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Uná wiped off the sweat off her forehead as she strained to keep the fight between Luke and Vader going on in detail a practically perfect replica of the movie. The light sabers looked a little flat to her but she'd work on that.

“Pause here Uná. Let's go to something that you're working on. Not that the scene from Star Wars was bad but I think if you pulled something out of yourself then you could get a better feel for it.” Professor North's voice came over the loudspeaker in the Danger Room.

The Star Wars scene faded as Uná let go of it. Breathing deeply in then out. Then slowly the sunsets and stars come out. Smiling Uná reached up and seemed to pull the stars from the night sky and smooths them on in the form of a dress much like the ones that Debbie Reynolds wore in Singing In The Rain. Giggling she started the number "Good Morning"

Nik stood back, his arms folded. He wore a simple tank top and pair of athletic shorts, both black in color. He seemed to mutter under his breath, shaking his head when Una made a mistake in the fight’s progression. As Professor North’s voice filled the room, Nik gave a slight nod, taking a seat on the ground and pulling out a metal marble. He tossed it in the air, tossing it up and catching it without looking.

The sight of the stars were an interesting sight. He wasn’t at all surprised Una would make that move, choosing to keep her head in the stars. Her switch to Singing in the Rain was a bold choice, though not unappreciated. He gave a smile as she started the song, keeping his distance for now to let her focus.

Uná whirled as she dropped the song and fell back without fear as a cloud caught her. She sat up and smirking tossed a metal marble at Nikolai. "Catch Nikolai."

Nik tossed his own marble into the air, lifting his right hand to catch the new marble from Una while his left lifted up to catch his falling marble. He didn’t skip a beat, and he gave a somewhat boyish smile in amusement at his own reflexes. ”Nice trick, Red.”

Uná grinned. She just thought of a great idea. "So want to try something out Nikolai?" She had the cloud float down to Nikolai with her on it. She hopped off and stalked around him grinning.

Nik raised an eyebrow, sliding the marbles into his pocket as he slowly rose to his feet. He gave a grin as Una stalked around him. ”What do you have in mind?”

Uná stood in front of him and looked up at him still grinning. "Great. Do you know the game 'cups'?"

Nik shrugged, tilting his head slightly. "Uhhh... I don't think so. Unless it's a drinking game."

"Nope not a drinking game. So it's a game where you try to guess which cup a ball is under. Normally it's played with three cups. You place a bet and if you win you get double your money. But let's make this interesting and IF you win you can get one wish. When...sorry if I win I get a wish. Now it has to be something that the other one can fulfill." Uná holds out her hand grinning. "Agreed? Or do you have conditions?"

Nik gave a small smile, nodding his head. "Ahhh, the shuffling game? Sure, why not." In his mind, at that moment, he was confident. A little too confident. Years of baseball taught him to have a sharp eye and notice the slightest shifts in motion, especially as a pitcher. A simple game of figuring out which ball a cup was under... that wasn't difficult in his mind.

Uná grinned and walked behind Nikolai. She then walked from behind him. Then another Uná and suddenly there were three of her in the room all dressed the same. "So which one is the real Uná?" They all asked at once.

Nik gave a defeated grin, his tongue pressing against his upper molars before releasing a deep sigh. He looked them all over before his eyes narrowed slightly, stepping out and circling to examine the three a little more closely. It was, in a small effect, a ruse. He was breathing in the air, trying to determine where he could detect the faint smell of vanilla and jasmine that often signified her presence. He kept circling until he finally stopped in front of one of the figures, taking a long step forward to place both hands on her shoulders and move his lips towards her ear to softly whisper three words. "Again, nice try."

Uná shivered lightly and tried to cover it by setting her hands on Nikolai's hands and laughing. It came out a little breathless. "Alright what gave me away? So what is this wish of yours?"

He shrugged his shoulders, backing off as her hands rested upon his. He spun around, his back to her. "I don't know, I guess I'm just that good." Without surprise, his playful response reeked of overconfidence as he did his best to not laugh.

Uná banished the others with a wave and marched over to stand in front of him. She had a stubborn set to her mouth which he'd seen over the past month a few times. Her eyes blazed blue fire as she poked him in the chest. "Nikolai Markov you are not that good if you don't know how you did it! If that's so you can prove it again!!"

Nik shrugged his shoulders. "Double or nothing, Red." He had the cocky grin of a man who knew he couldn't be beat, running a hand along the top of his stiffly-gelled hair.

Uná narrowed her eyes at him. "You're on." Uná stalked off past Nikolai ticked as hell and threw up a wall for a second then waved a hand to make it vanish. Once again there was three of her to chose from. All of them had their arms crossed and looked miffed. "Done." All three of them said in the same tone.

Nik followed the same method, walking past each figure twice as he used his nose to determine which one it was. He walked in front of one of the illusions, as if to signify that was the correct one, before spinning on his heels and point at the one he determined to be the real one by scent in his last walk-around. "Una, I presume?"

Uná waved the other two away and growled in frustration. She stalked over to Nikolai. She narrowed her eyes at him. "Yes. Technically they're all me. Alright what gives? What was it? What am I missing?" She looked at him seriously still a little pissed but more at herself now than at him.

Nik gave a deep breath as she neared, before finally tapping the bridge of his nose. "If you're going to try and trick someone, you need to know yourself better than anyone else. That means knowing everything about how you look, how you act, how you move, how you stand... and how you smell. Vanilla and jasmine?" He seemed uncharacteristically analytical in that moment, before finally reverting back to his playful teasing.

Uná looked stunned. "Vanilla and jasmine...but I don't wear perfume..." Uná looked up at Nikolai and blushed. He just described her shampoo and conditioner. She stuttered and was utterly flustered. "You can...that's my...shampoo and conditioner." She could feel more heat creeping up her neck. She turned around and pulled her hair out of the bun it was in so that she could hide behind it. There was an audible swish and she cleared her throat. "So what is your double or nothing wish Nikki, er Nikolai?" She tossed the comment over her shoulder casually. Much more casually than she felt. She hadn't meant to call him that it just kinda slipped out. I am going to really embarrass myself if I don't quit making assumptions. Just a friend. I am just a friend....

Nik gave a small smile, shrugging his shoulders even if she couldn't see it. He knew she was acting more strange than usual, most likely just from the embarrassment and teasing. Regardless, he had one final card to play. "You'll find out later. You never said I had to request either of them now."

Uná spun around her waist length hair fanning out prettily. She gaped at Nikolai. "Not sportsmanlike at all!! Come on! I don't want to find out just before we have to turn in our term papers that I have to do yours as well as mine. At least give me some warning."
Uná looked at him as she braided her hair slowly. "You're not the greatest in Lit..."

Nik shrugged, giving a devious smile. "The only specification is that it had to be something you can do. But don't worry, I'm not going to ask you to help me cheat. I have other things in mind." At the last line, Nik wiggled his eyebrows to ruin the effect before spinning on his heels and calling out. "Was that a good lesson, Professor?"

Uná tugged on her braid and tossed it over her shoulder and grinned at Nikolai. She let the illusion fade away as Nikolai asked if it was a good lesson.

There was a chuckle and Professor North came back over the speaker. "She almost had you Nik. But yes good lesson."

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Kaylee

Staring out the window watching Cole saunter across the grounds she was taken back to that fateful interview…

Kaylee let Cole open the door and she got in. It was nice to see that he had thought to roll the windows down as she pointed out the property line. Not to mention the cameras. “So St John tell me about your qualifications.”

Kaylee turned to gaze at Cole's profile admiring his features. He was good looking and wondered if he was a good fit for the school. She smiled absently as she thought about how many of the girls would have a crush on him. He seemed pretty put together and a gentleman so she had to be sure to ask if he would be bringing on a girlfriend or anything like that. Kaylee blushed and focused her attention back to him.

Cole knew as he turned the key that he had forgotten to switch off the radio as was his usual custom and wasn’t expecting someone else to be in the car. A song blinked over the dash and was silenced as his hand moved and spun the volume knob. “I’ve been working as a PI here in LA for several years now.” He said driving along the perimeter line and taking in the layout of the campus noting the continuing theme save for one large building beyond the track and field complex. “That binder on the floorboard contains copies of the information I sent you along with my CV and some others.” He said with a small nod towards the bag that was now at her feet. “This town rarely ever disappoints,” He continued catching a glimpse of her blush and smirking a little surprised at the apparent, natural chemistry between them that was absent when he spoke with her on the phone. “I’ve been looking to expand my business and I thought I would give you a call and see where it led.” His gaze again looked to the one large windowless building that was distinctly modern in appearance. “Seems like you have a pretty interesting operation here.”

Kaylee nodded and as he indicated the files she picked them up. Skimming them she recognized them from the faxes she had received from him. Pleased that he wasn't hedging his bets she closed the file as he commented on the operation of the school. Smiling at his up front attitude she pointed at the windowless building. “That would be the off site storage unit. You're qualifications are excellent as well as your letters of reference, but you knew that already. Tell me why a PI, Coleman. What drew you to this job? That is if you don't mind me calling you by your first name. If so I apologize.”

This was the first time in a long time that she'd actually been attracted to someone instantly. She'd liked him over the phone but he was even better in person. Normally she had to get to know the guy but this one...totally different. She had a feeling she'd be stacking up anyone else to this one and they'd all come away lacking comparatively.

They rounded the large building that Kaylee felt compelled to describe as the “offsite storage unit” and Cole resisted the urge to glance back at her and merely kept driving. Looks to be pretty ‘on site’ to me. He thought to himself keeping his expression professional while she spoke and the gravel of the outer perimeter road crunched under the tires. The building was obviously of reinforced construction and had a purposed, slightly angular profile that he had seen before like it was meant to deflect or hold things within. What are they storing in there? Depleted Uranium? They turned the far corner of the large building and the back of the main campus returned to view. “Just Cole is fine,” He said answering her question. “And I don’t mind.” He thought about her next question briefly, seeing the gate that led to the back of the main Hall coming up and where he was going to stop whether she wanted to or not. “If we’re going to be candid, I think the main reason is curiosity.” He said stopping slowly in front of the gate and looking over at her. If she was going to get out and end the interview at least she wouldn’t have to walk very far back to her office. “Ma’am I’m not the sharpest ever, but I know for a fact that building back there is not a storage unit.” He said matter-of-factly catching her eyes and trying to only let his expression harden into qualified concern. “Look, if you don’t want to tell me everything up front, that’s fine I understand, but you don’t have to lie to me.” Partly expecting her to get out and end the interview he moved the shifter into park triggering the automatic door locks to disengage. “Just tell me what you need me to do and I’ll tell you if you’ve got the right man for the job.”

Kaylee blinked at him blushing a tiny bit caught in a lie. “I need you to be able to protect about 30 students that range from 10 to early twenties from malicious intent. I need you to be able to access a situation quickly and efficiently knowing how to make the most of it in your, our, favor. And most of all I need you to be able to keep a very large secret. No you’re right that isn’t a storage unit. Dr Ashford is still a doctor and he likes to putter. He has a lab that he works on things for a Pharmaceutical company. The door is biometrically keyed to him. Only he can let you in. Now if you’re up to the task then I suggest we move the rest of this interview inside. It’s much easier to sign a contract and negotiate pay once you have a full understanding of what is going on here. And yes I promise I will be completely forthcoming if you take the job. I have a lot of students to think about before I start handing out secrets willy nilly. Oh and Cole whether or not you take the job it’s Kaylee, please.” Kaylee smiled at him. She really hoped he’d take the job. She’d be seeing a lot of him then. If he didn’t she had every intention of asking him to dinner anyway, but she doubted that anyone more perfect would walk through the door. Perfect for the job, she told herself. Fibbed to herself.

Snapping back to reality from a month ago Kaylee smiled and cleared off her desk in anticipation that Cole would be coming up to her office. It was a hope, a pretty solid one, that he was coming up for a coffee and a chat. It had become a routine for them. She got done with classes and they had a coffee and talk about random things. Then he’d go home. She wished he’d taken the offer of living on campus but it was his choice and she still got to see him daily.

Kaylee brewed a pot and waited for Cole to come on up.

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"Where the Hell was he, Sally thought as she exited the double doors to the institute. Stepping out into the sunlight, her eyes scanned the courtyard, searching for the other telekinetic at the school. The doors closed shut quietly behind her just as she saw him. Her face instantly lit up, but only for a moment. She hesitated, wondering if he would get upset at her for asking for his help. Some people were sensitive to their abilities, and she wasn't sure if he was one of them. Taking a deep, slow breath through her nose, Sally marched forward. Her destination? The tree he currently occupied.

As she neared, she noticed he was reading, whilst tossing stones at another tree. Multitasking. She couldn't do that. Each stone made a soft thump against the tree as they struck. Sally watched as he tossed another, but her hand shot out and she stopped it just before it could hit the tree. Her eyes then went to Jason, the stone slowly making its way over to her. "Hey," she greeted with a soft smile as the stone fell into her hand.

Although he hadn't been paying as much attention as he should have been, Jason's X-Factor was always going off, and he'd sensed Sally's presence the moment she stepped into his range. Of course, he hadn't been expecting her to say anything to him.

Surprised to say the least, the hooded teen's focus let go of the next projectile he was planning on tossing, and he shifted in his position to look down at his fellow classmate. Blinking rapidly, he assessed his situation, but coming up with no excuse for hopping out of the tree and leaving, as much as his X-Factor was tempting him to do so with it's damned silent alarm, he let his book rest on his left leg, his right draping over the sturdy tree branch he sat on.

"Hey, nice catch." His voice was a bit unpracticed, and it seemed for a moment like he honestly didn't recognize it.

Her smile instantly widened at his comment. "Thanks, though I'm not near as good as you," she replied as she glanced down at the stone in her hand, then back up to Jason. She nervously bit her lip and exhaled. Might as well, cut to the chase. "Do you..." Sally stalled and glanced down at the stone in her hand again. "Could you help me?"

She quickly looked back up at Jason and her eyes widened a bit. "I mean, you don't have to, but i could really use it. Would appreciate it."

Tilting his head to the side, he gestures towards her and merely asks:

"What kinda help? What could you possibly need my help with?"

The confusion is evident on his face, but he had a pretty good idea as to what she could be referring to. Being the only other person with telekinetic powers in the academy, and there being few other reasons as to why she wanted to talk to him, Jason had already figured out what she wanted, even as he opened his mouth to speak.

Sally looked down at the ground, almost ashamed that she even asked. She toyed with the rock in her hand for a moment before looking at it once again. The stone suddenly rose up into the air several inches off her hand, and spun in slow circles. As soon as she looked up at Jason, it stopped and dropped back into her hand.

"I need to learn to control it. To make it stronger." Sally chuckled sarcastically, unsure if she should tell him what she was going to. She needed to. Clearing her throat, she closed her hand around the stone, tight, her knuckles turning white. "I need help controlling it before it controls me."

Control. Such a simple concept in thought, but much harder to actually put into action. Jason had to contemplate his next actions for a moment, before he threw off his hood, shaking his hair out a bit and running his fingers through it. His eyes moved back to Sally, the deep red staring down into the beautiful blue.

She wanted to improve, where as he had been slacking off. He could understand that, though it meant he would have to show others what he could do. He wasn't fond of that idea, in fact, being in any kind of spotlight for any amount of time downright terrified him, but she had asked, and he had little to lose from it.

"Well then, you want my help in that regard, alright, fine, I'll help you, and once this is over, I don't expect any "thank you"s, I just expect us to go our separate ways and leave it at that." The last part of his sentence was more reflex then intentional, but old habits were sometimes a far greater force than any mutation.(edited)

Sally stared up into Jason's red eyes, the orbs so different than someone else's, yet so similar. They held so many secrets and such mystery, that it was almost hard to look away from them. When she finally did, she looked down at the ground for a moment, replaying his words in her head. He would do it, but he didnt seen particularly happy about it. No thank you's. Separate ways. Sally swallowed hard and again, looked back up at him.

"Alright," she said softly as she nodded her head in agreement. She felt a spark of hope inside herself. It was small, the size of a pen head, but there nonetheless.

Gently shoving his book into his pocket, Jason hopped down from the tree, landing clean on the ground with a small thud. Stretching out a bit, he nodded to Sally, "Right then, meet me at the field in about an hour, I'd suggest you try and meditate or somethin before you show up."

Not waiting for her response, the red eyed teen pulled his hood back over his head, spun, and walked away at a rather leisurely pace, his hands in his pockets, as the sun overhead shone down on the both of them. One might have joked that Jason was like a vampire, hiding away from the sun, but in truth, he just felt self conscious.

That and red eyes tended to stand out. A lot.

Blue eyes watched as the red eyed boy hopped down out of the tree, the girl stepping back a bit to give him room. She bit her lip while she listened to Jasons instructions, again nodding her head in response. Watching as the boy flipped his hood back onto his head, Sally swallowed hard and looked down at the hand that contained the stone. Bringing it up, she opened her hand and stared down at it. She prayed that Jason could help her, and with that thought in mind, shoved the stone into her shorts pocket. Turning on her heel, she went back inside the institution and headed to her room. [Hr]

55 minutes later, Sally walked out to the field where she was supposed to be meeting Jason. She crossed her arms over her chest and sunk into her left hip. Sally stared off into the distance, her eyes losing focus, mind spiraling with thoughts, questions, memories. It was as if a hamster were running in a wheel inside her head and there was no end.

A hand on her shoulder made an attempt to awaken her from her stupor. Watching his classmate stare into space in a close to drunken state had gotten boring, so Jason had decided to get her attention. The young man had been standing in the field for over thirty minutes at that point, practicing crafting his energy into things he could throw at the target he'd set up.

When he'd detected Sally's presence, he'd hid, mostly on instinct, and couldn't help but observe her, at least for a minute. Sally was an odd one, at least, odd in terms of her powers. He'd never heard of somebody who was so fearful of their own powers controlling them, but then again, who was he to judge.

"Somethin on your mind?" His voice joined his hand in an attempt to pull her back to reality.

So deep in her thoughts, in her memories, Sally hadn't even heard Jason coming up behind her. The sudden hand on her shoulder and voice filtering through the madness in her head startled her, causing her to physically jump. With a soft gasp, she quickly turned, her eyes meeting Jason's. Sally's lips parted as if she were going to say something, but quickly closed them and shook her head instead. "No! No, just... waiting for you." She stared at him for a moment before her features seemed to relax and a smile tugged at the corner of her lips. "You scared the Hell out of me," she stated in a playful manner.

Her hand unconsciously went to the stone that still resided in her shorts, almost as if to make sure it was still there. "So," she began as she yanked her hand away, letting it test at her side instead. "Where should we start?"

Gesturing towards the target, which was no bigger then an office chair, actually it was an office chair Jason had swiped from the office, Jason grinned.

Following Jason's eyes and gesture, Sally's own eyes fell upon the office chair that held a picture of him on it. Her brow furrowed and she tilted her head just the slightest, before looking back to him. He was grinning now, and it was infectious. She couldn't help but smile in return. Sally couldn't remember ever seeing him smile, but it was something he needed to do more of. "You should smile more. It looks good on you."

Without another word, she turned her attention back to the chair. The smile fell from her face and she exhaled slowly. Sally urged her ability to come forth, the familiar swirling sensation in her mind growing stronger and stronger. Seconds later, the chair began to rise up off the ground. Higher and higher it rose until it was, if she had to guess, 20 feet in the air. She then lowered it half way, and brought it back up.

Sally swallowed hard and her face became a little more stern. Pulling more of her ability to the forefront of her mind, her arm shot out, and the chair was thrown from within the air. It traveled quite a distance before finally falling to the ground. It rolled several feet just before coming to a stop. Sally raised an eyebrow and looked at Jason, her arm falling back to her side.

Brows raised, he crossed his arms. It wasn't a bad start, she certainly had her power down to the basic level, now it was on to the next round. Jason moved to the center of the field, and stared intensely at the grass covered earth, focusing all his mental energy into picturing a chunk of the earth, and replacing it with a large dumpster, feeling the ground tremble before him, as the dumpster sized chunk of earth tore free of the ground, hovering above him like a fly. A large fly.

Dirt slides off the surface of it's larger cousin, littering the "Clean" grassy field , much like acne on the face of a pre-teen. Jason stared up at his handy work, which triggered a brief memory. The very first time he showed off his powers to another. He'd been so proud that day, and all they could do was gape in both amazement and horror. Without so much as a twitch, the hunk of earth lowered back into the hole it came from, giving the field an almost perfect target if one were staring down from the sky at it.

Turning back to Sally, he gestured towards the ground he had just moved, "If I gotta smile more, then you gotta show me how much earth you can rip free." Lifting things that were part of others things wasn't generally considered easy, but it was a useful skill, since it was often unexpected and could be used for travel if one could steer.

Mimicking Jason's pose, Sally watched as he walked out a bit and stared down at the ground. Her eyes narrowed, almost as if she were trying to concentrate for him. What was he doing, though? Just after the thought, she felt the the ground trembling softly. Her eyes moved from Jason, to the ground at her feet, then back up to him. "No way," she said softly, her eyes widening as a large chunk of the ground came loose from the Earth and rose up into the air.

She stared in shock, an open lipped smirk crossing her features. Jason could literally tear the Earth up. Just how strong was his ability? "Holy shit, Jason." Moments after that, he lowered the chunk back into its rightful place and turned his attention back to her. His next comment startled her. He wanted her to do the same thing. To tear a chunk of earth up. In exchange, he would smile more. "Challenge accepted," she said with a playful glint in her eyes.

Sally then looked at the piece he had torn up, then moved her eyes to a spot just beside it. "You can do this," she thought to herself as she again, pulled her ability forward. All her focus went to that one spot. In no way was she going to be able to pull a piece as large as his, if she could do it at all. She was going to try though.

The pull on her mind was hard, but she pushed past it. Several moments went by and she grit her teeth. She was getting frustrated. Exhaling sharply through her nose, Sally brought her hands out in front of her, elbows bent. They were steady at first, but soon started to tremble. There was a slight vibration under their feet. That was a plus. Sally pushed harder. Her head started to hurt, but again, pushed past it. The ground shook a little harder, and she could have sworn she saw a the small spot move.

It was at this point, blood began to trickle from her nose. Her hands shook harder. She pushed harder, but only for a moment longer before groaning and giving up. Her hand went to her head, while she wiped the blood from her nose with the back of the other, smearing it across her cheek. "Shit," she cursed as she closed her eyes.(edited)

Suddenly beside her, Jason suddenly reached down and hoisted Sally up, bridal carry style, and began moving back towards the school. "Right then, to much for you at this moment in time, best to get you to your room, get some cloth or somethin, make tea, just to be safe. His worry was mostly unfounded, it was a simple nosebleed, but nosebleeds could get worse, and considering he'd did asked of her the equivalent of lifting almost a full ton. He should have been more specific, how stupid of him. She'd pushed herself to hard, that was on him. Ignoring any protests, the doors swung open and he moved into the building, ignoring everything around him. It was easier to pretend nothing else was going on in such situations to avoid immediate embarrassment. If there were other students in the halls watching him, he didn't notice them, he just focused on moving in a straight line. He wasn't used to lifting things with his actual arms, and although he was far from weak, this was new for him. He honestly had no idea when he learned to do this.

The blood had run down Sally's face some, some of it running onto his sleeve, making it look more like he'd broken her nose or something like that and was now abducting her, he was certain the second he put Sally down he was going to get jumped by at least one of the other guys, Sally was rather popular after all, pretty, friendly, and even willing to ask mucks like him for help, it almost made him entertain the idea of kidnapping her for real. Almost.

"Where's your room?" It was difficult to tell if Jason was panicking or not at this stage, mostly he just seemed concerned, albeit a bit over the top concerned.(edited)

What came next was so incredibly unexpected, that Sally was actually startled. Jason had scooped her up in his arms and proceeded to carry her towards the building. All she could do was stare at him in shock, her mouth slightly agape as if she were going to say something. Was this the same guy that had told her just an hour ago, that he didn't want any 'thank you's' or anything like that? Yet here he was, carrying her. Sally slowly wrapped her arm around his neck, mostly out of instinct, but also because it was an odd way to offer Jason comfort. Was he worried? He sure was confusing.

Once they passed through the doors to the institute, several pairs of eyes fell onto the pair. It was clear in their faces that they were wondering what had happened. The last time Sally had been carried into the school with a nosebleed, she had been in a conflict, and was unconscious. She paid them no mind, and instead looked back at Jason. His focus was set in stone. His eyes never wandered from its path. They remained straight ahead, and she wondered at that moment, what he was thinking. Her arm tightened around his neck, in a somewhat comforting manner.

Her wonder though, was quickly washed away when he asked her where her room was. "Uh... it's in the girls dorm halls," she replied as she then proceeded to give him the room number.

The door opening with a Chunk and sidestepping his way in, Jason took a moment to survey the room around him. It wasn't that much different from his own, but Sally had her own personal touches to it. It seemed more lived in, where his felt like a hotel.

Moving over to the bed, he lay Sally down on it, and hurriedly began searching through the room, looking for tissues, or a handkerchief or what have you, and not coming up successful in the first few seconds, dug deeper into the drawers, rooting past anything that might lurk within, until he found an unused tissue box. Even if Sally hadn't brought one, it seemed to be a running thing that all desks within the dorms had a box of tissues in them. He'd found one in his own desk, and the natural assumption was Sally had one too, and he'd been right. Stretching his arm out to her, he offered the box without a word.

Sally remained quiet while Jason laid her upon her bed. Once there, she situated herself so that she was leaned back against her pillows, then tilted her head back. Closing her eyes, she tried to ignore the pounding in her head. No, it was at that point, the sound of her drawers being opened and closed distracted her from the pain. Her eyes snapped open and she looked at Jason, the boy rummaging through her drawers as if in search of something.

Just as she was about to ask him what he was looking for, he turned and walked towards her, box of tissues in his hand. He handed it to her silently, and Sally carefully took the box in her own hands. "Thank you," she said softly as she ooemed the box and grabbed a handful of the tissues. She quickly stuck them up to her nose and reached out for Jason, grabbing the sleeve of his hoodie to stop him. "Hey, it's alright. It's not your fault." Sally let her gaze linger on him for a moment, her lips curving into a comforting smile beneath the wad of tissues. "I shouldnt have pushed myself so hard. I am what they call, quite competitive. So, when you made the bet, I had to try to win." She chuckled and shrugged.

"It's not your fault," she repeated in a more serious tone, her eyes locking onto his red ones.

He only blinked in response. Jason knew it wasn't entirely him at fault for this, but a nagging sense in the back of his mind told him that it was. Turning away from her, he headed for the door, pausing briefly to say, "Wait here, I'll go make some tea for the headache." and then he was gone. He was going to need some of that tea for himself, his own head was still going off at him like a car alarm.

Sally watched as Jason disappeared through the door. Exhaling, she closed her eyes and leaned her head back. Her head was screaming. Nose was bleeding. Body was sore. She knew she shouldn't have tried so hard, but damnit... She wanted to win that bet. "Looks like no smiles until I can lift something heavy like he can."

Sally chuckled, regretting the action instantly, as it made it feel like there was a jackhammer in her head. "Aw, fuck... ow," she groaned as she brought her hand up to her forehead, as if it would ease the pain.

A minute later, the hood wearing boy came back, carrying a teapot and a couple mugs with him. The spout was still pouring up steam, and it appeared tea had been poured only a few moments ago, as also evident by the occasional flick of his fingers as he carried the pot, peeling his fingers away one by one every few seconds as if being stung by the surface of the pot.

"Here, ow hot, drink this, just, owowowowow, let it cool a bit first." Placing the pot and the two mugs on the desk next to Sally's bed, Jason took a step back and began to blow on his hands in rapid succession.

Good grief, he should have levitated it.

Having almost dozed off, the sound of Jason returning to her room startled her awake. Her hand had long slipped away from her head, as well as the one holding the tissues to her nose. With a soft groan, Sally looked down at the hand holding the tissues, bringing her other to her nose to check for blood. As she pulled her hand away, examining it, she noticed that there wasn't any on her hand. That was good. The bleeding had stopped.

Her attention was then pulled to Jason as he handed her a cup of tea. She giggled at him, taking the cup from him. Her eyes lingered on him for a moment before turning her attention to the cup of tea, the steam steadily rolling off of it. "Thank you, Jason," she said softly as she blew softly on the liquid. Looking back up at him, she couldn't help but smile.

"That bet is still on."

The corners of his mouth involuntarily twitched, but he held his tongue. Oh no you don't. She wanted to earn it, she was gonna earn it.

Sally kept her eyes on Jason as she blew on the liquid one last time, noticing his lips quirking before he quickly caught himself. Bringing the lip of the cup to her lips, she took a slow sip, wincing slightly. It was still pretty hot, but not enough to keep her from drinking it. As she swallowed the tea, she closed her eyes, feeling the hot liquid move down her throat. She released a soft sigh, then opened her eyes again. Another drink.

She pulled the cup from her lips and looked back at Jason. Sally wondered if she would be able to get him out of his little shell. Her head tilted a bit and she smiled again. "I saw that," she stated, referring to the almost smile he had revealed.

Scoffing, and crossing his arms over his chest, Jason huffed. "S-Saw what? Nothing was worth seeing you odd ball." His eyes moved to the side, pretending to ignore Sally, while using one of his fingers to focus his energy into pouring the tea pot into the second mug, and then levitating it over to him.

He took hold of the mug, blew at the steam coiling off the liquid, and then took a sip. "Right then, I'll uh...I'll be off... don't tell anyone about this, unless you happen to come across my mangled corpse and have to explain why you had a bloody nose."

Taking another sip of his tea, Jason stepped out, gave a small wave, and then his footsteps receded down the hallway.

Jason's comment made Sally burst out in laughter. She had been called many things, but an "odd ball" was never one of them. She laughed for a moment longer before settling down and watching him. Watched how he used his ability to pour himself a cup, and even brought it to himself. When he stated that he would be leaving, Sally nodded her head and took another sip of her tea.

"No one is going to hurt you, Jason. And I promise, I won't speak a word." Then, a thought came to her head, but he had gone before she could ask him.

Well, she could always fudge the story up a bit and leave him out of it if anyone asked. Sally briefly wondered why he'd be so worried someone would hurt him.

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Angela was relaxing in a low warm cloud drifting along as if she too were no more than water vapor thinking how only a select few could enjoy the Ocean of Sky as she did. Yes that's what she thought for a small passage of time then it returned; the annoying realization that since her father's death she'd been driving herself so hard a novitiate nun was getting more action than she was.
She was alone among peers on her crew first and foremost the Boss Lady and second she wasn't even old enough to drink her youngest operator Earl and he was 31.
So she lay on her back pulling out her Pad and popping a block of Berry, Berry Big Bubble gum in her mouth as she tapped in Google maps selected satellite

A mistress of the Air Angela was more used to the view the map offered and had learned tricks to recognition of ground elements from the air. West of her was the Bayhill Mall one of those lovely huge temple to consumerism that dotted the west coast. Then there was what passed for a local community center that was the city government square; definitely not a place to visit without cause and reward to the north west but to the south was what looked like a small secluded private college campus that turned out to be a private school 6-12 and prep.
It was small to be even a powerhouse among the small exclusive private school environment and its lack of foot print in the local scheme of things interesting
So steering a course towards Ashford Institute Angela hummed a happy tune till she noted the clouds above the school too thin to conceal her. "Problem?" she thought perhaps two seconds before power diving to tree top level and moving so fast you'd need to be looking up to see her fly silently past.

Her stop in flight above one of the Institute's wooded paths was abrupt and gentle the green eye'd Angel touching down so softly only the earth knew she was still actually flying. Silently she walked the path her demeanor not figurative but that of someone who was where she belonged.
"People are better at picking up body cues than we wanna believe, Don't wanna get caught then don't act like you're doing anything wrong"
She was sure that even if this school had top notch security she could blast off if things got hinky but till then she'd enjoy the since of what it could be like if she'd been born on the right side.

"How to play this?" was her primary concern as she enjoyed the rush of potential discovery and flight. Seldom did she give into her spontaneous nature enjoying the safety of well laid plans but this was personal and a girl liked the thrill of danger now and then. So she shifted her stride mimicking a ballerina coupled with the curious fawn so she gave off an air of graceful fragility.
She was dressed in her light gray blue skirt , powder gray leggings, and along sleeve skintight light blue Under armor shirt decorated in the cartoon swim animal superhero Wonder Weasel.

She was curious as she walked the campus coming out of the woods near Summer's Hall.
She stopped and looked at the old red bricked building not hiding her delight as she admired the structure and scanned it for security systems
Her trained eye spotted enough to impress her with how good it was laid out. If the security here didn't already have her spotted she's not take any bets on, whether or not they realized she didn't belong or they were feeding her line like a hooked fish she couldn't say and it was a rush that made her sigh. Angel loved the danger of being caught and how powerful her pursuers were unimportant ; if they were slow she could let them dream as she lead them a merry but useless wish.

It was fun walking the campus, boys went by her almost running into trees sometimes as they tried to check her out. There were so many boys around had it not been for the sight of girls in the same school colors Angela would have thought she was in a boys school. Then it occurred to her this must be the boys segregated area of the Campus.
So not wanting to be interrupted by adults in their chaperone mode the snow white girl walked towards what looked like a pool
Angel loved water, water gave her an excuse to dress provocatively, to innocently shock

This place was nice and secluded and its prep school covered to mid 20's from what she was seeing as she watched the students. It was a junior college style atmosphere. The kids she'd seen so far told her this was a strange and interesting place; they came from all over spectrum economically and were even international

Then there was the secretive way they operated, they were used to ....
Fleur / Sparkler

A blonde girl who'd forgotten that walking and texting lead to disaster
Left or right the paving lead but not straight ahead, there the paving ended at a bench striking her knees , flipping her headfirst into a flower bed behind
Angel couldn't help herself and laughed at the preventable accident

Fleur heard the laughter and saw the cracked screen of her phone and boiled over "What's so F-ing Funny?" she demanded

Bouncing to her feet and turning on a girl dressed a bit trashy "I said WHAT IS SO FUNNY?"
Fleur's hands crackled with energy like twin Tesla coils and she advanced threateningly
Angla just smiled and blew Fleur a kiss that became a blast of air into a class 5 dust devil the white haired mutant created to punish not harm her attacker
Round, and Round Fleur spun eventually screaming at which point she was smoothly spun into a soft grassy bed on the lawn
"First violation Blondie; don't attack an unknown foe unless there is no other option"
"Second; Never waste time initiating and attack once you have made the decision to attack"

Uná had been doing her run after the training room session. She was pretty much on auto pilot and was just looking up at the sky was she saw Fleur flying. "I don't know who that was but they're my new friend." She jogged up just as some very good pointers were given. "Uh hello. I haven't seen you around before. I'd remember that hair color."

Angel pivoted on a cute and petite redhead Oh Hi, I'm a curious visitor, please call me Angel.
I know I don't exactly have a pass or anything but seeing as how this is a school of people like me I figured it was cool to drop in and check it out"
She giggled then added "I assure you I come in peace"

Uná raised an eyebrow and started to wish there was a telepath in the school somewhere. This was just odd. She was pretty sure that they didn't go advertising that they were a school of powered people. She decided to play dumb. Uná smiled and tilted her head in confusion or at least what she thought would be taken as confusion. "Angel? Pretty name. But I don't quite understand what you mean by people like you. This isn't an all girls school. It's not just a high school. We have elementary and college here as well. So I'm really lost right now." Uná pouted cutely. She knew that it was over the top but most of the time male or female thought of her as younger than her almost 16...till they looked at her body then they rapidly up her age in their estimation. But she'd learned that as long as she played stupid and cute then people took it for granted that she wasn't just pretty.

"Glad you like the name, may I have yours" she said as the air around them began to turn gently counterclockwise
"The last girl as a static generator type, pretty good power wise but lacking in application of skill, Me I go by Zephyr and I'm an Air Elementalist.
We shouldn't keep secrets so early in our friendship"

Her voice was soft and held a giggle beneath the surface as she lifted off the ground and drifted closer to Una her feet 6 inches off the paving

Uná realized that Angel would keep pressing if she didn't give her a name. Possibly. Something was odd about the girl besides that she was a mutant that knew the location of the institute but wasn't a student. "How fast can you fly or do you just hover?" Fleur had already screwed up by showing off her powers to this girl. Uná wasn't about to make it worse. Fleur was a coward so there was no real help there all Uná had to do was wait till security got notified or someone with better powers came along...which was pretty much anyone.

"Can I fly? She asks; can I fly?" giggles Angel in a laughing cockney accent as she flys sideways around Una
"I am the soul of flight, I am the cause of flight. I am Air, I am the wind itself"
Then she stops right before Una with a pout "And still no name from she with eyes like the sky and hair like the corona of our sun. I gave her both my names and she thinks I'm here to harm her"
The air around them is still but 15 feet away it blows in a slow turning circle as between them forms a ropey misty column of twisting air that climbs high over their heads.
Angel's eyes were now in active scan mode as she surveyed her surroundings knowing her resent fight and enclosure of the Redhead in her forming power was surely making the protective powers around her nervous
She didn't want these people as enemies but she was so curious

She didn't want these people as enemies but she was so curious
She was also bored and lonely and while she didn't hate mundanes she found them tedious and slow; like she was talking to a pet

Uná laughed. "Give my name to a trespasser? Who knows what this school is. Now why would I do that Zephyr? Sometimes I'm called Sprite, Pixie or Fairy among other things. You can pick one. So why are you here?" Uná looked curious and still a bit suspicious but not as much.

Because she was bored she craved a little excitement and Missy Red was beginning to look like a lot of fun so Angel glowed with excitement thinking about it. If this was as she now assumed an actual Mutant school then she was either meeting its low ranks, maybe freshmen types. Red wasn't acting with the confidence of someone who held great power or the skill of power use in combat.
Sure Red would be pissed but once people got it through their heads Angel wasn't going to drop them they settled down and actually enjoyed the unusual method of transport things got easy
So looking at the Lolly who was stalling till she got some support Angie giggled saying "If I were here as an attack I would already be in action, not trying to chat up a sweet redhead with adorable freckles.
My arrival here a happy accident"

Angies pout becomes more honest as she drifts back about 4 feet
"Can't I appeal to your logic?
I am not here to steal, I am not here to hurt anyone and Blondie was asking for it
From what I've seen this place doesn't even register as a target of high monetary value but if I am right it is a school for people like me. I don't need any schooling, the only other mutants I know 15 to 30 years older than I. I want and need peers and you're one of the first I've ever met so if it isn't too much trouble May I take this someplace not so exposed....I promise you'll not come to harm"
The air around the two girls begins it final conversion from stable rotating air to a micro class 5 tornado
The landscaping was stirred and rattled as if a silent helicopter just lifted off as they flew at over 250 mph straight up and punching the belly of a cloud about 2,400 feet above the school

Nik wandered outside headphones on as a film podcast played. A few critics were discussing the climax of disaster movies, and the ways in which explosions were used to resolve natural disasters. He listened to this episode dozens of times since the discovery of his powers. It made him feel needed, in a somewhat childish way.

His eyes lifted to see someone... new. Someone he hasn’t seen in classes or anything. More importantly, a whirlwind was picking up.

Nik reached into his pocket, pulling out his bag of marbles. He gave a sigh, reaching his hand in and swirling his fingers around the marbles. They began glowing, before the bag itself began as well. Nik’s legs sped across the ground, as Nik’s arm cocked back. He had seen this in a movie once. It had to work.

The wind whipped debris in his face, but Nik lifted his left hand to block it so he could get a good look. His arm rocketed the pouch towards the tornado as the mutant leaped into the throw to give it more momentum before falling to the ground.

As the pouch penetrated into the tornado, Nik looked up, snapping his fingers to detonate the explosion in a manner similar in his mind to Sharknado.

Detonation and the Redhead was close to her, raw power.
In the end it was power enough to disrupt Angel's control of the vortex as she saved Red from harm their bodies too close except for a fool to try another energy blast unless they didn't care about Red. It had taken all her power to create a pressure channel for the blast to see as the path of least resistance. The two girls fell but in an arc away from campus landing on a cushion of air hollywood would kill for.
"Wow someone sure used a sledge hammer Red" she asked as she checked the other girl for so much as a scratch.
Angie reached in her pocket and pulled out a nice cell phone tapped a combination that destroyed the phone history leaving only three contact numbers .
"I'm really sorry Red I just wanted to talk but your friends play hardball from the getgo and I can't assure your safety"

Nik watched the two arc away, recognizing briefly a glint of red hair. The explosion was perfect, and the velocity of the two suggested they would have been hundreds of feet away from the explosion before it could go off. But the circumstances must have shifted. The only thing he could do was run in the direction he saw the two rush towards.

The air around Uná and Zephyr had started to pick up and Uná was getting concerned about that. Just as she was about to leave Zephyr launched them both into the air. In a tornado! Then things got rocky as explosions detonated all around then. It flung them to and fro but Uná managed to set up invisible shields around them so that the shrapnel from the metal marbles didn't hit either of them. It was self preservation to keep Zephyr from getting hit. Uná had no experience with using her power in a free fall situation or under an insane amount of stress. And free falling from cloud height would count as an insane amount of stress. She made a mental note to make sure that her sessions included more stressful situations so that she could practice.

Apparently Nikolai had seen what was happening and stepped in, unfortunately a little to late but at least someone besides Fleur knew what was going on. Zephyr set them down on a cushion of air nicely. She really did seem to just want to talk although why it had to be away from campus Uná didn't know. She'd just been getting to the point where she was going to just chill and talk to Zephyr and then was abducted. Granted she was unhurt but abducting someone to chat was going a bit far. Uná raised an eyebrow and tapped her foot watching her on her phone. That reminded Uná that she still had her phone in her pocket since it had her spotify app on it and was currently cranking out Warning by Incubus. She grabbed it and turned the volume almost all the way down. Then turned off spotify and flicked open her contacts and clicked on Demo and called him. Putting the phone back in her pocket she let it ring. It was either going to voicemail or he was going too pick up either way he'd have at least part of the conversation.

"My friends play hardball because they probably didn't realize I was in the vortex. Nice by the way. That would be Demo. Demo and I are...well we're close. He probably couldn't see me or you in the vortex and saw it as an opportunity to do something pretty awesome with explosives. I know it would have been tempting for me if I had his powers. It was pretty awesome to see. Although I'd have appreciated it more if I'd have been farther away from the display. And yeah I have to hand it to ya the whole Air Bender stuff is pretty awesome. Definitely gives a great meaning to 'as the crow flies' for measuring distance. And I can imagine that little Miss Blondie deserved everything she got. I'm feeling magnanimous what's on your mind, Zeph?" Uná looked around. They were definitely not on campus anymore. She sat down on the ground Indian style and waited for Zephyr to answer.

Angie regarded Red for a moment after the freckled cutie had called her an airbender her moss green eyes scaning her for trouble and had a nice little file at this point. Shields, I know that wasn't all me back there. Normal fear of falling, Precocious, a blossoming power, someone her equal
"Please call me Angel, or Angie"

Angie assumes the lotus seat about 8 inches off the ground all lose material blown gently from beneath her ; she holds out the phone she just burned. "Well Red don't know how long we have before the Calvary slash head-bashing party arrives.
I've set it to three numbers I can be reached by and an encryption system on board please feel free to track; love to know if they are downing their jobs. Well Demo does pack a punch needs more focus....power without focus is sliding naked on ice."

Angie giggles for dual purpose; first is the image that passes through her mind when she remembers the quote. For her the jury was still out on that one. Her second reason is to send out air currents to act like sonar to screen 50 meters out for sneaks.

"Airbenders bend that already there like all the other benders; I am a source of creation. I can fill an enclosed airtight space up to and if I don't mind straining past 20 atmospheres. Believe me it'll make your ears pop.
What is on my mind is personal for someone who won't even give me her first name but I will grant the obvious; I don't have any peers my age. I am a mutant, you are a mutant, Demo is a Mutant, and likely that whole school"

Nik stopped, panting hard as he felt a vibration in his back pocket. He slid out his phone, checking the screen. He stood there dumbfounded for a moment before flicking his finger upon the screen and lifting the phone to his ear. He heard Un'a voice... but she wasn't talking to him. She was pulling a trick straight out of a spy film. Nik slid the phone into his pocket, pressing the mute button and plugging in his ear buds in quickly to let him listen in on the conversation. He continued speeding in their direction, the reaching into his left pocket to pull out a few marbles. The strange speaking patterns concerned him... and what Una said about him had forced a small smile as Nik rushed into danger yet again.

Uná sighed and rolled her eyes. "Alright alright. Uná. And where in the world are we? Are you giving me a phone to get in contact with you? You do realize that they probably will track you down. Anyways you keep talking about peers. There are plenty of people our age around here. Possibly even smart ones. You don't have to take off with someone to get them to talk to you. See we're talking and its fine. We could have talked on campus. Or gone out to get coffee or something. Tell me you don't do the snatching thing often." Uná smiled and talked animatedly with her hands.

"Uuu nA" says Angel her smile bright as she stretches her new friend's name
"Its so original, well at least for me...Una"

Uná shrugs. "Eh I've had it most my life so it's not so original for me." Uná really wanted to look down at her phone and see if Nikolai had picked up. She didn't dare to though not and draw attention to it. She looked around wondering where in the world they had landed. "Hey are we near the Hollywood sign? I've always wanted to go there!!"

"It's a bit away and I already have thumped the dragon but next time we can go see the Hollywood sign day or night. I'd love if when your friends show up you explain I'm not holding you, I even left you the things in your pockets. I took you the way I did because I wanted to make it fun. I look at how we came here as if I'd taken your hand and tried to playfully pull you off to the bushes. Trouble is your boo trying to protect you shoved us down a hill. Now we're waiting on the Knight and I the Witch will have to vanish...I wouldn't dream of hurting your boo"

Uná narrowed her eyes at Angie. "I appreciate you not hurting Demo and allowing me to keep my things you're making me sound like some helpless Disney Princess. I am far from helpless." Uná's temper flared and was reflected in her eyes that burned like blue fire.

"You'd be Princess Merida of DunBroch, red hair, fiery temper...fits but then that would make me Mor'du the Cursed" then she hums a few bars of Touch the Sky.

Uná snorts. "The idiot teenager that turned her mother and brother's into bears? How is that any better? And had to have their help to end the curse that she placed on them in the first place? Granted she's better than Ariel who's an empty headed dink. Oh and lets not mention Anna from Frozen since she was ready to marry the first guy to show any interest in her. It was pathetic. He let her do all the talking and just agreed to get her to be accommodating." Uná stands up and paces gesturing wildly making her statements.

Nik slowed down, Una’s voice carrying in the environment. He kept one earbud in as he approached, his steps inching forward as he was within 50 meters, two marbles twirling in each hand. He wanted to get a view of the scene before launching into an attack. He did smile a little at the ensuing conversation, his eyes squinting at the language being used.

"You don't even want my opinion on Stockholm bestiality freak or the mentally abused shut in." Uná was on a roll and wasn't stopping. "And this is what they feed to little girls then complain that they are unrealistic in their ideals of romance when they get older. Do you know how frustrating it is looking for that guy that measures up to those ideals!!! Well let me tell you what I look for in a guy!!! Honesty. Integrity. Loyalty. Funny. Athletic. Attractive, although my version and your version probably are different. Dark hair a little on the long side, light eyes, angular features. Quick to smile and laugh. Attentive. Cuddles. Assertive. A little bit arrogant. That's healthy. Compromises. Gentlemanly. Knows me better than I know myself...and...and..." She trailed off. She had just described Nikolai. He probably didn't see himself that way and maybe he wasn't listening. He hadn't been before from what Uná could tell.

Angie's eyes light up hearing Una talk about love. "And how I like to be touched? says wit a giggle finishing Una's thought with her own flair.
"I hope you are being cautious and have had a study done to check that your Birth-control still actually works or be ready to be called mommy. Most mutant females can't depend on implants, or pills because they don't work in our body chemistry; its why I'm steering clear of guys for a bit.

Uná gaped at Angie and blushed bright red. "I don't have a reason to be on Birth Control!! I haven't done anything like that. My parents would kill me!! Besides I want to be in love and have that love returned before I do anything like that!! But I guess biologically speaking that would make sense. Geeze that's a lot of information to drop on someone..."

"My dad sprang that on me when I was 14 and he wanted to scare me from boys and it worked; I had the tests done on my own and he was right. pauses looking over Una's shoulder

"Not many flyers at your school i take it?"

Uná shrugged. "More like not many people saw that take off. Demo and Blondie might have been the only ones." Uná bit her lip and looked around. "As much as Blondie and I don't see eye to eye you didn't hurt her did you? No one should hurt another if there is another solution."

Nik stopped in shock momentarily, then only about 30 yards away but just out of sight, his head tilting at the development of the conversation. Perhaps this individual wasn't harmful or a threat... they just didn't act like everyone else. One of his friends as a kid had been similar. Never knew what to say at the right times. Unable to pick up on those social cues. It wasn't his fault... it's just how he was born...

But kidnapping... it didn't matter who was responsible for that. Despite Una's cautionary words, Nik pressed on with marbles in hand. He was just about to come into eyesight, his eyes practically brimming with a quiet anger. No one puts his friends in danger... well, except himself.

Angie sighs "No Profit in hurting her, she wasn't a rival and she was clumsy meaning she was a 1st grader swinging on a MMA champ......
Large obstruction, mobile fitting a male body form 20 meters in her sensor ring of air currents that stretched out 50 meters from her body.
"Better and better; your ride is here"

Uná looked around. As much as Angie had done wrong she wasn't out to hurt her. Things were misconstrued. Angie had a different way of looking at things and hearing difference of opinions helped broaden minds. Sifting through the differences in speech the underlying reasoning wasn't bad.

Nik finally approached, appearing not so far away with the marbles still twirling along his finger tips. He gave a raised eyebrow towards the two as his shoulders stiffened with his walk. His muscles were tensing up, ready to act whenever it was necessary. He was on edge, as he knew he was outmatched. But he'd be damned if he didn't go out without a fight if it came to it.

"I never hurt people intentionally but when I act I also don't have their best interest at heart, victory or escape doesn't count the cost but does penalize hesitation.. she was saying till he showed himself.
"He's a good looking boy and brave to boot, is he the perfect man you want Una?" she says cheerfully as the trees around them confirm the message of their flesh; the air in the clearing is increasing speed and when their ears pop in pressure.
"Hello pretty man, if you don't attack me I won't attack you. I draw no pleasure out of breaking bone but Una is the only one who I have guaranteed will come to no harm"

Nik gave a slightly raised eyebrow, placing the marbles back into his pocket before sliding his hands into his back pockets, seeming to take a surprisingly relaxed posture as a somewhat dumb grin spread across his lips. "What we have here is a failure to communicate... looked like you were causing harm on our campus and kidnapping a friend of mine. Those wind speeds could have hurt someone, including my friend. So you're either delusional or a liar." He planted his feet so his left side faced them, looking out at the surroundings for a moment. The arrogance seemed to reek from his voice... but with a slight undertone of a threat readily apparent.

Uná looked back and forth between the two. She knew that Nikolai wasn't pleased. Hopefully they could all get through this without a punch thrown or a bone broken. But Nikolai had a point, although calling her a friend kind of chaffed. But that's a conversation for a different time.

Angie grinned at Nik her eyes glittering with amusement "I don't lie without profit as for my own instabilities that is a matter of opinion. Blondie came at me hands a blazing so she deserved it and while I technically kidnapped Una I just wanted to talk.
Blame me, blame my crappy family life, blame the government, I don't really care I do things the way I want to. I took Una hoping to make our meeting more memorable, more exciting and if we are on the same page then to make you realize you don't leave pretty things hanging around for a Birdie to spot and take....Silly Boy"
On the ground between Nik and Angie forms a 5 foot tall ...grassdevil making a weedeater type of sound
"Now this is dangerous, the edges of grass blades are serrated and can make nasty paper cuts. Una was in no danger at all till somebody tried to blow us up"

Nil grit his teeth. She was right, if only technically. The sign of aggression she showed would have been enough to warrant a fight... but having Una there tempered his anger. He couldn’t get someone else hurt. So he didn’t bother flinching. ”Cool magic trick. But I’d suggest getting out of here before the school finds out you’re here. You’re a padawan compared to some of the folks we have.” He felt anxious the longer he was around this person. Uncertainty was never pleasant in these sorts of situations.

"Don't sweat the small stuff" the grassdevil blows harmlessly apart "Just relax and let it happen Tiger and Una you sweet girl see ya laters" then she blasts off soon traveling at over 400 mph just above the treetops

Nik fell over at the sheer force of the wind used to launch off. While lying on his back, he just looked into the sky. There were Mutants much more powerful than he was out there... and most of the people he knew were more powerful than him. Una... her powers dwarfed his to a near infinite degree. And that realization of his inferior nature... it was humbling. So he looked up into the sky before shutting his eyelids for now. He had other things he needed to focus on, but for just a moment... he needed the silence and calm.

Uná threw up her hands to cover her face as Angie conjured the mini tornado. If her eyes had been open she'd have rolled them at Angie's comment on Nikolai endangering her. That was going overboard. Uná heard Nikolai's comment and smirked. Uná opened her eyes as the wind blew out. She moved to Nikolai as Angie took off. She was too late now to block the wind from knocking them both over but she could cushion their fall. Quickly she envisioned a mattress as they fell. She was blown deeper into the illusion than she anticipated and had to scramble to get out of it. "Ack. Oh for Pete's sake." Uná whispered then sighed and flopped down.

Nik gave a look over towards Una as he focused in on his breathing, before looking back up towards the sky. "So... we're close, huh?" The tone in which he stated Una's words... it was almost as if he was just talking to himself. He left his words to hang there, before his eyes closed once again to continue the process of regulating his breathing back down after the jog over.

Uná blushed deeply. "It sounded correct to me. Still does. If you object to the phrasing you can come up with a different word, err phrase. I'm open to suggestions." Uná was picking at nonexistent lint on her yoga pants.

He shrugged while lying there, his eyes still closed. ”It’s fine. I never really thought about it like that. Been struggling to keep up in class, and you and Nathan have spent a lot of time together since day one, so...” Perhaps it was the post-adrenaline high, or just a moment of peace... but Nik didn’t care. He hasn’t truly opened up to Una at this point, reserving most of those brief reveals for Drake when he wasn’t spending the night in the female dorm. ”Just wasn’t sure if we were close. Always hard to tell wh...” He trailed off, almost as if dozing off into a nap.

Uná looked over at Nikolai thinking he might have gone to sleep. The afternoon sun was warm and lazy so she yawned and stretched out on the ridiculously soft mattress. She knew it was an adrenaline crash that was drugging Nikolai and she decided that if he was going to nap she'd stay with him. Buddy system and all that jazz. If Nikolai was napping she'd be able to ogle him without feeling guilty about it. Uná rolled onto her side which brought her closer to Nikolai. "Nikki are you asleep?" She whispered.

Nik didn't respond, his breathing slowing down as he was beginning to normalize from the action. His eyes remained clothes and he turned his head slightly, it rolling into a slightly more relaxed position. It appeared that he was asleep, though he was honestly caught up in his own mind. It wandered through thoughts of home, his friends back there, his new friends here, and the dangers that they could face if they ever got proper assignments.

Uná sighed softly and curled up along side Nikolai. Uná reached out and curled a hand in Nikolai's shirt making sure that if he went any where she'd know. It didn't take long for Uná to fall asleep with the sun warm and the wildlife that got used to them being there. Luckily they weren't directly in sunlight so she wouldn't burn. As Uná's sleep deepened she relaxed her hold on Nikolai but curled into him, his name a soft sigh and a slight smile.

Nik opened his eyes as Una settled in, clearly resting in for a nap. He didn’t want to disturb her, closing his eyes once again and shifting slightly to rest his hand on hers as he shifted his left hand down to end the phone call and continue his podcast.

The sun sat just over the horizon. Nocturne was an industrial night club, a perfectly rectangular building with windows that only appeared on the upper levels and a neon sign out front with stylized red letters backed by a blue crescent moon. Inside, the house lights were up. It was too early for patrons. Men in suits were pulling down upturned chairs off of tables while others were rolling in carts of alcohol to the bar area. Others, still, could be seen moving in a human caravan holding white bags and depositing them into one of the back offices on the first floor. Alcohol was not the only thing they sold to their customers. As one of the suited gentlemen wiped down a countertop, his gun harness could be seen peaking out of his jacket. Every one of these men was armed. This was a Stagnum establishment.

Alexander Stagnum sat patiently in his office on the second floor. As an albino, he wasn’t much of a fan of the sun. Nighttime was when he really came alive. His skinny, wiry stature made him look younger than he was and the fact that he was relatively short didn’t help matters, either. He sat behind his very expensive walnut executive desk. A one-way window lined his right side wall, overlooking the dance floor. On top of his desk sat an open bottle of 30 year old single malt scotch. Beside it was a half-filled glass and a manila folder with some words typed on the tab and other words handwritten across the folder itself. Xander just stared at the liquid in silence as if waiting for it to do something. Across the room was a glass coffee table surrounded by 4 black leather chairs. Occupying those chairs were Xander’s personal bodyguards. Big, burly muscular men armed to the teeth. Just like nearly everyone under the roof of the Nocturne, these men were dressed all in formal suits. The only person breaking code was Xander, himself, who was dressed in a loose fitting pair of slacks and a tanked undershirt. His feet were bare. The rest of his outfit was sitting upon the coffee table folded up neatly with a black shoulder holster housing two twin Desert Eagles, silver with black grips. Xander had no use for the attire now, though. Not yet.

Without warning, the front doors of the club erupted open. Gunfire cracked and voices were heard yelling and groaning. Furniture was being smashed. Xander’s gaze did not move. The bodyguards immediately sprung to their feet and viewed the scene below through the one-way window.

“Boss, looks like a mutie,” spoke one of them, a tinge of panic in their voice.

“Then why are you here?” Xander’s voice was cool and calm. It always was. Half the bodyguards took off out the door and down the stairs to combat the situation. An orchestra of gunfire and glass breaking continued to fill the club. The remaining guards watched on from Xander’s office. They visibly winced in unison right before a particularly loud crashing noise.

“It’s not looking good down there. They're hitting 'em, but it's not going down. Bulletproof,” said one of them, turning to Xander. “We could, uh, really use Lex right now.”

“Well Lex isn’t here, yet, is he?” The guard just gulped and returned his attention to the carnage. Then, just as quickly as it started, the commotion stopped. Hard footsteps could be heard outside the office door, coming up the stairs. The guards within the office moved position and aimed their weapons at the doorway.

“I thought you said he was bulletproof,” Xander chimed in, finally reaching out to pick up the glass of scotch.

“Well yeah. He’s like a rock monster thing…” the guard stammered.

“So you’re going to shoot holes in my door just for fun?” The two henchmen traded glances with one another before hesitantly lowering their weapons and slowly backpedaling away. The thunderous footsteps persisted before the light that lined the door’s bottom was extinguished. It was here.

With a loud boom, the door was turned to splinters at a massive hand armored in earth came crashing through. Xander let out a sigh and took the first sip of his drink, shaking his head. The guards backed up further, standing on each side of Xander’s desk like a couple of frightened puppies. The mutant forced himself the rest of the way into the room, just a little bigger than the doorway itself. His entire body looked like it was covered in segmented stone. His face was a helmet of rock. You could just barely make out his eyes and mouth within.

“Alright, mutant. Here you are. You’ve disrupted my business, you’ve cost me money, and you’ve taken out my personnel. I assume there is a reason. Who are you and what do you want?” Xander sounded more inconvenienced than scared. It was a reaction that took the attacker by surprise.

“You’re Alexander Stagnum,” the thing declared. Xander immediately looked up from his drink and squinted, trying to see the deep set eyes more clearly. The voice was young. Very young. There had to be a teenager under all that rubble. “You sell drugs... you steal... You hurt people. I’m here to stop you!” The corner of Xander’s mouth moved up in an awkward, confused sort of smile.

“Huh. And what should I call you, seeker of justice?”

“I’m… well, I’m Clobberstone,” he said with an obvious lack of confidence. “And you’re done for!” Xander couldn’t hold back a chuckle. It seemed to enrage the golem, as he reared back and prepared to charge. Xander held up a hand, palm facing the mutant, and the latter hesitated.

“Okay, Clobberstone. Great name. I get it. Like cobblestone, but… ya… Listen, the sun is nearly down. You can walk away from all this. The guys down there? They’re a dime a dozen. The mess? I’ll get it cleaned. I’m not worried about it. You can walk away from this and everything will be forgiven, I promise. No hard feelings.” The mutant’s eyebrows weren’t visible, but Xander assumed they must’ve been furrowed at this point.

“Why would I leave now?” Clobberstone asked before starting to advance again. Again, Xander held up a hand and Clobber complied.

“Because you lost this battle before it even started,” Xander calmly explained before glancing at a clock perched on the wall. “But it looks like it’s too late, afterall. I’m afraid I must rescind my offer. You’ve run out of time. He’s here.” Xander put down his glass and stood up out of his chair. With one hand holding up his very loose pants, he slowly shuffled out from around his desk to meet Clobberstone head-to-head. A look of relief seemed to fall upon the guards’ face as they instinctively moved back further away from the action.

“Who’s here,” Clobberstone asked, glancing around the room and out the window at the dance floor below. His eyes then met Xander’s and he looked on in horror as the musculature of the abino’s body began to throb and bubble. Xander let go of the pants as his waist began to expand, filling the band perfectly. His legs began to stretch, swell, his chest bolstered, his facial structure even became sharper. His muscles multiplied, amplified. Veins began to spring to the surface of his skin as his body finalized its transformation. Where there once stood a wiry kid there now stood a hulking man that was even more imposing than the Clobberstone, himself.

“Me,” Lex said finally in a whisper. WIth a grin that would make your blood curdle, Lex grabbed Clobberstone by the chestplate and pulled him in with his left hand. His right rocketed forth in a fist that immediately collided with the earthen shell covering the mutant’s face. The rock didn’t stand a chance. Instantly, it shattered and gave way to the vulnerable face of a dark haired young man with a soul patch and peach fuzz for a mustache. Lex took the time to let out a huff of laughter before sending his fist back in for a second visit. This time the fist went all the way through in a splatter of warm crimson. Lex dropped the husk of Clobberstone and tried to shake the blood off his hand. “Get rid of it,” he said without looking at the guards. They complied nonetheless, both of whom ran over to the remains and attempted to drag it.

Lex looked around the room as if trying to get reacquainted. His eyes fell on the coffee table first. He grabbed the rest of his attire and put it on, seating his guns in place beneath his coat. Everything was a perfect fit. He then strolled over to his desk and picked up the glass of scotch that Xander had started before sitting down and looking at the folder in front of him. On the tab was printed 'Ashford Institute'. Written across the folder in red ink was “I want this taken care of NOW. –JS”. Lex smiled and opened the file.

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Cole stepped through the rear atrium glancing up briefly to Kaylee’s office window as he walked inside the main Hall of the Academy. Even though he was a little older, among the regular faculty and students, he blended in fairly well. He decided to keep his regular riding bag slung over shoulder even though it had a slightly more studious appearance, a briefcase just felt too stuffy. The weather was good so he rode the bike in for the evening after going out for lunch and taking care of a few points of business in his investigative work. Wearing a light-grey, button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up his forearms, jeans and his riding boots a few familiar faces greeted him in passing as he made his way towards the stairs.

When they first told him what was actually going on at the Institute, the assembled staff in Ashford’s office seemed a little taken aback by his reaction, or lack thereof, like he wasn’t even that surprised- and he wasn’t. The news felt more like a confirmation of his instincts and the small glimmer of suspicion that he felt the first time he pulled up to the building to meet Kaylee. No, the only surprises were his unforseen relationship with Miss Everose and the eccentric attitudes of Dr. Ashford, who he noticed, never shook hands with anyone. Conversely, they all seemed to be completely unaware of his secret, but just as he had been suspicious of them, he could feel their unsaid inquisitions towards him. The last ride he made was a week ago and when he had first met up with Kaylee the following day, she looked like she was going to faint.

As he walked up the stairs and passed the various offices along her hall, he knew at some point he was going to have to tell her and it felt better to just come clean rather than let her, or them, figure it out and then confront him about it. He knew, like several of the students, that some of the staff possessed a form of psychic-awareness or extra sensory perception. She could see something that he could not and while he didn’t think she was necessarily frightened, he was concerned that she might unknowingly expose herself to something more… malevolent. As he rode, sometimes it was hard to tell where the reality they lived in stopped, where others began or where they blurred together, but he knew there were things out there that she didn’t need to see.

The smell of freshly brewed coffee brought him back from those wandering thoughts and he gave her open office door a couple light taps before stepping in to find her clearing off her desk as the small pot finished brewing. He took his regular seat across the desk while she busily poured two cups. “Long day? Or did you have to send anyone to the office?” He said with a smirk.

Kaylee smiled at Cole. “Yes and no, in that order. I'm worried about a student but don't want to stick my nose in it.” She didn't know all of what Nathan was going through, or had been through for that matter. Nathan was a good kid. A little neurotic but seemed to have his heart in the right place. He'd been spending a lot of time with Uná and Nik. Kaylee hoped things were going well. She'd seen the three of them in a study group and it was helping but something about Nathan the last week was off. “Something just seems off.”

The catalogue of students cycled through Cole’s head as she spoke and he glanced out the window thinking about who it could be as he surveyed the courtyard and took a sip from his cup. “Is it Drake?” He said, still glancing away. “Kid looks like he hasn’t slept in about a month.” Looking back over across the desk at her, he could tell by her expression there was someone else on her mind. “Who is it?” He asked.

Kaylee shook her head smiling. “It wasn't Drake before you mentioned it. It's Nathan. Seems very on edge this past week or so and he was doing so well. Drake needs someone to talk to. I'll get right on that. So thank you for that anymore brilliant observations that I need to know about?” Kaylee smirked. Her tone was sarcastic but honest. She meant it and was laughing at herself four not seeing it.

Seems like she'd been paying attention to the man in front of her too much. If you asked her it wasn't enough by a long shot.

“No, I think that’s enough brilliance for one day.” Cole replied with a chuckle. He took another long sip remembering a few loose ends around the campus he needed to tie up before the end of the day, but thankful all the same that it was Friday. Working for himself for so long, everyone’s favorite day of the week had lost some of its luster on him as he worked whatever hours his cases required, however with the Institute taking up much of his time, it felt good to be on a more regular schedule- a subject that prompted his next question: “What time do you want to head out later?” He asked. “I gotta take care of a few things around here, then I’m up for whatever.” He said. Knowing her powers of perception, it was pointless to hide that he was looking forward to them going out. With the school starting up, they’d only managed a few small outings in the course of a month along with their regular coffee time. An actual night out was going to be a pleasant change. “You still wanna see that band?”

Kaylee grinned as she sipped her coffee. “Of course. I need a break from all this.” She pointed around the room then looked down at her watch. “How about an hour before sunset? So roughly six? I have to decide if I want to be daring and wear a skirt knowing you're going to be on the bike.”

Cole glanced down at his watch when she mentioned a time then raised an eyebrow slightly at her tease of a “daring” outfit knowing they would be riding out together. “Wear jeans.” He said with a frank smile and finishing off his cup.

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Drake looked at his phone. 4:36pm. Classes were over and his fifth wind was starting to die out. There's no doubt that sleep would be coming soon. Just gotta make sure I crash hard, he told himself. He posted up on the side of the courtyard and put a cigarette in his mouth. Without even a gesture, a cherry formed on the end of it as smoke bellowed out Drake's nostrils. With his cig in his lips, he reached both hands into separate pockets. One pulled out a white baggy, the other pulled out his keys. Discreetly, he self medicated before putting both back where they were.

He was running on fumes, but wanted to make sure he truly hit empty. He could think of a couple of ways. Exercise, training, adult recreation... Hmmm. His right eyebrow raised as a thought came to mind. Maybe he could hit a few birds with one stone. He picked up his phone again and scrolled through his list of contacts, landing on one Sally Hendricks. After selecting her, he began typing.

Hey. What are you up to?

The metalcore music blared in her ears as she mercilessly let loose on the dummy in the Danger Room. Since they had begun learning self defense, Sally had taken quite a liking to being able to beat the shit out the dummies. It also felt better knowing that, in situations where she would need to defend herself or others, she would be able to. Though her hits still weren't near as strong and effective as she would have liked, she knew where to place them for maximum efficiency.

With one final grunt of effort, Sally whipped her leg and, kicked the dummy, nearly knocking it over. Apparently her legs were stronger than her arms. Standing still now, exposed skin glistening with sweat, Sally felt a vibration on her side, followed by a tone, indicating she had a message. Looking down at the her phone, she pulled it free from her waistband and swiped the screen with her thumb. An inquisitive eyebrow raised. Drake.

Quickly typing back, she replied, Just beating up a dummy in the DR. Too bad it's not Isaac. What about you?

Nada. Care if I join?

Exercise it is, he thought to himself. He continued to smoke while waiting for the response. Sally had been a godsend. When things were getting too tense or stress became overwhelming, she was there willing to help relieve it. He felt that they had become a lot closer as of late, leaning on eachother more and more.

He hadn't totally opened up about what he was going through, but his lack of sleep these days was fairly obvious. When asked about it, his go-to was to blame insomnia. Seemed simpler. Only Aya had a deeper understanding and that's just because she saw the beast for herself. Whether it was embarrassment, fear, or something else, Drake was just cautious about opening up.

With her phone in her hand, Sally watched, waited for Drake to reply. As soon as it came through, she grinned and shrugged as she typed out, Sure, if you don't mind getting beat by girl. A devious little chuckle errupted from within her and she went into her music to find something smoother. Once she did, she began to stretch, cooling off for a moment while she waited.

So, she and Drake had, had several more... fun filled nights, and at first, that's all they were. Here lately, they had been spending more and more time together, and dare she say, she was starting to like him. That would be kept her little secret, though. As far as he knew, it was all just fun and stress relief... which, it was.

He had seen better days, that was sure. Several times he had come to her, just needing someone to talk to, even about the most stupidest shit. And she was more than happy to offer her attention for a while. He wasn't sleeping. He was drinking more. She even suspected there was something else, but never said anything. His pupils gave him away everytime, though.

Drake read the text with a crooked grin before putting his phone away. He took the last drag of his cigarette before discarding it. Drake quickly wiped his nose off with his fingers before making steps toward the direction of the Danger Room.



He wasn't really dressed for the occasion, but he really didn't want to keep Sally waiting, either. He walked into the Danger room in his white button-up and black jeans, hanging back for a moment to watch Sally at work. Seeing a woman take out her wrath with violence was... enticing. Before too long, though, he felt obligated to make his presence known. he came from behind her, knowing she had her ear buds in, and tapped on her shoulder.

Sally, not having heard Drake enter, continued her stretching. Her eyes were closed, and she took slow, deep breathes. In her nose. Out her mouth. She felt as if someone were in the room with her, but ignored the feeling, and kept on with her motions. Something she'd regret in three... two... one...

"Jesus Christ!" Sally whipped around, her eyes wide as she saw who had startled her. It was none other than Drake. Ripping her ear buds out, she rolled her eyes and exhaled heavily, laughing. "Was that necessary? Really?" Pulling her phone free from her waistband, she wrapped her ear buds around it and gently dropped it to the floor. She then took the time to examine him.

He looked good. Well, as good as he could with someone that wasn't sleeping well. Sally tilted her head a bit and took a step closer to him, looking into his eyes. Raising an eyebrow, she huffed and stepped back again. "You really should stop using that stuff," she said with a hint of sadness in her voice. "There are better ways." With that being said, she walked to the middle of the room, then turned to face him.

"Come on," she urged as a grin parted her lips. She gave him an upward nod and looked him over. "Not scared, are ya?"

"Maybe a little," he smirked. He brought his thumb to his nose, giving it a flick before getting in fighting stance. An homage to Keanu Reeves from The Matrix. Sally was tough and not afraid of a little roughness. "We doing powers?" he asked before taking the first sweeping kick toward her leg.

Sally raised an eyebrow and got into the defensive stance. She bent her knees a bit and lowered her body, bringing her arms up, fists near her face. It was your standard defensive pose, the one Pierce had taught them. At least, the ones that had never been in an actual fight before.

Sally quickly hopped back, moving away from Drake's first attack. She shook her head in response to his question. "Nah, that wouldn't be fair, because then I could just do... this," she stepped back and lashed her arm out in a gentle 'get away' motion. It knocked the man off his feet and sent him back just a bit. Sally grinned. "How about good ole hand to hand," she asked as she resumed the defensive pose, giving him a playful wink.

Drake laid on the ground for a second with a smirk. Great suggestion, he thought to himself sarcastically. He reached his arms back by his head and rolled his wrists backward, palms down against the floor, while his knees tucked into his torso. In one fluid move, he sprang up and was back on his feet.

"Deal." He wasn't sure if it was this or what he did earlier, but his blood was pumping again. He was excited. Whatever it was, it was working. He knew that Sally suspected and he refused to lie about it outright. He also wasn't much for talking about it in general. Not unless he had to. Right now, all he had to do was try and land a blow. "How's your jiu jitsu?" A mischievous grin formed on his face as he began to advance.

Impressive. Drake could do the little flippy thing and jump back to his feet . She would never be able to do something like that. But the fact that he could, was incredibly impressive. Sally was so ditzy, tripping over her own feet, it would never happen.

She raised an eyebrow at Drake's question. Jiu Jitsu? Was Pierce teaching them that? She had no idea, so in response, she simply shrugged. "Guess you'll just have to find out, hmm?" Her blue eyes watched as he approached her, and her body tensed, ready and waiting.

Drake leered at her before making his move. Springing forth, he moved his shoulder in on her, like a linebacker, aiming for her midsection, before grabbing her behind the knees with both arms, raising her into the air. In a typical combat scenario, this would be the part where you spear your opponent to the ground and go for the lock. Instead, Drake spun one hundred eighty degrees with Sally in his arms. Rather than her falling to her back, he fell to his with her on top, taking the fall damage upon himself and leaving himself pinned. With a hard thud, he started laughing.

"So it starts with the takedown," he said finally, "And then you've got to restrain them, make them beg for mercy." He looked into her eyes and wiggled his eyebrows while giving a goofy smile. He was clearly a glutton for punishment.

Sally's eyes widened as soon as Drake charged her. His approach was so fast, she hardly had time to think or react. She prepared herself for his shoulder to slam into her stomach, but was caught off guard by his next move. Instead of hitting her, he lifted her up, hardly losing his momentum. She then prepared to be slammed to the ground. But again, it didn't happen.

Drake had spun them around and fell to his back, leaving her on top of him. For a moment, she was worried that he was hurt. With a concerned gasp, she quickly sat up, looking down at him. His laughter though, quickly made her concern vanish, and she couldn't help but smile.

"That's not how it's supposed to go," she said in playful irritation as she punched him gently in his chest. Rolling her eyes, she met Drake's, and her smile slowly started to fade. Sally ran the tip of her tongue across her bottom lip, quickly following with a soft bite. She let her lip roll out from between her teeth before realizing what was happening. Gasping softly, Sally quickly straightened up and raised an eyebrow.

"Weren't we supposed to be sparring," she asked with a sly little grin.

Drake's eyebrows dropped, his once toothy grin turning into a crooked hairline of a smile. His legs bent upward, his feet planting themselves flat on the ground between Sally's straddled legs. He moved his shoulders down, becoming flush with the ground as well. "If you insist", he said finally.

He let loose a sudden, exaggerated pelvic thrust, sending Sally upward, her torso moving past his face. In the moment, he turned his body and held Sally stomach-down to the ground. He found himself on top of her now, sitting on her glutes. He quickly wrestled her arms around and held them together behind her back with his left hand. With his right, he pulled her hair back, leaned in toward her ear and said, "Your move."

Sally noticed the sudden change in Drake's demeanor. The disappearance of his smile, the dropping of his eyebrows. What the Hell was he thinking? And then, her question was answered. She felt his hips suddenly jerk up, tossing her up off of him. Her eyes widened in shock and she gasped, her arms shooting out in front of her to catch herself. In just mere seconds, she felt him grab a hold of her and push her down, climbing on top of her. At this point, her instincts kicked in.

Before she could make a move though, Drake had her arms behind her back, pinned. She then felt him grab a fistful of her hair, and pull her head back. Sally winced, hissing softly through her teeth. Swallowing hard, she tried to keep thoughts of... other activities from her head. His voice suddenly in her ear brought her back to reality. Her move. It was her move

Sally squirmed a bit underneath Drake, desperately searching her mind of what she could do. And then it hit her. The only thing she could think to do. The only thing she'd be able to do. Sally focused her energy, and with a slight cry of effort, shoved him up, off of her. As soon as she felt him leave her, she quickly rolled onto her back and caught him mid air, her hand out in front of her to help control him better. She felt a little guilty for using her ability but, she wasn't about to give up. Not that easy.

"Your move, Drake," she said playfully as she brought him closer to her, but kept him out of arms reach.

Drake hung in the air suspended, with a sideways smile. "You said no powers," he reminded. "Liar, liar..." Small embers began to form on the ankle of Sally's pants as Drake's eyes noticeably shifted downward and back up, attempting to make sure she took notice.

All Sally could do was smile and shrug. Yeah, she said no powers, but it would have been a little difficult to have gotten Drake off of her any other way. He was much bigger and stronger. She was just about to say something in response when she noticed his eyes shift downwards, then back up to her.

Her smile faded quickly and she lifted her head, looking down. Her fuckin pants were on fire! Sally gasped and quickly rolled out from under Drake, releasing her hold on him. She sat up and started slapping at her pants, trying to extinguish the embers. Once they were out, she turned sharply in his direction. "Oh it's on," she said as she jumped to her feet. Without missing a beat, she stalked towards him.

Her sessions with Pierce came flooding back. Sally started throwing punches and kicks left and right. Though they weren't full strength, they packed a punch. Her face was set in determination. She would hit him one way or another.

Drake recomposed himself and then was taken a little aback by Sally's onslaught. He tried to dodge and block as best he could, but he was up against a furious frenzy of conviction. A couple of the kicks landed followed by a strike to the jaw. He was going to feel that tomorrow.

"Jesus, alright," he said finally, surrendering to the request to actually spar. With her next strike, Drake turned his body to the right, letting the punch go past his chest. With his left fist, he struck at Sally's unguarded stomach, wincing as he did it, scanning her face for a reaction. Pleasedon'tbepissedpleaseddon'tbepissed.

With each hit or kick that landed, Sally felt more and more powerful. A grin started to grow on her lips. Even more so when Drake finally decided to go up against her. He moved out of the way of one of her hits, and turned the tables on her. Drake had actually hit her. The blow to her stomach caught her entirely off guard. Her eyes instantly grew and an gasped, doubling over.

"Fuck," She wheezed as she put her arm over her stomach. It took her a moment to catch her breath, but when she did, she managed a weak chuckle. Sally forced herself to stand and met Drake's eyes, a malicious smile forming on her lips. She slowly walked over to Drake, holding her hand out, gesturing for him to shake it. "Good job."

Drake rubbed his jawline with his thumb and index finger, moving his chin side to side as if recalibrating. "Yeah," he said with a breathy voice. It was certainly impressive. He took Sally's extended hand and gave it a singular shake. But he didn't let go. His eyes bore into hers as he let the silence permeate the room. Seconds passed before he finally uttered, "What are you doing after this?"

Sally stared at Drake, her heart fluttering for just a moment. She felt her cheeks heat up, and decided the reason was because of the exertion moments ago. His sudden question caught her a bit off guard, and her eyes widened a bit. She actually had no idea what she was going to do after this. Her lips parted as if she were going to say something, but she just smiled and shrugged instead.

"I have no idea, honestly. Why?" She had thought about going to the bar event that had been advertised for this weekend, but had never made her mind up about it. So, as of now, she didn't have any plans. "What about you?"

"Well I've got two ideas," Drake said. "The second is for tonight. Be my date to that thing," He said, his head nodding toward the exit where the hallways were decorated with flyers for he music event downtown.

Sally released Drake's hand and let her own drop back to her side. She tilted her head a bit as she listened to him, and then turned her attention in the direction he nodded. Seeing the flyers, she quickly looked back at him, a slow grin tugging at her lips. "Drake Edwards. You're asking me on a date?" The thought actually thrilled her, and scared her at the same time. And then her thoughts went to what the first thing could possibly be. She had an idea, but pushed it aside.

Her blue eyes stared into his, nearly completely, red ones. The tugging at her lips transformed into a full blown grin. "Yeah, I'll go with you. I'll need to clean up and change first, though." She then tilted her head again and narrowed her eyes. "Just out of curiosity, what was the first idea?"

Drake wiggled his eyebrows and let a smirk form on his face. He then held out his hand, seeing if Sally would take the bait and let him lead her out.

As soon as she saw the expression on his face, she knew. She knew without a doubt what the "first" idea was, and she couldn't help the grin that broke out across her face. Her eyes glanced down at his hand, and she took it without hesitation.

"Lead the way," She responds as she tightens her hand in his, much like she had during their first encounter.

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Elijah hums to himself as he walks down the hallway that was covered in posters about the two day three night celebration going on in LA. Ah how I love a good party. Now to just get the rest of these invitations to the rest of the student body.

Elijah slipped notes and reloadable Visa gift cards under doors after classes let out. His powers allowed him to earn a tidy sum playing the stock market to its full advantage. Normally he didn’t do so but the temptation to do so was too great. Why not share? Three hundred dollars per person was a pretty small amount when he let himself have twice that and turned the rest of the money, an obscene amount, over to the school in his parent’s name. Good ol’ mom and dad had no idea what they were donating to. Plus since it was a donation they could write it off their taxes. He’d make sure to inform them to do so. Besides it kept Ashford out of his hair.

He really had no clue what that man was doing but he wanted to know. Badly. Traipsing down the Summers Hall sliding the cards and notes into the dorm rooms he gets to the last door and sends two notes under the door. Dusting his hands off he grins and he walks into the lounge. Flopping down he waits.

History. Sally wasn't exactly a fan of history. But the project that they had been assigned was quite interesting. They were to try and find where the X-Gene originated. Why they teamed the students up, she wasn't sure, but didnt mind in the least. They had paired her up with Aya, which would be interesting, to say the least. The girl was so quiet and reserved. They had only spoken a select few times, and even then, they weren't long conversations.

So, Sally had gone to the girl and invited her back to her room later that evening to begin working on said project. She had already gone to the library and selected a few books that may help, and had her phone on hand. Google was magic sometimes.

While she waited for Aya, she went to the kitchen to grab a few snacks. Popcorn, pretzels, some snack cakes. Your typical teenage junk food. She quickly made her way back to her room and opened up a cake, snacking while she waited.

Aya walked down the girls' hall, repeating Sally's room number to herself in her head. She hadn't interacted with the other girl much but that wasn't surprising -- Aya had barely talked to more than a handful of people in her time at the institute. When the history teacher had assigned them as partners though, Aya hadn't been too worried. She was slowly getting more comfortable at the school, and Sally seemed sweet enough. Hopefully the project would go well. Aya wasn't very enthusiastic about doing a research based scavenger hunt on where and when the first mutants might've appeared, but she supposed it wasn't a bad first project for the school year.

Finally finding the proper door, Aya gave a light knock before turning the doorknob. Finding it unlocked, she poked her head in.

"Hey, it's me," she said before immediately feeling like an idiot. Of course it was her, Sally could see that very clearly. "Umm, you ready?"

Sally had just opened one of the many books she had checked out from the library earlier that day. She flipped through the pages, mostly doing quick scans of the words while she waited. Taking another bite of her snack cake, her eyes snapped up to her door just as she heard a knock. Moments after, Aya poked her head inside. Sally smiled, her cheek puffed out, full of the cake she had in it. "Come on in," she said around a mouth full of food.

She leaned back against the side of her bed (she was seated on the floor crosslegged) and quickly chewed the food and swallowed it. "Yep. I checked out a bunch of different books, and brought snacks. Wasn't sure what you liked, so I just brought an assortment." Sally winked and gestured to the snacks that lay about on the floor.

Aya blinked in surprise. "Oh, that's so thoughtful. Thank you." Aya felt silly for not thinking of it herself - her parents would've been ashamed. Slipping through the door, Aya closed it behind her and went to sit on the floor, leaning against the bed opposite Sally. She crossed her legs and pulled her laptop from her bag. "I did a bit of research before and found a couple of articles that might be what we're looking for. We can take notes on what we find and cross-reference?"

Sally watched as Aya came into the room, shutting the door behind her. Her grin grew while she watched the dark haired girl sit down and pull her laptop out. She was silent for a moment, just watching, at least until Aya spoke. With a nod, Sally replied with, "Yeah totally. I've actually found a few things in a couple of these books." She picked one up and opened it to the page she had sticky posted. Laying it down on the floor, Sally looked up at Aya once again.

"So... have your eyes on anyone, yet?" Yeah, yeah, she knew they needed to work on the project, but Sally didn't get girl talk alot, and this was a perfect opportunity. Plus, she wanted to know more about the girl. Best way to start a conversation... boys.

Aya had just unlocked her laptop screen when Sally's question pierced the air. She jolted up, eyes wide.

"Uh -- no?"

Smooth.

Aya cleared her throat and focused intently on her laptop and the many tabs of research articles she'd found.

"What... uh... what about you?" Her face felt like it was on fire.

She couldn't help but laugh at Aya's reaction. That was definitely a lie. Sally wasn't going to push the girl for information though. Just knowing was good enough... for now anyways. And she had been ready for the question to come back to her, so when it did, she just shrugged.

Unfolding her legs and stretching them out in front of her, crossing one ankle over the other, Sally leaned her head back against the bed. She looked up at the ceiling and grinned. "I've had my eye on several, though haven't exactly made any moves for any sort of relationship." It was true... to an extent. "That Professor Pierce, though..." Sally trailed off and glanced down to Aya, waiting for her reaction while maintaining a stoic composure.

Aya glanced up at Sally, the corner of her mouth quirking up and a breathy laugh bubbling in her chest.

"You aim high." It was true, Professor Pierce was dreamy. And intimidating. But then, she supposed that was the case with most of the teachers here. "You think being hot is a requirement to work here?" she mused aloud. Aya smiled to herself, imagining his résumé. "Special skills: smoldering eyes."

Sally simply rose an eyebrow in response to Aya's first comment. Her second comment earned a twitch of the corner of her lips. It was getting harder to stay serious. Her last comment though... that broke her. Sally burst out in laughter, unable to contain it any longer. After a moment, she lifted her head and looked at Aya, nodding in agreement.

"For real. They're so deep. Sometimes they're almost scary when he looks at you, and others... well... " Sally trailed off and shrugged.

"No, I'm kidding though. Not that age is a thing, but he's the teacher... And that's just weird. By the way, did you get a look at the new one? At least, I think he's a teacher. Uhm... St. John?" Sally furrowed her brow, trying to remember if the name was correct or not. She was sure it was, but couldn't remember.

Aya nodded, an impish smile on her face. "Cole St. John. He's security or something, I think." He'd walked into Professor Everose's office during one of their sessions, once. The mood of the room when he'd entered had been... interesting, to say the least. She raised an eyebrow. "Not a teacher, if you were interested," she teased.

Sally stared at Aya for a moment. Security? What did they need security for? They hadn't had it before. "Security, huh?" The devious little smile came back. "Think he looks good in a uniform?" Security, though? For the protection of the students? Or from them?

The playful manner suddenly fell from her face and she picked a book up. Drawing her knees to her chest, she pulled the book to her face, but left her eyes visible. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. She was dangerous. Nik. Uná. Drake. Isaac. She then wondered what Aya's ability was. Her eyes glanced up at the girl, and remained on her for a moment, but she didn't ask. She would wait until she wanted to speak of it.

Aya glanced up to quip back at the other girl, only to pause. The mood had changed. Sally seemed to retreat into herself, face pensive. Aya pressed her lips together, guessing at the thoughts in her head. Aya already missed the easy atmosphere that now seemed so far out of reach. She focused her gaze back on her laptop screen, though her focus was still on Sally. After a long moment, Aya shrugged.

"All schools have security," she said softly. But the words were hollow. Most schools only had security officers to protect the students from the outside world.

Aya clicked on the trackpad of her laptop to go to another article. Finally she broke the silence again.

"We can see what we find for the project in an hour then see if we can make an outline?"

Glancing up at Aya, Sally nodded in response to her last question. "Yeah, sounds good to me," she replied, trying to bring back the easy going to they had moments ago. Her mind still swirled with thoughts of needing security. She wanted to know why.

Several hours had passed, and the pair had managed to get back into friendly conversation. Joking and laughing, teasing. It seemed to come so natural to them. At one point though, Sally had managed to fall asleep. All those cakes had apparently made her crash. She was still seated on the floor, legs out in front of her, though they weren't crossed anymore. Her head was tilted back, mouth slightly open. Soft snoring could be heard coming from her.

She looked quiet and peaceful, for the most part on the outside, but on the inside, a war was being waged. One that was unknown to her. Again, was dreaming, not of Isaac this time.

Something much worse.

When Aya heard the first light snoring she glanced up to see Sally sound asleep. An amused smile found its way to her lips. She looked at the time on her laptop to find it had become evening without her noticing -- the sky had already lost most of its sunset warmth, bleeding dark.

She should probably get going, then. They could finish their project later. Aya placed her laptop on the ground and stretched her arms up, wincing at the pops that sounded down her spin. Aya stood with a soft groan. Sitting for so long in the same position had done a number on her legs. Aya looked around the room, a mess of empty wrappers and books. Another soft snore came from Sally.

With a tired sigh, Aya began gathering up all the wrappers and stacking the books on a desk, even removing one carefully from Sally's lap. With the wrappers thrown away and the floor cleaned, Aya looked down again at the other girl. A soft laugh escaped her. Sally'd regret falling asleep like that when she woke up. Walking to the bed, Aya grabbed a folded up blanket and placed it as best she could to cover Sally's legs and torso.
It wasn't perfect -- the blanket couldn't quite stay up on her chest, and didn't reach the end of her legs. But it was better than nothing, Aya supposed. She winced at the angle of Sally's neck, her head back on top of the bed. Aya grabbed the pillow and as carefully as she could, slipped her hand under Sally's head, fingers weaving through her bright hair. Lifting, she folded the pillow and wedged it between the bed and the nape of Sally's neck. Aya slowly pulled away to inspect her work.

The angle of Sally's spine looked less painful, at least. Her mouth was still open but Aya supposed there was nothing she could really do about that. Her pink lips were parted as her chest rose slightly with each breath, her hair like fire framing her face... Aya found herself frozen, for a moment, looking down at her.

It was astonishing how lovely some people could be.

I should go. It was a quiet, gentle thought, that broke the spell nonetheless.

Aya turned away from Sally to bend and pick up her laptop and put it in her bag.

Sally's eyes suddenly snapped open. Her usual blue iris', were covered in the blackness of her pupils. There was no focus. No indication that she was even really awake. She wasn't. At that point, things around the room began to rise into the air. The blanket that had been laid out over her. The pillows on the bed. The books that Aya had stacked on the desk. Various other items joined them.

And then again, she began to levitate. Much like she had the first night she spent at the institute. Only this time, she brought a passenger. Not only as Sally rising into the air, but so was Aya.

Sally's eyes remained open, blinking slowly, and not near as often as one should. Her back was arched, arms, legs, and head, all dangling lifelessly. Inside her body, her ability swarmed. She, Aya, and the various objects around the room, all rose until they were nearly 5 feet from the ground. Sally could feel, could see what was happening, but she wasn't the one in control. She couldn't stop it, and it terrified her.

Aya was reaching to grab her bag when suddenly... it started floating. So was the empty bed.

So was Aya.

Confusion and panic shot through her. She was floating she was floating why was she floating --

Sally.

The realization struck Aya through the fear. Sally was telekinetic -- Aya had seen it in action enough times between (or even during) classes. Aya stretched to look over her shoulder to see Sally floating several feet above the ground, eyes as black as her own.

"Sally?" Aya's frantic voice called. No response. "Sally!"

Her ability swarmed in her body, and although Sally could see and feel, what was happening, she couldn't react. Couldn't talk. Her body rose until it was only feet from the ceiling, and she stopped. Everything that was floating in the room, including the two girls, looked as if it were all underwater.

Suddenly, a wave, much like the one she had used on Isaac, resulted from her. It wasn't deadly, nor near as strong, but strong enough to knock everything in the air, away from her and into the walls

Aya cried out as she collided with the wall. She’d managed to partially turn before the pulse was emitted, meaning she hit her side — her arm, leg, and skull knocked harshly against the wall. The blanket she’d placed over Sally tangled around her legs. Disoriented, she looked around.

Sally was in the middle of the room, the space around her completely empty. Everything the wasn’t nailed down was midair and pressed against a wall.

Aya’s heart thundered in her ears.

"Sally!" she tried again. But the girl either couldn’t hear her or couldn’t do anything to respond.

An idea sprung into her head like instinct and Aya jumped on it without thinking, desperate for anything to do. Scrunching up her legs underneath her, she angled them awkwardly against the wall and pushed. Fighting against Sally’s telekinetic wave, Aya shot to the center of the room, arm outstretched.

The moment her fingers touched Sally’s wrist Aya’s powers activated.

The two girls were thrown to the astral plane, black like night with the physical world drawn in constellations around then. Aya watched their bodies fall to the ground and winced. She’d been working on keeping a sense of connection to her body when she used her powers, but she was glad she’d failed this time — there’d be more bruises to count in the morning.

Aya remembered Sally. She’d brought Sally here. Eyes widening, Aya rushed to grab Sally’s spirit in front of her. In the next moment the girls woke up back in the physical world, on the ground of Sally’s dorm.

"I’m sorry, I’m —" her voice shook as she pushed herself up, eyes glued to the floor. She hated using her powers on other people. After Kainoa and then Drake — nothing good ever came of it. And doing it on Sally without her permission felt like a violation. ”Are you ok?”

The time spent in Aya's astral plane, was barely enough time for Sally to really respond. She had gotten a glimpse of the world, of their bodies falling to the floor, before being suddenly thrown back into their own world again. Sally jerked awake, gasping, her eyes wide. She quickly pushed herself up into a sitting position. Her breaths were shaky, and they seemed to get worse the more she looked around her room.

It was a disaster. Stuff was everywhere. And then, her eyes landed on Aya. The girl looked mortified. Sally remembered what she had done. Was that her power? Taking the soul from the body, to another world? She remembered what it looked like. Like they were in space, surrounded by starts and constellations. Their bodies were outlined in white. Eyes white as snow. It was weird, but beautiful.

The pain was just now registering in her head as Aya asked her if she was alright. Sally shook her head. "No, no, I'm fine. Aya, Jesus, are you ok? I'm so... so sorry!" She pushed herself to her knees and quickly moved to the dark haired girl, wrapping her in a tight hug. She was shaking, terrified for Aya's well being.

Wasn't this the whole reason she wanted her own room in the first place?! "Aya," she began as she pulled away from the girl, looking her dead in her eyes, her hands firmly on the girls shoulders. "You can't stay with me when I fall asleep. Did you get hurt? What happened?"

After a stunned moment, Aya returned Sally's hug. Her own arms came up to shakily wrap around Sally, the other girl's frantic words flowing over her.

"I'm alright." She'd be sore in the morning, but she was alright. She pulled away from Sally. "Things just started floating." She didn't need to know about the pulse that'd sent Aya into the wall -- she was rattled enough as it was. "It's alright," she repeated, like saying it enough times would make it true.

Aya forced herself to stand. "I'll help you clean." She was already moving, needing something to do.

Sally watched as Aya pushed herself up to her feet. Her eyes then scanned over the room. Her brow furrowed the more she looked. If things had just floated, and then fell, they would be all over the place. Right? They weren't. In fact, everything was around the edges of the room. Her jaw slowly dropped open and she stood, spinning as she continued to take in the damage.

"Aya?" Sally's eyes finally landed on the dark haired girl, watching her as she picked things up. "It happened. The- the- the shockwave thing. Didn't it?" She moved her hands in a circular motion as she tried to find the appropriate word the action. "Tell me," she said as she rushed to the girl and gently grabbed her shoulders, stopping her from her actions and making her look at her. "Did you get hurt?"

Aya's lips parted as she struggled to find something to say. "It wasn't bad," she finally managed. The words felt inadequate. "I'm fine." She forced a weak smile. Aya said what she thought Sally needed to hear. "Hey, mutant school, right? We're all here to learn control. We'll get there." Aya reached up to put her hand over Sally's. She gave it a small squeeze then stepped away, out of reach. Turning back to the mess, Aya picked up the blanket that'd been tangled around her feet and started folding. "Just... have to be patient with ourselves."

"It wasn't bad," she repeated in her head, clearly not believing the girl. If it hadn't been that bad, why was Aya so shook up? Why was everything in the room along the walls? Why did Sally feel her head start to pound? No. There was more to it than what She was letting on. Deciding not to push the issue, Sally offered a weak smile in return to Aya's, before watching the dark haired girl step away from her. She stood still for a moment before turning and looking around at the destruction.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right.". Sally felt frustrated with herself. It seemed since coming here, her ability had flared up and was getting more powerful. Pushing the thought from her head, Sally forced herself to move and began trying to tidy the room up. She would occasionally glance over at Aya, still curious about what really happened, and even though she had a pretty good idea of what did happen, she still wasn't going to press the issue.

"I'm sorry, Aya," Sally said softly as she finished straightening one of the beds.

It seemed like everyone was always apologizing. Aya, Drake, Sally... the combination of too much power, too little control, and too guilty consciences. Aya was so tired of feeling guilty all the time. And she was tired of the people around her walking on egg shells, self-conscious and afraid.

She wanted to be a teenager again.

Aya looked over her shoulder to watch Sally, the other girl's soft, sad voice echoing in her mind. Aya pressed her lips together. On an impulse, she grabbed the pillow from the empty bed and flung it at the back of Sally's head. It landed with a satisfying poof before falling to the ground. Aya bit her lip, a shy, mischievous smile pulling at her.

"There," she said. "We're even. No more apologies." There was a gentle finality to Aya's words.

Maybe even Aya would be able to stop apologizing some day. She could hope.

Sally had just stood up from picking up a stack of books when she felt something suddenly hit the back of her head. Her eyes widened and she quickly turned to face Aya, who, held a mischievous air about her. Not to mention the little grin that was on her lips. She just threw a pillow at me, Sally thought, as a smile of her own began to slowly pull at her lips.

The words she spoke made a chuckle erupt from her, sounding almost forced, though wasn't. "Alright," She responded as she set the books down onto the desk nearby, looking away from the girl for just a moment. "No more apologies." Sally looked back at Aya and laughed softly. She nodded her head once, in an agreeing way, but also as a way to mark the end of that specific conversation.

After a moment longer, she looked away and began cleaning the room up again. It was spent mostly in relative silence, except for the occasional giggle from Sally when she would throw something randomly at Aya, and the other girl would throw something in return, be it a waded up piece of paper, or something of the like.

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Api leaned back in one of the Library's big cushy drawing room style chairs studying a White board on which he'd finished writing a hypothetical expansion of Cavendish. He had discovered the bit of physics covered in the dust of waiting for the right moment to be tested and its reasons that engineering couldn't measure to the fine degree necessary to prove the theory. His work was filled with suppositions about gravity 20 - 30 years ahead of the tech presently available and showed how he'd steered the numbers obviously.

Heidi entered the library shortly after, carrying a stack of book so high she was straining to see over the top of it. As she carefully placed them on the 'returning' desk in four equal, stable piles, she smiled sheepishly at the librarian as if to apologize for checking in so many books at once after only checking them out yesterday. With that business concluded, she started heading into the library proper. She used to like reading before her mutation developed, but she had always been a slow reader, going over each page multiple times, carefully. A single book could take her months. Now, she was rattling off all these novels she'd always put off before due to the commitment. She'd also been reading a few books on mutations, but first, she had to read up on genetics and biology, and even some chemistry. She wanted to know more about how this ability worked from a scientific point of view.

Before her mind could turn away from the field of science, Heidi spotted the whiteboard from across the room. She didn't know what that equation was, only that it was likely in the field of physics, and that...she couldn't make sense of it. Well, that wasn't unusual. She'd never have been able to make sense of it. But this time, it's as if a part of her subconscious was trying to figure it out but couldn't add it up. It was like....it was wrong. But Heidi didn't know anything about physics more complex than Newton's laws. Who was she to think that wrong?

Api would notice a small mid-teenage girl approach him timidly, and give a little wave without raising her arm above waist level. She spoke in a clear Edinburgh accent, yet not too strong that he wouldn't understand her. "Hi. Sorry to intrude. I'm Heidi. Excuse me, but can I ask what this equation is?"

Api smiles and looks directly at the new girl "Its an expansion of the Cavendish model using information only I can supply" then he takes a deep breath

"No way to replicate right now because I've got the only tool that can weigh the mass of gravitons, its part of my mutation" He stands and he barely taller than Heidi his blond hair a little long and the color of golden wheat.

Heidi's face lit up as the pieces started to fit. "Ah! That's what was nagging me about it! Sorry. My mutation basically makes my brain a supercomputer. It is not as fun as it sounds. Besides, if you can understant this, you must be very smart, but for real. Oh! My name's Heidi. Heidi Williams. I haven't even been here a week. I'm new."

Api blushed being called smart, he thought of himself as average just better focused on things and when those things made up the understanding of his limits and capabilities he was all eyes and ears. "I am Gunnar, Gunnar Grimsson" says the blond boy from Iceland as he looks at Heidi his expression shifting to puzzled.

"Ah Super Computer? How does that make you a mutant and not simply a Savant?"

Api was sure there was some other reason Heidi was labeled as a Mutant and that her ability was likely so subtle they'd gone with the first evidence presented; her genetics held the marker and they razored it in. She might prove interesting to watch. Eidetic memory connected to Flash memory that might allow her to read every book she could focus on as the pages flipped by. She'd have trouble with the more nuanced portions of science and mathematics

"Well," Heidi started to explain, "I've been pretty average my whole life. In fact, I was terrible at maths at school. But a few weeks ago, this all suddenly started. I knew it was a mutation before I even got tested for the X-gene. I didn't change anything about myself, and it's not as if I'm just a little bit sharper. This ability is overwhelming. I can't slow it down yet. I have to pretty much stop thinking just to talk to people."

"Please don't misunderstand, I am merely curious about the obvious.he says with a gentle laugh
"I have a friend that thinks most people have at least a mild form of telepathic talent such as empathy or actual telepathy and supports the idea with how many people have said they knew their friends or family members were in danger or how twins share thoughts and do so without the X-gene.

Heidi stared blankly at him for less than 0.1 of a second, which was a very long time for her to freeze up nowadays. What was she supposed to say to that? Was he asking for her thoughts on the theory, or just telling her about it for conversation's sake? Did he think it was relevant to their past discussion? Heidi didn't even have any informed opinion on this subject. All she knew was her own mind, but she knew it very well. That was a good starting point. As she started speaking, the rest of her sentence quickly built itself.

"Maybe. All I know is that if our brains had this latent ability, mine should be able to use it at will. I think that if people do have these minor forms of telepathy and empathy, it might not have anything to do with the brain. Who knows? Maybe we have souls, and that's what we use when these things happen. Maybe I myself can use these latent abilities but just don't know how."

Api's smile broadens as things click in his head "I wonder if your boosted brain can learn new languages in minutes, hours, or days? Do you have an Eidetic memory? Can you operate on a subconscious level compiling and combining what you know to reach epiphany, that Eureka moment? Sorry I let my imagination run away at times and thinking how other abilities can be used helps me understand my own; I am a Gravitic Elemental" he says adding the last as if it were trivia

Heidi couldn't help but chuckle at Api's enthusiasm, as well as his actual interest in how her mutation worked, more than just jealousy, or trying to test her with math problems, like her classmates had done. "In order, minutes, yes, and yes. And if I can help you somehow, I'd be more than happy to! I haven't really felt like I've...helped anyone yet, and that's partly why I came here. I mean, what mutant doesn't want to be an X-man?"

Api's quick mind tumbles the information he has been considering and decides to bounce a bit off of Heidi

"I believe people like ourselves try to hard to make it work, to get our abilities to do what we want when what we are doing is akin to learning to walk as a baby. Babies can walk and we can walk without detailed analysis and direction of the act, the more we do it the better we get at it" He chuckles "Practice making perfect and all that rot"

"I know, it's just..." sighed Heidi, "This feels more like learning to walk, spending fifteen years getting used to walking, and then losing your legs and getting them replaced with a rocket. It doesn't work anything like legs used to, you have to learn to move entirely from scratch but only after you first try to forget how to walk with legs, and everyone thinks you must be having an easier time just because you move much faster now. I'll get used to it eventually, I know, but being able to think so many thoughts in a single second hasn't exactly...improved my patience."

"Heidi you need to relax, this isn't the old school rat race so many make it. Who understands how your brain functions except you and lets face it you don't have an owner's manual. Most computers have to wait to be put to work and they aren't gifted by inspiration. You are a living person and your brain built on the brain that has brought the world under its control. I just want to see what you make of it, how you use that power.

You need to focus on a subject that interests you and don't let anyone but yourself pick where it all starts, Science and physics are the things you can learn if you're willing to listen to your heart, to follow the connections."
He wants to tell her more but once more his uncertainty stops him short.

He had a point, but what did interest her? The prespect of knowing lots about science was certainly appealing. Heidi was about to comment on this, but she noticed his pauses. "Hm, are you alright? You keep stopping. What's on your mind?" She asked innocently.

Api thought about it then relented his held back theory "If your mutation is in the Brain it has to be farther reaching than speedy thought. There's Accelerated Perception which could allow you to see things either in abundance or speed. Then there is Causality Perception allowing you to see the way things are connected where to toss in the monkey wrench or how to stop that same wrench causing trouble.

Intuitive Aptitude allowing you to bypass the steady plodding pace of education with a few minutes or hours of observation. I could go on but I believe I spoken as much as my own limited studies can allow me to without speculation."

"I can do all of those things," she replied, "but they're all basically side effects of speedy thought, with a little imagination thrown in. I can't see things faster than anybody else, I can just process them faster. And I can't see the future. I can calculate some things so fast that I'll know what's going to happen before it does, but that's just more speedy thought. And I don't have intuitive aptitude. In fact I might be unable to 'learn' things in a conventional way. I just have perfect hyperthymesia, and the speedy brain to recall and process a memory. Like, If I read a foreign language dictionary, then had a conversation with somebody who spoke that language, I don't actually know that language, but I can still converse by, after each word they speak, remembering the page of the dictionary that word was on.

But you're right. I'm not sure I want to spend all morning talking about me either. What about you? Your mutation was gravity manuplation, right?"

Api smiled at her courtesy and said "Yes I do manipulate gravity, I have managed to learn to fly rather than just hover as I did when I first came here. I am working on using my ability to sense mass to enable me to sense all things within range and in a surrounding globe. Of course while I focus on my power I am also improving my body physically and on my reactive times.

This immediately hooked Heidi's attention and she sat up straight, with sparkling eyes. "You can do all that? Even theoretically, your quirk really does have a lot of uses! You're probably going to be an X-man, huh?"

"We are all Xmen by genetics. My talent makes me a more hands on type but your's is also a wonderful talent." Api said as he looked into her eyes. "Xmen are not warriors alone but mutants and not all things can be solved by force in fact as Sun Tzu said "The greatest victory is that which requires no battle". To achieve that goal requires Intelligence" he said with a chuckle

"Well, of course. The X-men aren't an never were warriors, and a mutant who thought so would be a bad X-man. But not every mutant will be, or can be an X-man. I imagine it would take a lot of training before the staff here would trust us with that kind of dangerous Superhero lifestyle." Heidi didn't glance at her watch, but her eyes defocused for a split second as she calculated how many seconds it had been since she last looked at her watch. "I'm behind my schedule so I should probably go and find the books I came here for, but we should talk about this again."

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Interactions: Elijah Kingston @Almalthia

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Nik yawned, raising his arms in a stretch as he approached his room. His backpack was barely hanging on to his right shoulder as he swung the door to his room open. He stepped over the note and card on the floor at first, stuck in his own head space. He dropped off his backpack on his bed, sighing as he moved back to close the door. The note and card on the floor finally caught his attention, so Nik quickly reached down and picked up the card and note.

A small smile spread across his lips. He rushed to his backpack, dumping his backpack's contents on his bed, the textbooks and notebooks scattering about. Nik quickly stuffed his backpack with a few extra sets of clothes before slinging it over his shoulder once again. He quickly jogged towards the lounge with the note and card in hand, lifting it into the air as he approached Elijah. "Still got room?"

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The blink of an eye might as well have been an eternity. Drake didn't sleep long, but the rest was amazing. Total blackness, no dreams, no encounters, just the glorious nothingness of unconsciousness. Slowly his eyes began to flutter open as he found himself in a familiar room, concealed under the covers of Sally's bed.

He turned toward the night stand where he had placed his phone. He grabbed it, hit one of the buttons and grimaced when the light blasted his face, displaying the time. It wasn't long before they would need to leave. Drake looked at his discarded clothes and then lifted the covers to inspect his own body. A shower and a new outfit would definitely be in order.

He left Sally to her own preparations, eager to see her again very shortly. THey had agreed to meet outside. Once he got himself spruced up, he looked into his closet and picked something that looked comfortable before grabbing his keys, wallet and other essentials and heading out to see Veronica. Sally somehow beat him to the parking lot. Drake took a moment to take her in. Her outfit left him a little short of breath for the moment. He took her by the hand and introduced her to the other lady in his life.

Drake mounted Veronica and gave her life as Sally hopped on behind him, squeezing him tight. WIth a rumble, they took off into the night. It wasn't long before they arrived in the parking lot. Drake killed the ignition, took a breath, and helped Sally down.

"Here we go."

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Kaylee wore her favorite pair of jeans. They were butter soft and skimmed her curves. She wore a nice pair of ankle boots with a low heel. Her mint green shirt bringing out the green in her eyes and jean jacket. The venue was casual so her outfit was perfect for it.

Yep. She took Cole’s advice and wore jeans and she was glad for it. Grinning she tucked her wallet into her inner pocket of her jean jacket. No purse tonight. Kaylee smoothed her hair just before she walked around the open front of the garage. Reaching up she gathered her hair into a ponytail so that it wouldn’t tangle in the wind on the ride. She’d been on a bike before and she’d loved it. The feel of the wind rushing by, the growl or purr of the machine. It was addictive.

Looking around her eyes lighted on Cole and her green eyes lit up like a candle was behind them. She contained her excitement well enough as she walked over to Cole. Kaylee admired the bike and the aura that came with Cole’s presence. “So you ready? Cause I am.”

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Khloe woke up from her dorm, she got up from her bed and immediately walked to the odd note on the desk on the other side of the room. She read it while thinking What in the world- oh... OH! She then put the note down and made a run to her closet, finding something to wear and throwing on the bed. She grabbed some of her toiletries and sprinted out the door, she was sliding all over the place and people who she passed said she was just a streak of white in banana pajamas.

She did a quick shower while still maintaining the Korean face and body care, it wasn't easy but Khloe did her best and it worked out pretty well. She had learned to control her powers over this time and was sliding through the halls like Frozone, the ice would melt in seconds and it wouldn't even leave much water which was something she figured out she could do while in the training room. She then slipped back in her room and closed the door behind her.

She walked up to the bed, At least I still have my sense of fashion. She thought as she put on black shirt and over it was a red hoodie and over that was a black leather jacket, along with that she put on dark denim jeans and dark brown boots. She checked herself out in the mirror before putting on her favourite white cap and headed out to the hall of the girl's dorm. He spotted Una and another student walking towards her, she was still running at this point; she then stopped in front of una holding up her phone in front of her while panting and catching her breath, "아이구! 너무 늦어서 미안해.이 일이 벌어지고 있다는 것을 몰랐어. 'Aigoo!' (Aw Man! I'm sorry I came so late I didn't realise this was happening.)" In full threaded Korean, she didn't realise till seconds later that no one would have another stood her so she followed up with, "I mean, uh... I didn't realise... Ah, that ah... Phew... Th-there was... Man, I'm out of breath... There was this whole concert thing, and now shopping... Ah... am I late?" She asked as she continued to try and catch her breath.

Coleman St. John

Cole thumbed through a few local news stories on his phone while he waited, though his mind wasn’t fully focused on college football or the latest news in corrupt politicians or any of the other blurbs that passed by his eyes. For some time his conscience had been after him to talk to Kaylee about his true role in the scheme of things. He had no doubt he could have kept it hidden from the rest of the Institute’s staff; they had enough problems, but she had been a total wildcard and a part of him kicked himself for so easily breaking his rule of not mixing business and pleasure. He realized he wasn’t even paying attention to his phone anymore as he heard a familiar rhythm of footsteps. She had a certain, smart confidence in her stride that he couldn’t resist. Everywhere she went, she seemed to move with a purpose or a goal, even if it was the most mundane task. His thoughts lingered to the last second before he looked up and caught her gaze.

Seeing the spark in her countenance helped bring him back to the moment, but the easy smile he showed her was increasingly being cast with a pang of guilt and moreover a modicum of uneasiness. He knew, to some extent, he was letting his heart guide him more than his mind. “You look good,” He said glancing over her outfit; happy that she decided to take his advice and not burn her leg on the pipes. She looked much more relaxed in casual clothes and he liked the look on her even better. Similarly, he’d tossed his button down shirt aside in his office and put on a less formal, white ¾-sleeve shirt and his black riding jacket. “Then your chariot awaits.” He said motioning over the bike as his smile turned more into a slight smirk. The light of the garage curved unblemished over the polished black fender and fuel-tank as he threw his leg over with her likewise nestling in against his back.

There was a brief pause in his movements as her arms wrapped around him while he turned on the battery and reached for the starter button. Like many other things, he couldn’t remember the last time he had a passenger, but something about her grasp felt familiar and he could sense a tightening in his chest.with an unusual awareness, like he knew he was doing something wrong. In one of their conversations Kaylee explained the nature of her mutant abilities and he thought he understood for the most part, though he wasn’t sure what she was seeing or perceiving- It was another subject they hadn't discussed. Sitting on the bike was the closest they had ever been. Shaking his head dismissively, he thumbed the starter button summoning the engine beneath them to life and twisting the throttle letting his thoughts evaporate momentarily in the exhaust note that smacked through the walls of the garage. Letting the clutch out smoothly, the slow cannonade of thunder picked up momentum as they turned out onto the winding road that led to the Institute echoing through the woods as they headed towards the city.

@Almalthia

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Uná pads into the dorm room and hears paper crunch under foot. Looking down she pulled up her foot and saw a slightly mangled note. Crouching down she picked up the note and read it her eyes lighting up. Snatching out her phone from her pants pocket her fingers fly as she texts. Soon Sally, Aya, Khloe and Cleo all receive the same mass text. We are all going out tonight. Ladies get your asses in gear go to your rooms and meet me in the hall of the girls dorm. And someone grab the new girl. ~Uná

Uná watched wide eyed as Khloe ran up to her another language poured out of her mouth. Then she translated which had Uná grinning and nodding. She patted Khloe’s back as Khloe got her breath back. “Still waiting on the others…”

As the afternoon fades into evening and Uná has dragged the girls shopping and out to eat an idea of epic proportions has formulated in her head. Something she never would have thought about comes to life. Something that seems a bit wild. It gives her pause but Uná firmly pushes caution to the wind. I'm so tired of being selfless and goodie-goodie. I want to let go. I want to be free like Zephyr and I'm tired of this tug of war in my emotions between Nikolai and Nathan. I want to have fun and I want to use my powers. Tonight.
Uná catches sight of a sign that simply stated "Avalon". Thinking of the mythical place that was talked about in the stories of King Arthur Uná smiled and told the Uber driver that was where they wanted to go but to stop at a nice gas station first. She turned to the other girls in the Uber her eyes sparkling, tone booking no resistance. It was as if she was almost another person entirely. "Grab your bags. We're changing at the next stop and we are going to a club."

After changing and throwing on some makeup Uná went back to the Uber not climbing in yet. When the other girls appeared Uná grinned and beckoned them over. "Take out your IDs ladies." When they comply she touches each one briefly. Each one that was under 21 states that they are. Uná grins and opens the Uber door. "We are gonna let our hair down. Flirt with strangers and maybe cause a riot. At least I hope so. It's time to live a little."

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When Sally awoke, she was alone in the room. Normally, this wasn't somethig that bothered her, but for some reason, it did this time. She had been hoping he would still be there. Quickly shaking her head and pushing the thoughts from them, she tossed the blanket aside and threw her legs over the edge of the bed. With a yawn, she raised her arms above her head and stretched, her back popping in several places at once. Sally groaned in appreciation and relaxed, letting her arms back down. That was when she saw a little envelope on on her desk. With an inquisitive tilt of her head, she rose from the bed and made her way to it. As she read the note inside, her brow furrowed and jaw dropped just the slightest.
”Holy shit.”

Sally stared at the note for a moment longer before her brain finally caught up with her. She jumped into action. In a flurry of motion, she began collecting things she would need. Clothes, make-up, anything and everything. She only had a little time to get ready, and she was going to make the best of it… after she showered.

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With one last look in the mirror, she smiled, pleased with herself. She wanted to look nice, but not overly dressed. Especially if there was going to be dancing. So, she went with something dress-casual. She quickly snatched her ID and the gift card from Elijah, then raced out the door. She giggled as she ran through the halls. Her destination? Drake's bike. Hopefully she could beat him to it.

As she pushed out of the front double doors, her eyes scanned for the bike, and as soon as she saw it, a grin broke out across her lips. Perfect. He hasn't left yet. She then raced across the parking lot over to the bike, and as soon as she reached it, her eyes roamed over the machine, admiring. After a moment, she leaned against it, her butt partially on the seat. Arms were crossed over her chest, and one ankle was resting over the other. Her firey hair draped over her shoulder in a braid.

It was only moments later when Drake emerged from within the school. Her eyes fell on him, and remained there as he made his way to his bike. The only words spoken, was the introduction to the bike; to Veronica. Shortly after, Drake climbed onto the bike, and Sally followed. She wrapped her arms around his waist and nestled against him. Then, they were off.

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After what seemed like too short of a ride, the arrived at their destination. Music could be heard pumping from inside the club. There were tons of people waiting to get inside. This deflated her good mood just the slightest, but only for a moment. Only until Drake hit off the bike, offering her help off. She gladly accepted, grinning as she dismounted and stood next to Drake. Next to her… date. Her eyes looked over at him, and she couldn't help the smile that graced her face, reaching her eyes. Seconds later, she looked back to the entrance, and exhaled. ”Looks like we're gonna be waitin a while,” she said as she linked her arm through Drake's.

A thought suddenly struck her and her eyes lit up for a moment. ”Please tell me you brought your flask.”

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Khloe regained her breath as she looked up at Una, and as she replied to Khloe, Khloe's face immediately shifted to an annoyed look. She was annoyed at herself now and she reeled her head back while grabbing the back of her head, "Ahhh! I thought I was late! I was rushing down the halls like an idiot!" She exclaimed out, as she then crouched on the ground holding her head like she didn't want anyone to see her, blaming herself for the most part for tiring herself out this early in the morning. She took a deep breath to calm herself down a bit and then stood back up to face Una.

"Alright, I'm chill- I mean, good, I'm good." Khloe let out an awkward smile before moving to brush her ashen hair to the side, or at least the ones that covered her face. As they arrived at Avalon, Khloe didn't do much since she kinda just planned to hide under her cap throughout the whole time they were there. Then again, she was a fully confident gay so maybe something could happen if she got drunk enough.

"I don't know about the making out with strangers thing, maybe I'll get day drunk." Khloe replied as she shrugged in the uber.