Young Writers Society

Emmett Allen|3:20pm| Coronet Suite

Emmett groggily rose from his bed. The memories of the introduction had begun to fade, Emmett was an expert and blocking out bad memories, many of them being times he thought about how bad it was to block out memories. So, as he stumbled into the main room he was smiling in his blissful state of ignorance. Spinning in a circle he judges that this room would be great for running, nice and spacious, and the pillars could act like a track boundary. Hopefully they were sturdy enough for a blast or two.

Choosing to get some air, Emmett plopped himself on a deck chair and looked out to the thick-green lake. The sun bounced off it, from a far making little rainbows, they moved like snakes, crawling atop each other. As he enjoyed the wonderful sights he thought, would it always be like this? Would the peace last forever? Could he just steal this frame to keep? He didn’t want to move from this spot, he didn’t want to dive into the fears he had for the next day.

The waters began to stir, little waves rippling, seemingly out of nowhere. Emmett knew this form, bursts of winds blasting at them, small, fist sized ones. Another speedster, he deduced. And even while he was prepared for a speedster, he was not prepared for this breed of it. A bright yellow-feathered chicken can first, Emmett was blinded by a metallic shine from it’s back. A sword-carrying chicken. Next the bright-blue, turquoise Emmett guessed, fuzz ball barreled in. Emmett half smiled, his roommate was a speedster. Well, probably, there couldn’t be too many bright-blue balls of fur on campus.

The shock of these two made Emmett sprint to the edge, hanging from his banister, straining his neck, as if this would allow him to reach them. There was one thing Emmett loved, above all else, above masturbation, and it was running. A race was even better. Emmett instantly brought his speed, almost vanishing from the terrace.


Charging towards the oak-wood doors, Emmett rushed to catch the slowly closing exit. A small crack-noise pierced Emmett’s ear, part of the oak blasting off as Emmett squeezed through. Taking in his surronding, accounting for all the mad turns, he placed himself on the opposite side of the lake. The freaky-speedster duo had just crossed the lake, and that meant they should be coming up past the front door soon, or they had already done it. They had not.

Emmett picked up speed, his body shaking with the stress. The adrenaline was pumping, numbing the pain for Emmett. (Adrenaline and Emmett is never a good thing.) The yellow and blue blurs were right in front of him, just a bit more and he would pass them. He leaped forward, dashing through the two, and taking the win. “Emmett! Emmett! Emmett!” he heard in his mind. Boom-Boom-freakin-Pow.

~~~~~~

He felt his body shake, his body trying to reject the electricity, pushing it out. The mad crackle lead to an intense heat, making an air pocket around him. Pressure building around him, his body spun and took to the air. More electricity flooded, the intensity burning him, pain washing over. The degree was weak, compared to the rest, his body was used to it, yet still it burned.

There was a Brightside, though. The sensation of flight was interesting, his body just lay there, as the wind rushed over him, under a nice, soft, cushion. As if there was no such thing as worry, but instead just a effortless journey, a glide through the world. Sometimes he had intentional done it, just for that feeling. The feeling of peace. Of peace, and nothing.


His body finally crashed, sliding across the grass, he didn’t move, his body like a corpse, just laying still. The oft soil cushioned the landing, making it almost bearable, but his head throbbed, and flashes of colors decorated his sight. His body was numb, the adrenaline still in control. There was the problem, the adrenaline had a numbing effect, and when he couldn’t feel pain, then he could not feel stress. When there was no signal of that stress he couldn’t stop the explosions.

He picked himself up. His clothes were now blackened by the burns, holes in random places, luckily none near the crotch, which had happened to him. After that brilliant experience he had sworn to always wear his underwear. His hairs had all split, each standing completely straight. He looked like a cartoon who had just been fried. (Prepare for trouble…and make it double….)

“That was, how you say, pretty lame,” a thick French-accent called to him. Emmet spun around to find the source of it. The first word that sprung to mind was ’colorblind’ A tall boy, probably a year younger than Emmett, he wore a purple-polo, with a deck of cards filling the far-to-small pocket. He complimented this with a baggy pair of sweatpants, which tucked into a pair of navy-green, steel toed army boots. To finish it off he had a trench coat, which was far to large for him, with dark-red shades and a neon-blue headband to tame a mound of red-brown hair. “But, a perfect recovery.”

His words flowed elegantly, spoken calligraphy, an enchanting spell. Emmett was drawn in, placed in a dreamy, subdued state, like a hypnotic spell had been placed upon him. He felt drawn to please this boy, and wanted to be him. No matter how much of douche he looked, or sounded, or acted, which was a lot. Pure peer pressure of the highest-caliber.

He pulled a card from his deck, embroidered on the back was “Claude LeBeau” in a cursive that matched the way he spoke. Emmett did not read script, so he looked like and idiot, squinting for a good minute. ‘Claude,” he said triumphantly. Claude rolled his eyes, flashing a fake smile.

“Wee-Wee.”

“You have to pee?” Emmett chuckled.

‘Ah, highlarus, naver before have I heard that, so clever,” Claude mocked, though Emmett did not notice it, at first. He was still dazed from the landing, and stumbling a bit.

Emmett gulped and took a leap. A light dew of sweat forming on his forehead, and salvia seemingly draining away, he asked a question he had been fearing since he arrived. “So, you want to hang out?”

1056 words

______________________________________________
Leander Vi Britannia | Coruscant Residence | 9:00 PM

Does being afraid of something justify rending oneself away from the world? Probably not. Leander’s eyes watch an oh-so-familiar figure stalk towards the Academy’s border, beside the odd girl whose lungs inhale the world’s eccentricity with each paced breath she takes. No other way to describe her. Off, something was- is - off about her. Ineffably, undeniably, unfathomably, and delightfully strange.

He presses a hand to the cold glass. Pretends the window is a mirror, and that it isn’t his twin out there with his new friend, but himself. Drown in illusions, friend. He snickers at his own cowardice. How will he ever save Britannia if he can’t bring himself to face someone who will no doubt be one of his generals? A hero, a king, cannot remain shrouded behind gilded curtains forever.

“What do you think, Daedalus? Think I should head out and check on my reflection?”

The owlet flutters its wings and ruffles its own feathers in response. Is it yawning? Perhaps his owner’s indecision amuses him. Leander smiles at his pet and pulls a treat from his pocket.In turn, the pet responds to his master, gratefully taking the treat from the outstretched hand. Will Ephraim ever remember you, darling? Unlikely. And maybe it’s better that way. Ephraim has done what Lee ought to have done ten years ago, when he heard the news about the geass.

He should have shoved his past into a fresh grave and suffocated it with dirt. Should have. Now he can’t bring himself to murder Daedalus. How human of him. He reaches a decision. It’s taken him far too long to arrive at it; kings have but a split second to decide important matters at times. They have no time to ask their owls for advice, no matter how wise aforementioned owl might be.

“I’ll be out for a while. Stay put.” As if the little owl has the courage to leave his cage. Leander hasn't seen that happen since the incident twelve years ago.

The owl is too busy with its treat to bother with human drama. Leander walks out the door, leaving behind nothing but the scratching sounds of his owl devouring an undeserved prize.



________________________________________
Leander Vi Britannia | Academy Grounds | 9:04 PM

The party is only a little bit away from Ephraim and Alexis, and Leander does not want to miss his chance to look around. It never hurts to know one’s surroundings, and Ephraim will be too busy with Alexis to excuse himself anytime soon. Oblivion might be easier, but castle gossip hides a wealth of knowledge in its claws sometimes. Lee always pays attention, and has thus caught wind of a number of rumors concerning his brother’s conquests fluttering around. He does nothing to squash them, and when perchance some fools mistake him as Ephraim and ask about the women, Lee further aggravates the rumors with rather scandalous remarks. Is it any wonder Ephraim has been unable to woo the hearts of the nobility?

In fairness to his twin, though, Lee has committed his fair share of sins. How many siblings’ lives stain his conscience? Four, at least, died through direct assassination orders from Lee. A number more had been murdered by men tipped off by one of Lee’s schemes.

It is for the kingdom’s good, Lee tells himself. Britannia deserves a king no less than himself, if not Prince Schneizel.

But he digresses. The stables are dirty here in the Academy, but they’re no more filthy than the stables at home. Probably as clean as stables could get, actually. Still not somewhere Lee wishes to roam around. He spies an oddly-colored splotch in the midst of the browns and yellows, and realizes it’s a hedgehog, a turquoise hedgehog. Odd. But what does he expect from a school for supernatural beings?

Beside the hedgehog looms a lady with a rather large sword. It’s unbecoming of her, and what she wears is less than tasteful, but Lee successfully hides his disdain and strolls into the stables with a curious expression on his face. “Are you the owner of this pet?” A pause, then a smile. “I’m Leander; sorry for intruding on your conversation.” No haughty accents, nothing but a simple Leander. He hasn’t spoken like this to anyone in quite a while. Hasn’t spoken like this since he last went into Area One, masquerading as a One himself. He ought to do that again soon. He misses it so.

They warm up to him. He pretends they have a choice in the matter, to console himself. He is not entirely lonely; people like him because he is himself, not because of his grace. Yes, he will tell himself that. They introduce themselves, and Leander holds back his surprise when the hedgehog speaks as well.

Kumo puffs out her chest. “Pez is a chocobo,” she says, semi-casually. Pride drips from her voice, but arrogance doesn’t accompany it. “I raised him myself. He can reach up to 187 miles per hour.”

Lee raises an eyebrow. Is that to say this ‘chocobo’ could keep up with Glasgows? Interesting. He is tempted to ask if she's joking, but he’s learned to avoid such phrases over the course of his life. “A hundred and eighty-seven miles per hour is rather fast, especially for such a creature, don’t you think?”

“It is fast,” she agrees. The hedgehog beside her, Zeke, murmurs something inaudible to Lee, but the girl hears it. “You want to race with him?” She snorts, light-heartedly. Teasing.

“That’ll be interesting to watch.” Lee eyes the chocobo and wonders if Zeke can keep up. He doubts either of them can hit the aforementioned speed of a hundred and eighty-seven miles per hour, but if Kumo proves the chocobo’s worth, Lee decides he’ll take one back to Britannia, so the researchers can study its movements and perhaps improve the speed of knightmare frames.

The two others exchange glances. They are eager to push through with the idea, and chatter overrides the other noises in the stable.

And a few minutes later, Lee is left alone in the stables, blinking. Neither of them lied. The hedgehog had burst out of the stable at an incredible rate, and the chocobo had not seemed to mind the added weight of the girl and her sword.

He supposes there is nothing left to do but follow his new acquaintances as they tear through the night. He’ll take his time, however. He’s not part of the race, after all. Simply an observer, as he always has been.

The wet grass glints under the moonlight, and it’s slick under his shoes. He doesn’t mind the crisp air, and adores the way it’s clear. Cold, harsh, but sweet. It’s been so long since Britannia’s air has tasted like this. Leander follows the chocobo’s tracks on the grass, and thinks naught of where he’s actually headed. He doesn’t realize he’s close to Ephraim and Alexis until he hears bickering coupled with the glimmering horizon of the city.

“Look, we’re sorry, all right?” Kumo’s voice rings loud and clear. “No need to be such a jackass.”

“I’m the jackass? You were the ones who almost ran us over.” The voice strikes a few familiar keys in Lee’s head. “We weren’t doing anything but minding our own business!”

Lee doesn’t doubt Ephraim did nothing. It’s all he ever does: nothing. When has that brat ever served the kingdom right? Ephraim had been rumored to be behind several of the wars with the European Union because he went and bedded the diplomat’s wife, who had to be at least three times as old as the twins. Disgusting.

But that isn’t to say he thinks it's Kumo’s fault. He draws closer to the conversation. He isn’t so close to them, quite far, actually, yet he can hear every word loud and clear, ringing in his ears and throughout his head.

“It’s not like we wanted to run you over,” Kumo yells.

“Maybe we should have, though,” Zeke adds.

My. Some people don’t know how to diffuse these things. However, arguments like these always prove amusing. Lee continues to take his time and allows them to raise the tension a little bit higher.

“Can we please-“

“Big words for a blue rat.”

“Rat?!”

Eph snickers, and Leander recognizes the tone. Ten seconds before Ephraim triggers the academy's first brawl of the year.

Ten.

Nine. He lengthens his stride a bit.

Eight- fuck it. He's not going to make it in time if he walks all the way there, and he doesn't feel like running. Might as well break it up from afar.

“Ephy!” Lee calls, knowing the nickname will catch his brother’s attention. Ephraim knows Leander is here, he must, if he’s spoken to Alex. Lee ignores the panic clawing at the back of his neck.

There is silence as Leander closes the gap between himself and the arguing group. Alexis brightens.

“Lee! Hello,” she sings, unruffled.

“Evening, Alexis,” he replies, friendly as ever. A smile paints his features even as he struggles to quell the nausea threatening to ruin his composure. Confidence seeps through his veins. He forces it to do so.

Stands in front of his brother, and it’s no problem meeting his twin eye to eye. They’ve always been of the same height. They’ve shared everything from their birth; their right to the throne, skin color, hair, voice, height, build, smile – only their clothes and scars (or lack thereof) betray them for who they really are.

“There are two of you?” asks a baffled voice. Lee is unsure who asks it; he’s busy attempting to remain civil with his brother.

“Twins. I saw them at the opening ceremony.”

Awkward silence. Eph’s fists are clenched. Leander’s grin broadens, and his cheerfulness seems unforced. If Ephraim tries, though, he would probably know what Leander is feeling. But when did Ephy ever care about anyone aside from himself?

Here’s a toast to us, brother, the butt of all the gods’ jokes. Do you hear them? We’re the joke…and we’ll stay that way until one of us is dead.

“Don’t go around starting fights on the first day, Ephy.” You might get yourself killed, and if you die, I want it to be by my hand. One day. When I’m ready.

“Leander,” the name is spat out in a rusty voice caked with…is that rage?

Lee does not know, and he does not care. Or tells himself he doesn’t. “ It’s been so long, hasn’t it? Ten years? I heard you were here, so I came after you. Father wouldn’t let me meet you any other way.”And the lies flutter out of his lips. They mar the ambience of the Academy, clearly hung there to provoke Ephraim.

“Bullshit.”

“Are you calling me a liar? Is that all you can say to me after all these years?” Harsh, sparkling laughter. “Come now. Let go of the past.” Moonlight uncovers a glint in Leander’s left eye; the one with the contact. The one he disguises green. “We can’t start off on the wrong foot if we’re to live on the same floor.” You don’t know that, do you?

Yes, brother, I’m here again. By your side. Living down the hall again. Like way back when.

1887 Words

Eli Freeman - Europe - 10 am HEV Power: 100

Silence.
breathe in
I slide through the grass, stealthy as a gazelle.
breathe out
I listen carefully to the quiet buzz of the forest around me. I take another breath in, and as I do, another step forwards-

ACKpbbthwuzzataaaaarghthpp-

Suddenly, my head is encased in a bulbous length of flesh, and I am dragged upwards. Taking out my crowbar, I swing it upwards until I hear it connect. With a squelch, the thing gives way, and I fall three times my height to the ground. I wipe my helmet clean, just in time to see vomit, bones, and debris hit it. I wipe clear the window again, and see the barnacle attached to a tree branch pull in its tentacle, and fall open.

HEV: 90

I scramble to my feet, grabbing the crowbar. I should have been looking out for barnacles, but you hardly ever see them around anymore. Other species were better equipped to move throughout Europe. The stationary barnacles fared worse. After a short breather, I start moving again. I can see City 135 up ahead.

About a week ago, a letter was found inside the base. No one had seen anyone planting it there, meaning it was probably the damn G-Man or someone like that. I was invited, the letter said, to the Academy of something, for descendants of famous people with preternatural abilities. An HEV suit and a guy in a blue suit talking to you, apparently, counts as preternatural abilities.

There’s a dimensional portal that spontaneously appeared in the City, which promptly had a military base built around it to guard it from whoever it was for. Supposedly, I’d be taking it to the Academy, but I didn’t quite like how this was all set up. It appears in the middle of a City, apparently meant for the daughter of the Combine’s greatest enemy, and my family hasn’t exactly had the best luck with dimensional portals in the past. Well, it can’t be anywhere near as bad as Xen- whatever the hell Xen was, anyway. What was so awful about it that I can’t be told? Whenever I-

Suddenly, a sharp burst of static and a muffled voice come over a radio. The sound of footsteps in the heavy layers of dead leaves reach me, and I spring to a tree, hold my back up against it, and listen. Combine. Sounds like solo footsteps- I reach for my pistol. The footsteps stop nearby. I pull the gun out and swing around the tree.

The Combine soldier is clearly startled, not expecting this, and reached for its pulse rifle. I take my time aiming at its head, and squeeze the trigger. A long beep, and then the Overwatch’s cool female voice issuing a report and command. Don’t have too long now.

I step up to the border, look at the blue elimination field surrounding the City, and toss my pistol through. It floats upwards, turns black, and fizzles out of existence. Ah well. I run through, and jump down into a dried up canal.

Looking up at the center of the city, I see a small cloud of scanners being released in my general direction. I run further along the canal, and look up. At this rate, I should have a couple minutes or so before they catch up to me.

I keep on running, when I hear a whir, and a clicking noise. Dammit. Looks like some got released elsewhere, had a head start. There’s one coming right at me, getting ready to take a picture. If it catches me, I’m going to have too many Combine on me to possibly handle without better weaponry.

I duck into a smaller empty waterway and start running. I look behind me, and it’s almost upon me. Turning the corner, I take out my crowbar and wait. It hums up to the intersection, turns towards me, and I smash it with the crowbar. It falls to pieces, dropping a power capsule, which I take to charge up my suit briefly.

HEV: 100

I pull out a ragged map of the area. If I continue along this tunnel for about a kilometer, and take a ladder up, I should end up in a city center where I’ll only have to go a little ways to get to the Combine transport that should take me to the portal’s base. I’ll have the element of surprise for a few seconds, but then I’m going to have to hope they haven’t had time to erect a shield, resorting to more conventional, mechanical forms of security. It’s only been a week, they can’t have put up anything yet.

I hear footsteps in the shallow puddles of the sewage tunnel. I take my crowbar out. This is at least two soldiers. They pause, then guns are taken out. They heard me, of course they heard me. I run towards the noise and turn a corner, seeing two Combine soldiers with guns out. These have had more time to react, they start firing. As I dispatch the first soldier, the second gets a shot at my side. I smash into its head and it falls to the ground. The bullet missed most vital suit systems, thankfully.

HEV: 65

Probably should have saved that power capsule. The damned Overwatch voice rings out again, I take note of the numbers etched into a worn metal plate on the concrete wall of the sewer system and look at the map. I’m nearing the plaza, but clearly it’s being guarded as one of the areas I’m likely to try to get at the portal from. With those two Combine killed, the Overwatch knows my general area. The light guard patrolling the area I was in was going to get much heavier.

Only a couple hundred meters to go. Taking the pistols from the two Combine, I use my suit sprint, which gets me part of the way faster, albeit running out quickly. I slow to a steady jog; I’ll need to have energy left for the actual fight. I hear many pairs of footsteps far off, and at an intersection several Combine soldiers spot me. They issue commands to others on their faraway com-units and start running towards me. I take a pot shot at one, it’s too far away to tell if I made contact or not. I keep on running.

The muck and water is splashing against me more and more as it gets deeper - it’s nearly up to my shins now - as I approach the high population area. A Combine soldier drops down from a ladder, and unthinking, I shoot at it. It falls down, dead. Overwatch calls out to the Combine, which now have a precise location on me at the worst time. Thankfully, it had a pulse rifle. I take this, it straps onto my side somewhat unwieldy compared to the pistol, sheathed within my suit itself, but the extra firepower is quite appreciated. I take a couple grenades it had as well, and move on.

I run towards my final destination, through knee-deep murky water, as Combine footsteps close in on me. Checking the number of a ladder against my map, I find it’s the right one. I climb up, into the midst of civilians milling. There is brief shock, and they start to understand, and most run away, not wanting any possible punishment from taking part in this. I take out the pulse rifle and aim at the manhole I came up out of. A few Combine crawl up, I dispatch them and pull the manhole cover back into place. A couple scared civilians help me pull a bench over the manhole.

There’s a conspicuous door leading to a gunmetal grey train station, locked, but it’s mechanical, not field-based. In other words, a well placed grenade ought to do the trick. I take out a grenade I got from the dead Combine soldier in the tunnels, and motion to those still remaining civilians to get away. Pulling the pin, I wedge the grenade in the crack between the door and the wall and run. A few seconds later, a flash, a bang, and the metal has shifted. I crowbar the door open. The bench starts moving. A tank starts rolling in at the end of the street. I duck into the more secluded area. There are several Combine waiting for me. One hits me with a couple pulses before I get them all down.

HEV: 15

The tank is rumbling towards the city square, and the soldiers have nearly busted through the manhole. The civilians seem to have cleared out. I try to close the door behind me, but it swings around uselessly. The transport arrives, with no one waiting for it now but me. I step inside. I, however, am not a Combine soldier. It waits, for an unbearably long time, for the dead soldiers to step inside. Eventually it gives up and closes the doors. The Combine smash open the door - or fall in, rather, considering it was already open. They look at the train car as it starts to move, and static crackles on their com units.

Ignoring them for the time being, I glance around the car interior. It’s plain for the most part, but - thank god - there’s a power charger on the wall. I plug in and charge until it’s empty.

HEV: 90

The train car shakes, violently- whatever it is they’re doing out there, it’s working. I look out the window, and see a Combine clutching onto the side, welding through the typically unbreakable plastic-glass as the train hurtles down the tracks at deathly speeds. It seems like there are others too, though it’s hard to tell.

I take the pulse rifle. Probably a good time to move.

As the glass shatters, I dispatch the soldier and run out of the car, through the wind, and into the next car. After taking care of the soldiers in the car, I took aim with the rifle at any possible entry points. The door, the window- BLAM

A large section of the ceiling falls down. I narrowly avoid it, and shoot at Combine with shaky aim, in shock. Explosives planted neatly, it would seem. In the end, I’m surviving, barely, at 5 HEV, and thankfully, none of the Combine are.

There’s an energy station here, as well. Hadn’t noticed before. I heal up.

HEV: 80

The train car is sparking now, as it skids down the track, but I think I’m safe for the rest of the ride. A red light comes into view. beep… beep… Oh no --

The grenade explodes, and I’m thrown across the train car. White blinds my vision, nothing is audible. The pain wracks my body. Slowly my hearing comes back.

“Morphine administered,” says a calming voice. Ahhhh. Good stuff.

The train car pulls to a stop. I climb out. The portal is just behind one more door. I take my last grenade, try the same trick as before. The Combine in the other cars were not entirely aware of what was going on behind them, but they are now. The doors of one car open. Orange against a grey background isn’t the best camouflage. A Combine looks for a moment, then takes out a pistol.

As the grenade explodes, I shoot at the soldier, who collapses. The door unhinges, but not enough to open easily. Dammit… I take my crowbar to the door, as other cars open and more Combine take out guns and open fire. Several of the scattered shots hit me. Something snaps, and the door almost opens- I push hard, and bend it open enough to squeeze through. The Combine aren’t getting through that easily.

HEV: 5

And there it is. Glowing sickly orange, the portal. It’ll be nothing like Xen, thank God. I brace myself, and get shot. Looking up, there’s a soldier in a command center. I kill it, but I’m down now. There’s no more suit power left, and I’m bleeding badly. The Combine are starting to break through the door. No more time left.

I jump.

Eli Freeman - Academy for Heroes-In-Training - 9 pm HEV Power: 0

I breathe, again and again. It feels damp. Grass. Wet, real grass. It feels… wonderful.

I could lie here forever.

“Er, hi!” a voice chirped.

Or not. I lifted myself up from the ground. So I had made it, after all. Nothing like Xen. Thank God. I guess.

“Um, are you okay?”

I stood up, rubbed my eyes, and got a good look at who I was talking to. It was a pink blob.

I generally pride myself on not being startled, but I suppose I might have jerked back a little.

“Oh,” I muttered.

The pink thing looked annoyed.

“I’m- Kiat. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.”

She pointed at my thigh. I looked at my thigh. It was bleeding in a kind of unfortunate way.

“Oh--” I said, awkwardly. “You mean that.”

She tried and failed to hide a smile, and shook it off.

“Umm, I just got here. Do you know what to do?” she asked.

“Uh, n- no,” I said, feeling slightly terrible now that she mentioned it.

She looked at me for a little bit.

“Here, it looks like that’s the main building. Let’s go - maybe we can find out where we’re supposed to be going.”

Lobby - 9:15 pm HEV: 0

“Hey there!” Kiat said to the guy behind the desk. “I think she needs a little help.”

I blinked a bit.

“I- no, no, I’m fine. I don’t like infirmaries, once you get in, you never get out, you know?”

Blank stares.

“I’m just going to have a medkit, okay?” I say. “Do you-?”

The guy took a first aid kit out from behind the desk and handed it to me. It wasn’t quite what I was used to, and apparently I had to heal myself up. Ah well. I sat down on the floor and opened up the leg of the suit. There were a few nasty pulse burns and oozing. I took out some things from the kit and got to work. I stitched up some open wounds and applied salve to some parts, and bandaged it all up afterwards. Should be a good enough fix. I closed the leg of the suit, and stood back up, handing the first aid kit back. They were both looking at me, slightly sick.

“Er…” said Kiat.

“What?”

Oh. Right. Not in a post-apocalyptic world anymore. Maybe I should have gone to the bathroom to do that. Before I could get myself too flustered about that, though, the suit administered morphine, and as the pain went away my head cleared.

“Um- ah. Hi, Kiat! My name’s Eli. Sorry about, er, being rude before,” I said, sliding back my helmet and smiling.

Kiat smiled and shook my hand.

“We just got here,” Kiat said, turning back towards the guy at the desk. “What are we supposed to do?”

“Uh, there’s not really anything you need to do,” he said, chewing on a fingernail. “You kinda missed the opening speech. Just check in here, and then you can wander around and do whatever, I guess. There’s a cafe you can go to if you’re hungry, there’s some music there, I think. Take a schedule.”

He pointed at some flyers in a little plastic holder. I took one, as did Kiat.

“So what are your names?”

He checked us in, and we went off to the grounds, where some other students were hanging out.

Unspecified Grounds-ish Area - 9:30 pm HEV Power: 0

“So what’s up with the suit? Did it get passed on by your dying father, or is it radioactive or something?” Kiat asked.

“No, not really. It’s just a cyborg suit thing.”


She looked disappointed.

“What are you made of?” I asked.

“I - don’t know,” she laughed. “Hey, could I see that rifle thing you have?”

“What? Why?”

“I want to try absorbing its abilities. I’ll give it right back, I promise.”

“Oh- okay, sure.”

I took the pulse rifle off the carabiner and handed it over. She sucked it into her pink blob of a body and shook a bit.

“Uhh- ohh- err, I don’t know if-”

Her mouth glowed blue, and started shooting energy pulses out at random. Several students shrieked and dived for cover. Others stood and stared, thinking it was a light show. I dived onto her and held her down - way too difficult as she was an amorphous big blob thing - so her pulses fired off harmlessly into the sky. She made a few wheezing noises and then coughed out the rifle. I caught it. She flopped over, looking slightly dazed. Someone official looking ran over.

“Ms. Kiat, come with us. There is no need for alarm, accidental outbursts of-”

I’m not really listening, because the pulse rifle incident has brought up a question. If they don’t have any proper medkits in this world, Combine chargers aren’t a real possibility either. How am I supposed to charge up?

2920 words.

Zeke
1 day later

Coronet Residence
Zeke wandered through the front door and peeked into Emmett's room.
"Hey dude, what's - Oh my God, come on! Will you close your door if you're gonna do that?"
Wincing and closing the door himself, he continued to his own room and flopped onto his own bed. He reached into the mini-fridge on his left, grabbed a Dr Pepper and flicked on the TV. After a few minutes, Emmett appeared - pants on, thank goodness - at his door.

"'Sup?"
"Nothin'," Zeke yawned. "I don't think they get the Station Square channel here."
"The what?"
"Never mind. There is nothing to do." Zeke grumbled. "Why would they wait until they got a bunch of new people here before actually starting the installation of the pool and arcades? Dude, Emmett, you must have some way we can kill some time."
Emmett opened his mouth.
"Aside from that."
Emmett fell silent.
"Maybe we can go out to the city?" he suggested meekly after a pause. "There'd have to be something to do there. Arcades, clubs and stuff..."
Zeke's eyes lit up. "There's a city?"
"It's to the south," Emmett replied with a nod. "Luminescence, it's called... but, uh, I don't know if we should be leaving the campus..."

"Emmett, Emmett, my man," Zeke said confidently, patting his roomie's back, "we're the fastest things in this institution. Possibly even this particular universe. We can go to the city, play some games, maybe see a movie... heck, we could do a freakin' photoshoot if we wanted and we'd still be back before anyone even missed us."
Emmett didn't seem convinced, so Zeke relented.
"Look, I won't force you to come along. But you should at least come outside a bit. It's not good to sit inside doing - that - all day. Just think about it, ok?"
With that, Zeke rushed out the door to leave Emmett to his... thoughts?

Academy Grounds
The Academy gates loomed ahead. Just a little further and no one will even notice I'm gone, Zeke thought triumphantly. Pausing briefly to make sure the coast was clear, he began racing towards the southern gates.
Almost there -
His train of thought was derailed much like his feet nearly were. A ghostly flash had just whipped across his path, stopping him in his tracks. He shook his head and turned to the figure that had appeared.
"I hope you weren't thinking of skipping out, handsome. You're going to need a pass and an advanced student as an escort if you're going to leave the grounds."
The feminine voice and curvy figure didn't faze Zeke until he saw the person's face. An attractive fox was the one talking to him. Inwardly, Zeke whistled. Time to turn on the ol' Acorn charm.
"Is that the situation?" he asked rhetorically as he steadied himself. "You'll have to forgive me, Ms... ?"
The fox actually smiled. "Fiona. Fiona McCloud." Now that Zeke had composed himself, he was able to get a good look at this Fiona. Her clothing wasn't dissimilar to the sci-fi getup that girl Ellie, or something, wore. Zeke noticed some form of firearm on her belt and some high-tech gear around her head.

"Ms McCloud," Zeke continued. "Had I known that such enchanting creatures as yourself were within the vicinity of the Academy, I should have had no reason to leave," he finished, smirking slightly.
"Stop it, you," Fiona chuckled, blushing slightly. "I'm serious, I can't let you out." She indicated a badge on the right of her chest, a golden pin that bore the logo of the Academy. "Mentor Squad. Gotta keep you newbies in line, hon."
She leaned in a little closer, Zeke struggling not to lose his cool. "But if you, uh... feel that you need some one-on-one guidance... meet me at the lake at half past eleven tonight. Alone."
Sweating just a little, Zeke gave her the thumbs up and a smirk before heading back to the dorm.

Coronet Residence
This time when Zeke came in, Emmett's door was closed.
"Yo, Emmett!" Zeke called. "What are you doi- actually, never mind. I don't think I want you to answer that."
As Zeke's footsteps faded towards the hedgehog's room, Emmett shrugged and turned his attention back to his video games.

Word count: 708 | Points: +2

Emmett Allen| 2pm

Emmett sat in his room, his eyes glued to his Brand Xbox, Brand Assassins mid way through. His character dashed across the rooftops, his concealed blade still warm with fresh blood. Emmett was a little scared how much joy he took slashing the throat of the towns folk, but it was just so much fun. It was just a video game, not like he was actually killing people. Better them then blasting someone with a lightning bolt, right? Emmett swore.

“Stupid guards, why don’t you go help that pile of dead bodies....” The speedster put down his controller, which was now down to the last shreds of rubber and the last bits of paint. His fingers were not plastic friendly. He popped himself off the bed, rolling into an old carpet. He looked intensely at the pattern. Stroking the fibers lightly, he let himself get sucked into the little world. There was absolutely nothing there, nothing for him to look at, it was worse than watching grass grow, but he was stuck watching. The red fibers stood like little trees, unmoving, un living, but so much more interesting. Grass grew, they breathed, when you looked it you expected something. With a rug, with something dead, you didn’t expect anything, you just got what it gave you. Emmett liked that low expectations, high reward, and low gamble idea, he liked simple things, he liked some mind numbing activities.

After awhile he heard a door slam in the other room, snapping him out of his state. Zeke was back, Emmett jumped to at once. There was a knock at his door, which he never got a chance to answer. Now back in the real world, he picked up his controller and slashed his way out of jail before saving. His body gave a little spark of power, and smoke curled from the carpet at his feet. The boy frowned. “I should probably wear slippers or something.”

In the other room Zeke was relaxing on the couch, just staring at the blank TV screen. You know, it tends to work better if you turn it on Emmett thought to himself. “I think there’s a Brandy Jotter movie on channel twelve,” Emmett said instead.

Zeke nodded and flipped to it. Emmett glanced at it, but walked by him. He wasn’t really in the mood to watch a movie. He wasn’t sure what his mood was, he just knew he didn’t want to be in the dorm at that moment. His whole body was intensely twitching, nothing visible to the eye, it happened to fast to trace. He paced around the elevator, trying to wake himself up, staring at a carpet didn’t do much to work your mind. Shaking his body to wake up his sore joints, Emmett took a breath and as the elevator pinged open he dashed out.

Emmett wanted to leave school grounds, he knew that. He was fast, deadly fast, no one could stop him if he tried enough. If he willed enough energy, push himself out, he could be there and back in a minute. He wanted fun, he wanted new, he wanted out of the gates. There was a small thing with Emmett, his dad said it went for all of the flashes before him, and his mother had the same feeling, they all hated being trapped. They could be trapped in a forest bigger than the pacific, but the feeling of not being free killed them all. They were runners, free spirits, just in different ways. Until now he hadn’t thought of it, he was content in his room, he was content in his area, but Zeke put him in motion.

“Er, what are you doing?” Emmett asked.

The speedster had come to the gate of the school, there should of been no one else around him, just a wall and some trees. The real gate wasn’t for another quarter mile east, so there shouldn’t of been anyone else. But here she was, sitting onto top of the wall. She was looking into the school, sitting in classic Indian style. She had her eyes open wide, but they were glassy, like she wasn’t really there; her physical body was, but her mind was somewhere else entirely.

“Oh, I’m just...watching,” the girl said dreamily, not even moving her line of sight. “Would you like to join me?”

“Um...” Emmett shuffled on his soles for a moment. He was weighing his options. One one side this girl seemed odd, he wasn’t sure if he really wanted to hang our with her. But beggars can’t be choosers, and Emmett needed a friend, no matter who or what. Emmett nodded, though he had no clue why. He grabbed onto a nearby tree branch and pulled himself next to this peculiar-girl.

“Emmett,” he said, extending a hand.

“Alex,” she smiled. Emmett left his hand out in the air for a while, but she wasn’t moving.

The speedster drummed his fingers against the stone, trying to bring something into this dead conversation. “So, you like school?”

“It’s okay. School is school, I suppose, and we haven’t done anything miraculous yet. The air is nice here, though,” She turned her head towards Emmett, but she was glancing at the scenes behind him. “The grass is quiet well-colored, and they make it feel like home.”

“Yeah, my dorm room feels like a palace,” Emmett chuckled.

“Aren’t you the boy who wet himself at introductions?”

“No, no way. That’s lame..who would do something like that?!?!” Emmett responded rather naturally. As natural as you can be when someone brings up you wetting yourself.

“But I specifically, positively remember those (color of Emmett’s eyes) eyes, and how they got as round as the moon when you heard giggles.”

“Um, nope, not me....”

“If you’re certain, Emmy.” She chuckled softly to herself and peered back at him. “But this is the honesty wall, and liars...” She shook her head and grew very serious. “Liars get turned into bricks,” she whispered.

Emmett laughed. “You’re funny.”

“And you’re charming, like a schoolboy playing with a toy truck.” She turned her gaze to her lap and turned a page in her tablet.

“Never heard that one before...thanks,” he smiled. “And, yeah...I was lying earlier....”

The girl just nodded, her cheeks rising in a very soft, minute smile, like she had just tasted a strawberry for the first time. “Then I would apologize to the wall before it eats you up, Emmy.”

He chuckled. “Oh mighty gate, the wall of wonder, accept my apology. I did not mean to lie, and I do not wish to be trapped in a cement block. Amen.”

“Amen,” she repeated.

Emmett felt Bolt squirm inside his kidney, the lizard was probably itching for a good stretch. Trying not to draw attention to himself he tapped on his chest, and the lizard crawled out.

“An iguana just climbed out of your pancreas.”

“Kidney.”

“Oh, sorry.”

“And he’s actually a Tuatara, not that I should expect you to know...sorry.”

The girl closed her blank notebook and laid her hand on the cement surface, enticing the lizard to inch closer. “Come on, little dragon. Alex won’t hurt you.”

“Yes, you can always trust someone referring to herself in third person,” Emmett comment. “Bolt, it’s okay.” The speedster led a little trail of sparks across the stone, right to Alex’s palm. The lizard grabbed every bit of electricity.

“And you certainly can put your faith in someone who shoots tiny jolts of lightning around your hand,” Alex giggled and sucked on her teeth, grinning as Bolt climbed into her palm. “He’s adorable.”

“I can’t remember how long I’ve had him with me. He might be small, but he saved my life, and does it a lot.” Emmett stared ahead into those empty eyes of hers, watching as they dazzled at the creature in her hand. It was as if she had seen a sunrise after years of bleak darkness, all because of Bolt.

“A boy and his dragon.” Alex marveled at the thought for a moment before grinning her way out of her thoughts.

“Well, I should get going,” Emmett said. Bolt crawled out of Alex’s palm, disappearing into Emmett’s lungs. “Um...have a...have a good one.” Emmett awkwardly tapped Alex on the shoulder and hopped down.

“Wait,” the girl called back to him after he was a few yards away, and Emmett turned his head to her.

“Yes?”

“I drew you.”

Emmett paused and took the few steps remaining between them in a heartbeat. “Drew me?”

“Yes,” she affirmed, and pursed her lips as she carefully slit her current page from the remainder of the tablet. “It’s yours.” She folded the leaf of paper until it was the shape of a skinny bolt of lightning.

“How did you even...”

“You have a lizard in your belly.”

“Kidney.”

“Don’t doubt the unlikely, Emmy. Sometimes it’s the only thing that makes life endurable.”

Emmett just stood there, his hand outstretched with the paper streak in his palm. As they just breathed together, he arched an eyebrow. “...right.”

“Goodbye, Emmy.”

“See ya around.”

There was a breeze and Alex was left alone at the gate.

1538 Words| +5 Points

Ephraim vi Britannia | Coruscant Residence | 10 Oct, 0500
He wasn’t quite sure where he was when he woke up, blinked in the darkness and took in what he could through half-lidded eyes and a calculated relaxation. Ridiculously soft bed (not the barracks), distant lights shivering from the side, through the slit in the curtains he hadn’t pulled closed enough (not the cell), and a certain sterility to the part of the room he could see without moving his head, like it hadn’t been lived in (not home, wherever that was nowadays).

What the hell, was Ephraim’s first conscious thought, quickly followed by Ah, shit as he realized exactly where he was. The Academy for Rejects In-Training. His home for the year. The (admittedly shiny) residence. Which he was sharing with his it’s too early for this stuck-up prick of a brother.

Who’d humiliated him in front of a bunch of others the day previous. Talk about a tense walk back. The running mantra of don’t choke the bastard had probably the only thing keeping his fists at his side. The healthy dose of dread he’d felt on thinking of what his father would, ahem, say if Leander was to meet an early end right now had helped.

And then he’d passed out on his bed or something. Jetlag had nothing on multiverse travelling. At least his body was still operating on his usual schedule, he decided on checking his watch. Five in the morning. It occurred to him that probably no one else would be up--Not on base anymore--which meant...

Ephraim’s smile was not a nice one when he met his own eyes in the mirror. Free reign until the rest of the world caught up.

In practice, what this meant was that once he’d unpacked some more of his stuff and changed out of yesterday’s rumpled-due-to-having-slept-in-them clothes into something that was more comfortable and practical, he’d located a huge roll of gun tape and proceeded to mark a line down the whole flat, neatly dividing it in roughly equal parts from the elevator to the huge windows. If he was going to have to share the space, it’d only be on his terms.

Half the roll later, he stood back to admire his handiwork, smug grin firmly placed on his face. Then a little noise from his brother’s side drew his gaze, and there was the stupid owl blinking its huge, vaguely glowing eyes at him.

Ephraim pointed at it. “You stay on that side, you hear? I don’t want no wimpy ball of fluff on my turf.”

“Hooot?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

An indignant puff of feathers. Condescendingly, he granted the pest one last look, and then turned on his heel to the elevator. Time for a little morning jog, and to investigate that campus a little more.


Leander vi Britannia | Coruscant Residence | 10 Oct, 6:30 AM

Lee stayed still on his bed, listening to the low hum of the elevator as it moved up and down several floors. Ephy was probably away now. The military didn’t forgive people who slept in.

The graceling turned on his side with a soft harrumph. That petty brother of his had refused to say a word all night, even as Lee kept the one-sided conversation alive. How immature. But it wasn’t as if Lee expected any better of that uncivilized idiot anyway.

With a lazy, calculated grace, Lee threw his legs over the side of the bed, yawning and stretching out his arms. Breakfast sounded tempting, and he paused for a while, waiting for his servants to attend to him. But no one came with the robe, no one presented his slippers, and no one read his schedule to him.

Odd, very odd. Then he realized he wasn’t in Texas anymore, and an imperceptible scowl touched his expression. It disappeared as suddenly as it appeared, though, and Lee hummed a lullaby to himself. He had a vague inkling about its origins, but he’d rather not depress himself this early in the morning.

He’d take this head on. It would paint him in a good light if the Numbers knew Lee did everything himself in the morning as well. Their mornings were tedious, but he’d suffer through them, and they didn’t have to know he didn’t have a choice in the matter.

It took him a while to find everything he needed - why did they pack him so many clothes? - but he finally managed to pick up a deep purple robe and his favorite slippers. He shrugged them on as he headed out the room, and had just finished fussing over the creases on his robe when he noticed something very peculiar about the residence.

Whereas it had been impeccable just the day before, an ugly gray line now marred its center. Lee’s eyes followed the line and realized it had cleanly cut everything in half. Daedalus fluttered about it, pecking at the hideous marker every now and then.

Then it hit him. Lee burst out laughing, shaking his head at the sheer audacity of his brother. What in the world was this supposed to be? Didn’t Eph want to bond with him? “What’s the matter, brother? Scared?” Lee murmured to himself, chuckling.

A little sting accompanied the realization, but Lee shoved it away and instead padded over to “Eph’s” side, nonplussed. Did Eph know how unsanitary that was? Lee wasn’t standing for it. He reached for the intercom and dialled housekeeping.

Of course, no one liked to be woken up this early, but Lee had years of practice with him, and a few minutes later, the duct tape was no more. Even better, Lee had managed to convince the housekeeper that Eph’s room was indeed his, and that it needed a little redecorating.

Frills, pictures of Father, and books all around were simply musts in Ephraim’s room.

“Good enough?” she asked.

Lee eyed her. She was pretty, young. Around four or five years older than he was physically - he could never tell how old people really were, especially given the technology available - and though short, Lee could certainly see Ephraim wanting something so beautiful.

In fact, she reminded him of a porcelain doll. He reached out and touched her face. “Do stay a while?”

Of course, he had no intention of doing anything unbecoming to her - he wasn’t his brother - but he certainly didn’t complain when she sat a smidge too close to him on the couch. Neither did he say anything when she laid her head on his shoulder as he read the paper, nor when she ruffled her clothes a bit.

He only spoke when he heard the elevator open.

“Would you believe that some boor broke in and thought it’d be amusing to tape the area over last night? Some people have a terrible sense of humor, don’t you think, Ephy?”

And he pulled the housekeeper close to him. Let Eph interpret it however he wanted to. He could get used to Camille. Her cooking skills were superb.


Ephraim vi Britannia | Coruscant Residence | 10 Oct, 0720
Okay, he had to give it to the place--there was space. And lots of trees. And remote little isolated places hidden in them that’d be perfect for setting ambushes or settling disputes or just getting away. Or having some fun.

And the run had done wonders to clear his head. The facts were: he was stuck here, like or not, and crying back to daddy was Not An Option. And at least (he hoped) there’d be some action going on around here, if the whole ‘Hero’ crap had any foundation. So, no killing the brother, no screwing around too much, lay low.

He could totally do this.

The acquisition of a toast in the kitchen on the second floor did wonders to improve his mood and strengthen his decision, and he was positively chipper when the elevator chimed open on his floor.

Trust Leander to have found the one way to take that good mood and grind it down to dust in zero seconds.

One: the tape was gone. Two: the door to his room hadn’t bothered to close, and what he could see from here looked positively nauseating (note to self: locate lighter). Three: his brother was sprawled over the couch--all of it. Four: he had that charming cleaning lady in his personal space and the position was one that should have been reserved him, dammit.

Also, what the hell was he wearing. “Purple, really?”

Pampered little SOB. Ephraim mustered all the disdain he was capable of, which was a rather considerable amount, and directed all of it towards his brother. Then he leered at the girl, even as he shrugged his jacket off his shoulders and started towards his room. He’d let the point to Leander for now. Lull the idiot into complacency.

“Don’t frown so much. It’s unbecoming,” Lee chided. Bastard.

Also he needed a shower more than he was feeling like bickering. The door was at least nice enough to slide shut behind him with a little hiss, and he was shucking his shirt off when a “Hoot?” came to interrupt.

Green eyes met yellow. “What did I tell you, fluffy?”

“Hoo?”

Cheeky bastard. Ephraim didn’t have the patience to be mocked by poultry. A short chase around the room later, and it was wildly flapping its tiny wings in his hand, hooting like Ephraim was about to kill him or something.

An idea that did have its merit, make no mistake, but after what had caused him to land here in the first place, he didn’t quite have the stomach for it. Yet.

Which meant that the annoyance had the dubious luck of being thrown with rather great force out of the room, which then slammed shut again, not a small feat for a sliding door.

“And don’t let me catch you in my room again, you stupid thing.”

Now, where was he.

Ew, were those frills?

Yeah, that went straight on the To Torch ASAP list. But. Shower first.

Locate towel, get back up, and shit. The bastard had actually brought portraits of their father? What the fuck?

Ephraim stared back at the image. Charles zi Britannia had a look that could make the most powerful of men feel naked. When one was 1. the man’s son and 2. currently shirtless, the effect was rather disturbing.

It went without saying that Ephraim lost that particular staring contest. #2 on to-burn-list.

A quick retreat to the shower later, and clothes back on, he stacked up all the crap his brother had gotten into his room into a pile of painting frames and lacy cloth. That done, he could face the world again.

“Leander, dear, I think we should set some ground rules here.”

...and of course Leander had to be leading the maid into his room just as Ephraim was walking out, and there was little to guess as to what was going to happen.

Fuck my life.

And as if Leander heard that, he turned around and beamed an apologetic, almost tense, smile at Ephraim. “I’m afraid I have... business to attend to.”

Great. Fucking peachy.

Choices: punch his brother in the face in front of the nice girl, or go out and pick a fight or do something.

“Don’t bother looking for me,” he snapped, sarcasm laced in every word, and stalked out again.

Eli Freeman - Unnamed Dorm - 10pm - Power: 10

I’m worried. How am I supposed to go out and do things without any armor? I’ve got to figure out how to get power into my suit. I found a recharger battery in my pack, and it plugs into my suit, but it only had a few drops of juice left.

After a bit of thought, I had gone at the battery with some pliers, since none of the tools fit. It’s disassembled now, lying across my bed. If I could just figure out which leads to connect and maybe I could make it compatible with this world’s power supplies... I was never good at Combine technology, but maybe if...

I reach the tip of a wire towards a promising-looking drop of solder, and my hand jerks, tossing the circuit board off the bed. Goddammit! What’s wrong with me?

Ever since I’ve arrived in this damn place, I haven’t been the same. Something’s missing, I can tell, there’s a familiar something that’s missing... but I can’t tell what. Lamarr poked her head out of the bedcovers, and attempted to eat my hand, annoyed. I glanced over at her, and noticed that the top of her head was lightly speckled with solder. Oops. Thankfully, headcrabs are heat-resistant - I think.

I took a screwdriver and carefully pried off all the spots of solder on her shell. She happily decided to celebrate her newly clean head by jumping onto mine. I tried to pull her off, but my muscles ached, and I gave up. Maybe it was just too much stress. I needed to get out. Hopefully 10 power would be enough to keep me safe. I blew my nose, and headed out.

Eli Freeman - A. Jagged Lake - 11:30 pm - Power: 10

Sweating despite the chilled air, I jogged over to the lake. I’d never been there, yet, but the faintly eerie atmosphere and calming waters might be just what I needed. Besides, it wouldn’t be radioactive, presumably.

I reached the banks, and went along the shore a little, hearing voices. It could be some delinquent. Might have to defend myself, or at least set things right.

Hmm. No threat, just other students talking. Maybe I could introduce myself. I stepped closer. It was an odd hedgehog-type thing I had noticed before, and some sort of assertive fox. I looked from one, to the other. The fox seemed to be in charge.

“Who are you?” I asked her politely.

She didn’t react well to that. The hedgehog tried to defend himself as she yelled at him, then walked off into the mists. He looked over at me, bemused.

“Er...” I said, then realized it must have been a date. “Oh - you were - oops. I’m sorry. My name’s Eli.”

“Qwerty... um. Uh, I’m Zeke.” he said. “Umm. Yeah, we were kind of... supposed to... be making out or something just there...”

I laughed hard, I couldn’t help it. Zeke looked kind of put off. “Sorry,” I repeated, and looked around awkwardly. “Umm... maybe I can talk to her?”

“Never mind,” he said, slightly smirking and seeming alright. “I’ll find her tomorrow. We should probably get back to the dorms before some authority figure shows up.” He gave me the thumbs up, and then suddenly zoomed off towards the somewhat distant Academy grounds, many times faster than my suit could sprint. Interesting.

My leg twitched beneath me, and I nearly fell over. What on earth was happening?

Words: 606

Zeke
Coronet Residence
10:30 pm

Zeke pushed the door open. The lounge seemed empty, but he was fairly certain he knew where he could find Emmett. As he headed to the latter’s room, Emmett proved him wrong by poking his head up from the lounge.
“Sup?”
“There you are,” said Zeke. “I thought you’d be...”
“Whackin’ it?”
“For lack of a better term. Anyway, do you know anything about girls?”
Emmett looked at him blankly.
“Yeah, never mind. Uh, I gotta go get ready, I guess.”

“This gel is okay, I guess,” Zeke muttered, rubbing it together in his hands. “No idea why Mom packed it, though. Let’s see how it performs.”
He ran a gel-soaked hand through his quills, slicking them back, and checked himself in the mirror. It looked good. Suave, exotic...

… and not at all Zeke.
Screw that, Zeke thought as he rinsed the stuff out of his hair. I guess I’ll donate that to Emmett’s... cause. For lack of a better term.


A. Jagged Lake
11:00pm

“So, uh,” Zeke said as smoothly as possible. “I’m a little new to this. Do we start now?”
“Mm-hmm,” Fiona nodded. “Just lean in closer... there you go...”
Their lips were less than an inch apart when they were interrupted by footsteps, nearby and growing in volume. No sooner had they backed away from one another than a human girl in a high-tech costume appeared in the shadows.

“Whuh...” said Zeke as the human girl noticed them. She stepped into the light coming off the moon’s reflection in the lake, caught off-guard. She looked at Zeke, then at Fiona.
Her brow wrinkled. “Who are you?” she asked Fiona.

The fox’s ears flew back as she bared her teeth. “Who am -” She turned to Zeke.
“Really, Spikes? Really?”
“What?” Zeke cried, thoroughly dumbfounded by this turn of events.
“How many more girls have you arranged to meet here tonight?”
“What do you - I - It’s not like that!” the poor hedgehog stuttered indignantly.

“Whatever. I’m out of here.” The fox got to her feet and strutted off, nose in the air. Zeke stared after her, dumbfounded, before turning to the human girl as if begging for some sort of sense.
“Er... Oh - you were - oops. I’m sorry.” she said sheepishly. “My name’s Eli.”
“Asdf... um. Uh, I’m Zeke.” Zeke responded. “Umm. Yeah, we were kind of... supposed to... be making out or something just there...” he finished lamely.

She laughed. “Sorry,” she said again. “Umm... maybe I can talk to her?”
“Never mind,” Zeke said with a smirk, having recovered slightly. “I’ll find her tomorrow. We should probably get back to the dorms before some authority figure shows up.” He flashed her a thumbs-up and raced back towards the dorm building, picking up speed till he was a blur turning the corner.

Words: 495

“Aw, come on man,” Emmett pleaded with the cashier. “I’ll give you ten bucks if you let me.”

“Dude, sorry, but it’s against the law,” the acne covered cashier smirked, he was obviously enjoying this. “Beside, how desperate are you? It’s, like, just a magazine, like, go look at, like, porn on the Internet, dude.”

“I would, but when I do the keys on my computer melt,” Emmett said, earning a confused look from the cashier, but Emmett was completely serious.

“Fine, if I can;t buy it I’ll just take it,” Emmett swiped the Playboy from the counter, along with several packs of gum, and shot out of the door. Emmett hated stealing, he really did, but when punk teens wouldn’t accept bribes it was all he was left with.

_________

Emmett circled the school wall, trying to find the the gap in the security cameras he had left from. “Aha, there you are you sexy...gap...you sexy gap, yeah....” Emmett just ducked out of the bushes and rolled as the cameras turned away. Once there he scaled up the wall, the same spot he had met that Alex girl.

Once he was on top of the wall, he scanned the area, no one was around. Quickly he slipped behind the tree next to the wall, and took out hie Bran X Playboy.

__________

Yawning, Emmett picked himself up, pulled up his shorts, and started to walk back to his room. Slowly he picked up speed, until he was in a full out dash, making the grass smoke beneath his soles. Right as he turned the corner to the entrance someone popped into view, and it took all of Emmett’s training to slow down enough to only tackle him.

“Sorry about that, I should of been paying attention,” Emmett smiled nervously and helped the kid up.

“No, no, it was my fault, I should be more careful around here.” The two of them stood awkwardly for awhile, before Emmett finally said “Bye” and took off running.

Right as he turned the next corner, though, he instantly regreted it. In front of him was some blond pretty-boy, wearing a classic mad scientist get-up. He had the big goggles, the shoulder button white coat, the mean smirk, and a gun that looked like it was pulled from your nightmares.

In the most calm, and almost like able, voice in the world, which only made it even more creepy, the man looked over to Emmett, and said, “Hello,” before pressing the trigger of his gun, sending a red beam towards Emmett.

“Well...” Emmett tried to say a witty response, but his entire body had gone numb, and he collapsed to the ground in a mess.

(Okay, Perse, if you want have Felix find Emmett’s Playboy on the ground, and then he can go awkwardly to return it and catch a glimpse of this. If not, Bolt can have escaped and called for help, your call.)

Words: 494
Points: 1

Felix I Hamlet Hospital I October 3rd



Dr Gloria smiled as she spoke to Felix and sorted out his food, chicken on the left with an inch long barrier before the rice on the right. "Sometimes, Felix, your improvement amazes me. You’re doing much better." Felix graciously accepted the plate, looked suspiciously at the food for a brief moment and adjusted the lines before looking back up. He smiled.

He accepted his silverware and began to meticulously eat his food, keeping the divisions perfect. Gloria settled into a chair. Felix was one of her favorite patients, and she often waited for him to eat so she could enjoy the conversation. His quirks no longer bothered her in the way that they once did, and she had to grown to automatically respond to each one. "In fact, I think you'll be released within the next week or so."

His methodically finished chewing his food and then studied her as he swallowed. "Released? To where?" He abruptly broke his stare and looked down; his voice carried a hint of anxiety, the type she found when something was bothering him but he was afraid to tell anyone else because of his condition.

She winced and realized that she'd needed to phrase things more delicately. "I'm sure you can find a place to stay, dear. You have your parents, right? Family? If worst comes to worst, you can always find a shelter to keep you." She winced again, realizing how unrealistic everything she was saying would turn out to be. He looked at her hard and then down at his hands, pulled back from his food and his brow furrowed in concentration, concern. His food lay untouched-- he’d completely forgotten about it by now. Gloria wrung her hands and came to his hospital bed. "Felix, I'm sure that you can find a place to stay. It doesn't have to be like before. Things will be different. There are people who care about you, people who know about you; you aren't alone, you won't just disappear into a streetside corner again."

He looked up at her, eyes anxious. "I think I'd like some time to think if that's alright with you."


_______________________________________
Later that night.

Felix awoke to the sound of his door shutting, suction grabbing metal in a smack. Quiet footsteps approached his bed and he sleepily rolled over, expecting a nurse or Gloria to be there with medication or some outlandish optimistic idea of how he could survive in the real world again. Instead there was a black suited man, briefcase, charcoal tie, grim face.

Felix felt his senses shoot through with adrenaline and he struggled to stop from bolting upright. Instead, sleepiness gone, he pushed himself up so he could look and talk to the man easier. The mattress seemed an enemy, loud when he shifted and he regretted the insomnia he no longer had; it’d made him so alert in the past. He decided that there was no other way to handle the situation than direct confrontation. Getting strange, official looking men in your hospital room at 2AM? in the morning wasn’t a normal thing. Felix gathered his bearings and spoke in what he hoped was a clear voice. “Excuse me, can I help you?” His voice was an octave higher than usual, nervous, shaking just as much as the hands he hid in the multitude of sheets on his bed. He focused his attention to the nutty smell of heather on his bedside table, hoping for a quick answer. He couldn’t handle stress like this. Something was amiss, and he didn’t know what it was.

“Yes, actually, you can. My name is Mr Lindling.” He gingerly placed his briefcase at the foot of Felix’s bed. “I’m a recruiting agent for a school.” He looked up at the pale Felix, whose hands had stopped shaking, who was now intently looking at the mass of folds and wrinkles produced by the briefcase near his feet. Opening up the briefcase, he seemed to belatedly realize how dark the room was, and promptly flicked the lightswitch, illuminating the room into bright medicinal white. His gray tie turned out to be coral, dark features regular, even, if a bit jagged, and his mouth seemed almost friendly. He took out a couple of brochures from his briefcase and handed them to Felix. “I’m going to leave these here with you. We think that your talent would be an excellent addition and look forward to seeing you. It’s not as if you’ve a great deal of options, and I think that we could accommodate your... quirks.” He snipped his briefcase shut and gave Felix a look from the doorway. “I’ll see you in about a week or so.”



___________________________________________
A week later

Felix’s rooms at the school were well suited to his tastes. It was obvious that the staff had asked the hospital what he preferred. He was housed alone in a tall ceiling’d room, stone floors, ivory walls, clean, clean, clean. The furniture was sparse and kempt. Someone had stocked the walls with books of varying genre though primarily non-fiction about magic tricks, psychology, and emotions. They were free of dust and the spine showed no signs of wear, so bought purely for him.

Felix unpacked methodically. Most of his possessions were given to him by varying doctors and nurses from the hospital with older and younger sons. Felix kept these for their sake though he refused to wear them, preferring the never-before worn clothes given to him by those without children or hand-me-downs to give. They suited him well. He had a small collection of books that he added to the library. It took a momentary frown at the layout of texts before he had rearranged them completely alphabetically.

Felix spent the day rearranging, scrubbing the clean room, finding nooks and crannies to hide away his important things. It wasn’t until night that Felix was done. He decided to walk the grounds a bit-- he had always been a night person, but wasn’t allowed out while in the hospital. It was a nice place, definitely one that he could get used to. Pretty quiet for a school, at least for now. He wandered the grass for a while, inspecting the sky for stars, counting trees, wondering how many leaves there were on each one and frustrated that he could not find out. It was a while before he covered the ground, before he saw a rather strange pattern in the wall, a flaw in the design almost, where the patterned stones seemed to meet in enjambed lines.It wasn’t until he’d put his hands to the wall, feeling for where the flaw actually began in the dark that he heard a loud rustled and whoosh, followed by a surprised wordless shout. Suddenly he was in the dirt, sprawled back in a tangle with a teenage boy who found his feet in a flash and helped him up, one handed with some sort of magazine or book in his other hand. There was a stammer of apologies and suddenly, he was alone again, wondering what had happened.

Flaw on the wall forgotten, Felix decided it best to return to his rooms. It was dark out now, and even more quiet than before. While it was his favorite time to be outside, he still didn’t know everywhere as best he could. He was just rounding a corner when his foot shifted something in the grass, a rustle of glossed paper. He bent down, and found himself holding a Playboy with a cover that made him immediately blush. He figured it must have belong to that boy who disappeared so rapidly. He resolved to return it, awkward as it might be, once he got to the dorms again.

Felix picked up the pace of his walk, when he heard a soft voice pierce the night quiet. He stopped for a moment, curious, and found that a girl was walking nearby, singing something tuneless with her head tilted back up the sky. (insert style change)

He stared after her, watching as she seemed to move differently with each shift of wind, each shuffle in the leaves. Her voice came out like butterflies: soft, unpredictable in wing beats. Felix wavered in his stance and hesitantly relaxed, letting his gaze wander off. It was like contagious aimlessness. Infectious peace.

“You won’t write a ballad standing still like that.” He jumped, breath catching in the hollow of his throat as he caught his eyes on the girl suddenly so close, so dangerously, frighteningly close.

“Excuse me?” he asked, taking a step back towards the wall.

“To write a ballad, you must dance, but you were standing so still...like a statue, or a tree in the winter.”

“A tree?”

“The very same...strong, sheltering things. Towers among towers among canopies all around.” She smiled quaintly, as if she had made a rhyme. “Trees.”

Felix stood there a moment, a bit confused. “I’ve never been called a tree before-- or a statue, for that matter. Trees are quite intriguing, though, to be honest, I never was the ballad writing type.” Felix stood there for a moment, just watching her without saying a word, without the fidgets or self consciousness that usually accompanied meeting someone new. She seemed not to mind the silence, as if she could just soak in the promise of the moment without words. She watched him, though--intently--and didn’t even blink. It was a minute or two before he realized what was in his hand.

Just as he began to move the blasted cover from her line of sight, she chimed in, beaming: “You have a coloring book!” Her eyes were wide and brilliant with this sudden happiness that belonged to a child or a new mother. “I’ve been searching for one since I arrived here, and you’ve found one!” She reached down and snatched it, spinning on her toes away from Felix.

“N-no, give it b--!”

“Oh, just a quick peak won’t do anyone any harm. I’m sure you’re a brilliant artist.” Her smile was so genuine, so pleasant and corruptible and oh God what was going to happen--

“R-really! You don’t want to s--”

“Oh, shush...now let’s see h--...” Her expression, something like a malleable function on a graph or fresh paint on a canvas, melted away, leaving what Felix could only describe as traumatized. “I see.” Her cheeks were blushing madly, red as roses in the Springtime. With the same supple grace as before, only more reserved, she extended her hand back to Felix to hand him the magazine.

“It-it’s not mine. I, uh, found it.” His hands shook as he took it again.

The girl turned on her heels to look at him, true concern in her eyes. “Then we must find its needy owner and return it post-haste.” She grinned brilliantly, holding out her hand. “Adventures are always better in pairs. Journey with me?”

Felix fidgeted for a moment, unsure of what to do. It was a brief moment during which neither of them moved, and the night air seemed heavy for a moment rather than crisp as it had before. She took his hand when he did nothing and smiled and after a fidget or two, Felix smiled back. Her hands felt frozen, chilled by the sunless sky around them.




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