I don't know if it means if I like you or not but I felt a lust desire.. I wanted something... I wanted you.. you don't hate me right...?" Amarie said while slowly getting closer to Alex. Before placing a hand on his shoulder, she didn't sense anything as of yet but at-least Amarie did tell him the truth.

Alex nodded as he listened to her, more than just hearing her words, he chewed them over in his head for a second before responding. He took her right hand off his left shoulder, but did not let go. He slowly rose to his full height and stepped forward. His chest to hers and her back to the wall as he still held her right hand, the wisp of raw Cinnamon bark off his breath as his right hand came up to touch her left side, thumb over her trembling stomach.

"Do you still want me? Or do I scare you? Does the idea that an empath can never truly have her own feelings, only the feeling of those around her freeze you in fear and make you never want to try to be your own person? Are you a reflection of everyone around you, or are you your own person?"

He would be lying if her kiss didn't stir him into a frenzy a minute ago, but he had to know where her line of consent was. He would never take what was not freely given, but if she got worked up any time someone near her got antsy. He would not be able to trust her actions to be true. Not that he would mind being her vent of frustration, but he simply needed the established parameters... Damn, maybe he did feel less than others do.

"Do you still want me?"

Those exact words was something that not even Amarie knew how to answer. Did she want him...? Was Amarie having a crush on Alex? There was some sort of attraction that she had towards the hunk. Amarie felt his manly hand upon the left side of her stomach, her eyes slowly looked up to Alex, she wasn't exactly going to lie but there was nothing for her to even say. Though, he had so many right points, she wasn't herself around others. All of their emotions clouded up inside of her head and it killed her to have felt so many emotions at once, maybe she did like Alex.. and having that emotion of the lizardguy running through her head gave her that push to show him. "I.. do feel some sort of attraction towards you.. and I'm my own person but I am also afraid that people might use their emotions to get to me. That's my weakness, other people. And I just want to be able to control it a bit. I'm sorry that I kissed you Alex, I hope you can forgive me."

Amarie nodded with a small smile forming across her face, speaking with Alex made her feel a lot better. It actually made her feel safe and all. But at times she thought that, it would have been better if Amarie was alone. No friends whatsoever. She slowly walked over to Alex, before wrapping both of her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. "This isn't anyone's emotion. This is mine..." she'd break from the hug, before turning around to walk away from Alex while scratching her left arm of how nervous she has been.

Hazel to black and back to her. Trust, trust is the foundation of all relationships. Friendships, romances, marriages. They seemed to study each other for a few long moments before speaking up. He did not just hear her words, he listened to what she was saying. He wanted to smirk and be witty about being kissed by someone as pretty as her, but he couldnt do it, he could not be dismissive about her feelings and fears and still be her friend.

Next, she hugged him, arms around his neck and pressing close. A shiver went up his spine being so close to her, but he shoved his emotions down to keep from bleeding over onto her. An idea crept into his mind as she broke away from him, now he could smile wryly.

"I like you, Amarie, I like your emotions... Meet me at the library after all of the classes for the day. I think I have an idea."

Now it was his turn to bite his bottom lip as she had been doing all day and let her go so he could go get his stuff from history class, he had prepping to do.

The conflict between Casper and the other guy was quickly broken up, with Casper making his retreat first. Conner and Kimberly, still synchronized, seemed to stand still for a few short moments. In their minds, though, they communicated with each other. At the speed of thought, they could converse much faster and understand each other much better than if they used their mouths, for they near-instantly knew what the other would think, and their emotions were sensed by the other as well.

Crisis averted, now let's go, Conner thought.

We should make sure he's alright, Kimberly thought back.

Conner was going to make a dismissing statement about how he was sure Casper would be fine, but could tell she wouldn't let up. Instead, Conner relented and exasperatedly thought, Fine, only because I don't trust you to go alone.

That hurts me, Kimberly thought playfully, satisfied to hear him agree.

The woman walked the path Casper took to make his escape from the conflict, spotting him walk out the exit. As she neared the exit herself, she began to hear another voice coming from there. Peeking out the doorway, she saw Casper conversing with a rather well-dressed man.

Who is he? I don't recognize him, Kimberly thought.

He doesn't seem like he's from around here. I don't trust him, Conner thought back.

You say that about everyone you don't recognize, Kimberly thought dismissively.

Better safe than sorry, Conner retorted. Ok, that guy's leaving now, and he's coming this way.

As Casper neared the front door, the woman emerged to greet him. "You alright? I hope you weren't injured from before," she asked.