Realistic or Modern Mission: Operation Snowglobe!

Location: Cafeteria
Nearby: Kendrick, Kind old Mr. Mallory, New boy, Mr. Allen McNabb. And a demon teddy.
Mood: conspiratorial.
@s: Necessity4Fun The J B Bag o Fruit Lioness075

Manami watched the blurry teacher plowing snow into a giant Yuki Daruma for a bit, then turned away from the windows. Mr. Allen McNabb was sporting a pretty white parka. Manami wondered idly why Mr. Allen McNabb needed a parka on top of her fur to keep warm. Manami herself was quite comfortable in just a simple swimsuit; then again, the deep ocean was a lot colder than Baltimore. Mr. Mallory seemed lost in thought, staring into the middle distance with his mouth slightly open, a light sheen of snowmelt trickling slowly off of his bald head. There was a new boy in the room now, looking slightly awkward and out of place, and her first instinct was to go over and introduce herself, but then she saw the bear-demon! Kendrick was a safe distance away from it, and she fully intended to keep it that way. With a perfunctory bow toward new boy to acknowledge his presence, she sidled up to Kendrick and put an arm around his shoulder. She whispered in his ear, “Kendi-kun! Do noto be scare. I am protect you. Thato toy is a--- oni? Ah... Demon? Inside. It move. No worry. Manami so brave. I kill it for you. On count of sree.” With that, she turned and gathered herself to pounce, her stingers protruding slightly, dripping venom.

“Wun...”

With a new fork filled with cake, the taste of caramel sweet goodness filled Kendrick. Having entertained himself with the newly acquired Pineapple cake for the last minutes, the boy had already gone through about two thirds of the initial slice size. The pineapple slice decor of the top long gone, as well as the half slice that used to be in the side and despite how neat and straight the cuts seemed, part of the cake had still toppled over the plate, including a lonely cherry.

Not even the sounds of metal bending and 'construction', coming from outside the window, went noticed with how into the dessert the teen was. He only took notice of any movement in the room when Manami approached and put an arm around his shoulder. Granted, that Kendrick was very strict about intimacy and his personal space, his reply was rather unusual:

"Oh, there you are. I was wondering where you had gone!", the boy commented in a chipper tone, a mood that was certainly courtesy of this delightful dessert.

But then the girl started whispering something in his ear. It was a bit eerie and the Japanese accent added to the surprise definitely didn't help him into understand what she was talking about. What was that sudden talk about a Demon?? Wait, did she say she was going to kill something?!
Kendrick stopped everything he was doing to try and piece together Manami's message. Some key words were: Toy, Demon, Inside, Move and Kill... It was certainly puzzling. What could that be about?

That's when she seemed to prepare herself for something. If Kendrick didn't knew any better, he'd say she was about to pounce, the countdown apparently backed that theory too... Oh wait. Toy, Move. He stared towards Manami, then at the table where Ted was sitting, then Manami again. oh......................... oH NO, LORD NO!!!
The boy widened his eyes in alarm and nearly jumped out of his seat. The pineapple cake was tossed out of the way, as he interpolated himself between the girl and the table, slightly leaning over it in the process:

"Ahhh, Manami stop it! HALT! Hold it! Abort Mission!", the teenager started flailing his arms in front of him, "It's okay, calm down. That's just me! Please, please don't kill my friend...!"

Name: Samantha 'Sam' Casan	Rank: B
Superpower: Superspeed	Attire: White parka, usual dark grey sweatshirt, jeans with bootcut
Tagged: Gus (Manami), Necessity4Fun (Kendrick)

It wasn't until Sam returned that she realized she'd been abnormally nice earlier. The hot chocolate reward must've really cheered her up in the moment for her to be that way. Oh well, it wouldn't be too common of a behavior for her.

Seeing Manami suddenly sprint over to Kendrick's side, Sam narrowed her eyes to try and see what was up. Following Manami's general gaze, she soon sighted the teddy bear on a table not far away. She faintly recognized this bear from earlier when they were near the stairs. Kendrick had it handy then, too. While Sam was blissfully unaware of why Kendrick would be toting around a toy like this, she did notice the position Manami was getting in. She was about to pounce on the bear!

Laughing at this, Sam was even more amused when Kendrick rushed to defend his bear, moving in the way of the potential pounce. It was then that Sam had an idea of how to make this all the more fun.

Leaning forward, Sam then sprinted at the bear, vanishing from the entrance to the cafeteria and reappearing past the table with the bear in hand. She'd vaulted over the table before managing to stop herself from hitting the wall, just by a foot or so anyways. Holding it up by the back of its neck, Sam dangled it in Manami's eyesight before saying, "Don't worry, guys. I've protected you both from this...teddy." Sadly, Sam had missed the conversation earlier, else she could've nicknamed it a 'demon' instead.

Occupied with Manami, the teenager had turned his back on both Ted and the rest of the room dwellers. Shaking his arms mid panic, akin to what you would see in cartoons, Kendrick had interpolated himself and began yelling all kinds of explanations, trying to get the girl to first, stop and second, listen. Truth be told though, he wasn't doing a very good job with the explanations thus far. He surely did awesome in being the most vague as one could possibly be!

While the boy was busy with Manami, a sudden wind 'slashed' at his back. It started from nowhere and then 'whoosh' it had stopped. With the current, the furry girl's, Sam's voice ringed out from behind him too. "Don't worry, guys. I've protected you both from this...teddy.", it had said and Kendrick instantly turned his body around to catch sight of what was going on.
His eyes widened in surprise when he saw the girl holding Ted. There was no need to check the table again, he knew it, he could feel it was HIS teddy bear:

"S-superspeed?!", the response came to him quick as he considered the situation.

He didn't like this, he didn't like this at all! Not only was his friend being held hostage by a stranger, but also Sam wasn't being delicate with it! The way the girl was so ruthlessly squeezing the toy's neck, despite it not actively harming it, Kendrick could imagine how painful that could be...Not to mention all the stress in the seams!! That's it, the last straw!!

Staring at the furry girl with a flashing fury and irritation, Kendrick declared ENOUGH and disregarding everything and everyone, stepped on the chair and leaned on table to quickly 'fling' himself over it. The conductor hat fell to the ground on the maneuver, but that was certainly the last thing on his mind now:

"Stop.pickING. ON MY FRIEND!!", the boy yelled at Sam, once he stepped down across the table, making a dash towards the other.

And then Kendrick, taken by a mix of frustration and anger, tackled her...

Location: Cafeteria
Nearby: Kendrick, Kind old Mr. Mallory, New boy, Mr. Allen McNabb, and Evil Teddy.
Mood: Alarmed and more than slightly panicky.
@s: B Bag o Fruit Necessity4Fun The J Lioness075

Manami understood 'stop' at least. Kendi seemed very concerned that she not attack the demonic toy. Up to this point she followed him. But then he said he was the toy, but also it was his friend. Now she was thoroughly muddled.

Then Mr. Allen McNabb had moved. She moved so fast! Manami wasn't even sure she had seen Mr. Allen move at all. But now she was holding the bear, and before she was not. And had been over there. And there was wind and floofing of her pretty black fur. She had definitely moved. Manami might have cheered and clapped for such a neat trick if the situation had not been so deadly serious. Mr. Allen McNabb said she would protect them both, which was good, but then Kendrick ATTACKED Mr. Allen McNabb, which was not good. If they were not careful, the bear would get them both! But wait. Was the bear actually Kendrick? Or was he just confused?

Manami was definitely confused and she was worried it might be oni magic bamboozling all three of them! Time to get a teacher to help. Time to bring this to the attention of kind old Mr. Mallory! A teacher, she well knew, would always have the solution to any problem. Especially a teacher so kind and wise and old and smelling of fish as Mr. Mallory. But this situation was SO dire! It was vital she get his attention before it was too late and all was lost! She bounded over to him, gills flaring in desperation, trying so very hard not to panic.

“MEESTA MARORI, PREESE HEP KENDI ANDO MEESTA AREN MAKUNABU! DEMON IS ATTAKU ZEM!”

Her message delivered, she swayed on her feet a moment, nictitating membranes fluttering open and shut, and then she crumpled at his feet.

Name: Samantha 'Sam' Casan	Rank: B
Power: Superspeed	Attire: White parka, usual dark grey sweatshirt, jeans with bootcut, barefoot
Tagged: Necessity4Fun (Kendrick)

More than pleased by Kendrick's surprised and even appalled reaction, Sam laughed in response. She'd forgotten that not everyone is aware of her power. She had taken care to use it as little as possible, but her desire to mock Kendrick had made it irresistible in the moment.

She still had no idea why the teddy bear meant so much to Kendrick, though. Noting his next expression of anger, Sam took a step back before realizing this was not what she'd expected from the teen. She wasn't even aware he could get this angry beyond being annoyed.

Watching him climb onto the nearby table and awkwardly slide-ish towards her, Sam had to wonder what he was about to do. Watching his hat fall off, she wondered where he even got it from. It seemed such a random accessory to wear. He was definitely one of the weirder students here, as if anyone here was remotely 'normal'.

Sam quickly looked back at the approaching teen when he shouted at her, mentioning the teddy was his friend. Before seeing him running at her, Sam looked back at the teddy in her hand and smirked before asking, "Your friend? What, are you ten years old?"

Before she got any answer, Sam felt Kendrick tackle her, her expression one of surprise, as the two fell to the ground with Kendrick on top of her. Before she could react reasonably, Sam's tail suddenly whipped forward and wrapped around Kendrick's neck. Strong enough to hold Sam's own weight, her tail pulled Kendrick back and up so that only his knees were on her now. Her glowing green eyes narrowed at him, ignoring the fact that the teddy had fallen out of her hand in the fall and was now several feet away.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Her anger was beyond evident by now, her voice dripping with venom metaphorically.

Page had been preoccupied with checking her social media. With no response from the 'tin man', she was beginning to suspect he might have frozen solid outside. The idea of it made her chuckle. She would have to go out and defrost him later. The gleeful daydream was scattered by hollered statement from the cafeteria.



Yea, it was only part of a statement but it did not take a rocket scientist to put the rest of that together with a room full of children. The voice was easy to determine too. It was the Haywood boy. Last thing they needed was his family having more reason to sue them for something.

Some confusing statement, that Page could not make out followed. It must have been the new student.


Nearly dropping her phone, Page went fumbling back from the hallway into the cafeteria. Bursting through the door she saw Kendrick and the other tailed girl already in an altercation. Mr. McNabb was, of course, not doing a damn thing. Still sitting in the chair he had been left like a buffoon.

Not even bothering to look beyond the two brawling children before her, Page roared the way only a woman with motherly instincts could. "KNOCK IT OFF NOW!"

Orange sparks of flame erupted from thin air around the room. It was harmless fizzles of bright light that lingered in the air like a firework display for a moment before slowly fading to nothingness.

A snarling evil glare was plastered on the young secretary's face as she closed the few feet between her and dueling pair. Now standing by, with hands on her hips, she silently fumed, waiting for an explanation.

"So, just what in the blue blazing moon is going on in here? HMMMM?"


Yep, that coffee this morning was definitely working.

Hadrian Alburn
Inside Facility 108
Can someone pick up the phone? Because I hear JUSTICE CALLING!

Hadrian loved the sound of a game of capture the flag. He'd never played before, but from what he could guess it was quite simple, and seemed enjoyable, not to mention he'd be reasonably well-suited for it. No danger in running around on slippery floors for him, and he could do a lot of running at a pretty good speed.
Hot chocolate was a fantastic bonus. People gave him weird looks when he did it, but he loved to down it completely in one, not minding it scorching his mouth, throat, gullet and stomach all the way down. it made him feel so nice and warm inside, and hey, it tasted great too.
He reckoned he'd be fine without a parka. His current coat was a brownish beige, camouflaged enough just by the snow falling on it. He'd certainly be warm enough if he was running around without it.
Several of the other students appeared to be in some sort of altercation. Somehow, a teddy bear had been animated... a power? Probably. But Hadrian frowned when Sam mocked him. He didn't like her cruel laugh and began stepping forwards when Kendrick launched himself at her to get the toy back.
Hadrian only hesitated a second after Page's display before stepping up to the two of them fighting, and grabbed Kendrick's jacket. he used the grip to pull the boy back to standing, before telling Sam, "Don't you sneer at him just for loving something. That's really shitty."

At the sight of Sam's approaching tail, Kendrick recoiled back in alarm, but not in time to get out of the way. Having been raised to his knees by the appendage, the boy instinctively gasped for air, bringing a hand to loose the wrapped object a bit. It's not that it was that tight around his neck, but certainly disconcerting either way:

"What the hell...I think I'm doing? What the hell do you think you're doing?!", he glanced back at her in indignation, "Ever heard of the concept of 'asking for permission'? Heck. You weren't even holding it properly!"

Opening his mouth to protest further, perhaps the start of a long rant, Kendrick was gathering all the things he wanted to say... Or would, because Ms.Morgan's voice echoed from behind them, and it wasn't a happy tone:


It was the first time sometime had raised their voice at him.
Frozen in shock, Kendrick stopped everything else, focusing beyond him for a follow-up reaction from the woman. Since the teenager had never been in this situation before, it was hard to determine which answers to give and which results to expect. Truth be told, no one that had played the mother's part in his life would get any closer to yelling like that and not even his parents were very fond of the practice. Blackmailing, manipulation, guilt trip, diminishing his accomplishments? All valid tactics. But raising their voices like that? Unconceivable!

"She started it!", he complained, pointing at the girl, "All she had to do was ask, but NO! She had to take Ted without permission for...God knows what, and then hold it in the worst.way.possible! Do you have any idea of how fickle-"

Before he started going on in the several technicalities on plushes, neck areas and putting strain on seams, Kendrick felt himself being pulled out of the floor and quickly turned his head trying to grasp who and how. It was that Aburn guy, but instead of him doing like a normal person and grabbing the boy by the arm, he had decided to pull him by his clothing! The teen's eyes went wide in alarm by the fact his rather new and expensive black coat was being put through such brutality. Oh, it better not rip from this...

"T-thank you.", Kendrick replied with the most feeble 'thank you' ever, that might also have sounded insincere, while tapping his clothes clean.

Honestly, after having his case defended that way, the boy no longer had the motivation to complain about the coat-pulling, feeling a bit ashamed to even have considered said option... But of course, he would rather die before admitting either of those things.

With a sigh overlapping his aching ego, Kendrick caught sight of Ted, lying down a couple feet away from Sam, where it had landed after the tackle. 'Beckoning' it closer to him, the toy used its front limbs for support to get back up and dashed in the direction of his owner, hiding behind the boy and peeking around the corner akin to a frightened child. Both of them stayed at the ready for Sam's reactions. Kendrick dared her to come and mess with Ted again. Oh no, he wasn't going to let that happen a second time. And then he realized something else was amiss...
The room was suddenly too silent. After everything that had happened, one would be expected to have been showered with questions at this point. Probably, more questions than he could answer to. But strangely enough, there was a very distinct lack of inquiry... No matter how you looked at this picture, someone was definitely missing from it.

"Uhh, has anyone seen where Manami went?", the boy asked after looking around the room and noticing the girl was nowhere close by, "Odd that she's not around, this all began because of her misinterpretation of multiple facts. I certainly owe her most of the explanations..."

Name: Samantha 'Sam' Casan	Rank: B
Power: Superspeed	Attire: White parka, usual dark grey sweatshirt, jeans with bootcut, barefoot
Tagged: Necessity4Fun (Kendrick), The J (Hadrian), ManicMuse (Page)

Sam snarled at Kendrick, retorting, "Well, I didn't tackle you for no reason! And I wasn't about to drop the stupid toy! If you hadn't tackled me, it'd still be in the air and not on the ground."
She left her tail where it was, holding Kendrick in place and keeping him mostly off of her now. Focusing most of her attention on her tail staying in place, Sam maneuvered herself so she was in a crouch before the teen.

Before she could make another move, the new student stepped in and helped Kendrick out of her tail's grip, with which Sam didn't bother to resist. She'd gotten him off of her and she was mobile again. No need to choke the teen or anything.
Moving her tail back to her side, Sam slowly stood back up and rolled her eyes at what the new student said to her.
"It's just a little toy, I'm sure he could live without it."

Or so she thought until the toy came to life and ran to cower behind one of Kendrick's legs. What the hell?
Muttering under her breath, Sam added, "Okay, maybe not then."
She had no idea how his power worked, but anyone connecting to another object or person often had some empathetic connection. Did Kendrick feel any pain when the teddy bear flew out of her hand and slid along the floor?

Just then, Ms. Morgan stepped in and spontaneously combusted. Eyes wide, Sam took a hesitant step back, wondering if she should quickly head outside to start the stupid game. Had to be safer than being in the same room as this phoenix.

Smirking at Kendrick's quick finger-pointing, Sam crossed her arms over her chest while her tail flicked about behind her.
"I was just messing around. He took things too seriously and needs to learn how to relax."

Wondering if they should all head out to start the stupid game by now, Sam was about to say the question out loud when Kendrick mentioned Manami. Oh, so that was the fish girl's name.
Looking around, Sam narrowed her glowing green eyes at a limp body in front of Mr. McNabb, the creep teacher. Promptly, Sam facepalmed before moving her hand aside and saying, "She's by Mr. McNabb, who I doubt is going to be helping her anytime soon."

Location: Cafeteria floor
Nearby: Kind old Mr. Mallory and Pretty Akage no Page.
Mood: Refreshed!
@s: B Bag o Fruit Lioness075 ManicMuse Necessity4Fun The J

Manami was dreaming. In her dream, she was wandering in a desert. The pitiless sun beat down, baking her scales. He gills flapped weakly, rasping dry air through nearly desiccated tissues. She squinted up, looking for any sign of clouds, but there were none. Oddly though, the sun seemed to have long red hair. She looked angry, the sun, or at least irritated. There were no facial features, so Manami could not say for sure what gave the impression of irritation exactly, but perhaps it was something to do with how the sun tossed her hair to the side, as if trying to flick away flies. But there were no flies. Only the moon. The moon, whose face was so round and wrinkly it reminded her of Mr. Mallory.

OH! The moon was Mr. Mallory's face!

Except it wasn't the moon, it was a cloud. Mr. Mallory smiled broadly and covered the sun, bringing delightful cooling shade. Manami shouted up, hoping he could hear her way up there.

“SANK YU MR. MALLORY! MAYBE ALSO PLEASE RAIN FOR ME?”

And Mr. Mallory smiled down, saying “Brilliant!” and poured down a stream of life giving water directly into Manami's upturned face.

Her eyes popped open and she sat up, wiping the water from her cheeks toward her gills. Mr. Mallory hovered over her. She wrapped her arms around his neck impulsively saying over and over:



“Sank Yu! Sank yu! Sank yu!”

Location: Cafeteria
Nearby: Everyone
Mood: Obliviously Excited!
@s ManicMuse B Bag o Fruit Necessity4Fun The Oldest Blueberry Lioness075 The J

Aaron bustled back into the cafeteria, cheeks still flushed from the brisk air outside—not that anyone could tell. If it weren't for the blur, he'd probably have been positively glowing. Rubbing his hands together, completely missing the lingering tensions in the room he said, “All right teams! The faculty fort is all ready to go! We'll wait there and give you five minutes to hide your flag before we start looking. You have the advantage, knowing where to look for ours, but don't you underestimate us old folks!” To Page and Allen he simply added: “Shall we?”

"Did she just tell me to relax?!"

Unbelieving, Kendrick stared at Sam in complete silence. It was clear he was still angry, and with reason! The girl kidnapped his friend and suddenly he was at fault for taking things too seriously?? And what did she mean with 'just messing around'? If that was her take on a joke, well, it wasn't funny to anyone other than her, which was a clear contradiction to the definition of 'joke' in the first time.

If he had to relax, then Sam had to be more considerate.
Hadn't she mentioned reading earlier? He'd bet that taking a book from her without permission and opening it slightly over 180 degrees would have triggered a similar reaction than his. They're all 'inanimate objects' per se, teddy bears and books, what would be the difference then? None. It was illogical to classify both of their likings in a hierarchy of value since they were worth the same. Why was it so hard to understand?

She seemed to have stopped bothering him, and honestly the boy himself was tired of this. Arguing logic right now would be counter-productive, annoying and too much of a hassle. Kendrick sighed, loosening the defensive stance he had taken earlier. His calm however, did not last long once his inquiry about Manami's whereabouts had received an unpleasant reply. Why Mr. McNabb from all people? Not that he was a bad person, but uhh...

"What the hell did you do to her?!", Page Morgan's voice interrupted his trail of thought, letting the boy know that the issue at hand was more than just weird shenanigans this time.

Ms. Morgan dashed away from the group and worried about what could be going on, Kendrick turned to discover what her destination was. On the almost opposite side of the Cafeteria was the surprising scene of Allen McNabb staring down, with an uncanny joyful expression, at Manami passed out in the floor, heartlessly ignored. Behind the boy, Ted went inert and fell on it's back as the owner's ability stopped it's influence. Kendrick, exasperated, watched the first minutes of Page Morgan doing what seemed like a medical check up, before he turned back at Sam.
The apparent lack of regret and care on the girl caused a mix or worry and his own guilt to boil into anger and frustration. How dare she answer him so casually, knowing what was going on and being the reason it happened? This was undoubtedly more her fault than his! Had the furry super not gotten in the way, Kendrick could have fixed the misunderstandings with a couple words and no one would have passed out, yet she didn't even bat an eye. Unbelievable.

"You're not even slightly concerned?", for such a mundane question, the calm tone in his voice was oddly outputting, eerie even. Perhaps she wouldn't notice it, but the inquiry's objective wasn't receiving a reply, but serving for some deep analysis of the speaker as it was answered. The feeling was similar to having been called to the front of class for an oral test out of a sudden.

Depending on the girl's 'answer' there would be a problem. See, he could take not showing regret for Ted, well, not really but it was bearable. Not displaying any concern for Manami however was unforgivable. Why was it that the most innocent ones always ended up being targeted? Kennith did not deserve being shot and neither did Manami deserve ending up in the crossfire of both their antics and fainting from effort! Sam needed to apologise and if she was not feeling guilt then he would MAKE HER. Oh! She would be aware of the definition of guilt alright, no matter what c- WAIT A MINUTE.....
Condemning the other student wouldn't help anyone. In fact, if his past experience with Isabella Chase was any proof, it was only bound to make things worse. Damn, he had almost gone down the very same path again!

Feeling disgust of himself, Kendrick finally took his gaze out of the girl. He hadn't realised it but at some point what had been an expression of disbelief had turned into contempt... Only God knows what kind of sharp words he had been about to unsheathe and send her way. Everyone on the room would have started to hate him, and they would be exceptionally correct in doing so. Heck, even Kendrick would have hated himself afterwards! It was good he had stopped before anything truly harmful had been said.

Once his temper cooled down, the teenager noticed that he apparently had tuned out from a conversation in the other side of the room. The recognizable barrage 'Thank you's in a tick accent made him turn in that direction, where he was greeted by the relieving sight of Manami's gratitude towards the Emotional Composure teacher for something that had happened while his attention had been on making Sam repent.
Before he could try and piece the clues together, Mr. Mallory entered the cafeteria with the same good mood as before and announced the start of the game, well almost, he still gave them 5 or so minutes to hide their flag, whatever and wherever it was:

"Oh smiting gates of Hell, he's back already?!", the boy cursed. This meant that they had spent too much time bickering... He wouldn't be able to even finish the cake if it was still in an edible condition!

Quickly picking Ted out of the floor, Kendrick rushed towards the Collateral Damage and You teacher:

"We ended up wasting time, still need to get a parka, I'll be back soon. If there's a pineapple cake over the table, I'd be grateful if someone put it back in the fridge for me...", he gave Mr. Mallory a little bow before crossing the door, "Excuse me, sir."

Before leaving for good, the teen glanced back at Manami, just to be sure she was indeed okay. He should have said something, most would, but since he had been about to tear Sam apart with his sharp words a moment ago, there was a lingering uncertainty on whether he could use them properly so soon... And by that he meant 'not being a terrible person'. The trip to the storage closet wasn't only to protect his coat from being wet now, but also a brief, needed distance from the others, an attempt to fully compose himself.
---------------
Slightly bellow a table, over the cafeteria's floor, Kendrick's conductor hat remained, standing upside down. The wearer had been in such a hurry that he had momentarily forgotten about it's existence...

Location: Cafeteria -> outside 108, scurrying up railroad avenue.
Nearby: Team blue is surely right behind her?
Mood: Excited. Even more than usual.
@s: ManicMuse B Bag o Fruit The Oldest Blueberry Necessity4Fun Lioness075 The J

Manami was not exactly sure what was going on, but she was beginning to get used to that. She understood 'flag' and 'hide' and 'student team' and that was enough to get the general idea. The pretty red haired teacher held up a blue sweater for the student team, and Manami was at her side almost instantly. Bowing deeply, she said

"Honored teacher, I am please to take flag from you. Flag is blue, and I am blue and Mr. Allen McNabb is blue and so we are team blue! Kendi-kun is not blue, but he is my friend so he is join team blue too."

Reverently taking the flag with both hands, she straightened up and turned to the new boy.

"Hello newboy. I am Manami. Will you join team blue also?"

Unable to restrain her natural excitement any longer, she took off running toward the exit without waiting for an answer. She had spotted a good hiding place up on railroad avenue on her way in this morning. As she burst out through the side door of 108, she whooped to those in her wake, "GO, GO, TEAM BLUE!"

The winter winds howled, pounding impotently at the cinderblock walls of building 108. The snow was blindingly thick, descending like heavy white curtains as if to cover a scene change as the story moves on to a new stage.

Some distance from the school, well hidden by the weather, but seemingly untouched by its effects, a solitary figure stood on the pier, leaning on a staff and gazing into a small crystal sphere full of floating flecks of white. The barest whisper, like wind hissing over a snowdrift, issues from under the hood of its heavy cloak

"What's here? A brave vessel, who had, no doubt, some noble creatures in her. Poor souls..."


Teh Frixz
The Oldest Blueberry
B Bag o Fruit
ManicMuse
Lioness075
Necessity4Fun
The J

ManicMuse Necessity4Fun B Bag o Fruit The J Lioness075 The Oldest Blueberry Teh Frixz

Aaron watched Manami disappear in a flash of silvery blue scales. He was far too late to explain to her that McNabb couldn't be on her team. It was faculty vs students... ah well. It would work itself out. McNabb was wearing team Red's colors, both on his neck and... on his face. That was weird. He was about to ask Allen if he was quite all right, when he noticed Sam Cassan out of the corner of his eye. Her fur was mostly covered by white parka now, but what was visible was a shiny midnight blue... and the penny dropped.

"I think I understand the confusion! Not sure how this happened, but I think the new girl thinks that Sam's name is "Mr. Allen McNabb. Were your introductions confusing perhaps? ...nevermind, Allen is always confusing. And I saw what happened with Page; I think our little aquatic exchange student could get confused by... I dunno, something that's really not confusing!"

He turns to a nearby security camera, and waves at it.

"Hey, Penny? Could you keep an eye on Manami, just in case? Give us a heads up if she leaves the grounds or seems to be in trouble or anything. Don't tell us if she is closing in on the red flagpole here or anything, just for safety issues, right? The rest of you blue team'rs better get after her if you want to form any kind of coherent strategy. We'll head out to the snow fort and wait for five minutes before we come looking. LARRY, do you copy? Meet us behind the school at the giant snow fort, ok? Everybody ready? Let's go!"

Nearly as boisterously as Manami, though not nearly so quickly, he turns and heads for the door.