The teenager was almost finished with dusting out the room, which only included flowing high-pressurized air over the hard surfaces, when he heard the familiar sounds of fully automatic gunfire echoing throughout the main entranceway. After years of wandering the world, and moving and living through ghetto districts such as Harlem and Detroit, Alex wasn't completely scared shitless by the sounds of gunfire, but that doesn't mean it doesn't surprise him to hear it at a super-hero school. He'd only been here for what, an hour or so, and some jackass was already shooting the place up. Without anymore hesitation, the boy leaped through his window, not even minding the glass shattering around him as he immediately caught the currents of the air and blasted even more air behind him, sending him jetting through the open doors of the Main Entrance, as people were already rushing out, apparently not used to, nor interested in, getting a bullet sent through their skulls.

He arrived just in time to see a female shoot...a trip-wire at the oddly-out-of-it janitor shooter. "A trip-wire?" He questioned quietly, to himself, landing in a roll and immediately throwing his hands out. A visible blast of air jetted from his hands, slamming into the janitor's AK-47, and sending it blasting into the far wall, with a loud bang of metal on metal. Not slowing down his momentum, as the janitor was startled and stumbled back from the sudden gale of wind, Alex dashed forward, slamming into the man with a sharp shoulder-tackle, sending both of them flying onto the floor - Only Alex was literally flying, not even touching the marble floor as he flipped through the air and began levitating, visible and powerful arcs of electric blue lightning coating his arms. His eyes began to glow a startingly white.

"We need him alive, right?" His voice, disembodied yet quiet from the power coursing through him, questioned everyone and no-one at the same time, watching as the janitor tried to make his way back onto his feet, with robot-like determination. One lightning bolt, and he'd be dead...but that's not what a hero did, is it? A sudden burst of wind sent the janitor flying back onto his stomach once he got onto his feet. Alex's face stayed carefully impassive despite the semi-humorous scene, his long, shaggy hair flying back from the invisible whirlwind of air flying around his form.

(Zaiden- The Headmaster's Office)

Some time later, Zaiden sat comfortably in his office chair, feet propped nonchalantly up on the desk in front of him.

The first phase of his plan had been put into motion, though he had a great deal more to accomplish before he could start putting nails in the academy’s coffin. He could walk away from this all right now, but those costumed pretenders had undeniably bested him, and would continue to do so if he didn’t mash them into little specks of dust.

The Evening Star would rise again, and wash over the night sky in a tide of blood.

Zaiden leaned forwards, placing one finger firmly on the button which triggered the school-wide intercom.

“Students of Blackwood,” he spoke clearly into the microphone “Welcome! You’ll soon find you every whim catered to, but first you’ll need to prove yourself worthy of such illustrious service. Assemble in the Draculesti Memorial Hall for a….very special presentation.”

@shagranoz@Dirty Dan
Cal saw and heard the guy with the gun. Before he could speed into action though the other three handled it. Pulling on soft forensics white gloves he speeds over to the gun and disassembles it within seconds. He then speeds over to the the guy with the wind powers. "Don't kill him....if you kill him the entire school will look bad" he walks to the janitor and pulls out what appear to be handcuffs. "Might have taken these from my boss....well ex boss...." He handcuffs the janitor and pushes him down to be sitting. "Okay wind guy....don't let him run off...I don't think he'll get far with the handcuffs...but yea" he grins then runs over to the headmaster. "I figure you know the guy? So maybe talk to him? I feel like something is off about the whole thing" he then snaps and runs back to the disassembled gun and puts it in a clear ziplock then runs back to her. "If you get a number off it it should be registered....or the number might be scrapped off either way it's worth the look"

Mio Peralta - Main Hallway, River City Academy

The gravel crunched loudly under Mio's feet as he went to join the constant stream of people entering the main entrance of River City Academy. Fixing the strap of his black duffel bag, Mio followed the crowd into the main lobby. His weary eyes were met with an impressive large mural stretched along the ceiling. The painting itself seemed to be of various heroes throughout the years, presumably some of which from the more recent years went to this very academy. Perhaps even one day, he would be up there. Probably not... but it's something to work towards, he supposed. Mio spent a short moment admiring the mural before he looked around at the other students in the lobby with him. There were dozens of other students, most "normal looking" like himself, others with certain appearances that Mio assumed were a result of their mutations, or side effects of their powers. He thought about going to unpack in the dormitories, but decided he'd rather stay here and have a look around. Mio took his right hand out of the pouch in the front of his hoodie, and pulled off his hat before patting his tangled black hair down to something a bit more presentable.

Before he could speak to anyone however, sounds of automatic gunfire tore through the air, causing Mio to immediately leap behind the safety of the admissions counter. As the burst of gunfire stopped, he peeked his head up, narrowed eyes watching as a woman, the Headmaster he assumed, shot a trip-wire at a man with an AK-47. Almost immediately after, another guy, around his age, blasted in through the entrance and shot a blast of wind at the gun, sending it flying into the wall. As the boy tackled into the janitor, Mio cautiously slid back over the counter, feeling particularly useless without any sort of weapon to help combat the criminal. Although he could have easily surprised the shooter by charging at him and then erasing the moment he ran, however, it didn't take long for the weather guy to take the janitor out of the equation. In the end, the teenager was floating above the fallen man with his arms consumed in lightning.

As a blur of red blitzed into view, revealing himself to be another student. Mio released an exhale of air that he did not realize he was holding. How was that for the first day of school?

Alan’s eyes widened. This girl, young and new to the school, already knew exactly what she was doing. And the truth was, she had a point. Alan had carved out his own niche, and had managed to make it through the school relatively unscathed, but he could see where she was coming from. But it was clear that the two youth talking to each other viewed the world quite differently. She was planning on being a villain, going on to something greater. Alan merely wanted to make it through this school alive. He stood there, speechless, for a moment. “Fair on the Machiavelli point, but don’t you think- I mean, shouldn’t we be trying to reverse this image? If we had the people cheering for us, maybe we’d actually stand a chance.” It was a weak argument, he knew it. As he opened his mouth to say more, the intercom crackled, and a voice rang through the halls.

Alan shuddered, looking about at the other students. Most were excited. A few, like him, were glancing about anxiously, trying to figure out what was to come. “Well, guess we gotta prove ourselves now.” Alan said, relatively calm despite his worry. Slowly, he began to walk in the same direction as the rest of the students, turning to see if Iris was following. He wouldn’t have been surprised to see her running ahead of everyone.

@shagranoz @Kingfisher

The sound of gun fire caused the albino to rise her head. Forgetting about the student that had helped her she reached for one of the books on her belt, an engraving on the cover to tell her which was which as it began to glow in a deep blue as she turned, grabbing whoever was close to her in the process to steady herself.
"On his stride of hooves with thunder"
"He carries on his back another"
"His body thine shield"
"And would cause those who wish harm to kneel!"

She heard the steps first, random clicks of horses hooves as a great shadowy outline of a horse like beast stood in the path that the janitor was in. Not moving an inch the creature was almost a shield, every sound he made allowed her to picture him easier, ebony fur and sleek muscles for only moments till it went back to being the outline.

Breathing harsh she didn't let the shadow leave till someone said things were okay. Her breathing slightly laboured Kaite reached out amielsly with her hand till she felt what lay before her.
"Thank you, may our paths cross anew"
With her spoken words she closed her book, a sigh escaping her as her legs buckled. "Tis only a day and I feel as though someone tries to throw my life away. Is this the life of a hero? Cause I think my chances may be zero."

@Larfleeze @Mr_pink

(Joan- River City Entrance)

"Yeah, we need him alive." Joan's voice dropped slightly. "This doesn't make sense. I saw Adam wearing a rosary a couple of times; hardly the kind of thing you'd expect Jihad Joe to be doing. I'd bet this whole school that Blackwood's involved." She groaned; this had been such a good day at the start. "Take him downstairs, minimum security holding cell. If they'd given him powers, he wouldn't have been using a gun. I'll be there in a few minutes."

(Anita-River City Entrance)

Anita moved in for the takedown, but she was too late. Thankfully, it was in a good way. The gunman was disarmed, cuffed, and on the floor before she got there. She should have guessed that Cal would beat her to the punch. "I'll take him. Come on buddy, here we go."

She walked Adam down, and he didn't resist, meekly going into the cell. She locked the door behind him and waited for Joan and anyone else who was interested to show up.

(Iris- Blackwood entrance)

Well, this was interesting. Some sort of announcement coming from the boss himself. Iris tried to guess what it might be. Maybe some sort of new superweapon to threaten the city, or a plan for a daring robbery. It might even be some way to deal with those pesky superheroes over at River City Academy. There were so many deliciously evil possibilities! She took a seat in the auditorium's front row, awaiting the announcement.

@shagranoz
Cal hands the ziplock bag to the headmistress then follows Anita. Once he makes it downstairs he feels himself get a bit woozy. "ugh" He stumbles a bit. "Sorry...i need to eat." He pulls off his backpack and digs through it pulling out a beef jerky stick, opening it, then starts eating. He slings his bag back over his shoulder while he eats. "What do you think that was about?" he asks between bites. "I don't think this guy" Points at the janitor with his jerky stick. "Had a motive to do what he did" Goes back to eating. His white gloves are back in his bag and he looks as if he's thinking through what just happened in his head. The metaphorical gears in his head are almost visible as he thinks.