Are We Heroes: Rekindled [IC]

[The Cyberiad Council]

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OOC | Theme | Roster| Lore Thread

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Early morning crepuscular rays filtered through the few clouds that lazily drifted over the cold waters of the Atlantic as the first students were rousing themselves from sleep. The higher achievers were bright-eyed and ready to get the day underway while those of a less enthused inclination stumbled from their rooms and to the concrete walkways beneath in the vague direction of food. Some instructors like Grey were already wide awake and keeping a watchful eye on the students as they stalked their quarry of the cafeteria, fearfully respective of the carnage that could break out were they failed to be fed. Other instructors were making their way up the winding drive from the staff housing further down the hill from the school's main complex.

Peregrine, a member of Cypher's team: The Regents, flew upwards and away from the school before breaking the sound barrier over the water surrounding the Island on his morning patrol. Several other notable heroes were visiting the school for various lectures and training exercises, but there were rumors buzzing around that 'The Eagle' himself would be visiting today. No one really knew why, but that didn't stop the rumor mill from conjuring all sorts of theories.

But for the time being it was just another Monday. Winter still had a foothold until the Sun sent down its warmth. Vindicator shivered slightly in the chilly air, a fan of a more mild climate himself. "Hurry it up will you?" Vindicator growled with his gruff voice as he zipped up the remainder of his jacket that was left open indignantly.

"I'm just making sure its in the right spot, Mr. Giles," Chitin snapped back, driving the weighted end of a rod with a colorful flag into the ground so that it stayed upright.

"Is everything good?" A thickly accented voice thundered behind them, causing Chitin to jump and whirl around to see 'The Russian' (no other name or title is needed or appreciated when referring to the mysterious member of the UoRH) who suddenly appeared, lurking, behind them. He had built the nine city blocks that surrounded them in about thirty-six hours give or take.

"Yeah, everything's fine. We're just setting up for the exercise later today," Chitin muttered, unnerved by the man's piercing stare. Seemingly satisfied with the instructor's response, the Russian closed his eyes and nodded thoughtfully. Chitin took the chance to glance at Vindicator who had a bemused grin on his face, much to Chitin's chagrin. "Nice job as usual, komrade," Vindicator said, clapping the constructor roughly on the shoulder, "But we need to be getting back."

Chitin gave an uneasy attempt at a friendly smile, but skirted around the Russian and broke into a brisk walk to catch up to Vindicator who was almost back to the car that the two had driven down to the urban training course on the island. "Bit of a strange guy, isn't he?"

"Yeah, now hurry up and get in," Vindicator muttered back. Chitin rolled his eyes, not phased by Giles' gruff exterior after working with him for a few years, but it was very unsettling when he'd first been asked to teach for the Institute.

---

Back at the main school complex, most of the students had found their way into the cafeteria for their morning meal along with most of the Instructors. It was a relaxed environment like most of the school was. The training regiments and classes could be very stressful depending on what material was being covered, so the students were largely left to unwind when they could. This was one of the calms before a storm, especially with most of them anticipating the various training exercises that were being prepared for them.

As tradition at the Institution, upper and underclassmen were mixed and put on 'Training Teams' together in the hope that some of the older students could give younger and less experienced students come guidance while giving the upperclassmen a taste of leadership and responsibility whilst helping both become more accustomed to working in a team. The tactic had been wildly successful in the past, and was even noticeable now, with some tables a mix between first and third years with a few other levels mixed in ever so often.

What team 4 didn't know was that the exercise that awaited them was a preliminary for their finals; a last chance for their instructors to highlight areas for the students to work on between classes and missions...

[WhatsamattaU]

(Alice Bélanger (a.k.a. "Papillon"))

She had gone to sleep the night before with a sense of dread. Now, dressed in unflattering urban fatigues, Alice Bélanger slid her breakfast tray half-heartedly along the grooved track and tried at least to select enough healthy food to power her through the Team 4 exercise.

Her red hair, now in a ponytail, dipped softly as she unenthusiastically confirmed her selections with the cafeteria lady.

Alice loathed day team exercises. Years ago as a child, she had been thrilled to find that The Great Zamboni had given her a gift of real magic, but it could only be used between sunset and sunrise. Now she had been compelled to attend university with meta-humans and to try to learn to be a hero. She, a normal girl in the daylight had to work with a team of wanna-be superheroes. At best she might qualify as an "agent", but would more likely wind up as an observer, or a hostage, or a casualty.

Life wasn't fair.

Something in her dreams was troubling her too. Alice was ashamed. Some nights she woke from sleep feeling aroused. But she had no idea why. None of the other students really excited her in that way. Not at the swimming pool. The only naked body she had really noticed since coming here was Florence's, the other first-year girl. That couldn't be the cause, could it?

Alice sat down to breakfast.

Why couldn't the test be at night....

[Higher Japan]

Marilyn 'Aegis' Willow

As day dawned, Marilyn was still sitting in her room, delicately working on what appeared to be a smaller copy of her built-in generator that she installed into her room. Slowly moving the pieces, she stopped for a moment. The wiring had been finished, all that was needed was to just find a way to regulate the energy generation after finding the source and ensuring that it wouldn't just become a grenade at the end of the day. As she set her equipment and set down she sighed. It was already daybreak, and time for breakfast. Either way not like she could help it. Her body was assisted by electric shocks will did help to keep her awake if she needed them.

As she left her room with her tablet, she tightened on her specialized gloves while mentally listing off what was going on today. Apparently there was another training simulation, urban combat. She was to either be deployed as a forward strike force or a rear line support.

As she entered the cafeteria, she saw that one of the others was already there. As she made her selection of breakfast, she silently took her tray and sat down before looking through the tablet and reviewing prior data collected on her minitarized energy generator experiment.

[Faal Lot Himdah]

Phallu, Crimson Shadow
Ex Nihilo

---

"Ughh... What time is it?" Phallu groaned as he woke up, lifting his head from the desk. At sometime over the night he must have fallen asleep. Studying was hard for Phallu, simply because he had to work on his reading and writing skills at the same time as studying content like everyone else had to do. But he was not going to be discouraged, and so, in preparations for the coming exams, he had been staying up later than normal, studying away. And that was why he was waking up at his desk, he'd been up late studying. Once he remembered that, he took a look at the only clock in the room.

"Good, not late." He said to himself. A few minutes later, he stepped out the door and headed for the cafeteria. The breakfast he got was something that took him a while to get used to upon arriving at the school. Before coming here, Phallu rarely got to eat a meal at the beginning of the day, so when he was first given such a meal he thought something was wrong with it. Now he knew that there was nothing wrong with it, and was immensely grateful everyday for getting it, and would force himself to eat it all even on days he wasn't feeling great. But anyways, with the breakfast obtained, he made his way to where Training Team 4 sat.

"Yassoo!" Phallu said, waving to those at the table before sitting down, "How are you both doing? Ready for the training thing today? What are you working on over there Marilyn?"

[Okayanos]

Fionn Szabo

Kaiju

Fionn barely wakes up in time, after his dream ends with falling from a ridiculous height. As usual, he woke up before he hit the ground. The white-haired boy rubs the sleep out of his blue eyes, sitting up amidst his sea of sheets. “I’m a sheet in the streets, but a street in the sheets...” He mutters to himself as he prepares for the big day- training exercise day. The good ol’ Willy Nantz Institute always made sure to mix things up. More than a new arena, he’d also be working with a new team. Exciting, but also kind of intimidating. There’d been some real dickheads on his teams for the last two years.

He makes his way down to the cafeteria, joining the rest of his team- all first years, plus the Aegis girl who looks like a first year and usually acts like one too. “You fuckers better be hyped, it’s exercise day for us today. If they split us into teams like one of my past ones- I’m not going easy on you all, hope you know.”

[Eisen]

Charles' sleep had been better these last few weeks, thanks to the new medications he'd been taking for his anxiety. Nonetheless, he'd still have some trouble falling asleep, but his sleeping was far more solid than it had been before the medications. This was a moment, one of them at least, where the world to him was shrouded by the fog of tiredness, and as such, he was incapable of thinking about anything more than the hunger of his stomach. The large man groggily got up from his bed, somewhat early-ish, at least. Charles didn't take too long to put on some new shorts and form-fitting tank top, both black, before trudging out of his room for food.

As he usually did, Charles had his earphones in as he entered the cafeteria area, something he often did to avoid conversing with others. Very faintly so, the sound of drums and electric guitars flowed from the buds, along with a collaboration of symphonic instruments. It was just one more thing to use to try and stay away from the world. And as per usual, Charles helped himself to a meal of Incredible proportions before finding a place to sit down alone at. A corner seat at a corner table. He was more comfortable alone. Not out of spite or Malice, but due to his inability to understand how best to perform with company. Something he wasn't at all used to.

To be honest, there were times in his life where Charles was actually fairly socially active. Primarily, his time living in Dublin, Ireland after his father's death, had opened up quite a few doors for him. He wondered how Angus, his best friend, was doing. He reminisced of the adventures they'd gone off on with their freedom fighting and whatnot. They were good times, while they lasted. Charles was honestly surprised in himself for coming back to the academy the first time, but now, he was feeling a bit burnt out with it. But he supposed it was for the best...

[Khasinkonia]

Shirley Florence Villarrubia

The early alarm went off.

“Ngaaa, b’rhen’i,” I slurred, fumbling around for my phone, finally hitting the snooze on my alarm. It was early. I could sleep a bit more...

Again it went. Again I fumbled for snooze.

Last call went off, as always. The last alarm I had before I’d start running short on time...my neighbours must hate me for all these. I struggled with my eyelids for a moment, but then finally forced myself out of bed. And then I fell on my knees. The vertigo was strong today, evidently. It got better after a dizzying moment or two, and then I got up. I still hate having to share a bathroom with other people...having to wash my face and get everything else together in another room is utter malarkey. Hell, this is my mind. It’s bullshit...that’s what it is. I don’t like people seeing my face before I’ve gotten it all together. Even if makeup doesn’t usually last, other stuff does.

I lurched from my room with my toiletries bag and a face towel crammed in my left hand, while my right was tenuously wrapped around the handle of a hairdryer and my makeup bag. Maybe I’d lucked out today, and my hair wouldn’t be a tentacle desert monster waiting to grab the first hairbrush to try and take it. Probably not, as I could feel a number of tendrils of hair bouncing haphazardly as I darted from my room to the bathroom. Preferably, I wouldn’t have to talk before getting ready at all, but of course there were some people who inexplicably love mornings. I’ll feel better about the mess once I’ve washed away the sludgy feeling of having just woken up.

I spread my stuff out around the sink, and splashed some cold water in my face. The mundanity of this morning routine baffled even me. Why bother with all this when it was practically inevitably always wasted in whatever exercise we’d be doing because some moron would do something that gets me messy even though my powers don’t even necessarily involve me lifting a finger? Well, if my poor late great grandmother got ready every day just to sit in her chair and savour her precious few remaining moments with her family, then surely I could be bothered look presentable, right? My parents weren’t alive to pass judgement, but I was sure they’d agree with my better judgement. Hopefully. My grandparents, aunt, and uncle surely would...

Lord almighty. It was too damn early to muse on this. I wouldn’t have enough time to get ready if I kept zoning out into the mirror. My hair was usually the first real order of business, as it needed a good lot of water to tame it. Sometimes I have to wonder what normal people do with their hair. Wetting this mess is a pain even with hydrokinesis, and hair spray is a disaster waiting to happen since hero work can be nastily flammable.

I turned on the faucet again, and fiddled with it until the water streaming out was pleasantly warm. I jerked back my head and pulled my hair back, and then held my left hand towards the water. I cupped my hand, shook it over the sink. To anyone else, it’d look a bit stupid, but muscular movement helped facilitate my hydrokinesis. The water from the faucet started snaking back upwards, and curled around my head, staying in a swirling globe around my hair. Certainly much better than wetting it and dripping everywhere, at least. When there was enough around my hair to get it all soaked, I quickly wrapped my towel around my neck, and made the water file down into the sink, leaving me with hair completely wet down, and ready for its first brush-through.

I let it air dry for a little while, moving on to the other bits of my morning routine. I brushed my teeth, and then moisturized my face. Now that I’d let my hair dry for a bit, it was time to style. I brushed it straight once more, and then plugged in the hairdryer. A bit of fighting with my dense mane and the hairdryer later, and it was properly fluffed and brushed. I could brush it straighter, but I preferred it to have a more eccentric shape. Animated, but in a way that didn’t say ‘I just rotated vigorously in bed and then took a step outside into a windstorm.’

All that done with, all I needed to complete the ironically effortful effortless look was a bit of concealer, and I was done. Or I would’ve been, if I wasn’t such a fan of spitting in the face of the original mission statement with lipstick and eyeliner. I took my time about it, painting my lips with a soft peach, and then using my eyeliner to draw on some wings. I’d gotten pretty good at them, although today I messed up on the right side, so I ended up redoing them both to make sure it was all even.

There. The damned face was dealt with, finally. Now, I could leave the bathroom and change out of my pyjamas into something more presentable. The question was, as I picked up all my junk and lugged it back to my room, what today’s balance between functionality and fanciness should be. If I recalled correctly, the day’s setting would be urban, so I had some flexibility, as getting caught on branches and whatnot wasn’t a necessary concern. Perhaps a skirt, t-shirt, and flats would be nice, maybe an accessory or two could complement it. I had a few hats, but for superhero work they were usually a pretty stupid idea, all things considered. Not stupid in the sense of dangerous, but stupid in the same sense as wearing a hat where it could be easily lost, like a rollercoaster or a wind tunnel.

With my two bags and hairdryer placed back in their places, and my towel hung up, it was time to decided what specific arrangement of clothes was today’s. Out of my skirts, I decided for a more urban look with a white ruffled skirt that went down to just above my knees. To go with it, it was a debated between a simple black t-shirt adding flannel as a second layer. I ended up compromising by wrapping a red and blue patterned flannel around my upper waist, and then sharply sighed as I remembered I almost forgot deodorant. I always forgot deodorant. I had to stretch the sleeves a bit, as usual, but it went on without much trouble otherwise.

Now was the question of shoes. And socks, although it didn’t feel much like sock weather. Maybe some thin stockings could work with the outfit, just to keep away chafing from my shoes. I eventually settled on easy athletic knee socks, just like a sports player with shorts would wear, and my bright cerulean converse shoes. Looking in the mirror, it was a bit of a stretch putting it all together, but I was well enough prepared for most things, I reckoned.

Should I wear earrings? I kinda want to, but they’d get in the way if they were anything big, and wearing my inherited ones could result in them getting lost. I decided to stick with no jewelry, and was now ready to go down to breakfast. A check of the clock told me I had a decent amount of time to eat, anyway.

I shut the door behind me, and headed down to the cafeteria. I still didn’t like the walk from my room to a cafeteria being so much longer than home, but alongside the bathroom, I supposed it was a small price to pay for being allowed to publicallg use my powers, and being trained to reach my maximum potential. The good deeds and all were nice, but I never felt that inclined to them out of just principle. I could probably be a better Catholic in that regard.

There was, as always, no shortage of choices in the cafeteria—certainly a good thing for my palette, as it might’ve driven me mad if we had the same thing over and over again. Today, I decided I was craving...sausage patties. I put four on my plate, my constant breakfast companion two hash-brown patties, and then threw in a butter croissant for good measure. In the little bowl I’d grown accustomed to taking along for my hash browns, I had plenty of ketchup. For my drink, I mixed orange juice, cranberry juice, and then added in a bit of sweetened iced tea. They knew how to do the tea right, too. Not the pansy Yankee stuff; iced tea with enough sugar to rot teeth clean through. They got the idea right.

Seeing as the main table for my assigned group already had some people, I opted to go over to Charles. He was a nice fellow, handsome too, save for his choice of hairstyle. He appreciated good cooking, as he’d more often than not find his way to me when I got the chance to cook some comfort food from home. I still wasn’t entirely sure whether he was a lonely sort out of choice or out of circumstance, but I sat at the same table as him nonetheless.

“Mornin’ Charles,” I said as I sat down, “Where y’at?”

I then corrected myself from the reflex, and reiterated, “How’s it goin’, I mean to say.”

[WhatsamattaU]

(Alice Bélanger (a.k.a. "Papillon"))

"Doit être agréable", Alice muttered, her head down and staring at the oatmeal she was stirring.

Marilyn, Phallu, Fionn, Charles, Flo, they could all use their powers anytime that they wanted.

But, there didn't seem to be a way out of the day's training exercise. So, maybe she could cheer herself up. Alice waved empty hands in front of her and seemingly conjured a deck of cards from thin air. She looked at her teammates and smiled. She had an idea who might rise to her unspoken challenge....

[Sraelyn]

Johan Vermaak|Vektor

The sharp sound of the alarm pierced the silence of the room, his hand sprang towards the hellish clock to stop its daily torture.

Fucking Monday, it was too damned early to wake up, it always was.

Johan grunted before throwing open the bed covers. For the next five minutes he just laid there, unfocusedly staring at the ceiling, mentally preparing himself for the task ahead. He took a long, hard breath, and in one swift motion stood up. With barely opened eyes he studied his surroundings. The room seemed felt incredibly empty, only a couple of books sitting on the desk and two small boxes besides the bed, opened yet filled with contents. Although it had been months since his arrival at the Institute, he hadn’t taken the time to properly unpack anything beyond his clothes and the bare essentials. This room certainly didn’t feel like home. And he wasn’t sure he wanted it to.

Johan walked groggily towards the communal bathroom to start his morning routine. This mostly consisted of him standing for nearly ten minutes under the stream of hot water, an attempt to rid himself of the remaining drowsiness and not look like he was about to strangle someone.

Fucking mornings, he would not allow them to stop him, not today, not ever.

Once changed and somewhat ready to start the day, he proceeded to the cafeteria for a much needed breakfast, settling for a piping hot cup of coffee, eggs, toast, and his usual large glass of whole milk. Searching for a place to sit, Johan saw some members of team 4 were already sitting at a table, while Charles and Florence sat together at another, not wanting to interrupt the seemingly new iteration of Beauty and the Beast, he went to the table with everybody else.

“Morning everyone.” He said as he sat down. “Ready for today’s training?”

Today they would participate in a combat exercise, apparently in an urban setting, a good chance to test himself against older, more experienced students. Maybe it would not be such a bad Monday morning after all

[Higher Japan]

Marilyn 'Aegis' Willow

"Nothing much." Aegis blankly responded, swiping through the screen as various data readings appeared. Reading through everything, her face had a more or less neutral appearance as she reviewed the data again. All the output is almost one tenth of that of her main reactor which would be normal but the problem was that if the reactor couldn't power the gun enough it would just be useless, she needed to find something that could give better output than a regular lithium battery which she used to allow the reactor to fit into a gun. As she saw Fionn come over she sighed for a moment and took a quick sip of her tea.

"Perhaps." She said, raising an eyebrow with one eye closed as she set the cup down. "I've managed to at least last 3 years here, I'm sure I won't die just yet because of you." She said, oddly enough there was no tinge of emotion this time as compared to her regular voice, instead it sounded more flat and monotone. As she saw Alice produce a deck of cards form the air, she smirked slightly and turned off the tablet for a moment.

[Faal Lot Himdah]

Phallu, Crimson Shadow
Ex Nihilo

---

"Umm... Alright." Phallu said and went back to eating his own breakfast. You try and start a conversation, and they are to focused on either their food, or whatever else they are doing. That's fine though, there will be more opportunities in the future. he thought to himself with a smirk. It was then he saw Fionn approach, and found himself chuckling a little after Fionn spoke.

"That is if you can find me." Phallu said, "I am the master at hiding. Am I right in front of you? Am I behind that sign? Doesn't matter, I'd be hidden. Unless you have Erwin helping you. Need to find a way to hide from that guy. Anyways, if you do find me, I would hope you hold back to a degree. You see, you could easily splat me, and I don't know about anyone else, but personally, I don't like the idea of being splatted."

It was then that Phallu looked at Johan, "Yassoo. As ready as I can be."

[Okayanos]

Phallu, Crimson Shadow
Ex Nihilo

---

"Umm... Alright." Phallu said and went back to eating his own breakfast. You try and start a conversation, and they are to focused on either their food, or whatever else they are doing. That's fine though, there will be more opportunities in the future. he thought to himself with a smirk. It was then he saw Fionn approach, and found himself chuckling a little after Fionn spoke.

"That is if you can find me." Phallu said, "I am the master at hiding. Am I right in front of you? Am I behind that sign? Doesn't matter, I'd be hidden. Unless you have Erwin helping you. Need to find a way to hide from that guy. Anyways, if you do find me, I would hope you hold back to a degree. You see, you could easily splat me, and I don't know about anyone else, but personally, I don't like the idea of being splatted."

It was then that Phallu looked at Johan, "Yassoo. As ready as I can be."

Fionn Szabo
Kaiju

Fionn snorts quietly, turning down to his food for a moment and taking a few contemplative bites. He twirls his fork around in his hand a bit, like one would a pencil. Phallus' claims are pretty arrogant and most definitely false, considering the kinds of powers that he'd be likely to go up against. But, Fionn doesn't bother trying to teach the 1st year a lesson about overestimating his own capabilities. Experience would teach that lesson far better than he could ever hope to. Or maybe one of the instructors would handle it or something.

"Dude, no one's gonna be holding back. And you're not gonna get some kinda special exceptional treatment if you do somethin' stupid and get found. You'd just be splatted like anyone else." He's more or less certain that Phallus' pseudo-invisibility is going to be a non-factor in the upcoming test. He and the other upperclassmen had been against Nick more than a few times, so information blocking was something they at least had an idea of how to deal with.

[WhatsamattaU]

Marilyn 'Aegis' Willow "Nothing much." Aegis blankly responded, swiping through the screen as various data readings appeared. Reading through everything, her face had a more or less neutral appearance as she reviewed the data again. All the output is almost one tenth of that of her main reactor which would be normal but the problem was that if the reactor couldn't power the gun enough it would just be useless, she needed to find something that could give better output than a regular lithium battery which she used to allow the reactor to fit into a gun. As she saw Fionn come over she sighed for a moment and took a quick sip of her tea.

"Perhaps." She said, raising an eyebrow with one eye closed as she set the cup down. "I've managed to at least last 3 years here, I'm sure I won't die just yet because of you." She said, oddly enough there was no tinge of emotion this time as compared to her regular voice, instead it sounded more flat and monotone. As she saw Alice produce a deck of cards form the air, she smirked slightly and turned off the tablet for a moment.

(Alice Bélanger (a.k.a. "Papillon"))

Marilyn was a good sport, thought Alice. She moved to a chair opposite the lavender haired young woman and invited her to examine the deck. After Mariyln was satisfied that, as far as she could tell, that the deck of cards seemed to be normal and unmodified Alice began the trick. Firstly, Alice 'forced' a card, that is to say, she allowed Marilyn to supposedly choose a card but it was really the card that Alice had chosen. It was the five of clubs. Alice then manipulated the deck a number of times, seemingly incorporating Marilyn's card back into the deck a number of times but always able to find it whenever she wanted it.

Now for the new wrinkle: Alice took Marilyn's card from the deck and had the older girl cover it with her hand. Then Alice drew another card, the ten of hearts, that she'd prepared for the trick and showed it to Marilyn. Alice then placed the new card in front of herself, holding it to the table, forcefully with her two hands. "Cover your card tightly, with both hands, you don't want it to get away" Alice told Marilyn. "Now, I will say the incantation three times. 'Cher seigneur au ciel, laissez cette ruse réussir. Cher seigneur au ciel, laissez cette ruse réussir. Cher seigneur au ciel, laissez cette ruse réussir.'"

Alice smiled, removed her hands from the top of the card and flipped it over. The card in front of Alice was now the five of clubs and when Marilyn turned over the card in front of her it was the ten of hearts. "Merci beaucoup, Marilyn, thank you."

[Faal Lot Himdah]

Phallu, Crimson Shadow
Ex Nihilo

---

"Excuse me for not wanting to be killed in training." Phallu said, "I don't mean to come across as rude, or like I expect special treatment. It's just that the fact of the matter is hiding and running is all I can do. I have nothing special that makes me more durable than your average human. All I can do with my powers is hide and escaping, pretty bad powers for surviving hits from offensively orientated metahumans and their powers. So, when it comes to someone like you, who turns into a very large monster... Well do I need to spell out how using your full strength can take me from alive to dead in a single hit? I'm not asking for anyone to go easy on me, I just don't want to die in training because people go full force. Injuries are alright, death is not, at least to me. You get what I mean?"

[Skyggeheim]

Arno Jabulani
Slangbyt

He wasn't scared. Why wasn't he scared?

Rather than fleeing for better cover, Arno simply watched as the shoddy brick wall he was currently hiding behind was slowly chewed apart by a hail of gunfire. He can faintly hear the shouts of his comrades, trying to locate the enemy and return fire. He, however, was simply stunned. Raising a shaky hand to the back of his head, Arno could feel a liquid warmth. He was bleeding, and quite profusely if his senses were correct. He swept his eyes to the left in time to see one of his squadmates drop to a knee and grab Arno on the arm. He felt himself being pulled up onto his feet and dragged away. Suddenly, the snap of a bullet whizzing over his head and his limp form falling back to the ground confirmed that his squadmate had been shot.

It was then that Arno's senses snapped to, and he stood rapidly. Shouldering his rifle, he took a moment to sight in the enemy. They were 50 yards out, and closing fast. He felt the adrenaline rush through his body as his powers came to him once more. His neurons fired, and his muscles contracted with them. The barrel of his rifle moved so quickly it became a blur, and before long more than a dozen of his enemies were laying on the ground, either dead or dying. But more were coming, and he saw a cloud of dust kick up into the air from a near miss at his feet. Whirling around, he saw that he was entirely alone. It mattered little, he was in his element.

Whirling into action, he vaulted over the brick wall that had been his cover only moments ago. Bounding, he slid behind a large rock. He stood to fire at one of his enemy that was closing in, and nothing happened. His magazine was empty. Flicking it out, he reached for a new magazine, only to find that he had nothing to spare. And yet he wasn't bothered. Throwing his rifle to the side, he tugged his Ka Bar from his hip and leaped up. The first insurgent was merely three feet away, and barely had time to raise his weapon before Arno raked his knife across the man's throat. He moved on to the next one, and the next, before he was left alone and covered in blood. Not a single living thing was left in the village. And now, it was time to leave.

Arno realized that he had been standing in the shower for several minutes now, simply doing nothing. The warm water had run out, and he was simply day dreaming in a lukewarm stream. Shutting the water off, he quickly dried himself and got dressed. Massaging his shoulders to rid them of the dull ache of an early morning lift. After taking a moment to reflect on the fact that he had, once again, slipped into his own dark thoughts. He resolved that he would visit the school psychologist again, regrettably for the fourth time this month. But for now, he pushed his thoughts to the back of his mind and stepped out to head to the cafeteria.

Slopping food on his plate, he spotted a decently sized group of his classmates talking. Sitting down, he caught the back end of conversation of some of them. Phallu didn't seem to want to die in the line of duty, and Fionn seemed to think he was a yellow-belly.

"Train how you fight," Arno said, looking at Phallu, "If you die enough in training you won't be afraid to do it when the situation is real."

[Parcia]

Erwin Konig
The Huntsmen

Well, this was new. A large, concrete wall stood before the young hunter as he went about his normal, routine Morning stalk through the woods. His rifle sat in his hands at he gazed upon this seemingly vary much so out of place in the small forest he had grown accustomed to roaming.

"This...smells like the handy work of a certain Slavic Handy man." with a sigh, the Huntsmen turned back the way he came. There were few things he chose not to question in life, and one of which was how what seemed to be a large wall, multiple city blocks, and assorted sky scrapers appeared in the middle oh what was, just the day before, forest.

He shrugged, tossing the thought in to the metaphorical waste bin in the back of his mind as he walked back towards the campus.

It was indeed a lush forest indeed, but one built by mortal hands rather then shaped by mother nature, and it showed. The first glaring thing one could tell was the lack of wildlife. There were no bugs, no fish, no deer, squirrels, rabbits, None. He could see foot prints, blood splatter, the like by the imprint the life forces in each of those traces and this forces lacked all of them.

It was unsettling.

Soon enough he made his way back to the Campus right about the 7 am mark. By his guess the rest of his fellow students would be waking up for the first time...or just now getting some sleep, based on the habits of some. He made his way to the armory, said a friendly hello to Arsenal and turned in his gear. Stowing his suit there as well, he changed in to his rather standard black tank top, flektarn pattern jacket, jeans, boots, and field cap and promptly made his way to the mess hall.

Setting his tray of rather bland tasting food down, he went about eating it, idly flipping through news articles and messages from home on his phone.

[Eisen]

Charles hastily popped an earbud as soon as he noticed Florence approaching him, finding that words were generally spoken between people who sat near each other. He hadn't known her for too long, but as a sucker for food, it was probably inevitable that they'd interact, due to her love for cooking, something Charles could understand and appreciate. Communication between the two could sometimes be complicated, what with his cockney-leaning estuary accent, mumbling, and sometimes even stuttering, and her somewhat heavy New Orleans accent, words exchanged between the two could sometimes be hard to understand. No less, they were still friends, maybe not close friends, but friendly enough.

"Mornin', Florence. Been decent 'nuff," he stated bluntly looking about as he took a bit more food into his mouth. He swallowed and coughed before he spoke again.

"How's yourself?"

[WhatsamattaU]

(A Whatsa + Skyggy Collaboration)
Papillion and Master of Magic

Alice had seen that Professor Wilsford, the Master of Magic, was just about to exit the serving line. Maybe he could help her....

Alice excused herself to Marilyn and hurriedly rose with her tray, walking to intercept the Professor, hopefully before he could sit with another member of the faculty. As she neared him, Alice put on a brave face, trying to put down the butterflies in her stomach, and greeted him.

"Good morning, Professor Wilsford," said Alice. Then she asked, "Would you sit with me, for breakfast, please?"

"Good morning, Alice. Sure, have a seat." Drakus said, offering her to sit down in front of him. He shoved leatherbound tome he had been reading to the side and stuffed a forkful of eggs into his mouth.

"You have a question on your mind, as it would seem." He mentioned, almost off-handedly, as his eyes ran over the text of the seemingly ancient book.

"Professor," began Alice, after she'd sat in the chair facing him, "I'm not a meta-human. The only 'magic' that I have is stage-craft and my necklace. I will always cherish the time that I spent with 'The Great Zamboni', but I have nothing compared to the other students...."

Alice paused to take a breath and then continued, "Everyone's going to 'power-up' for today's exercise and likely the best help I can give the team is to not be a liability. I can't improve my powers, but I could improve my mind...." She let that hang a bit.

Here came the question. Alice asked, "Would you teach me to learn the Ancient languages and histories? If we ever found ourselves in some strange temple, maybe I could figure out what the danger was and stop someone from doing the wrong thing."

Alice gave the Professor her 'shy kitten face' through the stray wisps of her red hair.

Drakus thought for a moment on Alice's question. Despite the fact that he considered many of the students to confidants, and he would trust that Alice would utilize the language effectively, he weighed the pros and cons of the time commitment required to teach a dead language. He drew a short breath, pushing his reading glasses up on his face and shutting the book he was reading.

"Alice, you must remember that regardless of what other students' powers are, you are a metahuman in your own right," Drakus began, speaking between bites, "You forget the whole point of the class I taught. Magic is the most open form of abilities. It allows you to do anything, if you can find balance."

Drakus considered his next words carefully. He searched around the rest of the cafeteria, perhaps for nothing other than another instructor to add to his discussion.

"Take Danica for example. She is in the same situation as you. Her Zmey necklace gives her incredible prowess in combat. She can be truly a formidable enemy, but without the necklace, she's merely a regular human."

Alice heard the words that seemed to be the prelude to a 'no'. But she really thought that she'd had a good idea and she had to try a little harder.

"Respectfully, Professor," Alice rejoined, "I don't believe my necklace makes me a meta-human. And Danica can call upon her powers at anytime. I can use my powers only between sunset and sunrise. If I had more knowledge, at least I might be helpful during the daylight hours."

Then Alice had a thought and said, "Professor, do you know who 'The Great Zamboni' really is? He didn't just make me his assistant and give me a magic necklace my first day on the job. He said he'd tested my character and that he trusted me to not abuse it. So, can I earn your trust?"

"Magic is a fickle mistress, Alice. Before we dedicate years to teaching you enough of an ancient language to be proficient, why don't we start by trying to 'reprogram' your necklace?" Drakus said, holding his hand out to ask Alice to hand him the necklace.

Alice drew an involuntary breath and clutched at her throat. Professor Wilsford was the 'Master of Magic'. If anyone could handle her necklace safely, it would be the Professor. But if something went wrong and it broke, then Alice would have lost the one thing that Zamboni had given her. Alice was scared.

But Alice had asked Professor Wilsford to trust her with potentially dangerous knowledge. How could she not trust him? It was hard, but hesitantly she undid her necklace's clasp and removed the jewelry from her neck. Then Alice placed it in his hands. It hurt her feelings to part with it and she felt a tear fall and roll down her cheek.

"Don't worry Alice," Drakus said, now concentrating fully on the necklace, "It should just be a simple matter of..."

His words trailed off as he focused intently, racking his brain for the correct set of incantations to try to augment the necklace's limiting factors. Once he had decided on something appropriate, he muttered something under his breath and traced his finger along the center of the jewel.

Nothing happened.

"Hm," Drakus said, a puzzle look flashing across his face, "That usually works."

Alice had held her breath as the Professor moved his finger over her necklace and softly spoke his arcane words. Then she saw his expression of bemused surprise as whatever changes he'd been expecting to happen did not happen. Alice was astonished, and now a little more worried.

"What's wrong, Professor?," asked Alice, trying not to sound anxious, just inquisitive. Would it still work when he gave it back to her?

"Hm. Nothing, but it would seem that your necklace is under a protection spell. Nothing I would have trouble breaking, but it's not within my purview to go meddling with other people's things if they don't want them to be meddled with." Drakus said, once again taking a bite of his food and thinking. After a moment, he handed the necklace back to Alice.

"Unless, of course, that person has made me mad," He said, now sighing and taking off his reading glasses, "Alright, I'll bite. There are certain key phrases in several dead languages it wouldn't hurt anyone to learn."

Drakus then dug through the satchel that was laying by his feet, muttering to himself as he did. Eventually, he popped back up over the table and handed Alice a dense book with yellowed pages. The cover read A Study on Ancient Languages.

"Read this. Know it front to back, because it will teach you how to learn these languages better than I ever could. Once you have, we can begin actual education."

Alice eagerly took back possession of her necklace. She hurriedly put it back on about her neck and fastened the clasp. She was grateful that, in the face of a setback, he was showing thoughtful restraint in trying to work more magick upon the necklace that The Great Zamboni had given her. She breathed a sigh of relief.

Alice then heard the Professor's caveat about how far he was willing to go in messing with things that didn't belong to him. But then he began to talk as if he was going to grant her request to learn ancient languages and histories.

Her heart then skipped a beat as Professor Wilsford gave her the obviously old and well worn book to study.

"Oh!" exclaimed Alice, excitedly, her eyes beginning to sparkle and a big, joyous, smile blossoming on her face, "Thank you, Professor!" She clutched the tome to her chest as if it were a baby. "I promise that I will learn it, as you said, from cover to cover.

Alice excused herself, to go and secure the book, in the safe, in her room. She had to hurry, so that she wouldn't be late for the Team 4 exercise, but now her spirits were buoyed by the promise that, at least in the future, she wouldn't be such dead weight.

[Sraelyn]

Johan Vermaak
Vektor

Arno had just joined the rest of the table for breakfast and immediately sided with Fionn against Phallu, while Marilyn and Alice entertained themselves with a deck of cards. Phallu had spoken a bit too much, showing himself as rather fearful and inexperienced, while the older students didn’t seem to appreciate his humour, taking the chance to gang up on him.

“You mean the whole ´Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration´ thing Arno? I sort off agree with both of them thou Phallu, you should give your all and expect that from others as well if you wish to achieve some progress. I truly doubt the professors would just allow us to simply murder one another during training. Besides, if you are that terrified of scaly boy over here,” said Johan casually pointing at Fionn “then I truly pity your trousers the day you meet someone who actually wants to see you dead. Show some confidence in yourself bru.”

[Khasinkonia]

Charles hastily popped an earbud as soon as he noticed Florence approaching him, finding that words were generally spoken between people who sat near each other. He hadn't known her for too long, but as a sucker for food, it was probably inevitable that they'd interact, due to her love for cooking, something Charles could understand and appreciate. Communication between the two could sometimes be complicated, what with his cockney-leaning estuary accent, mumbling, and sometimes even stuttering, and her somewhat heavy New Orleans accent, words exchanged between the two could sometimes be hard to understand. No less, they were still friends, maybe not close friends, but friendly enough.

"Mornin', Florence. Been decent 'nuff," he stated bluntly looking about as he took a bit more food into his mouth. He swallowed and coughed before he spoke again.

"How's yourself?"

Shirley Florence Villarrubia

“Doin’ well, I reckon,” I replied, poking at the first patty, “Helluva time gettin’ ready doh, hair takes forevah.”

I paused for a moment to try today’s sausage. It was good, though it coulda used more spices. Someone needs to teach these Delawarais how to use spices right. It’s a good thing they’ve never tried gumbo, since the Yat God would’ve smitten them if they got it wrong. They’d cracked at étoufée once or twice, and they didn’t quite get it on point. It figured, though, as it wasn’t as if they could’ve known how to do it properly.

“Only big probem he’a’s’at dere ain’t no good places to get groc’ries,” I continued, then consciously slowing to make sure he could follow, “Tough findin’ Tony’s an’ good crawfish an’ de odah good stuff fo’ cookin ‘nless I bug ‘em to gimme stuff to cook wid.”

[Triassica]

Andrew "Snake Eyes" Marks

Andrew snored loudly as the warm sun rose and shone through his window, basking him in heat as he tugged on his blankets to wrap and warm him further. Suddenly, however, he shifted upon feeling something cold beneath his sheets brush against legs and chest. Rango, a long boa constrictor, slithered out from the blankets and rested on Andrew's head. Time to wake up, Andrew, the snake spoke into the mid of his master (who merely responded with an eve louder snore) with clam demeanor, Mean it this time, as you pressed the snooze button three times already.

Andrew snored again, but stopped abruptly, yawning as he peeled open his milky white eyes, to be welcomed by the rising sun that Rango saw through his own beady eyes. The young, reptilian man, with yellowish green scales, unhinged his jaws with a well relaxed yawn and sat up from his bed, his long black hair a complete mess. He stretched out his arms with another yawn and took a deep breath before sighing. "Yeah, yeah, Rango... I'm up, I'm up... What we got today?" Andrew said, brushing his hair aside before realizing and cursing, "Damn it! Team exercises! What good are those for some one like me? The only team I'm good with is you guys..."

The other snakes in the room, a wide variety of different species, both venomous and non who made the warm room their home, all stared down at their master just as Rango did. Come now, Andrew..., Rango insisted, You know well that this is how you make friends. Now get dress and head for breakfast before it all closes.

Andrew groaned, mumbled and threw the sheets aside as he got out of bed, starving enough to agree with Rango that he should really get to breakfast before missing out. He changed into a pair of jeans before throwing on on his typical striped shirt and putting on his gray hooded jacket. Rango then slithered towards Andrew, climbing onto the boy's shoulders as he fed each of his snakes with packed mice before letting them out to slither around for a while. They will all be summoned when the young snake man had need of them, but for now they were free to do as they please under Andrew's influence without biting anyone.

With Rango acting as his seeing eye snake, Andrew left his room and headed to the cafeteria, walking out of childhood habit with the motions of blindness. The boa and snake man found the cafeteria to still be fairly full, meaning there was still plenty of time for a proper meal. After collecting a large tray of just about everything they had, Andrew felt drawn to sit down next to that blue haired girl, Shirley Florence Villarrubia. He found her very attractive, and though he felt like he had no chance in hell ever getting any kind of romantic relationship with her, or any girl for that matter, Andrew still felt like sitting with her. He didn't exactly like Charlies, but he wasn't one to be openly judgmental.

"Morning... Um... Mind, if I sit here, Florence?" the snake man asked (well aware of how she felt being called Shirley), while his milk white eyes stared out at nothing as Rango stared directly at her for his vision...

[Faal Lot Himdah]

Phallu, Crimson Shadow
Ex Nihilo

---

"Seriously..." Phallu sighed and began chuckling to himself, "You all seriously need to learn to relax a bit. I was just joking around, no need to attack with your words. Do you seriously think that I think that the teachers will let us kill each other in training? I may be a first year, but this isn't the first time I've been in training. As for soiling my pants upon running into someone who truly wants to kill me, I have faced people who've wanted to kill me before."

"Anyways, enough of that topic." Phallu said before he continued to eat and thought to himself, Open yourself up a little bit, and get stabbed by verbal blades... It appears I can't quite trust them with how I really feel. Well, at least not without being glared at and seen as a coward, in the negative sense of the word. What's so wrong with that? Not wanting to fight head on. Sometimes the best thing to do isn't charge head on, sometimes its best to take time and consider your options, to make a logical plan to move forward. Sometimes, running and hiding in order to catch your opponent off guard is a good plan.

[The Cyberiad Council]

Cowrite between myself, Valloria, Skyggeheim, Okayanos

A Russian, a Search Engine, a Gardener, and a Gecko walk into a Cafeteria...

Nick woke up exhausted. He'd been having nightmares with increasing frequency as the semester had progressed. An ill omen, considering the nature of his powers. Rubbing his eyes with his palms, he lazily brushed his thick, ear-length brown hair out of his face and slowly sat up. Groaning at the sudden rush of blood away from his head, he stumbled to the bathroom to splash water in his face and start the day. Scrolling throw the options in his closet, he picked out a grey v-neck, a pair of drainpipe jeans, and his trusty black leather jacket. Shrugging the latter over his shoulders and adjusting the collar slightly, he endeavored to fix his hair slightly in the mirror before sighing, giving himself a mock salute. Rolling his eyes at his own idiosyncrasy, he exited his room with a more purposeful gait.

Taking the stairs two-at-a-time, his long legs and tall frame making the task far less precarious than it would be for most others, Nick reached the foyer in no time. Seeing a few small groups of students he was vaguely familiar, he saw his friend Danica. Despite being a second-year, and thus one under him, she was four years older than Nick. That had never put a damper on the collegiate nature of their relationship — she'd earned his respect and him hers over long hours in training together. Despite his powers over information, however, Nick couldn't tell if she wanted something more in the same way he did. He'd liked her for about two months now — for much of the last year and a half he'd been with another girl from the Academy, now a graduate. Once she made it off the island and into the real world of metadom, she realized Nick wasn't good enough for her and that was that. Nick tried to focus on the past, as it only made him more depressed.

"Hey, Dane, what's up?"

"Доброе утро, Nick. You look...how do you say...измученный?" She said, scratching her head. Despite the fact that she had been in the United States for several years now, she could never truly grasp some of the English language. Funnily enough, it was one of the reasons that she and Nick became friends. His knack for languages and his ability to learn quickly helped her translate some English words and phrases when she simply couldn't remember. She suspected he did some studying on his own, but that was besides the point. Taking another bite of the protein bar she was munching on, she gave him a brief smile. Nick and her had a... complex relationship. She was initially put off by him; a boy much to her junior, yet closer to graduation and clearly far more developed along his path to heroism. But they grew much closer to the point where Danica and Nick were spending time together consistently. Mistakes were made at a party they both attended, and Danica still hasn't brought herself to tell him.

"Очень проницательный, Даника," Nick deadpanned, swinging his leg over the backless bench she sat on, leaning forward on his elbows and peering over her shoulder. He noted her book of choice, today it was The Kreutzer Sonata.

"Tolstoy again, eh? Will you ever read something by an author that isn't Russian?"

"Послушай эту суку, он думает что говорит по-русски." Danica said, giving Nick a sardonic grin and shutting the book she was reading. Stuffing it back in her backpack, she offered Nick a sip of her coffee before speaking.

"Find me an American who writes like Tolstoy and I read them." She said, now standing and motioning for Nick to follow. She wanted to get some proper breakfast in her before whatever training exercise the Professors had planned. As far as she was concerned, urban combat was not her specialty. Too many level changes, and too much of an opportunity for someone to be hiding around every corner.

Nick quickly rose from the bench, rushing to walk aside Danica. "You know I can't speak the language yet, I'm just translating," he said, jogging to keep up. "And I can't name one that comes close. Kafka, though, or Sartre. I know Russia doesn't exactly like Austria or France but it's best to know your enemy," he said sardonically.

"Enemies has nothing to do with it. It's simply better reading," Danica replied, grabbing a tray from the breakfast line and slapping an assortment of foods onto it. She waited for Nick to sit down before switching to her native to avoid any wandering ears from picking up on their conversation.

"Что ты знаешь об этом тренинге?"

"Today, and urban. Haven't looked any more, I get dinged every time I get too snoopy. You know this," Nick reminded Danica softly.

"I thought Cypher stopped writing things down so you wouldn't find them out," Allen commented with his dry sense of humor as he slid onto a seat a little ways down from the other two metas. His plate was very lightly populated with just a few eggs and some bacon, an odd side effect of his ever-so-slightly green tinted skin. "Sorry, I didn't mean to creep, just happened to overhear."

"You know I have my ways, Allen," Nick said offhandedly, still looking into Danica's eyes. The other boy slid down slightly towards them, Nick gave him a halfhearted salute and then dug into his own breakfast.

"I would usually consider it rude to snoop," Danica said, looking at Allen and giving him a half-smile, "But to be honest I expected you to be in the garden."

Danica paused and patted the seat next to her, offering Allen to join them officially. She took another bite of her breakfast before turning to Nick.

"So, nothing? I am disappointed."

"Whatever it is, I think its big; feels like they cut down a ton of trees a little ways down the island," Allen commented as he slid to where Danica offered, beginning to clear his plate.

"They've built some sort of mock-city. Think '50's nuclear tests. Dummies, the whole deal. Advanced shit, obviously, cause its the academy," Nick said between bites.

Fionn’s about to say something to Phallus again, but Arno takes over schooling the first year. The white-haired boy stands up, leaving the embarrassing first years to their own business while he goes over to join his fellow upperclassmen- and very nearly friends, in some degree.

He slides in near the three casually, speaking quietly so no excess attention gets drawn to them. “Nick, you know if they set up a water line, or sewage or anything? It’d be good for me.”

"Это Русский, I am sure he made it well enough we could live in it." Danica said to Fionn, smiling at the boy. The two had a history of mutual respect. She enjoyed training with him, considering his monstrous transformation actually offered her a challenge. But it hadn't always been that way. Fionn had considered her a pipsqueak upstart, and had been outright patronizing to her when she first arrived to the academy. This changed very quickly when Danica threw Fionn's monstrous body through a wall in their first combat training session.

"A mock-city, huh?" Allen though aloud. "What do you think it will be this time? Breach and clear? Target rescue? Oh god, I hope its not like last time," Allen said as he thought back to the last target rescue mission that left him with several lacerations and a fear of bakeries. He let out a slightly exaggerated shiver before resuming his brainstorming. "Hey, it could just be a straight up brawl. We haven't had one of those in a while."

"I just want chance to throw Fionn through building again." Danica jested, offering a coy smile to the boy before her hand idly moved to her necklace. She often thought about her usefulness if she were to somehow lose the necklace in battle, or it was separated from her forcefully. As much as she envied metahumans like Nick and Allen for their ability to simply constantly access their powers, she would rather simply be a normal girl when someone didn't need to be put down.

“I’m cool with you tossing me at someone if we’re on the same team.” He adds in casually. Danica’s one of the only people strong enough to put him on the receiving end of a fastball special.

“My money’s on some kinda territories game. We fight to control specific areas, and whoever holds the most wins. Sorta like how a lot of heroes end up having specific places that they protect, that kinda thing.” It’s almost selfish of him to want something with a lot of opportunity for combat. More than anything else, Fionn still hasn’t found out exactly what the limits of his powers are, if he even has any. For combating the kinds of villains out there these days... well, it’d be useful to know.

Allen rolled his eyes listening to Phallu a few seats over and gave a look that read "Really dude?" as he shoveled the last of his food into his mouth. He almost choked on it, though; the metal doors leading outside were thrown open with a jarring bang. All eyes flew to the door as some of the upperclassmen flared up their powers in anticipation of a surprise siege training the school sprung once or twice a year. "Sit down," Vindicator called as he stepped into the cafeteria followed closely by Chitin. His remaining eye scanned the sea of faces before settling on his target. "Training Team 4! Breakfast is over, your exercise starts in fifteen minutes. Anyone not down to area 3 by then, fails."

Chitin slipped around Vindicator to fill the students in on what he failed to mention as the grizzled old hero turned back to walk out the doors. "Make sure to check out all the items you need from the armory before the exercise starts. We'll be splitting you into two teams that will be determined on-site. See you all in a bit."

[WhatsamattaU]

(Alice Bélanger (a.k.a. "Papillon"))


After securing Professor Milsford's book in the safe, in her room, Alice returned to the cafeteria just in time to hear Vindicator's and Chitin's announcement about the start of today's exercise. Alice pivoted and quickly made her way directly to the Armory. Once there, she checked out her compound hunting bow, capable of launching an arrow at 240 fps/164 mph, her quiver, eighteen arrows with blunt heads for bruising rather than penetrating, a pouch with four flash-bang grenades. She was already dressed in urban combat fatigues and boots. Under her jacket was her necklace. In her breast pocket were her lock-picks.

Alice arrived at Area 3 with minutes to spare, her red ponytail coming out of the back of her ballcap.

[Higher Japan]

Marilyn 'Aegis' Willow

"Interesting." Aegis smiled to herself as she saw the card trick, it was indeed slightly amusing to her. She'd rarely seen many card tricks in her life, most that she knew were what her old man taught her in order to get the upperhand in any poker game. As she continued to read through her data, she heard the announcement for the commencement of the exercise. Calmly cleaning her face as Alice ran towards the armory, Marilyn in contrast calmly went over to it. Upon reaching, she immediately began to check her equipment.

"Gloves, operational, synchronization complete. Check. Generator energy output normal, rotary cycles synchronized, check. Exoskeleton frame operational, operating at 50% capacity, check." Looking through her tablet, with the confirmation of her fingerprint it switched over into operational mode, switching screens from the data logs to an analysis mode. At the same time she checked the small drone linked to ther tablet. The rotary blades were fine and so was the camera, she was now operationally ready for the exercise.