ic The Wearing of the Green (IC)

[Gizmo]

"You're trying to tell me those amateurs were, what? Embassy security? Secret service?" The wry smile pulling at LaMarr's lips fell as Summers failed to correct his incredulous supposition."So you've got vans full of fools with the subtlety of a backhand across the face staking out movie theatres with assault weapons so some prince or whatever can have low key a semester abroad? Somebody signed off on that?" He raised his eyebrows over the tops of his sunglasses and made a sweeping gesture to underline his disapproval. "Sorry if I don't keep up with the royal wedding tabloid cycle but who's parents wouldn't settle for getting their name on a new wing of your school?" He'd dealt with plenty of accents in his day and the gunmen hadn't given much away, even when he startled them. Probably Americans who'd been hired for the job, then.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Ah don't want to meet him," said Judy, climbing into the van without a backwards look. "He's the one who got us in trouble. Just a busybody if you ask me." She buckled herself in, giving a smile to her friends as they got inside. "We had fun, and there's nothing they can do to stop that, isn't that right?" Mrs. Collier did not seem inclined to let the Claremont students go over and talk to the older hero who'd tattled on them, and a distinct rustle under her floor-length dress suggested she might be ready to wrestle them into the van by main force if they didn't cooperate. 

 

- 

 

"The reality is rather more complicated than that, Mr. LaMarr," said Ms. Summers, a tight-lipped expression on her face. "People in our community need to be discreet about these things. Will you walk with me?" 

[Gizmo]

"I got done with being told my community needed to be discreet in the sixties, Ms. Summers," LaMarr fired back flatly, a twitch in his jaw betraying a raw emotional nerve. "How 'complicated' does jokers with guns following kids around in a white van have to get before it seems like a good idea?" The high school teacher's voice began to raise over the background din of the city street and the headmistress was close enough to hear knuckles pop as superdense musculature clenched. He seemed to hear the sound himself and took a half step backward, further out of her personal space, as he collected himself.

 

LaMarr closed his eyes behind his sunglasses for a brief moment and let out a long breath through his nose. "If you're gonna play the community card I had best like what I hear next. I ain't known for staying quiet so some rich daddy can save face." He gestured for Summers to lead wherever she wanted to go to speak further.

[RocketLord]

Pan had grown silent, as he listened to what was being said outside the van. "I kind of do." he mused, in a reply to Judy's statement about not wanting to meet this Wail character, but spoken as much to just himself as to the rest of the van. And to Collier, of course. Keep her on her toes, make her think that he was planning something. Which he just might be.

 

He could clearly hear that Summers and LaMarr did not see eye to eye. And someone with weapons had been following them? And something about princes? Interesting. And why had no one told them about that part? He looked Collier over. Would it be worth the trouble to try to get past her? Or would he should just rely the information to the rest.

 

"They are talking about someone with weapons having followed us, and something about them being here to protect a secret prince, or something along those lines, at least." He decided on just letting it linger for a moment. Were anyone here the secret prince, perhaps? Or princess, in this case? As far as he knew, he was not a prince, but who knew in this world?

[Electra]

"I want to meet Wail!" Danica piped up, suddenly trying to get her Segway out of the van as hard as she'd been trying to load it in the first place. "He was on 1-800-JUSTICE! They had a cartoon show and fought in the second Terminus Invasion, and his teammates both died but he kept on being a hero anyway. I didn't actually know he wasn't retired," she admitted, "but I want to meet him!" Giving up on the Segway, she began making her way, very slowly, in the direction of the kerfuffle. 

[Avenger Assembled]

Judy started briefly, then gave Aja a guilty look. "Ah'm sorry if Ah got you in trouble," she said to the heir to the throne of the most powerful kingdom in Africa. "But you...really should go meet Wail, if you really want to," she went on, crossing her legs in a ladylike fashion as she sat in the back of the van. Her cheeks were coloring but for the most part she looked a bit like a captive princess herself despite the humble origins everyone had heard about. "Ms. Collier, will you stay with me, though? If there really are bad guys around here, Ah just wouldn't feel safe!" She smiled brightly, for a moment wishing she had something to fan herself with to better emphasize the look. It was hard to tell if Ms. Collier bought it or not, but in any event the low-voiced conversation the two of them subsequently had was enough to let the teen heroes approach the conversation between Wail and Ms. Summers if they were so inclined. 

 

"It's ironic you put it that way, Mr. LaMarr, because..." The arrival of the teens changed whatever Callie Summers was going to say. "Ah, here they are. Students, you _all_ owe Mr. LaMarr your thanks. If not for him, you might have found yourselves in a very difficult situation." 

[Tiffany Korta]

White Lioness

This was obviously a very serious thing, or at least the school would think so, and she should have just stood there and waiting to be taken back to Claremont. But this might be her only chance to meet Wail, after all she might be grounded for the rest of the year at least.And there the disappointment in her mother's voice when the school told her what they down.

 

She quickly caught up with Danica, it was little that tale of the hare and the tortoise, so she slowed her pace to match that of her friend. And if both of them met him well then they had to share the trouble. Which seem appropriate for the day they’d had.

[RocketLord]

"Guess that settles that, then." Pan winked quickly at Judy. If she wished to stay, then by all means. He was more interested in meeting this hero that had both Aja and Danica interested, after all! With a quick hop and a skip (and a little bit of Pixie Dust falling behind him), he was by Danica's side, smiling widely as they approached, both slowing his pace to match Danica, much like Aja was. He was just along for the ride, after all.

 

Still, once Mrs. Summers introduced them, Pan couldn't stay silent any longer. "Greetings, Mr. Lamarr! I am Pan!" He raised his right hand to his head in a mock military salute. A very difficult situation, Summers said? Ha, they could all deal with very difficult situations with ease, could they not? "It is an honor! My friends here have been dying to meet you!"

[Avenger Assembled]

As Wail talked to the kids, they were briefly interrupted by a passerby on motorcycle. The pink-haired girl in the biker jacket slowed down enough to shoot a hard glare at the teens talking to Keith, then pulled up next to the Claremont van at what was distinctly a firm Over there gesture from Callie Summers. 

 

"That is Ashley Smith," said the tall Black teen who'd introduced himself as Leroy. "She is also a student at Claremont, and sister to my heart, Judith Smith." Over by the van, Ashley was removing her sunglasses and giving a silent stare at an abashed-looking girl inside. She turned, shot a distinct look that was almost a smirk at the men being taken into custody, and then made a gesture inside.

 

The abashed-looking girl, who with her dark complexion might have been a sister to the pink-haired Ashley, sighed and put on a bike helmet before climbing up behind Ashley. With that, the two of them zipped away from the van. 

 

"She watches her very closely," said Leroy. "I hope she is not in trouble as well...but you must understand, a confidence sworn on a heart is a confidence that can never be broken without breaking the heart." That seemed to be all he was willing to say on the subject.