Those who seek freedom must first fight for it. That is the act of rebellion. That is the action taken by all in this world.

---

Monday, March 26th

A slight breeze was felt throughout the school campus. It wasn't warm, but it certainly wasn't cold either. And it had a tinge of freshness to it. A new scent that brought with it a prospect of change. Of course, if one were to comment on this observation to anyone else, they'd probably be given strange looks. Because who notices the wind anyway? There were much better and more productive things to worry about besides the arrival of Spring. Like school work for example. This deduction was mentally made by a red haired girl as she took in her newfound surroundings. Another school. Another chance to start over. She almost scoffed aloud. Like that would ever happen.

The existence known simply as Lucy Bastion walked down the main corridors of Sunnydale High School, a blank expression on her face. Of course, no one noticed her presence. Did she expect them to? She was new, that much was known, but it's not like she wanted to be welcomed with open arms anyway. She didn't have time for such luxuries. No, school was just another mandatory hobby to her. A way to get ahead in life and "succeed". Or so they told her. To her it was the equivalent of an actual job. Get from point A to point B. Keeping her gaze forward, she chose to bypass all the side conversations and groups of other students that had chosen to gather in the hallways. A tinge of annoyance crossed her mind. Why couldn't they socialize elsewhere? Some people actually cared about their future. Like her.

Stifling a sigh, the red head finally found her destination. Class 302. Homeroom. She entered the room, found her assigned seat, and began to prepare for the day, willing for the bell to ring just a bit faster.

---

8:00 A.M.

Sunnydale was part of a much larger project hosted and funded by the Ultimatum. As the world government, the Ultimatum felt that education was an utmost priority, and so started the construction of numerous schools around the globe just like Sunnydale. They claimed it was for the intention of teaching the youth of tomorrow the many wonders and utilization of Unity. Or so Lucy had been told. Looking around her, she noticed that a fair majority of the students were snickering to one another, despite the fact that the teacher, Mr. Henderson, was taking roll. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. It was more like a brainwashing facility than anything else.

The school was built almost like a work institution, with massive buildings, multiple rooms, and even a few labs here and there. The campus itself spanned a wide area of land, and at first glance, one would assume Sunnydale was a private foundation. They'd be surprised to learn that Sunnydale was public and one of the first ones at that. Looking into it further, Lucy reckoned that it reminded her of a college. A loud cough caught her attention and Mr. Henderson quieted the class down, preparing himself for an announcement.

"Class," he began. "Before we begin the day's lesson, I'd like to introduce a new student that will be joining our Sunnydale community. She's been moving schools alot recently so I'd like you all to give her a warm welcome."

He beckoned for Lucy to introduce herself. The girl silently slid from her desk and walked to the front. Turning around to face her peers, Lucy gave them all a dead look. Her words held no emotion, and her gaze looked dead. She stood there for a few more moments, waiting for the class to react. To say the least, most were a bit off put by her cold aura.

"My name is Lucy Bastion. I hope we have a good year together. That's all."

It was a cool, crisp day on the school grounds of Sunnydale high. The arrival of spring had many a student lounging around outside, enjoying the sun's rays on their skin as they tried to put off going to class. And though he didn't join them, a part of Seth wanted to sneak off to the rooftop and simply nap away first period in the sunshine, though he knew he couldn't. He had missed enough classes already this month, working on various projects in his Uncle's shop, and he knew action would be taken against him soon if he managed to miss anymore school, so he half-heartedly dragged his feet one after the other, through the school grounds, and into hte main building, where most of his time here was spent. The hallways were crowded as usual, full of students gossiping about who was dating who, what the teachers got up to in their free time, and what Ultimatum was up to on any given day. All in all, it was a familiar sight, but not one he was particularly fond of, he sighed wistfully as he thought of the half-finished service droid he was constructing back at the shop. He would have been able to make good progress on a day like today if he wasn't stuck here, but there was nothing he could do about it, so he'd just have to suck it up, and hope the day passed by quickly.

Eventually, he reached Class 302, homeroom, where he normally spent his time staring out the window staring at the clouds, wondering what he was doing here, consuming all of the things Ultimatum wanted him to think or do, never encouraging his mind to truly quest for information, unlike his personal hobbies, which always kept him entertained and yearning for more. The class was mostly full by the time he arrived, but that was nothing new, the day he was the first person in the classroom was the day the world would end. He made his way over to his window seat in the back left corner of the room, and greeted a few classmates when they waved at him, or wished him a good morning. There was still a few minutes left before class would start, so he began brainstorming ways that he could improve some of his creations further, though nothing was coming to him at the moment. It was almost funny to him how much harder he found coming up with new ideas was while sitting in a place of learning than it was in his cluttered and disorganized garage.

Eventually, he noticed a new face enter the classroom, though not too many people glanced her way, the first thing that caught his eye about her was her vivid red hair. The second thing he noticed was the way that she coolly observed her fellow students and surroundings, as if they weren't worth her time. It seemed that Sunnydale would have a new topic to gossip about over the next few days, it wasn't often that a new student transferred into their age-group. After a few moments, Mr. Henderson loudly cleared his throat to catch the attention of the still chatting class. Once he knew he had that, he beckoned the new girl up to the front of the class to introduce herself, and everyone's eyes focused onto her. Normally new students were pretty nervous, and stumbled over their words, but the cold monotone introduction of Lucy Bastion was perfectly understandable, and almost immediately after she finished speaking, many of the students threw each other uncomfortable glances. It seemed the comfortable warmth that Spring had started to bring back to Sunnydale had been convincingly squashed by this new student. Seth raised an amused eyebrow at Lucy and smirked slightly, as if to say 'well done', before returning his gaze to the sky outside his window. What a decidedly interesting person. Maybe today wouldn't be so bad after all.

The sudden breeze blew through the outside stairwell briskly, whipping Morgan's thick purple locks all around but not distracting her from her latest piece of art. Looking down at the rough sketch, one could merely see wild lines and jagged shapes, but Morgan could picture the complete picture - comic book blood red as the back drop with black blended in to enunciate the shadows. The lone, haunted figure in the center. Her venues loved this type of stuff, so she was more more than happy to sell the pieces for the price of the paint if they wanted it. Of course, she didn't use her special paint, she thought as she absently looked out over the school grounds seeing the flock coming to the barn.

She'd gotten to school early that morning and came up here to stay isolated while she worked. Everyone below and their gossiping nature knew not to mistake her early arrival with a love for learning and 'normalizing socialization skills' as the lovely Ultimatum would so hope, but rather a hatred of her foster mom and house. Closing her drawing pad, she tucked it away in her messenger bag and lit a cigarette. No one used this stairwell before homeroom, she'd learned before she made sure people left her alone, and if they did then they were not the type to foolishly go tell on Morgan for smoking - much more likely would they ask to bum a light.

She tapped her nails on the rail, somewhat displeased that it was already starting to get warm. She preferred the cold, mostly because she dressed appropriately for it instead of the silly girls who insisted on wearing shorts and heavy jackets. How did that make sense anyway? Once she finished she went inside through the fire door to her right and slowly made her way to the already noisy class, taking the rear entrance and sitting immediately down in the seat closest to that door. By now, there was some sort of unspoken agreement between her and the other females in her class which was to leave that seat open at all times.

Really, she wasn't intimidating in appearance, which had been her problem when she was younger. Being small in height and body size did not make the bullies leave her alone, so she had to create the persona that forced them away. Sure, people had slowly begun to talk to her, but always in a distant way. With the exception of her bandmates, she smiled privately to herself for a moment - thinking of their practice last night - as she rested her cheek to her fist and drew circles with her finger on the desk, idly beginning to start the transition of passing through another day of Ultimatum-biased knowledge.

"My name is Lucy Bastion. I hope we have a good year together. That's all." brought her out of her miscellaneous thoughts, the tone sounding very familiar but the voice obviously belonging to a stranger. It was the tone that she used to get through conversations faster with her foster mother or to scare off other kids who began to pester her by feigning disinterest, and the expression of the girl made a smile spread across her lips as she glanced up at Lucy from her relaxed position.

Jurano woke slowly, his Step-mother beside his bed shaking him awake.
"You're going to be late for school, you know?" She reminded him, he groaned and pulled the sheets over and asked her.
"Five more minutes?"
"No, now."
He got up and saw the time. 7:15 with a sudden realisation he got up and started rushing to get to school, he pulled on his uniform quickly, he grabbed his green and black scarf and raced downstairs to see some toast with peanut butter. He munched on one slice and yelled back to his step parents.
"See you guys later!" he exited the house, hopped on his bike and made it to school with half an hour to spare.

He made his way onto the roof of the main building, he was leaning on the edge with his earphones at full blast, he was humming along to beat. He closed his eyes and sniffed the fresh air. He looked at his watch and saw that he had ten minutes to get to class.

"Uh,oh, I better get moving." He said to whispering air. He smiled and got into a running start postion, then Fffwwwoooommmm he was off. He arrived at class 302 with five minutes to spare.
Homeroom starts in five minutes He thought to himself while checking his phones music player. he found a song that lasted three minutes or so and started playing it full blast. He was nodding his head to the beat, he didn't care what others thought of him. When the bell rang, he took off his headphones and started wondering why he had to sit threw these crap filled lessons. The teacher arrived and stood at his usual spot at the front of classroom0
"Class, before we begin the day's lesson, I'd like to introduce a new student that will be joining our Sunnydale community. She's been moving schools alot recently so I'd like you all to give her a warm welcome."
The new girl walked up, her red hair standing out like a black dot in snow. She had a cold look on her face, and she announced to the class her introduction.

"My name is Lucy Bastion. I hope we have a good year together. That's all."

Short, sweet and to the point, Jurano liked the way she introduced herself, he couldn't help but let a massive grin appear on his face.
I reckon this year will be a little more interesting.

Lucy scanned the room, gathering in the reactions made clearly by her fellow peers. Her assumptions were correct; most of the students were rather put off by her introduction, and some even avoided her gaze altogether. And yet despite that, she caught the attention of some who were either lightly smirking or simply curious. She mentally smiled. Indeed, this would be interesting. Mr. Henderson fidgeted with a textbook on his desk, apparently not expecting such a lifeless arrival.

"Er, is that all Ms. Bastion?"

"Yes."

"Nothing else you'd like to share with us? We'll be your family from now on an-"

"No. There's nothing else."

Mr. Henderson blinked. "Oh, er, ok. Please have a seat then."

Lucy wordlessly walked back to her desk, the sound of her footsteps the only thing heard as the class lay silent. Sighing, Mr. Henderson stood up and began to write some notes on the board in front. The class' unease gradually dissolved as the day's daily lesson began. Lucy remained silent, keeping her eyes focused only on the notebook she was writing in.

---

The bell had rung, signaling lunch time. Lucy had spent the majority of her periods giving the same introduction and receiving the same reactions. She chose not to follow the crowd to the cafeteria, instead enjoying her small lunch in homeroom. Not alot of people were there, just a few students. Chewing on her sandwich, she looked down at her left wrist to make sure her bracelet was still there. Changing locations had made her just a bit paranoid, and she wanted to make sure that at least something of hers remained intact. She grimaced.

They had stolen from her. Something precious.....

Choosing to dismiss these thoughts, Lucy took out a separate notebook with a green cover. She leafed through the pages finding a fresh new one. Taking out a pen, she began to scribble down notes to god knows what. She didn't think to care who'd be watching her or who'd actually have the nerve to talk to her in such a state.

Seth spent the rest of the class alternating his attention between the occasional notes he jotted down, and stealing glances at Lucy every few minutes or so. She seemed so disconnected from her classmates, focusing solely on her notebook, which she continuously took notes in throughout the entire class. A real model student it would seem, quite different from himself, he thought. It took all sorts to make the world work, though, regardless of what Ultimatum wanted them to believe.

He couldn't say he blamed this girl for being uninterested in interacting with her fellow students, after all, when he first came to Sunnydale he was far from a social butterfly himself. Still, though, he understood what it was like to be alone. If you spend your whole life pushing people out of it, eventually you'll realize that you are left with nothing, no matter how much knowledge you acquire, or money you earn. He wasn't planning on forcing himself into this new girl's life, but it couldn't hurt to try to learn a bit about her.

When the bell finally rung, most of the students were eager to jump from their seats and head to the cafeteria, and so that's what they did, most of them, at least. As he'd expected, Lucy made no effort to leave the classroom or interact with any of her classmates, she simply took out a small lunchbox and began eating alone, looking rather uncomfortable. After a while she took out a green notebook, different from the one she'd been taking notes in before, and started writing in it. Never took a break, did she?

After a few minutes of watching her out of the corner of his eye, he decided to try his luck with her, maybe by some chance he'd succeed where his classmates had failed. He got to his feet and casually made his way over to the empty desk beside Lucy's, before taking a seat in it and simply waiting. At first it seemed like she might try to ignore his presence, but eventually she stopped taking notes and glanced up at him in a way that nearly made him regret his decision to approach her. Oh well, he'd gotten himself into this, might as well make the best of things and see where it took him.

"Hey there. Sorry to bother you, but you caught my interest earlier and I was waiting for a chance to introduce myself. now seems like as good a chance, as I'm going to get, so here I am. The name's Seth, it's nice to meet you. The way you intimidated the rest of the class earlier was pretty impressive. Certainly made getting through Henderson's droning a little easier." He grinned, extending his hand to Lucy, wondering if she'd take it, or simply stare him down until he left her alone.

The classroom's dead silence at the new girl's march to her seat was music to Morgan's ears, especially after the flustered old dolt of a teacher bumbled around her unwillingness to share. Yep, definitely the most interesting girl she'd seen in a while in this dump, but once she sat down in her chair and robotically got to work taking notes she was just another desk filler to the purple-haired puppeteer, same as her. Morgan rested her cheek back to her fist and wiggled her pencil between her fingers for most of homeroom, jotting down what she needed, and chewing on a piece of gum she'd snuck in when the teacher was turned away.

In gym class, she laid on the bleachers in her school uniform still instead of the required clothes as the other girls practiced volleyball, staring up at the ceiling. Some of the girls began whining about unfairness and she was forced, just like every day, to go play the game after a good chiding from the coach. "Playing" meant she would stand in her spot and move when the serving team swapped. When it was her term to serve, she stared at the coach like the woman had lost her mind until she finally made another girl swap spots with her. Morgan knew she was not physically fit and did not strive to be, nor did she want to participate in 'team building' sports when all the players were against her and would only form as a team to bully her. But that was in the past. Things were different now.

Third period, she found herself back with the new girl, but she hadn't noticed until the bell rang for lunch at the end. Morgan shuffled out of the room with her bag loose on her shoulder and headphones on her full blast to get a soda out of the vending machine and when she returned she saw the girl writing in her notebook and that Seth Boy Wonder was attempting to talk to the her. She smirked and sat down in 'her' desk, propping her feet against the bars of the desk beside it as she cracked open her soda and knocked one ear piece off to shout, "Hey, Superhero, Robot Girl doesn't want to talk to you. You think this class would know that aura with me already shoved in it."

Looking back down at her meager lunch after giving her deadly grin, it melded into a smirk as she started drawing on the desk with her marker idly, but actually leaving her headphone off just to see if the new girl did speak up. After all, she was curious.

Lucy gave the boy in front of her an icy stare, her eyes tracing from his extended hand to his face, and back again. Several seconds passed before she finally put away her green notebook and took his hand in her own. "Hello," she said monotonously. "And who are you?" At that moment, she heard a loud remark across the classroom, echoing off the walls. Something about superheros and robots....she turned around to find the source of the voice, only for her eyes to take in the sight of a purple haired girl with headphones on. It could have been anyone really, but no doubt she was supposed to be "Robot Girl". She ignored the outburst and turned back to the boy. Then that meant that "Superhero" was-

A flash of pain spiked through her chest, and she instinctively clenched the side of her desk. A frown was welling up on her face, and she immediately began packing up her things. Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she gave the boy a curt nod. "Sorry. I have to go." Well that was rather rude. Nevertheless, she didn't look back as she practically ran out of the classroom, heading for the nearest restroom available.

The pain in her chest grew all the more intense with each step she took....

---

By the time she reached the restroom, Lucy's breathes were coming out in small, ragged gasps. She fiddled around in her bag before producing a small jar of capsules. Almost ripping the top off, she poured a single pill in her palm and popped it into her mouth. Turning on the sink, she cupped water around her hands and began taking huge gulps desperately. After about two or three, she stopped. All she could do now was wait.

After another minute or so, the pain that had begun to sting her chest now slowly subsided, eventually becoming numb. The red head gasped aloud as she pried her hands away from her chest. It was only then that she realized she was shaking. That had been close. Too close. She narrowed her eyes as she tried to deduce what exactly triggered the attack. Probably that purple haired girl and her little outburst. She would have to be careful. These days, anything could set it off....

Gingerly placing the jar back into her bag, Lucy steeled herself. She wasn't allowed to show weakness. The world wouldn't grant her that mercy. No, she mused as she stepped out of the restroom and began walking back to class. She wouldn't rely on anyone. She would endure her failing heart alone. Even if it killed her.

---

Entering the classroom, Lucy noticed that several more students were loitering around. Lunch still had about 15 minutes left, and most chose this time to hang out anywhere. Even her beloved sanctuary. Typical. Walking back to her desk, she noticed that the boy was still there. Ignoring him, she sat down, unpacked her lunch for the second time that day, and began chewing in silence. After another minute of so, she finally addressed the boy.

"Oh, you forgot to tell me your name," she said, as if nothing else had happened.

Jurano was bored out of his mind during the day, he was looking out the window and occasionally glanced back at the clock as the teacher was preaching about stuff he never really cared about.

When the lunch bell rang he was glad, he pulled his headphones on, turned them to full blast and exited the classroom, he made his way towards the cafeteria and ordered his usual lunch. As he made his way back to the classroom he saw the new girl run into the bathroom clutching her chest. I hope she's alright.. He thought to himself. as he entered the classroom he saw Seth standing near where the new girls desk was and walked over to him.

Grabbing him by the neck he yelled. "SETH BUDDY HOW'S IT GOING?! ahhh i see your trying to push in on the new girl already, smooth." he said with a laugh releasing him. he looked over and saw Morgan.

"Still as broody as ever is see." he said pointing
"anways i'll just eat over at my place." he said smiling, almost laughing

He sat down and started eating when Lucy re entered the room, with the same smile he placed his headphones on full blast, eating away.

Seth was a little taken aback by Lucy's sudden departure, he could tell that something was wrong, and he didn't think it was his fault, but he still felt a little worried as Lucy ran off. When she was gone he turned his gaze to Morgan, the girl who had called him Superhero. She normally avoided people like the plague, and others returned the favour, she had made it very clear early on that she didn't care for her classmates, not unlike Lucy had earlier. But Morgan always seemed to be openly hostile about it. He thought it was probably just a tough act she put on, but he didn't know her well enough to say with any certainty.

"You know, I don't recall ever claiming to be some sort of hero, so I don't know where the nickname is coming from." He said dryly.

"But Lucy must really interest you. It's not often that you go out of your way to interact with your classmates, even to mock them. Sense a kindred spirit in her?" Seth teased, before Jurano's sudden and loud arrival captured his attention.

"SETH BUDDY HOW'S IT GOING?! ahhh i see your trying to push in on the new girl already, smooth."

"Very funny. I just thought she seemed interesting, so I wanted to introduce myself. But apparently she isn't interested. I hope she's alright, though, she seemed troubled."

After that interesting exchange, Jurano went to go eat in his own seat, and the classroom returned to something close to normalcy. Lucy probably wasn't going to be gone forever, so he decided to stay put and see what happened. Sure enough, with about fifteen minutes left on their lunch break, Lucy returned to the classroom, and reclaimed her seat. She looked much better now, as she unpacked her lunch and resumed her meal. Eventually, she decided to address him once more, probably realising that he had no intention of walking away yet.

"Oh, you forgot to tell me your name,"

"The name is Seth Parker. I apologise if I made you uncomfortable earlier, I'm not going to impose myself on you if you'd rather I leave you alone. I just was hoping we could get to know each other a little better. You seem different from most of the students here, and not in a bad way." He returned casually.

He'd decided that he wasn't going to pry into whatever it was that had caused her to rush out of the classroom earlier. It was probably quite personal, and asking her about it might only make her more uncomfortable than she probably already was.

Lucy shrugged at his remarks. "It wasn't your fault. I just had to take care of something. That's all." She turned around and glanced once more at the purple haired girl before taking in her surroundings fully a second time. She noticed a boy with a green and black scarf chewing away at his lunch, but other than that, nothing outrageous. Good. If her theory was correct, this would be a very difficult year. And she needed as little distractions as possible. Other wise...

She clenched her chest unconsciously but loosened her grip when she realized that this Seth was still talking to her.

"The name is Seth Parker. I apologize if I made you uncomfortable earlier, I'm not going to impose myself on you if you'd rather I leave you alone. I just was hoping we could get to know each other a little better. You seem different from most of the students here, and not in a bad way."

Lucy gave him a hard look this time, her eyes almost drilling into his. "Listen closely," she began. "I'm different, I'll admit to that. But not in the ways you'd think I am. Tell me Seth. Do you cherish the life you have now? Would you ever give up this kind of normalcy? This normal life?" Without waiting for a response, she continued. "That's what I thought. Don't talk to me. Don't look at me, don't get near me, don't be associated with me. Otherwise, I can't guarantee you won't get hurt. That's all."

She closed her lunchbox, signaling that the conversation was over. She didn't exactly know why she had warned him. The most likely reason that came to her mind was she didn't want to get him involved. She didn't want anyone involved. Her tone was it's regular coldness, but this time, it was laced with a serious nature. Best to be enigmatic and end all ties early then to have someone screw up later.

As if answering her thoughts, Mr. Henderson returned to the class, announcing the end of the lunch period and that all students take their seats. Lucy took out more notebooks as she once more began to focus her energy on her studies. She would glance occasionally at the clock, willing the time to go faster. She had things to do after school. Dangerous things.

It took Morgan a second to recognize that Seth had actually responded to her, much less that others had started to come back to class, but she didn't look up from her drawing as she casually took a sip from her soda and raised her eyebrows in response. Setting the soda down, she had a smirk at her lips, but didn't bother responding. She was content just riling him up, at least until the girl jumped up so suddenly. That was enough to cause Morgan to pause her drawing hand and look up at the scene as Lucy fled the room. She snickered quietly to herself, bringing the butt of the marker to her teeth as she bit down with a smile at Seth. She winked, as if saying Nice job - real smooth, Superhero. before looking back to her art.

The desk had become a piece of abstract lines and curves, black where the desk shown through, and red where she filled in, by the time that the new girl came back. The quiet voice of the girl caught her attention as she asked for Seth's name - and she actually looked up at Lucy's interrogation before the sound of her lunchbox slamming clipped the conversation over. Glad she'd forgotten her headphone was off so she heard, she turned in her chair and leaned back, thinking that the idea didn't sound half bad. As Mr. Henderson returned, motioning for her to remove her headphones and sit normally as he always did, she sighed and complied with a glare.

As Mr. Henderson walked back in Jurano gave a loud groan, to signify that the song he was listening to wasn't over yet. He removed the headphones and placed his head on his desk with his arms underneath humming the rest of the words of the song, when the Mr. Henderson noticed he walked over to his desk, slapped his head with a book and walked back. Jurano kept humming except quieter. As he finished the words he looked back over to Lucy, her red hair very defining against the white wall.

He looked at his desk and decided to write the rest of the story he was working on. It was a typical Hero Vs. bad guys novel and was pretty stale, but it gave Jurano something to do while he ignored the teacher ranting about how wonderful the world they lived in was.
If only it was Mr. Henderson, if only it was... He went back to writing, wishing he could listen to the rest of the song he hadn't finished yet, wondering about what would happen if the world was in chaos. The thought was quickly erased from his mind, knowing that nothing of the sort would ever happen, especially to him and this classroom.
What's the point of having these powers if we are never going to use them. It's pointless he though picking at the small chips, connected to wires than run through his arms and legs. He wanted to shoot something badly, the urge to shoot the mind draining voice at the front of the room was to great. He aimed and made a small noise from his mouth.

"Bang."

Seth was slightly taken aback by Lucy's response, though he did not outwardly show it. He'd known there was something different about her, but clearly things were more complicated than he'd anticipated. He thought for a moment about what she'd asked him, about whether he would be willing to give up this safe, normal life that he had been living for the past few years, and it didn't take him long to come up with an answer.

"This normalcy is a lie. We only see what Ultimatum wants us to see, hear what they want us to hear. This normal life we're living isn't one that we got to choose for ourselves, it was assigned to us by people most of us will never even meet. If you're asking me if I'm content coming to this boring class every day, listening to these government issued lessons, and never asking questions, or learning the truth, then your answer would be no." Seth said just loudly enough for Lucy to hear him. His expression more serious than normal.

"Our lives are our own, not Ultimatum's. So it is our right to choose what we do with them, for better or for worse. You're not the only one here with ambition, you know, as hard as it may be for you to believe. If you want me to stay away from you for personal reasons, let me know. But don't expect to scare me off with cryptic warnings, simply based off of your assumptions." He finished in a vaguely casual sort of way, before getting to his feet, and walking off to his desk to await Mr. Henderson's arrival. Before too long, class started up again, and Seth spent the duration of Mr. Henderson's lectures thinking about what Lucy had said to him.

Was Lucy some sort of rebel? Or perhaps she was a criminal in hiding. He didn't know anything about her, aside from the fact that she was clearly different from most of the other students here. But even so, if she was in some sort of trouble, and there was something he could do to help her, he had to at least try. Either way, he suddenly felt the urge to finish up the secret projects he'd been working on at home. He had the feeling that things might get more interesting in the near future, and he may just end up needing his newest creations ahead of schedule.

Lucy stared at the back of Seth's head, lost in her own thoughts. For once, the task at hand wasn't the main priority in her mind, but rather the boy's words were. Idiot. That's what he was. To throw your life away so readily? And all for a complete stranger? Truly the mark of stupidity. But could she blame him? Could she really? She herself was sick of the world and how it was dictated. Sick of how the Ultimatum chose and defined their destinies. Was that it then? Did he share her same passion? Well, if his words were anything to go by....a dangerous thought wormed its way into Lucy's mind and a plan began to formulate. Perhaps she was looking at this the wrong way? Maybe it was time for a...different approach.

With the last few minutes of the day ticking away, Lucy slowly took out her green notebook and began scribbling down some notes furiously. When the bell did indeed ring, the red head was the first one out of the class, down the hallway, and outside the school. For something like this to work, she had to be careful. One mistake could cost her life. This time, she did scoff aloud. As if that mattered at this point.

---

There were many, many things in this world that one should make sure to do. Go to school was one of them. Getting a successful job was another. Picking a fight with a cop however, was not one of them. Especially in a world run by the Ultimatum. Nevertheless, that's exactly what the Lucy planned to do as she stood in front of the school, eyeing the massive windows. Massive, fragile windows. Massive, expensive windows. Scooping up a rock, she tested the weight of it in her hand. Satisfied, she reared back her arm and let loose the projectile. Obviously, it met its target and made impact, scattering glass everywhere. Then she found a heavier rock and repeated the process, this time at another window.

She made sure to hit rooms where she knew no people were in. Considering school had just ended, that meant pretty much every window. Soon enough, teachers began yelling at her and a crowd had gathered to watch the crazy transfer student hurl rocks at their school windows. Some were mortified. Others were cheering her on. And still, some few were making home videos out of this.

"Halt! Cease your activity!"

The voice was robotic and inhuman. Lucy paused, her arm still bent back with a heavy rock in its grip. Well that was easy. Turns out the teachers were desperate enough to call the cops on her. Perfect. She turned around, getting a good long look at a familiar face. An Inquisitor.

The thing was humanoid in stature, wearing light armor designed with hues of white, blue, and gold. A circular helmet covered its head, and a visor covered its face. Not like it had a face. The thing was nothing but organic parts sealed up in a metal shell. There was only one of them. One was all that was needed. The Inquisitor's left arm morphed and transformed, turning it completely into a huge knife with electricity crackling down its blade. A taser. And this thing was only considered for low level crime. This was but the tip of what Unity could do. Magic and technology working in perfect harmony. How enlightening.

"Why should I? They're just windows." Lucy dropped the rock, her full attention directed at the mecha nightmare. By now, the crowd had become silent. For the first time that day, a small smirk formed on Lucy's face. "I'm doing the school a favor. People were complaining about the lack of air conditioning, so I'm giving them a nice breeze. That's all."

The Inquisitor took a step forward. "Cease your activity!" it repeated.

Lucy bolted in the opposite direction, and the Inquisitor immediately gave chase. Any true allies she would in this school find could be rooted out this way. At least, she hoped there were allies among Sunnydale. A tinge of dread briefly hit her as she ran off the school campus and into the city, the mech slowly catching up.

What if she miscalculated her peers' desire for freedom? What if she screwed up and just made herself a dead man?

Just before the bell went Jurano was finished packing his books up half asleep on his desk. He looked around and saw Lucy scrawling furiously on her notepad.
"She must have forgot to write down the last set of notes." He whispered to himself.

Just as the bell rang he quickly got and made his way towards the door, only to be cut off by Lucy. He exited behind her and walked the same path as her. Placing his headphones on he exited the building and decided to wait around the school for a bit. He did't know hy but something was telling him to stick around for a while. He layed on the grass located at the front of the school, a teacher yelled at him for kicking over the sign that said:
'Keep off the grass'
He ignored them as usual and kept lying on the well groomed grass.

He noticed a small group of people gathering around someone throwing rocks at the window, each one smashing. He saw Lucy trough the cracks in the crowd as the culprit. He couldn't help but smile, he got up and made his way over but when the pristine white inquisitor appeared he got serious. When it gave chase to a fleeing lucy, Jurano sped after them running at twice the speed of a normal human. When he caught up he fired a beam of fire, it hit the inquisitor but only scratched it.

"DAMN LIMITORS!!" He yelled in fury, ripping away at his limitor chips in his arm.

As the school day drew to a close, Morgan drew lazily around her notes she had actually jotted down. Really, she drew her notes rather than took them so as to not ruin her image she'd worked to create. An apathetic girl shouldn't care about school, but she did care enough to get out of her foster home once graduation came up - so, following the sheep, but wearing a wolf's coat. Typically, she had detention after school because she had drawn on all of her desks. When the bell rang, she was in mid-stretch when she noticed the new girl bolt out of the room - followed quickly by a few others, the loud mouth included, who typically didn't give one whit about school - or had jobs or nice homes or friends to get to. Beings she had none of these things except her band practice, which was always late at night, she stuck around to do her detention.

She'd been washing away lazily at her desk while listening to her music full blast through her headphones when the sun shining through the walls suddenly broke into thousands of shadows. She'd seen the first window through her peripheral vision, but she turned to watch the glass shower down as her music raged. The shear power of the song made the shattering glass seem epic - especially when the next one went to pieces rhythmically. Her position was safe from glass debris hitting her, so she made her way to the first window that had broken, reaching down to pick up a shard and look at it as she dipped her headphones off to rest at her neck with her free hand.

The chanting of the students outside made her curiosity pulse, so she approached the frame which now only held jagged shards all around it's perimeter. Not really worried about any loose pieces hitting, she cast her eyes down to see the new girl, her red hair practically inflamed by the setting sun's glow as she smarted out against the Inquistor. Smiling at the response before Lucy bolted off, Morgan sighed lightly at Loud Mouth's jump to join in on the frenzy, "Well, this is interesting."

Casually, she reached into her messenger bag she hadn't removed when she reported for detention and withdrew her drawing pad without taking her eyes off of the scene which was moving into town. Flipping to a page which she'd kept reserved in her mind, she glanced down at her illustrious drawing which had been known around the school as her favorite pet. Running her fingers lightly over the images, she whispered as if speaking to a child, "Arise, Desdemona."

The shards in the office shook as the aura around her shot out, gluing the hand which held the notepad to its surface as the other withdrew the creature contained within. Swirls and color materialized and hardened into a living beast, rapidly breathing as if in pain until its full form was solidified. Morgan's eyes went white as her soul entered the quadruped. The reptilian beast stood upright, scooping Morgan's figure delicately within its arms before perching on the window with its back talons after kicking the loose glass down before taking flight in pursuit.

"Halt! Cease your activity! Halt! Cease your activity! Halt-"

Something stopped the Inquisitor's speech, and Lucy turned around mid-stride to locate the disturbance. She titled her head forward, a tiny nod to herself; she was quite pleased at what she saw. The boy with the green and black scarf from before had launched a stream of fire at the cop, running at inhuman speeds to catch up with them. It didn't do much, only leaving a scratch, but it was enough to give relief to Lucy's mind. At least some one was on her side. The Inquisitor ignored the boy's attacks, continuing to pursue the red head as they ran through the city, passing massive buildings along the way. Of course, this was in public, but the people who were actually present seemed to either not mind or not care that a police chase was happening right in front of them. Truth be told, most of them believed that the Inquisitor would win, eventually putting these few who dare to oppose the law to justice. Funny. Justice.

Lucy led both her pursuers to the edge of town, into a place she knew where she could take a proper stand at. For someone with a heart condition, she had incredible stamina. But how long that could last, not even she knew. Best not to find out. A few more minutes, and they had reached their destination: an abandoned warehouse. Lucy ran at a sprint now, making sure to stay at least five feet away from the mecha cop. Before slamming the doors open, she noticed a dark creature circling above her in the sky. She grimaced, hoping it wasn't another Ultimatum goon. If it was, things would get much more difficult.

Ignoring these thoughts, Lucy finally slowed down to a trot as she entered the warehouse. It looked like....well, a typical warehouse. Dangling lights, wide open space, some ladders and floors here and there. Perfect. Lucy turned to face the Inquisitor, which was still spouting out its commands.

"Halt! Cease your activity!"

This was getting old. The silver bracelet around Lucy's left wrist began to transform, expanding out onto her palm and at the edge of her fingertips, becoming a skeletal gauntlet of some sort. The red jewel was redirected at the center of her hand, and before the cop reacted, an opening appeared, spitting out a burst of crimson flames. The attack met the Inquisitor head on, the temperatures around them beginning to increase. After a few more seconds of making sure her attack connected, she ceased fire, the red jewel closing its compartment shut. Smoke filled the area, making eyesight difficult. Luckily there were sprinklers still running, and the billowing smoke activated them, causing a downpour to rain on the warehouse's occupants.

She didn't know if the boy from before was still here, or if the sky creature made its move. But one thing was clear. The Inquisitor had successfully been destroye-

The cop lunged forward, caching her off guard. She spun to the right, but it was too late. The Inquisitor's knife made a clean cut on her left arm, sending multiple shocks down her limb. Lucy skidded on the ground, clutching her left arm with the right. Blood spattered on the floor, and she gritted her teeth to keep from crying out. She wouldn't give this thing the satisfaction of pain. Her entire left arm had been paralyzed. The Inquisitor stood over her, it's knife raised for another strike. She could see now that the mecha's eyes were glowing a sickish green, probably some sort of enhanced vision. Damnit! She'd gotten overconfident.

"Halt. Cease your activity."

The red head narrowed her eyes slightly in defiance. It sounded quite smug for something that wasn't supposed to feel emotion.

"Go to Hell," she said coldly. "That's all."

Seeing through Desdemona's eyes, Morgan willed the much larger reptilian beast's form onward as the red head skittered through the streets below with the Inquisitor on her heels. It felt weird being inside of a much larger body, even after so much practice. Desdemona was one of the fighters, so her bulky form wasn't only meant to intimidate. The only downside was that Morgan felt the pain as it hit Desdemona's flesh if something attacked. Keeping a distance now to watch was all fun, but soon she'd loose her view since her show was heading inside the old warehouse.

Gliding down to the rooftop of a nearby building, Desdemona landed with a stride, her velvet wings fluttering for balance. Placing Morgan's form safely against the ledge, leaning against the cool brick with her blank white eyes staring out and her drawing pad spread open on her lap, Desdemona leaped off and dove down to the overhang of the warehouse next door.

Smoke billowed out all around the warehouse, rising to meet the sprinklers just as Desdemona perched in the rafters to take in the scene. Vision being limited, she honed her hearing to pick up frequencies and vibrations. Movement was happening below, an impact and a strike, just before the low resounding voice was identifiable followed by Lucy's even tone. Desdemona dropped silently and gracefully behind the Inquisitor, bringing her front talons down in an arc with a screech before leaping upwards off the back of the Inquisitor with her back feet and into the safety of the smoke-filled rafters once again.

Jurano noticed the massive flying beast and increased his speed, he followed the chase inside the building and stopped outside. He picked up a shard of glass layi g on the floor and started ripping the limitor chips out. Usually this would hurt alot, but the adrenalin rubning through Juranos blood made it feel numb. Successfully removing the chip in right arm he shot the door down he saw the massive east rip at the inquisitor, it was still functioning so Jurano aimed and blasted the power core causing it to stop in its tracks.

"Hey," he called out to lucy. "You alright? You seem to be clutching that arm alot."