[ And so, Our Heroes went on to endure another day of public schooling. Poor things. ] [ The day was uneventful, aside from all the toilets in the entire building overflowing at the same precice instant. Naturally, the Mystery Mutie is generally agreed to be the cause of this by the school's students. ] [ On other news, neither of the Hawt Subz did anything unusual or evil today. ] [ School has just let out for the day, and by some bizarre coincidence you all end up near Miya's locker at more or less the same time. Whatever do you do? ] [ Session Start. There. :P ] * Miya does not sit at her locker and does not sketch because she is not Katie. ... I don't suppose youc'n sense other telekinetics or somethin', Claire. * Eric winds up near Miya's locker. He's munching on a brownie, and has an armful of them as well. "I love home-ed, don't you?" Can't say I do. * Miya peers at the brownies. "Um. Are those safe?" Sure they are. I made'em./ * Miya wrinkles her nose. ( No. They're Magic Brownies. Very dangerous. ) Eh? Somethin' wrong with my cooking? * Daegal snaps his fingers. "Woulda made it easy. Ah well. Can I gank a brownie off ya, Eric?" * Miya blushes, then waves her hands. "No, no! No. I'll just... um, I'll pass." ( Daegal gains one Lingo Point. ) * Eric throws Daegal one of the walnut double-fudge ones. * Daegal catches it in his mouth, chews thoughtfully, and swollows. "Not bad." Yeah. The teach still thinks I put too much butter in, though. Bah. More butter means more fat. Which means more flavor. * Miya looks at the floor and Does. Not. Comment. ( How can you put in too much butter? ) * Eric decimates the rest of the brownies. "Yup. 's what I always say, eh?" You could've offered Claire one. Oh, did you want one? * Claire shrugs. "Not that hungry." * Daegal hmms. "Remind me to take you guys to this one Russian bakery I know... makes the best damn seven-layer cake in the city." But anyway... who do we go interrogate next? * Miya fidgets and mumbles, "I still think Gary's up to something." * Claire shrugs. "I hardly even know what we're doing." Worst thing that guy's up to is watchin' porn on his computer, if that. Seven-layer cake you say? Hmmm... There's a tekky somewhere in this school playin' pranks. Also can muck wit ya brains. Chuckles wants us ta find 'em 'fore the government comes snoopin' around. * Eric nods. "Eh... That about covers it." I got that part. Who do we interview? We've taken' care of the top two suspects... So next on the list is Jeremy or Todd. Were some kids we noticed actin' strange... one Miya talked ta, said she was lookin' into it too. Apparently got a bad case'a amnesia when she confronted the guy. Also talked to this guy Greg, but Eric don't think he's our guy. Eh, any of'em could be BSin' us, but I'm trying to keep the list down. If we don't find him or her after this, we look back thru the list or reassess our suspects. But he's up to *something*, I think. Maybe. Don't forget that Calvin guy. The prankster. Seems to me that we ought to start with him. Ah, yes. How could I forget him after I 'accidentally' sprayed my soda on him. ... whachu talkin' 'bout, Willis? Eh? Oh, I opened the can and it sprayed. I think he shook it before- hand... Good thing was it was pointed away from me. Bad thing was it was pointed at him. * Miya giggles. Ah. So he ain't that good'a prankster. Might explain why he'd use the mind-movin' juju. * Claire shrugs. "From what I can tell, he's the most likely suspect." But you'd know better than I ... anyone have a three-sided coin? You'd want a six-sided dice. * Daegal pulls a six-sided dice out of his pocket. "Broke up a craps game during study hall." *grins* Eh? I knew you were up to something. * Eric smirks. "1-2 is Jeremy, 3-4 is Todd, 5-6 is Calvin." * Daegal shrugs. "Wouldn'ta bothered, but they were hasslin' some kids that were just tryin' ta study." *holds out the die to Miya* "Wanna do the honors?" * Miya takes the dice. "I... guess. But I still want to talk to him again." And she rolls it on the floor. We'll visit him again if you want. And it looks like we're gonna be checking on Mr. Popular today. Goodie. Jeremy it is. And Eric's right. After we talk to him, you guys can go talk to Greg again. Me bein' there won't help, and I gotta run over ta Red Hook anyway. * Miya blinks. "Why?" Remember my sensei called last night. Turns out the local cops're gonna be doin' a big raid tonight, and they need some backup. Oh. Do you need us to go with, too? Nah. s'nothing I can't handle. They could prolly handle it without me, but s'better if I go in the door first... I can take a bullet better'n the other guys. If I came along, you wouldn't need to worry about that at all. * Eric chuckles. "If I came along, you wouldn't need to worry about the building at all." 'sides... cops in Red Hook keep quiet 'bout me 'cause just about all of 'em owe my pops their lives. I trust 'em... but I'd rather they not know about anyone with powers but me. Just in case. But I don't use powers to beat people up! So it'd be okay. * Miya grins. Yeah. Neither do I. I use it to blow them u- Wait, that's worse. ^_^; * Daegal shakes his head. "If I ever really needed you guys, trust me, I'd ask. But for this... s'not worth the risk. Don't want any of ya catchin' a stray bullet or somethin'." 'sides, I got a street rep to maintain. *smirks* 'course you do. * Claire snickers. "Catching bullets is pretty easy for me." * Miya nods. "He's just afraid we'll show him up." Which we would. * Miya giggles. 'course you would. You guys got all the flashy powers'n stuff... all I do is whack people. * Daegal grins. "And there's the fact that Eric's prolly wanted back in Canada for robbin' supermarkets." Hey! I never robbed supermarkets. Really. My parents just had to put a larger portion of their money torwards food... ( No wonder they were so happy to ship you off to Xavier's. ) (No kidding. :P) * Miya fidgets. "Um, anyway. Jeremy?" Yeah, Jeremy Franks. [ Jeremy fails to appear from thin air when you mention his name. ] Yeah. He's probably as basketball practice. If they have practice today, I mean. I could prolly wedgie an answer outta him. That's one way to do it. * Eric shrugs. "If he has those powers and is popular, it might be a bit much. Still, a wedgie never hurt anyone." * Eric checks to make sure nobody wedgies him. * Claire does not telekinetically wedgie Eric. Isn't that nice? 'm open to suggestions. My plan with Claire didn't work too well, and I didn't exactly do a bang-up job with Greg either. What plan with me? Don't you mean Daphne? * Miya looks confused. ... yeah, Daphne. Sorry. Always sucked with names. Prolly 'cause I always called everyone in the neighborhood by their nicknames. * Daegal patpats Eric. "Right, Splodey?" * Eric smirks. "'course, Brite-lite. Let's go to the basket-ball court" * Eric starts heading in that direction! * Miya tags along. * Claire snickers and follows. Least I don't drive the Sporkmobile... [ The screen swirls rapidly in the background as the X-P logo moves towards and then away from the viewer, and then Our Heroes are there! At the basketball court! ] * Eric looks around. More description please! ( Oh, gimme a break. _ ) (You don't even tell us if anybody's there! ;P) [ The basketball court used for practice is indoors, being painted on the gym floor. Only one row of bleechers is out at the moment, and only a few people sit on them. ] (Break given. Now back to work! :P) [ Wait for it, damn you. ] (*giggles*) (We tease because we care. Really. ^_^) ( Oh, you're teasing? :P ) ( TYPE FASTER, WHELP! *whip-CRACK* ) [ The moment you enter, you immediately know where Jeremy is. This is because he seems to stick out a bit while soaring through the air to execute a slam dunk that some will say should be wholly impossible for anyone who happens to be white. The rest of his team doesn't seem to mind, tho. ] (Just watch me... not do that. :P) ( White Mutants CAN Jump! ) ( Oh. He has jumping powers?) * Eric takes a deep breath. "Who wants to talk to him, eh?" Um. Um. Claire! She's tall and she can ask him on a date. * Eric chuckles. "Better reason than anyone else." * Claire rolls her eyes. [ Practice continues thus; the team seems to be pretty good on the whole, although they don't seem to rely a whole bunch on the dunking. Someone else is watching the game, meanwhile; Daphne sits in the bleachers, eyeing Jeremy unhappily. ] Well, I guess Daegal can ask him on a date... He could. The question is would he ever show up at school again would come into play. ... nah. He ain't my type. Too many penises. * Miya blinks, noticing Daphne. "I'll... be right back." And she scampers over to Daphne. * Claire shrugs. "I'll do it, but I have no idea what to ask him." (Ask him if his moves are lame.) Can't usually go up to someone and say "Hi, do you have super powers?" He's the popular jock type who's seemingly perfect in every way and ends up being a failure in life later on. That's the way I see it. [ Miya arrives at Daphne, and they start talking! ] ... just a guess, Eric, but that prolly shouldn't be Claire's first line. Eh? Didn't say it should be. Just my take on the guy. (Eric's just bitter 'cause he isn't as cute as Jeremy and therefore doesn't get as many hawt chixxorz.) (Duh. :P) (Eric don't get hawt chixxorz.) * Daegal shrugs. "Let Miya talk ta Daphne. She's been makin' with the good plans lately. s'good ta see the kid takin' some initiative." Yeah. Still need to get her to speak more. She's shy, and English ain't her best language. s'undertandable... but it'd be good for the kid ta loosen up. * Eric nods. * Daegal chuckles. "'course, her English s'a helluva lot better'n my Japanese, so she's obviously got some serious grey stuff between the ears." [ Jeremy continues to do really well at captaining the team. He is'nt a ball-hog, at least; he seems to work real well with, y'know, the rest of the team. He even does some coaching of his own from time to time. It's weird. ] Grey stuff? Funny way to put it. Yeah. From where I come from they call it brains. * Eric smirks. m'from Red Hook, remember? s'like a whole separate country. With bodegas. It is a whole seperate country. (House of Pain is in the house! Now Jump Around!) * Claire taps her foot and waits for practice to end. * Daegal gets quietish, and watches Jeremy play, looking for... who knows what. [ Practice isn't gonna end for a while, but the coach orders a break for those currently on the court while the others give it a shot, which is the next best thing, really. ] * Eric watches Jeremy's game. Hmmm... Wonder if I could take'em. Probably not. * Miya comes running over to you guys. "Hey. Hey!" * Eric looks over to Miya. "What's up?" Hmm? What is it? * Miya points at the boys' locker room. "Gary just walked in there. Um. Daphne says he never goes in there willingly." * Eric turns to Daegal. "Let's check it out." * Daegal nods, and follows Eric. "You lead, I'll hang back a bit. Don't wanna spook 'em if it ain't necessary." * Eric nods and heads in. * Miya watches them go and fidgets. "Stupid boy locker rooms." * Claire puts one hand on her hip and runs the other one through her hair. "Hmm. Well, at least we don't have to endure the smell." * Miya giggles. "That's true." She looks up at Claire. "Sorry about all this. It must really be crummy for a second day here." * Claire shrugs. "I'll get through it. No big deal." ( Meanwhile, the basketball players notice Claire, and begin running into each other while doing the bob-and-weave drill. ) (They notice Claire *and* Miya.) (It'd be funny. Do it!) [ The guys do seem to notice Claire; they notice Daphne, too, but seem afraid of looking at her too long. ] * Miya tries to see if one of the guys noticing is Jeremy. * Miya ends up standing on her toes. * Claire tries too. She doesn't have to stand on her toes 'cause she's taller than Miya. [ Jeremy does notice, and he waves politely, but does not stare or ogle. He does glance at Daphne more than the others; maybe he's unusually brave, too. ] * Miya scratches the back of her head at that, then blinks. "Oh! You should meet Daphne." That girl you were talking to? * Miya nodnods and grabs Claire by the hand, pulling her over towards Daphne. (Dammit Miya. You're too cute.) * Claire is pulled! [ Daphne looks up as Miya approaches with Claire in tow. She raises an eyebrow. "Oh, is this our culprit, then?" ] (Thanks!) Huh? Oh, she didn't do anything! She's new here. Sorry? [ "Ah, alright, then." She holds her hand out. "Daphne McAlpin. Pleasdameedsha." ] * Claire takes Daphne's hand. "Claire Cardinaux." * Miya beams. [ Daphne shakes. "Right. How'd ye meet Miya, outtae curiosity?" ] Just met her yesterday when I transfered in. [ Daphne nods. "Alright. Have a seat, botha ye." ] * Claire takes a seat. * Miya sits! * Eric walks out of the locker room and starts making his way to the now-sitting girls. * Miya waves at Eric. * Eric waves back. [ Daphne nods to the newcomers. ] * Daegal follows Eric, and makes his way over. * Eric takes a seat one level higher on the bleechers when he gets there. "So, find anything out?" * Claire shakes her head. "You?" * Daegal plops down next to Eric. "Gary's doin' Jeremy's work for him. Prolly in exchange for not gettin' picked on." ... Really? Ruin the suspense why don't ya. * Miya frowns. "That's not right." Hmm. It isn't, but it doesn't help us get closer to the problem. Don't really blame Gary... s'just doin' what he can to keep from gettin' swirlied. Jeremy, though... might hafta have a talk with the boy. *cracks knuckles* Hey, hey. Save some for the rest of us. ... what, you think I'm gonna beat him up? I'm shocked. Shocked, I say. * Miya looks at Daphne, trying to gauge her reaction. [ Daphne looks thoughtful. "Two prollems with that." ] * Daegal grins. * Eric looks at Daphne with her sudden mention of problems. "And those are?" Doesn't help the low profile image, for one. [ "First, not everyone respects Jeremy - just most people. There's a couple of real assholes what'd prolly pick on Gary just because he had Jeremy's protection." ] [ "Second, Jeremy does well on tests, and from what I can tell, 'e never sits anywhere near Gary." ] Well... ... so if Gary wouldn't have a reason to do Jeremy's homework... and Jeremy wouldn't appear to *need* help on his homework... * Miya scrunches her face in thought. "Maybe... he's doing it to get Jeremy in trouble? That happened at my school. Sometimes." * Claire looks over at Jeremy. "Could be he just doesn't have time to do his own homework." * Miya nods. Too busy with extracurricular work? * Claire nods. "It's a possibility." Or he's mind-controllin' Gary, and readin' peoples' minds to do well on tests. Geh, mind control. [ Daphne chuckles. "Nae, nae. Gary wouldnae wanna get Jeremy in trouble. He'd..." she stops, and looks like she's trying to figure out something. ] ... well, there's a sentance I never thought I'd say. * Miya waves her fingers at Eric. "You will fetch me a cookie." * Claire snickers. "Get me one too, or I'll do to you what I did to the others who stood in my way." Yeah. And get Daphne one, too, or she'll beat you up! * Eric produces a mirror and holds it between Miya and himself. "No, you will fetch *me* a cookie." * Miya gasps, then falls over onto Claire. Gary don't seem like he'd have the stomach ta pull a stunt like that... s'too outta character. * Eric chuckles and the mirror vanishes. "He's got a plan." * Claire blinks and looks down at Miya. * Miya looks up at Claire and smiles weakly. "I need to get Eric a cookie." * Eric smiles. "Get the rest of us cookies while you're at it." Um. Later. Gary now. * Daegal shrugs. "Well, I could always confront Jeremy, call him on gettin' Gary ta do his homework, see if he tosses me through a wall or somethin'." * Miya sits up and straightens herself. "I guess. Are you sure you want to be tossed into a wall? That's painful." That could be hazerdous to your health. Walls tend to do that. (Then again, this is Marvel. Walls do no damage. ^_^;) I don't wanna, no. But it'd sure solve our mystery. Someone should go in and take pictures of it or something! That way, we have proof. * Miya nods. Ya got a camera? * Miya blushes. "Well... no." SOMEONE should talk to him. Glad you volunteered Claire. I could prolly go in, pull open the locker, 'n grab the papers... Then what does it look like when you're holding Jeremy's homework? ... point. Crap. Miya, you do the plannin'. Just tell me when to to hit stuff. It'd be easier just to talk to him. [ Suddenly, the basketball team is gone, the clock on the far wall is showing a different time, and the coach is tellin' you you need to get out of the gym before he locks up for the evening. Also, those of you who have mind- protectors notice they are very very warm. ] * Miya nods in agreement with Claire, then yelps~ * Eric blinks, looking around. "Ah shit." [ Daphne blinks and looks around, then curses. ] * Miya jumps to her feet, looking around. She blinks at the coach. "I'm sorry?" * Miya rubs at her bracelet. [ "I said, ya needa get out before I lock the gym! Practice was over twenty minutes ago!" ] * Claire blinks a bit. She looks at the clock and her eyes narrow. * Daegal fiddles with his badge under his shirt. "I think we need a refund on these things." * Eric notices the amulet right away. "Let's get going guys... I gotta hunch." * Claire stands up. "Yeah." * Eric gets up and heads to the car! * Daegal nods. "Remind me to tell Chuckles he really shouldn't buy important pieces of technology at Radio Shack." [ Daphne goes along, heading for her car when you reach the parking lot. ] Okay, what does everyone remember? * Miya scurries along. "We were sitting and talking about people cheating on homework, and then everything changed and my bracelet got really warm." * Miya blinks. "We didn't... just actually lose all that time, did we?" ... I'm Batman! *powerpose* * Miya kicks Daegal in the shin. Ow. * Eric nods. "Probably. Did you two feel anything different?.. Oookay." We should call the Prof. Whoever's doin' this, they're pretty goddamn powerful. * Claire follows the others. "I'll say." Where we headed, Eric? * Miya looks at Daphne. "Does all of that sound right?" Wait, wait. Maybe whoever it is is still here. * Eric unlocks the car. "I bet it's Jeremey. No doubt about it in my mind." * Miya checks the sky. Does it match the time that was on the clock? "Yeh. Sounds dead on. Ye got any friends wot can help us?" ( It's... THE COACH! ) Um... maybe. And write that down everyone. We don't need people forgeting. [ Some of the teachers are filing out of the school right now and getting in their cars. You notice both of the Hawt Subz, who are walking along and chatting with each other. ] * Claire cups her chin with her hand. * Daegal hops in the car and dials up the Prof on the car phone. Eh? What'cha thinkin, Claire? * Miya blinks a few times, then tries to edge closer to hear what they're saying. * Eric notices the two hawt subz talkin, and tries his best to hear them without looking like he's evesdropping. * Claire gets into the car, bumping her head on the way. "It was deffinately a - ow!- hypnotic thing, but I can't remember who did it." (Can we hear a clip from the hawt subz?) [ They're talking about how terrible some of the students are. They both notice you all eventually and wave hello. M keeps walking to her car; a brand-new Mercedes, surprise surprise, but Ms. Braddock comes over to the rest of you. Meanwhile, Claire is only slightly cramped, because the old Barracuda is a big car. ] * Miya looks really confused, but says, "Hello, Ms. Braddock." * Eric waves and doesn't get in. "Eh? 'lo Ms. Braddock." [ "H'lo, children. Odd to see you here this late in the day. Something's not wrong, is it?" ] * Daegal is waiting for the Prof to pick up... No? Yes? Um... I'm not sure. Eh... Nothing's wrong, just lost track of the time. * Daegal notices Ms. Braddock, and closes the door before he starts talking. "'ey Prof, it's Daegal. We got somethin' of a problem." "Well, we were lookin' into another of the kids... Jeremy Franks. Had just found out he was gettin' that Gary kid to do his homework for 'em, despite doin' well on his tests, and we were gettin' suspicious... suddenly, it was like a coupla hours had passed, and those mind shield thingees you gave us were really warm." "... yeah. She's actually standin' right outside the car." * Eric scratches his head. "You're only a substitute, right? What happened to our old teacher?" "Ah, cool. I'll go let the others know." [ Ms Braddock says, nonchalantly, "He came down with a flu bug. He should be better soon, however." ] Oh? Well, that's unfortunate. Do you know Ms. St. Coix from anywhere? [ "Only from the teacher's lounge." ] "Later Prof." *hangs up the phone; hops out of the car. Hey, Ms. Braddock. The Prof says hi. * Eric smirks at Daegal's statement. "She's a friend of the prof, eh?" [ Ms. Braddock nods. "You think you know who it is, then?" ] * Miya scratches at the back of her head. "Oh." * Daegal fills Ms. Braddock in on what's been going on, because he's too lazy to type it out again. [ Ms. Braddock nods. "Alright. I'll go with you, then. You have his address?" ] Yup. You can keep 'em from frying our brains and makin' me even dumber than I already am? That's possible? * Miya giggles. Sure. I could be from New Jersey. "Yes, I can." Cool! Under normal circumstances. * Miya hops into the car. Kickass. * Eric hops into the driver's seat. XD [ Daphne's pulled up behind you. She offers a ride to Ms. Braddock, who accepts. ] * Daegal gets in the car. To the Sporkca- er, Jeremy's house! (... DIE!) (*fries Daegal.) (We can kick him out and put the Sporkcave there!) Where to Daegal? * Daegal gets out the map, checks the address, and points out the general area within a few blocks. [ Eric fires up the engine, which roars exactly the way the GM likes to hear a hemi 427 roar, and he takes off! Right into the end of the session. ] [ Session end! Next issue: The showdown! ]