Westbrook Academy for Metahumans: Forums

Good morning, students. The headmaster's voice echoed around the campus, piped into every classroom and building, projected out into the chill November morning. Pardon the interruption. I will try to be brief.

First, let me attempt to express how proud I am of each one of you separately and all of you collectively. You have shown and continue to show heroic levels of determination, compassion, and community every single day. I have never been prouder to be a Mustang.

I am particularly proud today to announce that it is thanks to the determination and ingenuity of your fellow students that we are closer than ever to locating the man responsible and bringing him to justice. Tomorrow evening Mr. Maximilian, Ms. Borges, and I will each lead teams into the field in pursuit of the leads your peers have uncovered. These will not be training exercises and the risk of combat is quite high. However, you have the right to defend your home and to seek justice against those who violate it.

Students who so desire and who have valid hero licenses may give your names to Mrs. Weatherbee in the front office today.

Faige was kneeling on the ground rifling through her backpack outside of her locker as the announcement was heard over the PA system. She lifted her head, staring at the speaker as the headmaster spoke. A smile crossed her expression and she said "Oh hell yes!" before standing and shouldering her backpack to head down to the front office.

JD narrowed his eyes and grinned with a sense of satisfaction, more than enough to bury any apprehension he felt. Stalking down the hallway, simply to keep himself from jogging, JD made his way to the office.

Lorne sat in the hallway outside his classroom reading his textbook. He'd been there for ten minutes and class still didn't start for another ten yet. He was drowning out the sights and sounds around him focusing on his book a task he found much easier without his heightened senses. Then the announcement came over the PA. Lorne closed his textbook and made his way to the office excited. He was going to have his powers back.

Rounding the corner he found he wasn't the only one who was excited. A line already eight people long had formed outside the office.

Taylor fell in line behind Lorne, the non-furry, regular old looking Lorne Hazlewood. It still took a minute or two to remember it was the same guy she once boosted into a wall on board scooters. She leaned against the wall, DSi in hand, playing nothing in particular. It didn't matter what she played, whatever game it was, she'd beaten it twice. As great as it was to suddenly be the best twitch shooter going, she likened it to playing with a Godmode cheat. Some jerk had even reported her on a couple of games as an aim botting hacker, so she was trying to straighten out her accounts.

She wasn't sure how she felt about the 'investigation' yet. On one hand - the thought of going after someone without the ability to fireball them was daunting. She still had the armor Syd built for her, and Espy's powers made dodging much easier, but there was something comforting about her 'own' powers. She's spent years getting a handle on them, practicing, controlling fire rather than just causing it. She knew what she could do. And not having them, it near put her end of the EXO-project at a standstill. The suit ran on thermal energy - her energy - and now, like Syd said, they were all emitting some sort of 'different' signal. Who knew what it all meant.

So overall, she hoped it would pan out. And if she could help? She would. Even without her own powers, that's what being a 'sidekick' was about.

Diya was pawing through stacks of paper on her desk, looking for her history homework, when Herrera's announcement came over the PA system. She listened for a minute before rolling her eyes and shaking her head.

She tried to avoid the office all day, but mid-morning she found she had to run back to her room for another forgotten homework assignment. Going past the office was the quickest way from the classroom to her dorm. She walked past, staring at the floor, the wall, her hands - anything to avoid making eye contact with the kids who were actually lining up for this.

Hopefully no one tried to guilt her into going along. She needed to come up with a good excuse if anyone asked her.

Artie closed his eyes and couldn't see anything. It was still a little startling when he let himself think about it, being alone in that small darkness. No data feeds, no search windows, no glittering banner ads. No certainty of where everyone else was in the room. Almost no certainty at all. That was even more startling, but only when he let himself think about it.

Artie opened his eyes and stepped out of line, back into the flow of bodies shuffling off to their next class.