Where all the school functions (including education) are held.

  The throb of the bass as the speakers played older techno dance music was loud, and could even be faintly detected in the school parking lot.  Teenagers teemed around the doors, waiting to get in, and dressed to party.  There would be the official two hour dance, then there was supposed to be a 'rave dance' at a party house that had been passed through the student grapevine.  The lights were down, the DJ was hard at work, and everyone wanted to dance.

There was a roar as a Harley pulled into the school parking lot taking a spot as close to the door as he could manage. A teen in a black leather jacket black jeans and a white shirt stepped off his bike. He reached up taking off his helmet and shaking his hair free. Bending over he checked how he looked in the side mirror of his motorcycle.

  Bella was with her grandmother, Mrs. Masters.  She was looking over the dance with pleasure.  She was so fond of music, and her Dads were so overprotective of her.  She was their own special miracle, they'd never ASKED Meg how she came to be, but they'd accepted her with all their hearts, and had never expected, never dreamed of having her.  Much less on how the specifics worked.  But that also made them pretty sure whatever did happen to make her, was not likely to happen again.  So no dating, no dances, and NO BOYS.  Even if she WAS a straight girl.  So this was a real chance for her to actually check out the boys.  Maybe even meet one she'd like.  She spotted the harley, and said "Oooooo.  Grandma!  Someone's got a Harley!"

He spends a moment on his hair until he is satisfied then begins slowly swaggering towards the entrance at a very relaxed pace. He gave a casual wave and a heart-melting smile to a few people he passed.

  As soon as Erica parked, Bella was bouncing out of the car, her tall, sensually built frame, and all that gorgeous hair hanging loose, with just enough curl added to make it bounce beautifully as she moved, her height set her apart from most of the girls.  You didn't USUALLY see someone six four who was female.  When you did, she rarely had the type of figure Bella already had.  And she had one worth looking at.  With the lovely, flawless complexion, black hair and pale gray eyes, she was stunning.  Dressed to kill, as she was?  Only a blind man could miss her as she headed toward the door.  The other girls parted before her like the Red Sea had for Moses.

He was currently leaning against a wall outside the entrance both hands in the pockets of his leather jacket, One knee bent with his foot against the wall. As Bella approached he flashed her a dashing grin and offered a casual wave.

  Bella grinned back, and waved to Erica, then padded closer.  She asked, between the shouts from the other girls about 'who IS that' and such "School dances always this much bedlam?  Or is it just this one, since I'm new to the school?"

"You've got bedlam pretty much anytime you get this many teenagers together." He said with a shrug. "You must be new, pretty sure I'd remember seeing you before, I'm Aaron."

  She held her hand out, and said "I'm Bella, and yeah, I am. Online student.  I've never been to a school dance before."

He takes her outstretched hand with another charming smile. "Technically, you've only been outside a school dance. I think you have to go inside for it to count as having been to one."

  Bella laughed, and said "Yeah, that sounds right.  Getting in is easy.  So is getting out.  So is there a lot of dancing?  I hear music. . . "  She did, and as she asked, the doors opened, and the teacher taking tickets began collecting them as students filed in.

"Yeah theres a dj and they clear out the cafeteria to make a dance floor. Its usually. Course the school doesn't hire top notch djs, allow explicit songs, and has teachers on hand to make sure things stay pc but its still a pretty good time."

  Bella grinned, and said "I like the sound of this.  Shall we head inside then?  I want to dance!"

He flashed that perfect smile of his again. "Lets" FIshing his ticket out of his jacket pocket he followed the throng of teenagers towards the front entrance.

  Bella giggled, and moved forward as well, although people were STILL making room for her.  She looked gorgeous, but something about her apparently made them nervous.

Aaron led the way as the two teenagers headed inside. Inside the thump of the music was even more apparent. The cafeteria tables had been cleared away to allow a large dance floor and decorations and lights had been set up. Taking Bella by the hand he began leading her towards the dance floor.

  Bella grinned at him, and said "I take it you don't mind dancing with one of the resident oddballs?  Let me know if my grip is too much.  I'm a little stronger than I look."

"Maybe different is exciting...I'm all about excitement." He replied as they reached the Dance Floor. Letting go of her hand he begins dancing with her keeping a moderate distance between them.

  Bella was clearly enjoying dancing, and she had to remember to stay on the ground, mostly.  She asked him, as they bounced to a song "So.  Scared of paras?"

"Not really, considering I am one, wanna know what my power is? Dancing." and with that he began stepping back from her going through a few fancy foot moves before he got on the ground and started breakdancing, in no time a circle had formed around him.

  Bella grinned, and said "And a very fine dancer you are!"

He smiled as he popped back up dancing up to her moving a little closer than he had been before. "I'm very powerful, forget hunter, I'm the one the criminals are scared of."

  Bella grinned, and said "They don't know me enough to be scared of me, but my Dads might scare em."

"Dads? Plural? You adopted? Never knew my dad enough to know if he was to be feared or not he was splitsville before I was out of the womb."

  Bella chuckled, and said, as she spun "Two dads, no Mom.  Looong story, but I'm not your typical girl.  I mean it, neither of my Dads are at all into girls.  So we can all three watch the beefcake."

Aaron couldn't keep the quizzical expression off his face but lets her leave it at that. "Beefcake huh? See any particularly appetizing dishes here?"

  He felt a light poke in the ribs, but didn't actually SEE her move, and she said "Yeah, there's definitely some worth watching here."

"Good I would hate for this to be a waste of an evening for you." He said with a smirk.

  Bella chuckled, and said "I would enjoy the music even if there weren't any good examples of Beefcake here!"

He flashed her that movie star smile again and continued dancing.

  Bella grinned, and asked him "So it really doesn't bother you that my Dads are a couple?  Most people freak at the idea."

"Hey its legal, I don't have problem with gay people long as they accept I'm strictly for the ladies."

  She grinned, and said "Fear not, my Dads are committed to each other.  Like, a life-partnership.  Which is why I was such a surprise to them!  Neither of them is, ah, capable with girls, really."

"So if you don't mind me asking how does that work? If your not adopted and you don't have a mom I'm guessing they didn't go for artificial insemination."

  Bella chuckled, and said "Aunt Megs had something to do with it, but nobody knows exactly what.  That's more of the very complicated thing, since my birthday is like, ummm, in about ten or fifteen years?"

"Wait what?" He actually lost his groove a little when she said that. "your joking right? I mean sure we live in the superhero capital of the world, but timetravel?"

  Bella frowned, and paused, hovering in mid-jump, and did the math.  "Eh, well, I get born in 2017.  So about seven, I guess."  She finished her jump, and spun in place.

"So obvious question but, what are you doing even existing 7 years before your even born? Aren't you gonna cause some kinda time paradox or something?"

  Bella chuckled, and said "I'm immune to paradox.  It's one of my gifts.  I can timejump backward in time.  But the timeline I, this me, is actually from, no longer exists.  I'm stranded . . . the last survivor of a when that will never be."

"Wow, that is just, wow. That is some heavy stuff."

  She gave him a wry smile, and said "Gives you a whole new perspective on the concept of 'issues', doesn't it?"

"Yeah it does, any childhood stories I could come up with would pale by comparison I'm sure."

  She giggled, and said "I'm drown-proof too.  Of course, Dad-D never would have let me drown if I could have!"

"Wow, my dance-powers pale by comparison as well I see. Are you going to Ray's party after this?"

  Bella smiled, and said "Blame it on being the child of two paras.  Dad D and Dad E are both paras, and I seem to have gotten some of both, and a couple uniquye ones."

"Thats crazy. So whats the future like?"

  Bella shrugged, and said "A lot like now, except there's even more Paras than we have now."

"Really? Just more Paras? No flying cars? one world government? End of poverty? Bacon is now good for your heart? None of that stuff?

  Bella said "It's not THAT far off.  There really haven't been many major medical breakthroughs, but Aunt Megs does impossible things before breakfast daily."

"Damn I was looking forward to heart healthy bacon. So what are you doing after this? Ray's throwing a party at his place, his parents are on vacation..."

  Bella gave him an impish grin, and said "Grandma's waiting for me in the car.  That's who I arrived with, believe it or not . .. "  He'd seen with whom she had arrived.  Erica Masters!

"Oh, so you got curfew then?" He looked a little disappointing as he kept dancing

  Bella chuckled, and said "Technically, yes, I'm fifteen.  But since it's Grandma that brought me, Dads can't say much about how late I stay out.  If Grandma has no problems with you giving me a ride on your Harley . . . we can go to this party you keep mentioning."

"Hey its chill if you can't just don't can't let you vanish on me. It seems all the gorgeous ones end up takin off after one night."

  Bella shook her head, and said "Oh, I'm not planning to disappear.  I'm going to be around for a while."

"Good." He said and with that there was little else to say so he just focused on dancing. The dj actually wasn't half bad.

  Bella danced with him, and she offered him her hand as the floor got particularly crowded.  She said archly "Bet you I can get us to the balcony that's blocked off so we can dance, if you want?"

He smiled taking her by the hand. "Just be gentle with me, I'm delicate." He said with that movie star smile.

  She held onto his hands, and a moment later, they both rose, and she landed them lightly on the balcony, where they had plenty of space to dance.

MOre than a few kids gawked at the flying teenagers but none of the teachers seemed to notice. Once they reach the balcony the dj takes the opportunity to play a slow song.

  Bella grinned, and said "I love flying.  IF I sleep, that's how I do it.  Floating midair."

"Must be sweet, not having to worry about a license or traffic laws." He said as he stepped forward placing his hands on her hips as the music slowed.

  Bella chuckled, and admitted "Oh, it can be very handy.  But there's also the problem of not fitting in too.  People expect you to get a license and a car, eventually."  She arched an eyebrow at him, and asked, a little shyly "Don't you like riding motorcycles?"

"Oh don't get me wrong I love my bike, I love the feel of the wind, the freedom it gives me, the rush. But I can only imagine how much better it would be in the air."

  Bella smiled, and said "It's sort of like when you swim, too.  You can move in any direction, not just on a level plane.  But I've never been a 'normal' kid.  Sort of expected, with two para Dads."

"Normal's overrated anyway. I already told you, different is exciting."

  Bella laughed, and spun with him as she asked "Tell me about it, please do?"

"Most people go through the same routine every single day. They live in their little comfort zone and act badly when something outside of their comfort zone shows up. The same day in day out existence the constant monotony. That's pretty much what Normal is, and to me, that's hella boring, and if there's one thing I hate more than anything else, its being bored."

  Bella grinned, and said "That's true.  Being bored is not fun.  But I don't get bored often, being the child of two paras makes that hard.  If it isn't trouble, I'm CAUSING a ruckus!!"

"I'll be sure to stick close then. Sounds like an exciting time." He gave a roguish grin. "And I've been known to cause a ruckus from time to time myself."

  Bella laughed, and said "When you consider I'm only fifteen, and I have had para powers all my life?  It helps, a lot, that I have some oddball ones that neither Dad has."

"I suppose it must....So you've always had powers? Nothing...turned them on? Were you flying before you could walk?"

  Bella said "Yeah.  And driving both Dads and Aunt Megs nuts.  She'd have to put an EM lock on the house to keep me in at times."

"Talk about being an adventurous child. 'Honey where's the baby? Check the ceiling'" He said with a chuckle. "Though it sounds like a better childhood than some despite the lack of normality."

  Bella grinned, and admitted softly "I was blessed with two Dads who love me dearly, and Aunt Megs, who is the closest thing to a Mother I will ever have.  Even the Aunt Megs here is the same, she still loves me like a daughter."

"SO are your dads the present incarnations of themselves? How old are they now?"

 Bella said "Well . . . they;re older, but the incarnations I remember, will never exist now.  Something happened . . . and the time-line I am from, stopped existing.  So I can't go 'home', and I will never see any of the people there again."

"Wow, just, wow. Now THAT is heavy. So what happened to your timeline? How come it went poof?"

  Bella said softly "I don't know, exactly, but I know something happened in the NOW, when we are, right now, sometime, that made mine cease to exist.  And I found out, and I tried to . . . jump far enough to stop it.  See, Dads can't do it . . .but I can timejump.  And I made it here, although it was hard.  But not in time to save them.  They're all gone.  I failed them all."  Her voice had grown very soft, at the last, and she'd stopped, eyes closed, and head bowed.

Moving his hands from her waist he wrapped both arms around her in a hug. Holding he close he swayed a little in time to the music, but saying nothing.

  She leaned into that hug, eyes still closed, and said "I haven't really talked about it to anyone.  Until now.  How do you tell your Dads that you know that . . . you failed . . .and it cost them, and every other living being  . . . their lives?"

"Just cuz you couldn't do anything doesn't make it your fault. Sometimes things just go bad and there's nothin anyone can do about it. Blaming yourself is pointless, believe me, I've been there."

  She said quietly "Someone did it.  Someone CAUSED the timeline to be destroyed.  Not just the world, but the whole timeline.  I found out, I felt it . .. but I couldn't find them back here, in this when, in time to stop it.  So all I can do . . . is try and live here, in this time.  I can't go home to a when that doesn't exist anymore.  But it's really hard to fit in here.  My Dads are only about a year older than I am, here . . . "  She hugged him, but carefully, she didn't want to break him.

He held her for a moment before pulling away slightly. Reaching into his pocket he produced a pen and slip of paper and quickly wrote a phone number on it. "Thats my cell, its always on, next time your feelin like that give me a call."

  Bella smiled, and said "I will.  Umm, I don't have my own cell yet, but I'm going to have to get one.  I haven't wanted to bug Aunt Megs, or Dads about it."  She looked down, and said "I miss Diantha always helping me out with the communications."

"No rush, give me a buzz when you can." He looked down at the dancefloor at two teachers talking one of which was pointing in their direction. "Uhoh, looks like we've been spotted."

  Bella looked over the railing, and grinned, and asked him playfully "Want to freak em out and dance on the ceiling?  My skirt's tight enough it won't flip on me."

"Why the hell not? Worst that can happen is I get suspended, again. Right?"

  Bella grinned, and took his hands, and kept a firm grip, as she danced them to the wall, then 'hopped' and oriented them.  Now they were dancing up the wall, and she grinned as she said "Ceiling's next.  Make sure all your stuff is secure, unless you want me to REALLY freak em out catching everything you drop."

Aaron made sure his pockets were secure as they began dancing up the walls and eventually the ceiling. As they danced the crowd began looking up the dancefloor grinding to a halt as they watched the upsidedown pair.

  Bella looked 'down' and grinned, then asked Aaron "Having fun at this, Aaron?  I know I am.  And this is harmless!!  We're not hurting a fly!"

"Not unless we stepped on one on the way up. But teachers don't always see it that way. "  "YOUNG MAN YOUNG LADY COME DOWN FROM THERE AT ONCE." Came the voice of the principal. Aaron sighed but continued dancing. "Case in point."

  Bella sighed, and said "I can tell.  Okay, we want to do a straight drop and flip, or a slow floating descent?  I'm NOT playing splat tonight."

"Lets go slow and floating it'll piss em off more if we take our sweet time."

  Bella asked "Do we want to make them madder than they are now?  Although, honestly, I didn't see anything in the school handbook about NOT flying, and NOT dancing on the walls and ceilings if you can.  Did you?"  As she spoke, though, she flipped them, and they were slowly dancing a downward spiral.

The principal, a pudgy, bald man whose entire head was as red as marios hat at the moment. "Mr. Borneo, what is the meaning of this? THe ceiling is not part of the dance floor. And you know full well the policies regarding any powered nonsense."

  Bella put on her best innocent and contrite expression, and waited to see what Aaron would say.  SHE didn't know what the rules were, as she hadn't SEEN any in the PDF document of the schools policies.

Aaron shrugged at the principal. "Not like we were bothering anybody. OH no people are dancing on the ceiling, whatever will happen to the students?" He said in a mocking voice. "Seriously, chill out."

  Bella said quietly "I was enjoying the dancing.  This is my first school dance, and Aaron's been showing me a wonderful time . . . "

"The rules against powers in school is for your safety as well as your fellow students. Not to mention that you were in a blocked off area even BEFORE you were on the ceiling. Your going to have to leave Aaron, the young lady, as this is her first time may stay."

  Bella asked "So, you mean nobody's allowed to use any of their abilities, if they have them?  I mean, what if it would kill someone to STOP using them?  Because, you know, if I stopped using one of mine, I'd be dead."

"THey would need some kind of note or slip, from a doctor. Regardless the school is not built to house children that can shoot eyelazers and benchpress macktrucks. It is a necessary rule for everyones safety. I'm sure you heard about the boy in california who made an earthquake and collapsed the school. We are trying to avoid similar situations."

Aaron sighed, least he didn't get suspended this time. "Alright dude, I can tell when you ain't gonna back down." With another smile to Bella. "Soon as you get a phone, call me."

  Bella shook her head, and said "Well, then I suppose this is the end of my first school dance too.  Since you don't want powered individuals on the premises.  I hope you are aware that you could potentially be denying people the right to an education."  She turned to go with Aaron, and added "I will not return, as my presence on school property is prohibited."

Aaron headed out the door and into the parking lot, once they're out of earshot of the principal he says. "You didn't have to do that."

  Bella said quietly "That's where you're wrong, Aaron.  I do.  You see, when I'm from, you can't tell someone they're not allowed to use their powers on school ground.  It's discrimination.  And if I wasn't using ONE of my abilities?  I would cease to be here.  I would die.  Because I'd snap back to 'origin point'.  Which is now oblivion.  So . . . I do have to do that.  I don't sleep.  I don't NEED to breathe.  Eating's nice, but I don't have to do that either.  Can I help these powers?  No.  Since they prohibit the use of powers on school grounds, I won't go back unless it's to save someone's sorry butt from a problem."  She walked beside him, calm as could be.  She had a dignity about her that was uncanny, for someone who was 15.

"He was gonna let you stay for the rest of the time. You could've just been quiet and let me take the heat and walk away." He actually seemed somewhat amazed that someone else would be willing to stick up for him like that Willing to take the punishment with him....

  She gave him a strangely sad smile, and said softly "Maybe this comes from having two Dads and an Aunt, but I don't work that way.  It's against my personal code of ethics.  Being a para is not a choice.  We don't get asked 'hey, want to be a freak and have powers other people don't?' before we get them.  They just are.  Some of them aren't obvious powers.  You wouldn't know I had em to look at me.  But I have em.  Hell, SHOOT me, I'll get up and shake my head at someone.  Bullets flatten on my skin, like they do on my Dad-E's.  Or go through me like water.  Depends on if I'm being solid or not.  That's an option.  See, Aaron, I CAN tell you this much:  Without my Aunt Megs, I wouldn't exist.  I don't have an actual mother.  Both of my parents are male.  I was gengineered from Fluid, and Excelsior."  She hadn't named her parents before.

"Well not everyone is built the way you are. Wait you mean those guys from the New Age Defenders? Who came out on the news and everybody freaked? Wow. So they used some heavy duty future science to clone the two of em into you? This is quickly becoming my catchphrase but that is heavy."

  Bella smiled, and said "Well, no, Aunt Megs made me.  I never asked exactly how.  But I was a gift from her, to my Dads.  She told them that she knew they didn't want material things, but she couldn't think of a more precious gift to them, than a child of their own to love and raise.  And here I am.  But I won't be born for about seven years or so.  IF it even happens here."

"So, Your grandma lying in wait for you? Or is she comin to pick you up later? You want me to wait with you? Or I could give you a ride home, the parties not starting for a bit anyway."

  Bella grinned, and said "Grandma said she'd wait, although she keeps telling me to call her Erica, since she looks far too young to have a granddaughter.  But if you feel real adventurous, I can carry you and a Harley . . . "

"That sounds so amazing I couldn't possibly say no to that. You want to head to that party? Or you just wanna cruise a while?"

  Bella smiled, and said "Lets cruise a little while, and then head to this party you're talking about.  You tell me where to go, and I'll provide the oomph to get there."

Aaron led her over to his motorcycle. "so how does this work? Should Get on?"

  Bella grinned, and said "Get on, I'll get on behind you.  Then we go.  I can toss cars around, a Harley and rider will be no trouble at all."

Aaron nodded hopping on his motorcycle but not bothering to turn it on.

  Bella stepped onto it as well, and she leaned forward, pressing against him as she took hold of the handlebars.  Hooking her toes under the footrests, she grinned, and the bike did a 'wheelie' before soaring up at a good 15 degree angle, while she laughed.

Aaron couldn't help but let out a whoop of delight as the two took to the skies on his motorcycle.

>>TO PARTY HOUSE>>

  Clarissa had her backpack, and was headed to her next class, mentally discussing the history class she'd just finished with Rose, and telling her she needed to do some serious research for that report the teacher wanted.  She was glad she'd figured out how to let both Ozzy and her look normal while they were in school!  A twelve foot tall Ozzy did not fit well in the hallways HERE.

Bill was in the cafeteria sitting with a few friends he hadn't talked to in a while. He sat at table chatting and laughing though he kept an eye on his watch. He didn't want to leave Darren home alone TOO long.

   Clarissa waved to Bill as she perched at the far end of the room where the Driver's Education classes were meeting for the first time today.  She was a bit nervous.  But seeing ONE familiar face set her a bit at ease.

Ozzy was on lunch at this point, being in one of the late lunch periods in the day. Seeing Clarissa waiting with her Driver's Ed class, he walked up and gave her a quick kiss before saying, "Hey, hun. You're looking kinda nervous. Don't be! Driving is super easy once you get used to it. You just have to pay attention. I know you're totally going to do great."

Given that Driver's Ed required a learner's permit, he'd been helping her practice at home on back roads to prepare for the class, since he already had his license.

Bill waved back to Clarissa as she waited for the drivers ed class. He stood excusing himself from the group as he walked over to Ozzy and Clarissa.  "Hey guys, you waiting for her to finish before heading home Ozzy? I should be heading back soon, Darren's been alone all day."

  Clarissa nodded, even as she caught Ozzy's hand.  She admitted "I am very nervous.  After all, I'm getting graded on this.  And I dare not cheat and let Crystal Rose help me look at the corners and all, you know?"

Ozzy turned to Bill and nodded, saying, "Yeah, bro. I gotta wait for her to get done, and I'mma make her drive home so she can get some more practice in. She and I did kind of ride together."

He then smiled at Clarissa, giving her hand a gentle squeeze and saying, "Yeah, I wouldn't rely on her too much. You definitely want to learn how to do it for yourself. Still, it does come in handy if you're alone in the car. Crystal can look one way while you're looking the other!"

Bill nodded. "Yeah I wish me and Darren could do that still. I feel bad leaving him alone all day while he does his online classes but there's not a lot we can do about it."

  Clarissa nodded, and said "I'd mostly have her checking before I do so I don't jump AS MUCH.  YOU know I'm still jumpy behind the wheel.  In serious, serious ways.  And Darren mentioned it was a royal pain in the ass getting him signed up for those, something about being listed as missing and that the police still think foul play was involved, but he wasn't too clear on it.  Any ideas on what he meant, Bill?"

Ozzy nodded and said, "Yeah, which is why you need more practice. Practice helps the jumpiness. I cannot TELL you how much practice I've had to have."

He then turned to Bill and asked, "Yeah, what's up with that? I was wondering why Darren wasn't here with you."

"Well we're having some trouble getting him emancipated, his dad's kind of an ass. That and with what happened at that party last year and the whole getting evaporated thing, its kind of a legal conundrum." Bill shrugged. "I wish he could come but the important part is he's getting his education, what with us both being disowned its gonna be hard getting college paid for, I'm working on scholarships for me but my education depends on how that works out."

  Clarissa tilted her head, and asked Bill "So, you mean, Darren's not registered like the rest of us, and neither one of you thought to ask Megs to give you a hand with that?  Seriously??"

'Well no he's not, and she's already done so much for us I don't really want to ask. I know she'd say yes but I don't like taking more than I have to, she's given us a place to live three times already."

Ozzy just facepalmed and said, "So you ask your other friends. Bro, you do realize that my grandpa owns half of one of the bigger law firms in Weston, right? If you need a lawyer, we can get you one. This mostly just sounds like a bureaucratic snafu, he can stick an intern on it and be fine."

He then chuckled and said, "Ah, well, whatevs. It's not like I always think of everything, either. Clarissa can attest to the fact that I have my moments, too."

  She giggled, and said "You're better at covering everything that I am, most of the time, Ozzy.  I'm usually the scatterbrained one of the two of us!  But at least I've gotten it figured out how to let you fit in normal hallways again!"  Her grin was infectious.

Ozzy grinned and said, "True. You're the creative one, and I'm the paranoid planner. Together, we can do some nifty stuff."

  Bill nodded, and said "How DID that get fixed, Ozzy?  I know you're a lot taller than you used to be, before you got hit with that nasty pink stuff, and you spent a lot of time big and green until you went on your honeymoon . . .so how did you manage that?"

Ozzy smiled and said, "Well, she's a transformation mage, so she transformed me into what my human self would've looked like when I was all done growing. I helped her latch the spell onto a tattoo, so I can switch between my human form and my true form, the big green monster form. And before you go on some spiel about how I shouldn't see myself as a monster, that's just the facts. If someone hit me with a dispel, I'd revert to monster form."

He then added, "Besides, Andy seems to like having someone else around who's tall, dark and scary."

  Clarissa nodded, and added "But you're such a sexy big green monster, love.  And I make a cute, fuzzy catgirl, when I don't have to watch the 'no powers' rules.  Of course, they'd probably grumble at me.  I know Bella's not real fond of the school for that rule."

  Bill spread his hands in a 'I surrender' on that one, and said "You might be big and green, but you're stuck being my friend, Ozzy.  Doesn't matter WHAT color you are.  Or how big.  And yeah, I might have to ask Darren if he wants to talk to your Grampa about that little legal issue he has.  It's really hard to get it all straight, since it's got so many curveballs in it."

Ozzy grinned and said, "Works. Besides, it's kinda nice having super-strength when I want it. Being able to crush an engine block like it was an empty Coke can can come in handy sometimes. I just have to make sure I watch my head for any relatively-speaking low-hanging signs or what have you. Keeping my eyes up can be difficult at times, though, hehe."

  Bill laughed, and said "Yeah, I imagine it's a lot easier to NOT have to watch for head-level signs all the time.  So it's an either-or thing, I'm guessing?  And when DID you get Clarissa trained in the spellcasting stuff?  Wasn't she just starting to learn it?"

  Clarissa grinned, and said "Maaaaaaybe."

  The sound of glass and metal breaking made them all jump a bit, and the screams of some of the kids in the gym were a clarion call, as terrified cheerleaders began to run past, the big glass walls of the cafeteria letting them see it as a white, bony thing slammed into her back, and she screamed even louder as she morphed, growing ten more appendages as her neck lengthened, her skin turning hard and chitinous as she mutated.

Ozzy grinned and said, "We ran into the Norse pantheon on our honeymoon. Let's just say that Loki tried to pull some shit, and ended up teaching her magic as part of it. If you're particularly fond of the Norse gods, Odin may come to visit sometime. He's apparently psyched that there are still mages in the world who use his runes to cast with."

And then chaos struck. He turned to see what the commotion was, and when he saw that it was some kind of mutated monster attacking and mutating others, he grimaced.

"Well, looks like it's morphin' time. Clarissa, help get the others to safety. Bill, let's see if we can't calm those things down, eh?" he said, before shifting into his massive green monster form, his Asgardian armor taking the place of his school clothes.

  She nodded, and left her books and her backpack sitting on the table where the rest of the Driver's Education students were sitting, looking horrified by the mutants in the halls, and looked at them (the other Driver's Ed students) as she said "Guys, MOVE it!!  Big glass walls and power-mad mutants that are attracted to movement, BAD combination!  Get in the teacher's lounge over there or something, and tell the teacher, if they get here before I get back, that I'll be back soon!  I'm immune to that crap!"

  Bill nodded, shifting in a blur of red and gold to be Excelsior, and said "I can get this one if you see what's going on further down the hall?"  And then he zipped to be in front of the ex-cheerleader who had mutated, and caught her attention, getting her to chase HIM out the door, and away from the cafeteria.

Ozzy nodded, and set off in search of whatever it was that had caused this ruckus in the first place.

  Further down the hall was a big, bony-and-neon-blue mutant that was after all the kids in the gym, and he had those bone-tentacles that could shoot the mutagen darts.  Half a dozen cheerleaders were hiding under the bleachers there, and they kept squealing and screaming every time the mutant tried to grab them, and he was too enraged to try going after them from the end.  Of course, Ozzy heard the sound of wood preparing to give way as he got to the Gym too.

Iris was on the debate team; she was their secret weapon. They had her in the back corner studying while the teacher walked around offering suggestions and help to anybody who needed some additional pointers. She was typing away on her new laptop - the school requested she use one because of how fast she went through pencils - when she heard a creak. She looked up sharply and glanced out the window, which overlooked the gym.

The teacher stopped talking when the ever-present muffled clattering stopped and focused on Iris, "Is there a problem, Ms. Shenandoah?"

Iris ran to the window and pressed her nose against the glass, then looked back at the teacher, "Yep. There is. Ummmmmm... No, there's not. I should really go... not... see... to... the monster in the gym. The monster that's not in the gym. I gotta go!" Iris fled from the room far too fast for a hall monitor to catch her and ask for a hall pass (Chuck had pointed out this particular power exploit).

She stopped just short of the gym doors to check out the situation, then rushed in at super-speed, aiming to pick flying darts out of the air.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:50, Wed 17 July 2013.

Chuck was on the Wrestling team. He was very good at wrestling, although he was in a lower weight class than most of the boys. He was fast and good at learning holds. He also had a good sense of rhythm, hence his participation on the drum-line, but needless to say, he was in the gym when the mutant charged in. And soon found himself under the bleachers with a bunch of cheerleaders.

"Hi?" he offered, "Um, um, um, I'll try to help. Does anyone have a lipstick I can use?"

Awkward as always, the lanky red-head looked expectantly at the cheerleaders.

  One of the cheerleaders promptly handed him a tube of cherry Chapstick and said "Like, I don't care if you KEEP it, as long as you keep us alive!!"

Chuck asked the others to huddle up and drew - approximately - an ellipsoid around them. He paused at four places apparently at random and his lips moved as he muttered over some hurried magical symbols which began to crackle with eldrich energy.

He was good at this spell. Moderately good. Okay, so there were some issues. But he could get a force-field up around everyone who was huddled under the bleachers. And then the darts wouldn't be able to get in. Nothing would be able to get in.

Faux lightning eeked out of the magical symbols and outlined a bubble around Chuck and the others under the bleachers. "I did it!" he said, throwing his hands up. When he hit the invisible bubble, his hand crackled with energy and he pulled it back into the bubble, hissing, "Ow! I... did it backwards? How did I do it backwards?"

He turned to the cheerleaders, "I think we'll be protected from the darts and the monster and any collapsing bleachers. Also, we're stuck in here until I can figure out how I made it double-sided so that I can take it down."
This message was lightly edited by the player at 05:12, Wed 17 July 2013.

  There were now three mutants in the gym, as the original mutant had hit two of the basketball players who were practicing before the rest had all run like demons from Hell were on their asses.

Iris pulled her ribbon dancer and stopped short, the glowing sizzle of the ribbon floating out around her dramatically, "This is dangerous. Seriously, guys. It cuts people. And nobody likes seeing me run around with sharp things."

She had noticed the boys in the hallway and was hoping to keep the mutant's attention long enough for them to get in the room and surprise them from behind. She prepared to dodge any attack they might throw at her. After all, she was pretty fast.

  One of the mutants that looked like a deranged werewolf leaped for her, fangs dripping with pink foam spread wide.

Before the sizzling ribbon could settle around her, Iris jumped back away from the slathering jaws of the werewolf and, with a flick of her wrist, sent the ribbon on a smooth swirl that would make a rhythmic gymnastics coach go into conniptions. It spiraled itself around the wolf's arm and caught him around the waist, searing the flesh with the smell of burnt hair. The ribbon pulled loose, leaving cauterized cuts along his wolflike body.

Ozzy, meanwhile, went for the big, bony mutant, hoping to keep anyone who wasn't in Chuck's shield from getting shot and mutated. He went straight for the tentacles, hoping to tear them off, or at least keep it from taking aim properly.

  The big bony one howled as he grabbed it, and it tried to smash him between it and the floor.  It was NOT as strong as he was, however.

  Clarissa still hadn't swapped forms, but she came in around the corner as she smacked one of the (frozen in fear) basketball players on the shoulder, and told the boy "MOVE your ass!  GO!"  Which got HIM moving, and she moved to the next one, smacking him to get him moving too.  She wasn't worried about the darts that were flying wild, at least, not about them moving HER.

In reply to Iris (msg # 157):

The Wolf snarled as the ribbon burned its flesh. The creature slowly backed away before it dropped to all fours and tensed its limbs pouncing right at Iris, jaws snapping and claws slashing.

Iris pirouetted backwards, the ribbon swirling around her like a shield, licking at the wolf's claws and teeth as he swatted towards her. On her final swirl, she bowed out of sparking coil, letting the ribbon float towards the ground. It danced on the ground like a cat teaser before she whipped it upwards in an arc, leaving a stripe up the monster's front. Iris swirled, trying to get tease the mutants into a closer circle.

As the big monster tried to body-slam into him, Ozzy fell backwards with the movement, lifting it up and over himself, using its own momentum to suplex it.

  He roared in anger as he got suplexed face-down on the floor, and all those bony tentacles shot those nasty bone darts every which way.  Shooting them in about six directions, and four of those darts hit Ozzy in the armor (not that they'd have been more than annoying for him anyway).

  Iris' playmate howled, and everyone able to hear within ten feet of it cried out in pain as the sound assaulted their ears on a scale normally only available RIGHT under a jumbo jet's engines.

  Clarissa put herself between the darts and another one of the darts, swearing when it hit her and her form shifted in a fast blur.  Then she gave the idiot jock another shove, before turning to face the third mutant to enter the Gym.  This one was vaguely scorpionlike, and looked a LITTLE like Ozzy, but it had neon orange skin and pincers instead of hands.  Clarissa looked at it, and said "Just SO NOT."  Her wings snapped into motion as it tried to strike her, and she snapped back with a spell.  She'd learned the old-fashioned fireball spell . . . and it was the first thing that leaped to mind!

Ozzy grinned, getting up after suplexing the bony mutant he was fighting, and looked towards the area Clarissa was fireballing. He called over, "That's pretty hot, babe! You may wanna cool it, though. Don't want to burn the school down, as much as the thought appeals to me."

He then threw a vicious kick towards the bony beast, hoping to keep it focused on him, and stop it from spraying any more darts.

  The bony-mutant roared, and BIT his armor on the ankle, trying to tie him up in it's tentacles, even as the one after Clarissa fanned it's wings and took to the air after her, snapping it's pincers and lunging for her.

  Clarissa looked at the one pursuing, and flipped herself, fanning her wings hard and fast as she zoomed to the far end of the Gym, seemingly headed straight for the wall, and timing it carefully.  She waited until the last moment to flip ends again, then SPRINGBOARDED off the wall, using her power to boost her strength so she shot by the neon-orange Ozzy-imitation, then telling him {{Yeah, I'm debating swapping to an ice-dragon and freezing his butt . . . you think I could get away with it?}}

Ozzy growled and jabbed at the tentacles with his tail, trying to make it leg go of him. Thankfully, he was stronger than it was, so it wasn't able to do much more than trip him up. If he'd still been human, he'd have been toast by now.

  The mutant after Clarissa wasn't as agile, and it crashed head-first into the wall, and then sort of slid down, out cold.  The one grabbing Ozzy's feet was still trying to keep him from moving, but it wasn't as strong, nor was it as BIG.  But it sure was determined!!  It shrieked when that stinger jabbed it, and he heard it growl a word "RIP!!"  Then it grabbed for the end of his tail, apparently trying to rip his tailtip off!!

Ozzy grimaced as the monster tried to rip the tip of his tail off, and yanked his foot free from the monster's entangling grasp to stomp down on the arm it was using, growling, "OW! Hands off the tail!"

  It growled, and grabbed the ankle on it's other arm, trying to trip him, but he definitely had it good and distracted from the kids.  It snarled "TRIP!!"  Then it yanked at his ankle good and hard.

Ozzy did indeed fall, but he did manage to turn the fall into something of an elbow drop, though how effective it would be was questionable.

"Really? Calling your attacks? Just how dumb does this stuff make you?" he asked, not really expecting a coherent response.

  It growled, and tried to head-butt him, reeling backwards and holding it's own head when it met first his horns, and then his helmet with a very loud KLANGGG!!  Apparently it had managed to stun itself with that maneuver.

Ozzy grinned and said, "Here! Lemme show ya how it's done."

He then proceeded to show the monster how a headbutt was properly executed. Using horns and a helmet, of course. Only an idiot tried that move with no head protection.

Oh, wait...

  The resultant (and louder) KLANGG!!! was clear, and the mutant in question was good and senseless now.  Leaving two senseless ones on the Gym floor now, and he and Clarissa were free to see if they could find out where the heck these guys were COMING from!

Ozzy piled the monsters up, then tied them together with the bony one's tentacles if he could. He then added a coat of his patented paint bonds on top, so hopefully they wouldn't be able to move 'till they shrunk down to human size. After which point the bonds would be loose and they could just crawl out.

He then turned to Clarissa and said, "So, where should we start looking? I didn't really see which way this thing came in."

   Clarissa landed beside him, and pointed toward the doors to the parking lot behind the school and gym, and said "That way, because they didn't come past the cafeteria, and the screams started at this end.  So let's see what we got.  Ex has the other one that got to the cafeteria, so let's see who's raising cain."  She snagged his hand in hers, still all catgirlish, even as one of the basketball guys who had been hiding in the locker room called "Are they gone yet?"

Ozzy turned and said, "The ones in here are all tied up. Just don't get any paint thinner on them and it'll be fine. At least until they turn back to normal. If they change back and can't get out, use some paint thinner to break the bonds."

The doors to the gym opened and Ex floated in a little roughed up but otherwise okay, the unconcious mutated cheerleader slung over his shoulder. "We get everybody?"

  Clarissa said "We were just about to go outside to check where they came from, to see if there are any more out there.  Don't want students coming out and getting mutated."

Ozzy nodded and growled, "If it's another sniper who's shooting darts of mutagen? This one's gonna be sent back to the NPA as a head on a pike. Shooting at anti-para activists is one thing, but high school kids? We haven't done jack to them. We can't even vote to change shit! I think this was an attack on US, more than anything else."

"A little help?" Chuck called from under the bleachers.

He squinted through the slats, trying to catch Ozzy's eye, "It's not a big deal, but I accidentally double-sided the ward. Not quite sure what I did wrong, so I can't figure out how to reverse it."

Having danced a circle around the were-wolf, guiding him with crackling snaps of her ribbon, Iris finally got him hopelessly tangled in the volleyball net. She was putting a final tie of a bow into the netting when she looked up, "Investigations!" She cheered, "I'm gonna go see Hotwire instead, though."

Ozzy turned to see Chuck trapped beneath the bleachers and sighed, shifting back to his human form as he walked around and then under them. He gave a look at the magical runes Chuck had drawn, rubbing his chin in thought before pointing at one of them, saying, "Well there's your problem right there. You drew this one a bit off, to the point where it turned into another rune entirely. At least, I hope you didn't mean to use that one, as it's what's got you all trapped in there. Here, let me let you out."

With that, Ozzy drew a few runes outside of Chuck's shield spell, attempting to dispel the spell.

  Clarissa shifted back to her human form, and padded over to give Ozzy a hug as she said "Ready to go poke our noses out the door and see if we get them shot with pink goo?"

Chuck squinted through the ward at the rune Ozzy indicated, "That one's not right? Weird. Well, I was being shot at with weird darts and was using chapstick to draw. 'Cause I don't have chalk in my wrestling uniform."

Ozzy nodded and said, "Yeah. You're lucky you screwed up that way, and not the other way. If you'd have done it this way instead," as he demonstrated just how NOT to do it, "You'd have created a slowly-contracting forcefield. I don't think you'd have been crushed by now, but you'd have definitely not been comfy."

  Clarissa blinked, and shook her head.  "BOY am I glad I don't always per-se use runes.  Most of the ones I use, I just shape the energies so, and let it fly."

Ozzy nodded and said, "Yeah. I know I make it look easy, but I've been practicing since I was SIX. Well, that, and the whole prodigy thing. I mean, not every sixteen year old wizard can take on someone like LeCarde and live to tell the tale. Much less win. But, anywho, good job, Chuck, just keep practicing. You'll get it eventually. I mean, you pulled this off, and you've been practicing for, what, a few months? A year, maybe? Not bad."

He then turned to Clarissa and said, "Ready when you are, babes. Let's rock and roll."

And with that, he headed outside, trying to head the way the monster had come from.

  She grinned, and took his hand in hers as she went with, looking around.  When they passed out the back doors (torn off and lying in the parking lot), she yipped as a dart-bullet sank into her right shoulder, in the muscle, and switched her forms again.

Ozzy glared at the dart-bullet and shifted as well, growling, "Right, then. NPA, you've just ordered yourselves a head on a stick."

With that, he took to the skies again, shooting off towards where the dart had come from, using his enhanced vision to try and spot where the sniper was.

  The dart had come from a location about four blocks away, a banking tower that had a ten story tall roof.  His sharp eyes caught a gleam of something as he ascended.

  Clarissa sent {{YOu see em, love?  I'll follow if you do, so I can see if anyone else got mutated and went on a different direction.}}

Ozzy said, "Oh, I see him all right."

With that, he flew high up, hoping to keep out of the sniper's scope as he approached, wanting to catch this one unawares.

  Clarissa spread her own wings, flapping her way into the sky and trying to look like she didn't know how, keeping herself as a distraction to the sniper.  AND looking for destruction trails from other mutants.  {{I see two more trails of destruction, one headed off that way, and the other one's headed toward the track and field area, so the track team could be in danger!!}}

"Thanks?" Chuck asked, watching the cheerleaders leave the gym. He frowned as all of the people he knew left, then wandered further into the school to await whoever his ride home would be.

Iris checked to be sure that debate team was indeed over, then acquired the thin, notebook-sized sheet of metal from her locker. She headed up to the roof very quickly, snapping the metal open into the V-shaped board that she took with her everywhere, hopping on. She tapped her toe to one side and the board sprang to life, lifting up slowly and then, with a slight adjustment of weight, zoomed off leaving a small cloud of condensation behind.

>>> To Legacy Headquarters >>>

  It looked like Ozzy was going to have himself a sniper, at least, Clarissa veered off when she saw something eye-searingly green in the athletics buildings.

Ozzy, assuming he hadn't yet been spotted by the sniper, fell upon him with a vengeance. He wasn't nearly so gentle as he had been with the last sniper, fully intending to disable this guy and then send his broken, battered body back to the NPA.

  The sniper let out a startled yell, then tried to dodge, but he couldn't, so he SHOT Ozzy point blank with the rifle, which actually penetrated his belly.

Ozzy growled as the projectile entered his gut, but he pushed through the pain and threw a massive, bone-crushing punch at the sniper's chest, hoping to end this as quickly as he could.

  That punch definitely made it a done fight, the crunch of bone clear, and the only other 'hit' in the fight, was the sniper hitting the rooftop, limp and out, probably not likely to awaken unless he got major medical attention.  The pink, fuzzy end of the dart that had gone through his skin was still out, so he could pick it back out easy enough, the dart's contents good old mutagen, which didn't affect Ozzy any more.

Ozzy grimaced as he pulled out the dart, giving himself room to regen before going on a little smashing spree. The rifle, scope, darts, everything that the sniper had, he broke. That kind of gear was expensive, and he wasn't gonna let the NPA just recover their stuff if he could help it.

He then looked down at the sniper and thought for a moment, before sending a mindworm message to his friends.

With the mindworm convo mostly finished, Ozzy looked out from the sniper's nest to try to find the mutant Clarissa wasn't being chased by, and took off to make sure he could get a good view before going after it himself.

  This one was strong AND could fy, much like him, but it more almost resembled a classic firebreathing western Dragon.  And was attempting to set a gas station on fire so it's stingered tail could get hold of more running victims.

  Having been given the skinny on which way to run it, Clarissa stopped dodging, and let the mutant tackle her, and thus getting her claws on it, and turning it from ravening mutant, into a mouse she promptly stuck in an aerated pickle jar with the lid screwed on.  The holes in the tin lid kept it from suffocating, but it couldn't escape!!

Ozzy did his best to get between the dragon-like mutant's line of fire and the gas station, putting a magic shield in front of him so as to try and mitigate the burning. While he would regenerate, that didn't mean he liked the pain of being burned.

  The mutant, not excessively big, only about ten feet long, couldn't spit THAT much fire, so his shield DID block it, but it sure wasn't happy, and it screeched in anger, and pounced at him, intending to sting HIM first!!

Ozzy winced as the tail punctured his flesh, but he wasn't too worried about it, since it was just a small hole and the mutagen wouldn't do anything to him. However, he took the opportunity to grab onto the 'dragon's' tail, and he tried to yank on the tail and screw up its flying rhythm, hoping to pull it out of the air more or less.

  It let out a squawk of alarm as it was, indeed, yanked out of the air, and crashed to the pavement, it's tail trying to 'strike' again, scorpion-like.  Pink mutagen dripped from it, the stuff dangerous as hells without being lethal!

Ozzy growled as the scorpion-tail pierced him again, but again, he was immune to the pink mutagen. He needed to take the dragon down quickly, so while he had it held, he fired a blast of lightning from his eyes, hoping that it would act almost like a tazer and stun the dragon, rather than quick fry it to a crackly crunch.

  It did indeed 'taze' it, although probably a bit more powerfully than any tazer ever made was going to, as he could tell it was still breathing, but way stunned, and smoking just a bit.  He'd been getting better with that lightning!

Ozzy grinned and sent to Clarissa, [[I got mine down. Sucker's a bit crispy, but he'll live. If I accidentally zapped him paralyzed or something, Megs can fix it. This one can breathe fire, though, so I'mma drop it at the para-jail where they can hold it 'till it turns back into a human. If it ever does. Gym's a bit too flammable to hold this thing at any rate.]]

And with that, he flew off, collected the broken sniper and his gear, and then flew to the jail where they could hopefully hold a dragon in the mutagenic equivalent of a drunk tank.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:37, Thu 08 Aug 2013.

  {{Want me to meet you there?  This one's in a jar.  I moused him.}}  She stopped at the school long enough to pick her backpack up, then asked if class (driver's ed) was cancelled already or not.  Finding it had been, she sighed, and said "Okay, I got a way home, let me just drop off Mutant Mouse to the jail."  Then she headed for the jail.

[[Sounds like a plan, love. See you there.]]