Fandom 𝘔𝘈𝘙𝘝𝘌𝘓'𝘚 𝘔𝘜𝘛𝘈𝘕𝘛𝘚 ➜ superpowers academy rp

[femslasher]

𝘔𝘈𝘙𝘝𝘌𝘓'𝘚 𝘔𝘜𝘛𝘈𝘕𝘛𝘚
femslasher and birdiebodie closed rp.
marvel characters in an x-men inspired academy, mixing thor ragnarok cast and other marvel movies.
loki, thor, clint and natasha will be played by birdiebodie. bruce, valkyrie, shuri and peter will be played by biwheels.

As we humans came to understand there are many ways to be a mutant; from birth, as a curse, or as a gift from the gods.

Bruce Banner grew up alongside mutants ─ and, after an experiment gone wrong, now he was one of them.
When a school for mutants, one of the better maintained non-human schools, went up for sale Bruce knew he couldn't pass the opportunity.
Non-mutants had them sequestered away in dusty, badly maintained, insect infested old buildings, with underpaid teachers and students who rarely graduated.
After a life in small mutant-only communities, most students-to-be were disillusioned, knowing they had very few opportunities awaiting them in adulthood.
The college mutant kids' spirits were broken... they needed a safe space to lift them up, train their powers, harness their practical skills, validate them.

He started off small with a simple idea: welcoming international students to help them graduate, gaining diplomas that could get them normal lives alongside humans.
Quickly it became a beacon of hope for mutant society. Every mutant parent dreams of sending their children in the Academy's care.
It was a very diplomatic school as well, with even humans praising the Academy for their efforts in promoting inter-species peace, giving donations and spreading the word.

But that harmony could only last so long, couldn't it?

The friends Bruce welcomed in to become teachers, the best in their individual fields, have other ideas in mind: prepare the kids to fight a revolution.
Not a single mutant is happy with the way they are rejected from mainstream society. Still, some are more unhappy than others. Some don't want to play diplomat anymore.
Will the Academy graduate well-integrated mutant members of society... or put soldiers of The Revolution back into the world?
In a fight amongst teachers and amongst students, some of the most powerful mutants from all corners of the world, the future of humanity is being gambled.

The clock is ticking. Only graduation will tell.​

 

[birdiebodie]

Loki // The Mutant Academy, Teachers Lounge

The teachers lounge was buzzing with excitement, and just a little tension. The Academy was welcoming a new crop of potential students into their fold today, and the orientation had been underway for several hours already.

Loki was perched on an overstuffed chair, nursing a cooling cup of tea and cradling his forehead, trying to contain his annoyance. As one of the principal teachers of the Academy, he had been at the forefront of the orientation, and was desperate for a break. Dealing with children wasn't his forte. Strange, I know, for a teacher to disdain children so, but this hadn't been his plan when he first learned of the Academy. How he was roped into teacher was another story entirely, and he had enough on his plate for now. He idly watched the other teachers and instructors milling around the room, discussing curriculum or their new batch of mutants. Bruce and Valkyrie were hanging out by the water cooler, Val throwing her head back to laugh at some stupid joke Bruce had probably made by accident. He may be the director of the Academy, but he didn't act like he was above the other teachers and instructors. For that, and that alone, Loki respected him. He did not share Bruce's rosy view on Humanity. Working at this Academy had been a new start for Loki, and he supposed he should be grateful, given his, ah, rather chaotic past. Though it didn't help that he had to work so closely with his brother.

If Loki was a rain cloud, Thor was the sun. He was in his element with these students, unsure and shifty eyed mutant kids nervous at the prospect of putting their powers (or curses) on display. Thor made them feel at ease and had even garnered a few smiles from the crowd of surly teens throughout the orientation. He had lost none of that inner fire during the teachers' afternoon break.

"Come on now, Loki! Why the long face?" Thor teased. He was standing in the middle of the room, grinning like a fool. Typical.

Loki sneered back at him. "It's all well and fun for you, brother, Godly as you are, but most of these little terrors will be hard-pressed to take direction from a Cursed." He sipped at his now stone-cold tea with a grimace. He wasn't responsible for how cold and biting he became with his brother. Thor seemed to know exactly how to push Loki's buttons and bring out the petty side of him. Granted, 'pushing his buttons' usually meant existing in the same room as him, but again, Loki was not at fault here.

Their break coming to an end, the teachers and various other instructors slowly started to migrate to the exit, with Bruce and Val bringing in the rear. Loki abandoned his tea and stood, smoothing his robes and heaving a dramatic sigh for anyone watching. Back to the grind, I suppose.

 

[femslasher]

Valkyrie // The Mutant Academy, Teachers Lounge

The first few days of orientation week at the Academy had been brutal. Too many over-eager new faces running about. Too much noise as teachers tried to speak louder than an unruly crowd, shepherding them into different areas of the Academy for the next tour or the next orientation activity. She caught more than once particularly idiotic students trying to nudge newcomers onto showing their powers... until someone else caught on fire, or levitated into a wall. She let them face their own consequences 90% of those times, unless it damaged property or seemed likely to cause an actual hospital-worthy injury.

She wasn't paid enough to deal with this mess. She needed to nudge Banner again for a promotion next semester. Looking at him choking on his tea, fumbling with his words, shaking his head as she embarrassed him with stories of how many students came to her asking if he was single... she was grateful she wasn't working for some higher-than-thou stranger who didn't care for his workers or students. He may not be particularly vocal nor have a strong personality to put forwards in front of students' parents or of potential donors, but if there was one thing Director Banner wasn't, it was uncaring. It irked her at times how many extra hours he put into bettering this school, with no rewards, and very minimal recognition from his peers. She knew he was permanently low on money and every penny he had foolishly went into either fixing up the school, or aiding low-funds students into still being able to access the Mutant Academy. It was admirable, surely, but it showed that he still hadn't grown out of being an oversea medic, going city to city to treat illnesses and injuries for free. Until, of course, he became mutated... and couldn't do it safely anymore. Poor guy. No, poor guy didn't cut it at this point ─ the man was a walking pity party, despite having built this place from the ground up.

She pats his shoulder and he wheels off to speak to Korg about something or other. So, well, not a walking pity party at least. Ah, she was starting to sound like Banner's usual puns about his own wheelchair. Often followed by a shy chuckle and a hand rubbed on his neck. Sickeningly endearing. Even in jest, Valkyrie couldn't go very far in her mocking when it came to him; it would be like stealing a piece of fish from a starving street cat. Not her style.

Val looks back and raises an eyebrow at Loki's outburst. Godly. Cursed. There we go again.

There was no avoiding the obvious social difference between curse-borns and gift-borns. It made for a difficult dynamic both in the classrooms and in the teacher lounge, although Director Banner did everything in his power to promote what he called an "equality mindset." It wasn't Thor's fault nor Val's that curse-borns had such an inferiority complex... still, she had enough braincells to keep her mouth shut when the matter was brought up. Especially the nonstop brotherly bickering that made her, in all her sober glory, wish for something stronger than coffee each new school year.

That, and the mouthy kids who tried to intimidate, or manipulate, the new Academy kids into getting themselves in trouble. In her mutant-only highschool, she had her fair share of bullies trying to get her to fly over a fence, or get her mutated metallic wings to throw a feather (as sharp as a knife, mind you) into the teacher's hair to prove she was good at aiming. It ended poorly. Obviously.

These wannabes made her use every single breathing technique she knew to not fly off the rails or fail them all; most techniques came from the time Professor Strange insisted he teaches her, after hearing of her last breakup. Or, well, "breakup" was the reason she gave the other teachers at the time. A typical white lie; she didn't need anyone to put their noses in her business at work for the reason why she may skip a few months of teaching to go out of town, or why she's suddenly asking for mindfulness techniques as she's pulling her hair out.

This year, she was already embarrassingly close to joining a moronic yoga class out of pure desperation to get rid of the ever-building frustration.

Maybe it was the pure restlessness of staying at one job longer than she was used to. Maybe it was how, each year, S.H.I.E.L.D. came by more and more often, bothering the Director for his mutant serum, requesting access to student files "for the sake of solving a case," and chastising the way he was handling his own affairs. They were always talking about how the new generation of mutants could be too much of this or too much of that, putting humans' safety in jeopardy. The Director, of course, nodded with eyebrows furrowed in concern. Putting diplomacy above all else, even common sense. Still, it kept their relations neutral. You might think that leading the ever-growing, internationally acclaimed Academy would bring some respect. Instead, there were only more interrogations and distaste. She wasn't sure the rest of the teachers knew the extent of the harassment Director Banner routinely went through with high-ranking humans. He only trusted her to come with as she understood the goal was worth the means. Even if she didn't particularly agree with a few of the doormat methods he used.

"What is the next activity on the list? If you say it's another team building activity, I'm out." Orientation week was dragging on forever. She would not sit by as Professor Strange passed a decorated stick around to share inner wounds or what have you. If Thor started another long-winded story of bravery to encourage the youth, she would go hide in the broom's closet with a raunchy book and some... well, not wine, that's for sure.

"The next one is, um," Banner flipped through a couple of papers on his lap until he reached the orientation pamphlet that Thor made, dropping a good few but seemingly not noticing. "student interviews, divided by power origins, led by the teachers they'll get once they join." Korg put the papers back on him, without the Director noticing.

Even from afar, Val could see the pamphlet's bright letters spelling "Haven for Your Mutant!" in a quirky font, announcing MA's school tour. The design was as worthy as a twelve year old's first computer project, and she knew Banner indulged it simply out of the goodness of his heart. She was surprised anyone came up to orientation with such weak advertisement ─ that really showcased how powerful the Mutant Academy's reputation was in today's world.

"If they join." Banner gave a weak laugh at that. She could at least hold onto some delusional hope that the number of students would shrink instead of growing this time around. She already had her hands more full than she could handle, being one of the only two physical education teachers at a school with rambunctious mutants eager to learn how to cause trouble with their powers. And she had to admit the other physical teacher was pretty much a second job for her to keep on the right track, looking at Thor's golden retriever grin and the careless bounce in his steps as he left the teacher's lounge. He was still new in the role of teacher, even newer than Loki. He had spent more time than you would think minding paperwork and minor office tasks for Banner, tutoring a few students, slowly getting the hang of teaching, before being given the job. When the past P.E. teacher had to quit, he jumped on the occasion to prove himself.

And he finally was. Proving himself, that is. After months of Valkyrie's patience being tested and one migraine after the other. She still had to pull his leash every now and then, and he acted like her second-in-command rather than his own teacher, but he finally had his own student group to take care of... like a big boy, she thought condescendingly. At least my work was cut in half now. As long as he doesn't screw it up.

"There will be an interview segment with me and Strange. And Korg," he added belatedly. Korg tended to enjoy student interviews, and invite himself to each one. Something about seeing some refreshing new faces around here. He was also... visibly, unmistakably a mutant. Something that tended to put new students from anti-mutant environments at ease. "Then P.E. will discuss and test out powers. After that it'll be integration teachers.

"Doing what, turning them human?"

Banner gave a weak grin, too tired to indulge much today. "They'll talk about our efforts working alongside human schools, and show non-classroom areas of the Academy. I thought It might... spice things up, y'know." Hearing him off all people talk about spicing anything up stole a few chuckles out of her. As they got deeper into the school, noises from the crowd got louder. They all seemed to synchronize into work mode, bracing themselves for the new wave of students. Banner and her nodded at each-other in a hurried goodbye as she exited the school, and he stayed inside of it to round up the other teachers, preparing them for the upcoming interviews.

She was already over this whole thing.

"Hey, Thor." She stepped in-between Thor and his brother brusquely, Loki's lanky frame pushed out. She barely noticed the scandalized look on his face. "You got all the testing equipment ready, right? Let's hope the kids don't break anything this time." Kids was a strong word for college students that were often not too far off from the teachers' age. Still, they were emotionally toddlers in her eyes. They were wide-eyed, having barely had any real-life mutant experience.

 

[birdiebodie]

Loki // The Mutant Academy

The occupants of the staff room had unanimously decided the break was over, as teachers and professors began making their way to the exit, abandoning cups of coffee and chatting with each other. Loki could hear the thrum of students and student-to-be outside the doors, and made a show of bracing himself to face what he knew would be a particularly trying afternoon. He opened his mouth for one last snipe at his idiot brother as they made their way to the door, but his words were cut off as Valkyrie ungracefully shoved her way between them. He put a limp hand to his chest in offence, scowling silently at her back. She, of course, paid him no mind, ignoring him to chat easily with Thor about their student testing sessions coming up as they pulled ahead. Loki rolled his eyes and mentally went through the subjects he was to cover in his Intro to Human-Mutant Integrations class for the new students.

It wasn't the most interesting class to teach or sit through, but Loki enjoyed it well enough. He had been asked by the director, Bruce Banner to teach at his newly opened Mutant Academy a few years back, after a rather nasty incident involving Loki, a bit of petty property damage and vandalism, and several human policemen. Bruce had offered to have Loki work off his assigned hours of community service at his academy. Loki had recoiled at the idea of spending his days surrounded by literal children, but it was better than the alternative. After a while he had begun to enjoy it, though he would never admit it, and had stayed on staff even after his service hours had been fulfilled. Besides, he had a room full of young impressionable minds to teach of the dangers of human society, and their own innate superiority as mutants in a human world. It was pure bad luck that had his overbearing older brother Thor joining the staff only a year later.

Before his class began though, the newcoming students would endure a round of interviews with Director Banner and Professor Strange, and an abilities test with Thor and Valkyrie, the two P.E. instructors. Loki decided he'd sit in for the abilities testing, as he was eager to see if any of the new students had any magical potential he could foster.

-----
Clint // The Mutant Academy, Orientation Interview Room No. 2

Clint honestly couldn't tell you how he ended up here, sitting in a plastic chair, wearing his cleanest shirt (the one with no coffee stains), in the vaulted hallways of New York's own Mutant Academy. He was one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s best, and youngest, agents, handpicked and trained from a young age as a hitman of human and mutant marks alike. It wasn't his training that set him apart, rather his superagility mutation that allowed him to dodge bullets and hit three different marks while doing a backflip. He hadn't given thought to a life outside of S.H.I.E.L.D. until an old informant of his, Natasha Romanoff, had contacted him in an encrypted message about a new school for mutants. Clint hadn't graduated high school, being recruited into the underworld assassin life straight from his circus job at age 15. He'd never been particularly studious or scholarly, but this Mutant Academy had piqued his interest. Maybe it was the fact that Nat had risked everything to tell him, her being on her second year at the academy herself, or maybe it was the fact that the bloodshed was starting to wear on his conscience, just a bit. He hadn't realized he was having misgivings about his career, being perfectly content to follow orders and keep his head down, but he surprised himself at how fast he had scrubbed his files, packed his bags and disappeared.

Now he sat in an uncomfortable chair, twiddling his bandage-covered thumbs, waiting for his name to be called. He'd never been one for second guessing or hesitation, and that hadn't changed, but he was mildly curious about meeting the director of such an ambitious undertaking as a whole school for mutants, and promoting it on such an international scale. Clint wasn't an idiot, he could see the tensions rising between humans and mutants, even those who had successfully integrated into human society and used their powers for good. Being one of the lucky ones with a Godly Gift that left his appearance unchanged, he was able to navigate in human society just fine, if you ignore the fact that he was a trained assassin and would have a price on his head had anyone had been able to identify him. The idea of a prestigious academy for mutant students worldwide was pretty ambitious, and if Clint was honest, kind of insane. What brand of crazy is this director?

 

[femslasher]

Bruce // Alliance Academy, Orientation Interview Room No. 2

Despite being the leader of this fine establishment ─ as Valkyrie often referred to it as, in a mockingly pompous tone ─ Bruce wasn't any more at ease than any of the wide-eyed students awaiting their turn in the assessment room.

Five of them went in at a time to answer various questions and ask about the school, in an effort to promote friendship between newcomers. There were around fifty students visiting a day, for each of the three days the schools opened its doors for orientation. All from various cities, with and without prior education. Each potential new student had received an entry ticket and decided to take a look.

They hadn't opted for a ticket system until, one year, hundreds of potential students showed up and overwhelmed the staff into complete chaos. They had to cut orientation short and seriously reorganize the event, to Bruce's utter embarrassment... at the beginning, they had been working extra hours advertising to all corners of the world to even meet half of their student quota. No one overseas truly trusted an all-mutant american school would be safe, or teach them anything they couldn't get in their own country. Still, AA had something few other schools had: reliable partnership with local human schools, and an all-mutant staff.

In some places, mutant schools would get shut down without human supervision. In most, there was a very low student limit. In Alliance Academy, there were mutants as far as the eye could see. There was a wonderful feeling of normalcy to it all, the normalcy so many humans took for granted. Bruce prioritized making it a safe space where mutants could learn to reintegrate into human society. A space to show humans that mutants weren't the monsters they were made out to be.

It wasn't until two years ago that it truly hit him the grandiose scale Alliance Academy had reached, in what felt like the blink of an eye. He used to beg skilled mutants to get certified as a teacher so he didn't have to close the school. Every year directing the school used to be an anxiety attack that only grew year after year, funding going lower than he thought possible, students quitting halfway through the year, and still his stubbornness didn't let go of the dream. He didn't know if it was luck and a random twist of fate, or merely all the hard work he had put into it. Thor would say the first, and Valkyrie the latter. The rest of his staff would argue over it until the topic of conversation swerved so far off its original path they forgot what they were bickering about in the first place. As for him, he was too busy keeping busy, still in the mindset that he alone was holding the school's head out the water. That every hour he put in it was why it hadn't failed yet.

Despite his pessimistic view of it, this year truly was the highest the Academy had ever soared. The building was in the best shape it had ever been, thanks to more funding than usual. The orientation weekend was organized better than ever, from what he had seen so far. The staff was in high spirits. The whole affair involved difficult work and rambunctious crowds of immature mutants, sure, but even he had to admit he was rather pleased with things.

Maybe, this school year, he would even allow himself a winter holiday. Instead of cooping himself up in his office until his staff came in and locked him out by force.

"Strange?" He called out to thin air.

"Next!" Strange's impatient, monotone voice came from yet again another direction. He didn't acknowledge him, something not too unusual for the eccentric man. Teleporting to and fro, dressed in a crisp suit, his face betrayed his boredom and general distaste with the whole ordeal.

In Bruce's defense, Strange had himself volunteered to take care of the visiting portion of the orientation. He was more knowledgeable about mutant history than anyone else, and would steal the students away in a swoosh if they wandered off too far or caused any trouble. The disorientation and novelty of it made even the most hyperactive students merely ooh and aah at whatever part of the Academy they were seeing, and whatever Strange was telling them. It worked better than anything they had previously tried, that was for sure.

"Barton, Parker," he paused and looked around, then went back to looking at the paper with a squint. "Shuri, no last name listed." A girl stood, almost kicking the chair to the ground in the process. A boy of similar age raised up awkwardly and uselessly tried to steady the already steadied chair. She didn't pay him a second glance. "Wilson, and Barnes." Two older male students stood up.

Professor Strange put both hands on his hips and teleported (unnecessarily) to the line of chairs a mere feet away from him, putting his face unnervingly close to each student to gauge a reaction. Trying to find the student that hadn't made themself known. "Barton. Barton!" His coat almost slapped a sitting student in the face as he turned around and teleported away once more. Said student looked up and, catching on, stood up. The professor went, "ah," and nodded to himself. Before any of the students could enjoy the silence, they were warped onto the carpeted ground of the long-awaited interview room.

Leaving Bruce to wheel himself to it, of course. The mosquito-like antics of the teleportation addict made him anxious, to be fair, and he had asked more than once for the professor to exclude him from it until he actually caught the memo; it felt as easy as breathing and a hard habit to notice, the man once told him. Space and time bent to his will. What a hellish child he must have been for his parents, swooshing out of their arms. Teleporting them to Tokyo at 3am. Bruce chuckled weakly to himself, curving the corner of the hallway until he reached the interview room.

He pushed the door button and it slid open, opening to reveal the distracted students sitting on chairs, already filling out the usual questionnaire on a thin table. Across from them, Strange sat alongside Korg, who gestured a hello towards Bruce. Bruce lifted a faint wave before making his way to them.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when he glanced to the side and saw Loki leaning on the wall, partially clouded by shadows. "Shit," escaped him, before he clammed his mouth shut, shook his head, and actually addressed the guy. "Here to judge the newbies?" There was no judgement in his voice, only amusement, knowing how the only way Loki ever came somewhere was out of curiosity. He turned towards Strange, hushing his tone. "Did they, um, include... Korg's questions, in this one?"

Strange was gone in another swoosh, now looming over the students' shoulders to spy their questions. He teleported back to his seat. "I'm afraid so."

Korg had made the first draft which included preschool-level questions that, although endearing, did not seem the most professional for the Academy. Thor, who had insisted on making the promotional material and on editing the final questionnaire, must have either forgotten or been too soft-hearted to edit them out.

Bruce glanced back up, and smiled at Korg, who nodded fervently and brought two thumbs up.

Great. Oh, well. The Academy may be doing well, but they would never be the Harvard of mutant schools.

He cleared his throat. "If you are done with─" he coughed again, willing his low voice to boom louder, "students, welcome. If you are done, take some time to introduce yourself and read off the first five answers you wrote. As for the last few, our staff will read it over before you are enrolled into the Academy."

"If they enroll," Korg repeated Valkyrie's earlier word. In an obliviously helpful tone.

"Right," Bruce indulged him.

"He's Director Banner," Korg added, pointing with his finger. This time a bit more helpfully ─ Strange and Korg, and perhaps even Loki, had introduced themselves before Bruce got there.

"Right, that is me. I am that." He cringed at his clunky wording. "Anyway, take your time."

"Not too much time, though. Lunch will be there at some point."

Bruce hummed a non-answer back, but the point was made. He looked at each student, trying to exude friendliness, or at least seem hospitable. They were already the fourth group they saw that day, and although Bruce was getting into the rhythm of it, there was still some giddiness at meeting new students. He would, hopefully, see all five of them soon strolling down the hallways as though they had always been there. Finding some comfort among others like them, gaining skills, and coming to the teachers ─ and to Bruce ─ for guidance. Despite his less than ideal social skills, and the stress of organizing it, he truly did enjoy orientation.

The students one by one put their pens down, and Bruce awaited these strangers' first serious steps into the diverse world of the Academy.

 

[birdiebodie]

Clint had been lost in his thoughts before he finally registered his name being called with increasing annoyance by a stern looking man with a goatee.

"Oops, here," he stood up heavily and glanced at his ticket. He really did need to get his hearing aids fixed. It was his turn for the questionnaire, and he fell into line with the other four students in his time slot, before he felt a strange tugging sensation deep in his stomach, sort of like being on a roller coaster. He blinked, and he was in the testing room.

He took a surprised step backwards, but quickly regained his composure. Teleportation. One of the boys, Parker, whooped and turned to the girl next to him, immediately talking about the physics of it all, or something. Clint didn't really care. He His attention turned immediately to the dude made of... rocks? sitting on a far-too-small chair beside the narrow table before them, and the skinny man standing in a corner, looking at the students with a sour face. The rock man stood, towering over the students, and gave a friendly wave.

"My name's Korg! As you can see," he gestured to himself vaguely, "I am made of rocks, but don't let that put you off, I am a teacher here at Alliance Academy, and ready to be your friend!"

It was stupid in an endearing sort of way. There was a chorus of polite hello's from the kids, all of them trying and failing to not stare at someone so obviously... mutant. The stern man who had called their names in the waiting room strode to the front of the room and stood to face them, hands folded behind him. He gave them all an appraising look, and Clint fought the urge to shift uncomfortably. The guy looked at you like he was reading your soul.

After a pause, he spoke. "My name is Professor Strange. And that," he gestured brusquely to the man in the shadows, "over there is Loki. He teaches Human-Mutant Integrations, so you'll be seeing quite a bit of him. Say hi, Loki."

The man, Loki, shot a poisonous look at Professor Strange, but did not respond, nor did he acknowledge the kids. Clint watched as he began examining his nails with an air of indifference. If this was the guy teaching them to get along in a human society, Clint wasn't sure what kinds of lessons he'd be learning.

"Right!" Professor Strange clapped his hands in an abrupt movement, startling the teens slightly. "Let's get to it. Here are your questionnaires that we're asking you fill out, stuff about your goals here at the Academy, powers, that kind of thing." Professor Strange gestured dismissively to the chairs at the table with a little booklet in front of each. Clint and the other students took a seat, looking through the questions. Pencils were provided, and Clint began filling out his answers.

The five teens were about half way through the questionnaire when the door to the testing room opened automatically. A rather plain looking man in a rumpled purple dress shirt rolled in on a wheelchair. He exchanged a few words with the other teachers in the room before turning to clumsily address the potential students, asking that they fill out and share their answers from the questionnaire when they were done. He was introduced as Director Banner, the founder and principal of the Alliance Academy, and Clint was surprised he looked so... normal. He wondered what kind of mutant powers this guy had.

A few minutes went by and the students were done with their questionnaires, Professor Strange having spent his time teleporting back and forth to obnoxiously lean over their shoulders, peering at their answers. Their pencils were returned and they were asked to introduce themselves, and provide a little bit about their past and their powers. Professor Strange conjured what looked like a short staff with beads and ribbons tied to it, and appeared next to Clint, holding the stick out abruptly.

"Here is your talking stick." He strode around the room as he talked. "When you have the stick, you may talk, and the rest of you wait your turn. You may say as much or as little as you like, but please give the rest of us an idea of your powers and what you are looking to gain from your enrollment at Alliance Academy. When you're done, go ahead and pass it to the person on your right."

Clint noticed that Loki, who had stayed nearly motionless in the shadows up until now, leaned forward minutely with a look of guarded curiosity. Clint cleared his throat, feeling a little on the spot.

"Uh, hi. My name's Clint. Clint Barton. I uh, I used to work at a circus, believe it or not. One of the trapeze artists. I fell on the radar of this shady organization who were interested in my, uh, talents, and I worked for them for a bit, but they were kinda. You know. Not great. So I left and uh, here I am." He fiddled with the stick in his hands. "My powers are kind of like... really good agility? And aim. I uh, like to practice with a bow and arrows while doing trapeze. I can also kinda... stop bullets? I can just kinda grab them before they hit me." He hoped no one would ask what kinds of situations he had been in to have acquired that skill.

"My goals for attending Alliance Academy... well, I'd like to learn how to hone my powers and uh, find out what kinds of things I'm good at that aren't fighting. I never really went to school before this so I'm uh, probably lacking a bit." Clint rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. He couldn't think of anything else to say, so after a bit of an awkward pause, he handed the talking stick to the girl sat beside him.

 

[femslasher]

Shuri // Alliance Academy, Orientation Interview Room No. 2

She might as well have stepped onto a human campus with how dull she found the buildings, technology ─ or lack thereof ─ and the lanky pale boys beside her. Had her brother dropped her off at the right stop? Was he still sitting in his car, waiting for her to realize his twisted humor, ready for the shoulder punch and the hair ruffling only to start the engine and drive to the real five stars, internationally acclaimed mutant school? With sights to make her ooh and aah?

She wasn't naive enough to entertain the possibility. The risk percentage was too low. Still, she had to fight the urge to walk out as her name was called.

The first tidbit of curiosity in her brain came with an exhilarating swoosh. Her position in time and space twisted, churning her stomach, sucking her into a portal of some sort faster than the eye could see only to drop her in a completely different room. She twirled, getting her bearings. Two tables, chairs, male strangers. Bland walls. Still, how fascinating, she couldn't stop thinking over and over. She had studied teleportation technology but it was all very clunky. The glorified magician, with his beard and ridiculous cape, did an amazing job compared to the gadgets she had tried over the years. Nothing quite matched a mutant's skills. Until Shuri tweaked it enough to be as good as a mutant's skills, of course, something she knew she would accomplish someday with enough sweat and tears.

She filled out the papers with the ease of a grade-A student. She much preferred being praised on her academic skills than her mutant ones.

Which is why the mutant part of the curriculum interested her far less than the human-like studies she expected from this place. She wanted to integrate into human society and astound them with her knowledge, her memory, her problem-solving fingers, her brain overworking until she solved things no human ever had, because she was more than her mutantism, she did not have to rely on superpowers to show greatness, she would show them all how she─

Uh, hi, came the voice of one of the boys besides her. Whoops, she had gotten stuck in her thoughts again.

The three boys on her left were more men than boys, somewhere in their 20s. More college than highschool. The one to her right had the forced smile and the physique of a fifth grader, and he reeked of teenage ambition. Despite this, he must be 18 or above; the pamphlet said so. She felt old besides him despite sharing his age range. He practically vibrated with energy, his eyes flickering all over the room as he sat on his hands. Stopping himself from touching everything, she presumed.

The stick was handed and she grabbed it, at first shaking it uselessly next to her ear ─ wondering if it would do anything, but again, back in her homeland objects had more than one function ─ before grasping it with both hands and addressing the teachers.

"Shuri, daughter of King T'Chaka and Queen Ramonda, from the Golden Tribe of Wakanda." A few eyebrows raised at the lengthy title. "I am here for the full human school experience, with teachers to manage my mutantism. I was the top of my class in my mutant highschool, but it was very, well, mutant," she waved the stick around to punctuate her point, "and I want to... what does the pamphlet call it? Integrate?" She pulls out the pamphlet that had been stuffed into her left pants pocket and reads it, "Integrate into society. Yes. All of that."

She holds the stick to the boy, the boy her age, but he whispers "Um, powers?" instead of reaching for it.

"Oh, right. What a genius I am." The visibly mutant teacher laughs eagerly and looks around, but only the director gives a weak chuckle back at him. "The brain is run by electrochemical communications, right? And the electro, electricity, part of that is my powers. So I get super-memory, endless memory storage. As long as my eyes see it or read it, I can access it later. And I can use," or misuse, as her brother would say, "anything electrical, technological, all that."

This time, she threw the stick on the boy's lap. Despite not having been asked to catch it, he fumbles with it and almost drops it twice.

"Hey, students. Teachers. How's everyone?" He puts his hand up to wave and regrets it halfway, rubbing the back of his neck instead.

"I'm alright, I'd say I'm alright," the rock man responded.

"I'd say I'm alright too, yeah," the boy fumbled. "Um, I'm Peter Parker. I have, well," his hands waved to try to encapsulate his powers. "Uh, gimme a sec."

He got up, and to the teachers' annoyance ─ they were too slow to realize what he was about to do ─ and Shuri's disbelief he took a jump that brought him onto the ceiling. He was holding onto it and crawling in a gravity-defying way that Shuri had never seen before. He then jumped from the ceiling and landed back on his feet.

"I can do that. Um, I can also do a little bit of─"

"That's more than enough, thank you young man." The caped man waved a hand in dismissal. His eyes looked stern.

"Oh. Okay. So um, yeah, I have what I like to call spidey sense. Gravity, and very sticky," he wiggled his fingers, "hands."

The boy was a walking embarrassment. Nevertheless, it relieved Shuri to know that wherever in the world you are, boys never stopped being moronic and sweaty palmed. They were everywhere, like a deodorant-stained zombie invasion. He seemed harmless enough.

The stick was passed to a grim-looking older boy who took it with a heavy breath. His missing arm's prosthesis was painted with tattoo-like doodles and his shaggy brown hair clouded his face. He was staring at his own lap. He did not want to be here, she could tell that much... why was he there at all?

"Bucky Barnes. I'm immortal, and can be revived in this body endlessly. I forget my memories, though." His voice was heavy with meaning. The guy besides him shuffled his feet in discomfort, but his arm was over Barnes' chair much too casually to not know him. "It's a curse, if anyone's wondering." The sentence was dripping with bitterness like it was poison, and it was hard to look at him after those words. Of course, they had all wondered. It was hard not to.

The stick was passed to his companion, and Bucky pushed his arm off his chair in the same movement. It was hard to tell whether they were on good terms or not.

"Sam Wilson. Not sure why this summer camp stick is necessary, guys." His voice was friendly, yet mocking, and it made Shuri smirk, agreeing to the sentiment. They weren't in highschool anymore. He threw the stick on the floor towards the caped man. "It's not immortality," the guy next to him got even more gloomy at that, "but I have these." Taking off his sweater to reveal a tank top with a few holes, which she assumed was a punk fashion choice, he made a slight movement and revealed brown bird-like wings. They had been tucked on his back. Wasn't that uncomfortable? "Just a gift from the Gods. It was one hell of a Christmas."

The boy beside her chuckled until he snorted, then leaned back further in his chair, as if shy.

"They came with superhuman long-distance vision. Never needed glasses again." He made a twirl to show off one last time, and sat back down.

Professor Strange zapped much too close to Sam Wilson, earning a squeak, which was quickly mocked by the Bucky guy. He snatched the stick from the floor by Sam's feet, giving a judgmental look for Sam's antics, and zapped back next to the other teachers.

He cleared his throat and clasped his hands together. "Now is the time many of you have awaited. As you know, during the visit portion of orientation there was a no questions policy." Shuri hadn't attended that part of the orientation, arriving later after trying to talk her brother out of this school and into one of the dozens of schools she had listed. She liked going through every option before settling, but he was insistent this was the best academy for a young mutant to enroll in. He knew how important studies were to her and her overheating, hyperactive brain.

"Any personal questions, questions about the curriculum, questions about general academy life here... everything goes."

Shuri's hand raised faster than it ever had before.

The man made a pleased noise, as if used to impassioned students. "Young Shuri, what is your qu─"

He never got to finish his question as many knocks and three heads popped into the interview room.

"Director Banner, we need Director Banner and Strange too." Two students, Shuri's age, ran in breathlessly and talked over each-other to say the same words.

"We have an injured. From the city," the third interrupting person said in an urgent voice. She was rather muscular, and the expression on her face meant business. Shuri could only watch on in distant intrigue as the whole thing unraveled before her and the two other students.

"Excuse us. Join the other students," the director spoke with a bit less softness than he usually showed. He had only glanced at Shuri, Peter, Clint before wheeling himself out behind the trail of teachers and the two panicking students rambling in hurried tones. A loud swooshing noise indicated all of them were teleported to the scene of the incident. It must be very time-sensitive. Odd.

The door closed and silence filled the room.

"Huh." Then, the boy said it louder and longer. "Huuuh. That's weird."

Weird was a mild way of putting it.

Wait, wasn't this room far enough away that the Professor insisted on teleporting them there?

It had taken the director quite some time to reach them, enough for the teachers to get the interview started and have them fill out forms. And he certainly knew the Academy like the back of his hand. While the other two were aghast at the whole affair, curious and wanting to gossip, it took less than a minute for Shuri to mentally realize that, uh oh, they may very well be lost. This place was a maze.

Joining the other students, as the director advised them to do, wouldn't be a walk in the park... and it would take more than Peter's sticky hands to get them out.

 

[birdiebodie]

Clint // Alliance Academy, Orientation Interview Room No. 2

The door to the interview room slammed open, startling them all and interrupting Shuri. A few students and a teacher burst in, babbling over each other before the teacher, a fierce looking woman dressed in leathers, requested the immediate presence of Director Banner and Professor Strange regarding an injury from the city. Clint squinted from his seat, the students' lips moving too fast for him to read well. Strange turned to the Clint and the other four and sharply suggested they join the other students, before disappearing in an orange flash, taking the director, Korg, and Loki with him. The room was silent for a beat.

"Uh," Sam spoke up eventually, "Do any of you guys know how to get back?"

The guy named Bucky groaned and let his head fall forward, his dark hair curtaining his face and hiding it from view. The twitchy guy, Peter, was fidgeting and looking around with a vague look of worry on his young face. Clint sighed and stood up, gaining the attention of the other four.

"So," he addressed the other four, slipping easily into a tone of authority. "We can assume the waiting area is pretty far, it took the director like, 10 minutes to get here. Do any of you remember the layout from the student orientation tour a few weeks ago? I wasn't there."

Peter shook his head, wide eyed and silent. He seemed to speak for the others. Either they had very bad memories, or they weren't there for the tour either.

"Great," Clint muttered to himself. He gestured to the door. "Well. We uh, we might as well try to find our way back to the gym. We might find someone who can help."

He led the students out the door, peering up and down the wide empty hallways outside the testing room. There were no signs, no students, no indications as to where they were. Clint didn't even know if the school had multiple buildings. He tried to run though his skills, looking for something that would help them. He went over the others' mutations. Sam's wings wouldn't be of any help to them unless they made it outside, but his superhuman vision might come in handy. Bucky and himself didn't really have anything useful either. That meant it would be up to Sam, Shuri and her technology and electricity manipulation, and Peter with his gravity-defying leaps and heightened senses.

"Okay, here's what we're gonna do," Clint said, matter-of-fact. This was more his element, pre-mission briefing and tactical training coming back to him from his days at S.H.I.E.L.D. "Sam, you and Peter are gonna scout ahead. With your vision and Peter's, uh... spidey senses, you guys should be able to get a read of our location. Look for signs, other students, and any doors leading outside."

He turned back to Shuri. "Do you have any way of like, tapping into the existing tech mainframes in the building, or like, follow electrical currents or something?" She frowned in thought for a moment.

Clint's gaze fell to Bucky, who was leaning against the wall, arms folded across his chest. "Me and you are gonna just. Hang out for a bit I guess. Until the others can find something." Bucky nodded, but didn't look at him or move from his sulking position. Clint sighed and ran a hand through his cropped blond hair. He wondered what happened to the injured.

They watched the other three make their way down the long hallway until they finally disappeared around a corner. Clint thought he might as well use the time they had waiting to get to know Bucky a bit better. The boy seemed surly and uncommunicative, but Clint figured it would pass the time, and maybe help him feel more at ease.

"So, uh," he started, clumsily, "Immortality, huh?" He winced at his unsympathetic bluntness, but Bucky didn't seem to care.

"Yep." Bucky popped the p, still refusing to look at Clint.

"That sucks, man." Clint said stupidly. "How long have you been, like, alive this time?"

Bucky paused, looking at the ceiling absently through his fringe. "Around 3 years, I think."

Clint was gonna avoid that topic, he got the sense it was a pretty heavy subject. "How did you find out about the academy? I heard about it from a friend here. She sent me a message a few weeks back about it, knew I was involved in some pretty uh, not great stuff and that I wanted an out." Clint didn't elaborate, not really ready to talk about his time with S.H.I.E.L.D. just yet. "It was hard to get away, but the academy seems pretty cool, I guess."

Bucky finally turned to him. "I also have a friend here," he said, his expression softening minutely. "I don't really remember him, but apparently we were close before I, well. Died. The last time. He's a good guy though."

"That's cool, that's cool," Clint nodded. He felt the silence stretch into awkwardness, but he didn't pay much attention.

----------
Loki // Alliance Academy Medical Dept

Loki hated being teleported. He preferred to use his own means, thank you very much. He especially loathed the way Professor Strange used his powers on others without asking, or ignoring their answer. Loki hated Professor Strange in general, really. Nevertheless, he shook his head briefly and scowled, shaking off the unpleasant feeling of the other's magic signature. Loki took in his surroundings and zeroed in on the tangle of students and teachers surrounding an unmoving figure on a bed about 10 feet away. He, along with Director Banner and the others had landed in the medical office waiting room, on the first floor of the main building. The walls shone a sterilized off-white colour, and the air smelled slightly of anti-septic. Loki never much liked the medical office, but as one of the few staff members with healing magic, he'd been bullied into spending more time there than he'd like. He weaseled his way through to the centre of the group, moving quickly. He was the only member of staff who had any experience with healing magics. The academy did have a nurse, but as this was orientation week, they were not in.

The injured party was a young man, around the age of most of the students at the academy, maybe a few years younger. His eyes were closed and he wasn't moving. Loki couldn't see immediate wounds, besides the lazy trickle of blood streaming from a cut along the hairline, but that did not comfort him. He reached out with his magic, eyes slipping shut as he concentrated on the young man's internals, looking for bleeding, organ injuries, and broken bones.

Loki stirred his magic, gently waking it and letting it rise to the surface. He loved the thrum of his magic just below his skin, always ready. Loki had several spells in place from the moment he stepped out his bedroom door to the moment he darkened it once more. He used a glamour to cover up his normally dark blue skin and red eyes, appearing more human, for lack of a better term. He loathed the curse he'd been given, a punishment from the gods for his mischief and lies, but had the good sense to be grateful for the magic that allowed him to cover it up.

And to heal. He brought himself back to the task at hand, placing a hand over the boy and began a check of his functions and injuries. The nervous chatter of students and a few teachers floated around him, until he heard Strange gently corral the students back to give Loki space to work. He felt the director approach on his left and spoke without turning to look at him.

"The boy had a mild concussion, a broken left wrist and a fractured left leg, as well as some mild internal bleeding," Loki said in an undertone, and Banner's eyebrows furrowed in concern and worry. Loki let his eyes slip closed, drawing his magic to him, feeling the currant flowing through his outstretched hands and fall gently on the boy's body in a green shimmer. The bones knit themselves back to wholeness, the internal bleeding was stopped and reversed, and the leg and head carefully examined.

Once Loki's magic had finished, the glow faded and retreated under his skin. He turned to the director once more.

"His bones have been healed, and the bleeding as well. I am cautious to work on his head wound, but I am confident he will make a full recovery." What Loki did not voice was his questions on how the boy came to be injured, or how he had been brought here. Was he a mutant, like them? That would make the most sense. If he was, there were no distinguishing signs, but then, there rarely was. Most powers granted rarely altered the body. Some, in Loki's case, were able to hide and work around their altered appearances, and some, like Korg, simply didn't seem to care, happy to trudge along in a body made of pebble and stone.

Sparing one last look at the boy, he left him in the care of Director Banner and the Valkyrie. They would surely start looking into the boy's identity and mutation, if any. The students began to disperse, still gossiping amongst themselves, and Loki turned to make his way inside. He didn't care to finish the interview he had been present for, and let Strange take care of completing it. Before he could reach the doorway, one of the young men from the interview group earlier appeared, looking stricken. Peter, Loki remembered. Peter took one look at the figure on the bed before letting out a muffled sob and running to the bedside.

It seemed Peter knew the young man. Loki decided this had gotten interesting again, and decided to stick around for a bit longer. Strange and the students were already gone, leaving the room much quieter, letting Loki slip back into the shadows to watch.

 

[femslasher]

Shuri // Alliance Academy, Orientation Interview Room No. 2

"Do you have any way of like, tapping into the existing tech mainframes in the building, or like, follow electrical currents or something?"

Hacking into the building's tech to help find their way... hm. This was definitely not what her brother had in mind when he dropped her off that morning, grinning from ear to ear as if he was eagerly throwing her to the wolves. It sure would make things more interesting than the usual orientation class. She frowned and muttered to herself, weighing how she should get this done, for far longer than absolute necessary. Not from lack of skill, but rather weighing the morality of what was asked of her. She didn't particularly want to get in trouble with the faculty... but being lost could be a good enough excuse. She didn't know this Director's reputation well enough to know how cut-throat or careless he was. What if she was expelled?

No, she hadn't even survived until the first day of classes so it wouldn't be an academic expulsion. Her acceptance letter would simply be cancelled. Another record of college failure under her belt and it wasn't even her intention this time, nor her choice.

She even somewhat wanted to be here. To give this one a try. It was an internationally renowned school for mutants, run by mutants. Exceptionally rare.

Yet before she knew it she was already pulling apart one of the computers on a side-table in the orientation interview room, getting elbow-deep in it, grabbing various cords tightly to feel the rhythm of the school's tech pulse through her. she could very well do it in a non-mutant way, a human way, the way she taught herself to integrate into Wakandan society if need be. She liked the humans in Wakanda, but most did not like her back and she knew tensions were high even there, in her homeland. Here, among American mutants, she didn't need to worry about being palatable. She could get the job done her way.

One hand kept tapping expertly on the keyboard while her other sneaked behind the computer to open it with ease, revealing its insides, grasping around for something to hold onto. As her fingers found plugged cords, her eyes glazed over and green number-adjacent symbols spread around her pupils, as if she herself was made of code. Green energy made the skin around her eyes pulsate with green and black energy. Her fists clenched tighter, before releasing the cords, fingers trailing green energy throughout the computer. She got out of its technological guts but, as her fingers tapped on its keyboard and hacked, her mind was still in there.

She traveled across the building, and could've traveled far beyond it without leaving the room. Right, left, left. Huge windows, long corridor, greenhouse. Nothing helpful. She needed to find a connection to something someone took with them when the teachers left. Phones? The entire school was full of phones, and it was not on her mind to memorize the distinct feeling of each when they left. She never expected to be in this situation, especially not at a renowned school, where she had expected to be guided to the right place and not have to rely on other young adults to find their way through a maze without losing their minds─

She had blinked back to the room she was in, tight annoyed breaths escaping her nose. She could vaguely hear the chatter from the two boys in the corridor trailing off. Alright. Thinking such things was not helping her. Nor making this any better. She needed to focus.

She couldn't rely on phones, and the only one with a smartwatch was the unreliable Professor Strange. The teleporter. She would have them rely on reaching him when he could teleport from one side of the enormous school to the other in the blink of an eye. It would be like trying to catch dust in the wind. No, she needed something memorable enough and with a unique enough technological trace not to lead her astray. As her focus sharpened once more, technology pathways guided her mind once again through many corridors and doors, through thick walls, from pocket to pocket. She knew students' and teachers' phones must be vibrating as she went past, confusing many. Technology flickered and glitched. She paid it no mind. She let herself be taken through physical cords and internet pathways invisible to the eye, from computers to smartphones to security doors to... a familiar pair bluetooth glasses. Bingo!

She remembered faintly noticing the technology's buzz in the orientation room when the Director wheeled in, and its connection fading as he wheeled out. It could control his wheelchair via eye movement in the event of a mechanical malfunction or loss of ability in his arms. It had been deactivated, but thankfully not turned off completely. She found it again. She hadn't taught twice about it at the time, but it was a small miracle now.

Eyes closed, she went right from the greenhouse. Gymnasium. It was empty, but there were some noises nearby. Right, right, ah... she felt ─ heard? ─ the vibrations of a large amount of computers. She zapped into one of the computer codes, observing through the webcam her surroundings. No one recognizable in sight, just some mutants goofing off, trying to impress newcomers. Ugh.

Before she left and awakened back to the physical world, she overheard a conversation from the computer's microphone.

"Don't go past the greenhouse, there's some kind of accident and Strange teleports kids out on sight."

A squeaky voice commented, "that just gets me more curious, man."

A different voice, equally pubescent, chimed in. "You threw up last time you teleported, my guy. It stank." Snorting laughter, as the two elbowed each-other in jest. "Let's just go." The other guy made vague noises that seemed to agree with the sentiment, and the duo walked away. Sneakers rang in the hall, and the third person left behind didn't make a peep after that.

That sounded like an emergency situation, one where the teachers from all over the school would swarm to it... bingo. Finding the teachers would mean finding the way out, or at least asking them for a way back to the rest of the group. And it would sate her building curiosity about what exactly was going on. She was only human, after all, and this was becoming much more interesting than the other college visits she had attempted (and bailed out of at the earliest opportunity).

They needed to reach the gymnasium, turn right twice, and look for a large amount of computers.

She blinked back to her actual location as the green and black energy left her skin tone, her eyes no longer full of mystical code languages, her fingers no longer spreading energy through the computer. She was back to looking like a regular human girl. Except, maybe, her hair a bit more tangled than usual from the electricity and energy manipulation, and her eyes glitching every now and then.

She went back in the hallway where the two boys were trying their best not to look at one another, their mouths opening at times only to close again.

"I see you've kept busy." Were mutant boys always this slow? They hadn't made themselves very useful, had they. She didn't pause for a reply, already thinking ahead and talking fast, "I know just where to go. Let's take the same route the others went, we can grab them on the way if they got lost."

She started walking in long strides, leaving the two to trail behind her. Not that they waited long, grateful for the end of their strained silence.

----------

Valkyrie // Alliance Academy Medical Dept

"This is unacceptable." Bruce's voice was not soft, not meek, not polite the way it usually was. He didn't say anything more, but he didn't need to.

"I went to the scene where it happened as soon as I heard. It was out of... pure malice. There were so many people throwing things much too heavy for his body, and as I arrived the crowd dispersed. Poor child didn't stand a chance, powers or no powers. If it had been adult humans doing it, it could have been much worse" Strange's voice was as monotone and clear as ever, but his face was too tensely held together to be relaxed. He liked being a neutral party, but neutral was not the main emotions permeating the room.

Even Val felt at a loss for words.

Although she found them soon enough when the kid whined and writhed in his sleep. Strange had drowsed him into unconsciousness at the kid's request so he could sleep through the pain and wake in an hour or two. "Do we know his name? Shit, do we even know for sure he's a mutant?"

"Yes. He was on his way here to apply, on his bike. Humans in the nearby city grow annoyed every year during the Alliance admission tours. His powers somewhat cushioned his wounds, but of course he still felt all the pain. I do not know what powers he possesses. We will need to await his relatives."

"What a way to introduce the school to them... hey, let your kid come here with other mutants instead of being an unpaid servant in a human school. We'll keep them safe! We'll teach them how to get along with humans! Hell, humans should be teaching their own kids how to not go on rampages, not us. This can't keep going on." Her voice raised and so did her hands, uselessly. "Bruce..."

Bruce only shook his head, and wheeled out of the room to collect himself. She knew he would be making difficult phonecalls. She knew he was blaming himself.

"Screw this. Will the humans even give any names of who did what? Any justice?"

Thor had been pacing back and forth, slow enough that she knew he was trying very hard to keep himself calm. He turned around and his arms folded tightly. In that moment he wasn't the goofy clumsy assistant anymore. "It was a crowd of children. We can't exactly bring thirteen year olds in court, can we."

"And we can't let this kid go back home with no reassurances, no changes, nothing other than a few sorry's and a piece of candy for his trouble."

"I'm sure the Director will have some way to help this."

"The Director is tearing himself apart over this!" She brought her voice down to a hush. "We need to do something to help him. He's not a miracle worker."

As if to prove her point, Bruce's raised voice could be heard, although words were hard to decipher with thick walls separating them from him. They all stood together around the boy, making slight movements of annoyance and frustration every now and then. Talking in circles, then shutting up again.

He was just a kid. There had been accidents before during this time of the year, but nothing as serious as this, and nothing involving so many humans.

Not for the first time and certainly not for the last, Bruce's dream utopia of human-mutant collaboration felt soured.

Well, shit. What a great start to the school year, Val thought to herself. What a mess.