---

As Astrid went about charging her attack, Lucian turned to watch Robert teach James. Why he needed a co-leader to teach 2 kids was beyond him, but Lucian could care less. Just as he has planted the seed, it was time to watch it grow. Robert created a ball of…liquid, that was thrown…in his direction. At the same moment, Astrid let her ball of electricity rip, both speeding toward him. Electricity was one thing, but water, fuck that.

The oxygen around Lucian suddenly disappeared, anyone withing a 5 foot radius of him would have began to suffocate if they didn't crawl away. He stood calmly, grinning at Astrid, ready take the ball of electricity head on, but he was ready to jump away from the water. Before it got withing his range though, James teleported to block the water. In his mind, Lucian felt that it could have been a bit more badass but at least James' metaphorical foot was out of the shell.

Within the blink if an eye, Astrid's pulse of electricity whipped into his range, instantly unraveling, sparks and latent arcs of electricity disappearing into the air. With a smile, he turned to the rest of his class, or James, Robert and Astrid.

"These 'O2 fumes' just took your battery power and spit on it. Could you tell me why, dear?" he said mockingly before turning to Robert. "And I would love if you didn't throw water in my direction, I might wake up like this, but to maintain it is a different story." he called gesturing to his face, letting James rip into Robert for him somemore.

Johnny lifted a cigarette from his jacket pocket and lit it after raising it to his mouth. A breath of smoke left the side of his mouth as he looked over his team and scratched his forehead with his thumb. A flurry of nicknames came his way, captain firstly and the expected cowboy soon after. He'd of preferred general, had a nice ring to it. But beggars can't be choosers, unless you're one of those twats who introduces himself by a nickname no one calls him.

"Right." He spoke, rising from his chair and fixing his jacket. He checked his watch, not bothering to look up as he spoke. "I've got a man with a van who should be just outside now if you'll follow me." He moved around the group and traced his footsteps throughout the school until he reached the gates.

What stood at the gates was a sight to be seen. A rustic red van with bits of paint peeling off seemingly everywhere sat sputtering away at the side of the road. In the front sat probably the most stereotypical stoner you could see outside of a Kevin Smith film. A gaunt face made fuller by a large shaggy beard and matching hair sat upon the face of the man nicknamed 'Taco'. And yes, this was one of those twats who introduces himself by a nickname that no one calls him.

A nod was all it took for Taco to snap out of his daydream and put the van into drive after the gang had piled on into the rather strange smelling van. Luckily enough the ride didn't take too long, and soon enough they had arrived at a large warehouse. Johnny turned to the group as the van bumbled away, swerving to the right ever so slightly as Taco attempted to drive with one hand.
"Before we start,I'd appreciate if you didn't tell, Latour about the guy driving the van." A solitary statement made before Johnny made his way into the warehouse.

The warehouse was near empty, with a few turned over tables and work benches scattered around the edges of the room. Light peered inwards through large windows near the top of the warehouse, and a few lights flickered on after Johnny flipped a switch as he entered. Near the centre of the room sat four small, Ikea tables, upon which sat four 'Gordian Knots'.
"Alright first task, something a little low key." He moved around to face the group on the other side of the tables. "These are known as Gordian knots, they were made by a mutant who has arguably the worst power I have ever seen" He said, recalling the time he met a mutant whose power was to grow and shrink himself, but only by an inch. "They are supposedly impossible to untie, if any of you can find a way of untying them then consider that a brownie point." He flicked his cigarette stub to the side before continuing. "Your use of powers is optional, after all Alexander the Great solved this problem and there's no conclusive evidence to show he was a mutant." He said, an attempt at a joke.

---

Grace took a deep breath of fresh air as they departed the van. The air around the warehouse wasn't much better. She preferred the clean air of the mountains, away from the civilization of the city. Johnny flicked the light on and the warehouse seemed to wake from a slumber. The florescent lights clicked and buzzed to life as they flickered for a moment before remaining on. She took another deep breath. The air smelled of fresh lumber, metal, and some mechanical fluid. The room was barren except for 4 small tables that held 4 large knotted ropes.

Gordian Knots.

Grace groaned inwardly. She hated puzzles. These knots reminded her of the rubix cubes that she could never figure out as a kid. She knew the outcome that she was trying to reach, but could never quite get there completely. She looked at the other members of her team and raised her eyebrows. She had no clue what this mundane task was going to teach them. Maybe it was just to kill some time and get them out of the institute. She didn't care either way, but she knew that she could not get the knots undone.

Walking slowly to the table on the far right, she sat cross legged on the floor and pulled the rope into her lap. She began her search for an end of the rope. quickly, she looked from Christie to Johnny to Bryson. "This is going to be harder than it seems, isn't it?" she said to no one in particular.

---

The team had got into a dodgy and yet smelly van which then took them to a warehouse, along the way Christie was trying to work out what the various odours were but ran out of time when they arrived at the location Johnny wanted them to be at. The warehouse was similar to the van in some ways, both of them were pieces of crap and hardly a fitting place to be in. The leader had mentioned not to bring what happened up, it had not crossed her mind at this time though even if it did she would probably say nothing anyway. The place was mostly empty, a few things were present, however. Four small Ikea tables with something on them were present, some light bleed through the roofing of the warehouse which made it less dark than it should be. Before Christie could even wrap her brain around the objects in front of her Johnny had chimed in.

"These are known as Gordian knots, they were made by a mutant who has arguably the worst power I have ever seen"

"They are supposedly impossible to untie, if any of you can find a way of untying them then consider that a brownie point."

Your use of powers is optional, after all Alexander the Great solved this problem and there's no conclusive evidence to show he was a mutant."

Christie kind of sighed at the idea of messing with these things that were supposedly impossible to unravel. Air quotes would be appropriate but were not given as Christie yet again tried to wrap her brain around what and how one would do such a thing. At least it was not theory and book-based learning, she hated that stuff. Grace soon spoke up and it seemed the question was aimed at no one but it would be rude not to reply in some way. "He said it supposedly impossible to untie, I am not sure how to even begin doing a task like this. I mean I could shred it with my nails but I am sure that is not the lesson," she said. She sounded somewhat confused as approached the task at hand and gave it a hard look. All the excitement she had in her body quickly evaporated into nothing. The mutant wanted to scratch her head but she would clearly hurt herself in the process, even if she could heal minor things quickly it was still annoying and minorly painful.

Christie was no good at puzzles, she was more of a doer than a thinker. The others would probably form some form of plan or at least use their powers in some way, maybe. Unless someone in the group wanted shredded Gordian Knots Chow main her powers would be pretty useless. From what her body language was showing the others could see she confused to the point of embarrassment. "Maybe I can poke at it a little" she said softly. Standing in front of one of the four knots she began to jab it and poke it all over, her nails tearing some of the thread it crossed over. She did not get mad that some of the thread became torn, it was basically nothing as the knot still stood strong. After looking like an idiot she stepped back to get a view of the whole knot from a distance. 'Maybe have one of the others grab one end and I grab the other like a game of tug of war' she thought to herself.

Maybe this was a test to see how quickly one had to realise this was a distraction and the real test was to see how long it would take to figure this out. Maybe, then again maybe not. The mutant soon rubbed her head a little, her nails causing minor small wounds as it sliced through her soft flesh. Blood began to leave the wounds she created but those wounds would be gone in a matter of moments as they were nothing. Her nails had a bit of crimson red colouring on it almost making it look like nail polish. Perhaps she could flirt her way out of this, Johnny was the leader and so maybe it could work or go horribly wrong. She soon shook the thought out of her head.

---

---

Raylan watched the two girls, Wings and that other one, take a look at the knits. He didn't know the other girls name but she reminded Raylan of those emo girls from high school. Raylan wanted to say something scathing but decided against it. He had to play nice and be social. So Raylan kept his mouth shut and his ears open. He heard the emo girl say something about her nails. Was that her power? Finger nails of fury? There was joke about how the mighty had fallen for Finger Nails to be on the team, but his drunk ass was the team as well. Glass houses right?

Raylan walked over to the table on the opposite side of the emo girl and got a good look at the Gordian Knots. "Turn him to any cause of policy. The Gordian Knot of it he will unloose. Familiar as his garter. Act 1 Scene 1, Henry the Fifth." Raylan said his eyes locked on the knots. He looked around at everyone for a moment before speaking again. He suddenly felt the need to explain why he could quote Shakespeare. "Rooms filled with classic lit books. One of Frank's favorite punishments. I think it's Dorian Gray this time."

Raylan picked one up before trying to figure out a way to use his powers to unravel the knot. He knew he could use his powers on nonmetallic objects but it was never worth the amount of focus and strain needed. It was like nonalcoholic beer. Yeah you can drink it but what was the point?

He looked around at the warehouse for a moment. Was it a lumber mill or just a workshop? Either way it was a place that Raylan wanted to hang out at. He loved places like this but like most things with Raylan, it was a double edged sword. He could keep as busy as mutantly possible, that was huge for maintaining any sort of sobriety. Yet it would it be almost too easy for a bottle to show up here at the same time.

Raylan tossed the knot back and forth in his hands as the wheels in his head turned. He removed himself from the crowd around the table as he thought about the knot. It reminded him of something for Frank once asked him. 'Why is a manhole cover round?' The answer was so obvious that Raylan smacked himself in the head for not thinking of it.

If you can't untie the knot, the only thing to do was to cut it open. Raylan looked around the warehouse for something to cut the knot open but he didn't he really see anything. Then again he wasn't really trying. He was almost sober, but there was huge difference between sober and almost when his powers were concerned. "If you can't untie the knot, then you have to cut it up."Raylan said with a sigh.

" I'm still feeling last night so I'm out of the doing. Heads up tats, do your Nails of Fury on it and we can move on." Raylan said softly loobing the knot to emo looking girl.

---

Grace dropped the knot back onto the table and stood up, stretching her back. This was crap. She couldn't untie the knot, she couldn't use her power to blow the knot apart, nor did she have anything to cut the knife up. She looked over at Christie. "Maybe we can find a lighter and set the things on fire. Nice bonfire with some marshmallows." She grinned and looked around the vast, empty room. She eyed her team mates, trying to gauge their personalities by how they handled the task at hand.

Johnny was standing off to the side, a cigarette glowing between his lips, Bryson seemed to be debating with the other two on how to untie the knot, and Raylan seemed to be wandering aimlessly around the warehouse. He tossed the ball of rope to Christie and mentioned something about not feeling it today, no doubt because of his wild night. Grace rolled her eyes. "You could just drown it in liquor. Maybe it will pass out in a ditch and untie itself," She muttered under her breath. Shit. She said that out loud. Grace bit her lip and smiled a small smile. It was kind of funny, to her at least.

She ambled over to a work table and started exploring the rest of the warehouse. There were actually a few little knick knacks scattered around. She gave up on the knot untying and waited for an idea. Her wing started to itch. "damn it." She muttered and shifted her shoulders until it grew unbearable. Looking around the work bench she was exploring, she found a wooden stick. she reached behind her and scratched under her left wing and sighed. "damn feathers," she muttered and dropped the stick with a loud clatter.

---

---

Will couldn't help but smile at the wide open space that the professor had brought them to. This was...perfect. He didn't have to worry about injuring anyone with his powers, or damaging any property. His grin grew bigger until he finally gave in, and followed in Sophie's footsteps. His body glowed green for a moment before the light began twisting around him, coiling and spiraling around his body before traveling down his arms, to his wrists, and launching straight at a tree. In truth, he'd been aiming for the rock next to the tree, but it was close enough. The disc of energy had left a path of scorched earth, and it had sliced straight through the dead tree, but Will couldn't help but smile again. "So Professor, what's on the agenda?"

Location: Field
Interacting with: Sophie and Will @smarty0114

---

---

Francis couldn't help but smile and laugh as he watch his students use their powers so freely as they did. For once, it looked as they were truly happy and unafraid of tue gifts they were given. They looked like children playing in an overgrown back yard.

A thought then occurred as Will asked what they were going to do, that made him smile. "You, Sophie, and Raylan are some of the most destructive and dangerous mutants i have ever taught, by far. Yet you all have the great potential to protect. Instead of using your powers as a weapon, I will teach you how to use them as a sheild, as well, so you can protect those you love. You two did not start out as I had hoped in terms of meeting each other. Due to this, you have a bad first impression of each other and have greatly overlooked the things you have in common. In all honesty, I had kept your existences a secret from one another because I wanted you both to both be pleasantly surprised when you finally did meet each other, in hopes that this would get you both to connect and be good friends. But this clear wasn't what happened." Francis started then paused momentarily then continued. "With that in mind, the main purpose was to get as much exercise as you could and to use your gifts freely without hurting someone in the process. But first, we are going to do a little trust exercise. You are going to use your powers on each other without harming one another in the process. "

Francis then turned to Will. "Sophie has the ability to increase the speed and friction in and between molecular particles to the point where they combust and produce fire. A side affect of this is that the atoms that make up her body do NOT have a combustion level, thus, she cannot burn. According to her file, Sophie had first showed development of her powers at the age of 3. Not only that, but her powers are in a constant state of growth and will continue to grow stronger for the rest of her life. Now, you have already experienced what she can do first hand and you probably dislike her and her powers greatly for that, don't you? Well, Sophie will be doing that again except this time, she will do so without igniting the molecules in your body or clothes, but rather the very fine layer above all of that. If all goes well, you should only feel a gentle and relaxing warmth all over, have no reason to fear or hate her powers and perhaps better your relationship with her and understand her a bit more." He explain and gave Will a reassuring look then turned to Sophie. "Now Will, unlike you Sophie, came from parents who were both mutants and he's had his powers since birth. He absorbed plasma energy from the sun, to levels that could kill anybody else, and releases it as rings made from plasmic energy that can cut through steel without so much as a single scratch to himself. It is his job to launch said rings as closely as he can without hitting you. If all goes well, you won't get a scratch on you."

This left the two students uneasy and physically worried, but Francis knew that everything would go as according to plan. Still, it was probably best that he reassured them. "Keep in mind that if you fail, you could seriously hurt or even kill one another. However, I will be close by so if anything happens, I will make sure you are out of harm's way. I know you are both scared of hurting others with your gifts or worse. I know you just want to learn control and protect those you care about. So even if you don't trust each other just yet, then trust me when I tell you both that you can no longer afford to be afraid of what and who you are and that I know you will both succeed in not harming each other." He told the worried students with a reassuring smile. "Now, who wants to go first?"

---

---

Location: feild
Interacting with: Francis and Will @smarty0114

---

---

Sophie watch in awe as she watched Will glow a bright green then knocked down a tree with ease, with these energy discs. She laughed and clapped excitedly at the display. "That was incredible and amazing and awesome!" She called over to him ecstatically as she waded through the tall grass over to him, leaving a sprinkled trail of burnt grass behind her. Upon realizing that she was still slightly on fire, however, she quickly put it out and blushed slightly. " oops... forgot that I was still burning..." she mumbled quietly.

Sophie listened to Francis and it quickly became apparent that she was afraid of this exercise, glancing at Will a few times out of the corner of her eyes with a worried expression. She wasn't worried about herself getting hurt, rather it was the fact that she could kill Will by accident if she broke concentration; she didn't want to hurt anyone. The thing that interested her the most however, was probably how Will's powers worked and the fact that they have both had their powers since practically the moment they were born.

After given their instructions, Sophie finally turned to Will. "You already have had some experience of what I am capable of, so do you want to go first? If all else fails then you won't have to worry about me torching you again and at the very least, you'll get even with what I did earlier, right? Sounds like a win situation to me." She said jokingly to lighten the mood and giving him a slight smile. "Regardless, it seems like I have no choice but to trust you. So my life is in your hands. I'd appreciate it if you didn't chop any of my appendages off, or at least not kill me, ok?" Her smile grew a bit more and tried to be reassuringly.

"I'm sure you can do this, I know you can." She said try to actually reassure him, though in the deepest pit of her mind she knew that this was also partially for herself too; of course, coming from her, she knew this probably wouldn't make him feel much better or mean much to him.

---

---

Raylan was in the middle of the lighting a cigarette when he heard Grace's comment. It was in the middle of the inhale that Raylan erupted in a fit of coughing and laughter.

There was a brief moment of shock and confusion when Raylan looked at Wings. Wings just said that? The quite girl that almost never speaks? Well not to him, that may have been the most Raylan ever heard her say at one time. He couldn't help but notice a small, ghost of a smile. Raylan couldn't remember her seeing smile before. Still he had to admit, it looked good her.

Raylan couldn't help but smile and chuckle."When's did the Humming Bird get some talons? You figure it'd find a nice a place next to me did yah?" Raylan said with a slight chuckle.

"This is how it starts, a little snark here and there. The next you know Wings is on Girl's Gone Wild the Mutant Edition." Raylan said while winking at Wings

Raylan couldn't help but wonder what was more impressive, the sass or the source. There weren't many that would openly mock him. Yet to see the meek Wings pop off only made it better. Raylan couldn't help but wonder how different or violent his reaction might have been if someone else had said it.

"Someone cut the knot up before Wings decides she's a hard ass Pterodactyl and I look good for lunch." Raylan said making his way towards the one for the walls, as playfully as possible for someone like him. There was something in his voice, something that people might confuse for enjoyment.

At the wall Raylan hoped to find something that he could train with. Frank did give him homework after. Sadly that homework wasn't helping those knots find their way to a ditch.

---

A laugh? An actual chuckle from Raylan? He didn't fly off the handle? Grace looked up at him and blinked, surprised. The last time someone beside Latour had made a comment about his drinking it had ended in an all out brawl. She looked around the room and everyone was looking at her. "Yes. I do speak," She mumbled, "Occasionally." She rolled her eyes when Raylan mentioned girls gone wild and nearly snorted, but caught herself. The room was quiet, and for once, it made her slightly uncomfortable. Everyone was just looking at her.

Grace turned back to the bench she was inspecting and picked up a screw driver. It wasn't until she heard something about a dinosaur bird that she turned around. Her eyes flashed. She thought for a brief second about flicking her wrist and sending a whirlpool of air in Raylan's direction, but decided that would be pushing it. People might have a coronary if she did something besides sit in silence.

"I doubt you would taste very good. Probably like the last call of a saloon," She tossed a small smirk his way and looked over at Christie and then at Johnny. He was taking the scene in silently. Grace smiled at Christie and walked back over to her. There was a small rustling behind her, and she flinched, tensing up her entire body. She thought she had pushed it too far with Raylan, overstepped some line. The rustling, however, was a small mouse scampering from one bench to the next. She sat down and tossed the rope knot up into the arm like a basketball. She had actually wanted to hear his laugh again.

Looking over at Bryson, Grace smiled again and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Maybe her group wasn't so bad after all. I will not be the silent weird one anymore, she said to herself and tossed the knot into the air again. The sun peered into the room through one of the dirt windows and her wings itched to get outside and soak up the warm rays. She hated being inside.

---

---

Will's eyes widened in shock as the professor explained his plan. This was insane! He had no interest in getting set on fire again, and even less of an interest in cutting someone in half. Shaking his head in disbelief, he was even more shocked that Sophie volunteered to stand in the line of fire. "You're both nuts! This literally the most insane thing you could do! I mean, if I mess up, she's dead! She will literally die!" he shouted. But they seemed hell bent on this insane experiment.

He swallowed his fear and got into position, about a hundred feet from where Sophie stood. Taking a deep breath his body began to glow again, and the light twisted around him, coiling and squirming like a serpent, until it traveled down to his outstretched arms and shot off towards Sophie, in three bright green discs. The first one missed completely, and the second whizzed right over her head. The third came with in centimeters of her shoulder but hurtled past. Will breathed a sigh of relief and looked down at his scorched clothes. "If this becomes a regular thing, I think I'm gonna need some new clothes," he said with a smirk.

Location: Field
Interacting with: Will @smarty0114

---

---

Sophie closed her eyes and said a small prayer, then stood perfectly still, not flinching once as she heard the three discs wizz past her. She then reopened her eyes and grinned at Will. "See? What I tell you? Now who's the crazy one, Mr. I can't aim?" She replied with a smirk and a small laugh.

Of course, her laughter soon faded at she knew it was her turn. "Oh ye of little faith, I trusted you and I'm still kicking, aren't I? Can't you give me the same courtesy?" Sophie replied back with a smirk. With all jokes aside, she hesitantly approached Will, a flame blanketed the palm of one of her hands. Before she even touched Will, however, she could see him visibly tense up as he stood rigidly before her. Her expression saddened slightly. "He's afraid of me... of course, why wouldn't he...? After what a did to him..."

Sophie silently stared into Will's eyes for a moment, then sighed softly. "Relax already, would ya? I promise I won't hurt you again. Besides, even if this doesn't work, I highly doubt that what you are wearing is Gucci. A guy like you could never afford it." She said gently. She closed her eyes then placed the hand that was blanketed with fire, on the base Will's neck, touching is skin rather than his clothes. To what would be Will's surprise, the pain that he may have been expecting never came. Instead, all he would have felt was a gentle warmth.

The flames from Sophie's palm pooled out onto Will's neck and collar bone, then traveled up and gently coiled about halfway around his face. It then traveled and coiled down his chest and arm, pooling in the palm of his hand.

Sophie sighed and removed her hand, letting it fall to her side, and reopened her eyes, yet let the flames in the palm of Will's hand remain for a bit longer so that he could look as the flames danced in his hands, before finally the flames died down and were put out. Not a single burn remained on Will's skin or clothes, nor the did the scent or a trail of smoke. "Am I still the scary monster that you think I am?" She said softly with a slightly sad tone, as she looked down at the ground. Before Will could respond, however, Sophie sighed. "Forget it. It doesn't matter... Sorry for hurting you earlier." She said then quickly returned to Francis.

---

---

Location: Field
Interacting with: Sophie and Will @smarty0114

---

---

Upon the two finishing up the exercise, Francis applauded them approvingly. "Well done, both of you! You did brilliantly!" He said to them with a happy smile. He then noticed Sophie's saddened expression and shot Will a questioning look, yet said nothing about it. He then smiled once again and laughed softly at Will's earlier comment. "Insane, am I? Well it seems that we are going to need a little bit of insanity, aren't we?" Francis replied with a grin. "Alright, why don't you both go ahead and exercise a bit more while you have the chance?"

Sophie nodded and silently distanced herself from Francis and Will then sat down. A plume of fire erupted from the ground and took the form a male human that stood about 6'3" in height and didn't have any real distinct physical traits, like hair. It kneeled down front of Sophie and hugged her gently, sizzling a bit as the flames from it's body evaporated the tears that ran down Sophie's cheeks. Then it released her and wiped away what tears remained, sizzling as they evaporated. It then shrunk down to where it wasn't much taller than 4 inches. The human flame struggled and kicked at the air a bit as it climbed up onto her thigh. It then looked up and looked as if it were talking with her which made her smile gently. A few times she looked up at Will then quickly looked away and giggled and whispered something to the little fire person, as seemingly the little fire person were trash talking him.

Meanwhile, Francis placed a hand on Will's shoulder and stopped him before he could go off to do his own thing. "Will, did you say anything to offend Sophie? She seems awfully upset about something. I'm not trying to accuse you of anything I just want to make sure nothing happened between you two that I am unaware of." He asked Will quietly.

---

Christie listened to those around her though soon felt something hit her, one of her teammates had thrown the knot they should be working on at her. The knot caused some form of pain, it was minor at best as the knot was rough and somewhat heavy. She should have seen it coming when Raylan mentioned cutting it. She could do that but that was not the point of this test or so she thought, her mind went back to her earlier thought of where she thought this was a test within a test. The odd mutant did not even make any noise when she was hit or even flinch afterwards. Tats, who was tats? Was she tats, was that his nickname for her? She had never been called that before and so it was odd to hear. Grace had got somewhat sassy all of a sudden, it seemed it was aimed at Raylan, Grace was quite witty. Christie would have laughed but she held it back, a smile did force its way onto her face, however.

She liked the comment of having the knot get drunk and un-tieing itself but this was not an anime, TV Show, movie or comic. What kind of world would that be? By this time Raylan and Grace were exchanging words, Grace still being sassy and witty. Christie soon grew er claws and soon began to shred the knot that was thrown at her. It did not take very long when she was done she picked up all the loose strands she could. With that she then yelled "Here ya go." The many strands soon flying towards Raylan in whatever direction he was now in. The strands did not go far as they were light and so all that happened was an explosion of knot strands going all over the place. All Christie did is make the place somewhat dirtier. Particles filed her air space and anyone close enough. Some particles were so small that when breathed in through the nose would cause irritation until one sneezed.

Grace had smiled at Christie and soon picked up her knot and soon said something to Grace. "Maybe we can tug a war this thing, grab a side and I will grab the other and maybe we can yank it to make the task easier" she said gently. Of course, they would need to move from this spot as the strands and particles were still flying all over this one small space. The knot would probably be a pain in the ass but so far no one really thought of anything to do, she would have asked the new guy but he was off doing whatever he was doing. The knot had many places to grab, she was sure it would help even if not very much so. "I will assume teamwork is key, no?" she said. Christie soon thought to herself 'My this post seems a little lousy and somewhat forced today wouldn't you say Mr Player? Another thing, wasn't there another person with us? I am sure it was not Barney the imaginary Dinosaur' Christie soon looked at her nails for a moment before looking over to Grace the Raylan who was elsewhere at this time. "We need Antman or someone with Antman like powers. Perhaps someone with Ironman's IQ and riches," she said.

---

---

"You mean one is more is never enough? Wings I had no idea you felt that way about me." Raylan said dryly. He looked over to Grace with the grin of a smart ass. It wasn't until she flinched that he started laughing. His laughter only grew when he saw the mouse. "Thought it was me coming after you? I ain't that hateful... I think. Raylan said with another chuckle. Was he... Having fun? Did he actually like her? Nah, it had to be what was left of the alcohol working it's way out of his system.

It was then that he heard that the Emo girl say to the effect of here you go and blast of loose strings came from her hands. It was when he heard something about team work and a tug of war that Raylan let out a small groan. He didn't want to to say anything. He had to be nice, be social, give Frank a break for awhile but she didn't stop talking. Now she was talking Stark and Prym? The fuck do we need them for? It's a knot, a ball of twine,that's it, that's all... A ball of fucking twine. It's a stupid puzzle, we're not out here trying to save the world from that Zeka or radioactive fallout from dildos of fucking death! You know what call them, call the both of them. Maybe they can solve the riddle of what the hell happened to your brain!... Dumb ass. Raylan raged inside of his head. So much for his good mood. It was now replaced by frustration and more than a little anger.


"The Puzzles been solved. Stop trying to make this harder than it is. The point of it all is to make you think. If you can't untie the knot, how do I get it open? Cut. It." Raylan did everything he could to hide his frustration. As long as he didn't yell or punch, or try to kill anyone, things should be fine... He hoped. It was times like this he almost needed a drink. Why couldn't she see this was just that simple?

Astrid was so focused on showing up Lucian that she never even realized what was going on beside her with James and Robert. Then all of a sudden her electricity failed and James started yelling startling her. Too much commotion all at once. Why hadn't her electricity worked? Why was James yelling? Turning to see a dripping wet non-anxious James, all she heard was something about 'throwing around water' before she went off. Robert again?! "SNOW! I don't need you fucking help!" Robert was cute and all, but she didn't need his involvement in her affairs. She could handle herself, especially when it came to electrocuting a little twat like Lucian.

Speaking of which, almost as quickly as she went off on Robert, she whipped back around to Lucian. He had made her look like a damn fool in front of everyone. A giant whip of electricity reduced to a nothing, just completely dissipated. She was angry now, even more so than before. A scarily pissed off look came down across her face. In her hair the sparks began to buzz faster, like a hive of angry bees. Astrid began to generate bolt after bolt in her hands to throw in Lucian's direction. At this point she couldn't have cared if she hurt him, she was just using up all of her energy. She wanted something to happen, anything.

With every failed ball of electricity Astrid grew madder and madder. She was shouting, unintelligibly with every twist of her body. Her face was turning slightly red from all of the exertion she was putting into her attempts. She was so focused on Lucian that she didn't even realize how dangerously the sparks were flying around her shirt. It didn't take long before one of them landed on her lower back and caught. After a short fizzle, a tiny flame appeared. The tiny tank top stood no chance to the flame. Astrid was about to huck another ball of electricity when she noticed an unusually warm feeling on her back. Glancing over her shoulder fear instantly jumped in her stomach.

"Shit! Fuck fuck fuck fuck!" Quickly realizing that, it wasn't going to work she grabbed at the front of her shirt and whipped it off over her head as quick as possible. Thankfully it didn't catch in her hair. Throwing the burning shirt on the ground, she began stomping on it. After enough time the flame finally died out, but not before ruining the shirt beyond wearability. Staring at the pieces of shirt beneath her foot for a long moment, Astrid only realized that she was standing before three guys in only a bra as a breeze blew past her causing goosebumps to rise all over her exposed skin. Glaring around all of them as if it was their fault, Astrid stalked off from the field. "Fuck this, I'm going back to the van." She wanted to get out of there as soon as possible so they didn't see her break down.

Location: Training field
Interacting with: Astrid@WintergreyPeter @Winter KittenLucian @LokiLeo789James @SuddenSardines

---

A few interesting things had happened."Wow. Nice...uh...moves, James. I didn't think you'd move yourself in front of the water orb... I was thinking more along the lines of you using your powers to move the orb out of the way. Now..." As he was continuing, James was screaming at him. Of course he can hear him but he just kept on speaking anyways. "Imagine if that orb was a bullet, or a grenade. You would be dead. We will try this again, and no, I won't aim the orb at anyone again. This time, I would like if you tried to move the orb instead of moving yourself..." He said. Turning to Lucian, he said "Ah, well, I did not mean for the water to even get close to you so I think you would have been ok..."

At the same time, he noticed Astrid becoming more and more agitated. She was screaming at Lucian, trying to throw concentrated electricity at him. However, the balls of electricity seemingly dissipated around Lucian. In his mind, he thought how dangerous Lucian would be if he were to turn on them, for some odd reason. However, as soon as he noticed a spark catch on Astrid's shirt, he went into disaster mode. "A-Astrid. Your shirt..." He was saying but Astrid did not seem to hear. Soon enough, her shirt caught a small flame. Not long after that, she noticed it herself. Whipping the shirt off in an instant, Astrid stomped the fire out. With a somewhat shocked and confused expression on his face he muttered "Uh...Astrid..you...um...." Apparently, Astrid had the same thought as the small breeze whizzed past the group. Instantly, Robert conjured up some water and coated Astrid's upper body with. Now, normally, people in these situations would not want more water on them, as they are scantly clad enough. However, Astrid would find out that what Robert was doing was to obscure the view the three guys were getting. The feel of the water on Astrid's body would be warm and gentle. Soft ripples flowed through the water and seemingly the water was flowing outwards from her body, making sure she did not get wet even though there was water all about her...

---

Loki was on foot in his human form. By appearance some would guess he had gotten a ride, but the reality was he ran here in various forms. His sunglasses hid his eyes and his black outfit was adorned as per usual. The only difference was today he had a black duffel that held all of his clothes and an old wallet sized photograph with a smiling family that only he could recognize.

He paused at a large iron fence and tilted his head. He pulled out a card with the name and address of the school and looked from it to the fence then back. He seemed to think about possible solutions for a few moments that would be considered morally sound, but shrugged them off and proceeded in tossing his duffel over the fence to the other side. Then he backed up quite a ways and ran leaping up and barely making it over the top. He landed on his feet and grabbed his duffel after dusting off his black jeans.

He continued on his merry way to the entrance where he knocked. No answer. He knocked again with a bit more emphasis. Nothing. He paced at the entrance for a moment then rang the doorbell. Waited and still nothing. A grumble that sounded more animalistic then human escaped him and he tried opening the door. Locked. Another grumble before he produced his lock picking supplies and made quick work of the lock. A look of satisfaction before he opened the door, grabbed his duffel and strode inside.

The place was massive...massive and empty feeling. He closed the door and dropped the duffel a wide grin spread across his face as he walked to the center of the area and transformed into a large black tiger. The sole purpose was to roar and hear the echo before he proceeded to run to the highest point and leap off. He was having a blast.

---

---

Will had been watching Sophie and the fire man when the professor came up to him. He turned to face him as he spoke, his eyebrows raising in disbelief as the professor asked his question. "Look, I think the only thing that happened is your star pupil there has an issue with feeling sorry for herself," shaking his head and stalking off, away from his mentor and his teammate. When he was sufficiently far enough away, he closed his eyes, trying to take back the anger, force it down.

He ripped off his singed shirt, and his body began to glow. This time, he aimed the discs of energy straight into the air, where they flew until they were out of sight. He kept launching the discs, until finally, he was calmer. She got all upset that he thought she was a monster. She knows nothing about monsters he thought, glancing over at the professor and Sophie, ignoring her flame puppet, that Sophie seemed to be talking to.

Location: Feild
Interacting with: Will @smarty0114

---

---

That was the last straw. Francis stormed up to Will with the most infuriated and stern expression. "I have had quite enough of this attitude of yours, William Lockhart! I understand that life wasn't what you wanted it to be but neither was Sophie's! I think that it's time you actually sat down and listened for once in your goddamn life and actually cared about someone other than yourself! Sophie managed to do the mature thing and get over her pride long enough to feel sorry for hurting you and actually APOLOGIZE for it! So stop acting like a spoiled rotten child, get off your high horse, and do the same! AM. I. CLEAR.?" He yelled at Will with a stern tone as he stared Will down. "Good." Francis grabbed Will by the ear and dragged him over to where Sophie was, then threw him onto the ground next to her, before sitting across from the two. He clearly was not going to have anymore of this tomfoolery and the stern look on his face made clear of that. "I have had enough of this childish squabble and it is going to end NOW. So! We are going to do one more exercise to end this. Thanks to the help of our star pupil, William, we are going to tell our little histories. AND WE ARE NOT GOING TO LEAVE THIS FEILD UNTIL THIS EXORCISE IS COMPLETED, UNDERSTAND?!" He snapped at them.

Sophie narrowed her eyes. "Tch. Like Crossfire over here would care about the past of someone who has issues about feeling sorry for herself ." She replied, earning her a warning glare from Francis. Sophie flinched. "Fine. I came from two human parents that had no idea about how to raise a child that could burst into flames every time she caught a fever or got upset about something. But that wasn't the funnest part of my childhood! No, no! The funnest part was constantly being called a monster by my classmates and a devil by their parents from DAY ONE. Sure my parents were there for me, they loved me, and I am so damn lucky to have had my parents, but we all knew they couldn't do anything about it! They could only tell me that life would only get better but by then it was already too late! I've been called a monster so much that I actually believe it to be true. And it doesn't end there, folks! I was also beat up on a daily basis from kindergarten all the way to graduation night! I even have scars, see!?" She then lifted her shirt slightly to reveal a large scar on her stomach going up towards her chest. "Wanna know what my favorite scar is?! It's not actually a scar at all! My favorite 'scar' is when my classmates tried to DROWN ME in the school's pool during my freshman year of highschool! Of course at teacher saw what was going on and ruined all the fun by hauling my unconscious ass to the hospital, where I was in a coma for a little over 2 weeks! You would think that after something like this that the school would have done something and the bullying would have stopped, right?! WRONG! Sure the school addressed it, but that sure as hell didn't stop my classmates from beating my ass every damn day! Then a few months ago, Francis asked me to come here! You're right, Will. I CLEARLY have major issues with feeling bad about myself and TOTALLY didn't experience hell everyday for the past 18 years! It's just me! So what about you pretty boy?! What's your tale of your wonderful goddamn life? I'm sure you had plenty of friends, a hot girlfriend, nominated homecoming king, and was the captain of the football team, right?! No wonder you are such a self centered brat that only care about himself!" You could practically cut the amount with a knife, but that mattered little to Sophie, she knew that Will didn't even care about anyone but himself nor even bothered to listen to her. To her this exercise was pointless. Sophie laid down onto her side angrily. She wanted to cry but she would be damned if she let Will see her when did.

---

A chuckle and a smile. Surely he was still drunk she thought and continued to walk aimlessly around the warehouse, kicking pieces of the shredded rope that Christie had thrown at Raylan. She was getting antsy being cooped up in this dank warehouse. She felt somewhat like a caged bird. Grace smiled at Christie when she suggested tug or war. "You could strap the rope around you and I could just fly us out of this place." She laughed quietly and shifted her shoulders slightly. Her wings ached to be stretched out and soaring through the open skies.

She rolled her eyes when Raylan snapped at Christie. She thought for a moment, weighing the options of snipping back at him again or sinking back into her shell and remaining quiet. She bit her lip. He was a short fuse ready to blow at any moment and he seemed to be pacing the room like a caged animal. She thought for one more moment and then made her decision. She considered Christie her friend now and she was talking to her more, and frankly Raylan was being an ass.

"Who pissed in your cheerios this morning?" She said and turned to face him. "The buzz wearing off and Mr I-Need-Alcohol-To-Keep-Me-Going-And-Not-Be-A-Dick is getting upset that he was to be with people?" Her feathers were slightly ruffled, no pun intended. "I think I saw a bar down the street. I'm sure they have ditches that you can sleep in." She was on a roll at this point and she was actually having a little fun. "Besides, the knots are done, but we are obviously not." She smiled and couldn't help but laugh slightly as she kicked another knot of rope around. "I got a little caught up in the moment didn't I?" She muttered and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She looked back over at Raylan, waiting for a backlash, promising herself she wouldn't jump this time.