Academy for Heroes-In-Training

Keep control, Aislara. Keep control.

It was funny indeed that Slim had mentioned the Hulk. Aislara felt her blood boil at his insolent request and couldn't help wondering if, by some weird twist of fate, she'd received some Hulk-like DNA as well. Well, no that was a silly thing to think, but she was mad. Couldn't that little brat see that she didn't feel like talking to anyone, even her current roommate?

Eden remained as silent as Aislara did, but she thought he was being quiet for different reasons. Probably weighing the advantages against his suspicions. He was going to say yes?! The carrot that Aislara had been holding snapped in two. She put the pieces into her mouth and chewed furiously.

"Well, I'll take that as a yes then," said Slim, pulling up a duffel bag from behind him and setting it on the table. "I've even got all my stuff ready."

If Aislara hadn't had such great self control, the anger would have flashed in her eyes. She was trained, however, to keep a neutral outward appearance. Keeping calm, she stood, cleared her tray into the garbage, then walked straight out of the cafeteria.

Her room wasn't that far from the dining hall, and when she reached it, she immediately packed up the rest of her things into her purple backpack (being assailed by Moco the whole time), then walked right back out. This time she didn't manage to shut the door on the toucan, so he flew lazily behind her.

Gotta find somewhere else to sleep.

After a while, Aislara finally located the library. Heroes needed to be smart, but apparently none of them were taking advantage of the resources. The room was empty. It was also well-furnished -- easy chairs in every corner and long curtains over the tall windows that appeared wherever a bookshelf didn't.

Aislara chose one of the chairs in the corner the farthest from the door, put her backpack into the cranny behind the chair, then curled up and tried to sleep. HELL if she'd sleep with TWO annoying roommates.

Slim:

He watched as Aislara silently rose and left the room. He looked at Eden.
"What's her problem?" he asked.
"Maybe her life is being intruded by an annoying brat who butted into her room." he glared at him. Maybe he should've chosen someone else. These kids were just too smart. He decided to play innocent.
"Who in the world would to that to someone? Maybe that was why she was so quiet." He shrugged. "Oh well, guess I'll see you around." He got up from the table.
"Hold up," said Eden. "Haven't I seen you somewhere?" Slim almost panicked. Not good. He tried to keep his head.
"Me?" he asked, "Naw, it's my first year here. There's no way. Although you might've seen my dad somewhere before." He turned and left before Eden could say anything else. That was way too close. He had better be careful. Oh well, this was a good start to his mission. He strode down the hallway and decided he should probably find his room.
"Shoot," he muttered. He had forgotten to ask what room they had. He knew that Eden was annoyed, and for good reason; he had been a pain. He smiled at the choas he had already caused. He would just find Aislara and ask her. The only thing was; he had no idea where he was.

(Augh. Really sorry about the insanely late post, as you can see I try to fit it into the plot. I'll be regular now. Really. >_<)

Gratian:

Gratian peered out of the bush he was hiding in. It was dark now, the moon obscured by clouds, so maybe it would be safe to go and scope out the building. It was a training facility for heroes, but you could never be too careful.

He darted through the lawn and crouched next to the brick wall of the building. It smelled like chemicals. Cautiously, he stood up and looked through the nearest window. It was dark, but he could see some turquoise creature and an almost ghostly girl sleeping. ...And what was that? There was some sort of glowing stone on the nightstand, softly emitting light. In any case, he couldn't go into an occupied room, but the stone might be something to investigate once he was in.

One by one, he looked through the other windows, all of which were locked, occupied, or most often, both. He was getting nowhere. Maybe I'll just go in, he thought dejectedly, starting to walk towards the front of the building, but pausing when he realized that every other brick on the wall jutted out about an inch. After a moment's thought, he held onto a brick in each hand and began levering himself up the wall. A light rain started to fall from the clouds.

(Augh. Really sorry about the insanely late post, as you can see I try to fit it into the plot. I'll be regular now. Really. >_<)

Gratian:

Gratian peered out of the bush he was hiding in. It was dark now, the moon obscured by clouds, so maybe it would be safe to go and scope out the building. It was a training facility for heroes, but you could never be too careful.

He darted through the lawn and crouched next to the brick wall of the building. It smelled like chemicals. Cautiously, he stood up and looked through the nearest window. It was dark, but he could see some turquoise creature and an almost ghostly girl sleeping. ...And what was that? There was some sort of glowing stone on the nightstand, softly emitting light. In any case, he couldn't go into an occupied room, but the stone might be something to investigate once he was in.

One by one, he looked through the other windows, all of which were locked, occupied, or most often, both. He was getting nowhere. Maybe I'll just go in, he thought dejectedly, starting to walk towards the front of the building, but pausing when he realized that every other brick on the wall jutted out about an inch. After a moment's thought, he held onto a brick in each hand and began levering himself up the wall. A light rain started to fall from the clouds.

SLIM: (It's been more than a week, so here goes)

He walked down the hallway, glancing around and trying to find Aislara. Suddenly, in front of him, he saw a spiky-looking hedgehog and a tough looking girl with a huge sword strapped to her back. He raised his eyebrow. If he was right, he'd seen them before. Maybe he'd seen them at headquarters! Jogging, he hurried to catch up with them and once he was alongside, he said,

"Hey! You workin' for the boss? I've got the weakness duty." They stared at him, mouth wide open.

"What the heck are you talking about?" the girl with the sword asked. Oops.
"Uhhh, gotcha! Heh, just kidding. I was uh, hust tryin' to see your reaction," he finished lamely. They gave him funny looks.
"Yeah, right." said the hedgehog. Well, they were here, so he might as well try to squeeze some information out of them.

"So you guys been here long?" he asked. They both shook thier heads.

"No, we just got here yesterday," said the girl. She seemed to talk more than her hedghog companion, who promptly muttered,

"Yeah, but we've had enough trouble for a year." Slim sensed an opportunity.

"What kind of trouble?" he asked.

[i]What's this guy's deal?[/i] Zeke thought, still groggy after having his sleep interrupted. He studied Slim for a quick second before answering.

"I just have some issues with this guy I know outside of the Academy," he said noncommittally. He glanced up at Kumo, who was casually examining her hilt-strap.
"Have you met Ken Robotnik?" he asked, turning back to Slim.

"The genius from Mobius?" Slim asked, seeming interested.
"You've heard of Mobius?" Zeke exclaimed, dumbfounded. His world had never been too well known amongst the rest of the multiverse.
"Of course! Ken is making a real name for that world, you know..."
"Tell me about it."
"... and judging by your appearance, would you be related to Sonic?"
"How'd

What's this guy's deal? Zeke thought, still groggy after having his sleep interrupted. He studied Slim for a quick second before answering.

"I just have some issues with this guy I know outside of the Academy," he said noncommittally. He glanced up at Kumo, who was casually examining her hilt-strap.
"Have you met Ken Robotnik?" he asked, turning back to Slim.

"The genius from Mobius?" Slim asked, seeming interested.
"You've heard of Mobius?" Zeke exclaimed, dumbfounded. His world had never been too well known amongst the rest of the multiverse.
"Of course! Ken is making a real name for that world, you know..."
"Tell me about it."
"... and judging by your appearance, would you be related to Sonic?"
"How'd you guess?" Zeke smirked. "How about you?"

Slim responded by firing a streak of web at Kumo's hand, which was idly pulling at a thread on her shirt. He pulled the hand into his and grinned up at her.
"So... Spider-Man?" Zeke asked uneasily.

The reason for his unease became apparent when Kumo grabbed his wrist and gave it a sharp twist. Slim gasped and bit his lip as Kumo glared down at him.
"What gave you the impression that I'd let you do that?" she muttered calmly, though her fury was evident in her eyes. Her other hand leaped to the handle of her giant Buster Sword.

"Don't!" Zeke shouted, but Slim had already shot a thread from his free hand, caught the handle of the sword and yanked it toward himself. Zeke shot forward and grabbed the handle, wielding the giant sword in a visibly amateur fashion.
"Ch-chill out..." he demanded shakily.

He stood between the duellists: on his left, Kumo, red-faced, nostrils flaring, breathing heavily; to his right, Slim, web hanging from his hands, visibly agitated but wary. Zeke gulped, and started when Kumo eventually moved. She stepped forward, straight past Slim towards the dorms. Zeke watched after her, gave Slim an apologetic half-smile and followed, lugging the heavy blade.

The door slammed open, Kumo's bootprint clear on the cheap wood. Striding in to the room, She stood still for a moment, anger gnawing at her nerves.
It wasn't until she heard a nervous cough from behind her she realized she had been glaring into space for a solid minute and her jaw was aching from being clenched.
"Kumo?"
She turned to glare down at Zeke, her shoulders still tense. "What?"
"If I give you back your sword, would you beat me with it?"
The nervousness in her friend's voice disarmed Kumo for a second, allowing a grim smile to spread across her face. "If I had wanted to beat you with it, you would be beaten. By the way, it's easier to carry if you rest it on your shoulder. Less wear on the blade, too."
Zeke laughed nervously, but Kumo was staring into space again. Eventually he lugged the sword to her bed and put it down, before moving to his own.
After a long moment, Kumo threw herself beside her sword, arms folded behind her head, eyes glaring at the ceiling.
"Kumo?"
"Yeah?" Her voice was more normal now.
"Why did you get so angry? He was just fooling around."
Silence fell, and after a long moment Zeke wondered if she was going to answer at all.
"I don't like to be pushed around."
"Evidently."
"And the arrogance of him, flashing his powers around to impress a girl..."
"...But you seem...keen to show off your own skills."
Kumo shot a dark glare across the room, softened with an amused smile. "Shuttup, it's totally not the same."

Slim:

The door slammed shut and Slim winced. Well, that didn't go as well as he'd hoped. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, a nervous habit he'd picked up. He sighed. That was four people he'd upset. He wasn't doing so good. Maybe he should try to patch things up. The boss wouldn't be very happy if he came home with nothing. He winced again at the thought.

Awkwardly, he stepped up to the door and gingerly knocked.
"Uh, it's me, Slim," he said. "I, uh, I'm sorry for, you know. I've been kind of disoriented today, bein' my first day and everything. Can we start over?" he waited for a second, his keen ears hearing low whispering on the other side of the door. Finally, he heard feet shuffling over and the door opened to reveal a still angry Kumo with Zeke standing warily behind her.

"What do you want?" she asked coldly.
"We got off on the wrong start," he said. He extended his hand.
"Hi. I'm Slim. Nice to meet you." She stood there for a moment and Slim wondered if she would take his hand or not. She glared at it and then looked him straight into the eye. For a second it seemed like there was no hope of becoming "friends". Then, she relaxed slightly and shook his hand.
"I'm Kumo. Nice to meet you too." She almost crushed his hand in the handshake but he managed to keep his face straight.
"Listen, I feel really bad about what happened. Let me treat you to lunch at the cafeteria. You too Zeke." Zeke looked ready to comply, but Kumo he wasn't sure about.

Nick

I sat there, alone in my room. Nothing else to do, I trained. After an hour, or to me about an hour and a half, I blacked out. When I woke up, my alarm clock was raining. There was a bushel out side. The first day of school had started. Quickly I changed into my clothes (do we wear the costumes to class?) and hurried off to my first class, gym.

Sorry for being so short. Just trying to get this back to page one.

Jennifer Preacher

I dumped my books on my bed before I remembered my purpose for discarding them was so I could collapse there myself. So far, the academy was pretty average. Well, other that the, you know, not average stuff. And by average, I mean awesome. Not that the not-average stuff isn't awesome. Because it is. Almost more awesome than the average stuff. You know what I mean?

I lifted my books again, turned a couple inches, and re-dumped them to the floor, falling into my now vacant bed. The classes were hard and easy, the student body was... well, the student body, and teachers were teachers wherever you went. Day one down with not so much as a scratch on my body, unless you count my hair, the bottom of which was slightly singed. Just slightly. Not noticeable. Good day, if I do say so myself.

I sighed and turned to glance at my books. Spells and Basics and Potions and a little bit of Literature. Not for any classical element, no, though that helped. Mainly just that it was a storybook that I got credit for reading. Who knew procrastination could count for school? I was impressed.

I looked back at my ceiling. I was hungry, had homework, and wanted a double-chocolate mocha. The first could be cured in the Cafeteria, if I remembered the way, the second would be easy enough I hoped, and the third... did they have double-chocolate mochas with whipped cream and almond biscotti in the cafeteria?

They did, or there would be no student left alive after the first week of studies. And, seeing as everyone was pretty healthy, it looked like a good sign. I got up from bed, fixed my pony tail, and debated taking my books with me, even as I walked down the hall and turned a corner. Probably silly, but if I got lost, I wasn't sure if I wanted to fall behind because of it. Not that I'd know the way to class to turn it in if I got lost anyway, but still. You can never be too careful.

To take, or not to take? That's the question, I thought to myself as I turned another corner, moving ever further from my room and books.

* For the sake of starting classes and not being dragged down, can we assume Slim and Kumo made peace (-ish) and went to bed? *

The class lined up behind the white stripe the coach (a mouse) had painted across the ground.

"Listen up, people," the coach announced. "Welcome to Track. I'm your coach, James Gonzales. You'll be learning to control your speed in this class. Speed is not just about acceleration: if you focus on forward all the time, you'll have trouble with left, right and back. I'll be teaching you all the basics you'll need. Cornering. Braking. A few special manoeuvres.
"This first lesson is merely for me to see who's at what stage. Start at this line, and when I blow the whistle you start running. Circle around those trees and return here. I'll get each of your times."

Zeke stepped up to the line and kneeled. He was still apprehensive about beginning classes, but he was much less nervous than he had been since stepping into the Academy for the first time.

He was a runner. This was his element.

He knew the others were supposedly competent with speed as well - they'd signed up for the class, after all. But somehow he didn't seem to care about things when he ran.

A screech interrupted his thoughts: his cue to move. It was at about forty miles per hour that it happened... his surroundings faded along with his worries. He took the first tree with ease, reaching out to grab it and swing into the direction of the next, quite a few metres away.

He flung his arms behind him and boosted his speed. This was just like the Green Hill Zone back home... he slowed slightly a few metres before the second tree and had no trouble circling it and continuing towards the coach.

He cleared his head, and wasn't entirely surprised to find himself ahead of the other racers. He'd done this since birth, after all. He was about halfway through the stretch back when he saw a large blue blur flashed past him. His first thought was his great-grandfather, Sonic... but Sonic wasn't that big, and was a darker shade of blue...

It was a boy, he saw as his opponent slowed down and skidded to a halt next to the coach. A blonde, well-built boy had outrun him. He himself slowed to a halt by the coach.

No one had ever outrun him before - all the residents of Mobius were especially fast, and he could beat each and every one of them in a race... this boy must have come from a world of faster beings than even the Mobians. This boy that was now approaching him.

"Hey! I saw you take those corners, you were pretty good. Do you run a lot?"
Zeke nodded.
"It shows," the guy replied. They introduced themselves and headed toward the washrooms discussing their favourite running locations on their home worlds.

Nick

I slipped out of my costume, and came out of the locker room in an outfit just like it. A Bright blue shirt, and bright white shorts.

"So Zeke. What you old man think when you got speed?" I asked the kid.

"He was cool with it. My grandpa was happy too. You?" Zeke said.

"Disappointed. He wanted me to actually be fast, running wise. When I just slow time down. Had tons of father son running trips planned, but we would never be able to talk on them. Time slows around me so much, sound waves slow too much to hear. Mom though got me something different. Gave me her old ring, not that good yet though. Sorry, I ramble sometimes," I said.

Zeke let out a fake snore, with his head down and eyes close.

I rolled my eyes. "Real funny."

"I know," he shot back.

"Whatever. I got super weaponry training now. So see ya later," I said before slowing time down and running off. I arrived in class just in time, as always.

"Ah Mr. Flash. How nice of you to make it," the teacher said. The bell rang as I came in.

"Now, as I was saying before...Nickolas, came in. This class will be dealing with the use of implements to fight. From a magic wand, to an enchanted ring. It will be taught her. now please partner up. We will be doing some minor sparring today."

Most kids partnered up fast, before even I could get to anyone from the door. I was left with some perky girl, named Jen Preacher.

Jenifer Preacher
O.O.C. Jen is still level 0, so is liable to fail any duel, dark lord blood or no. XD

The students had up and paired off before I even got a good look at everybody, leaving me and a tall guy with blond hair and green eyes. Blue? Nope, green. Maybe. I leaned closer towards him to get a better look. Nope. They were definitely a blue-green. He leaned back slightly and flicked his eyes around the room, an odd expression on his face and clearly wondering what I was doing. I leaned back into my chair (back away from him) and held out my hand.

"Jenifer Preacher. People call me Jen." I said, waiting for him to take my hand. He did after a moment, the perfect politician's hand shake: cool and dry.

"M'name's Nick. Nice to meet you." He said. I grinned and gave a quick nod of my head. He turned to look at the front of the classroom.

"Great to meet you too! So what're you here for?" I asked, peppy as ever.

"What?" he asked, looking back at me, "Oh. Speed. Kinda. How about you, what are you... studying?" He waved his hand around to encompass the entire campus with the last word. I shrugged and waved my hand around in a similar motion.

"You're in it!" I said. "Studying magic and stuff."

He looked at me a moment, but I kept smiling. He was about to say something else, but the teacher spoke up, ending the chatter of the students.

"Order! Order in the classroom!" the laughing and gabbing quickly died away as the students waited for him to go on. He cleared his throat. "Like I said. Sparring."

I leaned closer to him but kept my body facing the teacher. "You know I'm descended from the dark lord?"

He glanced my way but kept his eyes on the teacher. "The who lord?"

I leaned back in my seat, surprised. "The dark lord," I said under my breath, my eyes on the teacher. "You know, Lord Voldemort? Tom Riddle? Prince of Slytherine, talks to snakes?"

He gave me another glance and put a finger to his lips before pointing to the teacher. I sighed and slouched in my seat.

"I'm just saying," I said under my breath.

Zeke sat on the grassy hill and watched the class in the field. He was watching Kumo's Swordsmanship class in the field his Track class had just vacated.

Kumo was demonstrating her skill to the coach, a green-clad man with pointy ears. She was doing alright, though the coach was playing defensive to her offensive and thus scoring more hits when she left herself open. She looked fairly frustrated as she sat down, until she spotted Zeke and her expression brightened slightly.

Before they could start, there was a low "boom" and the ground shook slightly. Zeke turned immediately in the direction the sound had come from. Smoke began billowing from a classroom window.

Ordinarily Zeke would have stayed where he was, or hidden, and hoped everything would sort itself out. But since the moment he had entered his dorm he'd felt less inclined to leave the danger to someone else. He'd made a few friends already, something he hadn't expected to happen within the first month (if at all) and he was one of the best in Track. In short, he was feeling exceptionally confident right now.

He raced toward the smoking building. Students were being evacuated, among them Nick and a red-haired girl, both black in the face from soot. They were both apologising profusely to the teacher (or Nick was apparently trying to; he was coughing so hard).

The teacher had finally caught his breath.
"This happens every year with the new recruits," he muttered. Zeke made his way toward Nick.

"Are you ok?" he asked. "What happened in there?"