A World Beyond (IC)

[Terraspaz]

The mind of a child is filled with imagination, untapped potential... ...but best of all, it's naive... it's the perfect vessel and instrument. Fetch the heralds... we've not long.

"Good morning students. Today's date is Thursday, October 17th. Everyone please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance." The classroom stands at the command of the loudspeaker, and drudingly recites the verse that for five grades now has marked the beginning of another day of school. As usual, the voice of Frank "The Tank" Trenam stands out above all the others, with yet another unique series of words. "...and to the big ugly, who wears huge pants..." While Frank is my no means a stellar student, this being his second stint in the fifth grade, he has masterfully figured out which side Mrs. Warner's hearing aid is on, and what he can get away with. The morning announcements finish, and the class is seated.


"Good morning, class!" "Good mornin' Mrs. Warner..." the students drone. "We have a lot to cover today, so lets get right down to it. Don't forget, we have a math test tomorrow, so go ahead and pull out your workbooks to page 52..." Mrs. Warner has been foisting the importance of October's math test since September, and has been driving math problems in this class for what seems like forever. She cares about this test so much, that she has promised any student that scores an A free ice cream in the cafeteria next week! Her long black skirt, adorned with symbols of chalkboard writings sways left and right as she writes several problems up on the board. The morning drones on and on as you move from math, to english, to social studies, only to end with math. "Well, we've certainly made some progress today, class. Let's head out early for recess today. I think you've earned it." The students cheer, and head out towards the playground.

Arthur Hebberon
“Oh, Arthur, could you do me a favor?” She pulls you aside as the other students head out. “I have to clear up a matter at the District Office. Could you runoff 28 copies of this test for me? Just drop them in my mailbox on your way out to recess.” She hands you a packet of paper, and offers a smile. This is no surprise to you… every math test so far she’s asked you to make copies. You aren’t sure, but you have a suspicion that she doesn’t actually know how to use the new copier the school brought in this year. Nodding, she heads out the door, leaving you with the math test.

Larry Rosati
You step outside, eager to be free of that useless droning of Mrs. Warner. Your eyes immediately fix on the Big Kids’ slide, and scowl to yourself as you see Susie Summers and her floozies already in line. If there was one being to detest the most in this world, it was Susie. Always giggling, always waltzing about carefree, with her mindless drones behind her. She had a smile for everyone that passed her way… except for you. Instead, they jeered “Hairy Larry,” in awful, girly unison, laughing gaily at your hair. It wasn’t your fault you had to cut your own hair with a pocket knife, since your balding foster dad never bothered with barbers, and saw no need to take you. But every explanation you gave just ended in more laughter from Susie and the zombie horde. Whatever. Dejected, you turn off, and head towards the dumpster, to think about what you’ll say when you get home this afternoon.

Billy King
You head outside, and head towards the swingset, your old standby. As you head down the stairs, a firm hand grabs your forearm. “Hey, King.” You turn to the pimply, pig-like face of The Tank himself. “I need to talk to you.” He motions you over behind the dumpster, and your heart falls a couple inches. Only the most serious and secret conversations were conducted behind the dumpster. You don’t really want to turn away from having fun during your only solace of the school day, but to ignore a near-order from The Tank would be certain death. You quickly glance over your shoulder, and follow Frank to the shady privacy of the dumpster.

Rounding the corner, you see Larry sitting there, staring to the ground. “Awww crap. You’re here?” The Tank looks scornfully to Larry. "Well, I guess you’re in, too. Can’t have a snitch runnin’ off tellin’ the teacher ‘bout this. Now…" he looks to the two of you. “I’ve got a business proposition for the both of ya.” He grins, eyeing both of you carefully.

Billy Eckert
Racing towards the treeline, you and your friends scour the ground for your weapons from yesterday. After little searching, you find them all: Swords, lances, bows, arrows, clubs, and even magical staffs, all provided by the pine trees that separate the playground from the highway. You unsheathe your mighty blade, and roll out of the way as the evil knight charges down upon you. Retaliating, you chop down with The Sword of Light, cutting deep into your foe’s jet-black armor. “Hah, gotcha!” you claim. “Nyuh-uh… you just hit my T-shirt!” “Oh yeah, try this!” You re-engage your opponent, rejoicing in the clack clack of sticks hitting each other.

“Oh no! Look out! My magic wand has turned into a dragon! Everybody run!” Looking to the skies, you stuff your trusted stick through your left belt loop, and dash away in terror, laughing all the way. Your legs carry you behind the school, surely out of sight from the dragon. After waiting for the beast to leave, you slowly venture back to the field of battle…

[lostsole31]

[OOC: "I a-claim a-this color-a in the name-a new Italia!" :smallbiggrin:]

Larry, barely even interested in the droning moron, only half listens ... but he stays in his original position. :smallsigh:

[UserClone]

Billy turns to his friend Eddie, as they return to the field of battle, saying, "Now where did that dragon go? Listen, O Black Knight, that dragon could slay either of us easily. Our only choice is to band together in truce, at least until we can defeat it." Billy spits into his palm and offers it for Eddie to shake.

"What say thee, sir knight?"

[Wiz]

Billy King

Billy gulps audibly at the bully's proposition, but doesn't dare refuse out of hand. "What did you want, Tank?"

[lostsole31]

"A lexicon," Larry mutters quietly to himself.

[Terraspaz]

Larry and Billy King

"Look Pit-Breath, I don't like you, and I could care less what you have to say. The only reason I'm wasting air on you is because you happened to be sitting in my office, and I can't risk you walking off causing a scene over here. We're stuck like this. Deal." Frank slides the right sleeve of his T-shirt up slightly, glaring at Larry. "Now, we don't have much time, so here's the skinny. Y'see that window? On the other side of that window is the teacher's workroom. In there, the super-nerd to end all super-nerds holds a copy of tomorrow's test. When he leaves that room, he'll give them to someone else, so we've got a tiny window to get in there." ...Speaking of windows..." Frank glances up towards the window, several feet off the ground. "That's where you two folks come in. I need you two to boost me through that window. Help me out, and you get a sneak peak at the big test. Even you, Pit-Breath."

He looks at the two of you expectantly.

Billy Eckert
Eddie spits into his hand, slapping it into yours. "You got it! The enemy of my enemy is still an enemy of mine... I think." You back towards the playground, in search of new foes and greater dangers. From the shadows of the dumpster, you notice three figures talking, one of whom you pick out as Frank The Tank. "Look out, Billy! Eddie cries. "There's a giant bird clawing at your head! He wants your brains!"

[drum-n-bass]

Arthur Hebberon
“Oh, Arthur, could you do me a favor?” She pulls you aside as the other students head out. “I have to clear up a matter at the District Office. Could you runoff 28 copies of this test for me? Just drop them in my mailbox on your way out to recess.” She hands you a packet of paper, and offers a smile. This is no surprise to you… every math test so far she’s asked you to make copies. You aren’t sure, but you have a suspicion that she doesn’t actually know how to use the new copier the school brought in this year. Nodding, she heads out the door, leaving you with the math test.


Grabbing the test he hops along the gray and gritty sidewalk doing multiples of 28 along the way. He quickly plops the correct sequence into the copier. Once done Arthur gets the 28 copies and slides them into the secretaries smooth hands. Then he hops back onto the sidewalk counting the decimals of pi before reentering the classroom to tinker with the broken printer.

[lostsole31]

"Sure, Tank, not a problem," says Larry, managing something like a smirk. :smallamused:

[Wiz]

Billy King

Billy frowns, "Look, Frank, I don't want to get involved in cheating... you thought that I would be enough alone... you can get Larry instead. I won't tell anyone what you told me."

[Terraspaz]

Arthur

You start poking around the innards of the printer. You first noticed a problem when, instead of spitting out a document into the tray, the printer spat out a giant cloud of smoke into the air. In your expert opinion, this is clearly a sign of a malfunction. You lift up the main cover, and immediately find the problem. One of the drive belts, worn from use, has lost tension and just spins wildly. A replacement belt would be ideal... but you realize you could fashion a supporting bracket to take up the slack out of rubber bands and paper clips, both in abundance in Mrs. Warner's Desk. It's certainly doable, but it will take some time.

Billy King and Larry
Frank furrows his eyebrows, in a brutish mix of anger and frustration. "Well, Lily-Billy... guess you aren't the protractive person I thought you were. You don't wanna help? Fine, Larry and I here will keep the answers, then. But you're going to stand exactly where you are right now, and if you even dream about snitching to Mrs. Warner, I'll knock you straight back to fourth grade!" He pauses, staring with a gaze that seems to penetrate your very soul, until after an eternity, he speaks to Larry, still focused on you. "Let's go. Farter Arthur has to be getting close to done by now." He moves beside the window, still keeping his gaze locked on Billy.

[lostsole31]

"Ummm, Frank? What's protractive mean?"

[drum-n-bass]

Walking over to her desk, he rummages in some cabinets until he finds enough paper clips and rubber bands. He then fashions a belt to hold until a replacement belt it bought.

[Terraspaz]

"Y'know, like, 'thinking ahead,' 'n' stuff. Hurry up, c'mon!"

[UserClone]

((OoC: 'm switchin' teh green, yar! It seems to contrast better with all those blue variations))"GAAAAHHH! MYY BRAAAAAIIINS!" screams Billy, running haphazardly, his trail taking him a bit closer to the dumpster, as he tries to listen in on Frank the Tank's private conversation.

[roll=Notice]1d20+13[roll] (plus any additional penalties for running around; he stops screaming once he gets closer, just running around and waving his arms.)((Darn, forgot the slash))

[Wiz]

Billy King

Billy just nods and stands there. Right... like thinking ahead enough to study for the test maybe?

[lostsole31]

"Y'know, like, 'thinking ahead,' 'n' stuff. Hurry up, c'mon!"

"Hm, pro-tract-ive. I get it! It's like seein' all the angles!"

[Terraspaz]

Billy Eckert
"Yeah, yeah. You comin' or not." Frank's attempts to keep it to a whisper begin to falter, as his face reddens with frustration. You can easily hear him on the other side of the dumpster.

[UserClone]

Billy Eckert

Giving Eddie the signal to stop (holding up his fist, the back of his hand facing Eddie, who is still behind him), Billy initiates their "Black Ops" game. Billy raises two fingers in a "scout's honor fashion" and wiggles the fingers right twice, then creeps toward the dumpster [roll0], crawling on his belly. The enemy could spot him at any time, but his mission was clear: get the information, and get it back to the President. It had been made clear that if he were caught, all knowledge of his activities would be disavowed and he would be interrogated and put to death.

He knew what he had to do.

It was all up to agents B and E now.

[lostsole31]

:smallamused: "No, I just wanted to see if you knew there was no word like protractive when you meant proactive, Frank with Stank. Stick with what you know, and you'll look less like a ...

"You know what? You just keep usin' them big-crap words, it really doesn't matter, you still look like an idiot no matter what you say." :smalltongue:

"You want answers to the test? Go get 'em. I don't even care enough about math to cheat. If I'm gonna' cheat at something, I want it to be for somethin' that's worth it!" :smallmad:

[Terraspaz]

Billy King, Larry
Anger flashing through his eyes, Frank races towards you, lunging at you with a fist. Recognizing the similar motions of a blow coming toward your face, you duck out of the way, as a resounding thud emanates from the dumpster where Frank's fist smashes against the metal.
Misses with a 13
"Augh, dammit! Maybe your folks would teach you respect, if they weren't drunk all the time!" Frank sneers, as he readies to lunge at you again.

Billy Eckert
Putting your ear to the side of the dumpster, you hear what sounds like Larry nearly shouting at Frank. You start to doubt your own ears, as to cross The Tank was like asking for a brick to the face. Suddenly, as if in confirmation, you hear a loud thud against the far side of the dumpster, and hear Frank spouting off retorts. You share a quick glance with Eddie, stricken with a mix of alertness, curiosity, and fear.

Initiative

Frank
Larry <---------- You're up!
Billy King
Billy Eckert
Eddie


Map

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h288/terraspaz/BattleMap.jpg

[lostsole31]

What am I doing? Am I crazy? :smallsigh: I never thought I would actually ask to get beaten, but if coming home bloody is the only way I can shift focus ... just so I can eat lunch. Besides, I'll remember Frank's face for a looong time after I've healed. Yeah, it's worth it.

Larry knew that the only way for this to really work out right is if he gets Frank really mad ... and since Frank is pretty much as easy to manipulate this way as a GI Joe's arms and legs. Larry still doesn't want to make it easy on Frank ... cause it's still gonna hurt, and focuses on him (who else), but really goes all out on defense as well.
Frank is my "dodge-buddy", i.e., the one against whom my Dodge feat [+1 dodge AC] is applied this round AND I am using a standard action to evoke total defense [another +4 dodge AC] for a total +5 Dodge bonus to my AC, for AC 20 total.

"Hey Frank, you're so slow ... Yeah, that's it, that's all. Physically AND mentally! HA-ha-ha!" Larry taunts Frank the Tank as he tries to duck past him into more open ground, but fully knowing his time will come when the schoolkids zoom around them both - closing off escape - when the inevitable "Fight!" chant begins.
Using a move action and Nimbleness for avoidance to go half-movement total by moving as follows: G8 (threatened, 2 sq.)-to-G9 (threatened, 2 sq.)-G10-F11.
1/2 Move is only through threatened squares, which is why they are listed as '2 squares' movement vice 1.
Grimm only requires I roll a single DC 15 Nimbleness check for all squares in question, not just each separately: Nimbleness (avoidance) = [roll0]

[Wiz]

Billy King

Billy watches the bully launch into furious overdrive, "Frank... you're gonna draw a teacher over here if you start a fight. Your plan will be ruined, won't it?" He prepares to run in case the bully's attention switches to him in a violent response.

[Terraspaz]

Billy Eckert
"C'mon, Eddie, we've got to warn President Warner!" shouts Billy, darting towards the school entrance to tattle on Frank, with Eddie in hot pursuit. As you dart inside the school, you see Larry tumbling away from the dumpster.

Billy King
Ka-WHAAM! You see a flash of red as Frank clobbers his fist into your face., slamming the back of your head into the dumpster. "Got all the answers, don't ya, Lily?!" Frank plants his feet directly in front of you, clenching his fists

You take three subdual damage

Larry
You hear Billy cry out in pain, and see a flock of kids racing towards you from
the playground. You see the playground monitor at the other end of the field, following the children, but it will take her some time to reach the dumpster.

Initiative

Frank
Larry <---------- You're up!
Billy King
Billy Eckert
Eddie

Map
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h288/terraspaz/BattleMap-1.jpg

[lostsole31]

"Hey, Frank! I got a welfare check with your mom's name on it. Oh, wait a minute, that's not welfare ... it's one of her night clients!!!" Larry yells to get Frank over towards him and away from Billy.

[Wiz]

Billy King

Billy shakes his head to clear it and looks to see Frank the Tank winding up for another blow. He stops waiting and starts running, knowing that the bully weighs at least twice what he does.

[UserClone]

Billy continues running with Eddie into the building, shouting, "Mrs. Warner, Mrs. Warner!!"

[Terraspaz]

Billy Eckert
Dashing into the school, you sprint back to Mrs. Warner's classroom, dodging past a very confused Mrs. Lowe, kindergarten teacher. While her duty compels her to stop you, her weight is not so conducive. You weave by her, rounding the corner to your classroom.

Arthur Hebberon
Mrs. Warner walks in through the door, tilting a head towards your meddling with the printer. "Arthur... what exactly are you doing? Ideas and terms race through your head to help describe the intricate work you've been laying out inside the printer, but as you determine the best way to explain the complexities of your mechanism, the door flies open, with Billy Eckert panting in the doorframe.

Larry Rosati
From the other side of the dumpster, you watch as Billy tears away from the dumpster, towards the playground watcher, and crowd of cheering children. You hear a crashing and smashing of leaves and twigs, and turn behind you to see The Tank charging at full force. He dives at you, wrapping his thick arms around your thin, frail figure. "That's right Pits! Keep crackin' on my momma! Awful shame you don't have one!"

Touch attack - 22
Frank's Grapple - 8
Larry's Grapple - 5
You are grappled

[drum-n-bass]

Quickly readjusting his navy blue with pink polka dot tie, Arthur replies It would take me awhile to actually explain what I was doing, but I will explain it none the less. The printer has been shooting out clouds of smoke instead of paper for some time now. But with my free recess period, I have "fixed" the broken belt in your printer, so you have no need to worry about getting your clothes dirty.

[UserClone]

Between deep, wheezing breaths, Billy namages to choke out, "Preside-...um,...Mrs.... Warner! Ma'am,...Frank the...Tank is...pummelin' somebody out by....the dumpster! I think it's that...what was...his name? You know,...the one with...the mouth? LARRY, that's it. Hurry!"
Poor Billy then collapses to the floor, chest heaving, his face brightening as he desperately attempts to get enough oxygen. Finally, after a tense moment, it's clear that he'll be okay, and he continues to wheeze and breathe, but slightly less heavily.

"PLEASE GO!"

[Wiz]

Billy King

Billy glances behind him to see Frank grappling with Larry. A deep anger at how the bully uses his strength to beat up on others rises in him, and he abruptly turns, charging toward the two. When he gets close enough he tries jumping on Frank's back, grappling him in turn.

Flanking Touch Attack: [roll0]

Grapple Check: [roll1]

[lostsole31]

"Crackin' on your momma? I can't possibly crack on her nearly as much crack as she smokes, Dudley Dimwit!" Larry says, half angered by the no-mother comment, and half-laughing ... not at his own joke so much as some other, indefinable thing. Larry tries to wriggle free of the Tank's awkward-fat arms.
Nimbleness (replaces Escape Artist skill): [roll0] - standard action, then use Nimbleness to avoid (i.e. Tumble) [roll1]

[Terraspaz]

Billy King
Larry slips away from the struggle, using his thin frame to its full advantage, rolling away from the brute toward the now cheering crowd of children. Frank takes little notice, with the sudden jerk upon his back, and the clawing grips of Billy, struggling to hold on. "Sneak up on ME!?!" Frank shouts out, flailing his arms. You hold on for dear life as the thrashing brawler tries to shake you off. You enjoy a brief instant of accomplishment, and then a flash of red covers everything you see. Your head ignites with pain, as The Tank connects an elbow directly into your nose. The playground starts spinning, and your grip loosens around the collar of Frank's dirty, stained T-shirt. You fall to the ground, as a silence falls over the playground... broken only by the overwhelming shouts of a familiar voice. In your last moments of consciousness, you hear "Billy! BILLY!" and see the blurry figure of Mrs. Warner dashing towards you.

Hit with a 16, for 5 subdual damage

Everyone else
Mrs. Warner bursts through the crowd, children dashing out of her way. She gives Billy's face two gentle slaps, while calling his name. Garnering no response, she lifts the boy up with both arms, as the other adult on the playground firmly grasps Frank's shoulder, surely escorting him to the Principal's office. Mrs. Warner barks out several commands to other teachers, now looking out the door to the playground, one of whom takes residence in her classroom. She escorts Billy to the nurse's office, while Mrs Lowe takes over for your class.

Billy King
Your eyes bolt awake. Surrounding you is a perfect circle of oak trees, standing guard over their carpet of red, purple, and golden leaves scattered over the forest floor. A cool breeze wafts over you, as you take in a deep breath of the crisp morning air. The familiar melody of bird-song drifts along, swelling and falling in sublime harmony. Through the trees, you see numerous thatched-roof cottages, many of which have peaceful puffs of smoke drifting from their chimneys. Suddenly, a powerful screech resounds through the air, all but silencing the bird-song. You see the shadow of a great winged beast pass by, but before you can turn your head to catch a glimpse of the creature, it has already passed.

Suddenly, a voice speaks to your mind... Hero... hero..., you look around, and find a gleaming white sword buried in a tree to the hilt. Hero... save us... we need you to save us... You wander towards the blade in reserved confusion, unsure what to make of this fantastical blade. The beginning and end of filth. The home of scum and purity still. Place of women with much hair, but no head. Where others dare not travel, you must tread... You move forward to ask more of the mysterious blade, when your eyes shoot open, throat gagging violently.

"Oh, good... no concussion. Gave us quite a scare, Billy..." You look around the nurse's office, taking in a breath of air, wincing at the lump on the back of your head from the fall, and the crushing soreness in your face from Frank's elbow. "We've called your mother, but she must be out to lunch, and we can't reach her. Go head to the cafeteria... may as well try and eat something while we try and reach your mother." She offers a comforting smile, and presents you with a hall pass, motioning to the door.

[Wiz]

Billy King

Billy takes the hall pass and leaves the nurse's office to head toward the cafeteria.

Silly, I suppose, charging back to help Larry... he got away on his own. I'm just so tired of everything being so unfair. People shouldn't lie and cheat and beat up on each other.

Weird dream...

[UserClone]

Billy hears a soft rustle as the curtain to the left of his bed is shifted about a foot away from the wall along its track. He sees Billy Eckert's face peering at him from the next bed. "Billy, I heard what you did. Are you ok?"

[Terraspaz]

OOC:Back from the weekend! Back to your regularly scheduled programming

Arthur, Larry
Mystery meat Thursdays. Glorious. You pick up your trays, and walk through the line in the cafeteria, looking on at the plop of what is probably meat lands on your tray. Arthur, as you go through, you receive your usual portion-correct pre-prepared meal, set up by your dad since you arrived here. Exactly 6.0 ounces of meat (by weight), 225 calories worth of Strawberry Shortcake, spherical potato chunks with a radius of 1.5 inches, and a carton of milk served at Thirty-Four degrees farenheit are gruffly slid across the counter to you.

The both of you sit down, and find yourselves, alone towards the same end of the table.

[Wiz]

Billy King


Billy hears a soft rustle as the curtain to the left of his bed is shifted about a foot away from the wall along its track. He sees Billy Eckert's face peering at him from the next bed. "Billy, I heard what you did. Are you ok?"

Billy nods, "Yeah... I'm okay." Just then the nurse comes back.


"We've called your mother, but she must be out to lunch, and we can't reach her. Go head to the cafeteria... may as well try and eat something while we try and reach your mother." She offers a comforting smile, and presents you with a hall pass, motioning to the door.

Billy shuffles out, and as he's walking toward the cafeteria, thinking to himself, he looks around to see if Billy Eckert is around.

[drum-n-bass]

PFFT. The milk carton says being opened up by Arthur. He takes a bite of potato and meat before pulling out his pda and playing Super Mario on it. Once he has reached the next level he goes back in for more food. Once done with the meat and potatoes, he takes a sip of milk and eats his strawberry shortcake. Finishing of his milk he sits there and continues to play Super Mario.

[lostsole31]

A king's feast, that's what it is.

Everyone complains about 'mystery meat' but to Larry, who had to go through more emotionally torturous a ritual just to be able to eat this one meal a day ... the mystery is becomes a miracle. Larry ate each bite slowly and purposefully, though not too slowly to allow everything to get too cold.

Crime paid ... so far. And all Larry has to do is wander the streets until ten or so tonight. By then, his foster father will be too drunk to remember what happened this morning ... you could set the clocks in the city to his foster father.

Get off of work at five, at the pub by six, fed by six-thirty, drunk by eight-thirty, home by nine-fifteen, asleep by nine-thirty.

And Larry felt he was partly ... responsible (?) for this. His foster father never would have had the money to go drinking and eating at the pub each night, were it not for the state assistance checks he received for fostering Larry.

Larry looked across the table ... how rare to see anyone sitting across from him. It was Arthur. High and mighty Arthur, how Larry hated him, or rather envied him. He will never know hunger, his clothes looked fitting and comfortable and warm. Larry, on the other hand, wore threadbare highwaters and sneakers with holes in them. Arthur, like so many other kids, gobbled their food as greedily as himself, but always complained - every single day - that it was terrible, or it wasn't enough, or even would refuse to eat! And there he sits with his fancy toy as right with the world ...

Larry didn't even realize that in his gnawing angst he had suddenly shifted his tray ... and the milk carton knocked onto the floor with the carton bleeding out that precious fluid with a faint 'thuk-thuk-thuk' sound.

Without even realizing what he was doing, Larry was on the floor like a dog, crying and lapping up the milk.

[drum-n-bass]

Pausing his game, Arthur looks down at the odd boy.
What are you doing? I can get you another milk if you want.

[UserClone]

As the nurse was signing you out of the nurse's office and issuing your hall pass, Billy Eckert is waiting for you just outside. As you exit the nurse's office, he greets you with, "That was brave, what you did. And stupid," he adds with a playful punch on your shoulder. "I'm surprised that anyone, even you, would stand up for a jerk like Larry Rosati, though...but it makes me glad. I think that kid's got problems enough - ever notice his ratty clothes, or his 'haircuts?' He could use a friend like you."

[Wiz]

Billy King

Billy ducks his head, blushing a little. "We're really not friends... but he tried to help me and I'm just tired of seeing bullies like that taking advantage all the time. Is that how our whole lives are going to be? Whoever has more of whatever... muscle, money, power... going to push other people around who don't have it?"

[UserClone]

Billy Eckert
"Yeah, I get it. It's...it's just that...well, there's Eddie, and Jimmy and Steve, and you, obviously, y'know? The guys that treat me like I'm normal.

"But you guys aside...everybody, even Frank, treats me like a china doll or something, like their afraid they'll break me and get in trouble, you know? But Larry-I mean, yeah, he can be a jerk, but he's just as much a jerk to me as he is to anyone else. And in a weird way, I kind of...I dunno, appreciate it. Like he respects me somehow or something."

With a shrug, Billy Eckert tilts his head confusedly to one side as his stomach growls loudly.

Flashing a mischievous grin, he says, "C'mon, I'll race ya to the cafeteria!"

And without further ado, he darts off in just that direction.

EDIT: Wow, I clearly don't have a dirty enough mind to remember the language filters :P

[Wiz]

Billy King

Billy smiles and starts to run, but has to slow down again as he abruptly gets dizzy. He calls ahead, "You win today... but wait til I feel better." He enters the cafeteria after Eckert and goes to stand in line.

Careful, you're not able to male-generative-organ your head, nor can you male-generative-organ your crossbow, nor can you even hear the male-generative-organ crowing to greet the sun on this site. ;)

[lostsole31]

Larry Rosati

What am I doing? Larry's mind blares like a clarion when he hears Arthur's question.

Larry at least lifts his hands off of the floor but kneels there, face down ... too ashamed to lift his tear-swollen, angst-ridden face. So, is this why homeless people are thought crazy? They just do things without realizing what they're doing until it's too late ... was just one of a hundred blurring thoughts going through Larry's mind.

The shame built to a crescendo, and Larry's face contorted under the mop of hair hanging over it as his body tensed, and Larry knew only one response at this point: past the point of tears having any use, he knew anger.

He flashed a face that with his angers and tears made him look like the very devil at Arthur and hissed: "I don't need your pity!"

At that he sent his own tray and its former contents flying to the side with a swipe of his hand, the contents flying off to the side and the utensils and tray clattering noisily along the length of the table and onto the floor - gaining more attention than he would ever have desired.

Larry immediately spun around to run out but he had already forgotten why he was upset and his foot went sailing out from underneath him as he slipped wildly on the milk puddle on the floor. Too surprised and emotionally disoriented to focus enough to roll with the fall, a loud *CRACK* resounded throughout the cafeteria as blood mixed with milk on the cafeteria floor.
Falling damage ... lethal, not non-lethal [roll0]

He felt stars exploding in head, the eruption of warmth at the back of his head where he landed, mixing with something cool and .....

It was too much. Maybe in a life- or death-struggle he might have held onto consciousness, but falling into the fog gave him respite from pain and anger and tears and the humiliation and .... Larry let go, hoping that this would end him. That at last ...

... the hope went away, as did everything else. And Larry knew nothing but blackness.

[Terraspaz]

Larry
Your head explodes with pain, as Mrs. Warner dashes over to you, amidst gasps of concern and choruses of laughter from the rest of the table. Carefully, she lifts you up, and starts carrying you to the nurse's office. It's difficult to exactly see where you're going, as milky blood flows into your eyes, stinging."This is not a good day..." she says under her breath.

Billy, Billy, and Arthur
As King and Eckert come out of the cafeteria line, tray full of slop in tow, you see Larry crash his head into the floor, wailing in pain. Mrs. Warner dashes over, carrying him away, leaving a trail of blood along the way. Moments later, the janitor opens a closet on the side of the cafeteria, pulling out a "wet-floor" sign, and a mop. As he begins to mop up the very spread-out spill, the two sit down near Arthur, in the few remaining open seats at the table.

Billy Eckert
Glancing at the janitor swinging back and forth with the mop, you realize how much it looks like a great ballroom dance floor. Swaying to and fro, he moves her thin body across the room, with her long, volumous, gray locks of hair trailing behind her. The illusion begins to dissolve as the mop begins to soak up the spill, and turns a pukish-brown.

Larry Rosati
You lie in the bed of the treatment room, head wrapped in a thick layer of gauze. A shoddy New York Yankees baseball cap lays on the table next to you, to hide the gauze once the bleeding stops. You hear the nurse speaking to Mrs. Warner on the other side of the door. "...That is a serious wound... amazed the kid could still stand after that. Even if he stays for the rest of the day, he's going to need some new clothes... head wounds do bleed so much. I'll call his parents."

[Wiz]

Billy King

Billy shakes his head, "Well, for all the good it did trying to keep Larry from getting beat up... he did it to himself. Wonder if he'll have as crazy a dream as I did after I got conked."

[UserClone]

"Poor kid...Hey, what dream?" asks Billy E., trying to change the subject.

[Wiz]

Billy King

Billy shrugs, "I dunno... it was kind of like something out of T.H. White. You know... forest glade... sword stuck through a tree... voices calling for a hero. Really weird stuff. I guess my mom read me too much of that Arthurian myth stuff when I was younger."

[UserClone]

"Oh man, sweet! I'll take a dream like that any day! ...although I'd probably rather just fall asleep. Always doing things the hard way, aren't you, Your Highness?" Eckert makes a habit of calling Billy King things like Sire, Your Highness, Majesty, et al. Just an inside joke on Billy King's last name.

[Wiz]

Billy King

Billy chuckles, having no problem with being called Sire or Majesty.

It beats what they always called me at my last school... Billy JEAN King or just JEAN!

Billy shrugs, "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing it the hard way to make it right!"

[UserClone]

With a chuckle and a clap on the back, Eckert replies, "That's what I like about you, Sire. You keep things interesting."

[Wiz]

Billy King

Billy grins, "So, if I'm a king, what are you, my loyal knight?"

[UserClone]

Billy gets up from the table, his face becoming serious. "Well that is my lord's prerogative, of course, Your Majesty." Dropping to one knee, Billy Eckert bows his head, proffering King an invisible longsword, ignoring the inevitable snickers from the other kids as he slips further and further into his fantasy.

[Terraspaz]

Billy King, Billy Eckert, Arthur Hebberon
The janitor finishes mopping up the spill, giving the mop a final rinse in the dingy yellow mop bucket. He wheels his tools over to the janitor's closet, and opens the door.

Billy KingYou feel a strange pull coming from the closet, for the briefest of seconds, as if there was a strong burst of wind behind you, or perhaps a very strong magnet.

You'd never seen the inside of the janitor's closet in detail before... and it is a most impressive sight. Bottles of cleaning solution line the walls, and even lay in a pile on the floor, surrounding in a gray goo. Several brooms and mops sit upright in a cork toolboard, their locks either standing straight up, or drooping down in white curls.

"Alright, class, finish up your meals, lunch is over in 5 minutes." Mrs. Warner sits back down at her tray to finish her now cold plate of mystery meat.

Larry Rosati
"Well, you aren't going to need stitches... and the bleeding seems to have almost completely stopped by now. We've called your father, and he should be here in about an hour to come take you home... You really should be more careful than that, Larry... you could've been seriously hurt out there." The nurse finishes wrapping up your head, presents you with a small cup of vanilla ice cream, and returns to her desk to fill out some paperwork. Your head continues throbbing - mostly from the terrible fall you took, but partially from the realization of what the encounter with your "dad" will be like when he arrives. This is really, really not a good day.

[Wiz]

Billy King

Billy lifts his arm, holding the sword, then assumes a more serious mien, holding it in both hands and holds it up before him. "I, William the Unconquered, King of Cafeteria, do proclaim that you are henceforth a noble knight of the realm with all of the honors and duties that thereto pertain. I give you the right to mete out the low justice, and grant you the keep of Cragenmoor to be thy fief for thyself and all of thy descendants. I dub thee Sir Eckert, Knight of the Gallant Heart!"

As he finishes his eyes swivel over to the janitor's closet and a curious expression crosses his face.

[lostsole31]

Larry slowly, listlessly eats the ice cream.

[UserClone]

"What is it you have spotted in yon cavern, my liege? Is it the Jabberwocky? A Vermicious Knid perhaps? I shall slay it in thy name!" shouts Sir Eckert, Knight of the Gallant Heart, retrieving his invisible blade with haste and brandishing it threateningly in the direction of the imagined foe. "FOR CAFETERIAAAAAA!!" shouts he as he bravely charges into the janitor's closet.

[Terraspaz]

Billy Eckert
You dash by the janitor, charging forward with your great and mighty sword. As you run by, he reaches out to try and stop you, but only manages to graze your shoulder. However, the glancing brush from his seasoned and powerful arms are enough to send you spinning backwards into the closet. You crash into a pile of mops, as they fall down, covering your face. Wriggling through the debris, you come face to face with the corner of an air vent, clearly in disuse with the grime and potential mold growing around it. From deep inside the vent, your eye catches a faint glow... a green shimmering that vanishes the moment you focus on it. As you turn away, your eye catches it again. The harder you try to look and concentrate through the mesh, the less and less you see. You start to grasp at the wire mesh when a set of powerful hands lift you up, out of the closet. "Now look, sonnah... y'kin't b'dashin 'n' crashin all into m'workshop like tha', y'ear? Couldda broke somethin' in there, or e'en hurt y'rself. He gruffly tosses you back towards the lunch table, closing the door behind him.

Arthur, Billy, and Billy

Mrs. Warner pipes up. "Alright... that's it. Let's pack up our trays, and get back to penmanship... " though you don't perceive it, she rolls her eyes, taking her tray over to the counter, as the other children begin to follow suit.

Larry Rosati
Finishing up your ice cream, your head continues to throb, though the pain medicine seems to be kicking in, as the aches start to slowly subside. You look at the clock, figuring you've got a half-hour or so before he arrives... though punctuality has never really been his strong suit. Realistically, expecting him to show up today is probably a good guess. Probably.

[Wiz]

Billy King

Billy looks at Billy, "Why'd you do that, Billy?"

[UserClone]

"Heh, I guess I just got caught up in the moment. I'm gonna check on Larry, you coming?"

[Wiz]

Billy King

The other Billy smiles, "Okay, let's go!"

[Terraspaz]

Team Billy
You head in towards the nurse's office. Pushing open the old, rickety door, you see a near-expressionless Larry sitting on a treatment bed, a cup of ice cream beginning to melt in his hand. The nurse starts towards you, but then pauses, and then nods, returning back to her desk.

Arthur
This day has had numerous unprecedented events, that is a fact which is certain. However, this particular period of education, no matter what nonsense may occur cannot be tarnished, as your creation lies in your locker, awaiting its unveiling after school. Gleaming with pride, you dial in the combination to your locker, and examine the device. Indeed, everything appears as it should... except for a retaining nut, that keeps the capacitance bank locked down, and held in place. Somehow it became over exposed to moisture, and rusted. You realize while it can run without a proper nut, it certainly detracts from the aesthetics of the total experience. You realize there may be some spares in the janitor's closet.

[drum-n-bass]

Swiftly and silently he walked to the janitors closet. Quickly opening up the brass handle, his hands clammed up. He was not use to this sort of thing before. Quickly scanning the contents of the room, he found a nut to fit. Grasping it in his hand he slides it into his left pocket. Closing the door he goes back to his locker and opens it up replacing the rusted nut and throwing the rusted one in the garbage can.

[lostsole31]

Larry Rosati

Larry, ever so slowly, begins to turn his eyes towards the (Buffalo) Bills and says weakly, to have that breathy voice in the upper registers: "He's coming. I got no way to go."

He then slowly, listlessly, drops his eyes back to their 'neutral' gaze.

[Wiz]

Billy King

Billy looks at Larry, "Your dad?" He glances at the other Billy, "We've got to get him out of here... where can we hide?"

[UserClone]

"As you wish, my liege."

Billy looks at the other boys conspiratorially.

"How about that closet I, um, peeked into during lunch? I think I saw something in there, and I kind of want to know what it was anyway. I'm sure we could hide you in there anyways, Larry. What do you think?"

[Wiz]

Billy King

Billy nods, "Good idea, let's get you away from here for now... maybe we can keep you hidden long enough for him to cool down."