Fantasy PHANTASMA: SCHOOL OF THE STRANGE

[MechaGhoul]

"You do realize, I need to get back to our lodgings. I'm not letting these children see my tattoos. It'll send the wrong message Sparkleskin." Achim noted as he took a brief look around, looking for any man his size to mug. While it wouldn't be the most polite thing to do, these people were French and this was the bad end of town. So they were probably criminals anyhow. And so he would need to assert himself and steal their shit.


But hey, he was on the track back to the lodgings. So he could get his actual stuff back. Really, he knew he would engage in whichever action was quicker. "You know you are making up words on the spot for describing the architecture right? However, given the fact the events that have progressed so far have been fitting for the Absurdist Genre, you are fully obliged to do so."

 

[CSA]

As Lily watched over the small girl on her flower, she received a text message from that jerk Vampire teacher. She glared down at her phone for a few seconds before setting it aside. Lily wasn't going anywhere at the moment, grades be damned. She would either have to wake Anya up, which she wasn't going to do because the girl actually seemed to be at peace for the moment, or go by herself.


Well, Lily had learned not too long ago the sort of things that could happen if she left Anya alone for even a second. She wasn't going to do that again. No, the two would remain safe in this room until Susie got back. Then, with any luck, maybe she would trick Anya into thinking this was all a dream by stitching her back up in her sleep.


"Yeah, maybe it would be best if she thought it never happened. Lying to her like that instead of helping her to overcome it may not be the morally right thing to do, but I bet she'd be happier like that. I want her to be happy. She should enjoy childhood. Childhood should be enjoyed, right? Bad things shouldn't happen to kids. Especially sweet, innocent little kids like her."

 

[Blumenkranz]

Huge amounts of ammonia, lots of bleach, some flasks of sulfuric acid, similar quantities of hydrochloric acid, a tiny bit of yttrium... Natalya wondered what could a cleansing company need yttrium for, but she was not one to complain. This, along other 138 unnamed products, would be enough for the teacher's little improvised laboratory on wheels.


[dice]7267[/dice]


A few nondescript procedures later that should not be performed inside a vehicle, much less a moving vehicle, a tiny jar full of a yellow translucent liquid laid between the petite Russian's fingers. Natalya's All Smiles Mix Special had just been successfully synthesized in the back of a little van.


"GREAT NEWS, ALBATROSS!" - said Natalya as she violently slammed open the cargo bay's back doors with a kick. "We have enough paralysis toxins to make Yoda's skin as smooth as a baby's! Also to confine him to a wheelchair for the rest of his life, but that's the price of beauty" - she continued - "We also have some leftover chemicals we can use later to, huh... have some fun, if you want".


The teacher looked around the place as she carelessly flipped the small jar through her fingers. "Oh, this is the New Louvre, right? I have always wanted to visit this place! I heard they have some beautiful pieces of modern art!".

 

[MechaGhoul]

Susie glanced back at Natalya as she smacked open the doors with a kick. Ah, it warmed her heart to knew she would be raiding with someone who understood the importance of dramatically kicking doors down like that. "Old Louvre, actually. But er yes, the New Louvre does have some nice stuff. Anyhow oooh drugs. Should be useful, especially if we can get the sneak on them."


The Elf paused for a moment, "Hnm. Deepends on what those chemicals do. For ah whether or not I'd partake. But yes, the New Louvre is a fascinating and enjoyable place. Probably should hit it up later, before leaving back to school." She quickly clasped her hands together and clapped. "Anyway, before we strike, and bring oh so glorious bloodshed. Just give me a moment to scry out the place kay?"


Upon finishing that, Susie sat down cross-legged and clasped her hands together. She began humming to herself, as from the very bowels of the earth arose bright white auras, which began warping and twisting into small orbs. Upon their summoning, they began the most important task.


The Old Louvre was to be scryed for the following; securing the location of the bus and the criminal ne'er do wells, noting any particular passage ways that would be useful for chokeholds, the ventilation system and just to provide a decent mental map of the place before heading in.


[dice]7298[/dice]

 

[ComradeSenpai]

Past the front door was a large foyer, the remains of what was once a grand chandelier hanging from the dusty ceiling. Spread around were several rows of barren halls, their walls long stripped of ancient artworks, only to become the home of insects and stray hobos.


Some ways in was a large room that may once have held a physically expansive exhibit; now it was converted into a makeshift apartment for a group of various demihumans, most notably a centaur. The school bus lay in the corner of one room, with a lizardman and gnoll were still fiddling with it, examining the engine and blu-ray player, plus Richter's collection of road trip CD's.


The room also contained a set of grimy furniture, including a portable stove and rather large, albeit dusty television and pile of various films and games. The centaur, a ratman, and a sentient koala with a gnarly scar over his eye were gathered around the television, watching Adam Sandler's greatest hits.


One room was closed shut with a heavy padlock. A wisp traveled to the other side. Though it was almost completely dark save a dim, fluttering bulb, an assortment of women, a portion of whom were restrained, either by cages or chains bolted to the wall, were collected about. The sound of choked crying and hoarse whispers echoed from a few.

 

[MechaGhoul]

Susie opened her eyes back up, and stood upright. "Kay. Finished Miss Basic Sunny~!" Susie declared with a smile, and a small clap. Now for the intel. "Our main prize is in one of the larger exhibit halls. The other items, eye, dress and what not, will probably be there as well. Anyway back to the room description and noise! There are five individuals beastmen of note in the 'main room', ratman, lizardman, gnoll, centaur, and uplifted koala. And the former gallery exhibit hall main room has also kinda kinda furnished to serve as a living space. Has a stove, and television, furniture, stuff like that to be more comfy to the base. And ah, three of them are watching the tv and the other two are mucking about with the bus still. Er anyway, main entrance just takes us to an empty foyer. And besides some small bugs, majority of the halls are empty."


Turning to her unholy abomination, she patted Ferdie on the head. "Although some have homeless. Just make sure they don't scream really loudly okay? OH and parts." The abomination tapped his claws together, "I can confirm there will be corpses if we get the hobos." The elf turned her attention back to Natalya, "Oh! Oh! And there is another locked room where they are keeping other women locked up. The room is just shut by a single padlock. We need to go there, after we secure the spoils of course. Hell probably one of the beastmen has the key to it, if we don't just do the more obvious way of brute forcing it open. But er." The elf shook her head.


"E-euhm, d-do you think that er-" The necromancer tapped her index fingers together twice before continuing the speech, "Is that er e-enough intel for you? Anyway, shouldn't be too much trouble just going straight through the main entrance."

 

[MechaGhoul]

And lo, through a long and treacherous journey, Achim had made it back to the shoddy hotel. He grumbled out to himself, unaware if his colleague was following him on his route back to the shoddy hotel, or if he chose a different manner of travel to get to the New Louvre. He smirked as he noticed the shattered remains of the doors that were caused by Natalya's earlier rampage. "Hn, maybe I should check if any of the kids were patiently waiting in the room. I can't imagine all of them were brave enough to traverse the place." He grumbled out to himself. "Especially that one kid; that really nice girl, with a sense of purity that would even make angels blush. I hope that Arachne girl is safe and sound."


What truly mattered, is that his stuff was still there. With haste, the man re-dressed himself in his biker boots, torn jeans and a bright cyan turtleneck, and a plain leather 'scouting jacket' heavily worn from use.

 

[MechaGhoul]

"Y'know just outta curiosity, did you ask them about a decent vendor?" Ferdie idly inquired. Susie pondered for a moment before realizing what he wanted to know. Some members of her Coven sold body-parts for various reasons. Sometimes they just had too much in stock, other times they just wanted a quick buck. And of course there were people who wanted undead to be commissioned for them. From the bulk-orders of zombies to specially designed creeps, they would be made and sold off to all sorts of scoundrels. Occasionally a goodhearted but misguided and naive fool would come for organs to help some sick loved one, or try to get them raised or something like that from the Black Market. They of course, were charged much more than the scoundrels and needed to be up charged like the tourists they were.


The elf gave a single nod to her unholy creature companion. "Yup!" She spoke up eagerly, "Though I still need to keep scrying on the marketplace. Always good to be safe, especially with my little lovelies!~"


The Necromancer clasped her hands together and smiled. Then again, that gesture was meaningless behind a gas-mask. "But anyway, I was recommended to check on 'Badger'. She said he provided his suppliers good pay, and his customer orders are mostly bulk. I'm not familiar enough with the States client base to trust a single one of those for a special order. So it should be a good start to familiarize myself with the area marketplace." Susie stated before peering in close to her undead monster. And then with a mischievous smile, masked by a mask she spoke. "And she said he has a tight ass."


The unholy creature began laughing hysterically. "Gwahahahahahahah! I guess I know which segment of the creature he is. If he ever crosses you that is, or sells your stock to less than reputable customers, who won't love and care for the product."


Susie wagged her finger at Ferdie. "Feeeeeerdiiiiiiieeee." The elf admonished of her abomination. "Even if you aren't living with them, don't refer to your brothers and sisters like that as 'stock'. They are lovely people and you will treat them with civility and politeness."


"And if this Badger ever..." She clutched her right hand in anger. "Ever, ever sells one of my little dearies to a BAD HOME, I will make sure he will regret ever being born; and I will derive much pleasure from his horrified shrieks." With that she unfurled her hand.


The unholy creature peered at Susie before speaking. "Yeah yeah JEEZ. It's not like I actually insulted any of the family members." With a quick kick at the ground he grumbled out, "I miss lil bro."


"Awwwww I knew you did!~" The elf spoke in a sickly singsong voice. The abomination sneered, "Can we just get a move on? We got the map, lets pillage."


The Necromancer snapped her fingers together, "Oh yeah! It'll be fun!" She glanced back at Natalya, "Basic Suuuuuuny~, I call dibs on first blood!" And with that she ran off eager to fulfill her desire of slaughter.


-----------------------------------


Achim, now fully prepared and dressed, swaggered off into the hallway of the roach hotel that hosted the students.


Indiscriminately he began bashing on the doors of the various rooms that he presumed held the students. "Hey kids, if you're there come on out!" He shouted out, "It's time for a learning adventure! Can't imagine you'd want to stay in a room all day." Achim briefly thought of the Iso-Cube before going to the various doors and smacking it again.

 

[CSA]

Lily, having heard the knocking and shouting taking place up until her own door, covered the sleeping Anya's ears so that she would not be awoken. When Achim got to their own door, Lily called back. Thankfully she would not have to be too loud, as the Alraune was fairly certain that the walls were made of papier mache.


"N-not right now, teach, I'm busy," Lily replied, sounding slightly rushed and more than likely suspicious.


"Ugh, I nearly forgot about the teachers. Probably because they weren't HERE while one of their students got kidnapped but whatever. I just want to be left alone, dammit. I'm really not in the mood to go out, especially since that will involve waking Anya and taking her outside. Where bad things happen to sweet, innocent children."

 

[ComradeSenpai]

The Louvre was a straight shot for Susie to head to the room where the kidnappers lay. Upon seeing a busty, spandex-clad elf with her face concealed by a gasmask, the centaur could only utter one sentence: <Shit, it's MI6! They must have traced us through our website!>


The lizardman and gnoll scrambled from the bus, each bearing a crowbar. The ratman loaded a shell into a single-barrel hunting shotgun, and the centaur wielded a large, batclaw-like grappling hook.


BEGIN BOSSFIGHT: PARISIAN KIDNAPPERS


-------------------------


"I dunno, Achim, I don't think it's necessary to change." Richter called to the biker, still clad in his homerotic vampire-cowboy attire.


"I find this attire quite... liberating. Don't you? Surely fit for the Parisian masses."

 

[MechaGhoul]

The rushed and suspicious response, was in fact detected. Achim knew it could've been many things; however due to his personal past experiences he knew that it probably lent itself to dispose of drugs and evidence when Five-o came knocking. Or it could be a Code 38. The important thing was that he needed to fix the shady situation. But before he made his initial remark to the shady student, his colleague still in that disguised called back to him.


Achim just stared blankly at Richter, "G-get on some decent clothes. Don't set a poor example for our stu-" And that's when he noticed a few of the students wander out, staring at Richter for various reasons. With his mouth agape, he realized he'd have to explain that nonsense as well. But first thing is first, he needed to get all the students. He needed to reach this kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiid.


"Hey, I could understand where you're coming from." Achim stated, coming straight off the cuff in trying to establish the dialogue. Of course he'd need to play fast and furious in order to get the results he wanted. Or he could always break in the door and drag the kid out. But that would be a last ditch method. "All I'd need is just a quick explanation of what you're doing in there. Y'know, if you're scared of this place, you can just say so."


Glancing back at Richter he spoke up, "Right, well most of them look out of the rooms. You know where the place is?"


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Susie gave a blood-thirsty and rather malevolent grin as they prepared themselves in defense. The elf briefly pondered on what scraps she should save for Basic Sunny. Casually the necromancer flicked her index finger through her hair, spinning a strand of hair about.


Licking her lips, Suzette Bellerose was ready to slaughter these creatures. The cutest, the Centaur would be saved for last. And really more to the point, a Centaur should be stronger in the body than the others. And Susie really needed to make sure that the last one could take a pounding. Hopefully, it was like the more feral ones. Oh well, she had time to secure her favorite prey.


She held out her right hand, palm side down, and slowly waggled her fingers. From the tips of her fingers emerged sickly green ethereal threads that reached down into the ground below. With a flicker of her fingers upwards, she dragged a spectre from the ground.


The creature summoned was humanoid like in its appearance. Upon the ectoplasmic region which appeared to be a face, there was only a bright blue grin. Susie spun the strings and twisted it to so that the creature faced its opposition. She leaned in close towards the spectre as she ran her left fingers down its ghostly torso.


<Destroy its soul my darling...> the Necromancer whispered to her creature, as she removed she gestured towards the Lizardman. She flicked upon the strings as the creature flew towards the Lizard. The ethereal strings were now gone, as the ghost proceeded to pass through the Lizard-man and go devastate his soul in a most horrific manner.





[dice]7944[/dice]

 

[CSA]

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah," replied Lily hastily, "I'm scared. And not having our teachers anywhere nearby and without any decent way of contacting them certainly didn't help."


Looking around, it occurred to Lily that if a teacher entered the room by force, they would see a half-dressed Alraune holding a little girl that was not only woefully underdressed in only an undershirt and fish print undies, but who also had one of Lily's skirts slung around her shoulder and was wearing Lily's own underwear on her head as a hat.


"Shit," mumbled Lily. That probably wouldn't look great, even though nothing was happening and they were both girls anyways. Lily gently tried to remove the skirt that Anya was wearing as a sash so that she could slide it on properly.


"So, like, don't even worry," Lily called, "Nothing weird is happening in here, you know? I just don't really wanna go outside. It seems like a bad part of town. That's all and nothing else."

 

[ComradeSenpai]

"Hang on." Richter said, pushing forward.


"Your teachers are here now, so stop being such a pansy and come on out." the vampire called, brushing some body glitter off of his shoulders.


"The Neo-Louvre is in a good-ish part of town, and even if it wasn't you could use the learning. This is why the school's test scores are so low." he called, emphasizing by rapping on the door with his fist.

 

[CSA]

Lily desperately shoved the skirt she had removed from Anya's shoulder up the girl's legs and grabbed for the pair of underwear on her head as she heard a fierce rapping at the door. It was a good thing that they didn't just barge in sooner, but there was still more to do.


"N-no," Lily cried back as she looked around for a proper shirt for Anya, "the test scores are low because the school spent all of its funding on a stupid bus, tried to justify it by dragging a bunch of children to a sex motel in Paris, and left them all alone in a bad part of town to go do God knows what!"


"Damn, I know I must have at least ONE shirt suitable for a child to wear. Right?"

 

[ComradeSenpai]

"Did.... Did she just talk shit about the bus?" Richter whispered, his eye twitching involuntarily.


"Achim! She's talking shit about the bus!" he shouted, and began banging ever louder with his fist.


"THAT BUS IS A GIFT UNTO THIS WORLD. YOU AND I ARE GOING TO HAVE WORDS WHEN YOU COME OUT."

 

[CSA]

Lily gritted her teeth as that annoying teacher continued to shout. He had no idea what Lily and Anya had already been through that day and his ignorant hollering served only to piss her the Hell off. Lily quickly dipped her finger into her pollen sac and gently touched a small amount just under Anya's nose. Hopefully the pollen would keep her asleep throughout all the noise that bastard was making.


"Oh?" Lily called back, a cruel smile creeping up along her seductive lips, "Like that bus, do you? Then you'll be eager to know that it seems to have been taken while you were absent. Yeah, it was probably hoodlums or street people!"


Lily laughed. She so wished that she could see that bastard's face right now, but she was busy at the moment.


"Yeah, it's probably been ridden by at least ten other men already! That sleek, pure paint job? Probably marred by graffiti like the tricked-out tramp it really is! Ha! Perhaps you shouldn't have so readily abandoned it along with your students in a neighborhood like this! Well, who knows? Maybe one of the ten dudes that rode the bitch is a real man that can properly protect it and treat it like the bus it is you pitiful, inadequate eunuch!"


For some reason, hurling sadistic insults made Lily feel nice and a little tingly. She kind of wished she could do it more often, but she had responsibilities now. Anya, at least, certainly should not be hearing such language at so tender and young an age. Lily had to keep things like that in mind.

 

[MechaGhoul]

Achim was musing on thoughts most enthralling. Then the subject of the bus and the ramblings of the student came up. Glancing at Richter the biker casually spoke in a whisper. "First off, why haven't you gone mist form and just infiltrate the room? Second off, this is just like Rio. Remember? Right, I..." Achim took a breath in and a breath out.


"Right I may have to go back to the Detroit Method, in solving this." Achim grumbled to Richter, "But for now, roll with me here." glanced at Richter. Hopefully the man would understand the Good Cop, Bad Cop technique that he would put in play here. "What do you think you're doing man!? She's just a kid! Get outta here and get some air, you need to calm down." After this bit of the dialogue was established, hopefully he could direct the narrative in a more suitable direction.

 

[CSA]

"Yeah, get him outta here," Lily called back, quickly agreeing with Achim. The Lit teacher, at least, seemed like someone reasonable that she could talk to. At least when compared to that shrieking leech. Out of the two, Achim truly was the more likely to reach this kid.


Though not nearly as likely as a female with similar qualifications.


"Look, my lullaby last night was the sound of paid-for love next door followed by what I'm certain was homicide. Forgive me if I'm not too eager to venture outside just yet. Besides, Anya and I have already had a pretty rough day and I want to let her get some much needed rest. Rest that I have to be present for because apparently I'm the only responsible person in this whole school! Oh, the board will hear about this! And this time they'll actually do something about it! Probably."

 

[ComradeSenpai]

"Listen, being a teacher isn't always kicking down doors and getting out of lots of drug charges because you're legally dead." Richter explained in a hushed whisper.


"If we kick down the door, we're basically her parents, but if she comes out on her own, we've got her mind in our hands. Metaphorically." he continued, wiggling his fingers for emphasis.


"Anyways. OH YEAH?" Richter shouted back at Achim. "Well maybe I will get some air! Not because I need it; I just like taking it from you, breathers."


Turning to the hotel door, he continued, "And as for you! Living in bad areas builds character! That bad day you've had is just a metaphorical road bump on the way to literal success. You'll probably become a chief financial officer because of this! They make a decent wage, you know!"


With that, the vampire turned, raising his nose as some glitter fell off his ass.


"...By the way, isn't she talking about the third grader in there with her? Shouldn't that one especially come? I hear children's brains are like sponges."

 

[MechaGhoul]

Achim gave a small smile. Excellent, it appeared the narrative was progressing in a way he wanted it to go. The student was seemingly opening up, and even threatening him with a completely ludicrous threat. The board actually doing something. After many, many 'shenanigans' while teaching, the board if it was going to act, would've by now. And then his associate reminded him of that event with the drug charges, and that force was not necessary.


However, he would not result to the Detroit Method so soon. That was only when it was the last result to reach those kids. And so Richter, realizing the narrative being set-up fulfilled his role. The vampire took his role as the Bad Cop. However, he did make a point that he felt like answering.


"I'd need a last name." Achim whispered back towards Richter, "I have like seven Anyas in Art Class. Literally, it's seven and they have different spellings of it. Anyway, back to work." Achim yelled back towards Richter, "GO ON THEN!" And so, with the dialogue exchanged he could now respond to the kid and get the narrative working so she would willingly exit her room and do what a good student would do, and follow the teachers on the field trip.


"Man, what a stiff." Achim noted while at the door, "Doesn't seem to care about the students or their valid concerns y'know? But anyway, hey I getcha. Sleeping in a less than reputable motel ain't everyone's cup of joe. You got a good head on your shoulders; I mean you show sympathy for the fellow students. Why don't you just come on out, and we can discuss things like rational and reasonable adults?"

 

[CSA]

Lily grimaced as the leech went off on a tangent about 'building character'. While it was true that Lily had been through her share of hardships and ended up as the awesome, perfect, beautiful girl that she was, she was always destined for perfection. If anything, her hardships were cruel, damaging, and ultimately pointless. Anya didn't deserve something like that, especially considering that while Lily could grow back as many eyes as she needed, Anya was not so resilient. Physically or emotionally.


Being a Vampire and a man, however, those things probably never even occurred to Richter. Therefore, the Alraune found herself smirking when he left. He brought nothing to the discussion. It felt almost like a 'good cop, bad cop' sort of thing, but honestly, both of the teachers were idiots and men. She doubted they could even stumble upon something as moderately clever as that trick. Then, Achim began to speak. For a man, Lily didn't entirely hate the cut of his jib.


"Yeah," Lily agreed quickly, "I do have concerns with a degree of validity! A high degree, in fact!"


The man began losing her, however, when he not only asked her to step outside, but also implied that she was not an adult.


"Like adults? You want to do this like adults? You must understand that that card went out the window the second you left a bunch of little girls alone in this neighborhood! I'm the only one here who's shown even a modicum of adulthood! Before we go any farther, I want you to verbally recognize this and take responsibility for it like the adult you're supposed to be. You seem like you might actually be concerned about your students. How do you plan to reach us when you can't even be counted on? When the responsibility we're supposed to have is conspicuously absent from the people we should be looking up to? I might come out if what I hear satisfies me. Or, of course, you could barge in like a brute and prove your own childish ignorance. Really, it's your call."

 

[MechaGhoul]

Good, good. The narrative was flowing forth as Achim had intended for it to go. He was starting to get the child to get out of that blasted room. Achim grinned, this would be just like the Montanari Job. Just a few casual bites over some canoli, and they proved to be some fine allies to the Gargoyle Crew.


But, this was not like the Montanari Job. This was like the Mori Clan Fiasco. The only difference was that he wasn't getting shot at or attacked with high frequency katana blades forged from glorious Chinese steel, due to some misunderstandings. The primary misunderstanding being the very fact Achim mistook one of the high ranking ladies of the clan as a hooker/entertainer for him and the other members of the Crew. Needless to say, that was not a good day in Detroit. Well it was. It was loads of fun, but it didn't fulfill the Gargoyle Crew's mission. So it was a bad day.


The Narrative was shifting into an unwanted direction. Achim would need to reel it in. First would be by addressing the points made. Which were frankly quite valid to the Hellscape Biker. "Y'know, really it is true. As members of the faculty, we are responsible not only for educating the youth, but safeguarding it. I claim responsibilities for the failure to safeguard my own students. By allowing the boys and girls of the school, into a situation that would be a threat to them was an irresponsible and rather horrid deed. Every student should be kept as safe as possible."


Achim paused as he stated, "However, we as teachers need to prepare you for the real world. It is a nasty and brutish place, and I need to make sure by the time you leave, you are ready to face the horrors of the world." Achim shook his head. "Really oughta take more classes to Dungeons." Achim grumbled to himself, knowing that Dungeons were a fairly good spot to teach kids about the horrors of the world. Also they always had loot, which could fund the school.


"But, even though we need to prepare you for the horrors of life, the process should have been eased into. And that was certainly not what happened here. I regret that you and your fellow students were left without any guide. And I know you can't fully trust me right now, for my actions that I have done. All I can do, is take the responsibility for the situation and all the things that will come from it. Which I will gladly do, even if it doesn't restore a modicum of faith that my students have in me. Because it is the right course of action for me to take, I will do it. Mistakes were made, and I am at fault for them. For myself, all I can do is try to get better day by day. All I want, is just the chance to redeem myself in the eyes of my students, so I can help them on their own path."

 

[CSA]

"Wow, that was better than I expected," replied Lily happily, feigning a ditzy schoolgirl voice, "I'm, like, completely convinced by your sincerity! I'll be out totes soon, alright?"


Lily waited for a few seconds before speaking again, this time in her normal tone.


"Or I would, if there weren't so many qualifiers attached to your concession. See how that is? It's kind of a bitch, huh? A slap in the face? An insult to your intelligence? Who do you think you're dealing with? I'm not an idiot, you know. When I hear you, I should be hearing repentance and solemn shame. Not flimsy justifications and excuses. I don't want to hear about how nice you think it is to sit a 9-year-old child in a sex motel next to a hooker room because it's supposed to reflect the 'real world'. That's jacked, and you know it. Sure you can backpedal a little near the end and maybe you think you can get away with it, but not with me. A literature teacher should damn well know better. Now, I want you to start again and I don't want that insincere shit anywhere near your apology. You can think it, you can roll your eyes, and you can smirk as much as you want. I don't care. But the second it comes out of your mouth, your whole speech becomes a flippant mockery."


Lily wasn't compromising on this apology. Not after everything Anya had to go through because these people thought it was cool to abandon a bunch of children in a foreign country surrounded by inequity. Meanwhile, having removed her own undies from Anya's head and having given her a skirt, Lily continued looking for a proper shirt. If only she had more clothes that didn't look like they were tailored for harlots.

 

[MechaGhoul]

Yup. It was just like the Mori Clan Fiasco, even with the part regarding a feigned ditzy response when the 'apology' fell through. Only this time it was more believable as it was only slightly different from the voice of the one doing it. Achim was still amazed at how husky Fang-Hua's voice was. It was probably the result of some curse.


However the biker could not let his mind wander. His narrative-well dialogue to be perfectly honest- needed to be secured. Achim would need to make adjustments to the script he had plotted out in his head. The treasured dialogue would not fail. For the biker really didn't want to resort to his collection of Vogon Poetry in application of the Detroit Method.


The child vented and seemed unamused by the editorial choices the biker made. Despite the fact that really it wasn't as bad as made out. Really it was still quite likely that Troll Raiders would come and destroy your city. Or that real chance that a giant dragon could slaughter your friends and take you hostage as part of your hoard. You could be living in the Vampire Dictatorship as a piece of Cattle. You could've gone too overboard with cybernetics and lost your sense of humanity. Perhaps you could've end up as a personal plaything of a Lich. Or perhaps you could've found your own soul sealed into a magical artifact used for cleaning pipes. Either way there were countless other far more horrible things out there.


Comparatively, maybe what happened wasn't as bad to other dangerous things that happened. Especially if you had a cleric or a couple of pots on hand, sleeping in a dirty motel room was an eased in situation to live in the real world of horrific monsters and transhumanist technology.


However that would contradict Achim's dialogue chain and that would not be mentioned. As he did mention it was bad, and saying it was not as bad would hinder it. For that is what happened, as what was noted.


Clearly the script called for Achim to reword dialogue. After all, the purpose of this scene was to get 'Uncooperative Student'' out of the room. And the Literary Teacher would not allow the narrative structure go off its path. And that was to remove this student from the room with dialogue.


"Any other potential mitigating factors shall be ignored for the sake of this." Achim noted. In the back of his mind he pondered on the condition of all the other students. Hell if he didn't try to reach this one student, he could've been working on educating them more instead. But every kid could get reached; there were simply different tactics involved in getting to them.


"So, I will grant your request." Achim checked his jacket pocket to see if he still had any cigarettes. He did, but someone may have nicked the lighter; or he misplaced the lighter again. Whatever he didn't need to smoke yet.


"I apologize for the deeds done to the students. Through them I've brought shame upon myself, and put my students in a situation they shouldn't have been in."


Right only time would tell how the dialogue would go. Achim would mold it and forge it into its proper path.

 

[CSA]

Lily smirked as her teacher finally apologized properly. Of course Anya couldn't hear it, and it didn't make anything that had happened right, but for Lily's own sense of satisfaction it had to be done. And who knows? Maybe it was even a little sincere, and the teachers would actually start thinking before doing these things.


Well, if not for her, then at least for the bus. Lily stood up, and gently rearranged Anya on her flower so that the child would be comfortable. With that, she walked slowly towards the door.


"See what happens when you act like an adult and take responsibility? Don't you feel a little better now? With that, I'll open the door a crack. You've earned it by now. See, we can talk like adults. We can reach mutual understanding through compromise and dialogue. Mind, this doesn't mean I'll vacate the room just yet, but it's possible if we try to understand each other."


Of course, Lily didn't plan to leave the room at all. Opening the door a crack, while a gamble, was a ploy. If she showed the teacher that progress could be made, he'd be more likely to continue talking rather than breaking into her room. Lily wouldn't put it past any teacher at this school to do something like that, after all. In addition, if he felt that Lily was open to change in the first place, he would be far more likely to concede and go away after a little discussion.


The downside, of course, was that opening the door a crack would make it that much easier to just pull her out by force, if they decided to go that route. At this point, however, Lily was more likely to get exactly what she wanted by complying a little bit. With that, she carefully opened the door a crack.


Of course, if she managed to catch a glimpse of Richter still there as she peeked out, that would be that. She would know that her teachers had lied to her and tried to trick her, and she would shut the door right there. No more compromises would be made, and she'd do what she could to stay right there until the field trip was over.