(Twi) Twilight XI: School Days

[Draxx]

Archer
"Good. Wear something naughty." He says, strokes her cheek once, then turns and to the door, dressed in just his pants, his shroud and shirt folded over one arm. Were she to have looked, properly looked, in that moment, she'd notice the holy light is not emanating from him after all. Then he's gone, and she missed her chance. Archer is feeling fairly good, actually. Light had been set into motion, set up and effectively destroyed because of that. Now he'd really better do something about the prince.

Though a shower should probably come first. Get clean, and figure out what the prince was up to. Shirou had fought for him most of the war, and though he was well past loyalty he understood that he'd be equally hard to take down.

Shirou
He helps himself to one, nibbling it like a judge inspecting it's worthiness, then his eyes light up. Delicious, the nuts accentuate the flavor perfectly. He makes a mental note to ask for the recipe.

Shirou took cooking fairly seriously. To the point of keeping his servants out of the kitchen and doing it all himself.

[industrious]

Cass and Steph

"Yes!"

Steph pumps a fist in the air, before snatching the bowl and storing the cookies somewhere only she will know.

Cass looks at her.

"What? He never gives me any cookies. You probably get them airmailed every day."

"Twice a week."

"Still more than I get."

Steph reemerges from her room to begin the arduous task of beginning to microwave tater tots, opening bags of shredded American cheese, and taking out a casserole dish in preperation for the Brown Family Casserole. A truly ancient and sacred family recipe that could be made on the cheap.

[Colesign]

Leavenworth Smedry

My, what a primitive weapon. All full of complicated parts and stuff. Smedry thinks to himself.

Hmmm...without my talent, though, an accident might happen. Best be a bit clever....

He casually rests a hand in one of his tiny tuxedo pockets.

Then he spits the barrel of the gun out and remarks casually.

"I'm afraid I can't help you, Zim. Sorry about that. I suppose you'll have to shoot me."

Off handedly, he adds "Your funeral though. What with all the acid and stuff."

[Corvond]

Leavenworth Smedry
For a moment, you think he's going to call your bluff and splatter you across the room. Then his eyes narrow, and he removes the gun. "Aha! You're human reverse psychology. As if an Irken could be so easily fooled by such a primitive trick. If I matyr you, I'll never get to meet the leaders. Well played."

Despite yourself, hope blooms in your chest as he replaces the massive gun. Could he really have given up already, scared off by your admittedly fairly hollow bargaining position? Then he draws something else out, something like the business end of a vacuum cleaner, as sharp and spiky as the previous one, and you feel it die very quickly.

"So I'll harvest your brain. Then you won't be able to keep any secrets at all. I'll put it in a robot, and program it to do everything I tell it to do, and that will include providing gold stars and telling secrets! Ha! Try and talk your way out of that one!"

Souske
He is beginning to get frustrated. The old man just stands there, like a dear caught in the headlights. He tries not to resent people for not having his training, but it really is hard when they simply stand in a killzone waiting for the matter to resolve itself rather then extricate themselves.

Should he compromise his cover and let the thing get messy, given that in a firefight the old man would almost definitely die, or should he just wait in place?

He resolves to wait. If he does act in a way that kills the old man then the entire excursion was an exercise in pointlessness. Far better to simply wait for a better opportunity to end the matter neatly.

[nanobot_swarm]

Black Dynamite
He nods his head, "Well that's good then, the kids being safe and all."
The question asked makes him turn a bit confused, he raises his eyebrow and responds with, "Hmmm. Now that I think about it, I guess there is a posibility that magic could exist, though without definite proof, I am skeptical of its exisyence. Usually it can be explained through clever trickery, or a lack of understanding of natural phenomena by the people observing, who, lacking any understanding of what is occuring, will believe sorcery is involved. But, if you happen to be refering to Disney magic, then no, Disney is a horrible, twisted, messed-up, and psychotic organization that tries to assert the dominance of European culture over all others. They are my sworn enemy, ever since they released Song of the South, and I will not stop until it is destroyed. Though I will admit Fantasia is pretty good."

[Colesign]

Leavenworth Smedry

[I wasn't clear on whether Souske was visible to Smedry in the first place

Leavenworth Smedry narrows his eyes, and it's Zim's turn to feel intimidated.

Leavenworth acts like a goofy eccentric man...because he is a goofy eccentric man. But's he's seen his way through things that would put Zim into instant Alien cardiac.

And he has a very bushy Mustache.

"As you wish." He says suddenly. "It'll be really easy: so easy, in fact, that I'll make it more challenging for myself, and use only two words. Besides the ones I just used right now."

He pauses for dramatic effect.

"Teddy Bear."

From his pocket, he whips out a huge, fluffy, alarmingly cute purple teddy bear, batting aside the brain sucker...and then shoving several liters of Pure. Fluffy. Cuteness into Zim's face.

Then he runs away, tossing aside the Teddy Bear's tag as he goes.

[Corvond]

Zim
He tosses the infernal thing aside, giving a small scream of mingled disgust and horror at being confronted with such a horrifying testament to the incomprehensible insanity of humans, then pauses a moment to congratulate himself at avoiding the man's foolish attack.

Then, noting the man has done a runner, he fires his gun, extracting, quite messily, Smedry's shinbone, which exits from the back of his leg with a sort of glooping sound and a spray of blood. Lets see him run now. "NOBODY ESCAPES ZIM!" He yells at the top of his voice, loud enough to startle a few birds nestling in the rafters several buildings down, and draw the attention of anyone close enough to hear.

[darkblade]

((Souske can't see Smedry.))

Souske

Bella glares at you and tries to shove you out of her way. "Out of the way Eleven."

This is the girl you are supposed to be protecting.

***

Zim and Smedry

"It's time." Alice says as she pushes Smedry off to the side away from the energy blast. She instead take the attack to the stomach. She falls to the ground clutching a large hole in her stomach, amber fluid leaking out where blood should.

***

Dynamite

"Not quite what I meant. Suppose their was a source of energy that existed within the human soul that allowed different variants on the human physiology. The so called Mutants or Alphas being examples, they do not fit into normal evolutionary patterns after all. That would be magic."

***

Lelouch

As you look around the school you catch sight of Panty and Archer leaving the empty classroom.

***

Archer and Panty

As you leave you find Lelouch passing in the hallway.

***

Stocking

As you walk back towards the class (which is canceled due to the attacks on the school) when a young dark skinned boy approaches you. "Hey you're Panty Anarchy."

***

Sebastian

"You've been around long enough to know why a Code does anything. Demons are much more enigmatic in their motives." C.C. explains.

***

Batgirls and Shirou

You got thirty minutes before Bruce's scheduled check in call. Make the most of it before someone finds out something he shouldn't.

***

Gary

You get a similar e-mail back that roughly translates to.

"Don't worry about Mr. Oliver your objective is the mutant who we are almost certain is a student. Keep an eye on Cassandra Caine and Bella Swan. Good luck."

"Anything else your uncle wanted to ask?"

***

[Colesign]

Leavenworth Smedry

[Since Alice can see the future, she would have anticipated this...]

As Zim attempts to cast aside the purple teddy bear...his superior Alien ears note the faintest of ticking noises from within it.

And the Tag has been yanked out.

The Teddy Bear Grenade detonates in a blast of light, it's blast radius washing over Alice and Zim...

Fortunately, Purple Teddy Bears are designed to only destroy non-living and inorganic matter, leaving anyone alive unharmed.

However, Zim's blaster and brain probe is reduced to dust. Along with his clothes.

And his human disguise.

Leavenworth picks himself up and dusts himself off.

"Pardon me. Is everyone alright?"

Gary Bell

"Uncle Beale's doesn't speak that much. But I'll tell him what you said."

He pauses.

"Dr. Rosen...if someone keeps staring at you and not looking away...is that rude?"

[Corvond]

Zim
Zim makes a strangled, garbling noise, and collapses, clawing at his throat, his body suffering violent convulsions. Then he begins shuddering as he runs a fever, his remaining organs being in the process of rejecting them. A ticking counter begins in his eye, counting down ten minutes.

The Irkens had increasingly developed beyond the confines of their bodies. They had developed out of the forms they were grown in, in vats on their conquered planets, and into the device on their back, the pak. The pak contains all of the Irken's knowledge, effectively serving as a auxiliary brain, and also contains the host's personality, charging cell, atmospheric processor, and a handy auto-reset that will 'reactivate' an Irken if they suffer a fatal injury.

Of course, they also can only survive ten minutes without it. The longer the Irken goes without it, the more incoherent and uncoordinated they become, until the body rejects them completely, and they begin throwing up their internal organs. You just killed Zim.

There was no way to get another. He now effectively had ten minutes to live, before dying in one of the most horrific manners possible. What does he have left? Should he return home and notify the Tallest of his discovery, giving them valuable information to aid the Invader that would be sent to replace him?

No. There wasn't time. "GIR?" He says to a small, green dog with a zipper on it's stomach that had been skipping along behind him this entire time, singing incoherently but sweetly to itself in a high-pitched voice.

Zim saw double a moment. He shook his head, trying to fix it, but that only changed it to triple. For a moment he swayed, then managed to right himself and picked the middle one to keep addressing.

The green dog snapped smartly to attention. It's face slid back to reveal a gleaming robotic head beneath, blue eyes gleaming like lamps.

"Annihilate." The cyan parts of the droid glow bright red, and it salutes smartly. Then it's hands glow, and it begins firing lazer blasts at Smedry, scorching the walls and floor as he does. He's nowhere near as haphazard as you'd expect from his behavior. Indeed, you'd venture that next time he shoots, he'll take our head off with this primitive weapon. If only you had a sword.

[darkblade]

Zim and Smedry

The vampire still falls to the ground wounded by the slightly off blast. She can't really do much between the annoyed alien robot and the slightly mad old man.

***

Gary

"Um, yes it is Gary. Why is someone staring at you?"

[Cracklord]

Lelouch
Not having any idea who Archer was, or Panty, he doesn't get involved. He's perceptive enough to note Panty's flushed cheeks and quickness of breath, and he's faintly disapproving, however it's just a guess, and marching over there and accusing them won't win him any favors, particularly since he's spent the day dodging class.
So he simply walked past, the hint of a smirk playing across his features.

Light Yagami
Light was bored and the world was still rotten.
He sighed. Certainly, it had been getting better—crime rates in the world were now the lowest in easily recordable history—but then the sudden discontent and the world at war had washed away most of Kira's good work.
And yet Kira wasn't finished.
He sat at his desk, his shoulders set, his eyes hooded, almost seeming to gleam with something dark and cruel, and with careful movements, he took out his labtop, unfolding it carefully. He opened a video file. It was a recording of the morning news. The familiar logo of the Tokyo Hi-TV affiliate flashed on screen. Then the camera focused in on the younger newscaster.
And as the news reported the events of the day, Light began to work.
He wrote twenty four names. Then he lay down and went to bed. Tomorrow, he would kill an angel.

[Colesign]

Leavenworth Smedry

Leavenworth dives for cover as the robot dog opens fire.

"Blasted Boneshakers!" He blurts out. "Alice, get yourself out of there–"

His voice trails off as he notices Zim slowly dying on the ground.

"Oh." He says quietly, eyes widening in shock.

He straightens his bowtie with a grim expression.

"I am not going to let one of my students die on my watch!"

He strides out from behind cover, Lenseless, Talentless...but still utlimately a Smedry.

GIR turns to blast this daft old man into vapor, eyes glowing...

"I can save your Master's life!" Leavenworth shouts. "I have access to technology that can substitute for his mechanical parts! But we don't have much time! Either help me save his life, or kill me and then watch him die!"

Spoiler

Show

He can actually do this.

And the advantage of his Talent being knocked out is that he can now arrive in the Nick of Time.

[doliest]

Panty
Panty stops in the hallway as she passes Lelouch, Hey! Didn't I see you in class yesterday? You know, before the big fight happened?

Stocking
Not. Going. To. Hurt. Him. It's an honest mistake.

You're going to hurt him.

I'm not going to hurt him.

Hurt him.

She smacks him as hard as she can.

Sebastian
Perhaps I can adjust my query. What is your code-bearer doing here? After all, your code-bearers are usually quite influential...or dangerous. He raises his eyes to smirk at her...and he's lying. He doesn't know a single major code-bearer of hers. But playing off her is the best way to get her to spill information.

[Cracklord]

Lelouch
"Why yes. I did make something of a first impression, didn't I?" He says, chuckling a little at the memory, in a manner that could not help but disarm. He found that being charming tended to disarm people, and a capacity to laugh at oneself certainly helped with that. "Please understand I'm normally more restrained, I just felt it important to stand on principle." He inclined his head. "You would be the prettier Anarchy sister? Greetings and Salutations." It's at this moment that Shirley arrives, in order to catch what looks like Lelouch flirting with a blond bombshell, because she always manages to arrive at the wrong times and jump to the wrong conclusions.

Light Yagami
Given the terrible nature of his crimes, if there was any higher justice in the world you'd expect him to have moaned and sweated in his sleep, if he could find any rest at all, tormented by nightmares and the pangs of conscience striking him like a thousand knives, and an army of ghosts all who waited to drag him into the next world. You'd expect him to be unable to find rest, unable to find any respite from his guilt. And so you'd be disappointed to learn that he slept like a baby, and had no dreams at all.

[Draxx]

Archer
He blinks, tenses, and relaxes. It would be so easy to reach over and snap his neck, but there was a better way to resolve this.

Beast
A blue, furred hand the size of a shovel scoops up the robot and hammers it against the wall, twice, then tosses it away. Beast shakes his head, then twists his neck. He looks down at the alien, then he looks at Smedry and sighs. Then he cracks his knuckles, scoops up the alien and takes him down to his lab, in order to do everything in his power to save the irreplaceable specimen.

He doesn't say a word to Smedry. You suspect he might be annoyed at you, however. At least, that's the impression you got from the glares. Still, he didn't tell you that you couldn't follow him.

[darkblade]

Beast and Smedry

Alice stirs a little on the ground. She's not dead but she's not able to get up on her own yet. "No, this wasn't supposed to happen. It's changing again."

***

Light

You kill a good two dozen criminals before going to bed. None of them were particularly of note, except for one name Jacob Black.

***

Stocking

"Stocking then?" The young man asks as he takes a step back and let's his aura shine through. He's the Guardian Angel Atticus mentioned.

"The name's Porter I figured I should touch base with the other Angels here."

***

Sabastian

"He has his own goals. As long as he doesn't die in the process I don't much care one way or the other for them." C.C. lies and it shows, she doesn't even put much effort into hiding the fact.

"If what I think about your contract holder is true though we will be seeing a lot of each other soon and the conversations will not be this civil."

***

Lelouch, Archer, Panty

Shirley watches from a distance trying hard not to be seen.

[doliest]

Panty
....huh? I just remembered you did something. Couldn't really remember what. She shrugs off the compliments; she didn't really care one way or the other; she expected to be complimented. It was in her nature. I wanted to ask what we were actually supposed to do. All I remember was the teacher being weird and then I started shooting the demon. Bit of a blur.

Stocking
Oh? Stocking Anarchy. I think my sister is still with Michael's Man. I don't suppose you have an idea of what is going on with this school? She's all business now. An Angel. She needed to fool him, and, frankly, that meant being business now.

Sebastian
Not necessarily; my master wants only to bridge the gap. He leans back, looking at her. It's a lie. An obvious one. But it's in his nature as a servant. He lies for Light's benefit. He aids him without it being what Light intends. And frankly, he sees a similar nature to C.C.

[Cracklord]

Lelouch
"Demon?" He says. "I think I missed that." He then waits for her to elaborate.

[doliest]

Panty
The really nice looking guy outside? Gestures to Archer, Was fighting him? Blew up a few buildings?
She shrugs, tilting her head, How could you possibly miss him?

[Cracklord]

Lelouch
"A misunderstanding with the military." He replies, leaning forward a little. "The place I was at was raided. By the time I got back, the situation was over."

[doliest]

Panty
Oh? Like I said, one minute, 'And that's why I'm a crazy f***er' from the teacher, next minute, *Bang bang bang* Die you stupid demon, die and go to hell! She bends her fingers to mime guns shooting at the wall, And then he got away. Then... points at Archer, he and I went back here and f***ed.

[nanobot_swarm]

Black Dynamite
He thinks for a moment with narrowed eyes, then nods several times and says, "Yeah that makes sense I suppose, it explains the mutants better than Darwin ever could. And it also definately explains that mother****er who Houdinied a big ass sword out of thin air and threw it at me. But all this doesn't explain the root of the problem, namely, why the hell is all this sorcery happening here and now. This is a school on the middle of ****ing Nowhere street in Hicksville Washington, what kind of wizard would care about this place?"

[Colesign]

Leavenworth Smedry

Leavenworth moves alongside Professor McCoy, keeping pace with him.

"This boy's physiology was augmented with inorganic machinery, which got vaporized. He needs a replacement for his augmentations." He says quickly and levelly.

"Can you do this in what time he has left?"

Gary Bell

"I'm alone in my room." Gary patiently explains. "So, no, I'm not being stared at right now. I was being stared at earlier, in the school hallway. By a girl. Who had no internet history whatsoever."

Gary pauses.

"I think she's socially impaired."

[industrious]

Stephanie

She starts making the casserole, which is a highly convoluted process involving mashing up the tater tots, pouring shredded cheese over them, and then waiting for the oven to preheat.

As the oven begins to warm up, she smacks herself on the head.

"I forgot the mayonnaise! Umm...Shirou? Would you mind going to the corner store and getting some? I have to keep watching this, and Cass needs to...um..."

"Change."

[Cracklord]

Lelouch
He takes that with the sort of calm acceptance that made him an exceptional general. If he was perturbed, he didn't let it show on his face. "Oh? I would not spread that around, you'll get him fired and yourself suspended." He grins. "As a member of the Student Council, I probably should do that actually. But ell you what, I'll keep it to myself if you promise to do me a favor later."

[doliest]

Panty
Eh? I'm just here to kill the f***ing demon. And anything else that needs killing that'll die when I shoot it. She waves her hand dismissively, Not here for the school, just the things inside it. Should all be thankful I do this crap for you.

[Draxx]

Beast
Hank McCoy shakes his head. "I could, but that wouldn't help him, since what is actually the problem is his biology doesn't work. I don't mean it's flawed, I mean he's like a clock with all but three of the gears missing. What he has keeps his neurons firing and his three hearts pumping, but that's about all, and it won't even keep that up for long. All his checks and balances just stopped working. His blood toxicty is dangerously high, for example, and all his biological filters are not working. If he breathes, the air won't be pumped into his blood, his synapses can't interpret his vision or other senses, rendering him effectively catatonic, and what's worse his body is already in the process of rejecting the few remaining organs he has."

He stops walking with this, and turns to stare at Smedry, his eyes narrowing alarmingly. "This is the second time you've placed students in mortal peril in the short time I've known you. All in all, a most inauspicious first day, wouldn't you agree?" This time there is not talent to keep the intimidation from all but stopping his heart to a more useful time. Before, Beast was annoyed. Now he's furious.

He takes a deep breath, then stops in front of a wooden door. "By tomorrow, I will have arranged remedial training for you. A safety course to start with, probably followed by an ethics course. You will attend, you will take careful notes, and you will learn some basic self control. I was going to have you fired, and possibly imprisoned, but I decided your heart is in the right place, so that would be overly harsh. You're not malevolent or careless, just criminally incompetent." You bristle a little at his words, but you can't help but feel shame at them as well. Though he's being a tad harsh (well, firm), you did just act in an extremely reckless manner, and someone nearly lost their life as a result.

"If you do not show me some rapid improvement, I still will."

He snatches the keys hanging from his belt, and opens the door to his lab. With the light's switched off, it's less the den of wonders and mysteries one step away from sorcery, and more a dark, malevolent place. He strides in, then places Zim on the table, and cracks his knuckles. He glances up to see you still at the doorway.

"Well don't just stand there, man! Go fetch that tray near the sink, and follow my instructions. Carefully. Starting by sterilizing yourself. I can still improvise something, but to do that I'm going to have to cut him open and poke around, and I''m not doing that without an assistant."

This sends alarm bells in Smedry's head. Whatever his monumental failings as a teacher, he was a highly competent operative, in his own eccentric way. He knew Mr McCoy was competent, but the revelation that the man felt confident attempting to rebuild an entire biology from scratch that he was unfamiliar with until he started the job seemed a bit much to swallow. And anyway, why would a Nobel Prize winning scientist (you can se the award on his desk) want this teaching job? Or, for that matter, any teaching job at all?

Archer
"Sex with a minor is so serious?" he says, his expression a parody of shocked dismay, but his posture so laid back you could have put a carpet over him and used him for a verandah.

"That is a surprise, I always though it was a minor offense. Still, it's got nothing on, oh, terrorism, for instance, legally speaking." He says in in a high, philosophical tone of voice, in the way a man may try to find the ultimate prime number or solve another, equally complex dilemma. He didn't even bother to hide his careful emphasis of that crime.

Then they narrowed, and he looked Lelouch in the eyes, his deep red ones just begging the boy to try something, anything at all. "But then, perspective. One man's terrorists, another's freedom fighters. Now run along now, and play at being grown up and in charge, and let me enjoy the company of this rather ravishing young woman." His hands find their way to her shoulders, and they press down comfortingly, in a way that makes her shiver a little, insatiable as she is.

They did just have sex, and that was all it was, even if they did both find it extremely enjoyable and stimulating, but she's almost exactly the sort of woman he's not normally attracted to beyond superficially. She is blond and gorgeous, a heart shaped face, flawless skin that felt like silk, a modest bust, trim waist and legs up to her armpits, which is nice, but her personality is all wrong. She's open and bubbly, soft and incapable of long term thought, though not exactly stupid, and without any class or reservation, let alone demure. And yet it's happening.

He's honestly beginning to like her; she's becoming more than just a pawn to him. Archer normally hates anyone easily excitable or eccentric, but in an hour Panty somehow managed to get under his guard, burrowing her way into every part of himself that he'll let her reach, without even noticing she's doing it.

And that is not part of his plan. Not at all.

Shirou
Shirou isn't listening. As soon as she reveals vulnerability he pounces, gently and politely but irresistibly pushing her out of the kitchen and taking charge himself, before either can object or guess what is happening. The girls can only watch in shocked silence as he begins, a veritable whirlwind. A spice cabinet neither of them knew was there was opened, it's contents examined, and some dozen are selected, finely chopped and sifted. The hot-plate is turned on, and by degrees a sauce is created, simmering gently and letting out an aroma that is one degree shy of heavenly.

Beef mince is drawn from the recesses of the fridge, where it had lurked since the last shopping trip, forgotten, and taken from the plastic container the supermarket had stored it in, but rather then go straight in the pastry and then in the microwave it is rolled in something brown and good to smell, then carefully wrapped, with all the fine control and attention to detail of a samurai arranging flowers.

Neither of them have ever seen the like. Alfred's a wonderful chef, but he thrives on the simple, preparing wholesome food to perfection, where Shirou seemed to take every tiny aspect of the preparation as a challenge to add more to the already staggeringly complex dish. They'd long lost track of the ingredients he was working in, and he was showing no signs of stopping.

Cass finally decides to interrupt, remembering her duties, then realizes he's effectively more then distracted and she's more then free to leave at any time she wants. He's too caught up in his own world to notice what she does, and she'll get an excellent meal out of it.

It's then that he momentarily leaves what he has effectively conquered and made his own to ask if either of them were vegetarian, and if they were having anyone else over or it was just him. Something delightful can be scented from the inside.

[Cracklord]

Lelouch
His superior look faded a moment to be replaced with one of raw calculation, then returned, slipping back into place like it had never left, if a trifle warily. "Fair enough." He says. "I won't take up any more of your time." With that he walks away.
Meeting Shirley at the corner, he gently but firmly steered her out of the hall, then lowered his voice conspiringly. He'd have to deal with the white haired man in a permanent manner. Apparently, he knew too much, and was a total stranger, a player who Lelouch had not even been aware of before he'd chosen to reveal himself with no warning at all.
But he could start easily. The first step was cutting away his opponents options. Easily done. "Shirley, isn't that the intruder who destroyed the west wing dormitories? It took me a moment to identify him, the description wasn't all that clear." Panty, however, had been very clear about what had happened.

[Corvond]

Sagara Souske
He stands outside Bella Swann's door, hand on his hip in a way that seemed casual except that it was an inch from his gun, once more laded with soft rounds. Otherwise he was at attention, still as a statue, completely on guard, a silent sentinel guarding what was within. What he was supposed to be protecting her from didn't enter the equation, situations always changed, and while the school seemed peaceful right now, he didn't count on it remaining that way.

Should anyone try to sneak into her room to do something creepy like watch her sleep, they could expect to have the hell shot out of them.