New Peaks Academy: Paradigm Shift (IC)

[Iwazuma]

While the Czech girl made the first friend she had seen in perhaps an age and a half, New Peaks' strongest Japanese sophomore was spending the day in much higher spirits. After the scene at the brutal fight between Ms. Jacobson and the Brazilian cagefighter, Victoria, he had managed to patch things up. After all, it had just been a silly argument, and he had been in a bad mood from the tournament. A simple chat and feelings were quickly reconciled. Teenagers worked that way-fighting one moment, strong as ever the next. Now that the St. Patrick's Day festivals had decorated the entire school in a carnival of sorts, Junkiro was taking the time to tour the festivities with his girlfriend.

He was dressed in a bright green V-neck for the occasion, hand in metallic hand as they checked out the facilities. The pair of them had just shared a lunch at RKO's; they had a limited edition sauce called the Celtic Slammer he just had to try, after all. At this point, he figured he'd probably wasted half the money he'd ever spent at New Peaks at RKO's. When you basically spent your rehab working there and knew the owner on a first name basis, you probably spent too much time eating at a restaurant. Still, he had found himself a free St. Patrick's lunch for two coupon hidden beneath a bush that morning. How could they NOT go after that?

He was strolling through the main courtyard, glancing at the booths in turn. Even Timur, the Russian security guard, had gotten himself a booth. It looked to be a staring contest. He could see many students around it rubbing their eyes; it looked like he hadn't been beaten yet. Junkiro could always stick his eyelids in place, so he could theoretically cheat if he really wanted to win the prize...which appeared to be cash, if the untouched stack of rubles by his left shoulder was anything to go by. But the one teacher he wanted to hunt down was-

"Hey, Junkiro!" Mike Overmeyer waved at the couple from his booth. It was fairly modestly set up: a few pads to rest arms on and a purple tablecloth, but not much else. Junkiro nudged Miranda and walked over, a bright smile on his face. Mr. Overmeyer returned that winning smile to Junkiro. "Surprised to see you on your feet after yesterday's training! Wanna take a shot at revenge?" He gestured with his eyes to his right arm, which was resting at the ready, waiting for its next competitor. As much as Junkiro wanted to prove he was progressing and had gotten better in strength and skill, he knew going up against his teacher in an arm wrestling match would just end in disaster.

He shook his head. "I doubt anyone could beat you, Mr. Overmeyer. You work out way too much to be losing to any of us. It'd take someone with inhuman strength just to stand a chance!" Though he sounded sincere, his eyes carried over to the girl by his side. He just knew she would be itching to bite at a challenge like this, and by the way she playfully glared back, he knew she was on the same wavelength.

"Ya know, Champ, I know you're playing me...but you're right." She only ever called him Champ anymore when they were messing with each other. She knew it bugged him, especially now that Kuàng had officially taken the title away from him. Still. It was clear Junkiro wanted to see her throw down with her mentor. "Alright. I'll take you on, teach. Prepare to get your ass kicked by a girl." Miranda released Junkiro's hand, flexing her metallic fingers for a moment before setting up in the seat opposite Mr. Overmeyer, who said nothing but nodded, his friendly expression changing to one of determination. This would most certainly be his biggest challenge of the day.

"Junkiro, care to get us started?" Mike's hand met with Miranda's as they tested each other's grip, waiting for the call to begin. A few students had gathered around, the word quickly flying that the crazy strong automaton was taking on the teacher of pure muscle.

Junkiro nodded. "Alright, I want to see a good clean match. No cheating, no poking the eyes, and keep your butts on your chairs. One, two, THREE!" Junkiro wasn't exactly sure how arm wrestling matches were officiated or how they started, but it seemed Miranda and Mr. Overmeyer got the hit. Both of them strained against the other with a passioned effort. He could even see a couple veins on the teacher's arm pulsing as he focused. Miranda had grit her teeth, clearly putting as much effort as she could into slamming the instructor's hand to the mat. For all their efforts, neither hand budged an inch for what seemed to be forever. The small crowd of students that had gathered cheered for their choice of victor; many sided with Miranda, but a few rooted for the teacher to take her down.

Though the war of attrition lasted for an age, slowly Miranda's hand began to be pushed back towards the mat as Mr. Overmeyer strained even harder, forcing his hand down on her. Miranda responded with a heavy groan as she forced more power to her arm, pushing back against him and slowing its descent. But in the end, it was too much. Her hand lightly tapped the mat, and Mr. Overmeyer let out a tremendous gasp as he released his grip, rubbing his arm with his other hand. "Whoo! That one is going to hurt tomorrow. Great work, Miranda. You've come the closest to beating me out of the hundred or so that have given it a shot. Maybe next year you might even take me down." He shot a playful smile her way, offering his hand in a shake.

Miranda looked frustrated and distraught at her defeat. She sportingly took the teacher's hand, shaking it weakly, muttering a "Yeah, whatever" to him as she glanced at her feet. Junkiro knew that look. She was getting down on herself again.

He took her aside before things could escalate. As she opened her mouth to protest, Junkiro took advantage of the situation by leaning in, giving her a gentle kiss and silencing any words she had built up. "Miranda. You're the strongest girl I know and you almost beat an S1 in a straight test of strength. You're incredible." He smiled warmly, squeezing her hand in a display of boyfriendly affection.

This got him a punch in the shoulder. "As much as I want to deck you for being so sappy, I can't stay mad at you, Junebug." She pulled him in close for a quick hug and returned his kiss with a light blush on her cheeks. "And thanks. Means a lot coming from you." She released him from the hug, immediately taking off in the other direction, practically dragging him along. "Now come on! Let's go hit up Ms. Jacobson's stand. I feel like shooting the hell out of something now."

[Dawscombine]

Vince had been pushing Cyst for a little while before she eventually found her way to the food stalls, leaving him with a brief kiss goodbye as she wheeled herself to nearly every food stall she could. By the time she had made her rounds, she had eaten a funnel cake, a basket of fries, a ham sandwich, a milkshake, and was currently sipping on a novelty sized lemonade. The kind so big that you saw them in old sitcoms accompanied by a laugh track. Lots of exercise meant lots of calories meaning lots of food. She arguably ate much more than she should, but she also worked out much more than she should.

She caught the eye of a few students who had seen her match and felt sorry for her. She didn’t like it. Pity made her uncomfortable, but she was unable to make it stop. Normally she’d make it stop by beating the shit out of someone nearby. Now she couldn’t even move her legs without nearly passing out from the pain. Even with all of New Peak’s medical prowess she would be in this wheelchair for the rest of the year. Normally it took students a week to get out of a wheelchair. Maybe two or three. She had months to go. So the pity was deserved, despite how little it was desired or how openly it was detested.

She found a spot to put her drink down for a second before pulling her phone out of her shirt, texting the few people she knew. Vince had given her a few phone numbers she texted a few times. She tossed a quick greeting to Junkiro and Miranda, who she assumed were together anyway. She didn’t expect anything from Miranda. Cyst didn’t bother introducing herself to the robo-girl like she had to Junkiro or the other few folks Vince had sent numbers for. Only a few of them even had names, to her. But it would give her something to do until either Vince found her or she got bored.

[Organis]

Although Thabisa had arrived to the holiday festivities with Mai, of course, Alexia's strong opinions regarding the conclusion of the sophomore semester tournament (among other things) made the goat-parahuman want to occasionally accompany her faction leader during her demonstrations, at the very least. You know, as some supportive Initiative presence. Well, that's exactly what she did, following a system where Mai meanwhile scouted out potential rides and activities to inform back via text. Despite being Mai's idea, Thabisa couldn't prevent feeling like she was wrongly using her friend, especially accounting how...dense she could be at times. Though, if there was one thing she learned from the Korish girl, it was that if one person means no harm, and the other doesn't perceive it, then there's no reason for it to exist.

Still, both girls' actions seemed more like work than time-managed fun, but fun had been growing increasingly difficult for Thabisa anyway. She's been pulled by...other forces. She didn't assist Alexia today through mere obligation. In fact, she never did. She had her own incentives, and as she paid close attention to Alexia and her words, a funny thought crossed her mind. While she didn't particularly disagree with her claims (save for perhaps the whole rigged tournament thing), she secretly hoped the Initiative continued to fail in its current state, as the backlash fell in line with Thabisa's own views, which were in a sense quite backwards compared to other members. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to her, this has begun to become apparent and might have created some new enemies.

A new but familiar voice entered the background noise, pulling Thabisa out of her head. It was Evelyn Mayes--the sophomore tournament finalist...and friend-- engaging with Alexia during the demonstration. She met Evelyn through Mai after the fights, and over the months she has learned about the snake-parahuman's boldness; she wasn't exactly one to avoid confrontation if she had something to say. Thabisa could dig that...if it were literally ANYONE else. But no, it had to be Alexia. What's worse, she was already right in the peripherals of both women, so it wasn't as if she could sneak away without being noticed. All she could do was prepare for the worse, shift behind the senior, and deliver to Evelyn a look of concern with slanted eyes, as if to say "I hope you know what you're getting into." Then again, Alexia sometimes defied her expectations, so maybe there wouldn't be sparks of any kind. Regardless, she felt awkward and helpless in the situation until she felt her phone buzz.

~~~~~~~

Mai pressed send on her text before sticking her phone away, striding with conviction as if time had been wasted. By 'Shooting Gallery' she had imagined a booth for a photo shoot where she and Thabisa-- and possibly Evelyn-- could take pictures together...or something like that. Perhaps she should have read more into the description on the flyer, but at least it explained why she began to hear firing noises as she approached. Sure, there was a little thing called a phone and a group selfie, but that lacked that old charm present in traditional photography. Now, she shouldn't care that much, but it was possible her Irish half was on a mission that day. After all, as far she knew she was the only one with a Dubliner accent on the island. Oh well. Time to check the line for the Ferris Wheel. She wondered if she could oversee the entire campus from the top...

A distinct figure caught her attention on the way. About fifteen meters away Cyst was minding her own business by a food stand, in her wheelchair of course. In the moment, Mai made the utmost appropriate action towards a severely crippled fighter...and gawked at her indefinitely. Her eyes showed little emotion, but the lean of her head inched steeper, as if drawn towards Cyst yet held back by its body. She hardly spoke to her since the tournament, so there was a severe lack of closure regarding their match, at least on Mai's end. At this point chances were the russian didn't care either way and had moved on, but Mai couldn't. It just felt sort of wrong to have witnessed your opponent become wheel-bound for the rest of the year and never speak to them since, though that was entirely her own fault.

Yet she never neared, remaining still. Her mind was in limbo, too caught up in her thoughts to move closer yet too invested to leave, and with no Thabisa to tell her how rude she was being.

[RisingPhoenix]

Kyami took his time as he reminisced about the days past. He’d experienced his first tournament since returning to New Peaks, and though it hadn’t ended the way he liked, at least he’d gotten chance to speak to Junkiro even though it was more of a “hey how are you” type of conversation. He knew the day he left that things between them were over. They’d never be what they once were and he had to find peace in that. Even if he wanted to kiss his lips once more, even if he wanted to be held by him again, at least for the last time, he understood that he’d been replaced. Sighing, he looked into the mirror and wiped the condensation from it with his hand. Today was Saint Patricks Day. They were supposed to be celebrating, having fun and finding treasures throughout the campus, but here he was looking at his reflection, wondering if something was there others saw that he did not. He sighed as he ran his hand through his messy hair. This place would turn even the most angelic of people into murderers. Why had he come back? Because this was his life, he wanted to graduate from New Peaks and be what others thought wasn’t ideal of a career for someone like him. He loved fighting, the thrill of it, the idea that you could stop someone not with bullets, not with weapons, but with your hands and your feet. The idea that you could learn techniques that destroyed or mended, that was his calling, that was what he wanted to do, that was what he learned from his father.

He got dressed in clothes that would pay homage to his lineage and allow him to move freely through the campus. He made sure that it had etchings of green in the fabric. It was something he’d made himself with the help of the school’s faculty who let him use a sewing machine and other equipment. It was a hobby of his that he rarely showcased but felt the need to for any upcoming events. Since it was Saint Patricks Day he was thrilled to have some sort of fun with his friends. He’d been antisocial to most of them except one, but he felt the need to open up more to everyone else. His wounds had healed since the tournament or were still healing. His jaw was fine, his arm was not, it was no longer in a cast but it still hurt to move it; however, he trained with it in hopes of making it stronger.

Standing in front of the mirror, he looked over the outfit once more and placed the final piece in his hair. He smiled and moved to the front door to open it and join his peers as they celebrated Saint Patricks Day.

“Wow,” he heard a familiar voice say as he opened the door. Standing in the doorway was Adrian. Kyami smiled warmly and moved by him closing his room door behind him.

“Close your mouth before a fly lands in it,” Kyami said softly as he stood there for a moment shaking his head.

“I’m sorry but you look amazing. Where did you buy it?”

“I made it, aside from the headwear,” Kyami replied looking at Adrian who seemed love stricken. His hair had gotten longer and it flowed in all its beautiful blonde glamor.

“Truly talented,” Adrian said finding it hard not to look at Kyami.

“So why are you here and not enjoying yourself? I know the festivities are high right now.”

“I just came to check on you when I didn’t see you,” Adrian replied.

“Awww, how sweet, come on let’s talk and walk.”

“So I take it you’re still stuck on Junkiro?” Adrian asked getting straight to the point.

“Wow, you’re not holding back are you?” Kyami replied trying to keep his composure.

“It’s just that whenever you see him you have this look on your face. It’s…”

“Junkiro and I have history, that’s it, there’s nothing there anymore he is happy and I am as well, can we leave it there please?” Kyami interjected causing Adrian to look at him.

“I’m sorry if I offended you,” Adrian said looking down at the ground.

“You’re fine Adrian, let’s just talk about something else.” By now the two were entering into the festivities. Everyone seemed to be having a great time. There were booths and the like everywhere and people seemed to be looking for the hidden treasures that were announced.

“Look, arm wrestling,” Adrian said pointing at the booth. Kyami laughed.

“Oh you’re the arm wrestling type now?”

“I’ve always been strong, what do you mean?” Adrian said flexing his well built muscle. Kyami rolled his eyes but smiled.

“Go for it,” he added looking around at the other booths. The wind blew his outfit making his appearance even more out of a movie.

[Salroka]

Alexia was incensed at the idea of one of her own seeming to sympathize with normal humans, but did well to hide the full extent of her anger. "I saw your fight, Miss... Evelyn, yeah? I was more invested in it than you might think, what with my position here at New Peaks. Every move that Kuàng kid made? Something was wrong about it. When you've been in as many fights as I have, you can tell when people are playing around or not giving their all. He was toying with you. Tell me how that's not someone tipping the odds in their favor. I don't know exactly WHY they did it, but they did." While she was no longer yelling out and grandstanding, some of the other parahumans who were close by still cheered in support. Others didn't seem to be as interested now that she wasn't making a scene. A few even began to walk away, seemingly more interested in their phones and such.

"I'm one of your biggest supporters. The Initiative is behind you one hundred percent. But please, I ask you to just watch the footage from the tournament again... but do it in slow motion and focus on your opponent rather than yourself. You will see it, too." While she was still frustrated that Evelyn had defended the humans, Alexia had seen it before. Old habits were hard to break for some, and defending the enemy was almost instinctual for some parahumans. Clasping one hand on Evelyn's shoulder, Alexia gave the snake girl a thumbs up before heading back to the center of the crowd and resuming her speech. "Brothers and sisters, don't hesitate to speak out against those who would hold you back! You are every bit as important as they are, and have all the rights and pr..." The scorpion woman would continue on like that for some time after the conversation with Evelyn ended.

Vincento on the other hand, was at a bit of a loss as to what to do. He had lost track of Cyst, and had played a few games. Maybe he would ride some of the rides. That was always a good way to pass the time, right? First was the teacups. Spinning around at high speeds was always fun. Next, the mini-coaster. It wasn’t as fun as a full-size roller coaster, but still a good time. Last, the Ferris Wheel. Unfortunately for him, the line for the ferris wheel was quite the long one. As it so happened, he ended up in line behind Siu, this year's Junior Champion. "Shit..." was the first word in his head. Siu had a reputation for being a lot like Shotaro. She did what she could to get ahead, and was not afraid to bend a rule now and then. That was not what he wanted right now, but fate had other ideas. Siu noticed they would likely be put into the same part of the ride, so she gave the Italian a friendly smile.

What had he gotten himself into?

[Kiro Akira]

Jack bounced on his rope and listened to a few of the shouts coming his way. Of course there were the ones shouting at him for being up there and being a freak. Yet he was enjoying himself. This was no wheres near as high as he was used to being but it was still fun. It provided some entertainment and brought Jack right back into the days spent with his family. Jack moved to one side of the poles and stood up on one hand and began walking to the other side on his hands. The smile on his face beamed from ear to ear as he did so.

Just as the spider boy had reached the middle he paused only to remove one hand from the rope and balanced on a single hand. The one hand stand shifted to three fingers before he began to wobble and let his hands drop back onto the rope nearly losing balance. He loved his bone structure being super light from his spider genetics but he was still part human after all. The crowd roared for a moment and then focused back on his act.

Once Jack had made his way back across the rope he received a few ideas and planned them out accordingly. Of course Jack had to make the show good. A few more flips, a swing here and there around the rope. He had a few more balancing acts and all went well for him. Yet after a good hour or so he gave a bow and let it come to an end. Or at least an intermission. He was starting to get tired from all the work and doing the various tasks. "All right well, I'm going to take a break now so uh...." He paused looking at the crowd that had formed before him. It was surely much larger then he expected. A few parahumans who were surprised at his abilities even recorded him posting it to the school board. The biggest hit was the post with "Look at the Spider Boy!" caption on top. Yet he stood tall and looked at the crowd taking one more bow. "Sorry, felt a loss at words here." He gave a half hearted laugh and nodded. "Anyways, taking a break and might return later." He said and hopped down from the rope stringing a web behind him to slow his decent.

Once Jack was on the ground he made his way to the Shooters Saloon and grabbed a quick bite to eat. It wasn't much but after a workout session in front of a crowd of people he needed it. And the food always tasted better after a show. The meal was a steak with a side of fries, and a salad.

[RisingPhoenix]

He paused watching Adrian having fun arm wrestling. Quite strange how close they’d gotten, yet there was hesitation and it was for reasons even he didn’t understand. Standing there, he looked around noticing the eyes of many, as well as the sight of cameras and phones pointing in his direction. Clearly his outfit was capturing the attention of any who noticed, and it was hard not to notice the living fairytale he was giving with the outfit. Eventually a brave soul managed to approach him and ask him for a picture. Far be it for him to deny anyone a picture. He wasn’t as photogenic as others, but he would have fun, he at least deserved that. With the gathering youth came questions about upcoming events and past events. Kyami answered each and every question to the best of his ability. No he wasn’t living in the past, he expected things to have moved forward without pause and he was focusing on settling back into the way of things and his studies. On top of the fighting, the tournaments and tests of strength, he wanted to make sure his academics lined up. The questions did keep him occupied and the pictures were fun to take. In the end, when the crowd dispersed Kyami smiled. He knew someone would upload the picture to the school board. The Living Anime Prince was the title they used, and under that title was photos of Kyami smiling and simply enjoying the festivities.

Life. What was the meaning of it? Enjoying it to the fullest could be interpreted in many different ways. How was your take on living it to the fullest different from someone else’s?

Kyami sighed as he moved around campus. At some point he forgot that he’d come with Adrian and had found himself back where he was once before, the cliff where the waves crashed and sprayed the salty mist into the face of those daring to stand on the edge. Kyami was that daring. He stood there looking out at the water, at the beauty it held but understand how deadly it could be. His hands were placed behind him and he exhaled softly to clear his mind. Wave after wave crashed. The sound of the ocean soothed his mind, and only when he heard a familiar voice did he turn to greet them.

“Kyami, there you are,” Adrian said approaching with a troubled look on his face. “Are you alright?”

“I am fine Adrian, I take it you won the arm wrestle?” Kyami asked.

“No, I lost, but it was close,” Adrian said not letting the loss dampen his energetic spirit. “So are you hungry? I was hoping we could check out a few of the snack booths, or we could get something from the Saloon.”

“I’m not really hungry,” Kyami replied though he could see Adrian deflate a little and it caused him to sigh. “I could eat a little something though, the Saloon is fine.”

Kyami wondered what had become of the group he was in, or rather had been in. He wasn’t a part of any factions anymore, not since his departure and return. It was strange that even still there were those of the faction that still spoke to him. What was he to say to their requests? No I’m not ready? No I don’t want to be a part of it? Would he be speaking truth if he said that? He looked up at Adrian as he seemed so excited about going to the Saloon. Smiling, he walked beside Adrian as the young man talked about topics Kyami rarely talk about but it felt good to actually smile.

“You still haven’t answered my question,” Adrian said as they stepped up to the Saloon.

“What question?”

“Do you have any plans tomorrow?”

“Adrian I really do….”

“Before you give me an answer think about it first and then tell me.”

“You’re very odd,” Kyami said as Adrian opened the door to the Saloon.

[Dawscombine]

Cyst was sat next to a table that had been placed behind the food trucks, for some reason. It was wooden and mostly rotted, so it was probably safe to say that it was discarded due to a safety issue or something like that. Cyst didn't care why it was here. It just was. She had eaten most of her food already, slowly picking at a funnel cake and sipping the last remains of her lemonade. She used to love Carnivals. Viktor would sneak her in after particularly long or brutal fights so she could reward herself, a little. If she was really, really, really lucky, she'd find some discarded ride passes and be able to enjoy one of the slower rides. The faster ones hurt her lungs, back then. But she still loved the Carnival. Nowadays she just... Was here. The wheelchair certianly put a cap on her enthusiasm as a while, but it was just... Boring, now.

She hadn't gotten any texts back from anyone she had reached out to. Made sense. She was a stranger to %80 of them. To the others, she might as well have been. She was likely just "Vince's poor choice of girlfriend" to most. That didn't bother her. Nothing really did. Ridicule and disdain was her daily life, in the streets. Was... She dwelled on that, for a second. Where was she gonna go, after this? She could work as some kinda soldier. Beat people up for a cause. But that would involve guns and murder, both of which she had an aversion to. She could work for Vince's family. She didnt know EXACTLY what they did, but she had had enough run ins with the Russian Mob in her cage fighting days to make assumptions. But, once again, that would likely involve murder. What practical application was there for a hobo that knew Krav Maga besides killing people? Cyst couldn't think of anything, and it was starting to disturb her deeply....

[Organis]

Evelyn began to feel her frustrations boil over as she was essentially blown off by the leader of the Initiative. The woman clearly had a head as thick as stone, and was most certainly dead-set in her ideals, even if Evelyn believed the extremism to be detrimental. She was about to hop right back in and try again at maybe swinging the conversation even slightly from the conspiracy zone when she noticed Thabisa glancing at her from the side, a look of concern in her eyes.

Evelyn huffed lightly in irritation, but decided that for the sake of not making one of her only friends worry, she'd back off. For now. She still couldn't bring herself to support Alexia, or many of the things she said, but if it meant that she'd keep Thabisa from fretting over her, then so be it. Still though, she didn't exactly know what to do until her friend was free, so she elected to just stick around, gravitating back to the crowd and tuning Alexia out until Thabisa could join her afterwords.

Thabisa could not pinpoint exactly what Alexia felt towards Evelyn's comments, but she sure handled it with unexpected calmness. It made sense, though. The snake-girl was essentially a parahuman mascot now, (though it was doubtful she'd appreciate that role) so it probably would be in Alexia's best interests to avoid sparks in their first interaction. Thabisa caught herself being quite excited about it, as if it were some eventful crossover, and she learned far more about both women than she thought.

As Alexia returned to center stage Thabisa shifted back to Evelyn, who was looking right back. She hadn't intended to deliver any more gestures, but apparenty her current expression had signaled Evelyn to disengage from the discussion for now and fade away, though Thabisa had the inkling she was supposed to join the snake girl. So she did, hopping off the platform and waving back at her boss before disappearing as well. Rude? Perhaps, but given the circumstances Thabisa was confident Alexia wouldn't mind. It was a carnival and she knew Alexia had no intention of holding her hostage during her duties. Besides, she could imagine it as...a mission to bring Evelyn to their side.

Evelyn was waiting. Spotting her in the crowd wasn't difficult, with the whole tail and all. Thabisa smiled and waved as she approached. "Hey!" Yet her eyes then dipped shyly. "Don't mind Alexia, she's not as extreme as she seems at first. She just works really hard for us, is all." Her tone could be interpreted as both apologetic and admiring.

As Evelyn heard her friend call out, she couldn't help the light smile that rested on her features. Even now, after everything that had happened, Thabisa still had a bit of a shy air about her. That said, her expression became more neutral hearing the excuse that she made for Alexia. Evelyn understood it; After all, she was a huge influencer for parahumans, being a pillar of strength for them to rally behind, and someone who was willing to voice the frustrations of their kind. And Thabisa worked right under her a lot of the time, so really it made sense that she'd be willing to defend the scorpion woman.

"Hey." Evelyn seemed to pause for a second, searching for the correct response to Thabisa's statement, "Maybe. But the bloke certainly seems pretty set in her ways. Thick as a fuckin' brick as well. Hard as she works, accusations like that are only going to set her back, make her lose respect that she's trying to earn," Evelyn huffed, her tone only barely concealing her irritation, "Much as she may not like the fact, getting normal humans to respect us is important. And saying that the only reason they'd be able to beat us is making quite the blue. It'll only hurt her credibility."

She sighed slightly, her rant being over for the moment. "Got any idea where Mai is, mate? It'd be nice if we could all meet up."

Despite her timid demeanor, Thabisa was comfortable with Evelyn's gravelly (and not entirely coherent) language. It wasn't so different than being with Mai, in some regards. "Well," she began, her confident side switching on, "If there's no harm done then to each her own, right? I suppose the no-harm bit is where my job comes in." She paused as Evelyn spoke up again, unaware that portions of her true character may have leaked. "No doubt keeping herself entertained, but no, I have no idea. I'll hit her up."

~~~~~~~

Mai left Cyst alone to her devices. She'd confront her sometime, but a rare wave of intuition washed over her that the stars just weren't aligned that day. Besides, another event captured her vulnerable attention span: a student appearing to float in the air between two light poles. Making her way towards the watching crowd, she noticed that he was not floating, but in-fact suspended on some string-like material with a web formation. It was the spider-guy Evelyn had faced in the quarterfinals of the semester tournament, and it took little recollection to affirm that he did far better than she in attempting to slay the serpent.

After a quite-impressive show of acrobatics, Jack absorbed the crowd once more before declaring an intermission. Mai, of course, followed him without thought. She found herself at a place called Shooter's Saloon, her grumbling stomach registering its purpose before she. Grabbing a light meal, she scanned the tables for the boy she had been stalking before plopping down in front of him as he ate. "Oy ya really throw shapes how d'ya lash doin' a number with that savage thing?" She gasped deeply. "I'm just saggin boyo just divvy here trying to have a craic."

Mai's phone then buzzed...again. Always had a nack for coming at odd times.

[Kiro Akira]

Jack was startled as the woman plopped down in front of him. He hadn't expected anyone to come up to him much less speak with him. He finished the bite he had in his mouth and swallowed it and shrugged. "What Savage thing are you talking about? My act I did? Family is from the circus so it's a common act we do, except it's normally five times higher then that." With that he frowned. He had no idea what the female was saying but he appreciated someone was coming to speak with him. None the less she looked completely human so that was always a plus as most humans avoided him cause he was a Parahuman and what not.

The boy took a sip of his drink and tried to think on what she had said. "I'm Jack, I'm a spider-human thing straight from the states of America." He tilted his head examining her ever so slightly. "From the looks of it I'm sure you're not american yea?" He tried to spark some kind of conversation that he could understand but hoped he had not offended her by asking his question the way he did.