[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]3:30 PM - Sun. December 12th, 2038 - New Orleans, Louisiana[/b][/color][/h3][/center][hr][@PatientBean]: She took Sabine's hand, pulling herself to her feet, and bringing Sabine's hand to her lips to press a kiss to it. "Only when they look like art and royalty all wrapped up in one pretty package." She grinned, a little crooked, and chuckled at Sabine's revelation. "Yeah, on the Strange Acadmy team myself. Getting the parents settled before this afternoon." She took half a step into Sabine's space, drawing her hand to rest on Thuy's should and thumbing at the inside of the wrist softly. "I'm Thuy. I don't have anything goin' on until the exam so maybe we can... play around with something else you'd wanna call me." Thuy glances down at Sabine's mouth. The shadows on the wall stilled and drifted back down onto the floor. [@Blizz]: While the Sorcerer's Inn may not be the most extravagant of hotels, it makes up for it in character - with old peeling paint, dusty carpets in desperate need of resurrection, and furniture that must have predated the Battle of New Orleans. And of course, one of the more notable features was the almost random procession of hallways, a veritable maze with poor, inconsistent signage. It was easy to get lost - she must have passed the same copy of [i]Circe Invidiosa[/i] at least half a dozen times when she would feel her goosebumps crawl up and down her arms, and a tingling sensation at the back of her neck. She would feel his presence before she saw him - before she saw her father at the other end of the hallway, dressed in a button up-shirt and shorts like he was any other tourist, a soft smile on his face. "Mayra. It's good to see you, dear." He took a step forward, before holding up a finger, shaking it slightly as if to chastise her. "Now, I obviously do not need to tell you the consequences will be severe should you run off to any of your friends. Such as your girlfriend, Sabine Bassard. Huge fan of her social media. Such a pretty face. It would be such a shame if her brief brush with fame had to come to a premature end. So you will come with me, then, and I will talk, and you will listen. Do we understand each other?" [@BlueSky44][@Nallore][@Natsu]: The Vision regarded Mary Sue carefully, a pang of sympathy running through him. He had often wondered the same thing - for the loss of people he loved, through death or other means. He had grieved the loss of his marriage, just as he had grieved the loss of friends. Nothing in his programming had provided him with an answer to that same question - what was the function of grief, when faced with an unsolvable problem? Many feelings had a utility to them - pain was no different than an alert, a notification that there was a problem that needed to be solved. Even love was a sign of safety and trust, the foundation by which communities could be built in order to ensure survival, from simple companionships to larger families to entire peoples. But there was no function to grief - no actions that must be implemented, no strategy beyond to simply feel it. It was only after Wanda had left him that he began to glimpse the true purpose of grief, to see that it was simply a different emotion under another name. He knelt before Mary Sue, bringing himself to her eye level. “Grief, my child, is love persevering. To ask what is the purpose of grief is no different than asking what is the purpose of love.” He then rose back to his feet, considering Diana’s question. “There will not be replacement coaches. I will be here to offer you guidance in their place. I believe there will be additional teachers coming to act as chaperones, but they are not prepared to coach you, nor have they been approved by the Contest of Champions organization to act as coaches.” Gideon, of course, wasn’t listening. Any conversation that didn’t involve her or something she was interested in, it was like it didn’t happen. Just in one ear and out the other. At best, if she [i]really[/i] focused, she could catch a few sentences here or there. But it was [b]soooo hard[/b] to bring herself to care about what the robot was saying. She didn’t listen to her vibrator so she definitely wasn’t going to listen to Vision. Instead, as she looked away from her phone for a brief second, her eyes latched onto an absolutely fucking [i]gorgeous[/i] ginger across the way. She pulled down her sunglasses to get a better look, hardly believing what she was seeing. Evanthe fucking Moore. Her favorite artist's favorite artist. She didn't even notice the other celebrity next to her, instead completely starstruck. Pop wasn't usually her taste, however songs about eating box [i]definitely[/i] were. Gideon pulled her sword out of its scabbard, where it had been strapped to her back, and made a beeline up to Evanthe, the two-handed broadsword easily six feet long, if not longer. "Would you sign my sword?" Gideon asked. "Please? You're, like, a [i]legend[/i], my dude." Wiccan approached the pop stars a bit more nervously, constantly glancing back to Teddy with a bashful blush. Was he sleep deprived, stressed, and in the middle of learning about a demiurge problem that threatened all of existence? Yes. Was he a teenage gay boy meeting Harry fucking Simmons and Evanthe fucking Moore? [i]Yes[/i]. "I love all your music," Wiccan gushed, preening a bit as he stood in front of Harry and Eva - as if Vision hadn't just told them one of their teachers had died. "My boyfriend and I, we got them to play [i]David[/i] at prom last year, it was absolutely incredible. A-and your last album, Evanthe, can I call you Evanthe? It's a masterpiece. I'm - I'm Billy, by the way. It's an honor to meet you both!" [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] [color=42A9FF]"Okay,"[/color] April said softly to Leah, as her insides briefly felt like they were curdling. For a brief moment, she couldn't help but wonder if she had hurt her - if she should have stopped the call to go talk to Leah instead. It wasn't what she wanted for herself, right now she just wanted to talk to Danni and Dorian, if she talked to anyone at all. And yet, she felt anxious, guilty that maybe she should have gone to Leah - even if they were exes, even if nothing was the same anymore and they could never go back to the friendship they'd once had - even if her fears were right and Sabine really had messed with her mind, and maybe then Leah's, too... There were times, when talking with Danni and Dorian, that April felt like an alien. Her tears stopped for a moment, as she listened to Danni explain that it was fine, that Nemo was just a ghost now, and they could call him back to talk as much as they liked - that his death wasn't really any different than someone going home for summer break. Death to her, it was... Final. Scary. Horrifying. It was an end. It couldn't be walked back - sure, some superheroes managed to get resurrections, but most of the time, death was death. But just like money, death meant something different to Danni - it seemed almost... meaningless. She stared at the phone. If she had gone through with it - if she had died that night - would he have been just as cavalier about it? Would he just have casually asked his dad to summon up her ghost? April wanted to hide from the thought, to bury it and never return to it. She wanted to break the promise she had made - the promise to not hide. [color=42A9FF]"D-Danni... Is this what you would have done if I had died?"[/color] Then Dorian dropped a bomb - [i]Nemo wasn't supposed to die yet[/i]. He'd somehow seen this on the Astral Plane - April didn't know anything about how that realm worked or operated, had Dorian been seeing visions all along? Or was this something brand new? But if Nemo wasn't supposed to be dead... She didn't know what to make of that. Was the TVA going to come and prune their entire timeline then, because someone had died who was supposed to be alive? Had Nemo faked his death with Nimue's help? Was Nemo going to be resurrected somehow? Was the grave in Dorian's vision just incorrect? Hypocritically, she couldn't help but be hurt too that Dorian hadn't told them - that he hadn't trusted them with this information. If she had seen that... it would have messed with her head. Hadn't they all just promised no more secrets? What else had Danni and Dorian been keeping with her? First the house, now this... The emotional rollercoaster continued as she heard Danni ask one of the dads if they could do a seance, and then shouted out by name all the kids who had been lucky enough to get to stay there, including Vicky... Her body tensed up. It was killing her that Vicky, the person who had gone out of her way to bully her in Coulson's office and then [i]again[/i] at CAGE, got to be at the home of April's best friends - meanwhile, April was stuck in a hotel with people who hated her. It wasn't fair. [i]It wasn't fair. [b]It wasn't fair.[/b][/i] All the water in the pipes came to a complete standstill. Her breath caught in her throat. Her hands felt like ice. And her heart was pounding so furiously she thought it was about to burst. [color=42A9FF]"I-I have to go,"[/color] April squeaked out, before hitting the end call button, and a fresh wave of tears rocked her. She'd been doing better. She really thought she had been. She thought the meds and the new tools from Dr. Whitehall had been enough. She'd thought they'd fixed her. But she felt just as broken as ever before. [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] New Orleans - Kingston-Gray Residence [b][color=ed1c24]Skills:[/color][/b] N/A [b][color=ed1c24]Outfit:[/color][/b] [url=https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/0d589277-9f3d-4fdd-9f52-2e1e122326d2.jpg]Dorian Approved Outfit #2 - Sunglasses, Flannel, Skinny Jeans[/url] [hr][hr][/center] Percy didn't know what to think, as he caught onto the course of the conversation - that Ser Nemo was dead. He had the vague sensation of his skin crawling, discomfort enveloping him. He knew that death was natural and that it happened - that one day, each person on the lawn outside of the Kingston-Gray home would be dead, including himself. But death was normally distant, something that happened to people he didn't know. He didn't know how to feel about Ser Nemo dying. He hadn't liked Ser Nemo. He had hated him at times. Percy hadn't known exactly why, either - there was just something about the old man that got under his skin, that brought out this irrational anger he couldn't entirely control. The others were discussing holding a seance to call back his ghost, and whether or not he was even dead. Dorian was on the phone, so Percy had made sure to hang back, unlike some of the others who seemed content to crowd around and join in on the conversation. Phone calls were supposed to have some element of privacy to them, even if Danni and Dorian had decided to have it in front of everyone else, so Percy did his best to respect that. In some ways, it felt almost like an out of body experience, as he watched so many strong opinions and personalities interact and clash, while he felt completely lost and untethered, an outsider looking in. Even Zari was preoccupied with other things. [color=DBA1DE]"Weeell..."[/color] Casper paused for a moment, glancing over towards James. No conjuring ghosts on the lawn. Not after what had happened last time. He nodded, before giving his husband two big thumbs up. [color=DBA1DE]"I gueeess if your father says it's okay, then sure! Your coach wasn't violent, right? I might not be [i]as[/i] scared of them now that I have babes around to help protect me, but I would love to not have to deal with an angry violent ghost if I can avoid it. Wait. Babes! Do we need permission slips for them to summon ghosts? Or is it okay since it's their teacher's ghost?"[/color] He then spun around, quickly locating Max. [color=DBA1DE]"Maaaaax can you make everyone really cute seance outfits too, if we are doing a seance? We all need to match the ✨aesthetics✨ of the room you built for me for this or it won't be nearly as fun!"[/color] Needless to say, Ben wasn't exactly [i]thrilled[/i] to hear that his sons' teacher had died - and he was somewhat concerned about the idea of hosting a seance. Not everyone had the relationship to death that his family did. And even among his family, Ben was somewhat of an outlier - he still usually excused himself whenever Casper summoned up a ghost for them to chat to, even if it was for the best of intentions. He remembered all too well what it was like to be on the other side, stuck, unable to change, while the world moved on without him. His tentacles grew restless inside their pocket dimension. [color=silver]"Yeah, let's all go inside, and get everyone's stuff put down, and then we can talk about this,"[/color] Ben agreed, before trying to catch Max's eye. "Thank you," Firestar said softly to Max. "I... I have obviously never had to do this before," she admitted, somewhat sheepishly. "And... yeah. I might take you up on that later. Thank you," she repeated, before stepping back away from the portal, still in California, as she had seen all of the children safely through. She had so much going on today, she wasn't able to step away to go attend the Contest of Champions - couldn't do more than just this one little duty to help fill in. [color=ed1c24]"...Yes. I will participate,"[/color] Percy shifted his weight a bit uncomfortably. He didn't really want to - Nemo's death made him feel strange - but he assumed it would have been rude to decline, especially given that one of Dorian's dads would be running the seance. He wanted to make a good impression. So he would chat with the ghost if that was what was required of him. And then, having seen no one move towards the door, but still motivated to try to win over Dorian's parents... Percy stepped forward, and carefully gripped the door handle. His hand jerked away from it suddenly, as an antique key appeared in the palm of his hand, the metal cool to the touch. The door then swung open, and a small glimmer of light shone off of the key, leading towards one of the staircases. He quickly looked back at the adults present, before specifically looking at Dorian. Was that supposed to happen?