Light the Signal New IC

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

It was Tuesday. The sun shone brightly over Signal Academia, and the November breeze was crisp in the air. Most of the trees on campus still retained some vestiges of color, although the groundskeepers had been busy sweeping up the array of leaves for the past few weeks.

Normal class routine was disrupted by a special assembly called for by the Headmaster. Master St Germaine's introduced a special guest speaker: Captain Rodney "Red" Zhernokov of the Star Knights, visiting Signal City for a few days. Apparently the captain and the headmaster knew one another, although it was unclear how well or in what capacity.

Zhernokov gave a lecture about Duty, and the responsible use of super powers. With the somewhat checkered reputation of the Knights, it's probably a lecture he'd given often, although whether it was any better received by members of his own forces than it was by the majority of the students was anyone's guess. For those paying attention, however, the captain's speech hinted at, perhaps, new trouble somewhere out in the galaxy which the Star Knights would be called upon to deal with.

Still, boring or not, the assembly got everyone out of the first three periods of the day. As the assembly cut into the third class period, but didn't entirely eat up the time, the headmaster declared an early and extended lunch break, with classes to resume in the afternoon.

---

As she wanders out of the auditorium, Bryn pulls out her smartphone, and immediately starts checking social media for any new videos-- supposedly The Flood was announcing some new motion picture today, and she wanted to be the first to catch wind of what he'd be doing. She's not paying a great deal of attention to where she's going and nearly collides with a few students before putting her phone away with a sigh. No news yet.

[Anyr]

A pale, moaning figure shambled slowly from the auditorium, like one of the walking dead; Which, as it happens, she was. Rebecca Hayes yawned for what felt like the thousandth time, as she fought to stay upright. Stupid schedule change. Creatures of the night weren't meant to be up at this hour. Maybe she could find some quiet corner in which to collapse...

[Mekboy]

Willow practically skipped out of the auditorium. Freedom at last! The age and a half over being talked at by some big know-it-all was over! Not to mention that being stuck in an enclosed space with a mob of teenagers sucked if you had a halfway decent sense of smell (which apparently most humans didn't). Still, the ordeal was over.

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie Delta marched out of the assembly with all the others, the sound of drudging shuffling was in contrast to the bright smiles and encouraging looks of the staff guiding them out of the auditorium. Charlie shrugged at the conclusion of the speech: he was certain that the lecture was a gentle attempt to give certain rebellious students direct warning, without the pointing of names or the speaking of fingers.

"Whoa there!" Charlie says as he stumbles a few steps to avoid walking into the back of Bryn, who had been day-dreaming looking at their phone while stepping out from the assembly.

"You should watch where yo- Bryn!" - He interrupts himself as he recognises the student before him. He smiles widely and gives a friendly wave to the girl as the other super students pass by them, whom were steadily gathering into their cliques, faces long and dulled with pained bordem.

"It feels like I haven't spoken to you in ages!" He says with enthusiastic hyperbole. "How are you, how's things?" He looks to her ready to engage in conversation.
"Oh, but if you're -uh- busy, then I'll just, y'know, go?"

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Bryn looks up at the sound of her name. "Oh, heyo, Charlie," she says, her Welsh accent clear in her voice. "Not, not busy. I thought I might take advantage of the extra hour at the pool, but it's not like I *have* to be anywhere right now. What's up?"

[Wiz0rd]

"Oh, nothin' much. I was going to head back to my dorm quickly to get my things for class." He scratched his head, "Left my timetable in my journal, on my desk. Say, I wouldn't have to go if you've got yours handy. What class do we have next? Super Specialism or General Studies?"

He adds, "Wouldn't mind hitting the pool for once, I keep forgetting it's there. Would make a nice change fron the running track though. Couldn't go with you this period though, unlike some of these other supers, I don't wear waterproof spandex for a uniform," he uses a sweeping gesture with his arms, displaying a practical set of khaki green combat trousers and shirt, "Besides, I don't think hanging around at a pool when you're not swimming leaves a good impression, haha." He laughs.

"Do you see anyone else about yhat we know? Maybe they'd want to go too." He says as he looks around the other students hoping to recognise thier other friends.

[Anyr]

Charlie would easily be able to spot Rebecca in the crowd. As usual, the young Vampire was clad in an outfit so bright that it could be used to guide ships. Her sunny disposition, on the other hand, seemed to be taking a break. She was trudging down the hallway with all the speed of an asthmatic snail. Here walked someone in serious need of a pick-me-up.

[Rhyvurg]

Herald turns his phone back around to face himself. "Okay, speech over and I'm out. Be sure to check the channel later tonight just in case I got an action vlog, you never know what might happen in this life. Peace." He ends the recording and uploads the raw footage. No edits, 100% real. That was the tagline anyway. He puts the phone away. "I heard pool!"

[Mekboy]

Wait, was that the wierd teethy girl? No-one else Willow knew was that pale or wore clothes in shades quite that bright. She was often good fun. Looked even deader than usual though (if that was possible). Willow wandered over and gave her an experimental poke. "Oi, Teeth, what's up with you? Remember you were meant to be dead or something?"

[Anyr]

Rebecca's brain took a second to process this new input. Hmm, something seemed to be poking her; And speaking too. Maybe she should look in that direction...Oh, it was the fae girl: The one who was sort of nice and nasty at the same time. What was her name again?

"Tired; Nocturnal now. 'Snot fair. I used to be suuuuch a (*yawn*) morning person..."

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie, even with a quick glimpse through the crowd can easily spots Willow hovering around and poking at Rebecca, who looks as if she was shuffling very slowly to the world's most lethargic rave.

"Hey Herald, what's up buddy? Yeah, we we were just talkin' about heading to the pool before the start of classes. I still don't know where I'm at after that - hold that thought." he held up his hand and smiled as he gestured he'll be back in a second.

He jogged to catch up with Rebecca and Willow, which turns out to be not very far at all. "Hey guys, Bryn, Herald and - whoa, Rebecca, are you feeling okay? You're looking paler than usual, did someone lock you in the sunbed again?" he joked, "You look like you need a coffee with a couple of shots of O Negative. I think theres' a vending machine by the pool," he waves Bryn and Herald over to them, as they're not too far away. "Not forgetting you Fae princess," he says with a sarcastic bow, "You comin'?"

Still need to grab that timetable.

[Mekboy]

"That's 'Your royal highness' to you." Willow said with a grin. She didn't actually care, she just liked annoying him. "Pool you says? I s'pose I don't really have anything better to do." Probably wouldn't swim though. The few times she'd been there, the pool had had a distressingly chemical smell. Who knew what that'd do to you? Almost certainly nothing good. She could probably just chat with whoever else had enough common sense not to get covered in all them chemicals.

[Anyr]

Rebecca perked up a little when she heard the new voice. Hey, a friend! Well, acquaintance. She didn't really know Charlie that well; But she wanted to. He seemed like a genuinely nice, caring person. When someone like him asked 'are you feeling okay?', they actually meant it.

"Blood and water, you say? Sounds good..."

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Bryn tags along after Charlie to catch up with the others, since he ran off before she could answer his question. "You've got World History after lunch, Charlie, just like me." Noticing the state in which Rebecca looks, Bryn adds, "Whoah, Rebecca, you're up in the morning? You feeling all right?"

[Anyr]

Answering everyone's questions was doing Rebecca some good. She seemed a bit more awake than before.

"Special assembly. Even the 'night shift' had to get up; And for what? For a guy who tried his best to (*Yaaawn*) put us right back to sleep. Makes no sense."

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

"Do you need a drink to get you going?" Bryn asked. It hadn't taken long for a sort of working relationship to strike up between the two teens. For Bryn, Rebecca's need for blood was nothing more than an inconvenience-- particularly in comparison to the more painful aspects of her powers-- and it saved a lot of hassle for everyone else. Besides, Rebecca was a nice enough sort, in Bryn's mind. "I didn't think the talk was that bad. Beats listening to Acrobellano discuss the history of geometry, which is what I would have been stuck with instead this morning."

[Anyr]

Rebecca shifted awkwardly. Her 'arrangement' with Bryn was still a bit embarrassing to talk about.

"Y-yeah, that'd help. But, erm, somewhere more private? There's an empty classroom over there."

Back when she'd first become a Vampire, Rebecca couldn't imagine feeding from an actual person. Surely (she'd thought) all her meals would have to come from the blood bank. It was scary how fast those inhibitions had faded. Now drinking from bags just didn't feel right.

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie took a step back to allow Bryn and Herald into the circle of conversation. He breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "Bryn! Total babe! Thank you. World History." He says in a matter of fact. "World History." he repeats. "Who's our teacher for it this semester? Is it the dean, St Germains? He didn't say very much during the assembly, I assume he'll want to talk about the history of appropriate powers usage or something." he thought upon it as he stroked his chin with his thumb idly.

"Yeah! Coffee, water and blood, my treat!"
he said with a smile to the funky vampire lady. "Rough times, Rebecca. We'll get you through this morning kicking and screaming in a caffeine and blood fuelled rampage, you'll see!"
It wasn't difficult to empathise with Rebecca, every teenager hates mornings, but she had reason to hate them even more than anyone else had reason to. If Charlie and the group can make this even somewhst tolerable, this would be a victory. Besides, she'd do the same for him, right?

Charlie bows even lower this time, replying to the jest "My royal highness, with the upmost respect, I doth profess a request an audience by the waters of swimming, for there is much to discuss." He winked at the small fae, yeah, he'll bite.

He looked to the small group, and smiled. Felt good to just kick back and chat, Signal Academia can feel all business at times.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Bryn nods in agreement to Rebecca's request. It didn't matter to her, but it was clear that the vampire was self-conscious about it, and she didn't want to make it any more awkward than it needed to be for Rebecca's sake. "Excuse us for just a minute, then." She grins at Charlie and Willow-- the fey girl was decidedly unusual, but one couldn't be around Charlie for more than a few minutes without some of his happy-go-lucky attitude rubbing off. She slips into the classroom so Rebecca can do her thing.

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie returned the smile, "Okay you two, enjoy your make-out sesh." he joked with a chuckle, reddening slightly at the cheeks at the thought of such teenage intimacy.

"Did you want us to wait here or meet you by the pool? Time's-a-wastin'!"

[Mekboy]

Willow gave a short snort of laughter. "Her royal highness gracefully accedes to your request. Let us depart forthwith!" Dropping out of the faux-posh accent, she continued "Wouldn't want to interrupt any... intimate moments here, would we? Heh, have fun you two." She winked at the teethy girl, just in case her meaning wasn't quite clear enough.

[Anyr]

Rebecca closed the door behind her. She couldn't help being self conscious about this: Stupid, really, in a place like Signal. Everyone here was so wonderfully under-

"Okay you two, enjoy your make-out sesh."

-stand-

"Wouldn't want to interrupt any... intimate moments here, would we? Heh, have fun you two."

-ing.

...Or not. Suddenly, Rebecca felt completely justified in closing that door. With a roll of her eyes, she walked over to Bryn. They'd better get this over with. She pulled the other girl into a (completely platonic) hug, just as usual; Then she extended her fangs, leaned close, and gently plunged them into Bryn's neck. It was a purely mechanical action, devoid of enjoyment.

[Ah, thaaat's the stuff!]

Okay, fine! She did enjoy it. Drinking blood felt fantastic; But Rebecca doubted it was like that for the victim. For Bryn, this was likely a painful, unpleasant experience: Far from the 'make-out' that people imagined.

Soon enough, Rebecca's fangs withdrew. She always tried to finish as quickly as possible, for Bryn's sake. The Rebecca who broke the hug looked a lot more like her usual self. Her eyes shone with newfound energy.

"Thanks; I really needed that."

[Rhyvurg]

"Wait, are they seriously going off to...?" He briefly considers following them.

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie's smile couldn't help but fade slightly as Rebcca and Bryn slinked quietly into the classroom. The look on her face wasn't one of smiles of humor, but one of a tired kind of dissapointment. The kind where one would try to live up to a standard, an expectation, but fail ever so slightly. Things like this may not be a big deal to you, Charlie, but it may be for others, you'd do well to remeber that. If only he had darned healing powers...

Without lingering too long, Charlie held out a hooked arm towards Willow, and mimicked the cute snorting giggle; "I fear we may have been misunderstood in our diplomacy, your majesty. I suggest that we may consider waiting for a moment for our maidens before journeying onwards." Arm still outstretched, he glaced at her with a curious side-eye,"You... Are actually royalty aren't you? This isn't made up?"

He looked to Herald after hearing his desire to share in the moment with the girls in the classroom, Charlie looked meaningfully into his eyes and gave a slow shaking of the head trying to convey a silent message of "I don't think that's a good idea." Herald may be a self proclaimed lady-killer, with thousands of followers on facetube video sites, but he should possibly save it for the pool or for class, Charlie thought to himself.

[Mekboy]

What was her problem? Couldn't take a freaking joke? When did she start being so uptight? A brief scowl passed Willow's face. Freakin' killjoy. Fortunately Charlie managed to drag her attention away before her mood could sour. "What? Yeah, course. It's kinda a big thing." Taking the offered arm, Willow continued. "If we were home, you'd be pretty lucky people to be hangin' out with me. Everyone wanted to be friends with me."

[gom jabbarwocky]

Are those footsteps? Crap, I thought no one would be here right now!

Siri slipped through the double doors to Signal Academy's indoor pool room, looking about nervously and adjusting the Techno-Astra on her arm. She was sure that no one could have seen her. If she got away with this, fourth period gym was going to be a lot easier to get out of today.

That's if she got away with it. The sound of people talking and walking their way up the hall to her position indicated that perhaps she hadn't slipped out of the assembly with enough time to carry out her plan. Maybe she'd better play it safe and go invisible before anyone happens by...

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie linked arms coyly with Willow as they paraded and circled the corridor while they waited for thier friends whom they managed to irritate.

"So what are the details? You are like a proper fae? How'd you manage to wind up at Signal?" Charlies natural curiousity prompted many questions, he'd never hung out with actual royalty or an actual fae before.

"What are yo-"
"Oh Charliee Beta!" A poweful yet grating voice boomed from half-way down the corridor in a perfect stiff-upper-lip english accent.

Albatross...

He strode over to the small group next to the classroom.
"Oh, Charlie, glad to see that you're finally getting some girl action. Too bad she isn't even our species. Nice try though, I was getting worried about you."
"Go away, Albatross."

"'Go away Alba-mweh-mweh.'" He mocked as he prodded Charlie in the shoulder powerfully. "I was actually on my way past, just thought that I would let you know that I've rubbed out your name for Meta-bowl try-outs this year. I've done you a favour, stopping you from embarassing yourself terribly again." He stood tall and looked down at the comparatively small Charlie."I'm going for captain this year, and if I get it, I'll make sure you have nothing to do with the sport for the rest of your time here. You're a mockery to this grand institution, a-"
"Go. Now, Albatross." Charlie said quietly in a seething anger.
"Fine, whatever. Hey Charlie, see you in class. Don't be late, theres' a good chap." Albatross said as he scuffled Charlies hair, dandruff rising from the spot. He wiped his hand on his uniform and walked away as he greeted some other students.

For those who took the time to study Albatross, he was a huge, muscular, refined, perfect specimen of a human. Athletic, built, statue-esque. Girls and boys swooned to the sight of him. Powerhouse archetype. A super blessed with being the pinnacle of human potential. A Hercules of our time. For whatever reason, since the British toff started at Signal, he was Charlies assigned high-school bully, nemesis and pained aquaintance. Otherwise, he was a model, popular student.

Charlie took a moment to fix his matted hair in a window reflection the best he could.
"I hate that guy." He said quietly to himself with a sigh.

[Mekboy]

Willow was, of course, all too happy too keep talking about herself. It was one of her favorite conversation topics. "What do you mean, 'proper fae'? I mean, there's all types of-" She was interrupted by Albatross.

Willow was far from the best judge of character (humans were so freakin' weird), but she disliked Albatross immediately. For a start, he'd stopped her talking. Just rude. Plus he smelled kinda weird (Well, kinda weird for a human. So extra weird.) But Charlie seemed to know the guy, so it was probably best to see whether they were friends or something.

...

Nope, right first time. Willow considered throwing some sort of glamer over him or making him do something stupid, but resisted the urge and settled for sticking her tongue out at his back as he walked off. "He's an ass. What did he mean by Charlie Beta? And what's this meta-bowl thing?"

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie turned to Willow and resumed the tone of conversation before they were rudely interrupted.
"Yeah, he is. I don't know what his beef is with me. 'Charlie Beta' is a 'clever word play' on my Super nickname - there's the Alpha's, the big, strong, attractive specimens, and theres the Betas... The not." Charlie shifted akwardly as he had to explain the insult about himself.
"Oh, and Meta-bowl, it's the final championship in high-school super-sports. Like the Superbowl, but more super than that even. It's for the sport of Meta-ball, a kind of sport for supers. It's difficult to explain.". He shrugs again, "I tried to make the team last semester, and I'm trying again this year. I think I can do it. I've spent loads of time down in tech getting ready." He nods and says decidedly.
"Wow, how many times can you say super and meta in one sentence? Geez."

"Anyway, you were saying? You're a fae? Like a fairy? Are you like 500 years old or something?" He teases as he sticks his tongue out slightly.

[Anyr]

Soon enough, the classroom door opened again. Rebecca practically skipped into the hallway. Gone was the shuffling, semi-conscious girl from before. No amount of tiredness could beat the high she was riding right now. She gave Charlie and Willow a little wave, as she walked cheerily towards them.

"Charged, pumped, and ready to go!"

Only a careful observer would notice the hint of regret in her smile. Rebecca wasn't about to let a little angst ruin everyone's day. She'd keep the mood light and positive, just like always.