The Adjudicator's Institute for Heroics

Astrid smiled at Sage. "We can be fugitives together! It's not like I want to go back home, so we could hop a train together and... I dunno. We'll figure it out. Maybe Dawn can join us, too! Or we could ask to stay with Evan and Avery. I dunno much about their situation, though..."

Izzy scratched her head. "Oh, right. Well, to catch you up to speed-" Then suddenly she was shoved in a closet. A cramped one at that. Four people were not meant to fit inside. Dawn was blushing profusely as she was pressed between a cabinet and Avery's shoulder. "Well, yeah. Red flag number one: Powder lied. He's behind all the mind-control stuff. We... We both are. He told me and I just stood by and, and," A part of her wished that Sage girl were here, forcing the words out of here. "Sorry about that," she grumbled, before continuing. "We'd been working with the Adjudicator, but then she showed us how she took people's powers and she wanted to transfer some to me! I told her it was crazy, but... Powder seemed interested."

Izzy held her head in her hands, then scratching some of the peeling skin around her burns. The eye caught in Sam's blast was completely white and scarred. "I don't want Powder to go down a bad path and get hurt... But he could access our minds at any minute," she said. Izzy looked down at the floor, scratching harder this time. She grumbled, "I should've known... anybody who calls mind-control 'mental suggestion' is a psycho..."

Avery scratched her chin, taking in Izzy's words. "...So I guess we're still in danger, then. Who knows what Powder might do once Sage and Astrid spread the word...and he's in everyone's heads, too. How do you get rid of a mind-controller?"

"What I want to know is how he got these abilities," Evan crossed his arms, eyes narrow. "Are they naturally occurring, or are they something the Adjudicator gave to him?"

Izzy nervously rubbed her hand on her hair, so fast it started creating sparks. "Look, I dunno! I mean, he kinda puts this black gooey powder into food, so I'm guessing he didn't get it? I don't really pry on friends like that, sorry."

Izzy brought her hand down soon after and started skipping from toe to toe, hopping back and forth in a desperate attempt for movement and friction. "I don't know many ways, to be honest. Like, if you ingest it, right, then like... wait for it to... um, ya know. Get outta your system. But I do have this theory! Like, what if you could find some othet hypnotist or mind-controller and have them do something while you still have Powder's stuff in you? Powder's, uh, powder-powers are always active, just latent. So what if there's some sort of system override or overload?"

Dawn looked at the other awkwardly. "I don't think I want anyone in my head..."

Izzy instantly drew back, her excitement fading. "Oh, yeah. Right. Well, there's probably some other ways, obviously. Only problem is that I dunno how long the Powder-powder stays in your system. Could be forever," she shrugged.

"What if we had someone that could purge the powder?" Avery wondered, glancing around. "Like, someone with medical or telekinetic abilities that could draw the substance out? Could that work?"

"Maybe," Evan rubbed his neck. "If we can find someone like that who's willing to help us. We...don't exactly have a lot of allies here, though. I wouldn't want to go asking around until we knew for certain that whoever we talk to isn't going to rat us out."

Dawn looked at Avery. "Well, after that video gets out, we might have a lot more people willing to help. And there was someone-" Oh, right. She didn't exactly save that girl, did she? They likely rehooked her up once it was all over. "I... There might be more people willing to help after they see her in the video." Dawn went silent after that, staring at the floor. Even when she succeeded, she failed in someway. At least, that's how it all seemed in her head.

Meanwhile, Izzy turned to Evan. She scanned him up and down, then sighed. "So..." she whistled, "Uh, sorry? You're still a massive loser, dork, and idiot and all that, but I'm... I feel kinda messed up over what happened to Sam. After seeing all the stuff Adjudicator's been doin', uh, got me thinkin' and all. Yeah. That's it. You don't gotta forgive me or anything. Just thought I'd let you know..." she said, before whispering under her breath- "moron."

Evan blinked, tilting his head. "Uh...thank you? I think?"

It wasn't much of an apology, but coming from Izzy...there was something to be said about any 'sorry' at all.

"Oh!" Avery was still trying to think of a plan. "Do we still have that file from the Adjudicator? Perhaps we could figure out someone we want to ask from there...a student with a lower score, I think. That way we know they don't get along with the Adjudicator."

"Cool, cool," Izzy said, swaying side to side in her grab for movement. Staying still was not her strong suit. "Yeah, you're pretty dumb, so I thought... Yeah." And that was it. Izzy turned her head in the other direction.

"Yeah, we do," Dawn said, "But I'm not sure that's a good indicator. We're the only people who know about the scores, and that doesn't instantly mean they don't like my mom. We'd have to show someone their score first. Add onto that, loyalty doesn't just falter that easily. As seen with... well, me still."

"Show them their score?" Avery turned to Dawn. "Like, show them how lowly the Adjudicator thinks of them? I suppose that might work...does she know we have the folder? Because if she doesn't--"

"She knows," Evan interjected. "She mentioned it when we went to the basement. Might as well use it while we have the chance, right? Who knows when she might emerge again...we'll need as many allies as we can get, and fast. The whole school staff will be after us once the word gets out."

"Yeah..." Avery's eyes flicked to the closet door. The hallway outside was silent and empty, from what she could tell. No loud footsteps, no teachers hurrying from room to room. "Speaking of which, shouldn't the Adjudicator have called security on us or something? I mean, she has to be mad about your color bomb. And now they know we have evidence of her practices...wouldn't she want to stop us?"

Dawn swallowed hard. "I... I don't know. I think Evan's color bomb did something to her. She seemed kind of... crazy? More than usual. She had this look in her eyes and she just looked off. Even Darcy looked it, too."
Security? Dawn never noticed security before today... Oh, what had she done? Did she just start an all-out war? Creepers started crawling up her ankles. "I-I don't know what we're gonna do if she does send people after us. After me. I don't... I don't want any of you guys getting hurt! And Sage and Astrid are still out there!" Dawn was easily suspectable to panic. The grass frantically pooled at her feet didn't help her case.

Avery put an arm around Dawn. "Nothing's happened yet. If the bomb incapacitated her, we probably don't have to worry about anything for a little bit."

As she rubbed Dawn's shoulder, though, a hint of doubt crept into Avery's expression. Even she could see how hollow her words sounded...in this world of uncertainties, how was she supposed to reassure someone about things she didn't know?

"Sage can take care of herself, too," Evan added in an effort to break the tension. He nodded at Izzy. "She knows from experience."

At least Dawn had someone to rely on. Someone always had a shoulder open for her. "I know," she said, "I'm just paranoid. Like always."

Izzy looked at Evan for a moment. Then, she smirked. "You're welcome. How else would you know?"

Dawn scrarched her arm, shyly. "Yeah, I know. It'll be fine..." she sighed, "It's just that they know where we are. It's not like our dorm is a secret."

"...Unless we could make it one," a sudden idea popped into Avery's head. "Evan...do you think you could disguise the door to our room? Make it look like a blank wall?"

"Maybe," He replied, nodding his head slowly. "But it would take a lot of energy and the door would still be there. If somebody felt around, they could find the knob, no problem. But I could keep the illusion up indefinitely, as long as I'm close enough to maintain it."

"Okay, good." Avery rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Then we'll add something else to our list of abilities; someone who can erase people's memories. It's getting too dangerous to be out in the open--I think it's time we disappear."

Dawn looked at Avery, "What about our documents? You think we can just break in and delete our existence? Somebody's going to notice..." Even when she said this, she had a thought in mind. There was a supervillian from her mom's time, someone called Shadowblight. Her entire existence was almost untracable. At any moment, the entire world would forget she existed. Any word, image, mention of her was all forgotten. It was only thanks to her retiring that she was remembered. Maybe, if they could remember a bit more about her, it was possible to find her or possibly any offspring. It would be helpful...

"I can break in," Izzy cut in. She was nonchalant about it, staring at her nails. Dark blue nailpolish had started to wear off. "I can move faster than light and sound, if I'm really trying. I won't do it for nothing, though."

Dawn glanced at Evan nervously. She nodded. "What's your price?"

Izzy stared Avery dead in the eyes, her arms crossed. "Promise me that Powder and his sister are affected by all this, too. I want them to disappear with you guys. I don't want them hurt. I don't care if my name is forgotten or not, just make sure they're included in all this, with or without their own knowledge."

"Why?" Evan asked, crossing his arms. "Why should we include them?'

"Evan--" Avery started, but he cut her off.

"I don't understand why you care about them so much," he continued, turning to Izzy. "You literally said just a few minutes ago that Powder is a psycho. He's the one using the mind-control and helping the Adjudicator steal people's powers. If anything, he's the enemy. So why do you go out of your way to keep him safe?"

Izzy scoffed. "I see how much you care about your friends." Izzy went right up to Evan, standing just inches away from him. Sure, he was taller, but that didn't mean she couldn't intimadate him a little. She caused him damage before. "Yeah, he's insane, but he's my friend. He cares about me and I care about him. If it were Sam, I'm sure you'd drop dead for them. Powder's my Sam," she said, her voice clear and stern. "Kinda worrying how you didn't see that sooner. I didn't think you were that stupid."

Dawn swallowed hard. "Still, giving Powder immunity could mean some bad stuff for us. If he does something bad, nobody will remember it and there won't be a record."

"Give him and his sister the same benefits or I'm going straight to the Adjudicator. Final offer," Izzy said, moving right in front of the door.