St Ambrose School for the Extraordinary: Settling In

[Dodgeson]

On the outskirts of Jubilee City, where the busy city begins to give way to the greenery of the countryside lies the St Ambrose School for the Extraordinary. Up the path, through the gates and passed the eerie gargoyles that seem to be looking at you wherever you go, is a grand building that wouldn't look out of place at most universities. Over its front hangs a large hangs a large welcome banner.

In front of the building stands the crowd of incoming students, most look entirely normal though there are enough oddities in the crowd to reveal the schools true nature, from odd skin tones and usual hair colours to hulking werebeasts and snake tails.

((Okay! Here we go, your tour of the ground will start shortly!))

[metakirb]

A white scaled Dragon boy slowly walks through the gates, stretching his arms behind his back, spreading his scaled wings a little.

Well, I guess this is the right place.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Kevin stood kinda near the back of the group. To outward appearances, he seemed rather...bored. Just staring ahead, not talking, barely moving. Just a random face in the crowd.

In fact, he was looking around eagerly, moving his camera angle all about to get a look at all the people (especially the more obviously superhuman ones), and as much of the grounds as he could. At the same time, he was bringing up menus of all the things his parents had told him about the school.

There weren't too many teenagers who got excited about high school. But when it was literally a school for superheroes? Yeah, that changed matters significantly.

[jamieth]

Megan looked around curiously. Among her classmates-to-be, there apparently was a dragon. And a robot. And, as far as she knew, they could easily turn out to be among the least exotic people there - normal humans were a minority of the student body at St Ambrose. Well, that just made things more exciting, and "exciting" was the main reason Megan was there in the first place. I wonder that the teachers are like, she thought, And, for that matter, what exactly do they teach here... well, besides the usual stuff, I mean. She was certainly looking forward to the gym class, at least.

[jolinaxas]

Lena stared at the large building in wonder - just one building of many, when most of her small-town high school could probably fit on one floor. Inevitably, she ended up gawking at the less "baseline" humans and other oddities, wondering how many of them would be her classmates.

Still, this was a high school, there had to be some kind of orientation effort...

[ripleycat]

This place is astonishing. How much is just for show? Are all American schools so wealthy, or is this one special? Why should we be given more just because of these things we can do? That isn't the way things were done back...

...Is that a dragon?

Awesome.

The answer to the seldom-asked question "Can robots experience culture shock?" was apparently a resounding yes. Zoya watched the crowd with an excitement barely hidden by her metal frame. There were so many of them! So many different shapes and sizes and colors! Who were they, where did they all come from? What could they do? She couldn't wait to find out.

[Dodgeson]

That's 2 dragons

@Metakirb
Meta's charge nods, her smaller wings fluttering excitedly behind her as she wide-eyed takes in everything around her.

"Look at all these people, we're going to learn so much here."

@Kevin
As you pan your view round to take in the crowd and grounds a particular sight catches your eye towards the back. Two boys standing either side of a girl, laughing as she jumps for her bag, somehow suspended in the air just out of her reach. What makes it even stranger is that despite the noise and the girl's obvious distress, no one appears to have noticed.

@Lena
Your gawking does not go unnoticed, gaining you the attention of a hunched figure, he glares out at you from under his hood.

"What are you looking at?"

@Zoya
A gust of wind whips up around the metal girl, abruptly coming to a stop in front of her in the form of a blonde haired boy holding a small paper bag out of which he continually pulls sweets.

"Wow! A real live robot!"

@Megan
As the gymnast looks around a young girl, no older than 12 approaches her. She smooths out her Hello Kitty shirt and taps Megan on the shoulder to try and gain her attention.

"Megan Dawson?"

[metakirb]

Just remember we're here for a reason.

He smirks a little.

Although I have to admit I'm looking forwards to finding someone who'll last longer than a few seconds in a fight.

[jamieth]

Megan turned around quickly, "Yes?" Seeing the kid, she nodded, "Yeah, that's me -are you one of my fans?" she smiled, showing that the last one wasn't really serious, "But really, how do you know me? And, to make things fair, what's your name?"

[Quellian-dyrae]

Kevin zoomed in on the scene. Well that's not nice, he thought. He quickly panned around, looking for a teacher, but trying to pick one out in this crowd...

Oh, whatever.

In a sudden move, the young boy leaped clear over the crowd, front-flipping as he did so to come down hands first above the boys, attempting to snatch the bag with one hand and using the other to hand-spring in mid-air to rebound back down off to the side with a Double Jump. If it worked, he'd just hand the bag back over to the girl on landing, giving the two boys a kinda of wan, "Seriously?" look.

Interestingly enough, if it did work, anyone nearby would distinctly hear the Mario "1-UP" sound when he grabbed the bag and bounced away.

Spoiler

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Not sure if any/all of these are necessary, use any that apply:

Attack check to grab the bag: (1d20+8)[17]
Strength check to wrest it away: (1d20+8)[16]
Acrobatics check to look cool: Routine Check [18]

Just to note, the 1-UP sound has nothing to do with his Extra Lives (which are full anyway). If anything, it has to do with the more common meaning of one-up .

[jolinaxas]

"Oh, I, ummm, well..."

Lena shifted awkwardly, attempting to buy time to come up with something less stupid than what she was about to say. It didn't work.

"Just kind of looking around, seeing what's up with all the new students - I was having trouble seeing you because of that hood and, well, anyway I'm sorry if I was staring..."

[ripleycat]

A long-forgotten bit of programming kicks in as Zoya snaps to attention and gives the boy a crisp salute. "Rodina-class android AN-8 Mark I at your service, comrade!" That earns some very odd looks from the crowd around her.

Awkwardly, she lowers her hand and smiles best she can. "But... you can can call me Zoya. That is my real name, the one those who built me gave me. You- you're a speedster, yes? That's amazing! What is it... like to go so fast?" The boy's entrance obviously made an impression.

[Dodgeson]

@Metakirb
Serra turns her attention away from her surrounds and moves in front of Meta, a look of concern on her face. "No! We're not here to pick fights, we have to set a good example."

@Megan
The blonde girl smiles back at her "People call me Emily." She stands up on her tiptoes, reaching up behind Megan's ear and producing a clipboard. "And I'm gonna be giving you the tour, just got to find a few other people first."

@Kevin
The girl quickly backs behind Kevin her two tormenters looking at him in shock as a shadow rears up the wall behind them.

"You said no one could see us!"

"I said they'd ignore us!"

"Whatever!"

This internal tussle resolved they turn their attention back to the boy that so rudely interrupted their fun.

"What do you think you're doing kid?"

@Lena
The boy snaps back at her, clearly getting more aggravated with each passing second "You better be! We're not your personal freakshow!"

@Zoya
The boy stifles a chuckle as Zoya's programming reasserts itself, after all it'd be rude. Giving her a reassuring smile he excitedly launches in to his answer "Being the fastest kid in Jubilee is great! I can be anywhere in flash, even ran over water once. What about you? What's your thing?"

[metakirb]

Yeah yeah, We have to lower ourselves to human standards.

He rolls his eyes.

Relax, I'm not going to just go around picking fights with random people. I'm sure there're plently of people willing to spar.

[Quellian-dyrae]

"Giving her her bag back. You?" Kevin responded, simply, but just a bit snarkily. He didn't really seem to be paying much attention to them, though, his gaze having drifted past them some (he was actually zoomed in on their faces, not that anyone could tell).

[jamieth]

"Nice trick!" Megan gave the girl a thumbs-up, then, "A tour? Does that mean you're my senior here? Wow, you must be really smart!"

Spoiler

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My troper sense practically screams that Emily's actually a teacher, but I don't think Megan is as genre savvy as myself :-)

[jolinaxas]

"I-I never said you were... ugh, forget it."

She sighed and started to walk away, trying to keep her eyes straight forward.

[ripleycat]

"You can run on water? Like one of those new hovercraft ships!" Zoya tended to think in terms of hardware, no matter how dated the comparison might be these days.

"My... thing? Oh, you mean superpowers! Nothing as impressive as yours. I don't think of them as superpowers. I was built with them, I have never known anything else. It would be strange for a person to boast about walking, or seeing things, yes? That's what it feels like to me."

"I didn't answer the question, did I? I can fly, and I'm stronger than most humans. Tougher too, humans aren't made of steel. And... there is this." With a hydraulic hiss and the ratcheting of gears, Zoya's arm transforms through several forms, showing off the weapons built into her chassis.

[Dodgeson]

@Meta
Serra wags her finger to admonish her bodyguard.
"Don't talk about them like that, come on this is important, we're ambassadors."

@Megan/Lena
Emily nods in confirmation to Megan's question about her identity. "I'm not smart, you've got to be a real brainiac round here to be smart." With that the small girl turns and begins marching confidently through the crowd looking for the next person on the list, cupping her hands and yelling "Lena?! Lena Hassler?!"

@Kevin
With such a clear view of their faces Kevin'll easily be able to tell they aren't happy with his intervention. "Making sure the newbies know their place. If you know what's good for you you're gonna get lost "

@Zoya
The boy tries not to stare as the soviet robot cycles through her weapons, tries and fails. She's like a Transformer with an accent!"That. Is. Awesome!"

[metakirb]

We're here to see if they've changed at all since they drove the elders out into the desert all those years ago. You'll have to excuse me my lack of optimism for them.

[Quellian-dyrae]

"All right, all right, I'll leave you alone," Kevin said, appearing to capitulate. "...As soon as you agree to stop picking on other kids. It's not very heroic, you know."

[jolinaxas]

Lena looked up when she heard her name.

"Hey. I take it you're with the school? This whole thing's kind of a mess at the moment."

[jamieth]

"Well, maybe compared to super-geniuses and the like..." Megan says unsurely, "Still much smarter than me, in any case."
As the next person joins their group, she extends her hand, "Hi, yes, I'm Megan, and that's Emily, she's going to show us around." Then, she adds, covering her mouth with her hand, as if trying to conceal her words from Emily - except that she makes no slightest effort at actually concealing them, "She doesn't admit being that smart - could you please tell her that being in High School in that age is pretty impressive, no matter what?"

[jolinaxas]

"Huh? Well, yeah - if she's a sophomore, she's here, like, three years early? I'm Lena, by the way."

She poked a hand out of her hoodie sleeve and offered it.

[ripleycat]

If Zoya could blush, she would have. "You're too kind. I still don't think I am anything special. Not like you." She monitors the restless crowd around them for a moment. "You said you were from Jubilee City. Is this how things... normally work here? It's so disorganized! You think this is some kind of test?"

[Dodgeson]

@Meta
Serra sighs, her optimism wilting under his bad mood. "Fine, be that way. Just don't be surprised if you don't make any friends with that attitude."

@Kevin
"Yeah, whatever." The two bullies move to leave and melt back in to the crowd, clearly they're not going to find any more fun here.

@Zoya
The boy's eyes go wide at Zoya's question, his mind racing at literally a hundred miles an hour. "A test?! Can they do that without telling us? OhmanwhatifIfailwhatiftheykickmeoutwhatarewegonnad oZoya?!" His form begins to blur at the edge slightly as he gets more frantic.

@Lena/Megan
Their guide doesn't stop moving as the two girls start to get aquainted "A mess? Someone didn't barf napalm on to the lawn again did they?"

[metakirb]

Make all the friends you want. Just be careful, okay?

He sighs and his mood seems to soften a little as her enthusiasm fades.

I'm just a little on edge, alright? I don't like all these new things and places at once.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Kevin gave just a hint of a smile as the two walked off. "You okay?" he asked the girl, turning...well, turning his camera angle to face her. His body was still facing the opposite direction. He was still far from having the hang of his new view of the world.

[jolinaxas]

"No - I'd see it from a mile away. Is that specific issue a common one?"

She scanned the surrounding area, looking for hot spots, but finds nothing - at least nothing out of the ordinary. Pretty sure that one kid's supposed to be on fire all the time?

[ripleycat]

I was not trained or programmed for this! As the boy starts panicking, Zoya does too, nothing in her databanks providing suitable data for "freaked out speedster who looks like they might disintegrate."

Empty reassurance and misdirection, on the other hand? The subject of soviet propaganda just might know something about that.

"That was a joke, comrade, an attempt to lighten the mood! I don't think they're really testing us, and besides, there's no way you would fail. Hey, you never told me your name. Can you tell me that? Please don't explode?"

Smooth as silk, our girl.