[IC] Academy of Heroes and Villains

[Mistress Dizzy]

Kijani retained her cold look until she was sure both Kalinda and the strange boy were gone. But as soon as they left, she dropped her head, covering her face with a low sigh. "It's gotten so that random strangers are checking up on me like I'm a child..." She muttered a few choice swear words under her breath.

She picked her head up, looking at Connor. "As for why I was kidnapped yesterday... I was stupid. That's really all it comes down to. I was stupid, and I trusted Anthony more than I should have. I thought..." Her gaze went soft, and confused. "I thought he actually considered me an ally." She scoffed, and shook her head. "But again, my mistake. I've got as much use to him as a dull sword. Anyway... to the facts. I was working with Anthony because he found out some information on something that happened to me when I was a child. I'll get to that story later. The only way I could get the info I wanted was to help him. So I did. Along the way, I guess I forgot rule number one: Trust no one." She laughed, but it was an empty, bitter noise. "He didn't, of course, and betrayed me just when I thought I was going to get what I wanted. Instead, I got what I deserved for being a fool."

[MarshiestMallow]

"People want to check on you because they care" Connor said softly, shaking his head as she spoke. His hands curled into fists as she spoke abou how Anthony betrayed her. "Anthony is scum. No one should trust him. Better to keep him at arms length" there was an odd tone to his voice, and one hand curled into a fist. If Anthony had been there, Connor doubted he would have been able to control himself.

"You could have asked me. I could have helped." He sighed "what happened when you were a child? If it's connected, then I'm guess it has something to do with Waller"

[Mistress Dizzy]

Kijani gave him a weak smile. "Connor, to go up against Waller, you have to be willing to get your hands dirty. You're... too hero for that. I didn't want to put you in an awkward moral position, so I went to someone who didn't have any morals." She picked idly at the grass, going silent for several moments before she started to talk again.

"I was left alone a lot as a child. My parents... well, they conceived me, birthed me, and... well, that was more or less the extent of their major involvement. My powers showed up when I was young, but they told me to hide them. So I did, when I was in the house." She shook her head a bit. "I'm rambling. Facts, Kijani..." Pushing back her hair, she started up again. "I was eleven. I was in the park, alone, practicing my powers with a school notebook. Some people in white uniforms snatched me and threw me in a van. They drugged me. I..." Her voice choked up, and she clenched her jaw before moving forward. "I woke up on a lab table. They... they experimented on me. There were others. Younger mostly, none older than 13. Every single one of us had powers. The people who took us were called Alpha. They were trying to brainwash us. Turn us into an army." Her voice was becoming more and more hollow with each sentence. "They did... horrible things. Eventually my powers receded, and they decided to dispose of me." Her side was starting to burn like the scar was a fresh wound, and she flinched, pressing her hand against it. "They tried to kill me. I resisted. I ran. I made my way home, alone. Rule number two learned: You can only depend on yourself." Her hands were shaking.

"My parents didn't want to hear it. They told me to keep my story to myself. I... I retreated into myself. When I was fourteen, I took my parents to court and sued for my emancipation. I won... but then, they didn't exactly fight to keep me, did they. Waller took me in not long after I left my parents for good. She showed such interest in me, she said I was capable of great things. Said that she would be a child that she could be proud of. She taught me, trained me..." She jerked forward a bit, her grandmother's words bouncing around harshly in her mind.

"It was all lies, Connor. All of it. My parents never wanted me, my grandmother only saw me as a weapon, Anthony never gave a shit, and..." Her head picked up, and she looked him in the eyes. Her eyes, which were usually so full of energy, or pride, or anger, were brimming with tears. "And you keep saying you care, that you don't want anything of me. That you won't leave. You're a scientist, Connor. All the data is piling up over the course of my life, and when it comes right down to it... the chance is much more likely that you just haven't betrayed me yet."

[MarshiestMallow]

Too hero? Connor thought to himself, why do people have this sort of opinion about me?. He supposed he would never know. He looked down at his hands as there was silence. His hands didn't feel clean. He would have done whatever he could, to have rescued her.

As she started to speak, he listened, looking up. He took it all in, not interrupting. Letting her talk, letting her just speak. Right up until the end. "I'm not a scientist. I like science. But its not who I am. If all the data is piling up against you, you need to ask yourself this. Why am I still here? Why would I have bothered to break into a high security facility to save you, if you meant nothing to me? Facts are facts, but facts can be completely emotionless, and not worth the time. If we went with the facts, the science of it all, no one would have powers=it just wouldn't be possible. We wouldn't be here, and chances are we'd just be a couple of normal teenagers complaining about math, or wondering whose party to go to, or whatever normal teenagers do, and reading about super heroes and villains in comic books-well, I would at least"

Although Connor doubted, greatly, that he would have ever just been a normal teenager. "the only facts I care about right now are these: I'm not going to bail. I'm not going to betray you. I'm not here to take advantage of you, and use you. I'm not doing this for any ulterior motive. I care about you. You can trust me. You can depend on me. I've never given anyone, any reason to not believe they can, or that I"m going to betray them" He frowned "Actually, maybe Anthony, but that's Anthony"

He didn't look away, he made no move to even move, not yet. "You say I'm too hero. That I wouldn't be willing to get my hands dirty, and perhaps, before coming here, before meeting everyone, before this, us, I wouldn't have been willing to. Now...well, now things are different. So you can pull up your shields, hold me at arms length, continue to expect that I'll be like everyone else in your life so far, and don't give a damn, use you, betray you, not be there when you need someone-like now, but Kijani, I'll be there. Just there, chipping away at the shields, the distance, offering small bits of reassurance, until you believe I mean what I say. I care about you, and its your own fault. You just don't see it. You don't see your value, because of your parents, your grandmother and whoever else. But I do."

And finally, he couldn't take it anymore, couldn't stand it anymore. "Please don't cry. I hate seeing you cry" He wanted to hug her, to try and make it all better but he was afraid she'd flinch away

[Anime_Freak]

KatherinWinter said
"I have defeated most if those I have taken on but not all so I still have much to learn." Griffin said honestly.

"Yeeeaaah... You could probably beat me... You have alot of experience if you put it like that..." Kyra said.

[KatherinWinter]

Anime_Freak said
"Yeeeaaah... You could probably beat me... You have alot of experience if you put it like that..." Kyra said.

"I have much experince." Griffin agreed. "Sometimes imagination can be more beneficial the experince and that I lack."

[KatherinWinter]

.

[Anime_Freak]

Kyra raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? How so?"

[KatherinWinter]

"Anyone can learn a fighting technique. some might take more time to learn it then others, but anyone can memories patterns." Griffin told her seriously. "But not everyone can take that knowledge and use it in unique ways. Even fewer people can be creative enough to think of their own patterns."

[Anime_Freak]

"Ah... I see..." Kyra said quietly. "Still.. I'm not that good... I need alot of practice before I can even call myself 'okay' fighting wise..."

[KatherinWinter]

Anime_Freak said
"Ah... I see..." Kyra said quietly. "Still.. I'm not that good... I need alot of practice before I can even call myself 'okay' fighting wise..."

"Maybe we can practice together sometime." Griffin offered.

[Anime_Freak]

Kyra smiled. "That would be nice... Thanks..." she said, watching the floor as they stood there.

[KatherinWinter]

"it is me pleasure." Griffin assured her. "We all need to learn to fight."

[Anime_Freak]

Kyra looked up at him. "I'm thinking maybe we should get to class.." she said, smiling warmly.

[KatherinWinter]

Griffin chuckles. "Of course. You are sure."

[Anime_Freak]

Kyra smiled and adjusted her bag on her back and nudged his arm. "Well, c'mon, I can't afford to be late again.." she said, laughing softly as she began to walk.

[KatherinWinter]

Griffin chuckled and followed her. "Zack would be upset if I was late."

[Anime_Freak]

"That sounds like him..." Kyra joked, looking at him. "If I'm late again, I'll end up missing everything I need to know.. Again..." she said, shrugging.

[KatherinWinter]

"we can't have that." Griffin told her. He opened the door to the roo.

[Anime_Freak]

Kyra poked her head inside. "Ah! We're just in time..."