[IC] Skyline Academy (Academy of Heroes)

Skyline Academy - Courtyard

11:00 p.m.

In the middle of the large, deserted space stood a man in a black suit with a gold and blue Venetian mask concealing the top half of his face. He kept a firm hand on the shoulder of a frightened little boy who looked no older than five or six as he repeatedly tapped his foot on the ground, expectantly scanning his surroundings for any movement. It turned out that he was waiting to meet with somebody, by the light smirk that formed on his face when another man stepped out into the open and approached him. The second stopped a few feet away from the masked man, ensuring that the both of them were at a cautious distance from each other.

"Outterridge, I assume that you have it?" The masked individual enquired, jumping straight to the point of their meeting.

The headmaster held out a black capsule which appeared glossy under the soft moonlight, and stepped closer to the stranger who grabbed it from his hand while shoving the child towards him. The headmaster caught the crying boy as he stumbled forward and put a comforting arm around him. The masked man then swiftly left the premises after getting what he came for, and the headmaster warily glanced around the courtyard before ushering the traumatized child inside.

[Raptra]

Rainna Rivera

The dormitory was alive with bright lights and fast music, and packed with students across all grades. Rainna subconsciously grooved to the tune as she pushed through the crowd that had gathered in the room, thoroughly enjoying the activity and company that currently surrounded her. One kid was scaling the wall, another was sipping her drink while suspended in midair, a couple more were putting on little shows for their companions with their element manipulation abilities, and bags of snacks and bottles were being passed around by telekinesis. She felt so accepted, so normal, so comfortable being around people just like her that the events that had led to her ending up at Skyline seemed but a distant memory. It had been five years since she had left home, and four since she was first enrolled, though, it was not as if she wanted to think back to those times. She was happy here, and that was what mattered.

"Yo Rivera, we're out," called one of the partygoers as he approached her, holding the large bowl that had contained the party mix upside down to emphasize what he had just said.

Rainna let out a dramatic sigh. "Alright, I guess I'll step out and get more stuff for the mix. Take care of things for me here while I'm gone, okay Sweetie?"

She opened the dormitory door only slightly and peered out, checking the corridor to make sure that there were no staff members around to spot her, before quietly darting out. There was a twenty-four hour convenience store not far from the back gate of the school, and Rainna knew that the quickest way to the gate from the student hostel was across the academy courtyard. Not expecting anyone else to be at the courtyard at such an hour, she nearly gave herself away as she prepared to dash across, and stopped just in time when she caught sight of a stranger in a mask with a little boy. Thankful that they had not seen her, she cautiously crept to the fountain and crouched behind it, waiting to see what they would do, or what would happen next.

It did not take long for the headmaster to appear and approach the masked stranger, to Rainna's confusion. Headmaster Outterridge had been a rather enigmatic individual ever since he had stepped up to the position a year ago. He rarely spoke or interacted with the students apart from any announcements he would give at assemblies. She had never thought much of it, until now. What was he involved in? What was that in his hand, and who were the man in the mask and the child to him? After both parties had left the area, she waited just a moment more before standing up and moving from her position behind the fountain.

"What was all that even about?" She muttered, completely forgetting about what she had left her dormitory to do.

[King Tai]

Davarius Hicks

Party nights....not really something he was into but Dav didn't have the authority to bring them to the end. He was already a bit annoyed by his pervy intangible roommate who practically begged and pushed the issue of wanting Dav to go with him as his wingman to score these two girls he's had his eyes on. Of course, Davarius denied this and simply left to get some air and some quiet.

After leaving his room, he walked down the corridor and walked out only to notice a girl running by screaming and then laughing while another boy with a long prehensile tongue chasing her. Dav couldn't help but shake his head. After being here at this school for a year, he's seen a bit of unique, cool, and even creepy gifts. He fit right in. There have been a few instances where Dav have come close to blows with some other students who let their powers go to their heads but for the most part, Dav stayed to himself as usual.

As he made it outside, Dav would spend about an hour watching the stars on the roof of the school before he'd go to the corner of the room to look out into the horizon but it wasn't just the scenery he noticed, he noticed someone with a mask walking off and someone else with a child but he was too far away to make out who they were but he did notice a female standing up near that same area where those men walked away. He wasn't sure what went down but Dav needed to check on something. he used his powers to form a grappling hook and rope out of psychic energy, connecting it to the edge before climbing down to ground level and headed over to the girl he saw.

A few moments later...

Hey....you straight over here? He asked the cute female before him. Has he seen her before? maybe...but he usually didn't socialize with many people but she's a female and with her look of concern, he needed to make sure she was okay.

@Raptra

[PokimKyOshi]

Aira carefully levitated 2 red cups of party mix and a bag of chips across the air, carefully trying not to spill any drops of the beverage or hit anyone that was either scaling across walls or flying to every corners of the room. The party lights would flash their bright colors, disrupting Aira's view, so the task required an extra tint of focus and caution.
Halfway through, the girl started to feel her energy drain and focus getting lighter - her mission failed to avoid any spills that a few drops dripped down on someone's head. Luckily, instead of negatively pointing it out, the person eyed the floating cups and bag and expressed amusement with loud shouts of "Woah!"

The beverages and snacks safely reached its destination as Aira swiftly settled them just above the heads of her newly made companions who warmly welcomed her to the Academy.
"Take it as a 'Nice to meet you" gift." The young girl expressed to them with a warm smile filled with gratitude. It has only been her first few months in the academy, and things around her new environment seemed to have been going smoothly. People there never judged, and she felt safer to be herself and her powers weren't feared or ridiculed, rather praised.

A few minutes of laughter and chatting went by, Aira's head started to give light throbs. Not surprisingly, from using her powers of telekinesis. And loud, blasting music clearly wasn't helping.
The girl excused herself from the company and, with sheer efforts of slithering her way past the crowd in the room and enduring a few more minutes of headache, she made it to the door and pushed it open, welcoming herself to the dormitory corridor. She eyed her surrounding from left to right, people were still hanging around the corridor halls. Perhaps, the girl was looking for a place that's more in complete silence. Her first few weeks of roaming around the academy, she was familiar enough to think about the academy courtyard first.
"Perfect." She muttered to herself.

The night was silent, the lamp post dimmed weakly but the weather was cool as the wind blew. Aira could already feel herself getting better.
She loved company, but recharging one's self is no doubt vital for an ambivert such as her liking. Not to mention her power.
The courtyard had benches that freely welcomed her and nobody seemed to be around, or so she thought.

Just at the far distance, her peace was cut off by distant sounds of a crying infant. The girl's body jolted to a halt while making her way to the nearest bench, and tried to make out of the scenario that was happening.
If she wasn't mistaken, her eyes landed on the academy Headmaster that held a weeping boy in his arms. His name sounded quite distinctive, as she only heard of it a few times before. Outterbridge? Outrige?
On the other side of the book was a cloaked stranger, who disappeared the next sight.

As the girl tried to piece the puzzle all together, the place was once again empty... for a few moments. As she finally made her way to the bench and took deep breathes, her sight caught of a figure climbing down the building with the use of a rope. This made the girl lightly flinch and continued to watch him 'till he reached the ground safely. His voice echoed out to call, seeming as to target someone's attention. There the girl found another silhouette rise up just beyond the fountain.

After a closer look, the figure behind the fountain was a female while the other one with the rope was a male. Older students, no mistaking. Aira was certain enough to have seen them a few or more times around the academy. Names, however, still remain a mystery.
Remembering what she came here for, Aira decided to leave them both to their own peace. Little chit chats can be heard but the place was big enough for three.
Slouching back on the bench and after a few inhales of clean air, the girl realized that her headache just got worse.

[OliveYou]

Ah, the sound of loud, bass-boosted EDM late at night is a feeling like no other. To be precise, a headache.

Yunnie isn't the best at parties; oh, she tries, but after an hour or so she can feel herself wearing down and the idea of socializing until 2 AM becomes something she doesn't want expand upon. It's a shame, too, because she put a lot of effort into getting ready today. She wanted to make a good impression on the general public--aka, her classmates--but now her pigtails have been pulled out and her pink leather jacket traded for the more comfortable fluffy pastel bathrobe that she's currently wrapped up in. The blaring electronic music of the nearby dormitory is only slightly blocked out by the song she's listening too--her "sleepy time" playlist--so Yunnie sighs and tries to keep herself hydrated to ward off headaches. Halfway through removing sparkly eye shadow, she notices something in between the crack in her rose-embroidered curtains, down in the academy's courtyard, far below her bedroom window.

(It's the sequins that tip her off first. Yunnie can spot sequins from a mile away.)

In the middle of courtyard is a figure, somebody all dressed up in a mask and suit, but she's 80 to 90 percent sure it's not because of a masquerade ball. Next to him is a small boy, almost overlooked because she can hardly see his face, either--she would guess he's maybe five years old, but he's near entirely shrouded in shadow. And then, from the other side of the courtyard, another figure approaches, this time alone.

Curious, Yunnie removes one earbud from her ear and cracks the window just a tad. She's far enough above that nobody notices her, but also close enough to catch just the tiniest bits of a conversation. The boy is crying, she can hear that much--wait, isn't that...?

Yes! That's the headmaster--Yunnie almost says it out loud, but that would surely give her away. There's a package in his hand--no, it must have just been a shadow, because the next moment the boy is in the headmaster's arms and the person in the suit is nowhere to be found. How weird. Is this normal? Yunnie's only been here for a month or so, so maybe picking up orphans from suspiciously-dressed men is the norm. After all, this academy is for superheroes. And superheroes usually have tragic backstories! (Hers is only slightly depressing, but for the most part, she dodged that bullet. Kind of scared her parents into never having children again, though. That's her fault, she's sure.)

Out of the corner of her eye, Yunnie catches the shape of somebody else, crouching behind the fountain. And another, swinging down from the roof of the nearby dorm. Increasingly curious, she leans in, trying to catch sight of their faces...

@King Tai@Raptra

[Eric Horst]

Adam Hill

Loud music and a darkened atmosphere wasn't anything new to Adam, his father had gone through a 'Rocker' phase at one point, and he constantly was walking into a darkened apartment building with the music from their stereo system turned up loud enough that he could hear it from several floors down. His father was weird like that, but at least he meant well.

It was the people around him that was suffocating him ever so slowly. Spending much of his time alone, Adam wasn't used to being 'On the scene' and for that matter, the center of attention for more then a singular psychical being at any time.

He was currently surrounded by more then one of the other party-goers, a older looking guy with more muscles then a body builder, a girl with some sort of odd headset on, and another guy with feet that simple refused to stay still, constantly jittering as he faded in and out of sight for split seconds. Adam sighed in annoyance, they had come over while he had gone over to the snack table to grab a soda and were now pestering him about his powers.

"C'mon!" The girl asked again. "Just tell us. You're the only one here not flaunting about their powers."

That wasn't true at all, he could point out at least one or two oth-wait they were gone. Drat.

"Bud, jus' tell us, we're really interest'd now, what've you got?" The bulky guy said, gesturing for the smaller male to do something. The gesture was slightly awkward, as if they weren't used to their own weight.

The jittery one began to pipe up himself, but Adam silenced him when he pointed towards him, his tone flat and some what smug. "You've been fading in and out of existence in rapid motions and constant jittery motions because you've been moving around the party knocking over people's drinks for the past few minutes, that's what I can assume since the I heard the first complaint about seventy seconds ago, and you've pecked the cheek of her," His finger moved to the girl with the headset, "Judging from the slight discoloration of one of her cheeks that occurred shortly after you three approached me, you like her because she makes lunch for the both of you, and that headset on her head allows her to focus her mental energy into something, which you seem to think is amazing from the constant glances in it's direction, and your large friend here has shown signs of not being comfortable in their own skin,"His finger finally moved to the bulky one, who now looked somewhat shocked. "Every motion they've made is slightly awkward, the way they carry themselves is nothing like someone of this weight should, and they show no signs of muscle stress, neither from any kind of heavy lifting or sudden muscle growth, pointing your friend as a shape shifter of some kind."

Not waiting for them to voice any objections, or surprise, Adam pushed through them and walked away, his relief beginning to wash over him as he allowed his mouth another long break. He hated long speeches, and speaking wasn't something he often did, out of both worry and choice. Behind him, the jittery speedster shouted:

"How the heck did he know that!? Wait oh jeeze! You know now!"

Although Adam wasn't looking anymore, something told him that his female friend was hugging him, because he had shut up, and the clapping of a shifting form had begun. Huh, seemed he had accidentally gotten two friends together, and made a muscle bound shapeshifter revert to a smaller form. Good for him, he had done an accidental good.

Pushing his way out the door, Adam Hill took a moment to breath in the fresh corridor air, not stuffed with the carbon dioxide of other living things, and moving to one of the windows, staring out into the night sky, as the moon stared back down at him, unfeeling, yet always watching. A constant companion that never had never judged him for how he was born, nor the life choices he had made. He liked the night sky, it left a lot to the imagination. Sadly, he couldn't spend time staring up into the atmosphere of his planet out at what lay beyond forever, so he tore his eyes away, and began making his way down the corridor towards the lockers. He wanted to retrieve his pack he had stowed away in there before he had been whisked away to the party.

Something caught his eye, and he paused for a moment, his gaze moving across the strange scene down in the courtyard. Well then, this was interesting. If he had spent any more time in that party he might have missed it. The headmaster was exchanging a child for something, though from the distance he was at, he could make out any details about what it was exactly. Whatever it was, it was worth a child's life, which meant it had a high probability to be something the masked man shouldn't have access to and the child was the trade off, meaning that whatever the headmaster had just handed over, was something that would hold grave consequences for somebody. The question was who, and when.

He wasn't the only one who had taken notice however, which was interesting. Only one thing to do he supposed. He made a small motion at them, signaling that he had seen as well, before he moved away from the window. He would do something interesting tomorrow, he was tired.

@OliveYou @PokimKyOshi @King Tai @Raptra

[GirlOnMarz]

Tuning out the excessively loud electronic music that blared from a few doors down the residence hall proved to be a fairly easy task for Monalisa Brooks. All the young woman had to do was put in her earbuds, crank up her own tunes, and simply get lost in her writing; so that was what she did. Mona sat in the chair that was directly in front of her bedroom window with a notebook and ink pen resting in her lap, ready to be put to good use. Writing lyrics was therapeutic for Monalisa; ever since her mother had advised her to give up singing, it gave her an opportunity to express what she was feeling in the only way she really knew how. It had gotten pretty late, but Mona didn't mind; she had always been a bit of a night owl, and there was no way that she was going to be able to turn in while there was a whole party happening on the same floor.

Mona had never been a party person, which explained why she was spending that night locked away in her bedroom. Sure, Mona loved being in an environment where everyone understood what she was going through. She loved being surrounded by people who also had strange abilities and, much like her, were still trying to figure out how to control them. She'd finally found a place where she could be completely herself. But thanks to her naturally introverted nature, being around so many people at once for a prolonged period of time would have been both mentally and emotionally draining. The combination of loud conversation, noisy music, flashing lights, and large crowds of people would surely have been enough to give her sensory overload. "Nah, I think I'll just catch the next one," Mona had said softly to her roommate earlier on, "I'm not really in the mood to party right now..." Mona and her roommate were complete opposites; while Mona was more quiet and reserved, the other girl was a true wild child. She tried to beg Mona to tag along for a few more moments before finally giving up and heading out to the party alone.

With her roommate out at the party, Mona was left to enjoy her alone time. She wrote furiously, only stopping to skip a song on her playlist or grab something to eat. It was only when she took a quick glance out of the window that she finally put her pen down and closed her notebook.

One trait that Monalisa definitely inherited from her mother was her nosiness, though she'd often brush it off as just being naturally observant or curious. So there Mona was, sitting at the edge of her slightly uncomfortable chair, her nose nearly pressed against the cool glass window as she peered down at the scene below. The young woman had to squint and cup her hands around her eyes in order to see things more clearly. Although she had only been at the academy for a couple of months, Mona already knew this place like the back of her hand thanks to her late night strolls. She knew a lot of the faculty as well, the headmaster included, which was why it wasn't too hard for her to come to the conclusion that it was he who she had been watching. Who she didn't recognize, however, were the two figures that stood across from him; one taller figure wore what appeared to be a gold and blue mask, and the other was smaller and had the physique of a young child.

Monalisa watched with peak curiosity as the headmaster held out a black capsule to the masked stranger, who grabbed it from his hand while shoving the child towards him. The exchange was quick; the headmaster caught the child and put an arm around him as the masked man headed in the opposite direction, the capsule tightly tucked under his arm. Mona craned her neck to see if she could get a closer look at the child, but she'd only caught a glimpse of his face before he was ushered inside of the building. "Well, isn't that odd?" Mona muttered to herself before unexpectedly receiving an answer.

"Very odd," Mona's roommate said from behind her, causing the young woman to nearly jump out of her skin. She turned to see the younger girl standing in the doorway; she must have been so interested in what was going on in the courtyard that she didn't hear the door be pushed open. "And here I was thinking that I was the nosy one. Girl, you look like my grandmother when those weird salesmen come knocking on her neighbor's front door." Shaking her head, Mona simply shrugged her shoulders and turned back to face the window; it was in that moment that she realized she wasn't the only one who'd witnessed what had just went down a few moments before.

[Raptra]

Rainna Rivera

Rainna stood where she was for another moment, attempting to make sense of the scene that had just played out in front of her. Was it a sign that something alarming was about to happen? It would be even more serious if it was to affect the academy. Perhaps whatever that was taking place between the headmaster and this mysterious stranger had been going on for some time and she had only just gotten a glimpse of it tonight. If so, how long had it been already? She regretted not taking her phone out to record a video of the exchange, but it had caught her by surprise, and she had not been able to think of doing that at that moment in time.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the sound of scraping against the wall. It was faint at first, and seemed to be getting closer. Still rather tense after witnessing the recent incident, she swiftly whipped around to check it out, only to see what looked like another student reaching the ground as he hung on to some strange-looking rope. He headed straight towards her, showing some concern as he asked if she was alright.

"You... saw that too, right? Please tell me you saw that," she immediately began.

It was quite common for rumors to be spread around campus, be it about suspicious unidentified individuals or the academy's staff and students. If she were to tell any student what she had just seen tonight, it would probably be dismissed in no time. It would definitely help if others had seen it with their own eyes as well, though, the next issue to think about would be what they would do about it. Questioning any of the staff members or the headmaster himself about it was not an option, for they were not even supposed to be at the courtyard at such a late hour, but they could not just do nothing, could they?

Rainna then caught sight of someone else who had taken a seat on a bench some distance away. "Okay, she wasn't there before..."

She looked to the boy who had just spoken to her, silently enquiring if he would like to go over to the girl with her before making her way to the bench where the newcomer was seated. "Hey girl, did you see that?"

There seemed to be nobody else at the courtyard, but Rainna could make out some movement out of the corner of her eye at one of the nearby windows. Glancing up, she saw yet another student who had witnessed the exchange. That appeared to be the case, from the way he had gestured to them. She did not expect him to join the rest of them downstairs, considering how reticent he seemed to be all night. A guy in a trench coat at a party was not easy to forget... The party! She suddenly came to realization that she had forgotten why she was at the courtyard, but after what had just happened, the party can wait a little longer. She wanted to know what her current companions had to say about it all.

[King Tai]

Davarius Hicks

Interactions with: @Raptra@PokimKyOshi

While Dav was heading over to the girl he just called out to, the dark purple glowing grappling hook and rope he created faded from existence. His eye though weren't just on the girl he was calling to but he noticed someone else out there with them but didn't call the attention of this new female he noticed.

he also realized out the corner of his eyes movements from other dorm windows, possibly people that may have seen what happened moments ago. Before he could say anything else the girl immediately asked him if he saw "that". Dav stopped maybe 10 feet away from the girl and stared at her for a moment. She didn't look hurt or anything...just slightly spazzed. If you're talking about that questionable shit between some masked man and whoever that was that got the child...then yeah, I saw it. Dav was hoping it wasn't the headmaster, kind of wanting to not believe it was him but all he saw was the back of him.

He looked over when the female he checked on, brought attention of the girl on the bench. When she asked her, Dav stayed silent for a moment before speaking up again. We three might not have been the only ones to have seen something. If this girl saw anything at all... Looking down at the girl on the bench. I don't like crazy conclusions unless this was some illegal business transaction or ransom or something. Davarius looked around once more to see if any others were looking on at this little gathering, catching sight of someone in a trench coat and curtains moving a little. If more students saw this, he expected rumors to start spreading by the time his first class begins in the morning.

@Ken@Eric Horst@OliveYou

[PokimKyOshi]

Using both her middle fingers of each hand to rub each side of her head in repetitive circular motions to back and forth motions, Aira could feel the throbbing going down, thankfully. Once she decided to let her fingers take a break, she noticed how quiet it has become in the courtyard.

Until a few seconds later, she could hear the eerie sounds of fast footsteps getting closer and closer to her direction. The girl tried to make out of was causing the sounds, but the lamp posts were too dim to be able to assist.
The figures started to appear a bit clearer as they neared Aira, but still barely visible due to the dark of night; it was enough for her to know it was the two students she’d seen earlier after that peculiar exchange between the headmaster and the masked stranger.
"Hey girl, did you see that?" The female voice from one of them called out at her.
“We three might not have been the only ones to have seen something. If this girl saw anything at all...” Another masculine voice followed as he glanced down at Aira who was stuck onto her seat, frozen with alert painted on her face. “I don't like crazy conclusions unless this was some illegal business transaction or ransom or something.” He continued with a rather serious tone.

“I-I..” Aira tried to mutter out an answer of whatever she could think of until she saw both of them momentarily distracted. Her words halted to a complete stop as she watched them avert their eyes towards the window of where the party was happening, only to see a silhouette of someone lightly gesturing at them, possibly trying to signal a message. Aira leaned closer with furrowed brows, trying to catch a glimpse out of the darkness of who was that and what on earth was he or she doing, before watching the person turn to head back towards the party at the next moment. This flustered Aira with irritation as she bolted up from her seat. “Does everything have to be so dark around here?” She irked to herself.

Whispering a short chant, a ball of fire, not too big in size, immediately sparked from Aira’s own bare hands as she carefully levitated and shone it just above their heads. It illuminated their little circle, enough for Aira to finally take a better look at the two peers and not too bright to the point it attracts a considerable amount of attention.
“Finally.” Aira took a moment to exhale from relief as she eventually decided to return from where they left off. “I guess you two were much closer to the scene.” She remarked, jerking her head towards where the shady business with the headmaster happened. “I may have seen some of it, yeah. If you’re counting whoever was that dude up there,” Aira lazily pointed at the window of the party. “That makes four of us witnesses.” The girl lightly snickered.

After taking a few seconds to watch over the ball of fire hovering above them, Aira turned back towards the window of the party, trying to recall whatever that person tried to do, or rather, tell them. He or she must’ve seen something, no doubt. The view up there must’ve been much clearer than from where she stood. Unless he or she came by towards the end of the interaction, Aira found herself lowkey wishing that whatever that person saw, they wouldn’t do anything that would worsen the flames.

When she reached the end of her train of thoughts, another bright light from another window that glistened seemed to have caught the girl off guard. As Aira turned towards it, she could eerily see somebody visibly paying a huge amount of interest, what with hands cupped around her eyes and entire face glued upon the window, looking right at their direction.

Aira froze, face shrunk into a state of “yikes”, as her eyes met with whoever was on that window sill. “…Make that five of us.” The girl added.

[OliveYou]

As the congregation of students (at least, that's what she assumes they are) in the courtyard grows larger and larger, Yunnie's curiosity overtakes her. Disregarding her nighttime face routine and pulling the curtains closed once more, she gathers up her things and dumps them unceremoniously in her purse. While smoothing out her pink plaid skirt, she considers the options: leather jacket again or something more durable? There's no telling how long she'll be out for; Yunnie may be more interested in fashion shows than in mysteries, but she's always been curious and this seems to be the perfect opportunity for making the acquaintances of her fellow classmates.

In the end, the bathrobe comes off and the leather jacket comes on, along with her studded-but-glitter-drenched combat boots and another layer of light red lipstick. Some may call it overcomplicated or overdone for a nighttime rendezvous, but Yunnie always looks her best. Actually, would these earrings look better in purple?

With a touch of her fingers, the formerly-red oversized heart earrings turn a (rather cute, if she does say so herself) light shade of purple, and Yunnie opens the bedroom door with an air of excitement, heart pounding as she advances into the hall. She likes to pretend she's in a spy movie--suspenseful music plays in her mind, but soon quickly begins to turn to less enjoyable pursuits--cue her mother's voice: Anxious again, Yunnie?

She's not horrible, usually, but at times like this her brain gets a little caught up in the worst case scenario when all she really wants to do is enjoy herself. Maybe she gets it from her upbringing--her mom can get a bit "control freak" sometimes, and her father, well...

They just want her to succeed, that's all. And she will--just not maybe in the way they're expecting.

Mild family problems aside, Yunnie is getting the creeps sneaking down this hall. Is she allowed to do this? What if she gets caught? She's bad at lying, so she'll probably get punished somehow, which means she won't be able to join in on the mystery and intrigue currently going on the courtyard. And that wouldn't be fun at all!

But enough of that. She wants adventure! Gathering all her courage and wits about her, Yunnie streaks down the hall, sprinting as fast as she can to the nearest exit--the stairwell. Brown hair flying behind her, purse clutched tightly in one hand, and a small sprinkling of glitter besides, she makes it safely into the concrete stairwell. Nothing but darkness can be seen from the third-floor windows, but the electronic music is still faintly pumping through the nearby dormitory. A few stars twinkle in the sky, but Yunnie is too preoccupied with her self-imposed mission (and tying up her hair into a haphazard ponytail) to care.

Now all Yunnie has to worry about is placing her feet carefully enough so that no noise echoes too loudly--and making it on time! If she plans it right, she'll emerge right out where the fountain is--and where the crowd is currently gathered. Cracking the door open delicately, she peeks her head out, surveying the situation to see what's really afoot in the (now faintly alight) courtyard.

@PokimKyOshi@King Tai@Raptra

[Raptra]

Rainna Rivera

"Guys, that was totally Outterridge," Rainna informed her companions when the boy implied that it had not been clear who it was who had taken the child. At his mention of a ransom, she thought about the possibility. "Oh, you think he's a dad?"

If that was the case, there was no telling how much one would sacrifice when it came to family. It was highly likely that whoever it was who had made the exchange with the headmaster would have known his relationship with the boy, if there was one. This could be big. What if giving away whatever that was tonight was going to put the safety of the academy at risk, or result in a consequence that was even more serious than that? However, if it was not that, then there was definitely something special about that child. Either way, that transaction was surely nowhere near friendly, and that itself was a cause for concern.

Rainna then flinched and took a step back when the other girl produced a fireball from her hands. She blinked several times as her eyes adjusted to the new light source, and then glanced around warily to ensure that it had not attracted too much attention. It appeared that the individual in the trench coat had caught the attentions of the other two as well. She gave the other boy a thumbs up as a response, before the pyrokinetic girl reacted to seeing somebody else watching from the window. It was then when she realized that it might be difficult to keep track of who had seen what had happened and was watching them right now. It was probably better to have more witnesses, though, if this was not as serious as she was speculating it to be, then it would not be worth getting ratted out for being out of the student hostel at such an hour.

"We... should probably go back inside, if we want to talk," she suggested. "No point getting caught by staff out here. Or you guys are welcome to my dorm, if you weren't already there before. We could enjoy the party tonight and hope that the academy will still be standing in the morning."

She turned back to the hostel after that dry humorous remark, spotting a face flanked by large purple earrings peering out through the stairwell exit. Rainna waved to the newcomer, assuming that she had seen what had happened too, or was just on a late-night mission of her own.

@OliveYou @PokimKyOshi @King Tai @Eric Horst @Ken

[GirlOnMarz]

Monalisa watched in awe as one of the young women in the courtyard somehow conjured up a ball of fire with her bare hands and allowed it to levitate directly over the small group that had formed. Although Mona had been in the school for some time now, she was still getting used to the idea of people having abilities. Hell, she was still getting used to the idea of having abilities herself. Nevertheless, Mona continued to watch from her spot at the window sill, only backing away when she and the girl who'd conjured fire met each other's gaze.

See, Mona was fully aware of what she probably looked like to the other students that were standing around the courtyard; she could infer this by the weird expression of the girl who'd made direct eye contact with her. Not wanting to draw anymore attention to herself, the young woman plopped down on her own mattress, internally debating on whether or not she should investigate any further. "I guess I should stop acting like some kind of creep and go check things out for myself, huh?" Mona wondered aloud. Her roommate, who was now sprawled across the edge of her bed, simply muttered an inaudible string of words before turning over, letting out a loud yawn, and shutting her eyes. "I guess I'll take that as a yes," Mona said quietly before standing up from her seat and quickly slipping her sneakers back onto her feet. Within moments, the girl had pulled on the jacket that was hanging on the knob of her closet, grabbed her room key, and was headed out into the hall.

The first thing that Mona heard when she stepped out into the hallway, aside from the muffled thumping of party music, was the sound of feet pounding away at the tiled floor, the second being the staircase door being pushed open. Without much hesitation, Mona began to follow the person who'd been making these sounds; she walked briskly down the hall, catching the stairwell door just before it slammed shut. It only took her a minute or so to jog down the staircase; she arrived just in time to see a girl with brown hair and long, purple earrings peer out of the doorway. Looking through the glass, Mona could see one of the girls from the courtyard wave in their direction; putting two and two together, Mona assumed that she must've spotted the brown-haired girl from the window as well. "So," Mona said softly from the bottom step, twirling one of her locs around her finger as she did so, "I'm guessing that you saw what I saw. And what they all saw. Whatever the hell that was."

[King Tai]

Davarius Hicks

Between the small talk of assumptions with his fellow schoolmates and catching sight of the ones who were peeking through their windows, Dav was taken a little by surprise as he leaned back a little from the initial formation of the fire ball. Well...he had to admit, that is quite a useful ability. Now that he managed to get a better view of both females, he thought they both looked cute while keeping a serious expression on his face before having to push that thought in the back of his head since attractive appearances was not the subject.

After the girl with the fire ball spoke, Dav had to think for a moment before his thoughts were interrupted by the first girl he met out there. With her confirming it was Outerridge, Dav raided an eyebrow of the idea that he was a father. First off...I appreciate the extra light. And second....Outerridge don't seem like the daddy type. If he is...then he'd do like what any loving father would do...unlike the bastard that never been in my life. Anyways...who's to say that he didn't purchase the kid because the kid is too dangerous to be left in the world? He could be doing experiments or just bringing in a new but much younger student. We don't know the facts except that he and some shady man passed off a child and we are just being nosy. He said in a very calm voice.

But yeah...I agree...we need to go back in. With the fire ball included, we will attract too much moths to the flame figuratively and literally. But I'm not really down for a party right now. If I go, my roommate will want my help scoring women. I'm not going to even give him the satisfaction. But uh...I'm Davarius...people usually call me Dav. I may have seen you both before but never said nothin'. He told the girls before turning to head in. He saw the one girl produce fire but he wondered what the first girl he met was capable of?

That was going through his mind before noticing one new girl showing up near the doors and if he noticed carefully, there seemed to be another walking up to the door as well.

@PokimKyOshi@Raptra

@OliveYou@Ken@Eric Horst

[PokimKyOshi]

“Uh-… what?” With having to surrender from her mini-game of Stare with the girl at the window, Aira turned to her female companion, snapping back into the matter at hand. “Oh, no more partying for me for the meantime,” The girl expressed at her fellow peers, waving both her hands in mid air with small shakes of her head, exhibiting a ‘No, Thank you’. Thinking about the words that escaped from her lips just reminded her of her slightly pinching headache that hasn’t really left. In no doubt that some well-needed rest would serve to be the only best medicine for it – succumbing to pills or bitter syrups may just be one of the last resorts that people of Aira’s kind might even think about.
Aira attempted to look back at the window sill to see if that person she saw was still there, she sighed with relief when all she saw were draped curtains and turned back to her two associates.

“First off...I appreciate the extra light. And second....Outerridge don't seem like the daddy type. If he is...then he'd do like what any loving father would do...unlike the bastard that never been in my life.” Aira listened to her male companion as he continued. Though the last sentence he addressed sounded so sudden, it made her blink a few times. Nevertheless, she allowed him to resume.
“But yeah...I agree...we need to go back in. With the fire ball included, we will attract too much moths to the flame figuratively and literally. But I'm not really down for a party right now. If I go, my roommate will want my help scoring women. I'm not going to even give him the satisfaction.” All Aira could give him was a quiet response of an amused nod with a raised eyebrow as she distinctively remembered watching one of her friends desperately trying to avoid a guy who’s been eyeing her throughout the party.

After her male companion concluded with introducing himself as Davarius, or Dav for short, Aira looked over his shoulder to already see the other female already making her way towards the building. The other girl was right; the outside has been a hazard zone enough for the night. Alert strained around her throat that delayed her from returning the courtesy of introducing herself. With Davarius already turning his heel to follow behind their other female peer that was leading the way, Aira quietly followed suit.

Much like holding up an umbrella under the rain, Aira decided not to extinguish away her ball of fiery just yet. With a swift of a little pushing motion of her hand, she sent the flaming basketball-sized ball to hover right above the two to be able to shed more light on their way. Slightly driven with motivation from the compliment she’d receive earlier from Dav.
Nearing the entrance way of the building, Aira could see at the distance their female companion… waving at something? The momentary distraction allowed the ball to fly just ahead of the trio where it stopped by the fountain area. Not completely, but it was enough to give Aira the sharp vision to see a pair of eyes and heads looming through the doorway of the academy.

Stricken with alert and with a fast motion of her hand, Aira pointed towards the doorway for the ball to go zooming towards her command. Just as the flame stopped and flickered right by the walls of the doors, two female students were then made visible. Just as Aira took a closer look; one had distractingly oversized heart earrings with the blinding infestation of glitter and studs on her shoes while the other one behind her….

It took a matter of second for Aira to recall the girl she’d seen by the window earlier who spied on the three of them for probably the whole night. With that striking resemblance, she couldn’t be mistaken. “You?!” Aira exclaimed at her. This sent bits of shivers down Aira’s spine; how many cats has this girl’s curiosity killed by now?
And what more, if this whole night was meant to be kept in confidential matters, a witness pool of six people who she is a complete stranger to didn't sound so reassuring at the moment.

With the worry that seemed to start piling in Aira's head, conjoining with the headache, the flames of the ball that hovered by the door was seen to start flickering a bit more vigorously.

[Cerces22]

Morrigan had left the party about a hour into it, she had no clue why she even bothered to go. The harsh beat that those her age called dance music, and the many bodies pressing together was suffocating to the cryomancer. She sat outside breathing in the fresh air as the temperature lowered to be more comfortable to her, Morrigans breath came out as little puffs of fog. As she sat against the wall creating ice constructs she heard voices in the square.

She peeked around the corner and saw the Headmaster and a man in a mask. The men conversed but she couldn't make out the words. After a few moments the Headmaster passed something to the man and a small child went with the Headmaster. Morrigan was unsure what to make of the situation as the men went on their ways, but before she could go on her way other students appeared and began talking to each other. One of the students released a fireball and Morrigan made the air around her even colder. As they turned and walked away Morrigan decided it was smart idea and turned and went back the way she came avoided the others for now but leaving behind a small ice trail.

[Raptra]

Rainna Rivera

Rainna listened as the boy, who after disagreeing with her suggestion that the boy could be the headmaster's son, rattled off more possibilities. While she mentally considered each one, she managed to also catch the part about someone not being in his life. The implication was obvious, and it did not take much thought to conclude that he was referring to his own father. She was slightly caught off guard by his decision to share something she considered to be rather personal with a couple of people he did not quite know yet, but appreciated the fact that he thought enough of them to do so.

"Oh I see. Well uh, I'm sorry," was all she could think to say in response to that bit. She then proceeded to address his suggestions about what they had seen. "Those are all possible, and what I'm finding most suspicious about all of this is that it happened this late at night when no one's expected to be around, and that those two are most definitely nowhere close to being friends."

She let out a chuckle when at her invitation, the two revealed that they had actually come from the party. The situation which the boy claimed he would be in if he went back there seemed rather amusing, and the mention of it helped to slightly ease the current tension. However, they both agreed that they should head back in, with 'Davarius' deciding to introduce himself before that, adding that they might have seen one another around. Right, she had been too caught up in the whole situation to think about introductions.

"It's a pleasure. I'm Rainna," she replied, as they made their way back in. "It's understandable. The academy takes in kids from all over the world. It isn't possible to get to know everybody."

She was slightly stunned when the pyrokinetic pushed the ball of fire way ahead towards the girl with the purple earrings she had spotted earlier. There was another behind her, who prompted an even more puzzling reaction from Fire Girl. What did she mean by 'You'? Why was she starting to get all worked up? What concerned Rainna most, however, was the fireball, which was beginning to behave in an increasingly erratic matter.

The Hispanic teen cautiously place a hand on her shoulder, hoping to calm her down. "Uh, I think you can put that out now Love."

@King Tai @PokimKyOshi @Ken @OliveYou @Cerces22 @Eric Horst

[OliveYou]

Eyes trained on the figures of her fellow mystery-solvers, Yunnie takes a cautious step out of the stairway and into the courtyard, ready to follow the group back into the building (and hopefully take part in the discussion of suspicious men). Taking a look at her classmates, she notes the Hispanic girl who seems to be taking control of the situation, another who very suddenly pushes a (large!) ball of fire towards Yunnie, letting it float above her head. Yunnie, being the semi-skittish girl she is, flinches, then turns around to see another person standing above her on the stairwell.

"So," she says, "I'm guessing that you saw what I saw. And what they all saw. Whatever the hell that was."

"Y-yeah," Yunnie says, nervously, mostly because there's a ball of fire that is behaving in a increasingly nerve-wracking way, but also because if this was a real spy mission, she's be dead. Her sneaking-around skills, fostered in the no-magic-allowed house of her mother and father, have taken a bit of a beating. (Maybe they're even better at sneaking around then her. She should ask for tips.)

"I, um, was watching from the window," Yunnie supplies, not quite sure who she's speaking to or even why. When it comes to actually speaking to people, she tends to freeze up. Or mess up. "Then decided to come down--I'm Yeojung, by the way. But you can call me Yunnie!" (Oops. That's a little loud.)

After finishing her part of the investigation, Yunnie takes a step back from the conversation. The night is rapidly cooling, and in the dark courtyard, she has a thought occur to her--maybe wearing all pink and glitter wasn't such a good idea. If somebody shined a light on her, she'd be done. It's a shame; she was so excited to meet new people that she forgot about the problems that come with wearing shiny things late at night. Is it too much? It's too much.

Sighing, Yunnie performs another costume change, applying a one-size-fits-all camouflage to her skirt, jacket, and boots. (The earrings, though. The earrings stay.) She hates to make things so unpretty, but it's for the sake of the mystery. Who cares if she's feeling a little drained now; we all must make sacrifices for humanity's sake. And Yunnie just wants to fit in.

"Can't do anything about the glitter," she says apologetically, brushing some off her (such an ugly gray, ew) leather jacket. "But, about what we saw--it's too weird to not be important, you know?"

@Raptra@PokimKyOshi@Ken

[King Tai]

While heading back in, took a moment to realize that he let some information slip out that he didn't necessarily need to share. It was his disappointment in his childhood and the chance that this could be a father-son ransom situation that sort of made his mind go into left field. He felt a little silly speaking about one of his issues but what's done is done and he kept a straight face to not show he was a little embarrassed speaking about it the way he did.

Watching the girl zoom the fiery ball to where the two other females were, Dav got a better glimpse at them before his attention turned to Rainna when she introduced herself as well. Rainna...that's what's up. Nice to meet you too. He said still with a serious face. Guess we can look more into this matter later. Just let me know if you have discovered anything else... He told her. He gave the section of the dorm he was in and his room number. And...if you just wanna chill...just holla...and that goes to you too, fire girl. He told them placing his hands in his pockets before looking at the fiery girl along with this other Asian female that she started to talk to.

This girl...she called herself Yunnie? She was a little noisy but hey...he's a little used to it because of his invisible roommate. Dav looked the girl up and down watching her change her costume before his eyes and raised an eyebrow. Interesting? Was this an illusion or did she just have the power to transmute materials or something? Whatever she did, it seemed useful. If she wanted to disguise herself, that would come in handy if she wanted to do some recon or something. Then his eyes went towards the black girl that was near her. He didn't quite recall ever seeing her but she's probably seen what went down as well with Yunnie. But what was her power and name. He'd probably get it later but for now, he was going to call it a night.

4 young and pretty ladies all possibly having witnessed the same thing. Dav was not really used to being with groups but he tolerated it and if push comes to shove, he's befriend them all. Since this conversation seemed to be towards the other girls, Dav felt it was his cue to take his leave and maybe he'd meet back with them later. he gave Rainna his dorm room number so she could contact him if she needed him and looked at the other girls. Alright, I'll get with you girls later... He said giving a head nod to Rainna and the fire girl and then a slight head nod to Yunnie and walked pass the black girl with her while looking at her and making eye contact with her for a moment and gave her a nod as well before going down the hall.

After leaving the girls and walking some ways, Dav turned the corner and felt his foot slip a little. The hell- He looked down to notice a small ice trail on the hall floor going another direction that was opposite of where Dav was going. Perhaps...there was another student that saw what went down? Whatever....this school already had something crazy going down and a few students seeing it. Hopefully their safe haven was not in danger. The hall that had the ice trail felt a little drafty making Dav tense up his arms a little to rub against his sides. After a moment of looking down that ice trail way, Dav decided to turn and head back to his room hoping and praying that his roommate was not in the room with some quill bodied girl or a girl the secretes slime all over the place. His roommate had weird tastes in women...

@PokimKyOshi@OliveYou@Raptra@Cerces22@Ken

[PokimKyOshi]

Concern only continued to dance around Aira’s head. Just how many people have seen the incident now? Heaven knows that there may even be more people behind those glass windows with eagle eyes who are sheer witnesses now too.
While these thoughts steered, Aira had completely ghosted and forgotten the fire ball that she created, burning even brighter than before until she snapped back into her senses as her female companion took notice.

"Uh, I think you can put that out now Love." Aira could feel the touch of her female companion’s hand, who’d introduced herself as Rainna earlier, on her shoulder. The yellow color reflecting on her face coming from the fire ball alarmed Aira and with a few motions of her hands, the ball vanished with a slight poof.

“Sorry. T-Thank you.” She gestured at Rainna with a weak but generous smile along with deep inhales of her breath. Aira then took a few moments to take a look around her surroundings to see if she’s inflicted any harm or danger—luckily, nothing and no one got hurt. With one more deep sigh of relief, she turned back to the two other females, biting her lower lip with the worry that hasn’t quite left her.

“I, um, was watching from the window, then decided to come down--I'm Yeojung, by the way. But you can call me Yunnie!" The girl with the fancy earrings introduced herself in a rather startling manner.

“I see. Well, I’m- " In the midst of her introduction, Aira’s attention was stolen as she watched Yunnie undergo a camouflage transformation, eying her clothes as it changed colors. Though the glitters didn’t seem to co-operate with her.
Aira could only stare bewildered, thinking to herself on how the academy had never quite failed to amuse her yet. Just like now, surely there are more people in the academy who can surprise her.

“Nice one.” Aira complemented the girl with an amused smirk and a raised brow.

“Alright, I'll get with you girls later...” Dav then remarked, taking his cue to turn in for the day. After sharing information about where his dorm is located, he gave a nod to each of the girls as he headed inside the building.
Is it that late already? Aira asked herself, a bit stunned at how Dav had to leave so suddenly. She then took a look up at the sky to see how dark it has already become. It certainly had been a long night.
“Yeah, It getting kinda late now.” Aira declared, giving each girl a glance. “We should continue this some other time. But listen,” The brunette fire girl remarked, the last sentence twisted with a slight sharpness around her voice as she took a few steps closer towards the two new girls. “We have no idea of what happened either. We’re just as curious as you are. All we know is that the whole thing looked alarming. We can get to the bottom of this one step at a time, but its better no one else knows about this for now. Ayt?”

As she waited for a confirmation from the two, she shed a small smile and turned back to Rainna. “C’mon, let’s all head back.” And jerked her head towards the building.
As she started to amble up the stairs to the hallway, Aira took the opportunity as she momentarily waited for Rainna to appear in her peripheral visions. “I’m Aira, by the way.” She expressed at her with a genuine smile.

Halfway through the hall, Aira’s body jolted when she felt a chilling gust of wind-- not even a wind, but those cold airs that escape from refrigerators when you open them, blow past her face as she headed to her dorm room. She continued to tread lightly, cautiously looking around her environment to investigate where the cold air was coming from—possibly from someone’s room nearby with ice abilities? Either that or Jack Frost really is real.

Moments later, she noticed the feeling of the ground becoming more solid as her foot almost slipped, noticing that she was treading over what looked like a trail made of solid ice that led further down the hallway. She figured that her companions would have had noticed it too, so the girl continued to amble to her room, thinking that this must’ve been done by someone who had way too much fun at the party.
But as the trail continued along the floor, it even reached and passed the door to her room. Aira was starting to think that the person who did this surely wasn’t drunk. It started to look more as if they somehow intended it. But for what purpose? Could be anything.
The brunette decided to shrug it off (It's going to disappear by tomorrow anyway. The night has been TOO LONG.) and gave one last glance down the hallway to wave goodnight to any one of the group who was still present before entering her dorm room.

Till then, her headache can leave her in peace.

[Raptra]

Rainna Rivera

The girl with the purple earrings spoke up as they approached her, confirming that she had seen what they had as well, and that she had come down for exactly that reason. She introduced herself as 'Yunnie', before her bright outfit turned achromatic, save the earrings and the glitter on her boots. Rainna blinked a couple of times at the Asian teen's clothes, finding that sudden display to be rather surreal. Sure, strange abilities were seen everyday at the academy, but this one seemed like a trick on her eyes. An illusionist, interesting. The pyrokinetic girl had made the fire disappear, much to Rainna's relief, though, she wondered why she had thanked her. Was it for calming her down? She seemed like an agitated one.

"Sin problema, Amiga," Rainna playfully replied before addressing Yunnie. "It could be important, or just something that we're thinking way too much about, but weird is definitely right."

That was when Dav decided that it was time for him to leave for the night. He had given them his dorm number and requested to be notified should they find out about anything else. He also mentioned just chilling earlier on, and Rainna could see herself taking him up on that offer sometime. Besides, they would probably be seeing each other around the academy. Same for everyone else who was currently gathered at this place, in fact. Fire Girl agreed that they should all call it a night, and asked that they kept what they saw among themselves for the time being.

Rainna shrugged and nodded before repeating after her. "Ayt."

Her mind went back to the party back at her dorm, deciding that it was probably too late to go and get what she had come down for and that most of the students there had already left for the night. In addition, she was not sure if it was even safe to leave the school after what they had just witnessed. All she had to do was shoo the remaining partygoers out before crashing. Tidying up could be done tomorrow. She walked back up with 'Aira', who introduced herself before they split paths.

"See you around!" She ended off, before making her way back to her own dorm.

---

Roxgeo Forest - Clearing

4:00 p.m.

@PokimKyOshi @King Tai @OliveYou @Cerces22 @Ken @Eric Horst @Rabidporcupine @sempis

Right behind the academy is a large piece of land covered in lush green vegetation. For as long as Skyline had been standing, staff and students had used Roxgeo Forest as their location for training to test the limits of their superhuman abilities, away from the densely-populated areas for the safety of the public, or as public as it can get in the small island city. The entrance to the forest is merely a short trip from the back gate of the academy, after which one would take a walk through a Sun-lit forest path to an area cleared specifically for the students' use.

The day of the week had come when students would be taken out to the clearing after regular classes to explore their individual powers. The teens would develop their abilities or train to better control them under the watchful eyes of the academy's staff members, who would be present and available should their students require any aid or coaching. Students would also be encouraged to help one another improve in this aspect in any way they can. This was what inspired the implementation of the buddy training system, in which each student would be paired with a different partner every week for the purposes of their learning as well as their safety.

The session had just begun, this time with the student pairings being announced by the Head of the Science Department, Dr. Allison Roy. As the crowd of teens listened to the teacher, a few keenly-observant ones might have noticed that the red-haired woman seemed slightly more wary than usual. However, all else was normal, with the students dispersing at the end of the announcement to proceed with their individual training.