[IC] Superheroes on Minimum Wage

[twave]

Since the two she approached appeared otherwise occupied, Carol's attention was drawn by Oliver speaking. He seemed to be taking this odd turn much better than she was. Though maybe it was just the sudden and seemingly random selection that put here here now. Carol shrugged slightly and moved further into the training room. There were a lot of things to try out, though quite a few of them were strewn about from the whirlwind. She spotted a soccer ball rolling along. "Well, might as well try this again." With a short sprint she nailed the ball. The usual resistance she expected from kicking the ball wasn't there and it flew in a straight line, bounced off the wall with a loud smack, and came flying back toward Carol's face. On instinct she tried to catch the ball which resulted in her crushing it between her hands which resulted in a loud pop. Stunned she stared at what was left of the ball before cropping it. "Oh...kay. That's actually kind of scary."

Her powers were potentially some of the more dangerous at this point. Carol literally didn't know her own strength and destroying the ball without even trying meant she could do some serious harm to those around her. Unfortunately there was no way to really know how strong she was without first testing it. She glanced over at some workout equipment in the corner and headed that way. There was barbell that had 220 pounds on it. Trying to lift it it flew off the ground like she was lifting a plastic chair. Carol stumbled a bit before looking at the weight dumbfounded. Rolling the bar in her hands she held it out on the ends of her fingers, arms extended, before letting it fall on the ground with a clatter. "Can someone else try this? It just feels wrong." Eric made a request for some assistance testing his powers. At the moment Carol was a little afraid to touch anything else so she headed that way.

"I guess I can help with that. I think I'd prefer to test my powers when others aren't around anyway. So you just need me to stand here right?" She could feel the heat a bit from where she was now. But it wasn't any worse than being a few feet from a campfire. But then again she was three yards from Eric.

@Nevix@Duthguy

[Duthguy]

Eric was glad that someone was willing to help test his safety levels before he accidentally burned someone he was trying to save."I know what it's like not wanting to use your powers where you can hurt people, after all I doubt the others are fireproof. So for now I wanna figure out the minimum safe distance for when I'm like this."

After he explained his reasoning he slowly got closer to whom he only knew as wheelchairgirl, knowing he couldn't keep calling her that he decided introductions were in order. "I just realized I don't know your name, I'm Eric soon to be AKA Pyroblazer." If he was totally honest with himself Eric would admit he wasn't too sure about the while hero business and at the moment was more concerned about making sure he wouldn't hurt someone again. "The trashcan fire and the doorknobincident could have gone a lot worse."

[Subject Zero]

Dani watched on in horror as Paul snatched up the rubbery Ms Velmont and started whipping her around. She initially considered doing something about it but eventually decided it would be much more fun to just see what happened. She wasn't disappointed when Velmont started chewing Paul out for his actions. She knew he deserved it but at the same time she almost felt sorry for the big and then small lug. As she watched Paul scurry out of the room, she wondered where Derek had gotten to. He was missing all the drama. She watched the doorway for a moment, only to see what looked like a hamster scurry past. Dani's right eyebrow slowly rose as she thought about that for a moment before finally saying "Oooookaaaaaay...This place is weird."

When tennis balls started randomly shooting around the room, Dani was initially confused. But after all the weirdness that had happened today, flying balls hardly rated. Standing by the wall and watching the goings on, she tilted her head slightly as she tried to figure out this latest crazy. Her eyes came to a stop on Oliver, who was standing in the middle of the room, precisely where the balls seemed to be coming from. Dani squinted at him, almost mirroring his look of intense concentration. She wondered just how he was doing it. What was his power? She was distracted when a stray ball headed her way. Acting entirely upon instinct, she reached out her arm to the side and caught the ball. For a brief moment she stared at it in her hand but she wasn't really thinking about the ball itself. She was thinking about her reaction to it. She hadn't even thought about it. She had just acted...That was so cool!

A smile crept across Dani's face as she thought of another test for her speed. As Oliver fired tennis balls around the room, Dani chased after them, like a cat chasing after a ball of yarn. She caught all of them before they could hit anything. As soon as she caught one, she dropped it at her feet and moved onto the next one. Some flew high into the air and Dani reacted by leaping up after them. She was impressed by her own athleticism. She was a cheerleader and as such was used to jumping and spinning in the air, but this took it to an entirely different level. When Oliver stopped, Dani stopped too. She stood in the corner for a moment, quietly giggling to herself.

She took a moment to calm herself as the others wandered around, testing their abilities. She watched as Carol lifted weights like they were made of paper. That was impressive. When Carol dropped the weights, Dani, somewhat foolishly, decided to see if she too was now super strong. They few moments she spent pulling at the weights like something from a comedy skit quickly proved that she was not.

"Ooh, what a workout." she said with a groan as she gave up and straightened, hearing her back pop as she did. "I'm hungry. Is anyone hungry? I'm really hungry." she informed the others as she passed by, making her way towards the door and trying to act like she hadn't just humiliated herself. She continued to mumble a stream of incoherent words as she turned the corner, unaware that she was talking too fast for anyone to actually understand her.

[twave]

@Duthguy@Subject Zero
"Good to meet you Eric. I'm Carol or Valkyrie as my sheet says." She could definitely feel the heat coming from the flames as he moved closer. Given the distance it probably would be rather blistering to most people. However Carol's increased durability seemed to also help with the heat. It still felt extremely hot, but it prevented her from burning up like most probably would at a couple yards. That said her clothes started to singe and smoke which was probably a good point to stop. Stepping back Carol placed a palm an her arm. "Oh man, I'm burning up. What in the world did they give me?"

Despite the lack of physical harm from the heat, it did still get to her. Stumbling slightly she had to sit down. She may be able to survive getting burned, but heat exhaustion was still a thing. Holding her head slightly she stayed calm. Having been out in the sun for some games she knew the feeling even if she wasn't physically tired. "Note to self: I can still overheat. Got it." Looking over she caught the tail end of Dani's efforts to lift the weights. At least that confirmed the strength part. What the girl said she missed though. Unsure if that was the exhaustion being the cause or if she was just speaking unintelligibly. But Carol did spot a water cooler by the door that somehow was still standing. "Ah water would be good." Picking herself up she went over and got a drink. "Maybe I'm not a good gauge for testing your powers. My body seems to react a lot more differently than it used to. Maybe I should change into my outfit." Checking her clothes they seemed alright, a little golden brown and crispy on the ends but mostly intact.

[Heathen]

Derek Quintanilla & Paul Lombardi

Collab post between Heathen and DrewVonAwesome

---

Paul was finally able to just relax again, though he still felt like just being by himself for a little bit. He was fairly sure now he knew what to do with his newfound powers and honestly staying shrunk sounded nice for the moment. Very strangely peaceful and quiet. He leaned back against the bed post and just slouched down. Looking up at the relatively massive world around him as he was finally able to just relax a little.

That is until something furry came up next to him.

With a raised eyebrow Paul slowly turned over to see a hamster right next to him. "Ah!" Paul suddenly realized another weird crux of his small stature at the moment. An animal normally sized to fit into his hand normal sized, now looked something of a monster when he himself was small. The second thought that came into his head was why exactly was a hamster in the super secretive base? He was going to have to ask about it later but for now he reached over, gently scratching the top of the hamster's head. "Hey little...ish... buddy. What brought you here? You a superhero too? Super Hamster?"

Derek tried to resist the urge to eat little Paul to the best of his ability which seemed to work. Paul didn't seem all that frightened that a gigantic hamster was in his presence but with all that's happened today, nothing was too far fetched. Derek's human mind took over for a second and tried to communicate with the small person but with no avail. The only thing that escaped his lips were that of hamster noises and squeaks. How in the hell was he supposed to turn back? Was he going to stay stuck a hamster forever? He was too cute to stay stuck as a rodent. He had dreams and aspirations which being a small furball wasn't a part of it.

"Hey little...ish... buddy. What brought you here? You a superhero too? Super Hamster?"

Derek tried to respond to Paul but it was no use, although the head scratch wasn't half bad. All he could do was sigh to himself and think what he could do. When he turned into Rodney, he thought about him. Maybe if he thought about being himself again then maybe he could turn back. Trying to push away his animalistic instincts, he did his best to think about himself and how he would love to be human again. It took a few moments but finally he got it. He began to grow taller while the hair on his body receded back into his skin. At long last he was himself again wearing that red and black uniform he was provided.

"I think I need to go back and read those papers again," Derek said coughing up some fur. "That's what I get for skimming over the power section. In fairness I didn't pay much attention because I thought everything was ridiculous," he said to Paul who was now even smaller now that he was back to normal. "I don't know if I'll ever get used to this. I mean I was a freaking hamster," he said as he sat beside Paul making sure not to sit on him.

The hamster stayed quiet for a moment before suddenly turning into a man. In a way that made Paul feel his last meal start to creep back up his throat. Putting a fist to his mouth to keep from vomiting Paul turned back to see a giant in comparison Derek now leaning in and facing him stomach first. Paul wasn't used to seeing someone being giant in front of him perspective wise. He now had a feeling how the others must of felt being around him as a giant. "To be fair I totally did too, but I've been shrinking and growing all day so it wasn't too difficult." Paul noted leaning back upright against the bed post. "I hope you can hear me like this, I'm trying to speak up but I mean I'm not sure how far a voice projects from a very tiny person." Paul called up to Derek. "You did make an adorable hamster though, but please dear god tell me you can turn into something else than a hamster... be hard to stop crime as a hamster I'd assume."

"Well it looks like I have some catching up to do. It seems most of you already know the gist of what you can do," Derek said having to look down at Paul even though he was sitting as well. Changing your size was something Derek felt like was easier than turning into other species of animals. After calming down a bit, he had to admit what he could do was really cool. Not many kids their age could say they have powers they have to use to protect the city, as corny as that sounded. "I can hear you just fine. You sound a bit funny, but you're still audible," he said letting out a slight chuckle. "Yeah, you're right. Derek the killer hamster probably wouldn't do much in a fight." Which reminded Derek that he needed to go grab his file and skim over it one more time. "I'll be right back."

The hispanic boy left to the other room briefly to grab his file, glancing over at Paul's again. He probably shouldn't mention that he happened to take a peak at some of it. Derek didn't think Paul would like it too much if he interrogated him on his preferences. He managed to make his way back and sit next to Paul reading over his own file. "Oooo this is interesting. Apparently I can turn into any animal I touch. Which explains why I turned into Rodney after I touched him earlier today. I was wondering what that tingling feeling was when I petted him. I guess I was 'acquiring' his DNA." He looked over at Paul and gave a side smile. "I'm guessing our first mission is to head to the zoo so I can acquire some better animals. Hamster boy just won't cut it."

Paul watched Derek leave, for a moment his eyes lowered on Derek and he caught a glimmer something big, round, and tight against Derek's own red and black suit. Paul swallowed his saliva before quickly looking away. Scratching the back of his head awkwardly. He was thinking about wanting to eat peaches right? Sure.

At that point Paul decided he didn't really want to grow back to normal size. At this rate really enjoying himself being tiny. It was weird, and he never thought he'd like being small... in overall size not in... other ways. But there was something nicely comfortable about the world around you being so huge, and you could easily hide away from it all. As Derek came back with his paper work Paul stood back up. Stepping onto the paper which made very small pattering sounds from his footsteps.

"Man looking at paper like this is crazy." Paul noted reading Derek's file with him. "Dude I haven't been to the zoo since I was a kid, I should sneak in with you in your pocket or something!" Paul said chuckling. He sighed at the end glancing back up at Derek.
"I mean so long as you don't... I mean you are gay right? NOT THAT THERE'S ANYTHING WRONG WITH IT." Paul quickly waved off the notion. "Just... you know what never mind. I've already shot myself in the foot enough today..."

Derek gave a look of confusion as he looked down at Paul he was standing on top of the paper. He tried to hold back a laugh as he watched him put his foot in his mouth as most straight people did when they brought up gay things. Derek knew he wasn't being malicious but it was still funny to see him freak out. "Um yeah I am indeed homosexual," he said finally letting out a laugh. "But you're fine, honey. Even though I'm a bit confused as to what you're trying to say." Derek let out a sigh and stood up finally after looking through his sheet.

"I haven't been to the zoo in a few months and I absolutely adore animals. This is probably the best power for me. I want to be a vet one day so this ability could help me understand animals a bit more. However I think we need to get back to the training room before we get bitched at. Did you need a lift or did you want to walk?" Derek walked over to the doorway and looked back at miniature Paul before looking out to see if anyone was looking for them.

Stepping off of Derek's paper work Paul looked even more awkward at his teammate's suggestion about getting bitched at for not going to the training room. Paul sighed letting his body grow back to normal size since he wouldn't be able to talk to Derek shrunken if his teammate was going to be standing like that.

"Yeah that's the thing..." Paul awkwardly started, "Like I was already in there and I kinda sorta... like in giant form grabbed Ms. Velmont without thinking and used her as a whip and she got super pissed at me to the point of inflating up like a balloon then she chewed me the hell out for it and I just ran into this room to cool off." Paul stammered through it all, like he was telling his mom something wrong he did. "So I don't know if I want to go back tonight. Even at the risk of getting bitched out again." Paul chuckled awkwardly at everything, though it was clear it was all still bothering him deeply.

Derek just nodded his head and tried to hide a smile by putting a hand over his mouth. He had to admit Paul was a bit adorable when he was rambling. This was something Derek did when explaining something he was passionate about so he knew all too well from experience. "Ha, a whip...that's funny." It took him awhile to adjust to the fact Paul was back to normal size and at eye level with him. He almost forgot how good looking he was, but he knew since they were going to be on a team he couldn't get distracted. Plus he was straight until proven otherwise and he wasn't the type to chase people. "But you don't have to worry about that. I'm sure she'll be over it. I won't let her chew you out again, I promise. So let's go," he said grabbing Paul by the arm and pulling him along.

Paul felt Derek grab him by the hand and start to pull him out of the room, "I hold up wait!" Paul tried to protect, but Derek was nothing is not persistent. At least he was cool to be around judging by everything so far...

[Princeofhearts]

Finian Smoke

It was a dark room filled with teenagers around his age, Finian's age. They were all facing each-other and a woman was standing there while staring at the teens. This dream was very confusing but yet very interesting in Finian's opinion. It was all of a haze, but he never backed down on a mystery to solve!

Finian was staring at the computer screen in his room, his eyes didn't blink for a bit and his stare was completely -blank- even some of his saliva was dropping from his mouth. His body might have been in the room but his mind was in another state.

"Finian! You are going to be late for school! yelled a woman from the kitchen as she was walking up the stairs and opening the door to see her son staring at the computer screen. She rose an eyebrow before clapping once, a very loud clap at that. CLAP. "FINIAN!" she yelled.

Finian quickly snapped back into reality as he quickly closed his laptop. "I wasn't looking at porn, I swear. I wasn't." he stood up from his chair but accidentally hit his knee against the table. A jolt of pain sent through his knee as he jumped with one leg while rubbing the knee that was in pain. For a boy for his age, Finian had a womanly developed body, he had the curves and the very round buttocks. Finian turned over to his mom with a pouty face but, his mother just stared at him for a bit before laughing and telling her child to hurry and go to school. Finian was already ready for class and he was pretty late as well.

---

School time.

A few minutes ago, Finian arrived to the school while staring at his phone. He was too focused on the screen that he didn't notice that his body was eventually going to hit against an open locker door. BANG. Finian fell on the ground with his phone still on his hand, thankfully, his phone was very important to Finian by the way. "I'm so so so sorry." he told the student before walking away while making a few arrangements into his phone. He wasn't hacking or anything, Finian was playing a video game.

The school day went by pretty quick, he was called to the principle's officer with a few more students. They were all looking pretty well but Finian was just standing there with his arm gone. It wasn't literally gone, it was still there but just invisible. He sat on the chair, waiting for whatever that was about to happen. Hopefully they wouldn't be transferred into another school or anything, Finian is really trying to hack into the school's systems. Just to change the lunch menu!

On the way into an HQ

This limo was very fancy, and it was the first time that Finian has been in a limo. Yeah, it really was. He nodded while listening to the woman's voice, she was basically letting them know what was about to happen and whom they were going to replace. So, basically they were going to be some kind of superhero team? In the inside Finian was screaming with joy, of-course they would need someone with his very smart techy skills right? He sat there with a leg on-top of the other while waiting for them to get into their destination.

As they arrived at the HQ, the woman left the students in a base. It was a huge room where they would basically try out their abilities that they each possess. They were all chilling in the room, but Finian was in his own world, he looked around the room to see if there was anything here to do. He, like the others, was wearing his costume that was provided to him. The costume was a skin-tight costume with a short red cape attached to the back, it squeezed in his curvy curves. "This costume is pretty tight... but I like it...." He said while staring at himself on the mirror, he slightly turned his body around while his head is looking over his shoulder. "Wow, I have a big butt..." Finian looked at himself in the mirror for a few seconds before thinking of an amazing idea of practicing his powers of invisibility in the bathroom. No one was there so it was a perfect plan! He concentrated on his abilities, as his body started to slowly turn invisible but then flash back into exposing his visable body. A couple more tries and he was finally invisible but there was no way for him to turn back into his visible body. Finian took a few steps backwards before looking around the bathroom. "Oh snap. How do I turn back? Oh god, I'm going to be invisible forever. I really hope I won't be invisible forever, I don't want to be run a business with my body invisible. I'm talking to air right now, even-though it doesn't look that weird since it's just me in the ba-- Stop." he wanted to get out of the bathroom but instead stayed there to try and go back to his visable state.

[knighthawk]

It was all a bit sudden, Thomas and Lyra were sitting off to the side as he tried to perform meditation techniques with her when she started having a headache that grew to a migraine rapidly. It had only taken a moment, but she was whisked off to the private medical wing for tests, they could not take a risk with anything at this point. Looking around, Carol was with the flaming-no wait, different name, sexist association. The boy on fie, like hunger games. Oliver was playing with tennis balls with the cheerleader, big surprise the jocks were together. Two of the guys were missing, one was in the LGBT who hadn't shown off his powers yet and it put a giggle in his head that he could be hanging out with someone who could change size. Carol playing with Fire, Size missing, Lgbt missing, Melting teacher left, Cheerleader playing with Oliver's balls, him, Lyra's in the infirmary...

He needed a minute, might as well go change. Practicing his teleport, he saw himself across the room and let his mind wander becoming weightless for a second before snapping like a rubber band to where he wanted to be at the costumes. He had a second of intangibility to orient himself before becoming solid. Something in the pins and needles sensation prevented him from solidifying until he was free of anything else. part survival technique, possibly exploitable with training. He took up the rag-man costume and found a ropedart tucked into the folds with a note, Now there was something he was used to, he took up the note and read it as he went into the bathroom to change and locked the door.

~Thomas, we hope you can use your ninjutsu with this without betraying your desire to keep the origin of your training from your father a secret. However, we feel that it would be in the best interest of the team if you did teach at least some rudimentary moves to the others. To use your own lessons, A ninja is only one part of a team, the success of the mission depends on everyone working together.~

Damnit, leave it to the secret government facility to make total sense.

[Subject Zero]

After leaving the training room, Dani wandered around the facility, only half paying attention to where she was. Her mind was racing with other thoughts. It was finally sinking in that her life was going to change. She had super powers. God damn super powers! That was incredible. All of this was incredible. She couldn't quite believe any of this was happening. She still felt like she would wake up at any moment and all of this would have been a crazy dream. As she walked, she actually pinched her arm just to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

This whole 'superhero' thing was going to have an impact on her entire life. Her family. Her friends. Her school life. Her thoughts drifted to one of her favorite tv shows, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She remembered how Buffy was continually getting into trouble for skipping school because she had to go save the day. She basically had to put her entire life on hold so she could be a hero. Dani stopped moving in the middle of a hallway as she thought about that. Was that what was in store for her? She was already missing the school pep rally. The girls would no doubt have some bitchy comments for her when she next saw them. She wasn't exactly on the best of terms with the other cheerleaders as it was. For a moment she thought about just leaving and heading to the pep rally. With her new powers, she could probably be there in no time at all. She stood for what felt to her like an eternity as she stared in the direction of the exit. She turned back to look in the direction she had come. The others were still in the training room. The plan here seemed to be to make a team. And what kind of message would Dani really be sending to the rest of that team if she abandoned them right now?

She had to make a choice. Right here and now, she felt like she was making a choice that was symbolic of her entire situation. Did she go to the pep rally and back to her old life? Or did she stay here and embrace her new life? As she thought about it, she heard a voice in her head. The voice of her younger sister and something she had once said to her. At that moment, everything became clear. A smile crept onto Dani's face as she came to a decision.

She reached into the handy utility belt that had been provided with her costume and searched around until she found a pen, making a mental note to test out some of those gadgets later. After she found one, she took a moment to look around for a place to write. She decided on the nearest wall. Slowly and delicately, she wrote a message more to herself than anyone else. When she was done, she stepped back and smiled at her impromptu graffiti. She was quickly distracted by a rumbling in her stomach. She was so hungry. Maybe her speed had given her an accelerated metabolism. If that was the case, she'd have to eat a lot. Maybe she could get everyone together for dinner. Yeah, that seemed like a good team building thing. She could probably lay out quite a spread in a short time. She began to wander off in search of the kitchen, planning to cook a meal for everyone and leaving behind her message on the wall.

"If nothing ever
changed, there'd be
no butterflies"

[Duthguy]

While Carol ultimately didn't prove as a big a help as Eric had hoped, it was still better than nothing and he appreciated that she tried. As soon as she complained about burning up he quickly backed away from her. "Thanks for the help anyway and I'm sorry about your clothes."

After some focusing he managed to stop burning though switching between states still took a bit too long for him. It was at that time that he got an idea for training his powers that should be reasonably safe even with the others around. He decided to spend the rest of his time trying to speed that process up.

[knighthawk]

For nearly a half hour, the bathroom door was locked. There were sounds of grunting or groaning and, if you listened closely, there was even Thomas talking to himself. Finally, after what was more than enough time to have already made dinner, the door unlatched and out stepped a wraith. Six and a half feet tall but impossible to weigh with its billowly bulk, it moved without a voice and only the Soft sigh of silk on cement. It bobbed as it moved, mildly exaggerated movements left the wisps trailing like jellyfish tendrils as it found its pace.

Finally, as Thomas exited the bathroom, Finian quickly exited like a minute before he left. He was invisible thankfully and his face was turning as red as a tomato, he just seen someone in the bathroom put on his costume and even-though it was a good sight, Finian was still pretty embarrassed. "Ohgodohgodohgodohgodohgod." he muttered to himself while taking a few steps backwards away from the others, as his back was already against a wall. Thankfully no one could see him right now, or else they would have seen someone whose acting pretty strange from what happened in that bathroom.

Suddenly it exploded into motion, breaking into a run of serpentne pattern with the bobbing increasing in pace, it started to flit back and forth like in the anime's until it flit up and held its place for a moment as if utterly weightless before kicking off the wall and coming back down before running straight at and through one of the others with a sensation of low current electricity like if you accidentally touch the prongs when unplugging something, the warm worms that crawl through you.

Finian cleared his throat before his body slowly turned visible one again, but he wasn't really with the group. They were all together but Finian was once again in the back being the lone wolf that he was. He ran his fingers through his smooth hair as he stared at Thomas for a bit before looking away. "Oh god, I really need to get that out of my head. I just.. I'm going to stay here.. until someone comes for us..." he'd say while his body slowly slid down on-to the ground, sitting down while staring at the others communicate with each-other.

Lastly, the ghost sinks down into the ground itself and seems to vanish before appearing behind oliver in a haze from nothing.
"BOO!"

[DrewVonAwesome]

((With special guest Subject Zero))

She was hardly a master chef but Dani knew her way around a kitchen. Like a whirlwind, she circled the room, preparing food for everyone and laying it all out on the long table on one side of the room. She had maybe overdone it a little (or a lot) and by the time she was finished, almost the entire table was covered with all manner of food from salad to burgers to soup and cake. She had used pretty much everything she had found in the over sized fridge, driven partly by her own massive hunger. When she was finished, she stopped to admire her handiwork and smiled at the food, pleased with herself. Of course then she realized what a mess she had made. But the benefit of her new powers was that she could tidy up just as quickly. The mess was quickly gone...Most of it. As she sped around the kitchen island holding a number of pots and pans, she slipped on something she had spilled and she fell to her back. The clatter of pots hitting the ground could be heard from behind the island, followed by a silent pause and then a slow "Owwwww" as Dani groaned in pain. She slowly pulled herself up, holding onto the island and making a mental note that speed wasn't always the best option.

When Dani called in the rest of the team for dinner Paul rejoined the rest of the group there, he sat a ways away from Ms. Velmont and wanted to keep things that way. He wasn't sure if she was still mad at what he did. Though she didn't look super thrilled from what he could tell. After dinner it was a bit more training and fun before one by one they went to bed.

At noon the next day, a Saturday to be exact. Everyone got back into their costumes as Dr. Maria Stanford, met them in the training room. “Alright I hope everyone had a comfortable night's sleep last night. Today we need to start taking about your skills, or possible lack there of, when it comes time to fight.” Stanford noted as Paul quietly gulped nervous. His mind started to form a possible scenario this was leading and he didn't like it.

“So with that in mind I'm going to start by arranging some sparring matches between each of you, I'll pair two of you against one another. I don't expect anything perfect for now, I just want to know what it is we have to work with before we start taking training seriously. Time is of the essence since the general public still doesn't know about what happened to The Superhero Legion, and we need to keep it that way until each of you are prepared.

“So with that in mind...” Maria started looking between the ten of them in line clearly thinking of who to put who with.

'Please not me and Velmont, please not me and Velmont, please not me and Velmont...' Paul frantically thought clinching his helmet tight under his left arm.

“Lets go with first Mr. Lombardi and Ms. Velmont...” Maria concluded.

“SHIT!” Paul let slip before quickly snapping back to attention.

“Do you have an issue with that Mr. Lombardi?” Stanford asked with an eyebrow raised.

“Uh~NO! No absolutely not just uh...” Awkwardly coughing Paul started to glance over to Ms. Velmont. Afraid of what her reaction is.

[Cuccoruler]

Cia Vs. Paul

Collab between Cuccoruler and DrewVonAwesome

Cia had woken up that morning in far better mood than she was in before. She had spent the past day working on her own powers getting the hang of them. Eventually though she also started to formulate certain strategies as well.

Cia looked over at Paul and smiled. "This will be fun huh?" Cia said cracking her knuckles with a smile. "I hope you took what I said into consideration yesterday, think of a full plan before you start to act." Cia added, if she was going to be working with this group she was going to have to make sure the group could come up with a plan on the fly.

"Uh I thought that was for working together not for you beating me up!" Paul stammered, already considering if he could use this against her in school. 'Yeah we're in the big superhero team and she beat me up so that is grounds for termination right?' He would say.... Still he took a deep breath. Sliding his helmet on and although he felt the butterflies flying around so hard that he swore he could feel them vomiting.

Maria had a moment of palming her face at Paul's very real hesitation. Still Paul seemed like he was ready and although she didn't know what had happened last night, she could tell something happened between Paul and Cia.

Paul stared down Cia, quickly thinking about just growing tall and stomping down on her, but she'd be expecting that right? Paul could feel the sweat beading down his forehead before she heard Maria call to both of them.

"Are you ready? Are you ready? Begin!" She clapped and gestured for the two to spar.

Cia looked at Paul with her normal unethusiastic look as she approached him. Cia had been formulating a plan since the began. Cia stretched her arm into a whip and quickly tried to whip at his face with enough force to either hurt him or stun him. She would follow the attack up by attempting to run at him. "Show me how you use that brain of yours!" Cia demanded as she enlarged her hand and tried to grab at his face.

Feeling her arm slap him across the face only caused him to stammer back because of his helmet, and when she started running at him all she got was air as Paul seemingly vanished from in front of her.

Having shrunken down he hesitated to look up, only to see her suit's undercarriage, as he stayed away from her feet to make sure he doesn't get squashed. It was insane to think how he could lose the fight that way... well the fight and his life. Paul ran out behind Cia and then back up her hind left leg, running full speed up her ankle, thigh, and butt like a flea on speed.

Cia was a bit shocked when he turned small, but then she smiled. He was using his head this time and planning out his attack. As a teacher the fact that he listened to her gave her satisfaction. "You've improved on those tactics." Cia said but then her skin started to act as if she was melting. He would have a harder time with a foot hold like that. Cia then sent a sort of wave of flesh from the top of her back down to her legs to knock him off. Her next attack would attempt to kick him towards the wall.

Watching on as the floor Cia's body was running up was turning into some weird melty blob thing. Paul had to switch tactics, hopping over and around, grabbing hold of her costume to get to her front side. Only to realize how stretchy her costume had to be. Feeling himself pulling the costume and going to the ground though gave him an idea. As soon as he reached the ground, he leaped back up to the air and using her costume like a slingshot got launched up into the air. "Woohoo!" Paul shouted from the sheer insane adrenaline rush as he soar well above Cia. Only to realize...

"Uh wait... now what?"

Cia watched as Paul launched himself into the air, then he didn't seem to have any other plans. Cia at this point transformed her body into a puddle. Atleast at first, then she shot it up to grab him and surround him in the bubble. Paul could have chosen to turn big once he was in the air and attempt to crush Cia, though Cia could have become a puddle again after that. As far as Cia saw this game going, it would be a long game of trying to catch a slippery pig.

Paul's eyes shot open watching a sudden puddle start to launch up at him. "Oh man this is fucked up." Paul could only mutter to himself before suddenly seeing a plan. Quickly he started to grow bigger and bigger. Going well past his normal height as she was coming up quick. Maybe he could crush her under his larger mass.

Cia suddenly changed shape once he grew large again. She had been waiting for him to grow large again this whole battle. Cia shifted her body into a sort of rope and while he was in the air she started to hog tie him. When he was on the ground again and she was out of the way she only had a leg left to tie down. "Your plan was good, but not good enough. You need to factor in your oppenents abilities too." Cia said using this as an opportunity to teach.

Paul slammed so hard as a giant to the ground the entire underground base shook violently, the large hero letting out a howl of pain, feeling like his body got ran over by a train. He had certainly fallen over before, but that was well beyond what any other time falling down fell like. It didn't help that Cia had started tying his arms and legs together all while giving him a lecture on planning. "When... the fuck... did you turn into... SUN TZU?!" Paul yelled struggling and getting more and more mad against such an insane but annoying moment. Yanking hard on Cia's body tying him up, only to struggle getting back up to his one leg. Spying the nearby wall and with all his might hopping backwards right into it, sticking his rear end out against Cia's stretched body.

Cia felt her body slam against a wall. It hurt quite a bit to the point where she turned into a puddle on the wall. "I may be a math teacher, but that doesn't mean I haven't studied other subjects too." Cia said turning into human size and shape again. Cia sighed looking up at him before switching to suddenly stretching her body as large as she could. "You ever played rock paper sissors?" Cia said with a smile as she came down on him like a blanket and tightened around him.

Paul stumbled to the ground, again shaking the base hard as he let out a sudden yelp in pain. Sure he got Cia off of him but he also just slammed his lower back, ass, arms, and right leg into a wall. Causing him to feel a sudden jolt of pain everywhere. When Cia called out to him Paul had started inadvertantly shrinking and couldn't help it as he clinched himself in agony. Only getting a brief moment of being blinded by lights to see a giant blanket about to drape down on him. "Shit..." was all he could mutter in response.

Cia tightened more around him and seen enough she was in human form again with Paul in her hand, a bit dazed from the lack of oxygen. "My win." Cia said before setting him down gently. "You had a good plan, but you got a bit blinded by emotions Mr. Lombardi." Cia said was she walked back towards the group. "I hope the rest of you can start thinking of your battle plans as well." Cia added.

"Oh...shut up...teach..." Paul could only get out through gasps as he laid on the ground shrunken, thankfully she couldn't hear him... at least he hoped she couldn't. Still he just wanted to lay there for a while, as he swore every muscle in his body was trying to kill him at that point.

"Well done, both of you..." Maria noted giving Cia a nodding approval. "Alright lets go with next... Mr. MacIntyre against Mr. Pierce.." Maria called out, gesturing to the two to step forward for the next fight.

[Duthguy]

By the time Eric was able to go from normal to aflame in about 45 seconds and back to normal in 15, they were called for dinner. He didn't mind at all as he was starving. It seemed as if using his powers burned a lot of calories and skipping lunch didn't help either. As a result he didn't exactly talk wit the others, and not only went for seconds but thirds as well.

When he arrived in his new bedroom he quickly noticed that whoever furnished it for him also included a nightlight. Sure the design was childish, but at least he had an option besides sleeping with the normal lights on or having to deal with an unknown dark room.

The next day he was shocked to hear they were gonna spar, he hadn't even figured out a safe distance for others when he was on fire never mind any other tricks to avoid hurting someone. At least he wasn't one of the first two to fight, no that "honor" went to the math teacher and Paul as it turned the name of the sizechanger was. To his surprise the teacher ended up winning by wrapping herself her opponent. While he was still wondering why Paul didn't simply shrink again he was revealed to have to fight next.

[knighthawk]

Thomas was by no means in any plan to become the leader or strategest for this group, but he was still going to find a way to help out. Back when Katrina happened, one of the humanitarian aids was a bunch of comic books for kids to help pass the time. It never made a comic nerd out of Thomas, but he still appreciated its comfort. That tied with the eXcalibur comic from the library yesterday got him thinking.

He spent a bit of time burning the midnight oil last night to look up comparative powers for each of the members in the group and downloaded a ton of PDF's of comics and their relevent issues. When he found the anime equivalents he downloaded 'best of' videos. He left thumbdrives for everyone with their stuff on it in the table for breakfast.

[knighthawk]

"Finian, Thomas, You're up."

'Phantom' Stepped up to the arena and had to bite down on his bottom lip to not laugh as he looked over at the one in the red cape. This was going to be interesting. No matter the powers, he knew that he had to be fast. Sadly, it might be time to let his secret out. Thomas wanted to talk, to tempt, to tease. Get his opponent emotional and flawed, but is what what 'Phantom' would do?

Finian quickly jumped up but as he did his head banged against the counter. He squealed quietly while rubbing his head before walking over to the center of the room where Thomas and Finian were going to have their spar. Tis was very interesting, they had a very rough meeting back then and now are up against on another. "But wait, I don't exactly know how to activate my powers or anything..." he told the teachers while staring at Thomas and offering him a small smile with a friendly 'don't hurt me' look. Finian was very scared of Thomas, he looked like the type of person to draw blood on his opponent in order for him to stop.

Watching the way Finian carried himself, he came to a slow decision. Phantom could be a ghost of vengeance or justice, Thomas was here to be a part of the team. That starts with education.
"Then don't use your powers. Use what you know, rely on what is dependable, did you want a staff or a club?"
It was odd to hear his voice coming out of a psycho grinning mask. Normally he would have taken the hood off, but he needed to get used to the weight and obscurement of the mask. Making it hard for others to see his eyes also meant it was hard for him to see out, he would need to talk to them about vision enhancement if he was going to do this whole 'ghost' thing.

A staff or a club...? Finian didn't know how to use none of those things, but he did know how to use the computers! But that wouldn't really help him out in this case. "I don't know how to use none of that... but I ... don't know if I shou- how about I forfeit and you win the match then?" he asked while raising an eyebrow as he stared at Thomas with his very creepy uniform. Finian was obviously scared of Thomas and he didn't want his adorable face to be all messed up because of Thomas.

Thomas make a overly dramatic thoughtful expression, hand on chin with head turned up to the ceiling. "Hmmmm...Nope. I promise to avoid your face. Tell you what..." Thomas fades from sight, fading back in about five seconds later, five feet from Finian with a pair of towels from the bathroom. "I'll make this a demo with you instead. You are about to kick my ass with your cape."

Finian slowly rubbed the back of his neck nervously as he noticed Thomas disappearing for a second before appearing right back with a few towels on his hands. Finian rose an eyebrow with confusement on his face as he slowly nodded his head pretending as if he knew what was Thomas speaking about. But no, this was the only way for Finian to actually learn his powers and to learn them, it will have to be used in this spar. "No, I think we should actually fight and use what we know of our abilities." he'd say with a nod while slowly getting into his fighting position. This fight was going to eventually and probably end his fear of fighting. "Just not the face, It's too cute for it to be ruined.." he spoke with a soft giggle.

"If you insist... Widen your feet, they should be equal to your shoulders, an 'H' not a 'V'."
When Finian took the moment to look down and re-examine his stance, Thomas would strike. He throws one towel at Finian's face, letting it open up and block line of sight for just a second as he stepped forward at a 45 to Finian's leading hand as he takes the second towel into his hands like a rope. The next step is another forward 45 behind finian, using his own leading arm as the guide to get behind him so they are back to back in just two steps with the distracting towel. As he has managed to get behind Finian, the next part is easy. He simply throws the rope of a towel over the back of his shoulder to loop over Finian's neck like a loose noose and snaps forward to shoulder throw Finian backwards over Thomas's and onto the mat.

This was a spar but instead Thomas was helping Finian with his fighting position, but of-course that didn't mean that Thomas was going to go easy on the pretty boy. A small smile formed on Finian's face as he did what Thomas told him to do before starting to run towards Thomas but his opponent was too quick as his eyes were blinded by the distracting attack and then suddenly his body was thrown over his shoulder and falling backwards onto the mat. Finian yelped in pain before throwing both of his hands in-front of him as if covering his face so Thomas wouldn't hit him anymore but as his hands were in-front of him, there was an invisible force field surrounding the pretty boy that was on the ground. Thomas couldn't see it, but if he attempted to hit Finian then his body would probably get bounced up. "Youuu win, you win!"

Thomas was surprised it went as well as it did, but even more so when Finian didn't immediately get back up. "Come on pretty boy, I think we need to put a facemask on that helmet for you. Maybe like the one for Vega from street fighter." One would have to admit how creepy it still was to have a wraith of black tendrils speaking with suck a kind voice reaching out clawed hands to pick up the other off the ground. "Note to R&D, can I get some nekode on the palms for this thing?" As finian took the offered gauntlet, THomas pulled the underclassman up and brush him off before muttering something into the winged ear of the headpiece to make the boy blush.

The force field slowly dispersed as Finian stood up from the ground while staring at Thomas. Why was he being so kind to Finian when this was a fight? "No no.. I just need to uhh man-up and I am pretty sure that I would be alright. I can do this... I promise." he'd smile at Thomas while his cheeks slowly turned pink because of what Thomas whispered to him. He was obviously blushing because of the whisper, his body froze and all he did was nod as a respond. But, Finian whispered back at him with a nervously tone of voice;
He looked curiously before staring into Thomas' mask as he tilted his head to the side wondering why Thomas was being so nice to him. Even if this was just a spar, Thomas had to win already right? "Shouldn't you win already, since you did just let me fall... and we shouldn't really take our time to fight, so we'll just say you win then?" he asked while rubbing his bottom, it really hurt to have fallen on his butt though.

"Sounds good to me, besides, a twist on the throw and I'd have snapped your neck instead."
He left that hang in the air as he used the towel to rat-tail Finians ass like a jock since he was already rubbing a sore bottom and walked off the mat, leaving the junior standing there.

[Duthguy]

Eric was impressed with how the fight between Finian and Thomas went, especially since as far as he could tell neither used their powers. "I never thought about that." If he did the same thing there was no way he would accidentally hurt his opponent, the downside was though that it wouldn't help him to develop his powers. He had checked out the thumbdrive someone left on the breakfast table for him but it showed him nothing he hadn't already considered. In fact it just seemed like someone used videos from popular anime, though admittedly that wasn't everything that was on it.