Post by Champ on Jan 16, 2014 5:01:29 GMT -4
((OOC: This intro is clunky and badly written, but better to have a bad start than to never start at all, here's the long awaited second episode of Cartoon Heroes!))
It had been a long night. L had known it would be as soon as he and Doctor Wakeman had begun to build the curriculum this academy intended to employ, but still, now that this first night had finally arrived he was beginning to wonder if he hadn't overestimated his own abilities when it came to this particular task. It sounded so simple, he just had to go through the tapes of the first exam of the various students of the Academy and evaluate them, judging the strengths and weaknesses of the students and then putting them in teams that would allow them to be best utilized in the field. In theory it was an easy job. In practice it was tedious and time consuming. Still, it could be worse. At the very least he knew what he was looking for. Still, he had to admit, he wished he had a partner that could help him with the work.
No sooner had the thought escaped him than he heard the door open.
“How go the evaluations?” Asked Doctor Wakeman from behind him.
“Slow,” L answered without looking up from his screen, “But they are nearly complete, I’ll have a full list of prospective teams in the morning, though I’ll admit that a few students have been giving me trouble.”
Wakeman raised an eyebrow at this. The two of them had done fairly extensive screening of each student before they were selected to join the academy, now that he had footage of them working together she was surprised that there could be too many that he couldn’t unravel.
“Any particular examples?” She asked.
“Our one absent student, for one,” He said.
Wakeman’s eyebrow went higher. She wasn't aware that any students had failed to show up for the first day of classes.
“Oh?” She said, “Who are we missing?”
Without looking up from his work L pulled up a file, and immediately Wakeman’s heart dropped. She had known that this particular student would be a problem no matter what, not having footage of her exam just made matters worse.
“Her flight was cancelled,” L said casually, “She should be arriving in just a few hours.”
“Have you told her roommate?” Wakeman asked, knowing that this normally silly question would be important in this case. Knowing the problems this student was going to have, she didn’t want her to get off on the wrong foot.
“She doesn't have one,” L said, still not looking up, “I put her in a private room, just like Mr.Young.”
Wakeman nodded at this, knowing it was probably the right choice. It amazed her how insightful L could be given his usual lack of understanding when it came to socialization. Of course, she supposed he wouldn’t be much of a detective if he didn’t understand at least a little psychology.
“We’ll have to be careful with her,” Wakeman said, “We have to strike the right balance with her class and team placement. Put her in an environment that’s too rewarding and her ego will run away with her, too challenging and her confidence will be crushed and she’ll try to overcompensate and cut herself off from her fellow students. The same will be doubly true of her team, we need people who won’t feel threatened by her haughty attitude but who are still compassionate enough that she’ll be willing to open up to them.”
“That, of course, doesn’t even broach the fact that she isn’t exactly a team player,” L pointed out, “Honestly, I’m not sure there’s anywhere she’ll fit in.”
Wakeman frowned, knowing that L was probably right.
“You’re probably right,” She said, looking at the picture of the student in question.
She sighed, placing her hands behind her head.
“Oh, Iris,” She whispered to herself, “What are we going to do with you?”
For a moment she just stood in silence, looking through the girl’s file. Eventually L closed it, turning his attention back to the exam footage, and reminding Wakeman of the reason she had originally come to see him.
“By the way,” she said, “Have you figured out how we’re going to carry out the next exam?”
“Of course,” He said, “I’ve crafted a scenario with a few of the other professors that, while crude, should get the job done.”
Wakeman noted that L seemed unsure of himself as he spoke, and immediately she knew something was wrong.
“Is there a problem?” She asked.
“No,” L said, before turning to the Doctor at last, “But won’t the students be angry once they realize the whole scenario is just a test?”
Wakeman smiled at this, once again surprised at L’s insight.
“Of course the will,” she said, “The same way the smarter once will be angry once they realize that their first ‘mission’ was also just a test. I’m sure for a while they’ll hate us, but eventually they’ll learn another valuable lesson from these little games we’ve made them play.”
“And what lesson is that?” L asked, already turning his attention back to his work.
“Everything in life is a test.”
***
Iris felt a smile creep on her face as the lights from the city came into view. She had often heard Tremorton described as a beacon of light, and seeing it from the sky she couldn’t argue. She just hoped that it was also a beacon to a new beginning. She still couldn’t believe that she had been asked to attend Doctor Wakeman’s Academy and not Beatrix, and she couldn’t help but feel like this would finally be her chance to escape her sister’s shadow. At long last she was going to prove that she was just as worthy of taking up her father’s mantle as her sister was, and at long last she would get the attention she deserved.
“Beautiful, isn’t it,” The man beside her asked, putting down his book and turning to look at the lights from the city.
“It really is,” Iris said, grinning as she turned to the man.
As she glanced at him she noticed the author of the book eh was holding, and while she wasn’t one for small talk, she couldn’t resist the chance to just do a little bit of bragging.
“Is that a Gary Weaver book?” She asked, trying to come off as casual.
The man smiled, lifting it up to give her a better look. The book’s title was “Evil.Exe”, and embossed in golden letters on the bottom was the name Gary Weaver.
“Sharp eye,” He said, “Are you a big fan?”
Iris shrugged, acting nonchalant.
“Not really,” She said, “I was just wondering because he’s apparently going to be one of my teachers.”
The man raised an eyebrow at this, clearly impressed.
“So, you must be a student at the Academy,” He said.
She grinned, glad to see that she had managed to earn the awe of this random stranger.
“Yep,” she said, “Tomorrow’s my first day.”
“Oh, well good luck,” He said.
She smiled, starting, in spite of herself, to like this man.
“So what bring you to Tremorton?” She asked.
“Nothing special,” He said, a hint of a smile appearing on his face, “Just going to visit a very, very old friend.”
***
It had come down to this. Gary had done just as the clues had told him to, he had found the Silver Sight, uncovered the traitor, and learned who his true enemy was. Now all he had to do was defeat them, once and for all. Unfortunately that meant deceiving them, but that wasn’t hard, by all appearances he was playing right into their hands. All he had to do was make them believe that he intended to kill the General. It wasn’t hard to do that either, as he was beyond furious at the man for having broken into his grandmother’s house in his fanatical search for the Sight.
“I know who the true enemy is,” Gary said, taking a step forward, the Sight on his palm, eyes fixed on the General, “And the true enemy….”
He turned suddenly, his eyes turning to the projection that he knew came from the Sight itself.
“…Is you!”
In an instant the projection’s face was filled with terror, which was quickly replaced with unparalleled rage.
“No!” It shouted as the Sight rose, “You can’t do that!”
Above their heads the Sight glew brightly, and then, suddenly, seemed to burst, eventually settling into a half dozen white lights. For a moment Gary smiled, watching as the lights floated over the friends and family assembled with him. Then, as the lights settled to the ground, his heart froze. Each separately took the form of the projection, and held out an outstretched hand before the members of the Midnight Society, old and new, and one by one they collapsed.
“I told you Gary,” The original projection said, a cruel smile on its face, “You can’t do that.”
Before Gary could react the projection raised its hand. He had just enough time to scream before the world went black.
***
Gary’s heart was already pounding when he awoke, but from the moment he did he knew what he had to do. He grabbed his glasses and scrambled to his computer, setting up his webcam in mere moments. He had barely enough time to catch his breath before his computer was set up to record a video message. He hoped it would never be played.
“Hello,” He said, “My name is Gary Weaver, and if you’re seeing this message it means that the worst has happened…”
***
Skyler yawned, stretching as she walked to her homeroom, her older sister beside her.
“C’mon Ayame,” She said, her words slightly obscured by the yawn, “You have to admit it was pretty cool.”
“It was,” Ayame said, taking another bite out of her apple, “But I still don’t think we should mention it to anybody. We’re already getting enough unwanted attention just by being dad’s kids, we don’t want to give people even more of a reason to get the wrong idea about us.”
“But we were part of the first team in the ENTIRE Academy to get to go on a field mission,” She said.
“Which at this point just makes it look like Wakeman gave us special treatment, and makes us look like teacher’s pets,” Ayame pointed out, “Which will make us a bigger target for bullies.”
Skyler rolled her eyes at this. The last thing she was worried about was getting bullied, since she was beyond sure she could take care of herself, even in a school full of other super powered kids.
“Ayame, you always come off as a teacher’s pet,” She said.
“All the more reason for me to not want to rush into making that impression,” She said, “Look, the way I see it plenty of people already think the only reason we’re here is because our dad is Champ Mars, if it looks like we’re getting special treatment on top of that a lot of people are going to resent us right out of the gate. First impressions are important, Skyler, and honestly if we want to make a good one we should probably keep a low profile.”
Skyler rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything as she followed her sister into their homeroom. She knew Ayame had a point, but she honestly didn't care what people thought, she knew that Doctor Wakeman had selected Team Alpha as the first team for field work because the Doctor had seen talent in them, and Skyler didn't see why they shouldn’t be open about this accomplishment. Besides, anyone with half a brain would be able to tell that they had the talent to deserve getting such a prestigious assignment. If not, they’d know soon enough. Whether Ayame wanted to admit it or not, Team Alpha wasn’t going to be able to keep a low profile for long.
It had been a long night. L had known it would be as soon as he and Doctor Wakeman had begun to build the curriculum this academy intended to employ, but still, now that this first night had finally arrived he was beginning to wonder if he hadn't overestimated his own abilities when it came to this particular task. It sounded so simple, he just had to go through the tapes of the first exam of the various students of the Academy and evaluate them, judging the strengths and weaknesses of the students and then putting them in teams that would allow them to be best utilized in the field. In theory it was an easy job. In practice it was tedious and time consuming. Still, it could be worse. At the very least he knew what he was looking for. Still, he had to admit, he wished he had a partner that could help him with the work.
No sooner had the thought escaped him than he heard the door open.
“How go the evaluations?” Asked Doctor Wakeman from behind him.
“Slow,” L answered without looking up from his screen, “But they are nearly complete, I’ll have a full list of prospective teams in the morning, though I’ll admit that a few students have been giving me trouble.”
Wakeman raised an eyebrow at this. The two of them had done fairly extensive screening of each student before they were selected to join the academy, now that he had footage of them working together she was surprised that there could be too many that he couldn’t unravel.
“Any particular examples?” She asked.
“Our one absent student, for one,” He said.
Wakeman’s eyebrow went higher. She wasn't aware that any students had failed to show up for the first day of classes.
“Oh?” She said, “Who are we missing?”
Without looking up from his work L pulled up a file, and immediately Wakeman’s heart dropped. She had known that this particular student would be a problem no matter what, not having footage of her exam just made matters worse.
“Her flight was cancelled,” L said casually, “She should be arriving in just a few hours.”
“Have you told her roommate?” Wakeman asked, knowing that this normally silly question would be important in this case. Knowing the problems this student was going to have, she didn’t want her to get off on the wrong foot.
“She doesn't have one,” L said, still not looking up, “I put her in a private room, just like Mr.Young.”
Wakeman nodded at this, knowing it was probably the right choice. It amazed her how insightful L could be given his usual lack of understanding when it came to socialization. Of course, she supposed he wouldn’t be much of a detective if he didn’t understand at least a little psychology.
“We’ll have to be careful with her,” Wakeman said, “We have to strike the right balance with her class and team placement. Put her in an environment that’s too rewarding and her ego will run away with her, too challenging and her confidence will be crushed and she’ll try to overcompensate and cut herself off from her fellow students. The same will be doubly true of her team, we need people who won’t feel threatened by her haughty attitude but who are still compassionate enough that she’ll be willing to open up to them.”
“That, of course, doesn’t even broach the fact that she isn’t exactly a team player,” L pointed out, “Honestly, I’m not sure there’s anywhere she’ll fit in.”
Wakeman frowned, knowing that L was probably right.
“You’re probably right,” She said, looking at the picture of the student in question.
She sighed, placing her hands behind her head.
“Oh, Iris,” She whispered to herself, “What are we going to do with you?”
For a moment she just stood in silence, looking through the girl’s file. Eventually L closed it, turning his attention back to the exam footage, and reminding Wakeman of the reason she had originally come to see him.
“By the way,” she said, “Have you figured out how we’re going to carry out the next exam?”
“Of course,” He said, “I’ve crafted a scenario with a few of the other professors that, while crude, should get the job done.”
Wakeman noted that L seemed unsure of himself as he spoke, and immediately she knew something was wrong.
“Is there a problem?” She asked.
“No,” L said, before turning to the Doctor at last, “But won’t the students be angry once they realize the whole scenario is just a test?”
Wakeman smiled at this, once again surprised at L’s insight.
“Of course the will,” she said, “The same way the smarter once will be angry once they realize that their first ‘mission’ was also just a test. I’m sure for a while they’ll hate us, but eventually they’ll learn another valuable lesson from these little games we’ve made them play.”
“And what lesson is that?” L asked, already turning his attention back to his work.
“Everything in life is a test.”
***
Iris felt a smile creep on her face as the lights from the city came into view. She had often heard Tremorton described as a beacon of light, and seeing it from the sky she couldn’t argue. She just hoped that it was also a beacon to a new beginning. She still couldn’t believe that she had been asked to attend Doctor Wakeman’s Academy and not Beatrix, and she couldn’t help but feel like this would finally be her chance to escape her sister’s shadow. At long last she was going to prove that she was just as worthy of taking up her father’s mantle as her sister was, and at long last she would get the attention she deserved.
“Beautiful, isn’t it,” The man beside her asked, putting down his book and turning to look at the lights from the city.
“It really is,” Iris said, grinning as she turned to the man.
As she glanced at him she noticed the author of the book eh was holding, and while she wasn’t one for small talk, she couldn’t resist the chance to just do a little bit of bragging.
“Is that a Gary Weaver book?” She asked, trying to come off as casual.
The man smiled, lifting it up to give her a better look. The book’s title was “Evil.Exe”, and embossed in golden letters on the bottom was the name Gary Weaver.
“Sharp eye,” He said, “Are you a big fan?”
Iris shrugged, acting nonchalant.
“Not really,” She said, “I was just wondering because he’s apparently going to be one of my teachers.”
The man raised an eyebrow at this, clearly impressed.
“So, you must be a student at the Academy,” He said.
She grinned, glad to see that she had managed to earn the awe of this random stranger.
“Yep,” she said, “Tomorrow’s my first day.”
“Oh, well good luck,” He said.
She smiled, starting, in spite of herself, to like this man.
“So what bring you to Tremorton?” She asked.
“Nothing special,” He said, a hint of a smile appearing on his face, “Just going to visit a very, very old friend.”
***
It had come down to this. Gary had done just as the clues had told him to, he had found the Silver Sight, uncovered the traitor, and learned who his true enemy was. Now all he had to do was defeat them, once and for all. Unfortunately that meant deceiving them, but that wasn’t hard, by all appearances he was playing right into their hands. All he had to do was make them believe that he intended to kill the General. It wasn’t hard to do that either, as he was beyond furious at the man for having broken into his grandmother’s house in his fanatical search for the Sight.
“I know who the true enemy is,” Gary said, taking a step forward, the Sight on his palm, eyes fixed on the General, “And the true enemy….”
He turned suddenly, his eyes turning to the projection that he knew came from the Sight itself.
“…Is you!”
In an instant the projection’s face was filled with terror, which was quickly replaced with unparalleled rage.
“No!” It shouted as the Sight rose, “You can’t do that!”
Above their heads the Sight glew brightly, and then, suddenly, seemed to burst, eventually settling into a half dozen white lights. For a moment Gary smiled, watching as the lights floated over the friends and family assembled with him. Then, as the lights settled to the ground, his heart froze. Each separately took the form of the projection, and held out an outstretched hand before the members of the Midnight Society, old and new, and one by one they collapsed.
“I told you Gary,” The original projection said, a cruel smile on its face, “You can’t do that.”
Before Gary could react the projection raised its hand. He had just enough time to scream before the world went black.
***
Gary’s heart was already pounding when he awoke, but from the moment he did he knew what he had to do. He grabbed his glasses and scrambled to his computer, setting up his webcam in mere moments. He had barely enough time to catch his breath before his computer was set up to record a video message. He hoped it would never be played.
“Hello,” He said, “My name is Gary Weaver, and if you’re seeing this message it means that the worst has happened…”
***
Skyler yawned, stretching as she walked to her homeroom, her older sister beside her.
“C’mon Ayame,” She said, her words slightly obscured by the yawn, “You have to admit it was pretty cool.”
“It was,” Ayame said, taking another bite out of her apple, “But I still don’t think we should mention it to anybody. We’re already getting enough unwanted attention just by being dad’s kids, we don’t want to give people even more of a reason to get the wrong idea about us.”
“But we were part of the first team in the ENTIRE Academy to get to go on a field mission,” She said.
“Which at this point just makes it look like Wakeman gave us special treatment, and makes us look like teacher’s pets,” Ayame pointed out, “Which will make us a bigger target for bullies.”
Skyler rolled her eyes at this. The last thing she was worried about was getting bullied, since she was beyond sure she could take care of herself, even in a school full of other super powered kids.
“Ayame, you always come off as a teacher’s pet,” She said.
“All the more reason for me to not want to rush into making that impression,” She said, “Look, the way I see it plenty of people already think the only reason we’re here is because our dad is Champ Mars, if it looks like we’re getting special treatment on top of that a lot of people are going to resent us right out of the gate. First impressions are important, Skyler, and honestly if we want to make a good one we should probably keep a low profile.”
Skyler rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything as she followed her sister into their homeroom. She knew Ayame had a point, but she honestly didn't care what people thought, she knew that Doctor Wakeman had selected Team Alpha as the first team for field work because the Doctor had seen talent in them, and Skyler didn't see why they shouldn’t be open about this accomplishment. Besides, anyone with half a brain would be able to tell that they had the talent to deserve getting such a prestigious assignment. If not, they’d know soon enough. Whether Ayame wanted to admit it or not, Team Alpha wasn’t going to be able to keep a low profile for long.