[IC] Portwood Institute for Talented Youths (PITY)

[Tyler]

The Next Day...

Mason Crawford

---

Mason's alarm blared wildly, but he swiftly tapped the stopper and brought its incessant ringing to a halt. He paused for a moment, hoping he hadn't woken Zach up, but aside from a few grunts and groans his roommate seemed to be fast asleep. That was good, Mason thought to himself. Not for any altruistic reasons, but simply for the fact that Mason liked peace and quiet in the morning. He slid out of bed and pulled on some baggy black sweatpants and an oversized shirt to match, both splattered with coloured paint. These well-worn clothes served a multitude of purposes for the usually stylish individual, from painting scruffs to chill-out comfies; but currently, they were for exercise. He grabbed his yoga mat from beneath his bed, along with his keys and cigarettes, then headed out into the grounds.

It was roughly 6:00am, and the masses of birds in the surrounding woodland sang chirpily to herald in the new day. Mason had always said his favourite singers were the blackbird and the wood pigeon. Mason had read once of a Swedish word, gökotta, that had no direct translation into any other language. Essentially, it is the act of getting up early to listen to the birds singing. Mason liked to think that yoga only counted towards half of his serene routine; it would be useless without the accompaniment of the morning chorus.

Mason found a nice grassy spot to lay his mat, and some time passed as Mason went about his practice. He was in the first pose of the warrior, virabhadrasana, his arms stretching up high whilst his legs were in a low lunge position. He breathed in deeply through his nose and exhaled through his mouth; he was sweating considerably, which to him was a sign of a good practice. He stretched his arms out wide and twisted to the side, entering the second pose of the warrior, and held the stance for a while longer, before returning to the standing pose of the mountain, tadasana. For a few moments, he simply breathed.

After rolling his mat up, he lit his first cigarette of the day and began to head back towards the dormitories, where he showered and got changed into something more... him.

***

By the time 8:30am rolled around, Mason had been up and out for a while, just strolling the academy and its grounds as he waited for his first lesson. It was scheduled for 9:00am, and his timetable informed him to be present at the sports field to the rear of the institute by this time. Reluctantly, he headed to the class early and figured he'd wait for the others to arrive. He didn't want to make a bad impression with the teachers on his first day.

Fucking Gym class... he snarled to himself. If this was anything like the schools he'd attended, he was going to soon find himself becoming very uncomfortable indeed. But hey, nobody really knew him here yet. Maybe they wouldn't pick him last here.

[Shard]

School had started on a rather sour note. It was hard to place exactly how bad it was. Casper had acquired...three friends? Greg, Mason and...Zach was his name, wasn't it? Also, there was Casper's roommate, though the two of them hadn't spoken much at all. Maybe they would get a chance to do so now that school begins. Casper kept his eyes on the floor was he walked, his usual clothes changed into a pair of black shorts and a t-shirt, revealing his scrawny limbs beneath. He had always hated PE class but for drastically different reasons than his current fears.

Understandably, Casper was always the last pick and always the one knocked down to the floor in whatever sport the group had the play. He was always the 'handicap' a team would have to play with and was treated as such. Casper hadn't been physically adept at all throughout his entire life, up until this point. What would happen now, exactly? The boy had no control over his powers and rather than being afraid of being hurt, he was afraid of hurting others. That incident in the cafeteria had swung back and forth and a lot of people had talked about it. In fact the boy notice a few stares on his way to class. Some of them were looks of disbelief and others were grins.

Hopefully that bully wasn't in Casper's class. That would suck majorly. Speaking of things that suck, would the group have to shower in a public bathroom or were they allowed to head back to their dorms and do so? He didn't quite know where this would go and given how his stay at the academy had started, he wasn't looking forward to it. Needless to say, Casper looked his typical, pale self. It was only more visible now that jeans didn't cover his legs and a sweater didn't cover his arms. One could almost say that he looked sickly but others would probably state that he just barely passes above that limit.

'Oh...that's Mason.' It would appear that Mason was first in line. As soon as Casper jumped out of bed, he had slipped into his clothes without even looking over to see if his roommate had woken yet. Casper's sleeping habits could be better, after all. He had woken rather early but stayed in bed until it was time to leave. This was it, the first lesson at his new school. 'Please, don't mess up, Casper...not now, not in PE class...' Probably the most feared and hated class in the country, probably the world, PE was what would introduce the new school year. Was that saying something? Hopefully not.

"Hello, Mason..." Casper spoke quietly as he approached the other boy and looked up with a soft smile before dropping his eyes back down to the ground. "Nice to see you again..." The smaller boy continued, rubbing his forearm with insecurity. If he could just up and run away, he would. There were only two people by the class room right now, maybe Casper could slip away without anyone else noticing? No...he couldn't do that. He was going to have PE more than once this year, he couldn't keep skipping out on it all the time. "D-did you sleep well...?" He finished, trying to create some small talk to perhaps get his mind off the fears.

[cerozer0]

Sunlight spilled through half-parted blinds, gleaming against the dark wood floor, shedding some light into the otherwise dark room. It was quiet for the most part, nothing stirred, nothing shifted, only the distant thumping of tired feet could be heard. The clock above the doorway read six-fifty-six, and the second hand ticked with quick succession, time ultimately traveling despite the stillness that surrounds the mechanism. The seconds ticked on, turning to minutes, and as the hour hand slowly slid over to the life suddenly filled the room. The nightstand next to P.K's head buzzed with excitement, her cellphone ringing out to waken the slumbering girl. It took her a moment to react to the noise, face twitching with annoyance, and after at least ten seconds of constant buzzing her hand rose, sliding across the touch screen and silencing the vibration all at once.

Phoebe laid there for a few more moments, blinking sleep from her eyes and glancing about the room, half-confused, but the confusion soon turned into a sense of remembrance, and she rose up into a sitting position, a smile parting her lips. This wasn't home, this was no sleepy room in a cabin on the bayou, there was no early morning frog croaks or loud, singing mothers. This was PITY. This was her second chance. She rubbed the remaining sleep from her eyes, stretching high before kicking off her blankets and tip toeing quietly towards the bathroom.

no need to wake up the roommate after all

The door creaked once, and then P.K slipped inside, flicking on the lights and breathing out a relaxed sigh. The bathroom was much different from her home one, cleaner, slightly smaller. Everything was shiny and new and didn't have that chipping-paint-and-bleach-smell. It was a change, perhaps for the better, and with that thought in mind she plopped herself down in front of the mirror. Her face was, of course, wracked with sleep. Bags remained under her eyes, red spots dotted her forehead, and her hair flowed freely in tangled curls. She leaned forward on the sink, glaring at her reflection with groggy eyes, and then she sat back and turned the faucet on, getting to work on her face and hair as quickly as possible.

About forty minutes later she emerged from the bathroom, hair somewhat tamed and twisted into a tight ponytail, and face lightly make-uped. She couldn't live without concealer, after all. Phoebe glanced about the room again, taking note that her roommate still seemed to be asleep, and with silent steps she made her way back to her own bed, sinking to the floor where her sling bag and suitcase sat. P.K silently changed into a very simple outfit, making sure to keep her hair from being touched to much, and once she was satisfied with her look she closed the suitcase and shoved it aside, turning to stare at her other bag. A pink piece of paper lay on top, blocked with her classes for the upcoming school year, and her light eyes traced the words slowly, taking in each letter. Forcing herself to remember each class by time and each time by class. This took her a good ten minutes, arguably, but by the time her phone started to buzz again at promptly eight o'clock she was fairly confident that she remembered each item. P.K reached up to silence her phone again before rising to her feet, pulling the sling bag up and over her shoulder. She folded the schedule into a small square and shoved it into her shorts pocket before exiting the dorm.

Phoebe hoped her roommate would at least stir from the door closing (wouldnt want her to wake up late after all right right), and with a soft sigh she started down the hall towards the front doors, hoping to catch a glimpse at the morning sky before classes started.

-------

The dew-coated grass was the first thing she noticed. It gleamed like frost in the half-light, shimmering beautifully as the sky turned from pink to purple to blue above. Phoebe felt her converse fill with water with each step she took across the lawn, but honestly she was much too focused on the sky to care. It was like a watercolor painting, free and flowing, honestly breathtaking. She only managed to tear her eyes away after she nearly tumbled over a wooden bench. She straightened quickly, hoping no one caught a glimpse of her banging her knees into the structure, and then with the utmost casualty she circled and sat on the bench, pulling out her phone to check the time.

eight-thirty huh got a bit more to go might as well relax...

And Phoebe sat back, sighing out a calm breath as her eyes once again connected with the sky, getting lost in the changing colors once more.

[Luminous Beings]

For the first night in a long while, Lynn slept...well. Relatively speaking, of course-she, belly churning (it was not used to feeling full, and it gnawed at Lynn, insisting that something must be wrong) and mind racing, tossed and turned quite a bit. A few times her fingers curled around the knife she may have relieved the cafeteria of (Lynn, of course, had the forethought to snag a fork and a spoon as well, keeping them tucked inside her bag. This way, she wasn't stealing a weapon, she was merely stealing silverware-and, for once, Lynn was pretty sure her looks would play to her advantage for this). Eventually, even with the rather disturbing thought of being snakebit seventy different times, all at once, she found sleep.

And in that sleep the usual dreams found her. Feverish. Glimpses of women whose faces she'd tried to forget. They blurred a bit. There were little girls in correctional uniforms and some brute of a woman grinning at her with yellowed teeth from within a nun's robes.

She woke up. Fuck. She had places to be, didn't she?

Lynn was never one to mess around waking up, she didn't need half an hour to get up and running. She slept light and woke lighter, fading in and out of sleep. But that night-that first night-had been an exception. She cursed her...softness. Shouldn't have let that happen, shoulda stayed on her guard. No telling what Snakes might try and pull. No telling at all. Paranoia wasn't pretty, but Lynn was still around-scarred and rough around the edges, but Chicago's streets hadn't brought her down, and neither would a literal cold-blooded roommate.

Lynn stumbled (perhaps she needed a moment or two more than she would admit to wake up) to her belongings, meager and haphazardly strewn in her corner. She still didn't plan on unpacking them anytime soon-she wasn't getting her hopes up. Lynn cast a few casual glances at Snakes while she gathered her things-Lynn didn't find her attractive (usually, Lynn's BAC needed to up a few points before she even began to consider sex), but there was a bit of tension about this whole deal. Snakes was tough in her own way, Lynn figured. Dangerous, beneath the haughty. And yet here she lie sleeping. Lynn focused on the task at hand, humming a Dre song (quietly enough to avoid waking her roommate) as she tucked into the bathroom, looking the toiletries Officer Felix had prepared for her. It was the sort of kindness she really didn't know how to do with, and Lynn examined the items as she brushed her teeth. Mouthwash, floss-who flossed?-deodorant. She chuckled, mouthful of toothpaste. There were a couple of different types. She hadn't seen a ring on the cop's hand-explained why he didn't know how to shop for women. Not that Lynn was a connoisseur of femininity either-she disregarded the tampons and pads hiding at the bottom of the bag, although she figured if she kept on eating properly she might need to worry about those again.

Lynn spat unceremoniously, scattering toothpaste all over the sink. She paused. Shit...she...she could go get breakfast, couldn't she? As much as she wanted? And then come back, to HER room, and brush her teeth again. And then she could go get more food. And nobody could stop her.

As long as she got to class on time, a little voice whispered. Lynn got a vivid image of a little mouse, scurrying along, eating one crumb at a time, until a cat slams its paw down-

Lynn turned on the faucet, the water coming out boiling hot even though she'd flipped the cold swith. Deep breaths. "I'm not a fucking mouse," Lynn muttered. No breakfast. Not this morning. She didn't need it.

Lynn threw her toiletries back onto the pile of belongings and slipped into some real clothes. She ran her hands across her arms, admiring her tattooes for a moment. She glanced at the mirror in the room, grinning wickedly. "Cordelia, you sexy beast," she muttered. throwing on the form-engulfing hoodie along with her backpack. Lynn jogged out, checking the beaten-up old watch on her wrist for the time. She, shall we say, had PLENTY of past opportunities to...acquire...nicer watches, but those stood out on street rats. You gotta play the part, or they'll know something's up. Want to know whose house to watch for? Look for the trap house with a Corvette in the driveway. She wasn't giving these Institute fuckers any probable cause. No siree. If she was getting kicked out of this gilded cage, it was on her terms.

She made her way to the PE field, sizing up the other people. Good, she wasn't first. Nobody likes a tryhard. Lynn was wearing basketball shorts, which comprised a solid thirty percent of her wardrobe. Hmm. Names. Names. There was the scrawny one-the one who'd better hope to God he never does hard time-and there was the European. German? Sounded sorta like it. Lynn knew a few guys in the Brotherhood, but figured they probably didn't know him. She wisely decided to wait until they were a touch more familiar before bringing it up. These guys were from the bus, weren't they? They must've had a lot of classes scheduled together and...aw, shit, she was gonna be around Snakes a lot. And that weird fucker who climbed on the tables at dinner. Lynn walked on over, her brown hair streaked with a few touches of warm blonde. Similarly, her eyes had the faintest specks of gold, an identical hue, just barely visible in the early morning glare. Lynn yawned, rolling her feet (her shoes were noticeably more expensive than the rest of her ensemble) and eyeing the handful of scars on her legs for a while. Heh. Good times. That jackass had sworn the car was only going thirty five...

"'Sup," Lynn muttered, not really knowing how you start conversations or whatever. "Is this gonna be, like, dodgeball and running laps and shit? Because I got a doctor to excuse me from that, on account of my not being a second grader." Behind the griping, Lynn would much rather prefer to be doing physical activities-ooh, maybe they'd get kickboxing-than mental ones. If she could prove her worth out here early, she'd get less shit later when they had to read books and stuff. Lynn grinned, looking at her watch without realizing it.

Tick tock. Sooner or later your charade's up, Lynn.

She took it off and stuffed it into her backpack, pausing for a moment, and then removing her sweatshirt, which was folded up with a touch of respect and then placed inside the pack. She threw her bag over to an unoccupied part of the grass, wondering if anyone was willing to die/go through her shit. She glanced back over at it every seconds, just to be sure. These two seemed alright, at any rate. Not people she'd hang out with in her free time (to be fair, there were maybe three or four individuals who fit that criteria), but not douchebags, which Lynn could roll with. Another twinge of sympathy and disdain for Casper emerged. Kid seemed weak. Lynn had a soft spot for underdogs, and figured she'd watch out for him. Watching out for him may entail helping him man up, but watching out nonetheless. If his ass got picked last and he started to cry, there wasn't much she could do though. "Hey," Lynn said, perking up and looking at Mason. "Sorry if this is, like, racist or whatever, but do they really call 'em royales with cheese instead of quarter pounders?"

[World Traveler]

Devin's morning routine took nearly three times as long as normal. Considering he still hadn't gotten used to the room it took him a few tries before he was confidently able to get into his shower and clean himself off. It then took him another ten minutes before actually getting to his clothes. From there it was the usual case of putting everything on and making his way out the door. From the get go he was thrown into a battlefield. People running this way and that as they rushed from bed to food to class. Some skipping one or everything but the bed. Still he found himself in the cafeteria and had a short breakfast before his watch vibrated; telling him that he needed to make his way to the gym.

Devin didn't expect much from his first period. After all there isn't a lot of activities he could do. Especially since he didn't have Nyx with him. It would be par for the course if Devin was told to 'sit this one out' as far as class activities goes. At least at home his school allowed him to take a jog around the track with Nyx. Here he was only armed with a cane and even that couldn't keep him safe if he were to jog. As he made his way into the gym he silently cursed his cane again as the tapping sound it made started to echo through the gymnasium. To him all it did was shout to everyone 'REMEMBER THERE IS A BLIND GUY HERE!'

He went to the wall near where people seemed to be collecting. He could make out some voices that sounded familiar, but either he didn't know their name or he forgot them. A few jokes here and there from the girl who just walked in made him smile again. "I think I might have you beat in the doctors note department." He said as he 'looked' towards her voice. He figured if he was going to have to sit for the rest of the class he might as well try and socialize. He heard her approach another person and ask about why they call cheeseburgers something else. He had no idea so he figured he would listen and perhaps join if allowed.

[Vesuvius00]

Erica Lankford

Erica had totally forgotten about going to the cafeteria the day before, as her excitement about the school made her forget her hunger. She had instead spent all her time exploring around the school, finding where all her classes would be and taking in the beauty of the building and the grounds around it. By the time she returned to her dorm room she had completely tired herself out, so much so that she hadn't even introduced herself to her roommate before falling asleep.

Now she woke up at the sound of the door closing. I missed another chance to talk to my roommate... She thought groggily as she sat up and looked at the clock. It was a little after 8, and her first class starts at 9, which meant she only had about an hour to shower, change, and appease her growling stomach. I've gotta get myself an alarm clock, or at least learn to wake up sooner.

It didn't take her too long to get ready to leave, the thing that took her the longest was her makeup and hair. As she was getting ready, she kept noticing her reflection blur into perfection, and she had to focus on not using her ability so she could see what she truly looked like. She was not perfect, not truly. She had bags under her eyes from worry and too many sleepless nights in the wild, and her hair was untameable from being left so long to simply be pulled back in a ponytail so it wouldn't be in her way.

Once she was satisfied with how her normal self looked, she finally dropped her focus. If someone notices something off about me, I'll have to explain about my power. It really does take a lot of focus for me to stay any one way for a long time, so I wouldn't be surprised at any little changes happening throughout the day. Erica finished up her thoughts and checked the time again. It was about 8:30 now, just enough time for a bowl of cereal and to get to her first hour class, which was... P.E.? She stifled a moan as she grabbed some gym clothes from her bag to change into in the locker room and a notebook and pen for all her other classes.

She went to the cafeteria and ate before heading to class, making her way out to the field after changing into her gym clothes, an old t-shirt that was way to big for her and a pair of shorts that were almost hidden under the hem of the shirt. She was on time hopefully, as there were kids there but didn't seem to be a teacher around yet.

Watching the group and listening to the little conversation that was going on, Erica realized that alot of the kids there could be recognised from the bus stop. With a smile she spoke to the entire group, calling out cheerfully across the dewy grass as she made her way over to where most of them were standing. "Good morning everyone! Beautiful day so far, right?"

[Tyler]

Mason Crawford

---

Mason watched as others began to arrive, and made smalltalk with Casper, Lynn, Erica and the blind boy, Devin. They hadn't really spoken before, and Mason directed most of his attention to the three he had already met. It wasn't a conscious effort to isolate Devin, rather just Mason's way of handling the situation. "Pretty small class, huh?" Mason asked the other four as they stood alone in the field.

A loud, shrill whistle interrupted their conversation. Mason turned to see a man marching towards them across the field. His features told the story of a former athlete; his muscular structure had begun to age and droop slightly, but Mason had no doubt that the man was still strong as a bull and could kick his ass with ease. The man stood to attention before them and addressed the group. "Well, don't just stand there," be barked. "Get running!" he ordered, jabbing his thumb in the direction of the field behind them.

Mason obeyed, and maintained a steady pace. All the while, this man was yelling with enough volume that he was easily heard. He was quite terrifying. "My name is Rick Wheatman! You will call me Sir!" he bellowed. "I operate on a strict 'NO BULLSHIT' policy! That means no fooling around, no weaklings and NO POWERS." Mason thought this was a strange rule to have at a school for mutants, but he was willing to oblige. It's not like his powers would be of any use out here anyways.

Without warning, Mason caught glimpse of Coach Wheatman jogging alongside him. Mason's smoker's lungs had done him no favours, and he was wheezing considerably. Coach Wheatman, needless to say, was not. "What d'ya call this, boy?" the man roared into his ear.

"R-running..?" Mason puffed, sarcastically.

"Boy, you ain't running!" he yelled. "You ain't SHIT!"

Mason stopped immediately, and looked the coach dead in the eyes. "I'm -- I'm trying -- my best." he gasped, catching his breath. The coach looked even more furious than usual.

"You're trying your best, what?"

"I'm trying my best, sir." Mason replied, purposely adding an obvious degree of venom to the last word. Coach Wheatman's eyes narrowed.

"Boy, don't you test me." he said, his gravelly voice made all the more menacing by the fact he was nose-to-nose with Mason. The was a moment of tension before the coach withdrew, and yelled even louder to the others. "This sissyboy says he's doing his best!" he called. "Well, if that's his best, then he's weak! And I do not tolerate weakness!" he roared over the field. "Everyone get your asses over here and listen up." he said.

"If this fairy's as weak as he says he is, then we gotta toughen him up. And if you's his friends, then I'm gonna guess y'all are weak too." he said. Mason looked to the ground in shame; he could tell where this was going. "Everyone drop and give me 50."

[Luminous Beings]

Lynn smirked. Small class? "Yeah, it'll get smaller," she muttered.

Lynn didn't know if that would wind up applying to herself or somebody else, but it just seemed unavoidable to her-this many hormonally-addled, superpowered fuckups running aroudn? Somebody was punching their ticket sooner or later.

Then Grandpa Asshole had to come along. Lynn, inherently, had a violent reflex towards authority. She was not born this way, but it set in pretty quickly after that-whether it was nursing ruler bruises on the back of hands from the Sisters or staring murder at whoever was in charge of detention that day or questioning the sexual fidelity of a police officer's mother as she got shoved face-first onto the hood of a cruiser, the instances of Lynn bowing her head and going with the flow were few and far between. It was a learned practice-authority had not been nice to Lynn (whether this treatment was deserved is, perhaps, debatable, but Lynn certainly hadn't thought of it like that), and in turn it had earned no quarter from herself. She didn't try and hide the judgment in her eyes as she watched Dick Eatsmen shamble on over. You hit your glory days a good three decades ago, didn't you? She thought she heard a military tone in his voice-he was standing up too straight, too much iron in his voice to just be a gym teacher. Barked like a drill sergeant. Coupled with the politically incorrect slurs....eh, it made sense to Lynn. She noticed little things like that. Who had bulges in their pockets. Who wore Rolexes. Who looked like they might be able to snap your thumb off if they found it checking out the insides of their pockets. She looked at his hands to see if there were any rings-because, Jesus, who would marry that-but couldn't get a good look.

Lynn snarled quietly as they took off running. She was fond of an old story she'd heard about the Native Americans. No idea if it was true, but it made sense to her. When they trained their dogs for hunting, they'd kill off the ones who fell behind. They'd do the same to the ones who ran ahead. Lynn had no intention of sticking her neck out or lagging behind-she'd cluster down in the middle until she got the feel for this school. Much as she wanted to cup check Mr. My-Daddy-Didn't-Hug-Me-Enough, it wasn't gonna do her any good. She'd glare at the prison guards, but she wasn't gonna give them a reason to whip those batons out.

Lynn took off running, a steady, well-maintained pace. She was more of a sprinter-and in that endeavor, Lynn excelled. Scrambling up fences and fire escapes, darting in and out of alleys? She could accelerate fast and haul ass. She hadn't had much practice when it came to the marathon, though-but a few laps? She'd be damned if she got her ass handed to her in the first few laps. While her nutrition may not have been the best, Lynn's body was used to taking a beating, and she gritted her teeth and kept pace towards the front.

Just not too far to the front.

Mason fell behind, and Lynn refrained from asking if he could go faster if he goose-stepped instead of walking. Lips sealed. She grunted and turned a corner, wincing as Mason replied to Rick. Don't give them ammunition. Another good rule. And don't give some pansy-ass "I'm doing my best". Just do better. Lynn's options in the past had been "Run faster" or "put on this orange jumpsuit and smile for the camera". She generally preferred the former.

Push-ups. Lynn let out a particularly violent curse, quiet enough to escape the notice of the gym teacher. Yeah, this guy had to have been military. Dividing everybody up against Mason, that was smart. Dick move, but smart. If he'd kept on cracking the whip, everybody would turn on Rick. Instead he threw a sheep to the wolves, made it look like Mason's smart ass was to blame for doing pushups. Dick Wheatmen might've been an ass, but he was a somewhat intelligent kind. Those were Lynn's least favorite brand of assholes. And fifty pushups? Lynn glanced at her arms, which likely contained more tattoo ink than muscle mass. She could throw a decent suckerpunch, but her only saving grace for pushups was that there wasn't much weight to pushup. She dropped down, feeling a trace of warmth running down her skin. Jackass had said no powers. Eh.

Lynn's arms crunched as she did the pushups, feeling the burn after the first few. Upper body strength and Cordelia Lynn Holmes weren't on speaking terms. She threw punches with her shoulders and abs, pulled herself up over fences with her core and her legs. Still, she wasn't about to ask for a handicap. Lynn grunted, forcing her body down and backup. She didn't touch her nose to the grass, figuring she'd need to save what power she had. She folded her arms, dropped low enough to avoid scolding from Coach, and hammered on. Casper crossed her mind-and while Lynn normally tried to stay pretty focused mentally, keep her eyes open and her thoughts clear, she entertained it, figuring anything that took her mind off the searing in her biceps was welcome. Wondered how his pansy ass was going to hold up against Rick, given that Mason had crumpled after about thirty seconds. Lynn, busy cursing with each inhalation and exhalation, figured this was a set-up. Granted, Lynn firmly believed most things were a set-up, and could entertain even the most delusion of conspiracy theorists, provided the government and the prison-industrial complex had a hand in it. But this seemed....pointless. Surely there was some fucker whose power let him do pushups really well or whatever. Or maybe somebody whose heart could beat more oxygen through or whatever, Lynn didn't know biology. They'd blow this out the water, maybe using their powers without even knowing. So Lynn figured her earlier hunch-and, generally, for her lack of formal education, Lynn's instincts can be trusted-this was just a test. They didn't care about pushups, no, they wanted to see who was gonna try and run ahead, who was gonna fall behind, and who was gonna keep their head down and do as they were told. Lynn would play along-for now. Her pride didn't like it (she almost felt a sense of nausea at having to comply with orders), and she couldn't even attempt to hide the fury on her face, but she played along. This was just another juvy guard, another nun. As Lynn kept pushing, her body started to slow down-the involuntary trembling that comes with exhaustion. Grunting harder, she poured everything she had into it, biting back the urge to start tapping into her powers. That being said, she wasn't sure if she was gonna hit fifty.

Nothing to do but look busy and hope Wheatmen was as bad at counting as he was at making good first impressions.

[Shard]

'No powers!? Uh-oh...' Casper felt his entire being drop into the pit of his stomach as this drill sergeant began talking, or rather, barking. First off, everyone needed to run a few laps and this was good, Casper could manage that without drawing any attention to himself. He hadn't heard anything about the cafeteria incident and that meant that it had either passed, cooled off or these people simply hadn't heard of it yet. Either way, it helped. The last thing Casper wanted was to be in this guy's crosshairs. He was scary to say the least. The way he treated Mason was beyond unacceptable, and that other girl...Lynn? She seemed incredibly dissatisfied with the situation. Of course she was, no one wanted to be there.

Keeping his eyes on the ground as he jogged, Casper deliberately ran slower than his new powers would prefer. It was actually a chore to do so as his newfound strength easily carried him with speed, even more so because of his small stature. Of course, his powers hadn't increased his stamina but given the fact that his weight was literally nothing to him, he would automatically be able to carry himself for longer than before.

The boy could however not say anything. He wanted to run up to Mason and see if he was alright but if he did that, he would just turn this military a-hole on him further. Checking up on his friend would only hurt him and that realisation made the boy clench his teeth in frustration. He had to drop it, Mason would survive this lesson and afterwards they could lick their wounds.

If anyone was paying attention, one would notice how Casper was deep in thought as he ran, the excerice barely even affecting his condition, if at all. His breath wasn't heavy, not yet. He didn't seem tired and the jogging exercise would almost look like an absentminded action while his thoughts were elsewhere. The sudden stop would however bring him back to attention and the boy stopped dead in his tracks, turning his attention to the teacher. 'Please don't look at me...' Casper knew exactly how tired he used to get during these exercises before his mutation developed. He would be worse off than Mason but as it was, one could think that Casper had been sitting at the sidelines the whole time.

'Fifty situps...!? Oh God...' Clenching his fists, Casper lowered himself to the ground and placed his hands on both sides of his frame. He hadn't done this since he got his powers and now that he was forced to do it, the outcome was scary. It didn't feel like he was lifting anything. Each push up felt like he was a feather and if he did it too fast he would throw himself to the ground.

"Son!" The boy would hear a familiar voice. "Ain't no way in hell you can do that without even breakin' a sweat! You ain't even out of breath!"

"S-sorry...sir..." Casper stopped at twenty pushups and rose to his feet. The droplet of sweat traveling down his forehead was less because of the physical strain and more so out of fear for this man.

"I said no powers, didn't I!?"

"Y-yes, sir..." Casper nodded, feeling his heartbeat accelerate due to the man's constant barking.

"Get your ass down and give me a hundred, without powers!"

"B-but...I can't turn them off, sir..." Casper responded, taking a step back, unable to keep his eyes on the teacher.

"Ain't no bullshit like that, son! You can turn em' off and you will!"

Without saying another word, Casper offered a soft nod and got back down to the ground, everyone's eyes now on him. He did another pushup, slowly and carefully. Still, this was so new to him. He couldn't even fake the strain because there was nothing there. It was like pretending that paper was heavy.

"Oh you're just enjoyin' this, ain'tcha!?" The teacher stopped the boy and ordered him to stand again. "Detention! Go and sit your ass down!"

"B-but..."

"What was that!?"

Clenching his teeth again, Casper wanted to just disappear. How the hell did he get into this situation by doing pushups? Without another word, the boy sat down at the edge of the scene and sighed slightly. This was so humiliating. He still hadn't gotten used to his powers, far from it actually. This was the first time he had exercised with them. How would this end...?

[Vesuvius00]

Erica Lankford

"I like smaller classes, it means the teacher has more time to help people individually. I don't really like gym class though, the teachers are usually mean and besides running I-" Erica was cut off by a whistle so shrill that she had to cover her ears. Soon a man who must have been their teacher was standing at attention by them. Erica's first thought was: Oh no. A hardass. followed very closely by, Well, at least I know one class I'll be skipping from now on...

He ordered them to start running, so Erica started going as fast as she could, almost forgetting to breathe as she ran. When the hardass called them over to where he had stopped Mason, Erica had almost been the farthest ahead. She jogged back, wondering what was up, and felt her face go red with anger when the hardass started using Mason as a reason to justify 50 push-ups.

Erica couldn't do a push-up to save her life, but luckily most of her gym teachers up until then had let her get away with putting her knees down and doing them that way. She counted to about 16 before she flushed with anger again. Now the hardass is picking on Casper?! Who the hell does he think he- Erica stopped altogether and stood up, breathing hard out of anger rather than working hard.

The hardass was going to send poor Casper to detention, because of something he can't control. Erica had dealt with some pretty mean teachers in her days, so she knew exactly how she was going to play this out before she even spoke one word. "Hey! Might as well send me to detention too. There's no way in hell that I am going to just sit here and let some Hardass-peaked-in-highschool-military man bully my classmates."

She took a few steps to follow Casper when she heard the hardass's counter attack. "Oh yeah little lady? Well this hardass ain't gonna stand for-" Erica cut him off.

"And while I'm on my way to detention, I'm gonna stop off at the administrative office and report you for excessive verbal abuse of minors and tell them you are too incompetent to be a teacher at this school, because you cannot seem to grasp the concept that most of us can't control our powers."

"Ooh, big words. I'd like to see you try." His voice was filled with venom.

Erica couldn't stand being around him anymore. She was going to do exactly what she said, but first, she had to get the last word. "Try? If you're ok with just trying then why are you being such an asshole?" Satisfied with that as her parting statement, she waved goodbye to everyone over her shoulder as she turned to leave, ignoring whatever the hardass was yelling at her while she walked back the way she had come to the field.

"Watch it little lady! Detention ain't until later!" Erica turned back to look at him, a triumphant smirk on his face. "You're stuck here for now. You said you were gonna talk to 'em on your way to detention. Now, you can redeem yourself and come finish your push-ups, or go sit with your beloved classmate over there and I'll put you in detention every day for the rest of the year!"

Erica sighed and gave an apologetic look to Casper as she passed him on her way back to where people were still doing push-ups. She wanted to put this hardass teacher in his place, but she didn't like the idea of a year-long detention because of it. She would report him later, and appease him for now. As she finished her push-ups, still not getting yelled at for having her knees on the ground, (maybe he didn't notice?) She thought about how it could be fun to spend each day in battle with this teacher, savoring the moment when she would never have to deal with him ever again at the end.

Yeah, that'll be worth it.

[Luminous Beings]

Lynn stopped doing push-ups, holding herself up with shaky arms somewhere around thirty-four.

Hmm.

Hmm.

The old proverb rung in her head, and she mulled over another caveat. Those Injuns probably couldn't afford to kill off ALL their hunting dogs, now could they? Low-risk. Good way to stick it to these gilded cage, PITY assholes (who were currently wearing the face of Dick Wheatment) without running the chance of fucking up her probation. Yeah, yeah that'd work. That'd work real nice, wouldn't it.

Lynn brought her knees up, standing up calm and slow. She'd been listening to Erica-eh, kinda cute, but something just seemed off about her, Lynn couldn't tell just what. Still, trusting her instincts had gotten her pretty far, and she resolved to keep an eye on the confrontational chick. Besides, she couldn't run the risk of having her "most anti-authoritarian" superlative snubbed by anybody else, now could she.

"Here's an idea," Lynn muttered to the other students. Likely loud enough for the teacher to here, but she didn't particularly care. "Given that we're the only damned ones who showed up, I'm not exactly appreciating this level of assholery this early in the morning. I vote we walk out, I don't have another class until...." Lynn paused, trying to remember. She had ignored most of the papers they'd handed her at check-in for a variety of reasons. Publically? Apathy. Privately? Lots of words she didn't know. The fuck was an itinerary? "...until i find my schedule again." she glanced at Casper, trying to size up if this little gambit would blow up in her face or not. She figured these three were pissed enough to be willing to walk out with her, and that would at least gain her some cohorts. If they brought the hammer down on them, it wouldn't be just on her-and that might be a saving grace if probationary hearings came 'round. Not only that, she'd earn a few allies. Lynn wasn't really feeling the love for anybody here, but it never hurt to earn somebody's respect. It'd be a good way to weed out the little bitches from the cool kids, anyways.

A little voice in the back of her head that had an eerie resemblance to the juvy center's therapist piped up. Maybe you'll even make some friends!

Yeah, I'll be pissing friendship by the time fall semester's done.

"Let's go," Lynn said, not waiting for a response. Looked a little cooler that way, and might galvanize them into tagging along-if she lingered, she'd jut draw Rick's ire, and that might shake some people off. She kneeled down, grabbing her sweatshirt and throwing it over a shoulder.

"Did I say you could be finished, missy?" Rick barked.

Eh. She might as well get kicked out for something worthwhile.

"Your boyfriend has to say that a lot, doesn't he?" Lynn snapped back, walking off the turf and sizing up the facilities. If her vague recollection of her schedule held true, she really didn't have a class for a few more hours. In the future, that slot would probably be occupied by detention-assuming they let her stay at the school-but hey, whatever. She wasn't about to sit there and take that kind of treatment. Hell no. Lynn walked off, ignoring Rick's rather vengeful responses. It took a lot to rattle Lynn-she'd heard and seen worse stuff than most could put together on the fly-and it showed as she sauntered off, cool and steady. If somebody else wanted to join her one-woman army of dropouts, all the better. If not, she'd find someplace quiet to smoke and count the hours til that bus came back.

"Shoulda taken Snakes up on that offer," Lynn muttered under her breath.

[cerozer0]

Phoebe arrived on the scene a few seconds before the first bell, wobbling towards the group gathering on the field shyly while others arrived with steep confidence. Though she had spoken to at least one participate within the class, P.K found herself alone once the teacher arrived. That was fine, nothing out of the ordinary, though she felt a pang of worry as she glanced at somewhat familiar faces in the distance. The pit in her stomach only grew larger as the teacher suddenly barked an order, and after glancing around with confused eyes she followed the starting crowd, teeth clenched in annoyance as the one named Rick Wheatman went off on a rather loud ruling spree. She kept up a steady pace, memories of the pacer test from middle school flashing in her head, but P.K wasn't the strongest. Sure, her stamina was trained thanks to constantly loosing control of her abilities, but she was truly out of shape and was panting within two laps.

Luckily, she wasn't as bad off as Mason. That boy was wheezing within a few steps. She sucked in heavy breaths and watched curiously as the teach suddenly started berating him, and her eyebrows furrowed with dislike. One would call a man like that a bully, but of course you can't scare the mean out of a stupid adult like you could with teens. She slowed as Rick barked a new order, and with a now permanent glare plastered on her face she dropped down and began attempting some push ups. P.K instantly felt her arms struggle to lift her body, and she collapsed after only eight.

Stupid, this was first period, first day of school, and already her face was red with exhaustion and embarrassment. This stupid teacher... No, this stupid tyrant. He reminded her of a military drill sergeant, a cold-blooded asshole with more muscles than brain, and as P.K focused her rage she felt her body begin to heat up ever more. She was now visibly glowing out. Luckily, the teacher seemed more focused at yelling at another student, and after taking slow, heavy breaths she allowed her head to calm, and with a slight grunt she turned to look at where Rick was shouting.

The girl with snakes for hair was standing, looking visibly annoyed (and maybe a bit tired). Words were passed, though Phoebe couldn't hear most of them with the pulse pounding against her ear drums, and then the beautiful girl was walking out with her shoulders back. Rick stared after with his mouth a gap, probably preparing to shout 'detention' at the girl's back. P.K slowly rose up from the ground, running a reddened hand through her afro before sitting back on her heels, watching as the snake-haired girl wandered far beyond the sounds of Rick's berating speech.

"Ballsy..." She muttered, and then briefly considered following after her. The feeling passed like a breeze though, as suddenly she felt eyes on her kneeling form. Rick was glaring at her, mouth parted in a grimace, and he approached with smoke steaming from his ears. Of course, P.K's defiant glare didn't do anything to clam his rage.

"Fifty push ups, now, brat." He growled, bending at the waist slightly so the two were eye-to-eye. P.K already felt her blood boiling at this kind of authority, at this man who was supposed to be making her work harder. She was always like this, she would always do the opposite of what she was told. Phoebe wasn't impolite about it or mean, no, she did it in little ways. Dying her hair, not coming to class. Walking out. The thought entered her mind again, glowing much like her skin had started to, and then with a devious, almost unnatural smirk she rose up, glaring at the gray-haired man with a fiery gaze.

"Sorry, Sir. I've got someplace to be."

"And where exactly would that be, missy?" P.K sat back on her heels, head tilting into a pointed finger in a dramatic thinking pose, and then with a snap of her free hand she was enveloped in a flash of light. Rick, startled, took a step back and started blinking the afterimages from his eyes, and meanwhile Phoebe had quickly rushed past him, heading to where she had seen the snake-hair girl go,

"anywhere but here!" She shouted over her shoulder before skipping off the turf and after Lynn.