Light the Signal New IC

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

It was Tuesday. The sun shone brightly over Signal Academia, and the November breeze was crisp in the air. Most of the trees on campus still retained some vestiges of color, although the groundskeepers had been busy sweeping up the array of leaves for the past few weeks.

Normal class routine was disrupted by a special assembly called for by the Headmaster. Master St Germaine's introduced a special guest speaker: Captain Rodney "Red" Zhernokov of the Star Knights, visiting Signal City for a few days. Apparently the captain and the headmaster knew one another, although it was unclear how well or in what capacity.

Zhernokov gave a lecture about Duty, and the responsible use of super powers. With the somewhat checkered reputation of the Knights, it's probably a lecture he'd given often, although whether it was any better received by members of his own forces than it was by the majority of the students was anyone's guess. For those paying attention, however, the captain's speech hinted at, perhaps, new trouble somewhere out in the galaxy which the Star Knights would be called upon to deal with.

Still, boring or not, the assembly got everyone out of the first three periods of the day. As the assembly cut into the third class period, but didn't entirely eat up the time, the headmaster declared an early and extended lunch break, with classes to resume in the afternoon.

---

As she wanders out of the auditorium, Bryn pulls out her smartphone, and immediately starts checking social media for any new videos-- supposedly The Flood was announcing some new motion picture today, and she wanted to be the first to catch wind of what he'd be doing. She's not paying a great deal of attention to where she's going and nearly collides with a few students before putting her phone away with a sigh. No news yet.

[Anyr]

A pale, moaning figure shambled slowly from the auditorium, like one of the walking dead; Which, as it happens, she was. Rebecca Hayes yawned for what felt like the thousandth time, as she fought to stay upright. Stupid schedule change. Creatures of the night weren't meant to be up at this hour. Maybe she could find some quiet corner in which to collapse...

[Mekboy]

Willow practically skipped out of the auditorium. Freedom at last! The age and a half over being talked at by some big know-it-all was over! Not to mention that being stuck in an enclosed space with a mob of teenagers sucked if you had a halfway decent sense of smell (which apparently most humans didn't). Still, the ordeal was over.

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie Delta marched out of the assembly with all the others, the sound of drudging shuffling was in contrast to the bright smiles and encouraging looks of the staff guiding them out of the auditorium. Charlie shrugged at the conclusion of the speech: he was certain that the lecture was a gentle attempt to give certain rebellious students direct warning, without the pointing of names or the speaking of fingers.

"Whoa there!" Charlie says as he stumbles a few steps to avoid walking into the back of Bryn, who had been day-dreaming looking at their phone while stepping out from the assembly.

"You should watch where yo- Bryn!" - He interrupts himself as he recognises the student before him. He smiles widely and gives a friendly wave to the girl as the other super students pass by them, whom were steadily gathering into their cliques, faces long and dulled with pained bordem.

"It feels like I haven't spoken to you in ages!" He says with enthusiastic hyperbole. "How are you, how's things?" He looks to her ready to engage in conversation.
"Oh, but if you're -uh- busy, then I'll just, y'know, go?"

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Bryn looks up at the sound of her name. "Oh, heyo, Charlie," she says, her Welsh accent clear in her voice. "Not, not busy. I thought I might take advantage of the extra hour at the pool, but it's not like I *have* to be anywhere right now. What's up?"

[Wiz0rd]

"Oh, nothin' much. I was going to head back to my dorm quickly to get my things for class." He scratched his head, "Left my timetable in my journal, on my desk. Say, I wouldn't have to go if you've got yours handy. What class do we have next? Super Specialism or General Studies?"

He adds, "Wouldn't mind hitting the pool for once, I keep forgetting it's there. Would make a nice change fron the running track though. Couldn't go with you this period though, unlike some of these other supers, I don't wear waterproof spandex for a uniform," he uses a sweeping gesture with his arms, displaying a practical set of khaki green combat trousers and shirt, "Besides, I don't think hanging around at a pool when you're not swimming leaves a good impression, haha." He laughs.

"Do you see anyone else about yhat we know? Maybe they'd want to go too." He says as he looks around the other students hoping to recognise thier other friends.

[Anyr]

Charlie would easily be able to spot Rebecca in the crowd. As usual, the young Vampire was clad in an outfit so bright that it could be used to guide ships. Her sunny disposition, on the other hand, seemed to be taking a break. She was trudging down the hallway with all the speed of an asthmatic snail. Here walked someone in serious need of a pick-me-up.

[Rhyvurg]

Herald turns his phone back around to face himself. "Okay, speech over and I'm out. Be sure to check the channel later tonight just in case I got an action vlog, you never know what might happen in this life. Peace." He ends the recording and uploads the raw footage. No edits, 100% real. That was the tagline anyway. He puts the phone away. "I heard pool!"

[Mekboy]

Wait, was that the wierd teethy girl? No-one else Willow knew was that pale or wore clothes in shades quite that bright. She was often good fun. Looked even deader than usual though (if that was possible). Willow wandered over and gave her an experimental poke. "Oi, Teeth, what's up with you? Remember you were meant to be dead or something?"

[Anyr]

Rebecca's brain took a second to process this new input. Hmm, something seemed to be poking her; And speaking too. Maybe she should look in that direction...Oh, it was the fae girl: The one who was sort of nice and nasty at the same time. What was her name again?

"Tired; Nocturnal now. 'Snot fair. I used to be suuuuch a (*yawn*) morning person..."

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie, even with a quick glimpse through the crowd can easily spots Willow hovering around and poking at Rebecca, who looks as if she was shuffling very slowly to the world's most lethargic rave.

"Hey Herald, what's up buddy? Yeah, we we were just talkin' about heading to the pool before the start of classes. I still don't know where I'm at after that - hold that thought." he held up his hand and smiled as he gestured he'll be back in a second.

He jogged to catch up with Rebecca and Willow, which turns out to be not very far at all. "Hey guys, Bryn, Herald and - whoa, Rebecca, are you feeling okay? You're looking paler than usual, did someone lock you in the sunbed again?" he joked, "You look like you need a coffee with a couple of shots of O Negative. I think theres' a vending machine by the pool," he waves Bryn and Herald over to them, as they're not too far away. "Not forgetting you Fae princess," he says with a sarcastic bow, "You comin'?"

Still need to grab that timetable.

[Mekboy]

"That's 'Your royal highness' to you." Willow said with a grin. She didn't actually care, she just liked annoying him. "Pool you says? I s'pose I don't really have anything better to do." Probably wouldn't swim though. The few times she'd been there, the pool had had a distressingly chemical smell. Who knew what that'd do to you? Almost certainly nothing good. She could probably just chat with whoever else had enough common sense not to get covered in all them chemicals.

[Anyr]

Rebecca perked up a little when she heard the new voice. Hey, a friend! Well, acquaintance. She didn't really know Charlie that well; But she wanted to. He seemed like a genuinely nice, caring person. When someone like him asked 'are you feeling okay?', they actually meant it.

"Blood and water, you say? Sounds good..."

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Bryn tags along after Charlie to catch up with the others, since he ran off before she could answer his question. "You've got World History after lunch, Charlie, just like me." Noticing the state in which Rebecca looks, Bryn adds, "Whoah, Rebecca, you're up in the morning? You feeling all right?"

[Anyr]

Answering everyone's questions was doing Rebecca some good. She seemed a bit more awake than before.

"Special assembly. Even the 'night shift' had to get up; And for what? For a guy who tried his best to (*Yaaawn*) put us right back to sleep. Makes no sense."

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

"Do you need a drink to get you going?" Bryn asked. It hadn't taken long for a sort of working relationship to strike up between the two teens. For Bryn, Rebecca's need for blood was nothing more than an inconvenience-- particularly in comparison to the more painful aspects of her powers-- and it saved a lot of hassle for everyone else. Besides, Rebecca was a nice enough sort, in Bryn's mind. "I didn't think the talk was that bad. Beats listening to Acrobellano discuss the history of geometry, which is what I would have been stuck with instead this morning."

[Anyr]

Rebecca shifted awkwardly. Her 'arrangement' with Bryn was still a bit embarrassing to talk about.

"Y-yeah, that'd help. But, erm, somewhere more private? There's an empty classroom over there."

Back when she'd first become a Vampire, Rebecca couldn't imagine feeding from an actual person. Surely (she'd thought) all her meals would have to come from the blood bank. It was scary how fast those inhibitions had faded. Now drinking from bags just didn't feel right.

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie took a step back to allow Bryn and Herald into the circle of conversation. He breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "Bryn! Total babe! Thank you. World History." He says in a matter of fact. "World History." he repeats. "Who's our teacher for it this semester? Is it the dean, St Germains? He didn't say very much during the assembly, I assume he'll want to talk about the history of appropriate powers usage or something." he thought upon it as he stroked his chin with his thumb idly.

"Yeah! Coffee, water and blood, my treat!"
he said with a smile to the funky vampire lady. "Rough times, Rebecca. We'll get you through this morning kicking and screaming in a caffeine and blood fuelled rampage, you'll see!"
It wasn't difficult to empathise with Rebecca, every teenager hates mornings, but she had reason to hate them even more than anyone else had reason to. If Charlie and the group can make this even somewhst tolerable, this would be a victory. Besides, she'd do the same for him, right?

Charlie bows even lower this time, replying to the jest "My royal highness, with the upmost respect, I doth profess a request an audience by the waters of swimming, for there is much to discuss." He winked at the small fae, yeah, he'll bite.

He looked to the small group, and smiled. Felt good to just kick back and chat, Signal Academia can feel all business at times.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Bryn nods in agreement to Rebecca's request. It didn't matter to her, but it was clear that the vampire was self-conscious about it, and she didn't want to make it any more awkward than it needed to be for Rebecca's sake. "Excuse us for just a minute, then." She grins at Charlie and Willow-- the fey girl was decidedly unusual, but one couldn't be around Charlie for more than a few minutes without some of his happy-go-lucky attitude rubbing off. She slips into the classroom so Rebecca can do her thing.

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie returned the smile, "Okay you two, enjoy your make-out sesh." he joked with a chuckle, reddening slightly at the cheeks at the thought of such teenage intimacy.

"Did you want us to wait here or meet you by the pool? Time's-a-wastin'!"

[Mekboy]

Willow gave a short snort of laughter. "Her royal highness gracefully accedes to your request. Let us depart forthwith!" Dropping out of the faux-posh accent, she continued "Wouldn't want to interrupt any... intimate moments here, would we? Heh, have fun you two." She winked at the teethy girl, just in case her meaning wasn't quite clear enough.

[Anyr]

Rebecca closed the door behind her. She couldn't help being self conscious about this: Stupid, really, in a place like Signal. Everyone here was so wonderfully under-

"Okay you two, enjoy your make-out sesh."

-stand-

"Wouldn't want to interrupt any... intimate moments here, would we? Heh, have fun you two."

-ing.

...Or not. Suddenly, Rebecca felt completely justified in closing that door. With a roll of her eyes, she walked over to Bryn. They'd better get this over with. She pulled the other girl into a (completely platonic) hug, just as usual; Then she extended her fangs, leaned close, and gently plunged them into Bryn's neck. It was a purely mechanical action, devoid of enjoyment.

[Ah, thaaat's the stuff!]

Okay, fine! She did enjoy it. Drinking blood felt fantastic; But Rebecca doubted it was like that for the victim. For Bryn, this was likely a painful, unpleasant experience: Far from the 'make-out' that people imagined.

Soon enough, Rebecca's fangs withdrew. She always tried to finish as quickly as possible, for Bryn's sake. The Rebecca who broke the hug looked a lot more like her usual self. Her eyes shone with newfound energy.

"Thanks; I really needed that."

[Rhyvurg]

"Wait, are they seriously going off to...?" He briefly considers following them.

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie's smile couldn't help but fade slightly as Rebcca and Bryn slinked quietly into the classroom. The look on her face wasn't one of smiles of humor, but one of a tired kind of dissapointment. The kind where one would try to live up to a standard, an expectation, but fail ever so slightly. Things like this may not be a big deal to you, Charlie, but it may be for others, you'd do well to remeber that. If only he had darned healing powers...

Without lingering too long, Charlie held out a hooked arm towards Willow, and mimicked the cute snorting giggle; "I fear we may have been misunderstood in our diplomacy, your majesty. I suggest that we may consider waiting for a moment for our maidens before journeying onwards." Arm still outstretched, he glaced at her with a curious side-eye,"You... Are actually royalty aren't you? This isn't made up?"

He looked to Herald after hearing his desire to share in the moment with the girls in the classroom, Charlie looked meaningfully into his eyes and gave a slow shaking of the head trying to convey a silent message of "I don't think that's a good idea." Herald may be a self proclaimed lady-killer, with thousands of followers on facetube video sites, but he should possibly save it for the pool or for class, Charlie thought to himself.

[Mekboy]

What was her problem? Couldn't take a freaking joke? When did she start being so uptight? A brief scowl passed Willow's face. Freakin' killjoy. Fortunately Charlie managed to drag her attention away before her mood could sour. "What? Yeah, course. It's kinda a big thing." Taking the offered arm, Willow continued. "If we were home, you'd be pretty lucky people to be hangin' out with me. Everyone wanted to be friends with me."

[gom jabbarwocky]

Are those footsteps? Crap, I thought no one would be here right now!

Siri slipped through the double doors to Signal Academy's indoor pool room, looking about nervously and adjusting the Techno-Astra on her arm. She was sure that no one could have seen her. If she got away with this, fourth period gym was going to be a lot easier to get out of today.

That's if she got away with it. The sound of people talking and walking their way up the hall to her position indicated that perhaps she hadn't slipped out of the assembly with enough time to carry out her plan. Maybe she'd better play it safe and go invisible before anyone happens by...

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie linked arms coyly with Willow as they paraded and circled the corridor while they waited for thier friends whom they managed to irritate.

"So what are the details? You are like a proper fae? How'd you manage to wind up at Signal?" Charlies natural curiousity prompted many questions, he'd never hung out with actual royalty or an actual fae before.

"What are yo-"
"Oh Charliee Beta!" A poweful yet grating voice boomed from half-way down the corridor in a perfect stiff-upper-lip english accent.

Albatross...

He strode over to the small group next to the classroom.
"Oh, Charlie, glad to see that you're finally getting some girl action. Too bad she isn't even our species. Nice try though, I was getting worried about you."
"Go away, Albatross."

"'Go away Alba-mweh-mweh.'" He mocked as he prodded Charlie in the shoulder powerfully. "I was actually on my way past, just thought that I would let you know that I've rubbed out your name for Meta-bowl try-outs this year. I've done you a favour, stopping you from embarassing yourself terribly again." He stood tall and looked down at the comparatively small Charlie."I'm going for captain this year, and if I get it, I'll make sure you have nothing to do with the sport for the rest of your time here. You're a mockery to this grand institution, a-"
"Go. Now, Albatross." Charlie said quietly in a seething anger.
"Fine, whatever. Hey Charlie, see you in class. Don't be late, theres' a good chap." Albatross said as he scuffled Charlies hair, dandruff rising from the spot. He wiped his hand on his uniform and walked away as he greeted some other students.

For those who took the time to study Albatross, he was a huge, muscular, refined, perfect specimen of a human. Athletic, built, statue-esque. Girls and boys swooned to the sight of him. Powerhouse archetype. A super blessed with being the pinnacle of human potential. A Hercules of our time. For whatever reason, since the British toff started at Signal, he was Charlies assigned high-school bully, nemesis and pained aquaintance. Otherwise, he was a model, popular student.

Charlie took a moment to fix his matted hair in a window reflection the best he could.
"I hate that guy." He said quietly to himself with a sigh.

[Mekboy]

Willow was, of course, all too happy too keep talking about herself. It was one of her favorite conversation topics. "What do you mean, 'proper fae'? I mean, there's all types of-" She was interrupted by Albatross.

Willow was far from the best judge of character (humans were so freakin' weird), but she disliked Albatross immediately. For a start, he'd stopped her talking. Just rude. Plus he smelled kinda weird (Well, kinda weird for a human. So extra weird.) But Charlie seemed to know the guy, so it was probably best to see whether they were friends or something.

...

Nope, right first time. Willow considered throwing some sort of glamer over him or making him do something stupid, but resisted the urge and settled for sticking her tongue out at his back as he walked off. "He's an ass. What did he mean by Charlie Beta? And what's this meta-bowl thing?"

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie turned to Willow and resumed the tone of conversation before they were rudely interrupted.
"Yeah, he is. I don't know what his beef is with me. 'Charlie Beta' is a 'clever word play' on my Super nickname - there's the Alpha's, the big, strong, attractive specimens, and theres the Betas... The not." Charlie shifted akwardly as he had to explain the insult about himself.
"Oh, and Meta-bowl, it's the final championship in high-school super-sports. Like the Superbowl, but more super than that even. It's for the sport of Meta-ball, a kind of sport for supers. It's difficult to explain.". He shrugs again, "I tried to make the team last semester, and I'm trying again this year. I think I can do it. I've spent loads of time down in tech getting ready." He nods and says decidedly.
"Wow, how many times can you say super and meta in one sentence? Geez."

"Anyway, you were saying? You're a fae? Like a fairy? Are you like 500 years old or something?" He teases as he sticks his tongue out slightly.

[Anyr]

Soon enough, the classroom door opened again. Rebecca practically skipped into the hallway. Gone was the shuffling, semi-conscious girl from before. No amount of tiredness could beat the high she was riding right now. She gave Charlie and Willow a little wave, as she walked cheerily towards them.

"Charged, pumped, and ready to go!"

Only a careful observer would notice the hint of regret in her smile. Rebecca wasn't about to let a little angst ruin everyone's day. She'd keep the mood light and positive, just like always.

[Mekboy]

"I dunno. Probly not, I guess? Not like I kept count. Less than twenty I guess? To be honest, it's kinda weird that you count and all that. Pretty morbid. And I dunno what you should call me, I you guys seem to have lots of different names for us."

[Rhyvurg]

"Wow, that is a grade-A ***hole. I have half a mind to try out just to make him look bad." Herald tries not to look over at what he thought was two girls who just made out. He's failing horribly.

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie looked back up the hall after he heard the classroom door swing open. Rebecca practically skipped out, bouncy and bubbly as ever. Everything about her seemed brighter now, her hair, her skin, her expression. Looks like Charlie isn't the only one who gets hangry sometimes. Anyway,
"Hey Rebecca, nice to see you again. Gotta' say, that was pretty quick!" You could tell that he considered rolling with a comment or joke, but he kept it to himself.
"Listen, when you see Bryn finish her healing schtick, tell her that I'll meet you guys by the pool. I'm just gonna' go and quickly grab my gear from the dorm'. See you there!" He begins to back away from the group in the direction if the dorm, "Willow, hold that thought, I'll see you in a sec."

He turns and jogs carefully down the corridor avoiding bumping into the students. He suspects that the journey to and from the dorm will be uneventful, but that's the thing about Signal, you never really know what lies behind every corner.

[Mekboy]

Willow gave a cheery wave, her brief enmity forgotten. "Hey there Teeth, looking a lot less corpse-y. Enjoy your meal?"

The exact mechanics of the teethy-girl's condition were somewhat intriguing to Willow. Apparently she was meant to be dead, and she needed to drink people's blood or something. For a start she didn't smell that corpse-y. And as far as Willow was aware, most dead people tended to be a lot less talkative. And then there was the blood drinking. Was that what the teeth were for? Seemed kinda messy, just stickin' your teeth in someone. Maybe she just got them to bleed into a cup for a while?

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Bryn had been through this routine with Rebecca so often by now she didn't react at all when the fangs bit into her flesh. It stung a little, sure, but it was nothing compared to the pain her healing of others put her through, and it barely registered. "Happy to help," she says to the vampire in response to the thanks. She is only a few seconds behind the other girl in leaving the room, no sign of injury on her neck, nor even particularly pale from blood-loss. She didn't just heal quickly, she healed FAST.

Unaware of the exchange between Albatross and Charlie, she looks to the group, "So... Pool?"

[Anyr]

Rebecca's smile flickered slightly when Willow addressed her. The Fae girl seemed to have only a passing acquaintance with the concept of 'tact'. Still, maybe that was a cultural thing. For all Rebecca knew, this behaviour might be the height of Fae etiquette. Best to ignore it for now.

"Er, yes, thanks. It was very refreshing."

[Mekboy]

"Yeah, pool. Um, wossname, Charlie? Yeah, Charlie says he'll meet us there."

Having to actually remember people's names was a bit of a new thing for Willow. At home, her 'friends' varied quickly enough that she never really needed to bother.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

While the rest of the group makes their way to the pool, Charlie's return trip is interrupted by Coach Piledis. "Charlie. I was looking over the sign-ups for Meta-bowl tryouts, and it looks like you crossed your name off the list. Did you change your mind?"

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie's run to the dorm went smoothly. He briefly waved to Meredith, the weather empath, on the way. No time to chat, however.

Bursting loudly through a set of double doors, he ran into the greyish and cool November day. He soon came across the Signal Dormitories, which were in architectural keeping with the school, but carried a more alternate, vivid and animated atmosphere.

Jogging past teens who were hanging out on the grass playing with their powers to the sound of tinny smart-phone music, Charlie hit his room. Sturm, the steampunk champion, wasn't in. He was presumably down in tech working on his suit or his convention cosplays. They shared an amicable, practical relationship - Sturm being his elder by a few years. Charlie quickly grabbed his class gear and made up a seperate bag for his swimming stuff. He left the dorm almost as quickly as he came.

Jogging his way back towards the school and the indoor pool, he bumped into the famous Coach Piledis. He enquired about the Meta-bowl tryouts, much to Charlies relief.
"Yes-sir, I mean no-sir. Uh, I think it was a mistake of someone else." He pauses for clarity, "Yes. Yes I will be attending Meta-bowl tryouts again this year. I was going to come and see you later today about it." He shuffles uncomfortably, "It won't be like last year, I swear. I won't let you down, Coach."

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

"We're changing how we're doing it this year. There'll be an official announcement in home room tomorrow, but I wanted to give a few of the more promising hopefuls a heads-up. We'll be running multiple teams against each other in the school, with the winning team representing the school in the real Meta-bowl." He claps Charlie on the back in one of his signature gestures-- a blow that, while well-intentioned, is probably enough to knock the smaller, thin boy off balance. "Think you'd be up to putting together a team of your own?"

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie buckled slightly under the friendly pat on the back, but he didn't miss a beat in the conversation with the Coach.

"I--I'll try!" His mind whirred quickly to his companions at the pool, and other other potential players that he'd have to ask. "Thanks for the heads up! I won't go telling everybody until tomorrow after your announcement. I think it's a really neat idea." Charlie felt a slight wave of being overwhelmed. He didn't even make the signal B team last season.
"Any advice or words of wisdom before I run off and train, Mr. Piledis?" - If theres' one thing Coach is an expert in, other than being a hero, is Meta ball. School is about learning from the wise, right?

He thought about the guys heading to the pool, if he's quick, he could make it still on time...

[Anyr]

Meanwhile, the others had finally managed to reach the pool. Rebecca took a moment to admire the vast chamber in front of her. She still couldn't get over how big this place was. Signal housed plenty of students with an unusually 'brickish' physique (like Albatross); So their sporting facilities were built with room to spare. Normal-sized people like Rebecca could get lost in a pool like this. Only one thing stopped her from rushing straight to the changing rooms: The lecherous clone standing behind her. She shot a warning look at Herald.

"Yes, there will indeed be girls in swimsuits. Behave yourself."

[Mekboy]

Willow wandered through to the main pool. Still no way she was sticking her body in that chemical dump they called water. And that weird, four-armed girl was here. She was pretty sure that girl wasn't human - far too strange-looking. And although it was masked by the 'water' at the moment, she certainly didn't smell like one. Musta gotten here fast after the assembly.

"Hey Four-Arms. Watcha doin' here?"

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

At the pool: Bryn isn't bothered by the thought of the lecherous clone and makes a beeline for the girls' locker room. She's on the swim team and has her swim gear there all the time.

-----

Charlie and the Coach: The coach considers the question thoughtfully for a moment before responding in a rather more serious demeanor than his usual, "Meta-ball, and, for that matter, being in a Super squad, isn't about who're the most powerful players. It's about the ability to work as a team. Find people whose powers compliment each other if you can, but more importantly, find people who can work as a team. You've got some military background-- if you're in a combat, you trust your buddies with your life, and Basic is all about learning how to function as a unit. That's what's key: teamwork." He cuts the serious attitude with a grin. "Every metahuman has their strengths and weaknesses, even me, and your team will help you cover for each other, emphasize your strengths, and exploit the other team's weaknesses. See you in gym, Charlie," he adds as he walks off, consulting his list for the next student he needs to track down.

[Rhyvurg]

"Yes, there will indeed be girls in swimsuits. Behave yourself."

He manages to look scandalized. "I am the very model of a modern major general, I will have you know. It is not a crime to appreciate beauty and charm. I don't begrudge it when you'll be looking at me later. And don't doubt, you'll be looking. But it's all good." He winks and heads for the boy's changing room.

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie nodded appreciatively, "Thanks, Coach!" and sped off towards the pool, which was only a small ways away at this point.

Coach must of being taking lessons in being psychic because he basically read-off what Charlie was hoping and thinking. Coach is right of-course, on matters of being super snd that of sport he was very rarely wrong. Charlie reatined his element of doubt however - he had seen dream-teams of supers literally built from the point of their conception to play masterful Metaball. These kind of supers were not heroes, they were athletes.

Gotta' get a team on board, I'll write up a list of positions when I get the chance. Try-outs won't be for a few weeks yet. There's still time... I have an idea.

Opening the door to the pool, he arrived just in time for Herald to retort about his perverse nature and to watch the group to slink into the changing rooms, all besides Willow of-course, who was complaining about the strange smelling water in a room with few open windows. He smiled, "Hey guys, I'm here! Just going to get changed." As he took a changing cubicle next to Herald and began to chatter.

A button shirt and zipped pants aren't the most difficult things to get out of, Charlie threw on his trunks. A baggy design just resting above the knees. They're decorated in a pale green camoflauge, but also sport an embroidered flower alongside on of the legs. He stepped out, "Ey Herald, need a hand?" he said, half joking.

[Rhyvurg]

Herald looks out of the changing room, half serious and half uncomfortable. "Hey, ah, I'm flattered, but I'm not, you know, that way. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but, ah...you do whatever makes you happy, man."

[Wiz0rd]

"Hey, no that's not what I meant at all! I just thought-nevermind." Charlie left, blushing. He hit the pre-pool shower.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

In the space a few minutes, Bryn is diving into the pool and doing laps under the water. Her healing abilities allow her to remain underwater more or less indefinitely, and she enjoys the quiet until the the other students enter the pool as well, at which point she resurfaces.

[Rhyvurg]

Herald sticks his head around the corner, with a big sh!t-eating grin (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/93/Buddy_christ.jpg) on his face. "Eh? Eh??? You totally fell for that. Ha!" He heads back out to the pool, towel over one shoulder.

[Anyr]

Rebecca's trip to the changing room ended quickly. When you didn't sweat or shed, showering was a cinch. She emerged wearing a surprisingly daring yellow bikini: The only swimwear she had to hand. To be honest, she'd have preferred something a bit more modest to wear around Herald and Charlie. She crossed straight over to the pool and dove in, hoping to get there before the boys finished changing.

She grinned when she saw Bryn doing laps beneath the surface. Hey, neat: Someone else who didn't need to come up for air! Rebecca was happy to join the redhead in some underwater gymnastics. The two of them could stay down here as long as they wanted.

[Mekboy]

Willow was rather quickly distracted from Four-Arms. Huh. Wow. That was unexpected. Did the Teethy-Girl always go in for stuff that skimpy? Willow gave her a decidedly incredulous look.

And to complicate the matter of her condition further, it seemed that the Teethy-Girl didn't need to breath either. Maybe she was dead after all. Then again, weren't corpses meant to float or something?

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

There was a reason Bryn was on the swim team, despite not having super-speed, super-strength, or any sort of water-based powers. She grew up in a fishing village and learned to swim about the same time she learned to walk. She was clearly at home in the water, and was a strong and skilled swimmer. Rebecca could probably beat her in a race, but she'd have to use her vampire-strength to do it.

[Space Lawyer]

The pool was probably one of the nicest places in this whole school. People so rarely felt emotions like sadness or fear around there. Of course, there were the occasional spikes of anger and lust, but those just gave a nice spice to the general sense of happiness in the place. Unless the swim team was there; then Indira avoided the place like the plague. No need to get hyper-charged on all that competitiveness. It was like eating a bag of sugar. She could have shut down her passive feeding, but it always just felt so wrong doing that. Plus, it wasn't like most of these people were missing the bit of extra psychic energy anyways.

A few happy minds come into the pool, standing out to Indira like flashlights in a cave. The lecherous thoughts erupting around the place said that at least one of them was wearing something quite revealing. Who might you all be? Indira makes a bit closer of an examination into the new minds, hoping for ones she recognized. Rebecca and Willow stood out immediately with their non-human minds. The others took a bit longer; they weren't unfamiliar, but they didn't hugely stick out either.

She telepathically calls out to Herald; they had psionic theory class together, and Indira hadn't done her homework for it. <Hey, Herald, mind letting me take a look at your memories real quick for the psionic theory reading?> It was always polite to ask before examining someone's memories. Less resistance that way, too.

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie splashed clumsily into the pool after seeing two girl-like figures swirl underwater like a pair of graceful Koi in a spacious pond. He was completely unawares of the powerful psychic forces within the room, his mind likely being akin to an open, soggy book.

Charlie waited patiently, treading water waiting to see and greet the girls and to start hanging out. From Bryn and Rebeccas' hasty dive into the pool, it was clear that they were not interested in indulging in the curious study of natural form, and that the swimming plan had no ulterior motives. Charlie frowned slightly perhaps he had just presumed wrongly. Just because you're interested, doesn't mean you're entitled, he thought.

He swam over to the two and dived down to get the attention of the exemplary swimmers, waved and pointed upwards and returned to the surface. It was very difficult to chat underwater, he found. He swam to the edge of the pool to hold onto the side, and to be within easy talking distance with Willow who was sporting a curious look upon her face for some reason. Charlie looked to her and silently raised an eyebrow, as if to say "What is it?"

[Rhyvurg]

Herald stops in his tracks. "What? Uh..." <What? Um, sure. This isn't going to hurt is it?>

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Bryn surfaces from the water with a grin on her face-- quite clearly she enjoys the pool. She treads water easily waiting to see what it was that Charlie wanted.

[Space Lawyer]

<Nah, it shouldn't. You'll just see the memories flashing. Oh, nice side effect though, you'll probably remember it all really well for class.>

Indira delves into Herald's memory, looking for his memories of the reading. They weren't hard to find, and were decently clear. One of the nice things about taking something directly from memory was that it didn't have all the problems inherent in doing something physically. It was just a pure transplant of psychic energy and engrams. <Thanks! I left you a present.> A memory of a kiss from Indira pops into Herald's mind.

[Anyr]

Rebecca took a bit longer to surface. The looks she'd received from Willow (and possibly others) hadn't gone unnoticed. She was used to swimming at night, when the pool was practically empty. Since she barely ever had an audience, her swimsuit was designed for comfort, not modesty: A decision she now seriously regretted.

Well, like it or not, she couldn't stay down here forever; That'd just be rude. As her friends rose back up into public view, Rebecca reluctantly followed. Smiling nervously, she swam over to join Charlie.

"H-hey there. Everything okay?"

[Mekboy]

Willow realized rather suddenly Charlie was giving her a funny look and quickly made the best "Who, me?" face she could.

She knelt down next to the pool, being very careful not to get too near the water. Didn't trust the stuff. She wrinkled her nose a little at the smell. Even worse up close.

"What? Yeah, all good up here. You sure that stuff's good for you?" she said, gesturing at the water.

[Wiz0rd]

"Oh yeah, don't worry, it's fine. I just wanted to ask you something. I've had some great news, what are your plans for tonight? If you've got any, try and cancel them and come to the Meta-ball pitch tonight, a little time after dinner. I've got a suprise." Charlie said with a mischevous smile, "After we get out of here, pop me your phone numbers so I can text you the details and stay in touch. That's all ladies, feel free to continue your swimming competition." he blushed slightly, it was difficult not to look at the two attractive, yet fleeting swimmers. He shimmied along the pool and lifted himself out slightly, water rolling down his back, he used his other hand in aid of his shout:

"That goes for you too, Herald. Meta-ball pitch, tonight, suprises, oh my!"

With that said, he dipped back into the pool, and silently looked at Willow for a moment, before splashing her with the tiniest flicker of pool-water with his hand.

[Rhyvurg]

<Thanks! I left you a present.> A memory of a kiss from Indira pops into Herald's mind.

<Wow, any time. No really, any time at all. Does Friday night work for you, say around eight?> Herald makes a running jump into the pool, curling into a cannonball when-



[color=darkgrey]"That goes for you too, Herald. Meta-ball pitch, tonight, suprises, oh my!"


"Wooo! Game o-" He splashes into the pool before he can finish, and comes back up spitting water. "Ptptptptpt! The PH levels in this pool are not balanced."

[Mekboy]

"Phone number...?" Willow was vaguely aware that phones were weird boxes that let you talk to other weird boxes, but exactly how was a mystery. As was why they needed numbers. Her contemplative mood was broken as Charlie splashed her with water. She jerked back with a yelp of surprise.

"What was that for, jerk?" she demanded.

[Anyr]

"A surprise? Um, yeah, okay. I'll be there."

Normally, Rebecca would have cajoled Charlie for more details. But seeing that blush on his face, she had the sudden urge to do some more diving. She sunk beneath the water just in time to avoid Herald's cannonball. Hopefully that guy would leave her alone down here. Actually, was she alone down here? Signal had a fair few aquatically inclined students on its roster.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

As such things always go with teens, the fun at the pool was way too short, and the classes for the rest of the day way too long (although Rebecca was likely grateful for the chance to go back to bed). Then there was the homework. And dinner. After all that, it was time to meet Charlie at the metaball pitch.

Given that it was before the season was under-way, at the moment, the field was just that-- a field-- with a couple of goal posts on either end. The sun hadn't quite set, but it was nearly there, and there was a hint of a chill in the October evening air.

[Mekboy]

Willow shivered a little. Her dress wasn't exactly warm and the hoodie she'd 'borrowed' from her roommate wasn't quite enough to improve matters. She'd considered not coming - she was still sulking a little about being splashed with that disgusting chemical water. But she had nothing better to do. They better freakin' appreciate this anyway. Spending an evening out in the freezing cold...

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie emerged from the commentator box, a plasterboard construction formed lofted upon the stalls: the seats for the adoring fans. He had just flicked on the lights to the pitch, they were just warming up before hitting thier dramatic brilliant glow. The field itself was in perfect condition, the grass was perfectly uniform, the whites were chalked up in pristine condition, it was a beautiful stage for the greatest game on this planet.

Charlie jogged on down to meet the shuffling teens that ventured to the grounds after his invitation.
"Hey you two, glad you could make it. Hold on a sec, you're early," He held up his hand after this welcome and ran off to a hidden space between the seats.

During the this time, the silence of the meta-ball pitch was deafening, a place of such potential and animation, yet here it is in this October evening, lay still.

Charlie re-amerges, a super-market shopping trolley in hand, as he plods along swiftly back towards the two ladies. It first appears to be a cart full of jerseys.

Once he stops, he scrabbles the small batch of jerseys out of the metal basket onto the ground to reveal a metallic meta-ball ball, and a cart filled to the brim with miscellaneous alchohol. A crate of beer here, an unopened bottle of straight vodka there.
After this unveiling, Charlie shrugs: "I know a certain shapeshifter who owed me a favour. He likes doing this kinda' thing. Considers it good practice."

He'd wait to tell the great news and the plan, he deemed what would be important right now would be a small party to bring in the team spirit.

He turned to Willow; "I'm sorry about earlier at the pool, like I said, I just wanted to let you know that the water wasn't so bad. But still, I'm sorry. I meant to be playful and not a jerk. So here's a present." He threw his arms wide to present the cart before him before turning to Bryn.
"Thanks for coming along swimming team ace. I know how focused and concious you are, so dom't feel bad if you don't want a drink, I've got sodas and and alcohol free beers too."
He fiddled around on his phone for some music that would set the casual mood, "Any suggestions?"

[Anyr]

Rebecca arrived just after sunset. Now that she'd gotten a good day's sleep, she felt ready to tackle whatever Charlie had planned. Her ankle-length skirt shifted in the breeze as she walked across the field. Judging by the shivering figure of Willow she saw ahead, it was apparently cold out here. Rebecca sighed nostalgically. Who'd have thought she'd ever miss getting goosebumps? It felt unnatural to not even be able to tell whether it was chilly or not.

She soon joined the growing group of friends and acquaintances. Rebecca gave a silly salute to Charlie in greeting.

"Rebecca Hayes, reporting as ordered!"

[Wiz0rd]

"Hey Rebecca," Charlie grins as he returns the mock-salute, "At ease. Bloody Mary?" He offered, holding a bag of Signal's best blood ordered straight out a school vending machine in one hand, a swishing bottle in the other.

[Anyr]

"Don't mind if I do."

Rebecca took the bag gratefully. The bottle got waved away, though, in favour of a straw. Truth be told, bag blood had nothing on Bryn blood; But she wasn't about to start biting people right here on the field. When in polite company, she preferred the more human option.

"So, what's the occasion?"

[Rhyvurg]

Herald walks onto the field wearing his gym clothes. "Alright, let's do this!"

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Bryn digs through the cart and finds a cola, popping the can open and enjoying the treat. She'd never tried beer, but, given her powers, she suspected it probably wouldn't have any effect on her anyway, and the cola probably tasted better too. "Thanks. You planning a rave on the field, or something?" she asks. It looked like an awful lot of beer for just a few of them.

[Wiz0rd]

The pitch behind him is lit up beautifully by now, a blank space of such sportsman-like caligraphy. A field of dreams to come.

"Okay, so thank you all for meeting me here," He begins his pseudo-speech as he cracks open a bottle of beer, "Coach has given me some news about the season to come."

Charlie takes a hearty swig of his beverage,"This will be the first season where teams are made from the ground up. No tryouts, just us vs. them, an inter-school league. I am asking you to try it out, see if you like it and join me to try and play for the meta-bowl! I'm sure we can do it, and what better excuse to flex and practice those powers, eh?" He said as he twirls the metallic american football in his hands.

"Of-course of this is all optional, extra-curricular stuff. If you don't like it tonight, don't worry. We could most likely do with as much help off pitch too. We just need to talk about a few things: a team name, and positions. Are you in?" He takes another swig, consious that he is the only one drinking so far.
He holds forward the metal oval-ish ball, do you take it?

He replies to Bryn: "Well, you never know who might turn up to these things. I was expecting us to be drinking more of it, but it doesn't matter - any that we don't have, we can dump. It's fine."

[Rhyvurg]

Herald starts limbering up, not being shy about showing off his mathematically perfect physique in front of the girls. "Well, I think I speak for all the women here when I say that ladykiller telekinetics, like me, should only drink in moderation. Otherwise I might do something that will get me punched. And arrested. So come on man, let's see if this game has something to challenge me."

[Mekboy]

Willow's minor animosity towards Charlie was quickly overcome by her curiosity. "Yeah, yeah, it's fine."

Was this beer? Willow had tried wine plenty of times, but never beer. Curiosity piqued, she helped herself to a bottle and listened to Charlie's speech.

"Er, quick question, how do you actually play this game?" She'd seen this Superbowl that he'd compared it too, but as far as she could tell it was a lot of running about and charging people.

Waiting for his response, she tried a sip of the beer and pulled a face at its taste. Maybe you got used to it?

[Space Lawyer]

Indira sits on the bleachers, watching the practices on the metaball pitches. As a powerful telepath, she wasn't allowed to participate. It made the game rather dull when the entire other team simply stood around and didn't bother to do anything due to being psychically controlled. Instead, India acted as both a ref and an obstacle. Her mind reading allowed her to pick up on even the intent to cheat, and her illusions could alter the field quickly and allowed for large-scale displays to impress the crowd.

She notices Herald, showing off yet again. She says with a joking tone, <You do know the school severely punishes drinking on-campus, right? Whatever. Do you all need a referee? I'm the only one on duty tonight, so say yes now if you want one. I'll even use my passcode to give you a more interesting field.>

[Anyr]

Rebecca blinked. In retrospect, she should really have seen this coming. When someone invites many people to a Metabowl field, one should at least consider the possibility that they want to play Metabowl. Rebecca's mind raced. She'd never been on a sports team in her life. She didn't even know the rules to this game. But still, all this clearly meant a lot to Charlie. He'd asked for her help with something very important to him; So for his sake, she'd definitely give this her best shot.

"Sure, why not? If you walk me through the rules, you've got yourself a player."

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie saw a distinct look of concentration and focus on Heralds' face after he stopped replying. He gave him a look, and continued.

"Well, that's a good question Willow." He scrabbled through the clinking bottles to unveil a small whiteboard and pen. "So, this is the meta-ball. It's an American football made out of a lightweight metallic compound, that's so the ball can deal with the intense strain of a super-sport, and also why it's called Meta-ball. I think." He idly tossed the ball to Herald who was already strutting onto the pitch.

"This is the Meta-ball pitch. While it looks like just a grass field with some chalk, but in actuality it is a place of great change. The pitch is different for each game, changing to create a balancing act based on each teams strengths, weaknesses and recent win / loss ratio. One day it is a grass field, the next? A city block. The next a zero-grav arena, or whatever the ref' comes up with." He stretches his arms wide, his bottle splashing the grass a little in the motion.

"Now, Meta-ball is a game played by all Archetypes, except Psychics, who generally take on other roles, like coaching or refereeing. Anyway, just like in American Football, theres' the offence and defense, and usually you field specialised players - but I don't think coach wants that this year.

There are normally 11 players on the field in Football, but in Meta there are only 9, they decided to reduce the number of people on the line for the spectators and for saftey. There are the linesman, and the backs. Generally you have your big powerhouses as the linesman, the blockers, the brawlers, the tackles. Then you have everyone else doing the running, catching and the throwing. ... It's hard to explain, it's easier to watch or practice as you would." Charlie scratched his head.

"The offense has four attempts to run or pass the ball foward ten yards. If the offense gives the ball to the defence, the teams switch around and the other tean is then the offence. After this I'd say go to a video website and search American Football Basics, as it's pretty much that, but with two less linesman and superpowers."

"On the pitch there are two main rules: first of all, play with good sportsmanship, play hard, but try not to hurt anyone. Secondly, the referee's whistle is law - they see and announce when play has stopped and they know the rules better than anyone."

[Anyr]

Rebecca nodded along with the explanation. It all seemed simple enough. No doubt Charlie and the others would help correct any mistakes she made along the way.

"Ooookaaaay, I think I get it. So, where do you want me?"

[PleasenotwithHeraldpleasenotwithHeraldpleasenot...]

[Wiz0rd]

"Good question, positions depend on two things - Where you want to play, and what you can do."

He nodded and took another swig of beer, emptying the first bottle. "It might help if you share with us the full details of your powers, possibly with your facts and figures from the labs and from your medical. We all did one, I think."

"I don't mind sharing first, but this is more about you guys and us as a team than it is about me." He says with a supportive smile. He nods understandingly, it's hard to discuss powers at times, usually they're dealt with in a more sensitive, intimate manner. Charlie didn't want anyone to feel like they were being evaluated or anything like that. He added; "Of-course, this is all still optional. I just wanted to give you all a chance to say yes."

[Zerkai]

In the midst of the explanations about the sport and the rules and discussion between the other teens, one of the bottles of vodka would float up float of from the shopping cart and then vanish, like it was slowly enveloped by nothingness. There was someone out on the field that couldn't be seen, but they could be sensed with telepathy or other forms of vision or perhaps enhanced senses. And then another bottle of alcohol had vanished into nothingness with the faint clinking of glass on glass as Spook took the opportunity to listen in on what the others were doing.

[Anyr]

Rebecca stepped forward almost immediately. Though she didn't much like talking about her 'condition', hiding it was an exercise in futility. Anyone with a basic knowledge of pop culture could tell what she was just by looking at her. So since being shy was pointless, she might as well get this over with.

"Um, let's see. Well, I'm really strong and tough; I can fly; See in the dark; And since I'm...well..dead, some hazards don't affect me. Oh, and I can do this thing where I turn into mist: But it's really slow and easy to interrupt. Aaaaand that's pretty much it."

She left out the part about messing with people's heads. Vampires got enough bad press as it is.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Bryn listened to the pitch, and, despite the obvious disdain on her face at the comparisons to American football-- being from the UK, she considered it an inferior support to what she considered real football-- she appeared willing to stick around. After Rebecca spoke up, she chimed in, "Well, I heal really really fast. I can also hold my breath indefinitely, and I never get sick. The physicians here tell me I'm immune to poison and radiation as well, although I've never tried." She coughs self-consciously and looks uncomfortable before she continues. "Also, I can heal other people, but I really would rather not do it. It's-- well, it's very painful. I'd rather get shot myself than heal someone's paper cut. I've got special tutoring sessions to try to help me learn how to avoid the pain, but I've only been here a couple months, so I haven't learned much yet."

[Rhyvurg]

Herald shrugs. "Not much to tell. I'm just as fast, strong, tough, agile and intelligent as a human being can be without being classed as super human. Oh, and I can move stuff with invisible mind-hands, it's pretty awesome."

[Mekboy]

Willow kept sipping at her drink. Maybe she could get rid of it while they weren't looking? She didn't want to look silly and not finish the drink though. Anyway, powers. "Well, I'm pretty good at glamers. Er, that is I can mess with people's senses and stuff. Plus if I want to I can make people stop doing stuff and just listen to me, or do what I want if I try hard enough. Plus I've got a pretty good sense of smell."

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie paced excitedly, his mind whirring to all of this new information. Who knew these guys had all of these awesome powers? They kept it all under wraps this whole time, I mean, apart from the whole swimming underwater thing...

He stopped pacing around and looking animated, and stepped back. "Hang on, give me a little space." He stepped onto the field not too far away from the group, and performed what seemed to be a very tense blink.

Within seconds, Charlie seemed to be enveloped by millions of the tinest sprites that formed a cage around him. Momentarily, the cage then took the form of an easily identifiable vehicle. A tank. A non-standard issue America's finest Main-Battle Tank, to be precise. It's size and armor is huge, it is a beast that is usually operated by a team of five. It sported a matt-black finish, with a digital camo overlay which took the colors of bright purple, yellow and blue. It lay there motionless for a second, before it's hearty engine roared into life before turning to a ticking-over purr. The whole process took about twelve seconds from start to finish.

The cannon of the tank pointed upwards to the sky, moving in a "Taa-daa," kind of fashion. The electronic sounds of a microphone chiming in could be heard, along with Charlies' voice saying simply:
"Bzzt-*whine* ... I'm a tank!"

[Rhyvurg]

Herald's jaw almost hits the ground. "That...is...AWESOME!"

[Anyr]

For once, Rebecca and Herald were in total agreement. This was without a doubt one of the most awesome things she'd seen in her life. She'd often wondered why Charlie attended Signal, since he seemed so refreshingly normal. If he had a power, then why didn't he use it? Well, now she knew: It was because his power was too awesome for the school to contain. Rebecca's eyes practically sparkled as she beheld the sight before her.

"Wow. Just...Wow."

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Bryn watches the display with fascination. Her powers were pretty understated and she was always impressed by people with more showy ones. Course, she did have to wonder about something, and spoke up, "That's really neat, Charlie, but is a tank legal in meta-ball? I don't know much about the game, but it seems to me that blowing people up is probably considered a foul."

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie's tank turret shuffled slightly, if only tanks could blush. "Shucks guys, it's nothing really."

The engine picks up slightly as the large treads and hull turn towards Bryn who addressed him, carefully keeping the cannon pointed decidedly at the sky.

"Ah, yes excellent question Bryn. Yes, you're right - both crushing and the blowing up of players is considered a foul in Meta-ball. That's why my tryouts went so very badly last year." There was an akward pause before Charlie spoke again.

"That's why this season I've done two main modifications to these wheels. Firstly, I'm now running a variable resistance throttle and gear selector... Basically, when I hit this little switch, I can only push as hard as I'm being pushed back. Pretty neat? Try it out if you like, Rebecca. You'll feel great!"

"Secondly," he dipped his gun to a horizontal level, pointing toward the stands, "I've fitted a new muzzle on the end of the gun rifling. The meta-ball should fit inside it perfectly, it just needs someone to put it in there. If I fire off a blank cartridge, it should give enough force to fire the ball. If the theory works, I should be able to score a field goal from anywhere on the pitch." He says proudly. These things represent many troublesome hours down in the tech labs.

"But you are right, Bryn. Usually, tanks aren't allowed to play. We don't have thumbs. I could try-out last year, and I think that Coach Piledis thinks it's okay.

I mean, I'll never handle the ball, but I can block, right? I'm sure the A team powerhouses could mostly just lift and throw me, so I'll pre-occupy the side tackles.
I wanna' try being a linesman, and your kicker, if that's okay with you all." Charlie says this last part quieter, a creeping feeling coming over him thst he's speaking far more than anyone else. "So, all this talk of sport and powers, seem like fun to you?"

[Anyr]

While Charlie talked, Rebecca slowly circled the tank. It really was an impressive piece of work. The more she studied it, the more relieved she felt to be on friendly terms with the driver. Vampire or not, a fight against this metal death machine likely wouldn't end well for her. Rebecca absent-mindedly reached out and ran her hand along the metal as she walked. When Charlie asked the big question, she knew exactly what to say.

"Do you even need to ask, after showing us this? If the rest of the game's this crazy, you bet I'm in."

[Rhyvurg]

Herald starts poking the tank. "Can you feel this?" He keeps poking. "Because I'm not sure if it's weird if you can, or weird if you can't." Still poking. "If you can feel it, where?" Poking continues.

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie gave a slight giggle and made sounds that you'd expect from being poked or caressed very lightly. "H-hey, ha-ha, whoa there, hold on a second."

Charlie reversed slightly from the duo. The tank around the boy seemed to begin to dissolve and fade, the tank splitting off into each individual piece of metal and then dispersing into the air silently. It could be likened to a flock of tiny metal butterflies taking flight. Rebecca, Herald and Charlie experience a very brief and gentle breeze emenating from this transformation, and from where there was a a rolling military death machine, there now stands a solitary lithe teenager once again.

Charlie smiled widely, Rebecca's curiousity and enthusiasm was positively infectious, he felt a warm glow, the kind when you just know a good aquaintance is becoming a good friend.

"You're right, I can feel it, a little bit. Like through several layers of thick jumpers. I'm mentally linked to it, I won't bore you with the details: but you know how it goes, 'Pain tells you where something is wrong'. That's why the armor feels like a second skin." He paused.
"Anyone want a ride?" He shrugged.

[Zerkai]

When one of the students transformed into a tank there was a clinking as a few bottles dropped, but a tank was a good deal louder and more distracting than that, so they were soon floated up and gone once more. Though once that was done another student materialized next to the shopping cart with a "Um... wow... how does that even work? I can get shapeshifting into someone else, or an animal, but a tank?"

The girl was one of the students that had a classic 'cape' outfit for superheroing, one of the rare ones that was always in costume in classes, but tended to disappear as soon as the bell rung. The girl wore a skintight leotard around her petite frame with a cowl (Which revealed the bottom half of her face) that was dark purple in color and made of a shiny material like vinyl or latex along with a pair of black thigh highs, bracers, and a short hooded cloak that may have been for modesty's sake when wearing a skintight outfit, if it didn't end at her elbows. Also a bit of a rarity of being in costume and hiding your face, but still wearing makeup, as she had glossy purple lipstick on.

She was also holding a bottle of Vodka in one hand, and a bottle of beer in the other.

[Space Lawyer]

"Yeah, interestingly enough, being a tank is legal. Then again, so is being capable of throwing said tank, so it isn't so much of an advantage as one might think." Indira comes walking on to the pitch. "Same basic idea as to why speedsters are allowed. Did you know most of them don't actually think to look at where they're stepping? They just simply go." She casts a glance at the various bottles and shakes her head.

"Alright, since you people want to drink like tramps and vagrants, you'll get the field for them." She reaches into her pocket, producing a small black pad. A few inputted codes, and the field begins to transform. The nanomaterial underfoot shifts to concrete and asphalt. Buildings shoot out of the ground, some made of old brick and iron, others modern glass and steel. Once the basic layout is complete, all sorts of props begin to emerge, all the sorts of things one would find in the midst of the most blighted urban block imaginable. Trash cans overflowing with ancient horrors, sprinklings of glass everywhere, and even more hidden surprises just waiting for the players.

"This is a good practice pitch for you, because this particular scenario pits you against the field nearly as much as the other players. At each end, you'll find a warehouse, ostensibly the entrance to a villain's hidden lair. To score, you have to get the ball actually inside the warehouse."

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Bryn was rather impressed at the way the field transformed, but Indira's explanation didn't seem too daunting. She walked over to the cart and picked up the ball from where Charlie had set it down. "So where's the hard part? I just walk to the end of the field and toss it in, yeh?" She starts off in the direction their goal would be.

[Zerkai]

"These are for later. May as well stockpile them if you're gonna dump them when you're done with all of this. Haven't had much need for the stuff lately to be honest, but better to not need it and have it and all..." She gave a small shrug as she looked around, rather surprised as the field changed all around them. She looked at this slummy area of some downtown city, the alleys, the turned over trash and tall buildings.

"Huh... You have no idea how close to home this is. Names Spook by the way. Just Spook, no other name, no last name. Thing is I'm not sure what good I'd be. I'm not sure becoming intangible or invisible would exactly be allowed in this game...."

[Anyr]

"Anyone want a ride?"

Rebecca eagerly stepped forward.

"Absolu-"


"Um... wow... how does that even work? I can get shapeshifting into someone else, or an animal, but a tank?".

"-Augh!"

The sound of a new voice made her spin 180 degrees. Had that weird girl always been there? Surely she couldn't have overlooked someone dressed like that? Rebecca had barely begun to ponder this issue, when it was suddenly supplanted by a much bigger one: A city block seemed to be growing around her.

"Is this...Is this the Metaball field?"

[Mekboy]

Willow glared around at the newly grown city. This was freakin' messed up. She couldn't smell the sharp tang that usually suggested magic. Was this some sorta weird human technological thing?

"What the hell is going on?" she said, panicking a little.

[Rhyvurg]

"SCIENCE is what's going on. So, here is my thought. Charlie can blast the ball waaaaaay down field, but the other team is going to try and stop him. So to practice, how about some of us try to stop the shot, and the others try to stop Charlie?"

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie shuffled and stumbled his way quickly and clumsily across the quickly emerging dystopian cityscape to the side of the pitch where the group was standing.

He carefully examined the black-pad wielding enigmatic lady and her curiously dressed heroine amigo. He addressed the meta-bowl offical;

"Whoa-whoa, wait-wait, hold-up now. I mean, this is an open hang-out, so welcome - but who are you?
And before we do anything on pitch, I just want to ask a few open questions to make sure that we're all on the same page here. I'm feeling a little confused.

Firstly; how is this going down? Who are we all practising against? Are there shadow illusions of players? Is it the Signal Academia Practise Bots? Is it a time-attack challenge, us verses the field? Are we doing Herald's play, Me vs. then? What are we up to? Uh. Also. Is that a real villians warehouse on that end?

Secondly, so we get the ball to the opposing warehouse over there? No problem. Are you going to blow the whistle on dropped catches and mis-plays? We'd appreciate it, or if the whistle was on automatic or somethin', I dunno.

Thirdly, thank you for giving us a cool pitch. It's awesome. But what do you get out of all of this? Did you want money? A favour? Or did you just want to hang out with us?" Charlie climed the bleachers to sit next to the lady. He knew he just asked a lot of questions, he didn't mean to be rude at all, just up to speed.

He looked to "Spooks", "Charlie here, nice to meet you. I'm not sure, I think that incorporal-ness is banned, but I know for certain that invisibility isn't. One of the classic Signal All-Stars was a half-back yardage rusher who was an invisibilty super."

He sat there, new beer in hand on the stalls, he looked to Rebecca and Willow, he empathised greatly - on a stage like this it's easy to feel like you've bitten off more than you can chew. He certainly did. He looked to the suprised duo, and offered a hand up to the seats while the details all get sorted out.
"Hey guys, you okay?" He says quietly.

Charlie went slightly pale at this point. With the lights on, the pitch transformation and the newcomers appearing from left-right-center, there's no way he'd be able to hide all of the noise and action from the school or the faculty. People must have had to notice all the hubbub by now, unless the teachers already knew. So much trouble, man.

Staring ahead he watched Bryn step onto the asphalt fearlessly, ball in hand and in a good confident stride. She looked just as comfortable and confident here than she did in the pool. "Bryn! I'll follow your lead, I'll be on pitch in a minute!"

[Anyr]

After a few seconds of dazed blinking, Rebecca got her bearings again. She half-considered following Bryn through this new wonderland; Until the crunch of broken glass underfoot convinced her otherwise. Instead, she opted to make small talk with the newcomer, as she climbed up to join Charlie in the bleachers.

"Um, hi, I'm Rebecca. I guess we might soon be teammates?"

[Zerkai]

"I'll have to read up on it and partial intangibility. Mine is partial, where I can phase a part of my body while making the rest solid. Magic stops my phasing though... maybe wear some magic belt or rope around my waist. Can phase my limbs, but not my body and I can't go through buildings or people like that. I can fly too, faster that I can run, but that's not saying much." Spook brainstormed about different things ways to make the best use of her powers. as she floated along after Charlie.

"I'm not exactly an athlete, but I guess I should get out more..."

[Mekboy]

Gratefully taking the offered hand, Willow forced a grin. "Yeah, fine. Just a bit, y'know, surprised. Not really what I'm used to, heh. Er... are there any other drinks?"

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie lifted his hand and arm as Willow climbed onto the bleachers, he did not need to exert much effort as Willow was remarkably light. Not surprising due to her small fae frame. Her hand felt very soft and fair as he helped her onto the seats. "Don't worry Willow, I know how you're feeling. Just think of it as a day on the hero job. Imagine the ball as a tiny fae baby." He joked, as the meta-ball pitch appeared to be finally settling into its structure. "Yeah, I'm sure there are more drinks in the cart, unless Spook's taken them all." He turns to Spook who is nearby standing near the stalls,

"Just where are you keeping all of those bottles anyway?" He looked to the slight skin-clad heroine to-be, "Actually ... nevermind." She floated idly next to him. It must be strange to fly or levitate, it must feel like floating in a pool, but no water being present. Weird. "Wait, Spooks, you can phase your arm, but not your body? So, you can grab things through walls, but you can't travel through them?"

Charlie wanted to keep up the quiet chit-chat while the mysterious lady sitting next to him pondered on his questions. It all seemed so serious all of a sudden, all he wanted to do was to talk about powers and positions, but as so normal for Signal, they are thrust into action.

He looked down the recently set street as Bryn continued to walk away from them carrying the Meta-ball, not being phased by the broken glass, the exposed building debris, she was the image of a empowered hero. He longed to hit the pitch, but he didn't know what he was doing out there just yet.

[Mekboy]

"Well I spose I've always been pretty good at baby-punting. Trick's to get a good run up. Hey, ain't you being all gentlemanly? Trying to take advantage of me while I'm all confused like this? Plyin' me with drink as well. Such scurrilous behaivour! Haha..." Willow teased. Truth be told, it was more to calm herself than anything. That they could just create something like this out of nowhere with no actual magic was a little terrifying. What if it went wrong?

"He, Spooky-girl, what's that vodka stuff like?"

[Anyr]

Rebecca settled into a seat with the others. On a whim, she decided to sit beside Willow. Was it her imagination, or did the Fae ambassador seem a bit nervous? It was hard to tell. Rebecca still couldn't get a good read on this girl. She didn't even know whether Willow's (rather annoying) habit of calling her 'Teeth' was supposed to be an insult or not. Still, maybe a bit of empathy would bring the two of them closer together.

"Hey there. Enjoying yourself? I'm sure you weren't expecting things to turn out this way; I know I wasn't..."

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie laughed heartily at Willows' comment about baby punting. Though it seemed a ridiculous idea, if anyone were to do it, and make it innocent and silly, it would be Willow. Charlie chuckled at the mental image, that poor baby.

After being nudged and accused by the teasing Willow, "By of-course, your majesty, you've seen right through my ruse, neigh, plot even. It was all an elaborate scheme! Get fabulously inebriated and throw caution to the wind." He said in a mock posh accent while scooting up to Willow and Rebecca.

"Honestly though, I'm not trying to take advantage of anyone. I'm just thinking of chillin' after a hard day of school, is all." He didn't deny the possibility of emerging romances. That was one of the perks, or longing aches, of being in a super-school: you're generally being utterly surrounded by attractive, costume-wearing, like-minded people. He sighed internally, likely thinking about it too much.

"Vodka, Spooks, what do you think? It is a fine, almost tasteless drink with a firm alcholic kick to it. Only drink a little at a time, it's quite powerful stuff. I wouldn't even drink half a bottle myself. It's better with soda."

Charlie nodded in agreement with Rebecca.

[Zerkai]

"No taste my latex-clad butt, it tastes like rubbing alcohol... but good Vodka lacks an aftertaste and will get you drunk quick. Unlike whiskey, which stays in your mouth forever.... but different folks and all. Most drinks kinda taste like rubbing alcohol to me, but I don't drink it for the flavor. Also, small backpack under my cape, phase my hand through it to put them away." She explains with her hands on her hips.

"And in partial intangibility... most people just have it like a switch, all intangible or all solid. I can phase partially. Say... phase my hand through glass, make my hand solid while keeping my arm phased, grab what's on the other side, turn it and my hand intangible again, and pull it out. My weakness though is magic... can't phase through it. So something made of magic around my waist, neck, or limbs would keep me from phasing them."

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

As Bryn walks through the nano-generated urban landscape, a car appears, almost literally out of nowhere as it was nano-assembled from the junk scattered about the streets, and, tires squealing, careens into the teen, sending her flying before she can react. The bumper was padded, as expected from an obstacle not designed to be lethal, but Bryn wasn't, and the blow likely snapped at least a couple of bones. Bryn just lies in the street for about 30 seconds-- probably not quite long enough for those sitting on the bleachers to reach her before she gets up again, shakes her head to clear it, and, with a sheepish expression, goes to retrieve the ball from where it landed in a pile of trash and broken bottles. "I guess I shouldn't have expected it to be as easy as just walking there." As she reaches the ball, she hollers up to the stands, seemingly unfazed by the event, as only someone with super-healing could be, "Hey, Charlie, since you know the rules, does that stop play like your American football does, or do we just keep going like in real football?"

[Mekboy]

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. It's just, well..."

At that moment the fish-girl was knocked aside by the metal mass of the car. Willow winced slightly. Did the fish-girl actually feel getting hurt like that if she just got better immediately? That was messed up.

"See, that's the kinda stuff I'm worried about. It's not like I can just get up from that kinda thing..." she gestured at the fish-girl's recumbent body.

[Anyr]

Rebecca had had the same thought. Not every Signal student was a living brick.

"D-does the arena know how much punishment each player can take? 'Cause if Bryn had been a normal human, that car would've seriously messed her up."

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie continued to chat with Spooks, who was pre-occupied explaining the intricacies of costume and the curiosities of interstellar space.

He smiled and nodded as he kept up with the conversation, and nodding in the proper places. He considered the similarities between himself and the meta-ball pitch; the pitch used transforming nano-bot technology, the same that allowed Charlie to access his power. He took a glance to the black-pad wielding enigma beside him, he pondered if the chip inside his brain was just like that remote, a tool to be manipu-

Tire screeching, glass breaking, a smash. It all happened in a moment. A vehicular weapon made of debris and malice, rocketed cruelly towards the unsuspecting Bryn and collided with a sickening crunching sound.

"BRYN!", he stumbled and leapt from the stalls and hit the tarmac of the pitch in a run to aid her, while he ran a tank formed around him still rolling, as the engines roared into life. Rolling over the broken concrete, he rushed towards the injured, brave woman laying on the ground.
His rush and concern were surprisingly not necessary, Bryn walking on her own to feet back off the field, ball in hand. She was totally un-phased by the trauma she just received. In-fact, she was asking about the rules of the game. Charlie was speechless, his jaw literally dropped as he wheeled alongside the strutting girl, wary for his own safety out of his little metal box. He was speechless. She was more of a tank than Charlie has ever been.

He said quietly on the side of the pitch through the in-built megaphone; "*bzzt*-Yeah, we stop. We stop play. You made ten yards though, good job. First down.", but at what cost?

Rebecca's and Willow's concerns are real, nobody signed up for this. He knew meta-ball got a little rough sometimes, but this is a new level.

He sat in his seat, arms folded. He was seriously impressed with Bryn's sportsmanship and leadership, she was an inspiration, if she was going back on pitch, he sure as hell isn't letting her go alone again.

[Rhyvurg]

"You know, this game is entirely more violent than I thought, even the field tries to take you down."

[Anyr]

Rebecca made her way down from the stands at a more sedate pace. There was no need to rush. Thanks to their regular 'lunches' together, she and Bryn knew each other's capabilities pretty well by now. It'd take more than a speeding car to keep that girl down. She came to rest beside Charlie's (incredibly awesome) tank form. To be honest, she was only down here to keep an eye on him. The poor boy seemed really shaken. She placed a comforting hand on the tank.

"It's okay, Charlie. Bryn's fine; I'm fine. But, erm, maaaaybe we should turn the hazard settings down a bit. Not all of us are geared to taking a hit like that..."

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

"Hm?" Bryn looks up, somewhat surprised to see the concern Charlie had. "Oh, sure, yeah, that stung a bit," she said after Rebecca had allayed his fears a little. "But like I said, I heal really fast." As she approached, Rebecca, at least, and probably Willow could smell some blood soaked into her clothing-- the reason she tends to wear dark colors is that blood doesn't show up nearly as well, and on the slightly darkened field, it was invisible, but it was there. "And believe you me. I'd much rather take that sort of punishment myself than have to fix someone else who's had it." She sets the ball down, figuring the field won't do anything if the ball isn't in play, before she closes the rest of the distance. "Still, if it's going to be like that, maybe we should get some body armor or something. I don't find it fun to get hit like that. That thing came out of nowhere, didn't it? Is the game always that rough?"

[Rhyvurg]

"I have a feeling the other team will be much more dangerous."

[hairy-joe]

as you are talking and enjoying the night a mechanical whine gradually fades into hearing. after a few minutes it reaches a crechendo and splutters then dies. there are a few splutters and a lout phut, then a whistling noise followed by a massive crash and one of the near by stands collapsed in a plume of dust.

[Space Lawyer]

Indira comes walking by, Looking at Bryn and the vehicle with a raised eyebrow. "I can turn down the hazard rating if you want, but it won't be so much of a practice then. Besides, looking both ways before you cross a street is pretty well just common sense. Anyways, it is a time-attack setup. If you have any misplays or fouls, I'll know, and I'll let you know what you've done. As for why I'm here, it is part of my job. Well, sort of. I got detention, like, a lot of detention, and this seemed a better way to serve my time than stuck in a room."

[Rhyvurg]

"Holy crap!" Herald runs over to the wrecked stands. "Is anyone in there?"

[hairy-joe]

there are some whirs and a burst of static, then a rumble as some of the rubble shifts and setles

[Anyr]

"I'm guessing that's not part of the game?"

Rebecca sounded a little hesitant. Sure, bombing the audience seemed like something best left out of a professional sport; But if any game was going to put that in the rulebook, it'd be this one.

[Wiz0rd]

Charlies turret turned slowly towards the sounds and the sight of the far-side bleachers being destroyed by something from the sky. Was it a prank? Was it a missle? A student? Charlie wasn't sure.

"You'd guess right Rebecca. Keep the ball here for now, pause the game. We need to go an see if anyone has been injured. Climb on." He instructs.

The hull begins to shudder as it turns, crumbling the uneven concrete underneath, ready to make the quick journey across pitch.

[Anyr]

Rebecca didn't need to be told twice. She leapt atop the tank with all the eagerness of a child in an amusement park. Serious incident be damned; She was going to enjoy this.

"Aye aye sir! By the way, is there room in this thing for two?"

[hairy-joe]

as you reach the edge of the debris there is a burst of static then an artificial voice barks out "Post flight diagnostics complete"

a metalic figure stands in the middle of the crater with debris falling off it. it turns to face the small crowd gathering around it "i appologise for any disruption i have caused. i intended to use the field for my landing point, however there is now a city there, necessetating an ajustment to my course."

[Zerkai]

Spook watched the scene, only a bit of surprise visible on her face in response to what had happened, since most of it was covered. She decided to join the other girl in taking a seat on the Tank's hull at it drive toward the scene. The costumed girl didn't quite know what to make of the metallic figure in the crater though.

"Well... at least it's polite."

[Anyr]

"Erm...Hi?"

Rebecca slid gently off the tank (slightly sad that the ride was over). She took a few hesitant steps towards the destructive (but polite) metal creature. If it was friendly, she wanted to make a good first impression; And if it wasn't, she wanted to be within punching distance.

"I'm Rebecca. Do you have a name?"

[Wiz0rd]

With the girls climbed on board and braced for some rocky transport, they began to scuttle across the streets.
"Well, technically there's room inside for five..." he says as the top hatch automatically opens, "I only really do it for emergencies, as it feels a bit weird - as you'd be moving and talking, like, inside me. Like I've swallowed you or something. Climb in if you want though, I should get used to it, you know, just-in-case." That, and the company would be nice.

They quickly approached the shattered structure, and slowed to a halt to bare witness to the metallic figure and it's series of digital announcements. Charlie remained quiet while the others made their comments. He inspected the bipedal machine as the dust settled, he is sure he's seen them before, down in tech duing their hero classes. They never seemed to spend much time together, AI's generally aren't the most talkative of beings at the best of times.

"Hey, I think- wait. Command prompt: name request. New line: Command, current status?" I think that's how it works, I should have paid more attention in class.

Just as he paused to recieve the response from the robot being, there was another shifting of concrete, dust and planks. Another shadowy figure emerged, this one coughing and spluttering.

"Oh my Charlie-boy." The grating british spoke out. "One is indeed in a spot of trouble, aren't we?" The large looming human figure spoke out, finger pointing accusingly.

Albatross... Why now?

[hairy-joe]

The figure looks at Rebecca and extends one of its hands "I am Isaac. are you well? you are giving off no thermal readings."

He takes a step forwards and freezes mid step and transmits the requested data to the big tank, there's about 5 pages of technical readout.

"Oh my Charlie-boy." his head rotates almost completely around to look at the looming newcomer."i appologise for any disruption i have caused. Did my landing damage you?"

[Anyr]

Rebecca extended her own hand and grasped the offered one. So far so good.

"Yes thanks, I'm okay; Dead, but okay."

And then came an all-too familiar new voice. Oh great. As much as she wanted to rush over and give Charlie some support, she refrained for now. Maybe he wanted to handle this alone. She'd stay out of this until he said otherwise.

[Wiz0rd]

"Damage to me? Hah. Don't be ridiculous. The only damage you've done here is to your future here at Signal High, nuts-and-bolts. Honestly, I'm suprised they even let robots pretend to be heroes. If it were up to me, I'd raise some standards around here." He says as he waltzes around Issac. He pauses, and returns the finger of blame to the idle tank on the pitch.

"And you, Charlie. What is this? Your sorry excuse for a meta-ball team? Laughable, you'll be the very first Signal Meat-ball team more like." He picks up an empty beer bottle on the ground with one finger, "And drinking on campus? Tisk tisk. What would your father say?"

"What are you doing here, Albatross? What do you want?" Charlie spoke through the mega-phone bluntly.

"Research, chap. Research. Almost everyone on campus knows about your little party here, Charlie. Nobody's here because, frankly dear boy, you're a washed-up sap. I don't know why you even try. I'd keep your turret down around school, Charlie; Coach Piledis is looking for you." He grinned maliciously.

"Oh, and who's this?" He looked to the two girls around the vehicle, "Two different girls this time Charlie? Outrageous. Where's your fairy? Wouldn't she be jelous? He teases.

"Why are you being such an *******? Get out of here."

[Mekboy]

Fear apparently gone, Willow scurried across the metaball pitch towards the collapsed stand. Yeah, she didn't want to get crushed or anything, but on the other hand she didn't want to miss out on something fun. Besides, all the others were there. And she kinda wanted a ride on the tank.

Getting closer, it appeared the collapse was the result of some sort of guy in some weird tech-ey kinda armour. Glowing lights and metal bits and stuff. Very weird. She kinda wanted a better look.

Oh goodie. It was that asshat again. Willow clenched her fists. The more she saw of him, the less she liked. He had a really punchable face too. Smug bastard.

"Oh hey jackass, fancy seeing you here."

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Bryn knew of Albatross, but their paths rarely crossed. She didn't like him much either, and there were very few people Bryn didn't get along with. If it weren't for her tendency to be accepting of just about everyone, she'd have ended up in the popular girls clique. As it was, though, she wasn't, but she knew the routine. "Lay off, Alan. You're coming off a total wanker, you know. You may think you're the pinnacle of boyhood, but you're just a sorry excuse for a representative of Her Majesty's kingdom. Go crawl back under the rubble pile where you belong." It irked her more than a little that his 3 years at the school had soured people on the UK; she'd had to work hard to be considered welcome in some circles simply because of how obnoxious Albatross was.

[Anyr]

Rebecca found it increasingly hard to keep her mouth shut around this meathead. What was his problem with Charlie? And robots? And girls? Was there anyone he actually liked, besides himself?

[hairy-joe]

as the beefsteak circles Isaac his head tracks around, following albatross

. . . If it were up to me, I'd raise some standards around here."

"Resti . . ."

"And you, Charlie. What is this? . . .

[Wiz0rd]

"Ha, words are cheap, Bryn. Say what you like about me, it's a free country afterall. Oh, but what's that? What do you mean the dragon doesn't even feature on the Union Jack? I thought the only thing that came out of Wales were sheep? Oh that's right, you are a sheep, aren't you? Just following the rest of these losers. Why don't you hang out with real heroes anymore, Bryn? You're better than this." He shrugs towards Charlie.
He raised his hand, interrupting any response.

"As I've said before, I'm a gentleman, I can see where I am not welcome, nor needed. I was just leaving, in-fact. My research is concluded, in any case and I've got better things to do."

As he began walking proudly away, out of the collapsed stand; "Unless any of you have anything else to add, I'd suggest you'd finish your "practice" post-haste. I think you've all attracted quite a lot of attention to yourselves."

[Anyr]

Rebecca resisted the urge to lob an insult at Albatross' retreating back. That was probably just what he wanted. Better to act completely unruffled; While nursing a mental image of him getting punched repeatedly in the face. Rebecca softly rested a hand on the tank beside her. Hard as it was to admit, Albatross had been right about one thing:

"...Maybe we should call it a night."

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Friday Evening:

The week had gone by without any further disruption to schedule. Despite the apparent damage at the field, and Albatross's dire predictions, the whole incident apparently went by without comment from the faculty, although Charlie did get an evening of detention from Acrobellano for distributing alcohol on campus-- a remarkably minor punishment, considering his usual approach to such things.

In the meantime, Charlie had managed to get a team put together for his first practice-- which is tonight. In addition to the few (Rebecca, Bryn, Willow, Spook, and Herald) that Charlie had show up Tuesday night, he'd picked up enough extras to make a team-- largely because there were a couple of other hopefuls, like Charlie, who hadn't been able to scrape together a full team of 9 offense and 9 defense players. At Piledis's suggestion, they signed up under Charlie's team. Indira was drafted to be the designated psychic coach/practice ref for the team.

Besides the 6 listed above, the team consists of the following:

Isaac, the robot that appeared that evening.
Garrett, a thin, nerdy-looking kid who can increase his mass and density to immovable and impenetrable.
Wren, a shapeshifter
Alfred, who can summon 'sprites' -- extraplanar creatures-- for short periods.
Diana, with super-strength
Jeff, who has feathered wings and can fly
Michelle, an 'elasti-girl'
Richard, a short-range teleporter
Ellen, a werewolf
Thomas, who has the ability to alter the effects of gravity in small areas
Vera, a bona-fide witch and magic user.
and Simon, whose body can take on the properties of whatever substance he touches (e.g. water, concrete, metal, fire, etc.)


Albatross's rumor mill has gotten the team a rep as a bunch of losers, although the group seems pretty happy with the team as a whole, and there have been no defections, even though several of the team members had been given offers to be on other teams-- including Albatross's.

[hairy-joe]

Isaac arives at precisely the time he was told and starts tinkering with the interior of his right hand, every so often he stops tinkering, extends his right hand and there's a string of sharp clicking noises and blue flashes.

[Rhyvurg]

Herald walks onto the field for practice. "Okay, nobody panic. I have arrived."

[Anyr]

An excitable figure was waiting to welcome each new arrival. Rebecca Hayes bounced from person to person, radiating a dangerous amount of energy. She was clearly happy, eager, and very well fed. Even Herald received a smile and a kind word from her.

"Hey, thanks for coming! Ready to get started?"

[Zerkai]

Spooks had appeared on the bleachers. She didn't have much trouble with the team's reputation, as she always disappeared between classes anyway, though she did offer to put some hurt on Albatross, she was big at hurting big bruisers... unless they were magical. The latex-clad young heroine was currently in uniform as always and eating what appeared to be a salt bagel, a bagel with the top covered in the kind of salt that goes on pretzels, only way too much salt.

[Rhyvurg]

An excitable figure was waiting to welcome each new arrival. Rebecca Hayes bounced from person to person, radiating a dangerous amount of energy. She was clearly happy, eager, and very well fed. Even Herald received a smile and a kind word from her.

"Hey, thanks for coming! Ready to get started?"

Herald is stunned silent. Momentarily. "Heck yeah, let's do this!"

[Space Lawyer]

Indira comes walking out on to the field, her ref's uniform altered to a significantly more fashionable and showy look. She had almost screamed when the hideous nylon shorts and horizontal black-and-yellow shirt had arrived. She had taken "inspiration" from these, and simply made her own, consisting of tight black leather and subtle yellow highlights. It was very villain-esque, but at least she looked good, and as the ref pretty much everyone would be thinking of her as a villain anyways.

"Ok, everyone. I'm Indira Bhattacharya, and I'll be both your coach and ref for practice. Now, apparently, some of you are immune to telepathic communication, so that'll make this a bit more difficult, but we'll manage. Now, since we have enough players, we'll play under game conditions, just to see how well you can already play. I'll let you sort yourself into offense and defense; I want to see what you think of your abilities, though I might overrule you and change you up after this. I've set the field hazard to a minimal setting, but don't think that means you can just take it easy. Now, you have three choices for field: grassy field, parking lot, and new-growth coniferous forest. Basically, the easy, mostly-open fields. What do you want?"

[hairy-joe]

Isaac stops his tinkering and closes up his hand

"I have no prefference for pitch or team, i shall leave it to whomever has the strongest oppinion on the matter."

[Mekboy]

Willow's day had not been great. She was pretty sure people were saying things about her behind her back. Stupid Albatross. Who did he think he was? Spreadin' lies about what a loser she was... Next time she saw him her fists might have a few things to say to his dumb face.

The Teethy-girl seemed to be in an infectiously good mood though, and Willow found herself cheering up a little. And there was that weird suit-of-armour guy. Willow sidled up to him. "You ever take that thing off? Must get kinda ripe in there."

[hairy-joe]

Isaac turns to regard the fae and almost seems to **** his head

"take what off? i am not a fruit, therefore i do not ripen."

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Bryn shrugs. "I don't really care where I am, but I should probably be in a position that takes a lot of punishment." She's also in a good mood, although not quite as much so as Rebecca. "Like a runner or something." It's clear she doesn't really know much about the positions.

[Mekboy]

"Er, your whole armour getup..." Willow said, gesturing to the metal suit. "You ain't the brightest, are you?"

[hairy-joe]

"if my external illumination is insufficient for you i can ajust it's intensity, however i am wearing no armour, this is my body. i inhabit an android shell."

when he finished he raises his hands to his face plate, unbolts and removes it, revealing carefully organised cabling and cuircit-boards.

[Mekboy]

Willow took a hurried step back. "Ach! You're some kinda computer-man?"

Regular computers were creepy enough for Willow. Nasty little super-smart thinking boxes. And here was one with arms and legs and stuff, walking around. How did that even happen? Though, the thought occurred to her, this one at least didn't seem particularly smart. Still damn weird. She'd have to keep an eye on it.

[hairy-joe]

Isaac nods

"I am an artificial intelligence, designed to assist in the research of my creators."

he quickly replaces and fastens his faceplate.

"You are returning data that falls outside the standard deviation for humans. you are not human. what are you?"

[Mekboy]

Willow narrowed her eyes. "Returning data? What's that meant to mean? You doing some sort of weird of computer-sense at me? If you must know I'm a fairy. Did the ears not tip you off?"

She flicked at the tip of her pointed ear to emphasize the point.

[hairy-joe]

"Full electromagnetic spectrum wavelength analysis. The ears did not give you away, there are several cosmetic procedures that will point the tip's of a humans ears. you are exhibiting signs of distress, am i causing you discomfort?

Isaac wrings his hands together in an uncany valley replica of a nervous habit.

[Mekboy]

Willow shrugged and gave a friendly smile. "What? No. Nothing's wrong. Just a finding it a bit weird."

Of course I'm finding it weird! You're a computer standing there talking to me! You're wringing your hands! It's weird! This is weird!

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie thought to himself as he rolled along the wide path that leads to the meta-ball pitch to meet up for the new weekly practice that the team seemed to arrange around their other commitments and schedules. It all seemed to magically fall into place, like fate or some unseen and powerful chessmasters were at play.

He walked away from the pitch last week white with worry. There's no way that he wasn't in a whole heap of trouble because of the damages and organising the shenagains that went on last week. Albatross was right, it was an absolute scandal. Charlie skulked around school keeping his head down, but all he recieved was a metaphorical slap on the wrists. It was difficult to understand, but Charlie didn't mind, he just hoped the news hadn't reached beyond the school.

As the next few days and the next few lessons, Charlie was approached by a handful of other students about Meta-ball and the team. If the team was a secret, it wasn't now.
The other students that joined the practice today were people who had sought him and other players of the team out to volunteer. One player seemed enthused about the havoc and destruction caused at the pitch and that it seemed fun. Another knew a person, who knew a person, who had a major crush on one of the players. Another was a player from Albatross'es former team and said they'd make no further comment at this time. Regardless for their motives of wanting to play, Charlie was very glad they decided to join - from what he could gather from the pool party and from their time on the pitch, this was the right team. The kind of caring, social team that you knew that you'd want to hang out with, to achieve great things with, to support one another in the difficult times.

... Romancing over, he rolled onto the pitch and flared his headlights at the small group that had amassed on the field. He heard everything that Indira and the team were saying, thanks to the various radios and ear-pieces the team had.

"Evening ladies and gentlemen!" He said with a chipper inflexion. He looked upon the bouncy, active team. "Thanks coach, let's hit the grass for now and work our way up from there. Feel free to change it if you think it'll be good for us." He paused for a moment, before speaking to Indira on a private frequency, "Your telepathic communication, are you going to use that for coaching us? What did you have planned? Can we use it to warm up, to get in the zone?"

In a moment, the tank dissolved and floated away in so many polygons. Charlie emerged wearing a pair of brightly colored shorts (in signal colors), a pristine white-t shirt and more sweatbands that what could be considered reasonable. He walked to the seats and put down a piece of paper for everyone to read. It was a piece of slightly crumpled lined paper with OFFENSE and DEFENSE written hastily on it with a number of names written down, possibly with correct spelling.

"This is the positions list. This is where you've siad to someone where you'd like to play, but don't worry it's not fixed - I've got a pencil! It is a good place to start though, don't you think? Give it a quick scan and let's hit the field."

He stepped away and within a blink, the engines and tracks hummed once again. He turned his turret and hull to face everyone. If you're a tank, does it count as polite to face the people you're speaking to?

"Don't forget, please warm up - it avoids injury. Also, it gives you the chance to have a bit of a jibber-jabber, so get it all out now, we'll need to focus out there." He said with a smile as he anticipated the amusing conversation of the little-robot-that-could and Willow, the irritated sprite.

"Oh, on second thought, don't warm up Issac. I don't want you to activate melt-down or anything like that."

[Rhyvurg]

Herald looks at his shirt. "Huh. And all this time people have been telling me I'm offensive. Go figure." He changes shirts.

[Anyr]

Being put on the offensive line came as no surprise to Rebecca. Art student or not, she was basically a bruiser. She specialised in hitting things very hard, and then staying up if said things hit back. Well, now was a chance for that rather brutal side of herself to actually be useful. She bounced over to her assigned position with glee. Everyone she met along the way received at least a passing nod of greeting.

"Hey Michelle...Ellen, good to see you...Bryn! You made it! Where'd they stick you?"

[hairy-joe]

Isaac approaches Charlie"I have compiled as much data from the paper as i can, given that you do not require me to warm up would you like to hear the results of my scan?"

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Bryn gave Wren a hug-- they were roommates, after all-- before trotting out onto the field and standing on the offensive side, near Rebecca. "Charlie made me a running back. Not that I really know what that entails."

Ellen gives Rebecca a toothy grin, as only a werewolf can. Given that they were both stereotypical "monsters", Ellen had always enjoyed hanging out with the vampire, even if movies usually had them being natural enemies. "You too, Beccers. Ready to lay some hurt down on the defense?"

[Anyr]

Rebecca returned the Werewolf's grin with just as much enthusiasm (though less teeth). Of all her friends, Ellen was the one closest to her own wavelength. The two of them just 'got' each other.

"You know it! Be sure to save a few for me."

Bryn was different. She and Rebecca didn't have much in common, and didn't think much alike. They'd only met because of the whole 'blood buddies' thing. But these nights, Rebecca found herself spending more and more time with the Welsh girl. Maybe a genuine bond was forming between them; Or maybe drinking from someone over and over had some side effects. Now there was a scary thought...

[Space Lawyer]

"Thanks coach, let's hit the grass for now and work our way up from there. Feel free to change it if you think it'll be good for us."

Indira nods, and leaves the field set for grass. She does remember to turn down the threat rating though; whoever had been using it before had it set at maximum. On the grass field, that could cause things like sudden storms (complete with unerringly accurate lightning strikes), earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. The worst this team would face would be sun in their eyes.

"Your telepathic communication, are you going to use that for coaching us? What did you have planned? Can we use it to warm up, to get in the zone?"

"To some degree. I'll need to observe you before it can be really useful. I've watched a lot of metaball matches the past few days, and taken a peak at the memories of a few good players I could get near. I can put those memories into your heads, and you'll be able to call on them, but they won't do any good unless your physical abilities, powers, and playstyle match up with the memories. For instance, if I put the memories of Yvette Quinn, that senior with super-senses and hyper-adapted physiology into your head, you wouldn't know what to do with them. Unless you can just simply ignore things like having your legs broken and keep running like her, trying to play like her would just get you hurt."

Sh purposefully ignored the question about using her telepathy to "get in the zone". She had actually been broadcasting feelings of action, achievement, and competitiveness since she arrived. Nothing major, just a subtle nudge. It would give the players a bit of an edge in their training. It was better that they didn't know that though. Allowing them to incorporate that feeling into their own engrams, and really make it their own, would ensure that they would be able to call on that feeling in a real match.

[hairy-joe]

after one final high speed runthrough of the several hundred hours of metaball footage that he has downloaded Isaac heads over to the statisticaly most useful start point for his number.

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie nods to Indira's wisdom, she'll no doubt be an absolute asset to the team. Charlie silently hoped that her attendance here isn't just out of a sense of duty or obligation because of her misdemenors or detention. Hopefully there'll be people around here who she likes and has fun with, he hopes that this will all be fun and not a matter of business.

He rolls onto the field near the center of the pitch, wheeling close to Bryn - "Yeah, running back. I think you'll make a fantastic half-back, you're the rushing superstar. With your slim frame, your athletic background, and your ability to heal after some punishment: you're the perfect choice, but of-course it's your call."
He turns to the turret towards the group approaching the field.
"Hey everyone, let's line up. We've got some plays to make."
Speaking quieter now: "Let's start with a half-back dive. After the snap from our center, Alfred, try and dive through the space made by Rebecca. You don't need to go far, unless you can."

He scans the group, identifying the nice students who were very quickly going to be all up in their grill. Meta-ball is a great invention, it's a way for the students to use their powers to wrestle and tustle, without the threat of defeat or mortal combat. Let's see how this goes.

"Ready."

[Mekboy]

Willow raised a hand.

"Could you explain that again for those of us without a background in chasing a ball around a muddy field? Also, what's a safety do?"

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Vera pulls Willow aside and walks with her down the field a ways to their positions while explaining the rules. "The offense will try to run or throw the ball down the field-- there's usually a bunch of play variations that the offensive team will use depending on where they are on the field, and what the powers of the defense are like. We want to keep them from getting the ball anywhere. If, after 4 attempts in a row they fail to get the ball at least 10 yards, then the other team gets to play offense. We're not allowed to kill anyone, but we can use our powers any way we see fit. The safeties-- that's us-- are the last line of defense. Usually it's a spot reserved for people whose powers take a little time to activate. It takes me a few seconds to cast any sort of spell, for instance, and being the back line of defense gives me time to get something useful cast. That help?"

Bryn meanwhile, lines up where she's told, waiting for the snap of the ball.



Anyone else want to do any interaction before I start up a play or two? I don't plan to go into a lot of detail after the first couple, but I want to give folks a chance to be creative in the use of their powers if they want to.

[Wiz0rd]

"Vera, with explanations like that, you're starting to sound like a good candidate for captain! She's exactly right. Saftey stop people who get free on the run, you are like the goal-keeper. You are the last line of defense, if they get past the line, then the players are yours to take down. You want to look out for the offense wide reciever who will be looking for a pass, OR the running carries who get past the wall of defense. So when we play, wait, look about you, and then take them down. Saftey is a cool job."

Hmm, a witch with a sports and meta-ball brain? One to look out for, for sure.

Charlie enjoyed setting up for Bryn on the first play, she already proved herself last week with that horrifying car incident, and it took some of the pressure off his shoulders as he calibrated his shells for passes between plays.
He quietly began to steam Nirvana's album through his tank speakers; to help get everyone in the mood. Grunge rock, seems fitting.

"Alfred, snap when you're ready. Hopefully the start of play might get people lining up!" He says clearly over the top of the music. "What are your sprites anyway?" He says quietly to the dude.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jo3Brb-fCig

[Mekboy]

"'Kay then, stop ball getting past, preferably without murder. Gotcha."

[Anyr]

"Let's do this!"

Rebecca entered the fray with a scary amount of vigour. Woe betide those who got in her way. Though admittedly, it was pretty easy to get out of her way. Despite her insane strength and stamina, Rebecca wasn't much faster than an ordinary human. And since she had no training, her movements were pretty clumsy. Right now, she was all force and no finesse.

[hairy-joe]

Isaac tweaks a few screws in his knees, and has a look at the other team to try and figure out the different weights of their most promising runners. after a few seconds he walks over to Wren and Richard to discuss the feasability of throwing them during the plays.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Alfred waited until Isaac walked away from the line to approach Wren and Richard to snap the ball. Instead of snapping it directly to Charlie, he instead lobs it upwards, above the tank's cannon. A impish-looking creature with leathery wings materializes in front of the path of the ball, snatching it out of mid-air and stuffs it into the cannon's barrel.

Meanwhile another winged critter appears just behind Rebecca's head and starts pulling faces, distracting Garrett, who had lined up opposite Rebecca, from using his powers before the vampire can act, giving her the jump on him.

Vera starts to cast some sort of spell, although it will take her some time to get it finished. Bryn starts to run down the field, around behind Rebecca, while Jeff takes flight directly above the line. Jeff runs afoul of Thomas's ability however, as he suddenly finds 'down' to be towards the offensive goal, and he stalls out over the linebackers, attempting to keep to the air with the sudden change of direction.

OOC: Feel free to use any of the NPCs not already mentioned in any action you wish to take, while posting your own reactions to the play. =)

[Rhyvurg]

Taking a cue from the use of Charlie-Tank, Herald runs downfield, keeping an eye out for the cannon to fire.

[Mekboy]

Still somewhat mystified as to the exact aim of the game and her purpose within it, Willow shrugged. Best just go with the flow. The magic-girl seemed just to be trying to be a pain in the ass to the others. That worked. Willow was good at that.

Willow cracked her neck and made a couple of complex hand gestures, and two copies of her seemed to step out of herself. They weren't real of course, but hopefully by the time people realized they weren't they'd have done their job.

[hairy-joe]

As charlie's first shot rings out Isaac races back to his position in the line beibg sure to keep careful track of where the ball is flying.

[Space Lawyer]

Indira takes a seat on the tennis-style referee's chair that had materialized for her and releases her consciousness. Her viewpoint shifts to an entirely different angle. It was hard to explain to those without her sort of abilities; she perceived the battlefield from all angles simultaneously, on both a physical, mental, and astral level, unlimited by the tether of her meat.

She felt herself stepping out a bit too much, and pulled herself back in. Farseer always got so pissed when she displayed a hint of her real power in public. He was always going on about "mind-shattering force" and "potential for catastrophic destruction". He had even made her erect psychic blocks around any hint of telekinetic powers years ago, saying "You've seen what you can do just by thinking too hard. Now picture what that could do if translated into physical force." Of course, the imagining of that had, well, the exact sort of effect that Farseer was hoping to avoid, thus necessitating another psychic block.

Back to the game at hand, she watched the action developing. Seemed like this team was already coming together nicely.

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie was impressed with the talented snap of Alfred, who by all purpouses was considered an unusual choice for center, a positon usually reserved for the biggest and strongest brawlers. But his normal lithe frame and his ability to summon sprites: these imp like creatures, proved invaluable - giving him the ability to be effective in multiple places at once. Charlie dwelled only momentarily on his ability to summon before -

-THWACK- The ball was loaded and secure in the muzzle as planned, that striking sound however was not the typical metal clunking one would expect, that was the sound of Richard bouncing off the metal after fumbling with the sprite who was blocking for Charloe while he lined up the pass.

Charlie hardly had to look and think - a quick glace saw Bryn sprinting downfield just behind Rebecca who was already engaged in some rough looking blocking. In a moment the short-pass shell was loaded and the heavy mechanisms of the cannon rocked to the sound of a dull thud. The pass was made, and was being delivered to Bryn, just as planned. Or so Charlie had hoped. He watched to see the reaction of the defensive team.

It seemed as if all the linesman were preoccupied with their roles, both offensive and defensive brawlers negating one another from play - with Rebecca gaining an advantage of suprise on her mark, thanks to the work of Alfred.
Issac looked if he had a free moment to scan and predict the trajectory of the ball to Bryn before he was set upon ferociously by Ellen, the team Werewolf - with flashing claws and ravaging movements, hopefully buying time for Bryn to get further downfield.
It appeared that Herald predicted the quick shotgun pass to the Halfback and ran slightly downfield in preparation for this, only having to readjust slightly to begin the chase.

It also seemed that the only poor choice for a pass was our vertical flyer, Jeff, who had been hard countered by the Gravity manipulator and sent spiralling away.

The ball was Bryn's now. Good luck Red Welshman!

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Bryn catches the ball, and Vera finishes her spell. As the witch's incantation ends, Bryn suddenly takes a sharp right turn, then another, running back up the field a few yards before turning left and heading towards the sidelines-- as if she's running a maze. This gives the defense time to try to close with her-- and the offensive line opportunity to try to block the defense from reaching Bryn, who, apparently, is unaware she's changing directions randomly.

[Rhyvurg]

Herald keeps pace with Bryn, always watching her but always dodging or leaping over other players or obstacles. "You can't fake me out Bryn, I can see faster than you!" And just as she makes a turn, he uses all his mental oomph to pin her pivot foot to the ground.

[Anyr]

Rebecca did a double take when she saw Bryn's rather unconventional route. Unfortunately, she couldn't exactly devote much attention to it. Grappling an irate gravity manipulator took a look of concentration.

"Hey, Bryn! What are you doi-UMF! Get your elbow out of my...Augh...EYE!"

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie couldn't help but giggle to Rebecca's call to Bryn, though painful looking, her exclamation carried a certain sense of comedy to it. Rebecca did her role well, Bryn is clear - but running ... oddly. Hm, that wasn't the play, exactly, but give creative freedom where it is due - she's still up and that counts for a lot. Charlie in this moment, hadn't a lot to do, he'd finished his pass and he was to big to chase through the line, so he waited and watched with bated breathe. He'd talk to Indira after the play about his options.

"Bryn! Snap out of it!" Charlie bellowed loudly through the megaphone of his ride, trying to encourage disbelief in Bryn who appeared lost.

Bryn was quickly being approached by the defense, the key players being Herald, Willow and Vera.
Herald looked as if he was taking a direct approach, using his physique and powers to chase and pin the courageous ball-carrier, while Willow and Vera looked as if they were revving up some new spells or moves further down-field. If our offensive brawler's don't support her soon somehow, this play looks like it's over.

Suddenly, as if responding to Charlie's concerns, two summoned imps appear either side to pester any non-serious tackle that comes Bryn's way.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Bryn goes down as Herald telekinetically pins her foot to the ground, but not before Michelle from 3 yards away manages to stretch out and snatch the ball from the healer's hands, and starts down the field with abnormally long strides, heading towards the three Willows. Shaking her head to clear it, Bryn gets up again, a puzzled expression on her face as the effects of Vera's spell wear off, and she finds herself not where she thought she was.

It takes Thomas and Garrett both try to keep Rebecca, but Rebecca's able to distract the gravity manipulator enough that Jeff is able to wing back up and get back into the action of the play.

[hairy-joe]

as Isaac projects the the path the ball should follow keeps an 'eye' on his surroundings, as Ellen approaches he switches the majority of his processing power to focus on her, stepping in to meet the charging lycanthrope with an equally enthusiastic grapple, the cracking noise of the arcing taser in his right knuckles and a savage headbut.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Michelle laterals the ball over to Jeff, who flies over the heads of the three Willows and Vera, and scores the goal. "Well played!" he calls back to his teammates.

[Anyr]

Rebecca didn't notice the victory immediately. She was too busy grappling with an increasingly smug Thomas. Why couldn't she get past this guy? He didn't even seem to be using his powers much. By all rights, she should be curb stomping him with her Vampiric mojo. Eventually Rebecca just had to ask:

"Okay, how? I'm way stronger than you! I know I am! So how do you keep stopping me?"

Thomas smirked condescendingly. Humility definitely wasn't one of his virtues.

"Brute force will only get you so far. Your lack of training is painfully obvious."

Well, he did have a point.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Bryn comes up to where Thomas and Rebecca are talking. "Well, that's why we're here, isn't it? To get trained? Got any tips you care to share?"

[Anyr]

Thomas' smirk widened. Ah, a chance to display his obvious superiority.

"Why certainly. Come here, my dear, and I'll give you a quick overview of the basics."

Rebecca reluctantly obeyed. The 'teacher' started guiding her through a few useful movements and stances, while explaining the principles behind them. Surprisingly, the lesson turned out to be really well structured and informative. Annoying as this guy was, he knew his stuff.

[Rhyvurg]

Herald jogs over to the group. "That was fun, are we going again?"

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie watched the ball glide smoothly over the goal posts into the evening sky. Jeff, looked suprisingly graceful and retained as he flew. Charlie mentally dispelled the iron around him and stood on the turf smiling. The first play of the night couldn't have gone better, and no injuries as far as he could tell. While he struggled to monitor each of the players and the simulteneous use of powers, the linesmen grappled and stood their ground and we managed to overcome a series of malicious arcane spells. No doubt Coach will have a few things to say.

He walked over to the bruised, puffing and panting group.
"Well played everyone. I'm seriously impressed with everyone's powers out there on the field. Seriously impressed." He patted the back of a couple of the doubled-over stars.
Just a little more time, and he'd be sure they'd be ready for any other team out there. He had only two concerns - firstly, keeping the team together: Ellen was sporting a minor bloody nose and pacing saying various quiet expletives about robots, and the conversation between Tom and Rebecca could only be described as icy. They weren't a team just yet. He thumbed his chin in thought, fishing for inspiration for this clash in personality.

He looked to Coach and the team and nodded at Herald. "Rest up, we've got enough time for a couple more practice plays; what do you guys want to do?"

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

The team continues to practice for another 90 minutes. By the end of it, there're still a few elements of rivalry or dislike between some of the players-- it's going to take more than a single session to get this group to be a real team. But there's time yet, before the first game of the season. One thing Charlie notices at the end is that Bryn is neither winded nor worn out-- apparently her regeneration ability keeps her feeling as fresh and ready to go as she was before the first play started.

----

Saturday morning: While there are a few local kids who go home every night, or even just on the weekends, given the unique nature of the students of the school, there are many who are semi-permanent residents, going home only for major holidays and the summer. So the school is just as busy Saturday morning in the cafeteria as it is any other morning. The cafeteria provides an all-you-can-eat buffet; expensive, but necessary, given the number of supers who have high-powered metabolisms and can eat 10 pizzas without feeling overfull.

Bryn isn't quite in the 10 pizza category, but she definitely has a fuller than average tray as she sits down at a table, and pulls out her smartphone, finding a youtube channel to watch while she tucks into her breakfast.

[Rhyvurg]

Herald walks into the cafeteria, looking annoyingly chipper for a teenager on a Saturday morning. He grabs a plate and piles it with pizza, breakfast burritos, and strips of bacon. He sits next to Bryn without stopping to ask. "So, got any pans for the weekend?"

[Wiz0rd]

Saturday morning. November. Still months away from any serious exam, still weeks away from any holidays. The homework was unexpectedly light this week, so the weekend screamed "free time".

Charlie work up in his quiet dorm before Sturm as usual. His late nights were a bi-product of listening and acting upon creative mechanical genius, something that Charlie appreciates but doesn't share. He tip toed and collected his running gear and loped down to the running track to start the typical morning jog. Heading outside the dorm building, one of the things you notice is the deathly quiet, the slightly whistling wind. It was cold, but sunny. The kind of weather that threatened to give you a chill if you didn't keep moving.

He threw down his bag and overcoat. After a quick stretch, he jogged. Presuming his run would be typical and quiet, he saw few other students milling about - many of the other students had left for the weekend. Charlie didn't mind staying - Signal was a cool place to be at any time.

He waved at Bryn through the cafeteria window as he passed. He made a mental note to catch up with her later, see if she slept well today, and to see what fun they can bring to the day.

Edit: and Herald, of-course!

[Space Lawyer]

Indira makes her way over to the assembled group, with a bowl of yogurt and muesli in-hand for appearance's sake. She is fully dressed-up for a Saturday, which of course meant going out in the highest fashion to be seen perusing the highest fashion. The heels add a good six inches to her height, but she walks briskly as if she isn't propped up far above her normal height. Usually, she would have just skipped this part altogether, but the metaball team seemed like a nice enough group of people. Plus, it was either that or Farseer would have her trying to make friends with that psychic in Tokyo again. Making a link to her mind was like shoveling raw sugar and sunshine into one's brain; not a fun experience.

"Good morning . . . Bryn and Herald."

[Rhyvurg]

Herald leans away back in his seat, a piece of bacon halfway sticking out of his mouth. He finishes the bite and asks, "How do you walk in those shoes?"

[Anyr]

Rebecca rarely ventured beyond the UV-shielded campus of Signal. Every trip to the outside world was a new opportunity to be killed by that flaming death ball in the sky. But in this haven for supers, she could thumb her nose at her celestial arch-nemesis. At this very moment, in fact, she walked undaunted beneath the morning sun: Safe from its effects.

"Augh! Itchy itchy itchy itchy!"

...Well, mostly. Rebecca darted beneath the shade of a nearby tree, scratching furiously. Such was the price of joining the sporting world. Not all the matches her team played were going to be conveniently held at night, or indoors. Unless she worked on boosting her solar endurance, she'd be a joke on the field.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Bryn waved back at Charlie as he ran by. She rather liked the tank-manifester. At the very least, he's a good team captain. Turning back to Herald she responds to his question to Indira first, "With practice. That's how. As for plans, probably some homework and some practice. Being on the swim team *and* the metaball team is going to eat up a lot of free time. You?"

[Rhyvurg]

"Well, once I find out who's throwing a good party tonight that'll settle my evening plans, but before that I need to swing by a gun store and pick up a few things. Ammo, fresh cleaning kits, the usual."

[hairy-joe]

Isaac unplugs himself from the specially adapted wall socket in the school's Auto shop. he threads his way through the collection of sleek sports cars and beefy trucks that make up the school's motorpool, several of which are still showing signs of wear and tear from defensive driving training, or are half dismantled. when he arrives at the workbench set asside for him he settles down to install some new leg servos that should be more efficient than his current set. when they're installed he sets off to put them through their paces.

during the run he spots charlie and puts on a small burst of speed to catch up

"hello Charlie. how is your run?"

Isaac has been looking forwards to catching up with the group, ever since he arrived at the school about a month ago he has been treated as much like a curiosity as a student by most of the more mechanicaly minded teachers, and the metaball team is the first group that has looked to include him as a peer.

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie saw Bryn wave through the window just as Herald and Coach took their places at the table, he'd send them a text later to catch up. Charlie thought about the little squad quite a lot, between class, training and homework there seemed seldomn little time to sit back and really get to know one another. Perhaps it's Signals policy.

--edit: to include Issac's post.
While running, there was a quickly growing sound of servos and motors and running steel. Charlie turned and had a breath of relief: Issac.
"Hey Issac, good to see you. How are you today? I presume you're testing something or scanning me as you're not doing this for fitness, right?" Not that Charlie minded, he began to quite like Issac during his time with him. He carried a strange sense of humor that hovered between literal and sarcastic, but not in a malicious way. Besides, he'd been inviting people to join him for the morning jog for a while now, but early starts and teens usually don't mix very well.
"Hey Issac, after the run, are you heading tp the tech labs? I need to run diagnostics for today. Power-suit mandatory."

He'd carry on running around the spacious, pristine campus when he caught a glimpse of Rebecca in the not-too-distance background. He ran on over. She looked irritated. Like a survivor who'd just washed up on shore of a tiny island. Except the sand is shade.

"Morning Rebecca! Hey, what are you doing up so late? I thought you were nocturnal and all that jazz?"

He took a seat on the grass next to Rebecca in the shade, he'd run far enough for this morning. (Just needed to remember to go pick up his gear in a bit.)

[Space Lawyer]

Indira nods in agreement to Bryn's answer. "After a few years wearing shoes like this, I don't even notice anymore. As for parties, I know a few, though I wasn't planning to go to any of them."

[Mekboy]

Willow liked weekends. Schooldays (as she'd discovered to her horror upon first arrival) meant she actually had to get up some time vaguely approaching early, but weekends were a natural return to the status quo of sleeping till gone noon. Today however, Willow found herself awake at what most people would term a normal time. After a good half hour of lying in bed and hoping to get back to sleep and failing, she finally convinced herself to get up. Breakfast was calling, and what human food lacked in sophistication, it made up for in novelty and taste.

Her roommate was long gone, of course. Despite sharing Willow's penchant for late nights, the girl seemed to be able to subsist on a couple of hours of sleep at most. Maybe she should ask her about it some time. Seemed kinda cool.

Having made her way to the cafeteria and filled her tray with a slightly esoteric collection of foods in an attempt to at least try a bit of everything, Willow made her way over to the group she recognized.

"Hey people. Whatcha talking about? I heard parties."

[Anyr]

Rebecca brightened up immediately when Charlie sat down beside her. He was a living reminder of the upsides to this itchy endurance trial. Like it or not, most of her friends were daywalkers. At least now she'd get to spend more time with (among others) the boy who'd inspired her to go this far.

"I'm nocturnal, but Metaball isn't. I need to get used to being up in the day."

She absently scratched her bare leg. Even in the shade, occasional itches still persisted. Why oh why had she been bold enough to come out here in a sundress? A shirt and jeans would have been fine for this first test run.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Bryn slides over to make room for Willow. "Weekend plans. Although parties aren't really my thing. I always seem to end up in a corner somewhere just taking video on my phone."

[Mekboy]

Willow grinned and wrapped an arm around the fish-girl's shoulders in an attempted gesture of solidarity. It worked less well than she'd hoped, considering the height difference, but she soldiered on. "C'mon, it'll be fun! You stick with me, you'll have a great time! People love me at parties."

Of course, Willow's past experience of parties was mainly based on the fact that at home she was usually the most important person in the room.

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie nodded while she scritched at her leg, "You're right. Meta-ball waits for no person. I suppose it's just one of those things, you know? Like heroics, you never know when or where we'll be needed. That's why I train to run.

Anyway, I can't sit here and watch you suffer, and the sun's only going to get brighter as the morning goes on. Did you want a ride?" Charlie blushes and coughs and splutters, "Lift. I meant lift. Did you want to sit in my tank and we could roll back to campus? You've given me an idea. I think I can help. Hear me out."

He offered the sundress-clad girl a hand up as he stood up next to her. The November breeze seemed to whip colorful leaves around them silently.

[Anyr]

Rebecca hesitated a moment before taking Charlie's hand. When she eventually did, the source of that hesitation would be easy to guess: She was as cold as the grave. Plenty of living people were creeped out by her lack of body heat. She tried to gauge Charlie's reaction as he helped her up. Even if he took it badly, though, his next offer would wipe all that away. Rebecca could overlook a lot of things for the sake of a tank ride.

"Do you even need to ask? I've been looking to try that thing ever since you first showed it off."

[Rhyvurg]

"There's an inappropriate joke here, I just know it."

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie smiled as she took his hand, his smile only slided very slightly as he grasped her strong, fine fingers and soft hand. Her skin felt cool and soft to the touch. He'd never really thought about it too much before but it was curious, interesting really.

He didn't dare to hold onto Rebecca's hand longer than what would be akward, though he considered it.
He smiled again after regaining the full passage of his thoughts.

He took a step back, "Hold on a sec," after a brief double-check to see if he weren't about to crush Issac or anything else, the teenage boy was wrapped by a large metallic shell. The tank had arrived.

The hatch over the turret creaked open by it's own accord seemingly.
"Climb in. I'll tell you more of my plan on the way!"

[Anyr]

Here was one thing about which Rebecca definitely didn't hesitate. She was down that hatch before it even had time to finish opening. Finally, a chance to see what this amazing device looked like from the inside! She just hoped this wouldn't be weird for Charlie. How did it feel to (as Charlie had put it) 'swallow' another person?

"Onwards!"

[Mekboy]

Willow rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at Herald.

[Rhyvurg]

He grins back. "If you're jealous, I'll take you on a date if you want."

[Mekboy]

Willow giggled. "You never give up, do you? For the record, still not interested on account of the fact I haven't suffered any serious brain injuries recently."

[hairy-joe]

"Hey Issac, good to see you. How are you today? I presume you're testing something or scanning me as you're not doing this for fitness, right?"

"Yes, I am testing some new motors in my Knee joints, they seem to be more efficiant than my old set."

Isaac doesn't speak much for the rest of the run, answering all of charlie's questions in a friendly maner but with a very, very, literal interpretation of the language.

"Hey Issac, after the run, are you heading tp the tech labs? I need to run diagnostics for today. Power-suit mandatory."


"i will be there for most of today, working on my flight propulsion units, as you may have guessed from my introduction at the meta-ball field they still require some refinement."

as Charlie finishes up his run and heads over to the corpse-that-walks in the shade Charlie continues his ru and begins to accelerate, pushing his new knees to their absolute limits. as his run enters it's third hour he turns for the familiar environs of the tech labs to perform a quick analysis of his performance. then he heads to the library to burry himself in ethics books (while monitering the cameras in the tech lab for Charlie) untill his internal clock tells him it may be time to try to find the rest of the team in the lunch hall for one of their chemical-energy-recharging-periods. Biologicals are a peculiar, yet fascinating group he thought to himself Biologicals-yet-not-humans like the unit designated Willow were even more fascinating

[Rhyvurg]

Willow giggled. "You never give up, do you? For the record, still not interested on account of the fact I haven't suffered any serious brain injuries recently."

"What are you talking about? I'm a real catch, how many of your friends have dated the clones of supervillains?"

[Mekboy]

Technically speaking Willow wasn't too sure what a clone actually was, but lack of knowledge never really stopped her.

"None of 'em have dated any rabid dogs either, but I don't consider them a 'catch' either."

[Rhyvurg]

"I promise I don't bite." He leans forward across the table a little, grinning. "Unless, that's what you're into."

[Mekboy]

Willow reached over and flicked him on the nose.

"It's almost like you want me to hurt you."

[Rhyvurg]

"Okay, but the safe word is 'banana'."

[Mekboy]

"Wait, what?" Willow looked genuinely confused.

[Rhyvurg]

"I'll tell you later. We should find a party for normal people tonight and just screw with 'em."

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie noted the urgency in which Rebecca climbed aboard, she proficently scrambled in before the hatch even had time to open fully.

"Sorry Rebecca, I should of edged closer to the tree so you didn't have to climb up on me in direct sunlight. Are you okay?"

He paused to allow her to reply.

The hatch closed once again and locked shut, the pitch black of the tank was only illuminated by the various screens, buttons and lights from within the tank, giving it a very dull red glow and technological vibe. In a seat just under the turret sat Charlie, who was perfectly still and sitting in his running gear. Over his eyes and on his head sat a device that looked like a plastic bar, no doubt a screen of sorts, but the thing that worried Charlie was the fact that he was literally plugged into the tank.

Several wires hung down from the hull and stopped seemingly placed into places hidden by hair. It would look as if his head was a puppet on a string, except with wire. He blushed, no-one outside of the project or the staff had seen him from the inside of the tank before.

The tank itself was quite spacious and seated three additional passengers, each seat with their own buttons, keyboards and screens. One had a screen with a feed to Charlies' vision camera, one had millions of lines of data being written, endlessly and automatically, one had a heart and body monitor on, and so forth.

"Welcome," Charlies' mouth moved as he spoke, "Houserules, please don't touch anything. I don't want you to accidentally set any system to manual - I may die, or the school will blow up and we don't want that. I can't see you, but I do trust you Rebecca." He said with a smile, "Sorry for the serious tone, I don't want to be, you just need to know. Anyway, should we be off?"

Within a moment, the huge engine in the back of the tank surged into life loudly, and then settled to a rumbling ticking over.
"Grab a headset so we can chat as we roll, or just come up to where I am."

"Where's Issac?" He said as he scanned the running field, with Issac gone.

[Anyr]

"Yes, I'm fine. In other news...Wow."

Thanks to her darkvision, Rebecca was able to see the tank's interior in all its glory. She marvelled at all the fancy devices in this technological wonderland. But of course, the biggest wonder was Charlie himself. Once Rebecca's roving eye happened upon him, it never left. Though she knew it was rude to stare, she just couldn't help it. The sight of all those wires snaking into his visored head was seriously surreal. Things got even more awkward when she noticed that Charlie was blushing. Was this embarrassing for him?


"Welcome," Charlies' mouth moved as he spoke, "Houserules, please don't touch anything. I don't want you to accidentally set any system to manual - I may die, or the school will blow up and we don't want that. I can't see you, but I do trust you Rebecca." He said with a smile, "Sorry for the serious tone, I don't want to be, you just need to know. Anyway, should we be off?"

Okay, that evened things up: Because if Rebecca had been capable of it, she'd definitely have blushed too. Pushing the wrong button down here could kill Charlie? And yet he'd let her down here without even being able to see her? This boy really did trust her completely. Rebecca walked veeerrry carefully across the room (taking care not to brush against so much as a cup holder), until she stood beside the red-faced pilot.

"H-hi. Nice place you've got here..."

[Wiz0rd]

Still blushing- "Oh this ol' thing? No, I didn't build this. It's a gift courtesy of the U.S Military and the tax-payer's dollar. I'm just a care-taker for now, I guess."
They started rolling back towards campus at a leisurely pace, the outside world being shown in its digital glory through one of the on-board screens as they trot.

He'd never seen a picture of himself while he was in the seat, nor could he look at a mirror, but he suspected that he looked like a cheap sci-fi character at the moment. It was strange to let people into the tank; usually they're just impressed with the hardware, but from the inside he was far more venerable. He was a brain and some wiring. It wasn't just the feeling of utter venerability, there was something else on his mind too.

He felt Rebecca tip-toe carefully around the instruments and additional cup-holders that were installed for the R&D team.
"You don't have to worry too much, all the buttons are safety locked and the computers are pass-worded, you won't do any harm if you accidentally bump into anything. You can relax. The 'houserules' are mostly for people like Willow and Herald, I mean, could you imagine them in here? Ha-ha,"
He paused, "Thank you for helping me get used to people being inside here, it's an unusual, strange feeling. A bit like butterflies, y'know?"

"I'll just need to quickly grab my stuff from where I set off on my jog, but then after that I'm taking you somewhere cool! I think you'll like it. We're going to head down to the tech-labs, I've got an idea. I don't want to spoil it too much, but I think I can really help out with your sun endurance training. Have you ever been down there before?"[/COLOR]

The tank rolled to a stop a few feet away from the discarded bag and coat.
Charlie hesitated. There wasn't anyone around, and he couldn't just dispell the tank: then Rebecca wouldn't have any shade. He reversed up and rolled gently to the nearest door to school.
"There you go, Rebecca. Hop on out and I'll be right with you with my kit, if you want, unless you had any other ideas?"

[Anyr]

When Charlie mentioned the safeguards, Rebecca relaxed a little; But only a little. She still felt the need to take great care in here. Charlie was obviously uncomfortable with letting others see this side of himself; And yet despite that, he'd gone out of his way to let her in. Maybe it was her imagination, but this seemingly innocuous ride felt like it had a deeper meaning to it. Before she could wonder too much about that, though, Charlie spoke up again.

"The tech labs? A few times. Couldn't make much sense of it, to be honest. But hey, this time I'll have a guide!"

Rebecca obediently hopped out of the tank and ran into the school; Getting only slightly singed in the process. Whatever Charlie wanted to show her, she was looking forward to it.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Bryn rolls her eyes at Herald's antics. Instead of getting involved in what she thinks of as typical teenage boy antics, she asks Indira, "So, are you a student or a teacher?"

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie couldn't help but wince as Rebecca climbed up and out of the tank and darted into the building. He could have sworn that he saw steam, or perhaps that was a visual glitch.

He soon scooped up his gear and eagerly rejoined Rebecca in the hallowed halls of Signal Academia. He led her down a series of corridors lined with lockers and various poster-boards with student made 'did you know' information and other bits about clubs, or exam timetables. Before too long they wound their ways down the tech corridor, and it was obviously such due to the small displays and exhibits. This area could put many technological universities to shame with it's wondrous playful gadgetry, each plinth detailed with different specs about processing power and capability.

But the corridor was not the reason why they'd set out. At this point, Charlie quickly checked his watch, he presumed the clique would still be at breakfast / lunch / brunch at this point in the cafeteria, it seemed to be a natural place to go and meet other students, if they weren't at the dorm.

Charlie whipped out his tech lab access card which he kept on a necklace, always. The stainless steel elevator door slid open and he stepped inside, and beckoned Rebecca to follow.
The elevator played the kind of cheesy elevator music you'd expect, seeing as the access elevator was frequented by electronic geniuses and playful geeks.

The only downside to the lift was it's size. It goes down a long way and it was pretty cramped. Not for the claustrophobic amongst the students; they normally opted for the larger vehicular entry, though it is quite a way out.

[Mekboy]

Willow perked up at this suggestion. She didn't really get much contact with the outside world - certainly not as much as she'd like anyway. Technically she was supposed to have some sort of official guide or someone to keep an eye on her, but she'd thus far been able to evade this requirement on her few trips outside of the school.

"Ooh, I'm up for that. You know anywhere? Any place in mind?"

[Anyr]

Rebecca eagerly followed Charlie along corridors, through doorways, and into the elevator. There, however, their brief spate of motion ended. Now came a laboriously slow vertical journey, in a small metal box. It took approximately twelve seconds for Rebecca to start fidgeting. With only four ceiling tiles to count, and not enough room to pace, there wasn't much to do. She idly wondered if she could turn into mist, slip through the cracks, and just fly down to the tech level. Then again, those geniuses below might well have anticipated that particular workaround, and prepared a nasty surprise. Best not to risk it. Maybe some idle small talk would help.

"I bet this thing's loaded with safety features. There was this elevator at my Mom's old job that looked like every trip would be its last. That rusty deathtrap creaked like the most overacting horror movie door you've ever heard. Every time I had to ride it, I was convinced this was the time I'd get stuck in there for hours, or drop 20 floors in one go..."

It belatedly occurred to Rebecca that this might not have been the best choice of topic.

[Wiz0rd]

Charlies smile and color faded over the course of Rebecca's sentence as they descended down. The cheery smooth jazz very quickly became twisted in its humor.
"Heh. Yeah. -Gulps- Loads of safety features. I haven't studied the schematics, but I'm sure it's really good. I hope. ... I'm sorry you had to go through that horror."

With a spirited 'ding!' the elevator doors slid open once again.
The open doors revealed a wide expansive cavern, fortified with modern areas of clean-cut concrete. It was as much a grand, glorious bunker than cavern, almost. You'd be forgiven to think it some kind of Bat-cave, or a kind of lair - as originally it was. This was the site for most of the evil expansion and development plans in the schools' darker past. Fortunately for the students, the area had been reclaimed by the staff and students as a safe, controlled environment in which to test and practice technological powers freely. Along one of the walls, you can see a number of parked vehicles, and on some areas of the walls and floors; scorch marks were openly visible. Usually the hall would be the location of great activity: lessons of every kind were often taken here, and in some of the students free time, they'd use the nearby computer labs and workstations to work on their projects or battle-suits. But now the cavern was quiet, there were only a few students milling about their work and on their passions.

Charlie stepped out onto the metal frame that acted as a walkway between various rooms and areas. Charlie made his way confidently down and around the metal steps, he knew exactly where he was going. Walking to a corridor that had been drilled into the side of the cavern, this led to the main rooms for serious scientific research.

Charlie found the door labelled "VLR #1" and turned to face Rebecca, provided that she'd been following him during this time.

[Anyr]

Rebecca had indeed been following close behind. It didn't pay to wander off in a place like this. She looked expectantly at her guide.

"So, what's the big surprise? The suspense is killing me! And just so you know: If this turns out to be an old sunbed, I reserve the right to slap you."

[Wiz0rd]

"VLR stands for the Variable Light Room, step inside."

He pressed open the door, and it slid open like a door from star-trek, with the swishing and everything. It was a pristine, cubed white room with no windows, but with glowing electric light being emitted from every surface. There was a slide panel with a computer behind it on one of the walls.

"This is one of the rooms where they test reactions to particular frequencies of light. It's a test, artificial environment where we control the light. I was thinking, rather than suffering in the shade outside in the sun, we can control the sun from here, and have fun doing it! You can build up a tolerance over time from going from 1% natural light, up to however high you'd like to challenge. So yeah, it's a glorified sunbed, slap me." He sticks his tongue out teasingly, as he walks over to the control panel.

[Anyr]

Rebecca spun around to take in the whole room: Which admittedly wasn't much. From the looks of it, this was one of those sterile chambers meant for serious tests. Still, Rebecca knew how to make the best of what life gave her. Bland surroundings could be really handy when you wanted to focus on something; Or someone.

"They've got a gadget for everything these days, haven't they? Okay, let's give it a shot! This thing has gotta be a step up from that full-blast fireball out there.

And besides, this is a perfect chance for us to bond. I mean, look around: It's literally just the two of us, spending tons of time in an empty room! Call it cheesy if you like, but 'all we have is each other'!"

Yep, here they were: No distractions, no interruptions, no deflections. She was really interested in seeing how Charlie handled this.

[hairy-joe]

As Charlie enters the labs Isaac is just finishing the download of the data from his test run. he lays everything down and sets off to find him. he rounds the crner just as charlie is opening the door to the VLR and is slightly taken aback by Rebecca's presence, but recovers swiftly enough.

"Hello Charlie, i appologise for leaving you earlier however i was in the middle of a test and i did not want to interupt it. Hello Rebecca, it is good to see you again, i was not expecting you to be here as well."

[Wiz0rd]

Fiddling with the control panel, with his back turned to Rebecca he says "Alrighty, a quick Oogle search says that natural sunlight is made up of Ultra-violet rays, Visible light and Infa-red. I'll set each to 1% and we'll see where we go from there. I've pass-worded the slider so it can only go to 5% of each for safety, just in-case there were any accidents. The password is "Rebecca" if you want to change the restrictions."

He flicks it on, and the lighting goes dim, and then raises back normal in a moment, there is a slight buzzing sound emanating from the room. Still fiddling with the panel;
"How is that? Does it feel tingly? Tingly good? Tingly bad? Does it hurt? Tell me what you feel. You're in control."

He turned to look at Rebecca, her black hair shone and stood out in contrast to the sterile white room in which they stood.
"Yeah, they really do have a gadget for everything these days. Einstein said that everyone is a genius at something, but you shouldn't expect a goldfish to climb a tree. With Signal bringing the best and brightest from all around the globe, then the production of tech' is only natural, I guess?"

Charlie sat down cross legged on the warm, smooth plastic floor, gazing at Rebecca's shimmering eyes and peering subtly at her lovely sundress.
"Yeah! I wanted to spend more time with you and try to get to know you better. I really noticed you at Meta-ball practice, and down at the pool. I mean, if you're cool with that." He blushed. Geez, I'm really bad at talking to girls. "Besides, this is the perfect chance to work on a tan."

"So, while we're in here and doing some endurance training, I thought we could..."-

-Swish-. The sliding door to the VLR suite opened. In steps Isaac, the long lost runner. The door shuts behind its metallic legs as it strides carefully into the room.
"Hello Charlie, I apologize for leaving you earlier however I was in the middle of a test and i did not want to interrupt it. Hello Rebecca, it is good to see you again, I was not expecting you to be here as well."

Charlie stood up startled, still blushing. "Oh-h-heyIssac! F-fancy seeing you here. Haha. N-no we weren't doing anything." Charlie took a breath to re-settle. "You don't need to apologize Issac; I'm the one who lost you over by the running track, but it is nonetheless good to see you again. I'm here with Rebecca to help out with her sunlight endurance training, and thought this would be a good place to do it."

Charlie sighed mentally. Dang-it.

[hairy-joe]

as Isaac steps into the room he is completely oblivious to the mood that he's just taken a sledgehammer to.

"This is the safest environment to experiment with electromagnetic wavelengths. however i was under the impression that sunlight was loosely beneficial to humans, why would you need to endure it? is this related to your abnormal readings Rebecca?

Isaac crosses to the wall panel and after a few seconds and keystrokes he turns

"you are aware you have set the room to increase the ultraviolet intensity exponentially every ten minutes?

[Anyr]

Hopefully Isaac wouldn't notice that Rebecca's smile of greeting was a little strained. When your 'just the two us' gets an unscheduled '...and a pedantic robot' added to it, there's bound to be a certain amount of friction. Still, she did her best to play the gracious host. It wasn't poor Isaac's fault that his timing was horrendous.

"Um, hi again. Yes, the light thing is part of my...erm...condition. Unfiltered sunlight burns me: I mean really burns me; Like, to a pile of ash. It needs to be filtered or artificial just for me to survive in it; And even then it still does a number on my skin. We're trying to fix that part."

[Rhyvurg]

Willow perked up at this suggestion. She didn't really get much contact with the outside world - certainly not as much as she'd like anyway. Technically she was supposed to have some sort of official guide or someone to keep an eye on her, but she'd thus far been able to evade this requirement on her few trips outside of the school.

"Ooh, I'm up for that. You know anywhere? Any place in mind?"

"Nah, we have to find one, the hunt is half the fun. Um, can you get drunk? I usually can't."

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie looked at Rebecca and shrugged, another time perhaps.

"Oh, I didn't realise, Issac. I thought I was being really careful too. I'll double check." He says as he strides back over to the control panel next to Issac to look at the controls. "The password for this session is "Rebecca", I could have sworn I activated the highest safety protocols. Yeah, the sun is loosely healthy to us. Vitamin production, makes us feel healthy and happy."

He turns and smiles at Rebecca, "We'd better keep an eye on the clock, it's hard to keep track of the passage of time in a windowless room. We're not missing or forgetting anything are we?"

"I see that you're doing well under these conditions, do you want us to crank it up a little bit?"

[hairy-joe]

"it is a very complex system to use, i do not believe that i would understand it if i had not examined its code line by line. and i do not believe there is anything that we are missinig, unless you require nourishment."

Isaac deftly manipulates the controlls

"I have set it to only increase intensity from verbal commands. if you do not mind me asking Rebecca, what condition you suffer from, the databases i have access to only link your symptoms with fictional or apocrephal ailments."

[Mekboy]

"Usually? Guess you'll just have to try extra hard. And yeah, course I can get drunk. What did you think, the magic stops the booze or something?"

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Bryn interjects a comment of her own. "I don't know about the reality, but the legends of the sidhe, or fairies, or fair-folk often talk about their fondness for whiskey or other spirits." She looks over at Willow. "For that matter, I don't know what name your people prefer to use for themselves. Just the legends. How true are they?"

[Space Lawyer]

Bryn rolls her eyes at Herald's antics. Instead of getting involved in what she thinks of as typical teenage boy antics, she asks Indira, "So, are you a student or a teacher?"

"I'm a student, just like you. Most of my classes are with Farseer or the other teachers in the psychic department though, so I'm not around in the general classes all that much. Psionic Theory and Astral Metaphysics can't really be taught around others that easily. Too much psychic energy floating around for it to be safe for both us and the rest of you."

[Mekboy]

Willow pulled a face. "Not a fan of whisky. Nasty stuff if you ask me. Anyway, er, names. Fairies, I guess? I mean obviously there's all different kinds of us from different places. Like you lot. Also I don't actually know many of your stories. I mean, I'm aware they exist, but I don't know what there are. Hey, could you tell me some sometime?"

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Bryn grins at Willow. "Sure, I'd be happy to. I grew up on tales of your people, after all. Mum was always telling me to not go out at night, or the sidhe might find me."

Her expression as she responds to Indira is a little more wistful. "Must be nice having powers like yours."

[Anyr]

Rebecca smiled right back at Charlie. That boy was a good sport. A lot of teenagers in his position would be way more frustrated right now. But no, he just went with the flow. The two of them came down here to run tests, so tests they would run.

"Yeah, no tingly feelings so far. Go ahead and increase the levels."


"I have set it to only increase intensity from verbal commands. if you do not mind me asking Rebecca, what condition you suffer from, the databases i have access to only link your symptoms with fictional or apocrephal ailments."

It was surprising how often this question came up. As it turns out, there's no such thing as a universal concept. Between aliens, fae, reality jumpers, and more, there were plenty of people who needed help with the seemingly obvious sum of 'walking dead+drinks blood+killed by sunlight'. At least Isaac knew what a Vampire was; He just didn't know they were real.

"I'm a Vampire. Turns out we're not so fictional after all. D-don't worry, I'm one of the good ones. Now that society is advanced enough to make the whole...hunting humans...thing obsolete, we can live in peace. Well, not live exactly, but you get my drift."

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie nodded and turn the dial up to 3%, and again there was a dimming and a brightening once again. The slight humming noise only increased very slightly in volume. Charlie turned and watched to see if there was any harmful effect, hand on the controls to turn it down again if so.

"See, what I was thinking; if we find a level that reacts only very slightly with you, then we can sit and maintain that until the sensation passes and then we can increase it very slightly in increments from there. The other bonus is, you can use this room at any time, day or night."
He walked to Rebecca was standing and handed her his necklace. "This is the access card to get quickly to and from the Tech labs. Don't worry, I'll get another card soon enough."

His eyebrows furrowed and he took a moment and looked concerned, "But I don't want to be the cause of chronic pain for you. I just wanted to help, to not see you suffer. So if it hurts even a little bit, please say and we'll stop."

Charlie did think of a number of questions of curiosity for Rebecca, but she wasn't a specemin to be examined and we were already doing scientific tests, so he'd let them pass for now.

There was an unmistakable grumbling sound that came from Charlie's stomach. He hadn't eaten yet, the morning taken a different turn of events.

He whipped his phone out and texted Coach, Bryn and Herald:
"Hey guys, are you still at the cafeteria? What's the plan? I'll catch you in a bit! Charlie. Xx"

[hairy-joe]

"I'm a Vampire. Turns out we're not so fictional after all. D-don't worry, I'm one of the good ones. Now that society is advanced enough to make the whole...hunting humans...thing obsolete, we can live in peace. Well, not live exactly, but you get my drift."

"Vampirism? would porphyria not be a more sensible diagnosis? admitedly there are no recorded cases where the sufferer has no body heat. however it is a theory less grounded in mythology.

Isaac ***** his head as he's speaking and looks as close to genuinely confused and concerned as is possible for someone with no real facial features to

[Anyr]

Rebecca glanced around at the glowing walls as they flickered, a little more nervous than she'd been in the beginning. She was gradually realising that this room had the potential to seriously hurt her. A malfunction or mistake could make for a very unpleasant experience. But thankfully, Charlie soon helped her put such thoughts aside. He (and presumably Isaac) would never let such a thing happen.

"Nope, still nothiiiwait. I think I feel something. Let's leave it there for now."

A light tingling sensation was starting to spread across her skin; Hmm, at only 3%? Just how low was her tolerance for sunlight? She absently fiddled with the necklace that Charlie had given her. The growl of his stomach helped distract her from more serious concerns.

"You gonna be okay? Don't be afraid to speak up if you need a snack. I'm actually a little thirsty myself."


"Vampirism? would porphyria not be a more sensible diagnosis? admitedly there are no recorded cases where the sufferer has no body heat. however it is a theory less grounded in mythology.

"Trust me, it's not a mundane disease. Here, feel."

Rebecca reached out and beckoned for Isaac to take her pulse; Or lack thereof.

"See? No pulse, no heartbeat, no breath. As far as medical science is concerned, I'm dead."

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Bryn's text message notification alert is the opening line to "What would you do with a drunken sailor?", and it's loud enough for her and the others at the table to hear over the general noise of the cafeteria. She picks up her phone and texts back --yup still here no plans yet its saturday lol--

[hairy-joe]

Isaac takes Rebecca's wrist and searches for a pulse

"Most peculiar, i shall amend my databases. would you mind being the subject of a study to determine the veracity and nature of the disease?"

[Mekboy]

Willow watched Bryn mess about with her phone with a certain amount of fascination. She had not been aware that they did music as well.