"How must of us had a more difficult night. Did you sign the waiver?" It was blunt but it was alss a teasing challenge to Paulina. "Because as far as I could tell this morning no one has decided to help" Giving Paulina a smug look he dusted himself. Really he hadn't expected anyone to fill the section on his request form but there was always hope. Arty gave him a look that said he was being really rude. Liam’s demeanor changed after that; he really was being kinda mean and it was largely due to the fact that he really didn’t know how to handle himself in a situation with this many people. Even with Ashleigh having fled it was still a lot of people. “Sorry. I’m being kind of an ass. Understandably no one has opted to work with me but then again if you read the waiver it's not exactly appealing.”

The wording of the waiver suggested that it was entirely possible that the experimenting with the powers could kill the participants which was highly unappealing but then again any power experimentation could kill the participants really. The Academy had worded the Waiver really strongly though because ideally the participants would be switching bodies. It was ridiculous to think but the preliminary testing seemed to indicate that it was entirely possible that it would work. Which on its own was kind of surprising…

Looking up at Korie he grinned it was nice to see a face that had no associated potentially negative feelings. “Morning Korie. Sleep okay? And of course you’re welcome. I’m sort of suspicious of the present companies. I suspect their motives are less than pure.”

At Alister’s comment about Their wall Liam just chuckled. “Dude did you get handsome or something cause I’m pretty sure last semester we were not this popular and nothing changed with me so I’m going to blame you for this one.” It was weird because until recently Alister and he had sort of just simultaneously existed near one another until the last few days. “Sorry about the Academy opting to shut you down buddy. Is the new ability at least worth it?”

Liam could see the gym instructor coming in to start things so they needed to wrap stuff up soon.

@Thundercrash
@Dusksong
@Rune_Alchemist
@KiritoAsuna

Alister laughed lightly. "Dude it's totally because I'm sexy as fuck" he said using light humor. Alister never found himself attractive to begin with but he thought it would be funny to say he did. Alister heard the gym instructor approaching so he sat up and looked around . With a small yawn he put his jacket back on.

Alister looked over to liam and smiled. "Fuck yea the power is worth this" alister said sounding extatic. He than stood up from the ground and stretched. "Alright guys. He said with a small laugh. "ItS time to get up"

Alister began happily stretching out his body. He proceeded to do a one armed hand stand because, well, fuck it he needed to wake up somehow. Alister was moving around trying to gather energy as he waited for the instructor to start class and for everyone else to get up. @Themerlinhawk[@Thunder crash] @Dusksong @Rune_Alchemist

"No." Elaine replied rather curtly in response to Paulina's question. "Elaine. Don't mind me." A simple introduction that would at least hopefully let them leave her mostly alone. She was too exhausted to seriously put up with any bullshit today. She'd have to figure out how to work in more food before Gym so she wouldn't be so tired, and possibly try sleeping right before if she could. At least perhaps, the only good thing that would come out Gym would be that she could possibly exhaust herself during it, and perhaps actually get some form of sleep, even if it was just passing out from exhaustion.

She mostly just listened to the banter of the other people for now, keeping quiet. At least this would hopefully be over soon, since the Gym instructor was coming it seemed....

@KiritoAsuna@Themerlinhawk@thundercrash@Dusksong

Crown came latter than anyone, like usual. He had bags under his eyes and he seemed to be squinting hard. He didn't bring his shades, he learned a expensive lesson past years for bringing them to gym. He was dressed up in his normal sweats, being one of the few who didn't come in shorts and clothes that would allow better movement, he really never liked being "under dressed". His eyes widened a little when he saw Liam and what seemed like a new gang he could make friends with this year. They all seemed tired too, the first day was always the hardest.
"Sup, guys. Hope you weren't all night partying like me!". Crown said in a deeper morning voice. He chuckled to himself, everyone knew nothing actually fun happened in this school. Nothing he thought was actually fun...

He then looked at the girls that were presented in front of them. Maybe because of the slight hangover he was feeling or maybe he was just bored to notice them from yesterday.Come on now Crown. Slacking already, now I'm a whole day behind to getting with them. Well better late then never.

"So, which one of you beautiful ladies would like the honor of being my partner for today? You know for the class." Or maybe for tonight too.. He stood there with a smug smile while rummaging through his bag for a sunscreen bottle. Of course it wasn't actually sunscreen, but it was the easiest way to keep his clay paste for the more "exciting" moments. Maybe today would have some actual power play, the staff would usually give an opportunity to gauge the newer students. Maybe today he could win some ladies hearts, give some chumps a black eye, and or get to show the newbies who runs the show.
@Rune_Alchemist@Caits@Thundercrash@Dusksong

Korie smiled at Jason as he introduced himself, glad to meet new faces in her new school. Clearly Liam had been kidding when he said he wasn’t popular, but Korie was used to that. A black-haired girl quickly excused herself after Korie had arrived, drawing a frown to Korie’s face. Had she scared her off? The boy named Jason quickly followed her, and Korie figured they must know each other.

Laughing at Liam’s side joke about the “present company,” Korie joined Alister as he stood up, eyes widening as he did a handstand with one arm. ”Er, we’re not all expected to do that, are we?” she asked, only half-joking.

At the suggestive remark made by a black-haired boy, Korie traced the people sitting on the floor for potential partners. It seemed like Alister would naturally pair up with Liam, leaving the only other person she knew to be Paulina.

”How about then, Paulina?” Korie asked, looking at said girl with a friendly grin. ”We can be partners if you promise to slow down a little on your skates.”

---

@thundercrash@themerlinhawk@kiritoasuna@caits@hitman5455@thecrash20

Zach entered the gym, and looked around nervously. He wasn't sure exactly what was going to happen. Were they going to need to use their powers in some kind of sport or game? If so, things could get dangerous quickly. He didn't believe The Academy would put them in harms way without need, but he was too new to know for sure.

Zach saw Paulina, and figured that she would have an idea about what they'd be doing. He walked towards her, and saw she was talking with a lot of people. "This looks like a good chance to meet new people." He made his way over to the group, and waved at them, before turning to Paulina, "Hey, do you have any idea what we're gonna do today?" He asked, putting his hands in his pockets.

@Themerlinhawk@Thundercrash

Jason was a little taken aback. He hadn't expected her to be this open, but he was pleased. It was nice to talk to someone on a deeper level. He felt sad for her. In fact he could feel her pain. Jason's empathetic sensory ability was incredible, nothing compared to Ashleigh's, though he could still empathize. He crouched down and looked into her eyes with a very serious gaze.

"I know that feeling very well." He said seriously. "In fact..." He wondered what she would think of him when he told her... But he realized that she had opened up with him so it was only fair that he did the same, despite potential consequences. "You see I've never really fit in anywhere..." He started cautiously. "Because of my abilities I was always able to do better than everyone else in an environment where people were used to being the best. So they hated me for it. Not only did they hate me for it, they punished me for it." He said, his tone slightly leaking resentment. "And then one day I realized I had the power to punish them back." He said, trying to keep his voice even. "So one day I did. I punished every last one of them. I was angry, I was spiteful, and even more than that I was cruel." He said trying not to take pleasure at the thought. Jason was wary of how much he enjoyed stuff like that, and didn't necessarily like it. "So yeah I know all about that part at least. And the justification, and even pleasure?" He whispered. "That was the best, and worst part" He finished in a low voice.
@Caits
"You have an incredibly heavy burden to bear Ashleigh, it doesn't make you weak for not being able to carry it all on your own yet. I'm fact, I'd wager that you're the strongest of all of us." He said pointing to his temple.
@Stern Algorithm
Vedikas sudden interruption startled him causing him to jump slightly.
"Ready as I'll ever be." He said cracking a smile and standing back up.
As they headed back in he whispered "Just knock next time, I have trouble sleeping sometimes as well. you're not the only one haunted by their past." He whispered low enough that only Ashleigh could hear.

Ashleigh gave a sigh and just nodded at Jason, starting back towards the gym, wanting to just go back to her room. The thought of being around so many people again...she had tried. She wasn't ready. And yet she still made the way back to the gym.

She was motified at Jason's last words. How did he know she had been there, hovering outside? She glanced away, drifting closer to Vedika, wanting the familiarity of a friend. She very nearly turned and ran away again. But she know Paulina would come after her this time. Swallowing, she realised she had no idea what was going on in class, and she drifted towards Paulina, but she grabbed Vedika's hand.

At once, Vedika's emotions came into stark contrast, and Ashleigh let herself just concentrate on her emotions, which made it easier to not run away, but it was still a close call. @Hitman5455[@Stem Algorithm]

Paulina's grin widened as Korie arrived. "Why ever would we deny ourselves the pleasure of your company?" she jokingly asked as she quickly embraced the other girl. "The day is already brighter. Ready to have some fun?" And it was true, though not necessarily just because of Korie's arrival. Paulina was happy to see so many people coming together already, and she was looking forward to seeing all the newbies' powers in action.

In response to Alister's question, she winked and smiled as she released Korie. "I'll take a closer look at it today when I get the chance. Thanks again."@KiritoAsuna

When she felt a hand slip into hers, Paulina glanced down, then up the arm of its owner, and gave Ash a reassuring squeeze. It didn't surprise her at all that her friend was having difficulties; she’d probably been in close proximity to more people in the last two days then she had been in the past six months. And while it probably didn’t compare to the actual experience, Paulina likened Ash’s power to being like standing in the middle of a crowded room with everyone talking as loudly as possible. It would wear on anyone. So when Ash announced that she needed to step out, Paulina gave her friend’s hand another reassuring squeeze and quietly said, ”Take as much time as you need.”@Caits

It surprised her a little to see one of the newbies, Jason she seemed to recall his name being, follow Ash out, a look of concern on his face, but Paulina decided to let the matter sit. When Ashleigh needed a cool-down period, the last thing that would help was a bunch of people crowding around her and unintentionally making things worse. She did, however, keep an eye on the door.

Turning back to Liam, she smiled almost evilly as she walked up to him, drew a folded piece of paper out of her pocket, and slapped it onto his chest. “Oh, no you don’t, Spooky Boy. You don’t get to tease me like you did yesterday and then leave me on the edge. I demand satisfaction, so you are all mine.” Her lips curved into a flirty, daring smile as she gestured to herself. ”If you think you’re man enough to handle all of this.”@Themerlinhawk

Turning back to Korie from the now flushed Liam, she gave the new girl an apologetic smile. ”Sorry, cutie, but I got an offer yesterday that I just can’t turn down. But, I’ll definitely be watching, and I can save you the next spot on my dance card.” Paulina tilted her head. ”Unless you’d like a one-on-one session later,” she asked in a semi-flirty sort of way. @Dusksong

At the approach of Zach, she gave him a friendly wave. ”It’s pretty simple actually. This is your chance to practice with your powers. If you need a partner to do that, there’s lots to choose from. The faculty always places a few experienced students in with newbies, since we’ve all done this before. Plus, they have a few ways of keeping things from getting out of hand, so as long as you don’t try to purposely hurt somebody, this is your chance to show off and embrace what you can do.”@Natsu

Spying Ashleigh and Jason’s return, alongside Vedika, Paulina smiled warmly and approached them. ”Hey. Do you think you’ll be okay? If it’s too much, I’m sure we could convince the teacher to let you use a different room.” Glancing at Vivi, she nodded gratefully. ”I gonna be seeing what Liam has in store for me, but I think the two of you partnering up would be a good idea. Vivi’s weird, but you know you can trust her. And I won’t be far away, okay? Vivi, why don’t you take her through your meditiation stuff?”@Caits@Stern Algorithm

Looking up at Zach, Liam opened his mouth to respond but given the others he figured he’d let them fill in the details. As much as it felt like he was a vet here it was clear he really wasn’t in comparison to some of the other people. What the heck happened between this semester and last semester? I spent a whole semester left to my own devices and now this? Maybe it wasn’t Alister who’d become more attractive… With a little chuckle Liam nodded along to the explanations were given to Zach. It was pretty rare for them to play games but occasionally the gym instructors did do stuff like that. Occasionally it was fun but occasionally it was a slaughter because those with kinetic abilities dominated.
@Natsu

As Alister stood on his one hand Liam whistled. “Dude when did you become athletically inclined you sneaking bastard.” That was a bit more than Liam was capable of; then again Liam’s skills tended towards things like running and climbing. For a while he’d considered learning some freerunning skills but in the end the climbing had become significantly more important. So had the flexibility but it was funny because all of his skills for getting himself out of trouble had actually aided in getting him into trouble. Liam’s thoughts drifted back to the crawl through the Academy’s air vents. Occasionally they lent themselves to cool stuff. Apparently his build meant he had the necessary musculature and visual acuity to shoot stuff. An old marine Ghost had shown up looking to say one last goodbye to his family. Liam’s price had been a little fun in Gym. They had cleared his requests for firearms and target dummies and it had been the most fun he’d ever had as the Ghost took over and obliterated the targets with efficiency from a lifetime of training. “Come on you damn show off we got work to do.”

@KiritoAsuna

Liam had resigned himself to working with Alister until Paulina made a reference to challenging him to a duel and slapped a piece of paper against his chest. No doubt the waiver. Of course that was not enough for her no no no she had to continue by suggesting that he was in some way insufficiently manly to handle being partnered with her. It was of course a social goad but strangely it was being put in the social spotlight of being claimed by Paulina more than anything else which made him blush. The number of ghosts, emotions and personalities whom had traipsed through his body had left him realizing that masculinity and femininity were rather subjective given the personalities that got to joy ride in his body occasionally. That being said… Liam looked down at the paper and looked up giving Korie a raised eyebrow. “Well I guess I’m officially spoken for, for today.”

It was a weird feeling watching Paulina dance through social mores with little pause and barely concealed sexuality. It gave Liam pause as it was difficult to tell when she Meant something and when she was simply teasing. While his ears were still pinkish he met Paulina’s eyes for a long moment.

“Your funeral”

@Dusksong@Thundercrash

Almost everyone seemed to be paired up. Jason was suddenly once more painfully aware of the fact that he was new here. He scanned around trying to figure out who he would ask. Most of the people who had come to know were partnered up so he was basically screwed. Alright I can at least play it cool.

"Alright guys so who wants to be my partner?!" He sound loudly with a wide grin, that served to hide his self consciousness. He hoped someone took him up on his offer, or he'd look like a total dumbass.

Korie grinned when made the joke about a “one-on-one session,” returning the Paulina’s conspiratorial grin with a wink. ”Wouldn’t wanna freak the boys out now, would we?” she said, waving at Liam and Paulina. ”Don’t have too much fun without me!”

Looking around as everyone paired up, Korie shrugged and turned to the black-haired boy that had spoken before. ”Guess we’re partners then. I’m Korie. You?”

Korie watched as the boy pulled out a bottle from his bag—sunscreen? ”Didn’t think we were going to get to go outside,” Korie commented.

---

@thecrash20

Crown put a hand full of the brown goop on his face. It didn't seem normal. It slowly just began to disappear between his hand and head. He looked back at the Woman in front of him, he changed his smile to look a little more friendly and put his bottle down. "Guess we are. Im Crown! You picked me, so you're smart and beautiful. A deadly combination.." Crown kicked the bottle to the side near his bag, letting out a small laugh before looking back to her.

"Yah I don't think we are either, but that's just a sunscreen bottle, the inside is something a little more...Organic. My powers align with nature, mostly plants. So Im like, the guy version of Poison Ivy. Im sure yours is pretty cool too, just don't tell me its an emotional one! We have like 100 of those here."

@Dusksong

I will show off all I want liam" alister shouted with a laugh as he popped back up on his feet. "You can't tell me what to do" alister laughed a little and turned to Paulina nodding in acknowledgement of her response to his question. Than his ears perked up as he heard someone shouting about needing a partner. He smiled and narrowed his eyes evily.

Alister cracked his neck maniacally and grinned looking over at Jason. "If they take off my inhibitor I would love to partner up" alister said with a sly ssmile. The boy was new and Alister was well aware that he would have no clue the extent of Alisters abilities. Alister threw down his jacket. Now wearing a form fitting under armour shirt. Alister smiled with content he knew this would be the prefect chance to test the extent of his new power he already knew that he could control emotions and read someones thoughts. But what about there movements? was that even possible he thought to himself.

Alister turned and looked back to Jason again "so how about it? " he asked the boy curiously. Alister was excited and completely pumped for the response. If he or anyone else said yes than he would have the inhibitor removed for the class period. He really hoped for someone with more experience in his nature like Paulina or Liam, but he would have to do. If alister could read movement than that would make this very easy. @Hitman5455 @Themerlinhawk @Thundercrash

Ashleigh was mortified at Jason's last words. How did he know she had been there, hovering outside? She glanced away, drifting closer to Vedika, wanting the familiarity of a friend. She very nearly turned and ran away again. But she know Paulina would come after her this time. Swallowing, she realized she had no idea what was going on in class, and she drifted towards Paulina, but she grabbed Vedika's hand.

At once, Vedika's emotions came into stark contrast, and Ashleigh let herself just concentrate on her emotions, which made it easier to not run away, but it was still a close call.

Vedika maybe couldn't empathize completely with Ashleigh, but being relied upon made her feel dependable, and knowing a bit of how Ashleigh's powers worked, Vedika held onto that emotion, hoping to instill Ash with a little confidence and assurance.

Spying Ashleigh and Jason’s return, alongside Vedika, Paulina smiled warmly and approached them. ”Hey. Do you think you’ll be okay? If it’s too much, I’m sure we could convince the teacher to let you use a different room.” Glancing at Vivi, she nodded gratefully. ”I gonna be seeing what Liam has in store for me, but I think the two of you partnering up would be a good idea. Vivi’s weird, but you know you can trust her. And I won’t be far away, okay? Vivi, why don’t you take her through your meditiation stuff?”

"Eh?" Vedika looked slightly befuddled. "S-sure!" Vedika had always been an energetic child, bouncing off the walls and running everywhere. To reign her in, Vedika's father had taught her meditation, though it was more like forced meditation, sitting her down and telling her to keep quiet and still. She wasn't the best at it, as it was incredibly difficult for her to clear her mind and she quickly became restless when sitting too still. However, it was probably good not only for Ashleigh, but for herself as well. Sitting on the floor, Vedika crossed her legs and simply clasped her hands on her knees, none of that thumb to forefinger stuff. She didn't force Ashleigh to join her, it helped to clear her mind if she relieved herself of expectations on the world. Vedika focused on herself, feeling her aura, ever-present. The last few times she had spent training her power, she had noticed what could only be described as her aura 'expanding'. She already knew that she could 'give it' to others temporarily to protect them, or 'inject' a bit of it to harm them, but this was different. In those other cases, it was more moving it from one place to another, displacement, rather than an actual increase in volume. What she felt now was an increase in volume, which was weird. She tried activating her aura, making herself indestructible, but that only caused it to shrink back to its 'default size'. She had to relax before it would start expanding again. She kept experimenting with it, letting it grow and shrink, playing with it like a kid trying to synchronize waves in a bathtub to make a big splash, but not quite getting it right, the waves diminishing every time the kid got out of sync.

@Thundercrash
While Ashleigh considered Paulina's concern gratefully, she gave a soft sigh, and hugged Paulina "no, I can't spend my life isolated. I'm Going to have to learn control sooner or later. I'll be okay. I promise" there wasn't much more that she could say to her friend, so she nodded, looking to Vedika.

She hesitated, before sitting beside Vedika. She tried to copy what bed friend was doing, but she was sure she was failing. She was just also so uncomfortable, that she didn't think she would ever be able to get comfortable again. if I had know this would happen today, I'd have taken one of the pills. She knew that if Paulina knew those thoughts, she'd never hear the end of if. She grimaced, and shifted, rolling her shoulders.

She once more tried to copy what Vedika was doing, trying to merely focus on vedika's emotions then anyone else's. For one brief moment, it seemed that she merely let the emotions pass through her, taken then In, and then merely letting them go through, without seeming to affect her. She frowned, wondering how she had done that. Or was it merely what she hadn't done? Frowning over that, she chased that thought round and round her head.

Finally, she said "I don't think I am doing this right, Vivi"
@Stern Algorithm

"If they take off my inhibitor I would love to partner up!" Jason turned to see where the voice was coming from.

Alister turned and looked back to Jason again "so how about it? " he asked the boy curiously.

Jason watched Allister approaching cockily. Jason returned the boy's curious gaze. He looked excited, and cocky even. Jason assumed that they'd be doing sparring then. Jason had never been afraid of a fight but he was aware that he had likely never fought anyone like he was about to being doing now. He wondered what kind of power validated such confidence.

"Sounds good to me!" Jason said back with a grin. "What exactly did you have in mind for our partner work?" He asked although he had a hunch. @KiritoAsuna

With a sly grin Alister cleared his throat. "I was thinking of a small fight." Alister said with confidence. "Considering your accelerated thought processing I figured you have guessed this by now" alister smiled as the gym instructor removed his inhibitor .

Alister grabbed his wrist stretching it out. He than began flipping through the different colors in his eyes insuring they were all properly in place. Once again turning to look at Jason alister smiled excitedly. "So pretty much it will be more of a dodging match." Alister chuckled at the thought of such a type of match. "We can use objects and ourselves to create distractions and try to land a hit." Alister cleared his throat once more . "So essentially it is my brain against yours"

Alister was excited he could now test his full power and finally fain control of the new one.
@Hitman5455

"I figured but I didn't wanna be all pretentious about it." Jason said with a grin. He knew how tough this would be. This guy wasn't like the brute from earlier. Jason gandered that much like himself, this guy would be crafty. So he would just have to be craftier.

"Alright let's- wait what the hell are vedika and Ashleigh doing?" He said with a genuinely confused look. The moment Allister's attention flickered, he cleared the gap almost instantaneously before launching a left hook at Allister's jaw. An instant before impact he quickly stopped his left fist and switched to a right jab for the chin. Even though he thought allister wouldn't be prepared, he faked just in case. He knew if he wanted to win he'd have to think 5 steps ahead.

@KiritoAsuna

Without fail alister never broke eye contact with Jason as his eyes imidietly turned red. He felt the wind come from the stop of his first blow. As the second blow came for him alisters responses were a millisecond too late and the blow hit. As alister was thrown backwards he did a small flip and skid to a stop.

Alister bolted forward and shouted at the boy. "YOU WONT GET A HIT LIKE THAT AGAIN!! " Alister said excitedly. He had never had a congnative challenge like this before. Alister threw a hit towards Jason's face and with a small fake he slid between the boys legs. Bouncing off his hands he pushed his body legs extended towards Jason's back

@Hitman5455