Pool
Saint couldn't help but be dumbfounded as the scene before him played out, shaking his head in frustration. Maybe she wasn't the first student to suggest harsher measures, but she was the first to ask about executing them on the spot. Even knowing her situation, it took everything he had not to march forward and give her what for.
But a firm hand from Gilgamesh put him in his place. There weren't many who could match the Saint, either in strength or force of will. But Gilgamesh was one of the few who could. Her hand on his shoulder, he didn't take another step. Not because he didn't have strong feelings either way, but because he knew the ball was in her court. Whether he liked it or not.
With a small smile and stern glare, she slowly removed her hand, towering over Bea as she approached. Even standing still, her sculpted form and inner strength radiated a sense of awe, commanding even the Saint through sheer presence.
"Your fellow warriors speak the truth, girl. What he has done may be reprehensible, and in days past, I may have slain him myself. But those days are long gone. And yours have yet to pass. The world of today demands mercy, even to those who don't deserve it. But it also demands those of intelligence to use it. He's much more useful to us in one piece, if only for the sake of information, is he not?"
Seeing his moment, Saint took a step forward, though he kept his distance. "She's got a point. I'm more concerned with murdering a defenceless prisoner, but we can't get anything out of him if he's dead, can we?" He lowered a knee, crouching down to meet Bea's face with his own.
"I can't say I know where you're coming from. I'm not sure any of us can. But whatever you've been through, I know it's a lot. And your friends and classmates are here to help you through it. So please, listen to them. Especially when you're suggesting we do something illegal." He stood back up, giving the others a quick glance. "Same goes for the rest of you, in case you were wondering."
He turned towards Liam, listening as he explained how this all started in the first place. He pinched his brow, more disappointed than anything else.
"I wouldn't be surprised. I've faced down scores of would-be conquerors over the years, and dozens of Lovecraftian abominations to go with them. There's been so many, I can't be bothered to keep score. As for you... well, you're not the only one to blame. We're the ones who had a portal to another universe sitting on your doorsteps. If anyone's to blame for this travesty, it's us. But you had better not do this again."
Cafeteria
As soon as Lee dropped the sandwich, it vanished from the sight, dissapearing into the crowd. But he knew it was there. It was nestled in the middle crowd, keeping its distance as the students hustled and bustled. But it didn't move an inch. He could feel something sitting there, waiting to pounce. But whether it was the sandwich or something else altogether remained to be seen.
Edited by kkhohoho on Jan 16th 2022 at 10:26:41 AM
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
[Ignore please.]
Edited by CenturyEye on Jan 16th 2022 at 8:27:55 AM
Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
Surrounded by weirdoes
Well, that solves one thing, and Sam just managed to bow and apologize about it all.
"Sorry about the mess, and I won't let this stuff happen again" He told Saint and Gilgamesh, before wobbling for a second as the events just caught up to him. His hand went to his head, for a moment.
"Whoa, that's a nasty surprise" He gasped out. Getting tossed into a whirlpool from hell and then pushing his own brain with some multitasking can be harsh on him.
Wake me up at your own risk.
The Light That Blinds
Victor
"Uh...not to my knowledge, eheh..." Victor laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. Then, he brightened again. "But yes! If you want me to tinker with anything, I can do that! Do you have anything in mind?"
"Kept me waiting, haven’t you? Tch. No matter. Dawdle all you’d like. In the end, your defeat remains inevitable."
Philip
Fern
She looks around her classmates for anything and looks back at the two near the pool "I-I'm sorry" She says scratching her head confused "I wasn’t listening to what you guys were saying so, can anything tell me what they were talking about?”
Edited by This on Jan 18th 2022 at 2:45:29 AM
I can do it. For the sake of my master and seonbae…
The Pool
As Saint and Gilgamesh talked Bea down and gave Liam what for, the other students would soon have their hands full. From around the corner, they could hear a strange sound growing closer, like a swelling balloon skidding across the pavement. Even after everything they'd experienced, there was nothing quite like it, and it didn't lessen up as it neared.
Suddenly, the source of the bizarre sound came into view. Spinning around the corner was a tall buxom blonde, her blanket of golden hair floating over her back in the breeze. She blew a large bubble of gum as she skated along the rim, coming to a screeching halt in front of Martin and Lucy. Her nurse's outfit only served to accentuate her curvaceous features, even as she took a dainty step away from the waters.
"Ohmigawd! Youse have ta' be those totally groovelicious kids I've heard so much about, huh?" She spoke like a valley girl and a 90's reject rolled into one, sprinkled with a touch of the Bronx to create an unholy obnoxious fusion. Even her hair was so poofy, they could swear it'd been doused in hair spray. Her bubble of gum disappeared with a pop, splotching onto her ruby red lips as she tended the student's wounds.
"Yeesh. You kids know how to overdo it, dont'cha?" She tsk'd as she swung her hips, paying the most attention to Martin and Mikael. Most of the other students were okay, maybe a few scratches and bruises, but those two had really put themselves through the ringer.
"Okay, c'mere, both of you!" She grabbed Martin and Mikael's wrists, pulling them together and not taking no for an answer. Suddenly, a warm glowing energy surrounded them, radiating from the nurse as she concentrated. It barely even looked like she could focus, but her eyes fluttered, her cartoonish demeanour concealing a strong dedication to her craft.
"Woofta!" After a half a minute, the display ceased, the energy fleeing in the two students as it ran back into the Nurse. Even so, they could feel the difference. Their wounds weren't gone. Not yet. But they could feel the pain receding. It was as though the weights they carried were lifting from their shoulders, even if they couldn't be torn off wholesale, and they were already looking a teensy bit better
"There we go! That should make things easier, huh? Both of youse' still need to rest, but it should make healing up a breeze!"
Her work never done, she rushed over to Theo, holding his wrist and giving the same treatment. With a little luck, he'd come to in seconds. Standing back up, she rested her head against her hands, stretching her elbows as she leaned against the nearest tree.
"Okay, that should do it. But don't go doing that sort of stuff again! Least not anytime soon! Both of you went well past your limits, and I don't have ta be a nurse to see that. The last thing I want is for Nurse Hello to be saying goodbye on the first week. You two need to take better care of yourselves, and the same goes for the rest of you. Capiche?"
Edited by kkhohoho on Jan 18th 2022 at 10:10:56 AM
Fwomph
Bea :> The Order Is Mercy
And so it was. Bea was surprisingly good at keeping her composure and keeping silent as first a large and strong-looking woman that Bea knew little about and then The Saint himself both gave versions of the same meaning: That's not how we do things here. Bea stood still through both speeches and then carefully lowered the toy masquerading as a ranged weapon.
"... I see. I will leave this situation to your authority then."
She took a few steps back, tossing the piece of broken ladder aside and glancing momentarily at her roommate.
"... I am going to go meditate in my room for now. Alone."
With that she turned on her heel and started unsteadily marching back towards the dorms.
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
Khulan - Not Capiche. Sorry.
"Groovelicious as charged!" Khulan answered with a v-sign. Then she pointed down at Krae. "Though only the Inkwell proved it by right hook." Khulan pantomimed a microphone and half sang, half teased while twirling across the 'stage' over to Lucy. "Under the eyes of all the gods, our streetwise Xena fought the rising odds."
She paused her performance briefly. "Ms. Nurse ma'am, I can't take your advice. I want my turn. Racing on the thunder. And rising with the heat. Showing a SuperSpider to sweep them off their feet..." She winked at the nurse and twirled her non-existent 'mike.' "Can't do that taking care of myself. And I certainly can't let the others kick ass and take names without me. Again."
Edited by CenturyEye on Jan 19th 2022 at 7:22:10 AM
Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
AKA Nixer
Lucy Livingston
“I-I didn't hit him that hard...?” Lucy squeaked in mortification in response to Khulan's teasing, tugging her hood up over her head and wringing her hands together embarrassedly. “I-I was just trying to distract him! I-I didn't mean to... to...!”
How fast did I throw those things at him?!
Not fast enough.
What if I missed?!
I didn't. It was fun.
...it was... kinda fun...
bork
Omega Overlord. Or superjwren329. Either or.
Lee, Cafeteria.
It...had to be a trap. Surely. This place was WEIRD with food that was alive and the darn sandwich was just sitting there, taunting him. Lee just felt even more uneasy.
"...what's the word they use here for this sort of thing...?" Lee quietly remarked, grabbing a dictionary from his pack and flipping through it. "...Nope? ...Nope." Lee remarked, at least having the common sense to try and wash his hands of this whole sandwich nonsense.
And even if he didn't, it wasn't worth the risk of getting caught up in the brawl even if it was keeping it's distance. No-one had really noticed him so far, getting crushed in a stampede of students or something and others being ignorant of the fact...not ideal.
So he just slowly continued to back away, eyes on the sandwich. The dorms had to be safe. Surely others would be done with their duels or plans or whatever.
Hope you weren't expecting anything witty here. Maybe some day.
Pool
Upon seeing the nurse in action, and trying to push aside the confusion regarding her... eccentricity, Libitina made up her mind and approached Nurse Hello, clearing her throat. "You're the nurse in charge of this academy, then?"
Proud member of the AGOG community.
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
Khulan - Toss a Coin to Your Lucy
"Oh, don't worry. That was great," Khulan said, making to put a hand on Lucy's shoulder if the girl did not reject it. "Seriously, good work. Sorry, I couldn't help. Don't think you have time to tell me what 'ESPer' means now?"
For a beat, she turned to give Martin her attention. "And you know I want to hear how you kicked ass too right? I'm pretty sure you didn't get banged up like that from volleyball. You owe me details too. Physically. Whatever you tried with BBEG, I have to see when you're fixed."
Edited by CenturyEye on Jan 21st 2022 at 7:04:47 AM
Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
Breath of the Sun
Mikael
Mikael briefly considered arguing with the Nurse that he could push himself harder if he had to, but he knew it'd be a lie. He exhaled as the healing energy ran through him, mingling with the hellfire in his soul and easing his fatigue.
"Thanks." He said, softly, as the Nurse moved on to help Theo. He stared a moment as she continued her work, before turning back to his friends.
"Spider-girl's right, Lucy. You're strong. I don't know where you pulled all that power from, but once I'm healed up I wouldn't mind going a round with you." He smiled. "I have to admit that without your strength we couldn't have beaten him."
A hint of smugness entered his tone. "Though I definitely could've taken him on if I hadn't already been worn down. My fault for beating up Martin so badly, I guess."
What is so amusing about this? Why do you take lives? How can you forget?
AKA Nixer
Lucy Livingston
“Y-Yeah. Sure, Mikael...” Lucy mumbled in apparent disbelief, though there was something of a teasing tone in her voice now. That, and she was red as a beetroot from both his and Khulan's compliments. She couldn't just deny two at the same time, it'd just confuse her. So she decided to just accept it.
It felt good.
“...y-you're welcome. A-And... d-don't feel too bad about being overwhelmed, okay? You almost got 'im. And we... didn't know this was gonna happen. We weren't ready for it...” she added in regards to Mikael, something of a sympathetic tone in her voice. “M-Maybe we can try sparring... s-sometime when I can stand up straight...”
Khulan's question, though she phrased it in a way that suggested she was fine with not getting an answer, still left Lucy unable to resist giving her a response. It did confuse her slightly that the spider-girl didn't know about her type of ESPer, but she supposed amongst all the other types of superpowers they were probably easy to overlook.
“W-Well, ESP just means extrasensory perception. Or projection. S-So... it really just means psychic, i-in a fancy way...? The type I am is... different, though...” she admitted, wondering how quickly she could break this down without skipping out on important details. “...w-we... we kinda start out with just... raw psychic power. Then once we get older... they settle into a... a medium. L-Like my ink. Th-That's... how it works, more or less...”
She let out a long sigh, sounding somewhat ashamed of herself as she got to the most relevant part of the explanation.
“S-Sometimes... when ESPers push too hard... th-they can overload, and... s-suffer a seizure. Wh-Whole brain lights up, and... s-starts to cook. I-I think... that's what happened back there. I-I just... I'm sorry. If it hadn't ended, it might've been bad...”
Edited by Enirboreh on Jan 22nd 2022 at 12:04:54 PM
bork
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
Khulan - I saw her first!
"Hey dude," Khulan went from holding a shoulder to draping an arm around lucy in a loose half-hug. She did remember their convo in the hallway after all. "Dibs! I asked first. And you got to fight Martin and King Carp over there."
"So you're psychic with one, special thing?" Khulan asked Lucy, resisting moving another hand to the girl's head. She had said 'brain' then 'cook'. But Lucy probably knew her limits more than she did. And the nurse was right there. "Did the ink like call to you? Could you move everything like a poltergeist when you were younger? Can you erase printed things?" The questions only started there. Khulan could and would go on. Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
AKA Nixer
Lucy Livingston
Khulan's touch made Lucy visibly freeze, but she didn't object. She was nice to her, and she couldn't help but smile slightly in response to her friendly demeanour. But her questions have her pause, as if she was uncertain as to how to answer them. She opened her mouth to speak, and thennote there was a strange occurrence.
Something seemed to... twitch. In everything. Lucy's eyes blinked, and a bright white glow was all of a sudden searing out from her pupils. An electrical buzzing assaulted the ears, like distortion on a VHS tape, as the lights suddenly went out. Only the glow of Lucy's eyes illuminated her, as the sound of squelching and concrete fracturing reverberated around them. The lights came back on—dimmer than before—and there was no one else there apart from Khulan and Lucy.
Them, and the motionless, ten-foot tall organism seemingly levitating in the air. It was frozen, not hovering with any kind of give, as if it were simply attached to nothing. Long, spindly limbs with translucent skin. A bulbous head, with hanging tendrils from beneath the inflated folds of its skin. It resembled a jellyfish, with no eyes or mouth, but it had an androgynous humanoid body hanging from beneath its ‘head’. Signals throughout its nervous system were visibly pulsating along veinlike structures beneath its clear skin, and the glow resembled that of Lucy's eyes. An eerie call, like distant whalesong or an air raid siren, crept into the range of one's hearing before fading again just as quickly.
I could make the walls hungry, and the ceiling stare down, said a voice resembling Lucy's from within the girl's throat, though her mouth wasn't moving nor was her larynx shifting within her throat. I could grow roses, and lift the house up seven inches into the air. I was beautiful, but it hurt my head so much. I was scared I would kill someone.
A skeletal hand, with only vestiges of flesh clinging to its bones, slowly clutched Lucy's shoulder from behind, and a stiff grinning face attached to an oddly-shaped head peeked out from behind Lucy's own. Its expression was hollow, frozen as if trapped in a moment of hysteria. It chattered something into Lucy's ear, but it was silent.
It stopped after Dad left, Khulan. I grew up. That's when it turned into ink. Only ink. Except, when it forgets...
The thing in my dreams doesn't care what it uses. I do.
Lucy quietly removed Khulan's arm from around her, and the entire experience ended with zero delay or transition. It had simply ceased, and things were exactly as they were. Lucy pursed her lips before turning to give Khulan a brief squeeze in the form of a proper hug, before pulling away and shyly stepping to the side to maintain some distance.
“Th-Thanks, Khulan.”
Khulan would feel as if she had just been dragged into a different world. A very personal, intimate world, with no feeling akin to the real one she had just been returned to. Whatever Lucy had just done, it was unique to her. And imperceivable by the others.
Thankfully. It had gotten weird back there for a moment.
bork
Surrounded by weirdoes
Sam had blushed a bit at the nurse, even with her eccentricity, but he felt lightheaded again, and had to cover his mouth for a moment.
"Well, I guess you have it under control" He managed to say "So, I'll go just lie down somewhere for now. Give a holler if you need me" With that, he started walking away, a bit shakily.
Avoid the washing machine He thought. He could do without getting spun around for a good while.
Wake me up at your own risk.
Liam just silently nodded, and thought about the way things had turned out. Nobody noticed the way things had gone in the heat of it. Nobody dead. Nobody taken away by the Deep Ones. Nobody so much as scratched. Liam thought about saying something to The Saint. He thought about giving some account of how and why. But in his mind's eye, he saw Tommy, and he thought about how much help he'd been.
The words died in his throat. Even as he looked back up at The Saint, "It won't happen again, sir." He did know he hadn't exactly been able to do that before—-much of any of that that he did at the pool, really.
But he wasn't gonna look a gift horse in the mouth.
Walking over to Mikael and the others, he was relieved to see that Nurse Hello had healed them up. "Glad to see you're all good," he said, "As bad as this went, it could've gone a lot worse."
Sue
Sue caught Bea's glance, but she could tell she wasn't doing so hot. She wasn't sure if she was sick or queasy, but from the way she was walking and talking, something was off.
"You sure, roomie? Maybe it's me, but you don't look ready to go mediate anything. I tried to mediate a couple times, but I think I kept moving and squirming around and stuff cuz it sorta kept hurting my head. But I wasn't stumbling around or talking all weird either. You do you, but maybe what you need is someone to talk to, ya know?"
Pool
"Got it in one. The Totally Groovelicious Nurse Hello, at your service."
She glanced up at Libitina from the edge of the rim. She was checking on the other students and party-goers, making sure no-one else had been hurt. Most of them didn't have a scratch, but she always preferred to be thorough.
"What's up?"
Edited by kkhohoho on Jan 23rd 2022 at 2:11:18 PM
Kirby
He blinked in surprise at Victor's admission that he hadn't heard of Intellicom before now. I guess they're not known everywhere. Kirby rubbed the back of his neck and smiled somewhat ruefully as they walked along the hallway. "Well, as you might have noticed, my own gifts are not immediately useful for being a hero or even just maneuvering in the world, so my parents devised a way for me to be more effective. It's...kind of a tool I can use to do things while I'm tiny, but it can always be upgraded." He gave Victor a speculative glance. "And I'm not very picky about what those upgrades might be."
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
Khulan - Okay, that answers that
Okay, first God's crew had turned on the shaky cam and then tripped over the light plug. And were playing with the damn sound system. That buzzing came from everywhere. There was light though. From Lucy.
It only then occurred to Khulan that she was still holding Lucy. She wasn't about to let go though. Not with the glowing frakin great old one floating there. "I think we forgot to close the pool portal."
When the bony hand showed up gripping Lucy's other shoulder, Khulan tensed her hand for a strike and whipped her head back, trying to find the source and how that thing had snuck up on her. For a moment she didn't even notice that it was Lucy doing the talking... if she was doing the talking.
And then Lucy was hugging her back. Under a proper Sun. The ...what?!
"You're welcome I think," Khulan responded more or less automatically to Lucy. How long was that trip? I think I've been got good. Something she would normally comment on, except for the 'my dad left' part. That... it probably wasn't a gotcha. It was a... wtf? One hell of a psychic demo.
"I mean, I guess I should say thank you," Khulan said. For the briefest of moments, she lacked her own boisterousness. She had to make herself keep eye contact with Lucy and she was spinning her hands in meaningless gestures. "For sharing that I mean." She didn't like that response, true that it was. It just felt inadequate. Where was a wise woman when you needed one? Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
AKA Nixer
Lucy Livingston
“I-I can explain it properly. Later...” Lucy said shyly, somewhat ashamed at how she'd overwhelmed Khulan with that vision. It'd devolved into vague nonsensicality far too quickly, due to her being overeager in showing everything to her. “I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I-I just find it hard to... to talk about. B-But I promise, there's an explanation...”
That thing, in my dreams. Whatever it is, I'm sure it isn't me.
I should kick it out.
I don't think I can.
I should try.
It's not worth it. Better to just... wait. Figure out what it is first.
bork
Philip
Fern
Fern looking around and seeing that no one has answered her question thinks to just stop and hope that whatever that they were saying was important, Fern then slaps herself in the face, how dumb could I get I mean why did I even space out right there.
I can do it. For the sake of my master and seonbae…
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
Khulan - Tall enough for this ride. I think.
"Huh? No, a trip is worth a thousand words." Khulan looked to the sky with a small smile. What? She had to make sure the Sun was still there. "You never did answer if you could erase books. But, take your time. Do it your way. Whatever the explanation is, I have to hear it. Or if I'm going to ride a vision out, I have to see it. I might sit this time though." Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
Cafeteria, Lee.
It definitely wasn't like Lee to get anxious, but given that unsettling noise seemed to only be bothering him along with it getting closer, no matter how he tried, the kid was getting uneasy.
Was it after the sandwich? He stopped for a moment to think, getting a little confused. Didn't the noises come FROM the sandwich? It was getting closer. And the fact no-one else seemed to even be aware of it. ...Getting clipped by a thrown food tray that was aimed at someone else didn't exactly help either.
Granted, absorbing the kinetic energy from the impact made it little more than a slight twinge of pain, but it still threw him off balance and dropped the sandwich.
...This was not exactly a good first day. And a pretty good chance he'd never try a sandwich every again.
Hope you weren't expecting anything witty here. Maybe some day.