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Victoria heard Andy speak to her, and felt somewhat relieved, although she still failed to live up to her own standards and she wasn't as forgiving. _{"I... Thank you. You're a better person than I am."} she hushed her reply, trying to focus on what the others were saying.

Once again, Danni demonstrated how hopelessy naive he was. She let the bracelet bounce off of the cuff of her jacket and fall to the ground. She supposed she could hardly blame Diana for trusting the establishment, considering her family was part of it. But Victoria felt like somewhere down the line, she would get an 'I told you so.'

Mt. Leah then errupted and left, which was a shame, as Victoria would have liked to have the same minded voices at least present in the room. While she felt her outrage was justified, having what amounted to her best friend there for support would have been nice.

Victoria almost went after her in hopes of putting her mind at ease, or at least to try given her usual lack of people skills, but another voice spoke up in the same manner as herself. She was loathe to admit she barely knew Mary Sue, but obviously the girl had her head on straight, and realized some timeline implications that Victoria didn't even think to consider.

Then Flynn Elder opened her mouth, and Victoria found her jaw tensing and feeling like she would grind her teeth into powder. Her well of restraint has bottomed out. "Feel free to go bury your head in the sand when things get hard, Flynn. I believe that team was already started by Mr. Kingston and is gathering over on that side of the desk. I intend to find solutions to the problems I see." Victoria spat out.

The headmaster then started to say something about stuff actually getting done, but the conversation then took a turn she did NOT expect. If what he says is true... she couldn't. She didn't want to even think about that. Victoria suddenly remembered an eerily similar conversation she had with professor Harkness. I need to write to her. I want a second opinion. And if fate is really sealed... Well, then I would very much like to know what the cards said that evening, rather than stumbling through destiny oblivious to it.

And then, Nimue gave her the told you so she thought would come much later. She wanted to get mad again, but she just felt so drained by this conversation, and it only lasted a few minutes so far. She stared blankly at the 'teacher'. "I don't know what millenium you're from, Madam. But in this day and age, society builds schools to prepare their successors for the future, rather than traumatizing children or letting them die to see who makes the cut. If that was the case, why build a school instead of letting life teach us. Maybe it's your antiquated thinking that doesn't have a place here anymore."

Sighing and shaking her head, Victoria turned to Coulson: "Headmaster, maybe you should also take some time to bring more concrete idea of what future we are actually chosing by attending here. You say you are deliberating improvements, and a member of your staff says everything is working as intended. I won't be satisfied with vague promises or conflicting ideals, and I won't be bought with hush grades either. And if you want me out, you're going to have to kick me out. I'm not abandoning a cause I think is worth pursuing because it may get me in trouble with the system or be otherwise difficult. In fact, I'll happily put in the work, if you think I can be of help."

She almost surprised herself by extending that olive branch at the end. But whether she liked it or not, steadily working towards change within the system has been proven by history to be more successful than revolutionary efforts. And as for fearing retaliation? 'Usagi' has been giving them grief all year. Victoria will brave it and she will hold. Having spoken her mind, she stepped aside to allow the rest of the people to file out at their own pace, staying behind as requested, hoping that included the other teachers.

“Wait, are we all skippin’ over Zeld's ventriloquism act ‘ere or am I ‘allucinatin’? I really t'in’ t'at's not somet'in’ we should just ignore?” Danni waved at the corner where her voice came from. “Did ya just not wanna show up but sent like, a super tiny mic and/or camera combo ‘ere? T'ats's kinda rude. ‘Ow am I supposed ta give ya your friendship bracelet? I'll come bot'er you at your dorm wit’ it t'en!” He gave Zelda's tiny camera a thumbs up.

“But yeah, like tots babe! We can chat later. I need all t'e deets!” Danni nodded at Mads just as Leah blew up. Talk about needing therapy, sheesh! “If we wanna delay t'e whole team decidin’ t'in’, we can but Imma fight ta t'e death for Princess, Dee, and me on one ‘cause it's everyt’in’ we've been dreamin’ about for two years now and we don't get ta dangle t'at out in front of my face and t'en snatch it away wit'out me screamin’ and kickin’. Just fair warnin’!” Danni blew Beanie a kiss and whirled on the newest person to join, Zari.

“Just our bonding bracelets! ‘Ere I ‘ave one for you and one for Mr. Eyeball. You know for t'e whole we survived a supervillian t’in’.” Danni found himself quickly corrected, t’at they did apparently die but they still lived and then they were put in water for too long? Yeah, it made you look wrinkly but what did pruney skin have to do with time travel?

“Yeesh, y'all are real serious about t'is. Can't we like, eat candy and roll in t'e grass and ‘ave fun and just be glad we're alive? Oh, Couls I didn't make you a bracelet but you weren't t'ere so should I not make you one? But I kinda want ta, you know? I t'ink I will so email, text, or send a wierd letter on school paper tellin’ me what color ya want. I get a sunflower vibe from you.” Danni peered at Coulson hard before shrugging. “But yeah, I'm wit’ Princess ‘ere. We talk ta t'e shrink-and man, are t'ey gunna regret askin’ me ta talk. T'ey're gunna charge t'e school ta shut me up once I'm done wit’ t'em, ha!-we celebrate we ‘ave a chance ta keep rockin’ ‘ow great we are, and we fuckin’ slay t'e championship so everyone sees villians ain't got not'in’ on us. Now, y'all ‘it me up when we wanna talk teams. Leah left wit'out ‘er bracelet!” Danni paused, grabbing Vicky's bracelet off the ground and popped it on her shoulder.

“Sooooorry, you’re stuck wit’ me! I'm non-refundable! And t’at goes for all of you!” Danni cackled and bolted after Leah. “Leaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Wait up! You forgot your bracelet!” Danni jogged after her, popping up next to her.

“Special delivery for one rocky woman!” Danni proudly held out the bracelet. “Man, I t'ink ya ‘ave me beat on dramatic exits for t'e week. You can't keep t'e tiara from me for long, but I'll let ya keep it for now. What's up wit’ t'at t'ough? Ya left before t'ey even talk ‘bout how we actually got pruney in t'e tanks, we didn't come out flawless Like I remembered, and apparently everyone went fuckin’ wild over it? And like, I know I care ‘bout my looks but a little pruniness after serving a serial killer? Not worth complainin’ ‘bout in my book. I know ya don't really like me much, but ya can go off wit’ me sis. Let some of t'at pressure out!”

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Leah wasn't having a good day. In fact, she wasn't having a great time lately. She would've just stayed at the school the whole time, but no, someone who didn't understand the circumstances or had any right to understand them just had to stick their nose in it. She was perfectly capable of looking out for herself. These stupid laws about human beings not being able to do that until a certain age didn't feel like they mattered to her, they never did, and Leah was lately wondering if she was ever human in the first place. Mutants technically weren't human, and she always thought she was one, but at least that meant she was at least born on the same planet as April and Sabine.

And her dad knew she was here, and could've sprang his trap at any point. Was there even a trap? Did she just delude herself into thinking he still gave a shit, and didn't go off to have another kid?

And now all this. Just one shitty thing after another, now compounded by the fact that she was probably going to get investigated, interrogated, or some other inane shit by the Avengers. Leah was about to just go sit under a tree and tune the whole world out when some fucking golden retriever in human form started yapping in her ear. Danni.

God, fuck, damn, shit, fuck. She never could get along with this guy, and Leah never really had any idea why. He just didn't shut the fuck up, and she could never fully understand what he was saying, and he was so fucking loud about it. April was pretty energetic too, but holy shit. At least she had some semblance of a filter. He held out some damn bracelet, and she just stared down at it before walking.

"I don't know what the fuck that even means, Danni," She griped, not giving much of a fuck if he actually followed her. He probably would.

"I already know what happened, I can take a guess. He stuck is in there, tried to kill us, won, and someone had to fuck with time to fix that. I get it, okay? It's not hard to read the damn room." April usually did a worse job masking her fear of mortal perils, than Leah. "I don't know what possessed the little fucking prick to try it, but he got away with it, right? The clock just got wound back for a do-over, tell me if I'm wrong."

She walked out into the front of the school, taking a spot under a tree like as she wanted to. She dug out a pouch of small stones. "I'm guessing April's going to want you and Dorian on the same team as me and Sabine. That's fine, I don't care at all about the teams, as long as someone knows what they're doing. I'm sick of caring. So, sure, bother me. It's fine, seriously." It occurred to Leah that she could keep being arbitrarily annoyed by Danni's existence, or she could grow the fuck up for April's sake. And for Sabine's too, but Sabine was probably a lot more willing to chew her out for it than April.

There was a flower in the grass, one that looked frail and wilted. A sunflower. Leah reached into her pouch and grabbed two of the stones. One carved with a symbol resembling a capital B, the other an S. Berkano and Sowilo, based on some shit she looked up over the break.

"Okay. Fuck it, why not." She placed them both between her fingers, and pointed her hand down at the sunflower.

"Do something."

The flower twitched, and the stones felt warm to the touch. The sunflower bloomed into something golden, bright and downright majestic, reflecting the sunlight in the sky like polished gold. Leah hadn't ever seen something grown in dirt look that healthy, and she was a bit confused that it worked so easily.

"...Well, shit." She looked up at Danni. "I guess I'm a plant wizard."

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Madalyne looked at Danni and nodded, she would talk about all her changes later, as her attention turned to Leah and she went off on Coulson as well as Lady Nimue and Ser Nemo and flinched slightly when the door slammed shut. Leah was certainly not having a fun time at all. Shortly after Leah had left Zari and Mr. Eyeball came into the room finally asking what happened as well as hearing Zelda's voice as she spoke. "For what happened Headmaster Coulson is giving us a free pass for the rest of this semester, though we have to do therapy." Madalyne answered Zari's question.

Then Mary-Sue spoke up, and mentioning that they ended up dying and due to some weird time travel shenanigans they were alive now or something from what she understood. Ser Nemo then started to explain a little bit more which was confusing to her, though Mads wasn't taking his course. Madalyne didn't really like Lady Nimue speaking but she decided to not really say anything about it the meeting seemed to be pretty much over at this point and Coulson was giving them permission to leave now. "Just let me know what times are for the therapy sessions." Madalyne told the headmaster, as much as she hated it if it was the only price to pay for using the Framework without supervision and outside of school hours she was going to do it.

"We all should discuss the team situation at lunch or something." Madalyne suggested, she was still more than happy to continue with the Contest of Champions. Madalyne stood up and looked at Headmaster Coulson and gave him a slight nod before heading out while holding the little bracelet that Danni had given everyone. They had the rest of the day now and Madalyne was going to enjoy the time away from classes and headed outside.

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Diana shifted slightly in her seat as she listened to Leah went off on Coulson and Lady Nimue and Ser Nemo for basically what happened and she flinched slightly when Leah slammed the door shut. She shook her head slightly she thought it was a little bit overkill as Madalyne managed to give Zari an answer to her question and Zelda's voice as well to wherever she was in the room and Mary-Sue speaking up as well to about what happened. April tried to reason and change the subject but the headmaster was firm on staying on the subject at hand apparently they all had died or something but they didn't it was really confusing to her.

Diana listened to Lady Nimue as she spoke she was probably referencing Greek Tragedies or something but it wasn't really helping the situation really. But the meeting seemed to be over now at this point as Diana stood up, since Percy and Dorian still hadn't appeared at all really to this meeting. "I'll go and relay the message to my brother and Dorian Coulson." Diana said as she followed shortly behind Mads out of the headmaster's office. She didn't really feel like walking all the way over to Stark Hall, and luckily she was able to get around campus very quickly.

In a bright flash of blue light Diana teleported out of the hallway leading to Coulson's office, she must have miscalculated Diana had aimed to teleport to the hallway where Percy's dorm was as she teleported in a blue light in a dorm. Diana looked around the room, and when she turned around Diana spotted her brother shirtless and Dorian in nothing but his underwear. "Dorian what the fuck are you doing?!" Diana yelled seeing him straddling her brother as Diana tried to look away seeing them both like that was so weird. "Are you trying to sleep with my brother!" Diana yelled again looking for something to throw at Dorian she found a shoe probably Dorian's to throw at his head when she turned around they were both gone.

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What if he didn't? Didn't what? Change uniforms? Dorian knew that Percy wasn't exactly the most fashionable person, but even he had to understand that Dorian's look had to be cohesive. He'd turned around, still in his boxers, to say as much towards Percy when he noticed the red tinging his boyfriend's cheeks. A sudden realization came over Dorian, he'd meant something beyond the realm of what he'd previously imagined. ”What if I…don't put on…more clothes? Mon chère, you tease me. Non?” Dorian asked expectedly, seeing if Percy had truly meant for them to have a bit of fun before going to the meeting they were already very late for.

“Mais non!” Percy stammered, his mutant gift triggering as he began to speak back in French without realizing. “Je ne te moque pas, c’est juste…On pourra…” He hesitated again, scrunching up his nose slightly. Words were usually so easy. But now? Now he couldn’t think of how to say what he wanted to - his entire grasp of language seemed to be eluding him. “… Je n’ai pas des mots, désolé…”

Dorian smirked, locking eyes with Percy as he answered. ”It's a good t'ing words aren't exactly needed for t'is sort of t'ing. Just actions.” It was cute seeing his boyfriend all flustered like this. He hardly ever got to see him like this. Without much thought, Dorian's eyes traced down Percy's shirt, slowly taking him in, as one by one the buttons on Percy's shirt began to come undone. His right hand grabbed Percy by the tie, pulling him closer as he straddled him and his left hand began to phase and took Percy's shirt with it. He tossed it off to the side, catching it with his telekinesis as it gently folded itself while it flew down onto the desk nearby before Dorian went in for a kiss.

Something inside of Percy simultaneously tightened and melted at Dorian’s remark, his boyfriend smoother with language in that moment than Percy could ever help to be. He’d never really quivered before, but his body was trembling wherever Dorian’s gaze fell - as the buttons of his shirt were neatly undone with just a look, a look that he knew he’d never be able to get out of his head - as Dorian pulled him in by his tie, before trapping him beneath him, his shirt carefully set aside and Dorian’s lips dove down onto his like a prayer. This must be what nectar tastes like, Percy thought dimly - the only coherent thought that afforded itself to him, as he did his best to match Dorian’s lips, his tongue expressing what his mind could not.

Dorians hand held tight onto the tie as his other began to run down Percy's chest, stopping just above the waist of his pants as he hooked a finger underneath it. He was about to ask if he could remove them when he heard a grating voice behind him. Somehow Diana had managed to get into his room, and what's worse was his hand was now about midway beneath the fabric as they were making out atop his bed.

Percy jumped in surprise at hearing his sister’s voice - not a physical jump however, but one of displacement. He was so entangled in Dorian’s limbs and body that as Percy instinctively retreated to the nearest safe location - his dorm room - Dorian was teleported alongside. His heart was pounding and his eyes were wide, startled at the abrupt change of… well, everything. “...Diana? Could you knock next time?” Percy said, his tone dazed, but the language he was reaching to switched back to English once more.

A blue light wrapped around Dorian, disorienting him for a moment as he instantly knew he wasn't in his own dorm room again. The scent of coffee they kept on tabular now replaced with that of old books that littered the shelves. It was Percy's room, which meant no roommates to interrupt either. ”Or just don't come in at all next time.” Dorian chimed in before he went into it again. His powers entangling with his movements as they moved from the bed to a wall, pressed against it and held up by his telekinesis.

Percy couldn’t help but be flustered at first, from his sister’s interruption to Dorian’s immediate continuation - and yet, it was still too easy to fall back into the rhythm they had quickly found, his body yearning for more, wanting Dorian to be closer, impossibly close. He felt his back up against the wall, felt himself held up by Dorian’s strength, and gods, Percy could barely help himself. Every inch of him felt like it had been set on fire, and the only salvation could be found in Dorian - every breath of air felt like an eternity, another desperate gasp before his lips could fall upon his again, as Percy clutched Dorian’s bareback, his fingers twitching out patterns like sigils.

Dorian hardly knew what he was doing, it wasn't like he got around at all at school, but whatever it was he was doing Percy had seemed to be enjoying it. So like most of the things he did in life, he tried not to think too hard on it and just go with the motions. His hand had finally found it's way underneath Percy's pants, grabbing purchase to what lay beneath. He began to make his way down, kissing down his neck, then chest, until finally he'd made it down to Percy's waist and removed his pants. As for what happened next, Well Dorian Gray can tie a cherry stem with only his tongue.

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Andy's face lit up when Zari came in. Mads quickly filled Zari in on what she had missed. There had been a lot of yelling, and it was enough that Andy gripped her coffee tighter. Coulson had done a good job of defusing the situation enough and shooed everyone out of the small office. She wondered why Vicky was to stay behind, but she didn't worry about it too much. Vicky didn't seem to accept the 'it's not your fault,' but that was for her to figure out.

In the hall, she waited for Zari. There was going to be a lot of group restructuring and she wanted to be included in that conversation. She may not see the merit of the contest but she figured at this point she might as well still participate. "I'd like to be there for that conversation." Andy told Mads. She wasn't filled with a sudden need to be in the contest, more the desire to see it through.

"Zari," Andy said when Zari joined them in the hall. She was smiling again. She wanted to make sure Zari was okay and felt she needed to talk to her about how much she could say to the therapist. She could go through it without fully opening up but she doubted that would help her. "Can we talk? My room?"

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Sabine had listened, though as the conversation went on it was sort of a static noise that played in her mind. Mandated therapy was one thing (don't think about it, don't think about it) but it was another to hear that she had been killed and, through a use of time travel shenanigans on par with Back To The Future, was here again. She would have done so well without that knowledge.

She knew of other timelines, of course. You didn't have Ser Nemo as your mentor without having such information thrusted upon you, but to talk so...nonchalantly about it as if it were just another Tuesday was...cold. Sabine imagined Nemo had to think this way or his mind would crumble around him, literally and figuratively.

Sabine closed her eyes and tuned everyone out. Her mind raced to the many thoughts going in her mind. The fact she was dead and here, the fact her mother had communicated with her, somehow, that her father was not really her father, that the contest was up in arms, that people in her life closest to her were starting to be at odds, well...

She felt her nail dig into her skin. She opened her eyes and glanced down, seeing a small trickle of blood. She covered it quickly, hoping no one else caught it. Leah had stormed out with Danni close behind her and THAT was a recipe for disaster, but she needed to take care of this first. "I think discussing it at a later time, at lunch like Maddie suggested, would be the best. And April, it'll be okay. People's emotions are running high and I think after everything we just need to take a breather. I'm gonna head to my room real quick but let's meet up with Leah after and hope Danni isn't crushed under some rubble, okay?" She gave April a quick peck on the cheek before making her way out of the office and towards her room.

Meanwhile, she felt her heart rate increase with every step.

Mary Sue was still shaking, a part of her couldn't believe she just spoke that way to the headmaster of all people, but then again, was he even technically her headmaster? Was she, legally, Mary Sue Sullivan? Somehow she doubted this had gone to court before, but given that old her was apparently murdered by the evil time fascists, she somehow doubted that anybody would mind her taking her place. She flinched, for a moment, realizing her parents were dead now. That hurt, and almost made her feel better about her dad. Almost. She stood up. She needed to get out of here.

She stood, unbalanced. "I'll do the contest. Sure." She muttered out, trying not to make eye contact with anybody. She was certain she would throw up if she didn't find a place to hide where nobody could see her. She needed water, she needed quiet, and she needed solitude. She quickly existed the room, and made turn after turn down hallways after hallway until she found a place where she could decompress. Mary Sue practically collapsed to the floor, eyes shut tight, trying desperately to ground herself to a world that ostensibly was not her own.