|
Post by Plink on May 27, 2013 14:33:11 GMT -4
Both Maxwell and his sister had made their way to the auditorium and sat down in a seat. Both of them focused their attention on very thin Meta wearing a dark grey suit over a pink colored dress. It was their mother: Alice. The ponytail attachment on her head swayed slightly as she discussed with the other nearby teachers. Of course, being far away, she didn't notice the two children that were watching her with wide grins.
---------------
As the three of the kids involved with that morning's fight had entered the doors of the school, Plink heaved a relieved sigh. Then, he briskly imaginged the auditorium where his wife stood and spontaneously collapsed into a singular point in the blink of an eye. Then not but a split second later, he had reappeared behind Alice: who was completely unaware of his arrival. Silently, he snuck up behind her and stood there listening to her conversation before she turned around. "Ah!" She said with a jump. "Oh it's you! What took you? Plink laughed. "Sorry dear. Fight outside on the first day. Had to intervene." He said. "Oh please tell me none of our kids were involved." Alice said "Oh no. No not at all. But they did linger and watch it. I had to tell them to get going otherwise they would've been late." Plink continued.
|
|
|
Post by Champ on May 27, 2013 16:04:50 GMT -4
Wakeman glanced back coolly at Zeik, unfazed by his admittedly impressive entrance. She had to steeple her fingers in front of her face to conceal a hint of a smile at the look this boy was giving her. If she didn't know better she'd say he was trying to intimidate her. A moment later Princess entered, sitting down and glaring haughtily at Wakeman. The Doctor was unsurprised, she assumed the girl thought it was an outright crime for someone to want to chastise HER of all people for something as trivial as a fight. Not long after Ayame and Skyler trudged in. Wakeman quickly noted the difference in their body language. Ayame seemed downright depressed, which didn't surprise Wakeman in the slightest. The girl had hardly any disciplinary history at her previous school, and likely thought that she was normally better than this. Skyler, on the other hand, displayed nothing more than a practiced defiance. This was a girl who got into scrapes like this often, and saw herself as being in the right each and every time. In this case, Wakeman had to admit, she was probably on the girl's side. Of course, she wouldn't ever tell her as much.
"I assume," Wakeman said as the girls took their seats alongside Zeik, "That you all know why you're here."
Ayame nodded glumly, trying to wipe the blood still trickling from her nose. Wakeman offered the girl a tissue, making every effort to keep herself from giving a compassionate smile. Now was not the time to be nice. Beside Ayame Skyler gave a quick nod, and Princess rolled her eyes.
"Then I'll get to the point," Wakeman said, "Which of you would like to explain yourselves first."
"It's her fault!" Princess shrieked, pointing at Ayame, "I was just minding my own business and she just came up and wrecked my phone!"
Wakeman concealed a smirk. That was, she had to admit, a rather creative way to recount the events to shift the blame to Ayame. Still, she quickly held up a hand to silence the girl.
"I know what happened," Wakeman said, "I have the security camera footage right here."
Princess stopped, sitting back down.
"What I'm asking," Wakeman said, "Is if you can explain to me why you thought getting into a fight on your first day at my school was a good idea."
Princess stared for a moment, mouth open, before answering.
"I just did," She said, "That bozo wrecked my phone, and then her stupid sister tried to pick a fight with me."
"I was just defending my sister!" Skyler shouted, "If you hadn't started shrieking at her I wouldn't have done anything!"
Princess turned to glare at her, and for a moment Wakeman thought that the two were about to resume their battle, but Ayame spoke up, drawing their attention from each other.
"I'm sorry, Doctor Wakeman," She said, "It really is my fault. I wasn't paying attention and I ran into Princess and broke her phone..."
At last Wakeman allowed herself to give a hint of a smile to this girl. It was nice to see a student who wasn't shifting the blame to another party.
"We have a word for what happened," Wakeman said to Ayame, "We call it an accident. I'm sure even Ms.Morbucks can appreciate that what happened wasn't entirely your fault."
Princess stared at Wakeman again, unable to believe what she was hearing. When she confirmed that her ears were, in fact, not playing tricks on her, anger flooded her face.
"What!?" She screamed, "Accident or not what she did was unacceptable! She BROKE my phone! Do you know how much that thing costs!?"
"Enough that your father could by you a new one before the end of the day," Doctor Wakeman said, "Now I'm sure you're sorry for breaking Ms.Morbucks' phone, am I correct, Ms.Mars?"
Ayame nodded vigorously.
"Than I think the mature thing for Ms.Morbucks to do would be to forgive you," Wakeman started, but Princess was having none of it.
"Absolutely not!" She shouted, "I won't forgive her until she pays for..."
Wakeman turned away from her, deciding not to give this girl any attention for this tantrum.
"Now, Mr.Lazen," She said, "What do you have to say for yourself?"
|
|
|
Post by Agai Lazen on May 27, 2013 16:38:53 GMT -4
"All I have to say," Zeik began, "Is that I would do it again in less than a heartbeat. I don't care if I get in trouble, if I see someone with superpowers picking on someone without them I won't hesitate to step in and make the offender humble."
Zeik didn't even blink or look away during his speech, never breaking eye contact with the principal.
"So I'm more than ready for any kind of punishment you have for me, because nothing is going to change my mind about it."
|
|
|
Post by Champ on May 27, 2013 16:59:08 GMT -4
Wakeman raised an eyebrow at Zeik's words, allowing a hint of a smile to play across her face. That was exactly what she'd wanted to hear, and it made her even more sure that she had been right to invite Zeik to her school. He had the attitude needed to be a hero already, she just had to make sure she helped him build up his skills.
"Well said, Mr.Lazen," She said.
For a moment she let silence hang in the air, observing the students' reactions. Ayame was still glum, and was making a concentrated effort to make eye contact with anyone else in the room. Skyler had her arms crossed, pointedly glaring away from Wakeman. Princess was glaring at Skyler. Wakeman nodded slightly to herself. She had a feeling that this little interview had given her more information on these particular students than she had initially anticipated.
"Right," She said, "Well, since your fight technically took place before the official start of the school year I've decided not to issue any punishment."
For a moment all of the students were stunned, and then they each reacted. A smile burst across Skyler's face, a sigh of relief escaped Ayame, and a simple smirk played across Princess' face.
"That said, I expect I won't have any more problems from any of you," Wakeman said.
"A..absolutely, ma'am," Ayame said.
"You got it, boss," Skyler added.
Wakeman nodded, standing and pocketing her speech.
"Right, well you're all free to go now," She said, "Opening ceremonies will be starting soon, and thanks to all of you we're running a little late."
Ayame nodded, watching as Wakeman left. Princess followed after her, turning before she left to stick her tongue out at the others before leaving. As she stood to leave Ayame turned to Zeik, smiling.
"Thanks for the help earlier," She said, "And I'm sorry we got you in trouble."
|
|
|
Post by Agai Lazen on May 27, 2013 17:13:17 GMT -4
"That said, I expect I won't have any more problems from any of you," Wakeman said.
"No promises." Zeik said, as the four of them were allowed to leave.
"Thanks for the help earlier," Ayame said, "And I'm sorry we got you in trouble."
"That's well and dandy, but you didn't get me in trouble," Zeik said, "I got me in trouble and you were just defending yourself."
Zeik held out his hand to Ayame.
"Name's Zeik, what's yours?"
|
|
|
Post by Plink on May 27, 2013 17:15:55 GMT -4
"Goodness." Plink said as he sat beside Alice. "I think this is running a bit late."
On the opposite end of the room, Jane leaned over to Her brother. "At what point do you suppose this'll start?" She said to him. "No clue." He said with a shrug. "Soon I guess."
|
|
|
Post by Champ on May 27, 2013 17:29:10 GMT -4
Ayame smiled, shaking Zeik's hand.
"I'm Ayame," She said, "Ayame Mars, and that troublemaker..."
She gestured at Skyler.
"Is Skyler," She finished.
Skyler gave a half-smile, holding a hand up.
"Thanks for the help," She said, "Though I'm not sure we really needed it."
Ayame rolled her eyes, wishing Skyler hadn't felt the need to add that last part.
"Anyway," She said, "I guess we should get to opening ceremonies."
|
|
|
Post by Agai Lazen on May 27, 2013 17:33:08 GMT -4
Zeik smiled.
"What else are we gonna do? Let's go."
|
|
|
Post by Champ on May 27, 2013 17:37:58 GMT -4
Ayame smiled, and together with her sister and her new friend walked down to the auditorium. *** The room was already dark when Ayame and Skyler arrived, and it was difficult to find a seat in the crowded room. Eventually they found one next to a pair of robots that appeared to be brother and sister.
"Hey," Skyler whispered as the two sat down, "We didn't miss anything important, did we?"
|
|
|
Post by Agai Lazen on May 27, 2013 17:42:53 GMT -4
Zeik saw how crowded the auditorium was, and decided it was better to leave his anvils outside before entering with Ayame and Skyler.
|
|
|
Post by Plink on May 27, 2013 17:50:26 GMT -4
Jane turned to Skyler first before getting Max's attention. He looked around quickly before looking back at the two girls. "No you didn't" he said. "Maybe you missed the room filling up but you didn't miss a whole lot."
|
|
|
Post by Champ on May 27, 2013 18:09:26 GMT -4
Skyler smiled.
"Good to know," She said.
She was about to introduce herself when the lights went down, and a murmur filled the room. Eventually the stage lights came on, revealing Dr.Wakeman, flanked on either side by her fellow staff members. Skyler couldn't hold back a grin as she looked at the stage, amazed at the people that Wakeman had hired to teach. Skyler could name almost every single one of them, and they were all legends, heroes known around the world for their skills and deeds. Wakeman had certainly spared no expense, Skyler could see, and she was certainly going to be learning from the very best. Skyler's grin widened as she caught sight of a cluster of teachers near the end of the group, who appeared to be searching the crowd themselves. The first was a man with golden hair, and beside him stood two women, one slightly taller than him, the other a bit shorter. They were Skyler's father, Champ, and her mother and aunt, respectively. As Champ caught sight of her he winked, and Skyler gave him an enthusiastic thumbs up. Then she turned her attention to Wakeman, who had started to speak.
"Good morning," The doctor said, "And welcome to the Wakeman Academy."
There was a murmur through the room,but Wakeman silenced it by putting a hand up.
"As you know I have gathered all of you here because you are exceptional," She said, "But I have also gathered you for a more important reason than that. As you've no doubt heard, the goal of this academy is to create the heroes of the next generation. That is only partially true. My goal is not simply to create superheroes, but examples, role models who will serve as inspiration for the next generation. You see before you many of the men and women who have accomplished that role for your generation. As you might have noticed their numbers are fairly small."
Skyler thought that was up for debate, the staff of the school was actually fairly impressive, but she had to admit that compared to the number of metahumans there probably were in total their numbers weren't that impressive.
"With any luck our work here will change that for your generation," She said, "With any luck we will be able to make you more than just exceptional students,but exceptional individuals. We hope to harbor genius, craft courage, and inspire greatness. Each of you has the potential for greatness. With any luck we will be able to help you find it."
There was another pause, and for a moment the students thought that Wakeman was done,but she began to speak once more, silencing them.
"Now, as you all know there was a fight before this assembly," She said, "Let me be perfectly clear, that type of behavior will not be accepted here. We have chosen all of you because you are remarkable, and we expect you to live up to the remarkable standard we plan to hold you to. If I am totally honest with you, what we do here will have a huge effect on the way the public sees metahumans for years to come. Many are looking to this academy to prove that Metas can be more than just freaks with special powers, that those powers can be harnessed to better our society. Let's not give those that fear metas any reason to believe those fears are well founded. Instead, let us prove to them that the abilities you've all been born with are gifts, not curses."
She stepped back from the microphone, glancing at her staff members.
"If anyone else has something to say," She said to them, "Now would be the time."
|
|
|
Post by Agai Lazen on May 27, 2013 18:21:21 GMT -4
Zeik raised his hand.
"Why was an obvious villain invited to the school?" It was quite clear that Princess Morbucks had no intention of being an acceptable student, and she had no powers to speak of besides her suit which she did not invent, but instead bought with money. Zeik didn't believe the girl was a meta, even with the super-suit. To him, she was just a brat with a dimwitted but rich father.
|
|
|
Post by Champ on May 27, 2013 18:29:49 GMT -4
Wakeman frowned, annoyed at Zeik's outburst. She had meant the invitation for her staff, and moreover it was a rude question to begin with. She mentally noted that she would have to ensure that one of the skills Zeik acquired during his time at the school would be respect for authority.
"Because I believe in the potential of all of our students, Mr.Lazen," Doctor Wakeman said, "Even those with checkered pasts have the potential to overcome their histories and use their talents for good, granted that they are given proper guidance. It is my hope that through our teaching we will be able to teach all of you not only how to use your gifts, but how to use them properly, and part of that is trying to instill upon each of you the right attitude. My hope is that when you leave this academy you will not only be good heroes, but good people. Of course whether or not that ends up being the case is entirely dependent on you as individuals. Now if no other staff members have something to say we will dismiss by homeroom."
She turned to her staff members again, inviting any of them to take the microphone.
|
|
|
Post by Agai Lazen on May 27, 2013 18:34:29 GMT -4
Zeik didn't believe such a thing was possible with Princess Morbucks unless her father finally came to his senses, which also seemed impossible. He understood what Dr. Wakeman was getting at, but he thought it was a mistake to invite that troublemaker.
Ironically, he himself was being tagged as a troublemaker by both the staff and the students around him.
|
|