[hr][hr][center][img]https://i.postimg.cc/SR52k84p/54b4e63d635603b22d80f72a4ba2be54.png[/img][hr][img]https://neworleanscitybusiness.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2025/01/2.-MAIN-Bourbon-St-Depositphotos_258972442_XL.jpg[/img][hr][@BlueSky44][@Nallore][@Trainerblue192][@Achronum][@PatientBean][@Forsythe][@Blizz][@Kirah][@Natsu][hr][h3][color=AC3EFF][b]3:00 PM - Sun. December 12th, 2038 - New Orleans, Louisiana[/b][/color][/h3][/center][hr] The event everyone has been waiting for is finally here - the Contest of Champions. Of the students who qualified for the event from the Margaret Carter Institute, only one decided to sit out - Vicky van Dyne, recently liberated from C.A.G.E. At four o'clock, all competitors would be required to undergo a brief medical examination, to ensure that there were no attempts at cheating, and to ensure that there were no irregularities with the team rosters. The next day - Monday, December 13th, the contest itself would begin. Sixteen teams from around the world were competing, and only eight of them would move onto the next round, on Tuesday, December 14th. Another round of eliminations would reduce the number down to four teams competing in the semi-finals on Wednesday, December 15th. And finally, the championship match would be held during the day on Thursday, December 16th. And that evening, after the dust had settled and the contest victors were determined, the students of Strange Academy would be hosting a party, with invites magically sent out to all the competitors in the contest. The theme of the party? [i]Midnight Masquerade[/i]. [hider=Team Assignments]Excelsior, with coach Ser Nemo[list][*]April [*]Danni [*]Dorian [*]Zelda [*]Sabine [*]Mads[/list] Uncanny Avengers, with coach Lady Nimue[list][*]Percy [*]Zari [*]Andy [*]Diana [*]Leah [*]Mary Sue [*]Gideon[/list] The Young Avengers, with coach Vision [list][*]Billy [*]Tommy [*]Teddy [*]Eli [*]America [*]Cassie [*]Kate[/list][/hider] [hider=Housing Arrangements]Sorcerer's Inn: [list][*]Room 1 - Billy, Tommy, Teddy, and Eli [*]Room 2 - Cassie, Kate, and America [*]Room 3 - Sabine, Leah, and April [*]Room 4 - Diana, Zelda, Mary Sue, and Gideon[/list] Kingston-Gray Residence: [i]room assignments will be given out by the NPCs[/i][list][*]Andy [*]Danni [*]Dorian [*]Percy [*]Zari [*]Mads [*]Vicky[/list][/hider][hr][hr][center][h3][b][color=42A9FF]April Flynn[/color][/b][/h3][img]https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d6/92/80/d6928017c3826e20629dcdf0dfe3641c.gif[/img][hr][b][color=42A9FF]Location:[/color][/b] Bourbon Street, New Orleans - the Sorcerer's Inn [b][color=42A9FF]Skills:[/color][/b] N/A [b][color=42A9FF]Outfit:[/color][/b] [url=https://img.i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/06/07/56dd11b6-7b39-4a99-b4a8-058c18f4a3fc_7390c88c.jpg]Khaki-Colored Work Jacket + Grey Tank + Light Wash Jeans + Combat Boots[/url] [hr][hr][/center] April's mood had been a mixture of extremes that day. Excitement. She was traveling to New Orleans today, traveling to go compete in the Contest of Champions. She was one step closer to achieving one of her dreams, one step closer to putting her skills to the test. It didn't matter what others thought, that some said the contest was vapid and silly, a waste of time. It mattered to her. She'd been training for it ever since she started at the Margaret Carter Institute - training for a chance to take home the crown, with her best friends by her side. Anger. She had asked her parents if she could stay with Danni and Dorian's family - they lived so close to Strange Academy, where the contest was being held - and they had said no. Her father had refused to budge on the decision, going off about how weird and dangerous Max Gray was. Nothing April said mattered. They didn't care that those were her best friends - they didn't care that she felt safer around Danni and Dorian than anywhere else - they didn't care about anything that didn't match their view of how the world was. She hadn't realized why she had told Dr. Whitehall she didn't want to see her parents when she was at C.A.G.E., but she was beginning to see now. It wasn't the house that was suffocating. It was her family. She hated them. Fear. What if she couldn't do it? What if she was the reason that her team failed? What if they would have been better off without her - that she should have still been in C.A.G.E., her presence just a hindrance to everyone around her? What if they all hated her and were just too polite to say anything? What if she hated herself? What if the medication wasn't enough - what if she had another episode? What if she lost control of her emotions on the flight - what if her powers went out of control? Sorrow. All her friends were elsewhere. She was alone. Leah and Sabine - she'd broken up with them. Zelda - Zelda hadn't even tried to visit her when she was in the hospital, and April hadn't spoken to her sister since. Diana - she hardly knew her, she was a familiar face, but not a good friend. And the same was true of Mary Sue. The Young Avengers were here too, laughing and smiling and generally enjoying each other's company. But all April wanted was to disappear. She wished she could have been with her friends. She wished she didn't have to be so alone. The plane flight had been the longest three and a half hours of her life. Lady Nimue hadn't been there that morning when they'd left for the airport - Vision, the coach for the Young Avengers, hadn't explained much as to why beyond the fact that there had been an emergency Nimue had needed to attend to. She would be joining them in New Orleans the next day, or as soon as she could. So it was the Vision who escorted them all from the New Orleans airport to the hotel, an unremarkable building on Bourbon Street called the Sorcerer's Inn. Their rooms had been assigned per the requests they had submitted last month - meaning that to April's despair, she was placed in a room with Sabine and Leah. It was better than a room with Zelda - but not by much. "Remember, children, you are representing the Margaret Carter Institute," Vision stressed, once everyone's things had been collected and placed in their hotel rooms. "Be on your best behavior. You will follow all of the school's rules, and respect your curfew of nine o'clock at night. If you wish to explore, you must have one other student with you, and you need to inform me as to where you are going." "In one hour, you must be at Strange Academy for the pre-contest examination. This is when they will confirm that you are the individual you claim to be, and that you are not taking any performance enhancing drugs, such as Mutant Growth Hormone. This is also when the team compositions will be finalized. Tomorrow, the sixteen teams competing will face off in a series of eight matches, determining which eight teams will move on to the next round." The synthezoid then paused, a grim expression settling on his face. "I... must also be the bearer of bad news," he continued, his tone gentler. "I received word from Lady Nimue a few moments ago. Ser Nemo has passed away from a heart attack." April froze. [color=42A9FF]"... What?"[/color] she whispered. She hadn't really known Ser Nemo - he had been new to the school, and it was only after she returned back from C.A.G.E. that she had been switched to his team from Nimue's. But he was still her teacher - he was still an adult in her life. Hearing that he was dead... Her chest felt tight, her hands clammy, and she could feel the pinpricks of tears forming in the corners of her eyes. She could hear the water rushing in the pipes that went throughout the hotel, could feel the vibrations from the fountain display nearby in the lobby. Nemo was... [i]dead?[/i] April looked around frantically, before her eyes settled on the women's restroom - [color=42A9FF]"I-I-I need to use th-the bathroom,"[/color] she excused herself frantically - before she practically ran into the bathroom, locked herself in the nearest toilet, and tried to remember any of the breathing exercises that Maeve had taught her, as the water around her began to slosh violently. Nemo was dead. He'd died. April didn't know how to handle death. Ardere had died that night with Arcade. April hadn't thought about it - hadn't dwelled on it. Ardere had been a student, yes, but she had been trying to kill them. Nemo.... Nemo had been the one to look out for April, to keep her from making a huge mistake - to get her the help she hadn't been ready to accept at the time. She still didn't know how he'd known, but... He'd known. He'd saved her. And he was dead. With trembling hands, April pulled her phone out of her pocket, and stared at her speed dial for a moment. Danni. Dorian. Leah and Sabine were still saved there. Mads was too. Things felt weird with Mads lately - talking about her emotions... It was hard. Too hard. Sabine and Leah, they were out in the lobby, probably happy that they'd dodged a bullet with the crazy ex-girlfriend. She navigated to her group chat with Danni and Dorian, and she pressed call. [hr][hr][center][h3][b][color=ed1c24]Percy Novikov[/color][/b][/h3][img]https://i.scdn.co/image/ab676161000051748a415cc649022ca4d5582ed8[/img][hr][b][color=ed1c24]Location:[/color][/b] Avengers' Academy - Outside Stark Hall [b][color=ed1c24]Skills:[/color][/b] N/A [b][color=ed1c24]Outfit:[/color][/b] [hr][hr][/center] Most of the students participating in the Contest of Champions were already in New Orleans, their plane having touched down a little under an hour ago. Percy's hands were clammy, his heart pounding with anxiety - not from still being in California, but rather from the fact that any moment now, his boyfriend's family was about to open up a portal and step on through. He'd caught a glimpse of them the night that Arcade had attempted to murder them all, but no formal introductions had been made. This was going to be different. Rather than staying at a hotel, he was going to be staying at the Kingston-Gray residence during the Contest of Champions - at [i]Dorian's[/i] house. With his fathers. And a random assortment of Percy's peers. He'd never cared so much before about making a good impression. He hadn't been able to sleep much the night before. He had contemplated going to Dorian's room to join him there, but it was pretty crowded since April had moved in after returning from the asylum. Pacing back and forth had been no use, and neither had his stash of bourbon been. Instead, he had conducted an extensive Internet search on an incredibly important and complex topic: [i]what to do when you meet your boyfriend's family for the first time.[/i] The results of his investigation had been distressing. He was meeting Dorian's family far too soon. All sources indicated that he should only meet them once they had been dating for six months, and Percy hadn't even [i]known[/i] Dorian six months ago. Secondly, he was supposed to bring them a small and thoughtful gift - and Percy had nothing prepared. He had gone through every item in his room and could not find a single thing that seemed appropriate to give - one of Dorian's fathers was a sorcerer to rival Doctor Strange, what could Percy possibly have to offer? And lastly, the recommendations were to be well-mannered, respectful, and polite... and given Percy's recent revelations about his own behavior, he didn't know if he would even [i]know[/i] if he was being rude. So in short, the scenario was a nightmare - a catastrophe waiting to happen. Around four o'clock in the morning, he had switched from bourbon to coffee. It hadn't been working to calm his nerves. So at one o'clock in the afternoon (three o'clock New Orleans time), his eyes bloodshot and his head pounding from the hangover, Percy stood outside of Stark Hall at the designated meet-up spot, his suitcase by his side, as he ran through a thousand different scenarios in his head - a thousand different ways that things were about to go horribly wrong. He'd even contemplated lying that he was ill, just to delay this a little longer. He checked his watch, the inscription from Agatha completely unreadable. Dorian's family would be here any minute with a portal. Ser Nemo wasn't there. That was odd. Firestar had shown up instead, the designated chaperone to see them safely into the care of the Kingston-Grays. She wouldn't be coming with them to New Orleans. "Hm, they're running a bit late," Firestar mused, looking at her phone to check the time. Her face fell.