Dr. Rohrbach stood, silently watching the computer monitor as numbers blipped past him. He was running a simulation for the task at hand, hoping that what he was preparing would help them get a handle on the powers they now possessed, considering they were still relatively new to all of it.

By now Finn Rohrbach's stomach had learned not to bother him with silly rumbling when he was working but the picture frame on his desk reminded him of her.

Finn, you know you really should eat. Your work won't get done if you pass out on the floor, you know. Besides, is my coking really that bad?

He could smell the warmth of the pancakes now and a smile rose to his face. He looked over to his assistant, who he'd honestly forgotten the name of, and nodded as if to say, "Your turn to stare at the machine for no apparent reason." The young man in the lab coat, who seemed to be rather new, gave Dr. Rohrbach a confused look before his eyes lit up as he realized what the strange professor wanted him to do. He took a seat at Rohrbach's desk as the professor made his way to the kitchen.

The others should be checking in soon if Finn remembered correctly. He looked down at his watch and smiled. Yes, it was just after dinner and the group should be piling in soon for the afternoon's training. He took to making himself a sandwich, using whatever odds and ends he could find in the kitchen, meticulously avoiding the hazardous materials strewn throughout the white tiled room.

His lab coat was spotless, just as he liked it but as soon as he began putting his sandwich together, a touch of ketchup landed its way onto the absentminded scientist's coat.



The day was winding down for Straider University with the last few afternoon classes wrapping up. Most of the students Rohrbach found did not have evening classes, as he had planned, and were asked to come to his lab across from the apartments where they were to now stay. Every afternoon, once dinner was over with at the dining hall, the students made their way to the lab for training. It's only been about a week since they first encountered their powers and many of them are still apprehensive towards everything Rohrbach had done to them but for the most part, all were in agreement that saving the world would feel pretty damn good. Well, maybe not saving the world... but saving people would feel good, right?

Penelope herself was on her way back from the library. She'd eaten a small dinner and then head off there to work on a paper before heading over to the lab. She had to admit it was rather ironic that her powers were probably the most destructive towards literature. Maybe it was a sign.

"Nah. I'll be a writer even if I have to slap a few bitches to get it done." She told herself proudly. Though, there was still a small sliver of doubt at the back of her mind that nagged at her.

Regardless, as she passed by the smaller tennis courts, she found herself at Rohrbach's lab. She sighed and pulled out a smoke. Leaning against the wall, she lit it with her powers, trying very hard to both keep them in check and keep them hidden. It was so much easier than trying to pull out a lighter plus it had the added benefit of letting her practice her powers a bit. And so, Penelope leaned against the outside of the building, huffing and puffing for a the few extra minutes she had to herself before the others would inevitably arrive.

People liked to say stuff that they could do forever. Oh, I could shop forever. I could eat here forever. I could binge this show forever. Well, Eastwood didn't know about overeating and he sure as shit wasn't no fan of sitting still for no TV show for all time, but there were some things he could do forever. He could drive and sing and shoot the shit atcha from a hundred yards away, there was so much life in him, but more than anything he felt like he could run forever - and with his power, now as long as there was daylight out or even if someone left the football field's lights on, he really could run forever.

But there were a handful of responsibilities that came from takin' the doc's pill, so instead of running forever, the big-hearted Texan lug had to call it quits after only two hours and a li'l change. He had gotten off of his last afternoon class - a snoozer of a Bio lab that had made Eastwood want to sprint for the exit instead of for fun - two and a half hours ago, changed within ten minutes, and had devoted the rest of his time to haulin' ass and croonin' to the empty practice field.

The alarm that had sounded on his iPhone, cutting him right outta his routine, was still hollerin' as he fished the device from his hoodie's pocket and slid his finger along the touchscreen. The cheerful techno noise cut out abruptly. It brought a grin to his face as he jogged much more casually up to one of the vending machines left out for the athletes. East ran his fingertips over the familiar button that would shoot one lemon-lime Gatorade his way and grinned wider.

Acheri and Soleil were always riding him about his sports drink tastes, and he had tried to give other flavors a fair shake. But got damn if there wasn't something heavenly about a Gatorade that was as sour as a rattlesnake's bite. Slipping a buck-twenty-five into the machine and pushing the button with his palm, Eastwood stayed still long enough to crouch down and scoop up the Gatorade before playin' his music again and tearin' up grass on his way to the lab.

He moved so quickly that the crack! of the broken seal and the glugglugglugglugahhhhgotdamnthatsgood of his chugging was almost lost in the rush of wind and blues in his ears.

East slowed to a halt outside the lab where they had all gotten their powers - a lab that still held a li'l bit of anticipation and hesitation for the wayward cowboy at the same time. One of the other students was already outside takin' a drag on her smoke, which wasn't really Eastwood's cup'ah'beer 'cause of his runner's lungs and all, but more power to her. He flipped the empty plastic bottle in his hand upside down, so he had his index and middle fingers wrapped around the neck, and chucked it upside down into the trash can without even hitting the rim. Hooah.

Were the girls around? He had to watch his accent around Acheri and Soleil. They rode his ass like Secretariat over his drawl. Seeing that the coast was clear, however, he put on a friendly beam and high fived the top of the frame to the building's entrance as though it could greet him back.

"Ayy, howdy," he breathed out, only slightly winded from his hours of exertion. "How's things goin'?"

Lux's favourite place to be was in water, he didn't neccesarily care where said water was providing it was to some degree sanitary. Instead of heading to the dinner hall like most of students did, he had gone straight to the pool after his last lesson, to do a few lengths and relax before heading over to Rohrbach's lab. Even with the knowledge that he'd have to make a move soon, he was on his back floating aimlessly around the quiet pool, normally his thoughts would be peaceful but today they were unsettled, no doubt due to recent events.

'Life is like being on a river, it's flow is continuous and unforgiving, one minute you're skimming along on top of it, the next you're struggling to keep your head above the surface...it's not going to stop to let you get your bearing, it's not going to warn you when it suddenly veers off to the side or drops you in the rapids, it's just going to keep flowing and drag you along for the ride'

He opened his eyes as someone splashed into the pool not far from him, disturbing the water and sending ripples across the surface. With a heavy sigh he pushed himself under the water before spinning and darting to the side of the pool. 'Life is like a river? As if that one hasn't been used before...English homework of all the things to be thinking about right now Lux, you choose English homework' He scolded himself as he resurfaced next to a few students sitting on the side.

"Yo Lux! You missed a pretty awesome meal" One of the students on the side told him.

Lux merely shrugged his shoulders and pulled himself out of the pool, lifting his hand to wave goodbye before making his way to the changing rooms. 'That guy functions like clockwork' He thought to himself hitting the showers before hastily throwing on some clothes and grabbing his backpack, he still had plenty of time to get to Rohrbach's lab. His predictable associate was usually the first in and the first out of the dining hall and today was the day he always turned up at the pool, reminding Lux he needed to get a wriggle on. Though Lux rarely spoke to his personal alarm clock, he was one of many people that Lux passively used around the university, be it to warn him of time constraints or other trivial things.

With his mind whirring with the days events and plans for the following day, Lux made his way over to Rohrbach's lab. He was in light canvas three quarter lengths with a plain turquoise t-shirt on and a pair of white sneakers which were more of a last minute thing, he much preferred sandals or flip flops or no shoes at all. Wet blotches had appeared on his t-shirt where he'd failed to dry his torso properly and water clung to his hair, making his collar damp as well. He'd barely registered the buildings he'd passed on his way and only really came out of his trance when he came across Rohrbach's lab, with a small sigh he tucked his hands into the pockets of his jeans and glanced at Penelope, nodding at her as if to acknowledge her presence before he glanced at Eastwood and did the same. He may not have been the most talkative but he still had manners, once he'd acknowledged Eastwood he looked back at the front of the building, quite happy to wait for someone else to lead the way in, he was certainly in no rush.

Lux's powers were fairly difficult to coerce out of him, his personality often worked against him and he was one of the scarce few, or even perhaps the only one that didn't enjoy utilising his ability at all. Adrenaline rushes that had a chance of making him angry, neon light that made him stick out like a sore thumb...then there was the whole hero thing, none of them were entirely his cup of tea. Which was hard considering most teas were his cup of tea...which he'd been told was stereotypical despite the facts he'd pointed out about tea and it's consumpption. His mind went to strange places when he was near Rohrbach's lab...usually to stop him from thinking about what was to come next. 'Imagine all of the people who would die for a chance like this and here I am...being stereotypical and whining about it' despite his thought process he didn't feel guilty about the fact at all.

Poof. A sound one could easily make by expelling a brief, forceful puff of air through pursed lips. An onomatopoetic sound to represent something disappeared. Colloquial part of speech when describing said disappearances. Also the only sound she could think of whenever something disappeared in front of her. And the sound she almost couldn't resist making herself whenever something did. It just seemed appropriate. Especially since she was the one making them disappear. She didn't really know how. Well, she knew how she made it happen. It took practice but it was like moving. You don't question how you make your arm move, when you think about making your arm move. Understanding the exact mechanics of the how was tricky and complex, and required a deep understanding of biology and anatomy. You don't care about that when you move your arm. Just like that, she knew how to do do it.

But understanding how it worked would need, rather than biology, a comprehensive understanding of quantum physics that just plain didn't exist yet. Not knowing was a little stressful, though. Little experiments to try and understand it were helpful, but they really just raised more questions. What did she have to do to send them? What could she send? Did the process have any effect on what was sent? Where did it go? The last one was waiting on a video camera in the mail to test, but the rest didn't have any forthcoming answers. Not without a lot more experimentation. And it was important, because understanding how it worked might save her life one day. Or someone else's. Not that she could rely on it in a fight, because making things appear and disappear on command wasn't exactly helpful when someone was coming at you. Which was why she was in a little area of open ground, drilling hapkido maneuvers. Armed and unarmed, and versus armed and unarmed 'opponents'. Good stress relief, actually, as well as good practice. But it was still a little odd when someone looked over at her to see the 5'6" girl swinging around a stick almost as big as she was. Not that anyone, you know, asked her about it. She still had the big stick.

Not that it was much of a distraction. Drilling the maneuvers she knew was automatic, and left a lot of room to think. So for a good two hours the back of her mind had been occupied by musings on her power. She hadn't found the limit yet. She'd started by moving pencils, but it was easier to make them disappear than it was to make them reappear. She got the hang of it, eventually, but that first pencil had spent a few hours in... Wherever it was. Could be Wonderland for all she knew. Actually, that'd be kind of cool.

Point is, she wasn't really sure of much yet. Just that she could make things go somewhere and bring them back. Not much to go on, and a lot to get used to. Was making carrying her books a lot easier, though. As long as she made sure to make them reappear somewhere discreet. Like in her backpack before she pulled them out. They didn't actually make much of a sound, but if you listened reeeeeeal close there was a little "pop" or "poof" of air being displaced. She hadn't really figured out how to describe the sound of things reappearing yet. It was a little different, and these were important questions. Not something to rush to decisions on.

After completing her last staff drill, Acheri frowned slightly and looked really close at her staff. Then at her surroundings. A second later the staff vanished (complete with poof) from her hand. An instant later, it reappeared (maybe with a puff?). It was like flexing a muscle she never knew she had. She let it disappear again, and this time, stay gone. It was a lot easier to carry it that way. You know, when she didn't actually have to carry it. A quick glance at her watch told her it was time to get to the lab, so she swung her bag over her shoulder, slipped her sneakers back on, and hit the pavement at a brisk, brisk walk. She had somewhere to be, and no time to spare. Still, she made pretty good time. It was only a three minute walk, and she rounded the corner just after Eastwood did. Not that she only noticed him then. The freight train in motion was difficult to miss, and failure to notice was hazardous to your health. After all, in a collision between a flesh and blood person and a freight train, the person lost. Badly.

Such was what happened if you happened to be standing in front of a running Eastwood. She'd seen it happen when dragged to a football game. Not her style. She had studying, training, and experimenting to do.

Speaking of, an interesting little challenge caught her eye. She caught the Gatorade bottle flying towards towards the can and, in a split second decision, willed it to disappear. And just before the satisfying clonk of empty plastic on metal, it was gone. Acheri gave the people already present a friendly, innocuous wave. And a look to Eastwood that said very much 'yes I heard that'.

Poof.

One week ago Soleil was deemed blind enough that a seeing-eye dog was a fair approximation for her next Christmas gift. Down the line, she'd maybe be blessed with some form of companion meant to ease the pain. But there was a very clear difference between numbing a pain and fixing the source. A dog, some mutt that could chase a ball and lead Soleil into traffic, it was unnecessary and wouldn't fix anything either way. But this. Soleil had taken a pill, some supplement it was referred to as. Some supplement indeed. As Soleil struck the keys of her piano, a faint light struck out from inside her. When she blinked, it too momentarily faded. The colour was dull as it leapt from the keys to the walls around her. It skipped along her fingertips and flattened out against a window.

She picked up pace. More colours bound from the piano and into the room illuminating her surroundings. A trip to the library confirmed her hopes, Chromesthesia an impossible condition to develop and a miracle for a girl gone blind. Better yet, she preferred the hyper colour that painted her pictures now over her old plain eyes from her childhood. The images she could see, the shapes she made out, it was as if someone had dumped a bucket of multicolour paint all over them. They dripped in colour and while their shapes were clear details were lost upon her. But she knew braille and she had coped with her blindness for ten years, now she would be able to experience some things once more. While she would not be able to see the sun in the sky, she could make out a person beside her, what they were wearing.

Sweat dripped from Soleil's brow as her fingers quickened once more, and while their melodies grew ever more dependent on her being able to see where she would strike the instrument next, she was able to see exactly where that was. She struck each key with a confidence that was unlike her. As she became more tired, grew sorer she nearly leapt up off the piano bench and placed her headphones on her ears. The song continued - as she was playing along. Her hands met her pockets and her eyes met their second favourite new sight. She could see sound waves, like the tethers from something creating a sound, to it's destination. She gleefully plucked at one and could feel it's vibrations in her core. It had come from a women maybe thirty feet down the hall, her voice carried.

Soleil found her way to the lab, it seemed the only rational place to go after all of everything that had happened. It belonged to one professor Rohrschach. Or, maybe it was Rohrsnack? Rawrback? Either way, she could see things. That was definitely a plus. She noticed a particular string, a sound wave pass her by as she approached the area of the lab. The string coated the area like a sunrise, it's orangey hue washing over her perception and in the cloudiness of her lack of vision she could see it. It was Eastwood's voice. It bounced off of a bottle, which then created it's own string as it collided with someone's hand and then - all of the sudden, the string was gone. She had come to know this sensation as the Archeri effect - a string disappeared when she utilized her abilities and stored them wherever her dimensional locker existed. The strings, or sound waves were how Soleil saw when she wore her headphones and they presented an image akin to a sketched picture on a new piece of paper. Thin lines that shaded in an image. However the image lacked detail. It was mostly shapes, sizes and every once in a while textuers that she could make out.

"Eastwood." Soleil began as she approached the hulking mass of cattle-herder. "How are you?" She asked stopping her landing by leaning against one of Eastwood's strong biceps. He was most likely used to it by now, an onlooker might think they had some sort of romantic engagement, but she simply liked to be around people. Hell, half the time her and Archeri were hanging out at the dorm Soleil was sprawled out on her bicep or shoulder. Sometimes she even napped around or on top of others. She was just kind of 'like that'. Piggy-backs were also commonplace in the Eastwood - Soleil friendship. But it was actually usually the giant can of Texan who suggested it. Either way, Eastwood would certainly not be surprised. She nudged her head against Eastwood's forearm and her headphones drooped off of her ears and down her neck. With them, the strings disappeared and she could no longer see the sketch of life. Instead she was returned to her hyper colour paintings.

It wasn't so bad.

"Any idea what the doctor has planned for today?"

Emily was ready for her day to be over. She was ready to kick back and chill with the other members of the Project while also learning more about her new abilities. She generally liked everyone else that had been selected, as well as Rohrbach himself, and her time at the lab at the end of each day was one of her favorite times, second only to her personal Netflix time. Though, she had to admit, eating at the Dining Hall's Chick-fil-A was up there. Starbucks was her morning friend, but Chick-fil-A was the real MVP.

At the moment, though, she didn't have time to really think about food. Granted, she was always thinking about food, but she had to focus on a more pressing issue: she had five minutes to get to Rohrbach's lab. Five minutes, from across campus. Why oh why did my physics class in Brumley have to be right before lab time? she thought as she walked out of her last course of the day. She spotted her bike in the bike rack where she had left it and walked quickly towards it. Soon she had unlocked it, walked it to the curb, put on her helmet, got on, and took off at speed. In truth, she didn't really only have five minutes to get to the lab. She had more like fifteen, but she wanted to arrive ten minutes early as usual and her class had ended a bit late. So she sped through campus, sticking to the roads as she was easily matching the university's Draconian speed limits.

Had Emily timed herself she would have found that she reached the lab in three minutes and 26 seconds. When she got there, she saw the small group of Project members already standing around the entrance. Parking and locking her bike and helmet at the helpfully placed bike rack nearby, she walked over and waved with a grin to the group. Seeing that Eastwood, Penelope and Soleil were already chatting, she turned to Acheri after she saw the Gatorade bottle disappear.

"Nice," she complimented. "That seems to be coming along well, eh?"

Emily enjoyed her new ice abilities very much, but they weren't something you could do much with discreetly like Acheri's dimensional tether. At least, not at the moment. It was one of the reasons she liked coming to the lab so much...she could mess with her powers whenever she wanted when in the company of Rohrbach and the other project members.

For young Samuel Foster, money was criminally underrated.

On its own, it was sometimes paper with a few blotches of ink and markings invisible to the naked eye. Sometimes it took on the appearance of pieces of cheap bits of metal, and in recent times, it had the ability to be stacked inside plastic cards. Those papers, circles, and cards had one thing in common, and that was the currency that kept people alive in a functioning society. A simple, yet crucial aspect of how the market worked in the long run.

There was no need to understand the more confusing aspects of finance to know that the flow of money shifted its functionality as a whole once in a while. People like Sam knew little about such things, instead focusing on what numbers showed up in front of him. The numbers he had to pay for, to be exact. Every day was a new day, but the new days let him reflect on the repetition of his life.

Work, with a tinge of procrastination on trying out new things. It summed his life up pretty well before scientific progress went "boink" in his body.

The greenhouse made him feel more collected than any other place in the campus. He took a deep breath as he remained still for a minute, forms of body aching being relieved by the presence of plants around him.

A quick rest made him feel better than before.

The greenhouse was not that far off from Dr. Rohrbach's lab. With a light backpack filled with uninteresting papers and folders, Sam walked quietly, a neutral expression hiding the chill that went down his spine briefly. Although he enjoyed talking to people and the like, examinations were not particularly the same case for him. Whatever the lab had in store, Sam would always approach it with caution, even if he decided to comply with the doctor's wishes for cooperation.

A group had formed at the lab, and the vanishing of a bottle confirmed that it was a particularly familiar group to him. He still felt nervous around the people who held unique powers, though he always smiled brightly whenever someone turned to his direction. Smiling made him less punchable, according to his sister.

"Everyone seems to be in good shape," he commented as he slid in between the people gathered together.

Not long enough...

Penelope sent the rather loud cowboy an awkward smile before responding to him. "Nothing much, Clint." She replied before putting her cigarette out and throwing it away. She sighed as more of them arrived, the first of which was Lux who, as usual, arrived quietly like she liked. Penelope had to admit, the quiet ones were always pretty nice.

Penelope stood awkwardly for a few moments as the others started piling around and suddenly began feeling claustrophobic. She hit Eastwood with a playful bump to his shoulder as she went in, and managed to pull a hair ruffle on Acheri before heading inside without a word.

As she opened the door, she was assaulted by a certain... aroma. "Rohrbach?" She called out, her voice nasally as she was now holding her nose. To say it was odd was an understatement. It smelled like mold mixed with sweat and vinegar. Not exactly the most appeasing smell.

"Any reason it smells like something died in here a few months ago, Doc?" Penelope asked as she walked further into the lab. As she reached the kitchen, the smell began to penetrate the hold her fingers hand on her nose and threatened to cause her stomach to lurch forward. Shaking her head, she decided not to investigate and elected to head for the lounge area and began to put a pot of coffee on.

---

Rohrbach stood in the kitchen, leaning over his latest concoction. At this point, even he didn't know what it was anymore. He was simply staring at it, trying his best to figure out where it all went wrong and honestly debating eating it anyway. His stomach growled as he hesitantly grabbed at the mass of organic mess on his plate.

Theme: Mozart Piano Sonata in C, K. 545; 2nd-3rd movements

---

Ambrose walked through one of the lawns making his way to the lab. He ashed his cigarette as he passed a tree with a few birds chirping in it, glancing around to see if anyone was near, he stomped out his smoke and checked the time. He was about to be late, and he had no mod of transportation available. He threw his hands into his hoodie and began a light jog pulling his headphones on as he ran. Mozart played a dreary piano concerto in his ears as he ran. A kid on a skateboard passed him, and he remembered his days as a youth running around with all his friends.

He stopped in his tracks, turning to see the skateboard again, the boy was the only one around and he was looking the other way, so he closed his eyes and put his hands together. In his head the pieces fell into place like musical notes. With the rise and fall of the concerto the pieces of a skateboard clicked together slowly like a jigsaw puzzle. As he spread his hands apart he could feel a tether there, almost like there was a world for architects and engineers alone, in which Ambrose could pull out anything he conceived, if for a short duration.

He put his work on the ground testing its stability. Placing a foot with some weight on it showed it was indeed a skateboard in full working order. He hadn’t ridden one in years, but he slowly got back into the groove of the constant push. As he pushed almost at the lab now he took a deep drag of his cigarette, scanning through his phone, looking at the structure of a certain magnesium alloy that was apparently revolutionizing industries. A piece of metal made out of it was ridiculously strong for its weight and Ambrose contemplated a few different ways one may utilize it.

As he watched most of the other test subjects walking into the lab, he felt the board give way. For all of a half a second he was flying through the air, the next he was on his face pulling himself up using the garbage can as leverage. He chuckled to himself. At least he didn’t burn himself with his cigarette, it remained perfectly in place at the corner of his mouth were it had been. He grabbed it, ashing and taking another deep drag, the cigarette positioned straight in his scared lips now. He zipped up his hoodie, having left it open to let the breeze hit his skin under.

He nodded to the few that saw him fall over and walked in after them, covering his nose at the smell of death. He pulled out his headphones “Yo, Doc that’s the rankest thing i've smelt in my life.” He said not being able to contain it any longer as he approached the kitchen hesitantly. The smell was probably coming from there. Ambrose waited to hear a reply from the scientist but there didn’t seem to be one forthcoming. He looked at his watch, it was around dinner time but he had missed the cafeteria, what had he been doing all day?

His stomach rumbled as it dawned on him that all day in his classes he had been a bit preoccupied with trying to figure out how to make an Iron Man suit and how long it would last. By his calculations it was nearly impossible, at least at his current statues. Though as he let silly notions of building Iron Mans go he started to think more practically. And thus he had spent the better part of the day, after looking up iron man lore, reading into new or intriguing things. He had gotten so caught up looking at different alloys and their strength and durability, not to mention the composition, that he forgot all about his growing hunger.

He looked at the group, and nodded forward as if to say, ‘I am not going in there first.’ and he watched as Penelope walked by it and went to make some coffee. The brass on that woman. ‘What's that doc, there's a dead body in the kitchen? I'll just be in the lounge making coffee.’ Well it probably wasn't a dead body but still she sauntered by like it wasn’t anything to worry about, giving it a thought and walking on to continue her original plan.

Glancing at everyone around him he took in all there faces, the lines there, the stories they told. Some smiled, others kept their head down, Ambrose tried not to look anyone in the eyes. He thought about all the things they could be thinking, though none of them knew his past it wasn’t exactly easy to hide when your face was a reminder. So he stuck to studying them while they weren’t looking, wondering what made them tick, he wanted to know how they were put together just as much as his creations. Not to rebuild them of course, that was to difficult and something he was sure would be nearly impossible. No he studied them to try and put himself back together.

---

---

Shitshitshitshitshitshitshit. Gareth thought as he sprinted through the streets to the assigned place. Why in the hell did I not set an alarm?

He supposed it didn’t matter. He wouldn’t have heard the alarm anyways, he had a tendency to become so enraptured by whatever he was doing that he blind to his surroundings.

And time, apparently.

He gave me superpowers and I can’t be bothered to show up on on time?

Apparently not. He sprinted through the back roads and alleys, trying to use the shortest route to the Doctor’s. He found himself moving by instinct, as though he had trampled this route a thousand times. He was still new to the town, new to Straider. He had perused a map of the town, and he was shocked to realize he must have subconsciously memorized the map. He had certainly never been the type to memorize something on his first time looking at it. He wondered if this was because of Rohrbach’s pill.

Eventually, he broke onto a main street to find a student he recognized as one of Rohrbach’s other chosen students.

He saw him conjure up a skateboard and felt a pang of jealousy.

Why does he get the cool ability?

Then he remembered. He saw him do it, he could use his cool ability too, if only for a time. He ran back over what he had seen in his head, the way the boy had done it. He felt his mind analyse the memory at a blinding pace and, before he knew it, he could conjure.

He rode his artificial board about twenty feet behind the boy, whose name he remembered to be Ambrose. His board broke apart before Ambrose’s did, but he was expecting that, with his ability being a facade of the real thing. He leapt off the board and sprinted the few remaining yards. He stepped into the building and was greeted by a god-awful smell. He began to feel dizzy, and dodged outside and buckled to his knees. Then, he retched. He had never before regretted eating something as much as he did then.

”I’m fine.” He called weakly to those inside the building.

Yeah, just fine.

---

While walking up the steps towards the lab, Prudence was busy gabbing on the phone. Not paying attention to anyone around her as she was devoted to the conversation at hand, she nearly hit a guy on a skateboard who shot her the finger as he skated past. She didn't acknowledge him.

"How are classes going?" her father asked on the other side of the phone.

"Classes are fine, Dad. That's the fifth time you asked me. I am doing really well."

Her Dad mumbled something, but continued, "And your new job? How is that going?"

Prudence lied to her parents when she was younger, what child didn't? It didn't mean it was easy to do and she hated doing it. This particular instance called for a lie that was disguised with a hint of truth. Sure, she did technically get a new job, but how could she explain it to her parents that she signed up to take some sort of pill and then acquire superhuman abilities you've only ever read about in comics or seen in movies? This was real life. Her parents would probably institutionalize her.

"It's fine Dad. I am enjoying it and it's helping to pay off school. I don't want to be one of those thousands of graduates with tons of loan debt. I seriously got to go, I'm almost at work now."

Her Dad gave his usual 'I still don't like this' sigh, "All right. One of these days we'll have to come visit. Doesn't that college have a parents day or something?"

Before Prudence could answer she hung up the phone and gave a deep breath. She loved her family, but being the youngest, and especially the only daughter, was more taxing than anything. She pulled her long, blonde hair back into a ponytail and quickly trotted along into the lab.

---

As she entered, she noticed a few others arrived before her. Was she late? She hoped not. She nodded at Penelope when she saw her and gave her a small wave. She liked her, she was a good roommate, but she never really got to know her. Since they were both part of this, it might be good. "I'm doing all right. Ready to get started," she said casually. She sat in a lone chair, not particularly by anyone and waited for what was about to transpire.

Frowning, Eurig checked his phone as the laboratory came into sight. He had intended to arrive early for once but… Where had the time gone? There had been a few distractions on the way there, but he had been certain that each task had taken less than 10 minutes to complete. ‘Next time. I’ll be here early next time.’ He thought for the hundredth time. Going inside, he stopped for another precious minute or two to cover his nose and contemplate turning around to leave. The place reeked to high heaven. Still, he persisted and continued on until he reached the lounge area. “Good afternoon. Sorry for being late.”

He quite liked his own powers, but he had to admit that it just made him seem all the more ‘monochrome’. His wardrobe consisted entirely of black, white, and grey clothes. This made it incredibly easy for him to dress in the morning but, more importantly, he didn’t have to worry about accidentally wearing some sort of horrifically bright color when he had intended on something ordinary and calm. Well, he never noticed the difference himself in the mirror but his siblings had often dragged him back into the house to change if he wore a particularly strange combination of colours.

“I’m opening the windows.” He announced, then proceeded to walk over to every available window to let in some much-needed fresh air. He could have just extended nearby shadows out to open them instead of walking to each one; but he often forgot that he had such an option available to him now. Breathing out a sigh of relief as a small breeze passed through, Eurig contemplated just standing by one of the windows to avoid as much of the foul scent as possible-

Ah, there was coffee. That seemed nice. He only had a cup in the morning to get him ready for classes and hadn’t had any more since then. Which was a severely inadequate amount of daily caffeine for the average college student. Joining Penelope by the coffee pot he tapped her shoulder and asked, “Can I mooch a cup off of you?”

"Certainly." Penelope responded to Eurig. After her cup of coffee was poured and she'd had some of it, she was much less irritable and much more homely. Well, while the effects lasted. She picked up a flowery mug and poured some coffee in it before handing it to Eurig.

"Let me know if it gets cold, I can heat it up for you." She told him, before turning to head for the seats. She took one near Rue and sent the girl a quick smile. From what she knew of Rue, she figured she'd probably like her, so long as she didn't talk much.

"Anyone got any idea what in the blazes Doc's got cooking in there?" She asked no one in particular. She reached over and picked up the remote to turn on the TV and watch some cartoons.

---

The Doctor, meanwhile, was trying to convince his brain that his nose was lying and eat his concoction. No dice though. Eventually, he sighed and threw it away, closing the lid so he wouldn't have to smell it anymore. It didn't smell horrendous but it was bad enough to make his eyes water which he knew would be terror for the young adults out in the lounge.

He exited the kitchen just in time to hear Penelope ask what he was cooking. "Honestly, I'm not even sure..." He spoke plainly, shrugging at the group. "I'm glad you all seem to be here. Are we waiting on anyone else?" He asked, not really remembering how many participants he'd gotten...

Lux didn't move from his place as more people arrived, of course he recognised all of them and even remembered their names, putting names with faces he was good at. He remained where he was, watching a few of the others play with their powers, neither approached or really seen by any of them...well he did notice Ambrose look at him for a moment or two. Still, without Castor's larger-than-life presence, Lux found that he often blended into the background. 'I should apply for MI6...become a shadow agent' The thought amused him as he went to follow Gareth inside, hastily backtracking as he lurched back through the door. Lux lifted his hand to cover his nose and braced himself for whatever was inside that had upset Gareth's stomach.

The smell took him by surprise, assaulting his sensitive nose as soon as he got through the door, it made him thankful he hadn't eaten yet. Holding his nose as he walked towards the source of the smell, Lux made his way into the kitchen. He caught a glimpse of the source as Rohrbach deposited it in the bin before he moved further into the lounge. Still reeling from the assault on his olfactory senses, he sought out the nearest window to hover by, nodding in greeting to anyone who looked his way. 'Whatever he's made could be mistaken for an alien life form...and again I question how he is still alive' Lux thought as he looked Rohrbach over.

With that question in mind, Lux pulled his backpack round his side, unzipped it and began to rummage through it, after a moment he pulled out two brown paper bags. Leaving the doctors answer to someone else he dropped his backpack, he approached the coffee table(?) at the center of the chairs and placed one of the bags down before offering the other to Rohrbach "This should take the edge off" He told Rohrbach, opening the bag a little to reveal a large sausage roll. "It's all I've got with me except for a salad pot" Lux coupled his words with a shrug of his shoulders before turning and pointing at the bag on the table "Cookies, help yourself". Three full sentences...that was a lot for him.

He waited for Rohrbach to decide whether to accept or deny his offer before he moved back over to the window to perch on the edge of the sill. Once he was comfortable he pulled a bottle of water out of his bag and took a swig, looking down into the bottle he quietly swished it's contents around, silently wishing he was back in the water 'Just need to get through this...'

Fate was a funny thing.

When you wanted something, desired it so badly, that nothing else seemed to matter. You wouldn't get it. It would forever remain out of reach, no matter how hard you fought and struggled. Indeed, struggling was futile, because fate would never give you what you want, nor would it allow you to simply take it. Yet the moment you move on, decide that there is something else you were meant to do with your life, fate comes crashing in once more, offering a ticket to the life you had long since moved past.

Like a damn tsundere.

It really was frustrating for the young man. All his life he had dreamed about being a hero, only to learn that such a path wasn't about to bring him any sort of happiness, yet here he was finally being granted that path. It was a dumb joke really, a prank that had gone too far. Yet here he was, getting distracted during his training as he watched his hand disappear. Gō still wasn't sure if he should be ecstatic, or just irked. The inner child in him was still screaming in ecstasy that his moment to be a hero had finally arrived, but that wizened lawyer was urging him to wake up and continue along a path that could truly help others. So the young man engaged in the one activity that always brought clarity when he was confused.

He trained.

As of now, his hand was phasing in and out of reality as he jumped over the rope that appeared to swing in empty space. Normally he would be running right now, but he'd pushed his entire training regime a good two hours early because the professor wanted to see him. Yet the running from earlier had brought a little clarity, as had his footwork drills and the punching bag and now finally the jump rope. Perhaps there was still a reason why he had only gotten his powers just now. After all, contrary to what he might have thought at the time, he wasn't ready to have powers until now. As a kid he had been reckless, but now he had a cool enough head on his shoulders to realize when and where it was smart to butt in.

In fact, as far as Gō was concerned, maybe he was just supposed to look after his younger peers to make sure they didn't wind up too hurt. If years of watching Toku had taught him anything, a hero's job came in many forms, and sometimes that just meant looking after the younger heroes. Plus he could turn invisible now and that was pretty damn cool. It wasn't just everyday that you woke up with the ability to make your hand disappear. It really was like being in one of the many shows he enjoyed everyday. It'd be a pointless lie to claim that he wasn't excited about the entire situation. Although he realized that such excitment did need to be tempered somewhat, if he wanted to be a part of the cure that is.

A sudden alarm however was enough to send Gō's mind right out of his routine. Jump rope set aside, the young man quickly grabbed his phone off the counter as he made his way to the lockers. With a quick change of clothes and a jacket slung over the shoulder, the boxer was off jogging towards the lab of one Dr. Rorhbach. Truth be told, his mind still hadn't reached a real decision, but there would be time enough to worry about his purpose as a hero later, right now he just needed to keep his eyes focused on the task at hand. He wanted to help people after all, and now he had a shot at doing just that. Wasting time on the details would just be a detriment to those who needed his help.

In other words:

Let's Gō!

A grin was still present, when Masamune Gō entered the room with the others. To his delight, there was already someone who needed saving.

"Evening Professor, need any help in the kitchen?"

"Yeah, not bad." Acheri agreed, nodding slightly at Emily's remark. Then, after a few words, raised a hand in greeting again. Even if she couldn't really see it, it was still polite. "Still trying to work out exactly how it works. And bringing things back is harder. But it's getting there. Hey, Soleil."

Once the group started moving a little deeper into the building, guided by the stench of something truly, truly unpleasant, Acheri began moving the same way. Not until she gestured for East and Soleil to move, too. The group might be new but that didn't mean she didn't have her preferences for who she stayed around. Commonality didn't necessarily mean kinship. That stench required backup, anyway. The source was pretty easy to ascertain, and Acheri's crisis of conscience lasted only a few seconds. The smell needed to be removed, and permitting its creator to actually consume it would be negligence. Possibly criminal, gauging by how it smelled. So exercising her will, and concentrating hard, she made the offensive pseudo food disappear.

Unfortunately, the container went with it. But it was a step in the right direction.

Speaking of steps, she retreated rather quickly behind East so that no one could pin it on her (plausible deniability), and raised a hand to greet Go on his way in.

"Hey, Go. Got those DVDs for me to borrow yet?"

Eastwood's head turned at the mention of his roommate's nombre. He caught a glance of Acheri behind him and sent his eyes a-rollin', slingin' one arm around her shoulder and tuggin' the girl into his orbit to hang with Soleil, currently still crouched atop his shoulder. It was hard to find the boxer through the haze of short, smug girls, but East did a'ight for himself and locked his eyes on Masamune Go with a friendly mock glare.

"You Jap sumbitch," he growled, husky voice rumbling in his throat and chest, "thought we were gonna sprint together 'fore sundown."

As effectively as he could, he moved his Soleil arm - the right one- to clasp Go's hand in a friendly shake.

"And as for you," he continued, now fixing his glare on Acheri. The half-Native American girl was purdy much usin' him as a great big wall to avoid any comeuppance for her mischief yet again. And Eastwood was gonna have to allow it yet again. "One o'these days it ain't gonna go so well when you try and scamper off to me for help. I might not wanna. Ya little devil."

Rohrbach turned to Lux, who was now offering him food, with a sigh of relief. "My stomach thanks you, Lux." He replied before chowing down on the sausage. He usually tried to call students by their first name rather than any nickname they had but Lux's name was so odd, even for the German scientist, that he'd rather just call him by the nickname than arouse any unwanted unpleasantness.

Rohrbach left the cookies for now. "Might order pizza later..." He muttered under his breath. Then he could get back to his work for the night.

"Hm?" He mumbled as yet another student came to his rescue. "Ah, Gō." Yet another student he didn't call by their first name. Possibly because Masamune was another name he didn't want to mess up with his accent.

Rohrbach, deciding that everyone was going to arrived, had arrived, chose to speak. He cleared his throat as he reached for the remote and shut off the TV. "Thank you all for coming to this evening's meeting. Today, I actually have something new planned for you, and only for those of you who feel confident in your skills enough to take it on." He began, smiling. He turned the TV back on and changed the input to show a room downstairs. "On the basement floor of this building, as you may know, is an old room we never use. However, I was able to get the necessary parts to begin working on a little something." He explained, "Down there is our new simulation room and today we're going to be testing it out."

He lifted his hands in a mocked jazz hands and without waiting for a reaction, motioned for the group to follow him downstairs. There were boxes everywhere but the room was fairly deep and on the opposite side to where they'd entered was the control room, a room closer to the ceiling with windows that looked down on the wider space. To get in there was a small lift that took you to the entrance of the control room.

He turned when everyone had piled in and smiled. "This room will be free for you all to use at any time, so long as the doors are unlocked, for you to train. He told them, giddy like young schoolboy again. "Today, however, we just need to test it to make sure it's in working order!" He mostly shouted, holding his hands up again in mocked celebration.

"My actions were for the good of the world." The (relatively) diminutive college student justified, glancing up at the much taller not-so-Native American. Acheri was entirely unconcerned by the (pseudo) threat, instead waving at Soleil again and continuing her explanation unimpeded. "Nevertheless, we are familiar with the unwillingness of your people to help. We are accustomed to it."

After the doctor's explanation of the training room, however, the Hopi elected to remain in orbit around the walking freight train rather than move towards it. The last time she trusted anything this particular PhD said, she ended up with abilities she was still figuring out how to explain. There was no way in Hell, or any other religion's equivalent plane of torment, that she was being one of the first people to set first in a 'simulation room'.

Not unless 'poof' expanded to include immortality.

---

Ambrose watched the rest of the students and they walked in, glad a guy dressed in all grey had opened a window. He made his way over to it, staring outside he saw a few kids eating on Back Circle the large lawn out front, others were reading though not many people were still out, and it looked like the street lights were just about to turn on. He leaned up against the window studying his colleagues again, his lean frame giving of an unconcerned vibe, though that wasn’t all true.

His mind was racing with the assignments they must have. According to the Doctor, these pills somehow enhanced certain aspects of the human body allowing them to do astonishing things, it was just hard to believe this wasn’t a military program. Maybe it was. Ambrose didn’t fret on that.

Even if this program wasn’t some conspiracy, or made to go wrong from the start. It might just all go downhill, given Ambrose's luck. Though today he didn’t feel like fate had anything to do with it, this new power intrigued him, and he was still thinking about the skateboard and how he had just willed all the parts into being.

Will was a funny thing. He’d seen men's wills broken as though they were twigs underfoot, others like dams bursting. He turned leaning on the window frame for support. Watching the others Ambrose felt out of place, he knew nearly nothing about most of them, and the doctor even less so. He watched as Acheri Solomon as she did her work on the foul smelling object. He thanked her silently.

Watched as she moved over to most of the others, as they jested to one another. He couldn’t help but smile for a moment, but it faded as quick as it had come. Him and his friends from back home… his train of thought lead him down the worst of paths… even saying that, that felt wrong even still. His old friends, they never would have teased one another like this group, back then hands would have been thrown. But this wasn’t back then, Ambrose had to remind himself of that.

His gaze flicked to the doctor as he talked, he mulled over the thought of a Simulation room. How was that even… I don't know dumbass how does one will a skateboard into existence? Science. The Doctor did jazz hands as he thought it. Ambrose wondered about the doctor too sometime. He wondered if he was insane or brilliant. Ambrose’s money was on both.

He wasn’t sure how this new power worked entirely, but he figured if he kept doing what he was doing he’d eventually figure it out. Probably. To Ambrose this sounded like as good a test as any. So he spoke up ” I’ll- ” He stopped suddenly as most of the people in the room looked to see the speaker. He looked none in the eyes, he hated eyes. Eyes held judgment, and he was afraid of that particular justice. He began again regaining his composure. “I’ll try it.” He said as he shrugged unfolding his arms from in front of him, taking his weight off the window seal.

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