ic Mud Pack

[Heritage]

Lulu's cheeks went a little pink as Leroy described her with such flowery language. "Well, ah don't know 'bout all that..." She gave Davyd's hand a single firm shake. "Ah'd be happy to join y'all on your journey of discovery." 

 

She tore open her Hot Fries, then asked the new arrival a question as she popped several in her mouth. "So Davyd, what's your thing? What brings you to Claremont?" munch munch

[Dr Archeville]

Davyd's blinked at Leroy's words.  "Your dragon?  Your dragon?  Your dragon?  Your dragon?!"  He had expected to see some wonders today, but first Lady Liberty and now this?!  "Where is he?  Can I see him?  Is he invisible?  Or really tiny, hiding in your pocket?"

 

Another question snatched his attention.  "My thing?  Oh, you mean my powers!"  His features and form wavered a bit, and suddenly he was Lulu's twin sister.  "I'm a shapeshifter!," Lulu's double said, in her voice.  "There's still a lot I'm learning about it," Lulu said as she transitioned into a copy of Leroy, "but I think my work in theatrical makeup and costuming has helped me some."  Leroy shifted and became Judy, "the doctor who helped me when my powers first manifested said I could theoretically turn into anyone, or anything," Corrine said, "which is really cool, because I loooove science fiction and horror movies, so I could imagine turning into something from those," Monica said, "could be a big help in scaring criminals!"  Monica shifted again, but not back to any one form -- now it had Leroy's legs, Monica's torso, Judy's arms, Corrine's face, and Lulu's hair.  "Uh... sometimes I get a bit mixed up, though..."

[TheAbsurdist]

Corinne's head canted to the side, her blue eyes starting to glow with an inner light that was almost hard to make contact with.  "Shhhh, shhh, shhhh." She demurred in a hushed tone, even as it turned unearthly.  She stepped towards him, and lifted her right hand, as she moved it upwards, and closer to his face.  Rocking onto one foot, the other leg lifted almost into an arabesque stance.  As she did so, it was like an aura was radiating off of her, pushing away the changes from him.  Until her ring and middle finger gently pressed to his forehead, and he smoothed out, his form reverting back to well... him, while she was poised in the position like she was giving a benediction in a dance.

"Breathe.  Breathe.  The shape is yourself, you know you.  Relax," her tone still gentle, though the final word sounded normal, as her eyes faded back to normal.  She blink, and shifted back from him.  Her hand pulling back and she brushed back her symmetrical locks.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Oh hi Lulu OH-" Judy's eyes bugged wide and she clapped her hand over her mouth to silence a sudden scream, her heart racing in terror of the hideous abomination before her. 

 

It occurred to Ashley, standing behind them, that it would be perfectly in-character for Watchdog to draw her taser and stab the obvious Grue infiltrator in the back - but then staying in-character and being smart on an undercover operation weren't always the same thing. Unbidden, she thought for a second about her last session of Dungeons and Dragons with Judy and how this very subject had come up. "You should warn people before you do that," she said, her voice flat and toneless, before she stepped around Horrowshow's back to where Judy could see her. She made eyecontact, pushing down her sunglasses, a question.

 

Judy waved her off, hand pressed to her chest. This tour was not going very well so far. "That's very exciting!" she said out loud, obviously doing her best to roll with it. If she was a beauty queen, she was a beauty queen trying to put a good spin on a fellow contestant whose talent show had been projectile vomiting. 

[olopi]

And then all hell broke loose. Or at least, so it felt. Of course Corinne, being her perfect self, somehow managed to fix the thing immediately. She was prepared for these kinds of things, somehow. Which was much more than Monica could say for herself.

 

Not that she really felt like saying anything right now. Was this some kind of way the Headmistress wanted to make this obvious immediately? Was this just some sort of joke? At this point Monica really had no idea anymore, just when she thought she'd maybe managed to figure it out for once. Seeing a … perfect (ugh) copy of herself in the flesh wasn't really something Moncia had prepared for today. Neither was she prepared for the combination of her classmates on a single body, but at that point she wasn't really paying attention fully anymore.

 

"I'm gonna grab something to eat real quick. Be right back. "

 

She said quietly, sort of addressing Corinne who stood next to her, doing her best to not just walk away without saying anything, and to keep her emotions in check. She beelined her way to the nearest vending machine, pulling her hood up over her head in the process.

[Dr Archeville]

Davyd took half a step back as Corrine advanced, but her soothing tone convinced him it was okay.  His body tingled as her energies washed over him, restoring -- forcing -- him to his original form.  He was as shocked as everyone else appeared to be at his powers, "Wow!  So I guess I know what your thing is -- you help others, yes?  Some sort of empath, a healer?"  He looked to the rest, "What about the rest of you?  I sort-of know what Lady Liberty can do."

 

He looked sheepishly at Ashley, "ah, sorry.  I will remember to give you all warning next time."  He turned to Judy and nodded enthusiastically, "I think so, yes!  I can do more -- do you want to see?," he asked, eying a basket of fruit on a counter several dozen feet away.  He turned back to Ashley -- or, rather, his head did a 180 to face Ashley while his body remained still.  "See, I asked this ti- uh oh..."  He turned his head back around, and turned his eyes down, "sorry."

 

 

[TheAbsurdist]

She looked to the side, watched Monica leave.  "No.  I control stuff.  Physical stuff.  Matter."  Not myself.   She turned her head back to Davyd, smiling, and showing genuine warmth.  "I get not being able to control the powers.  Visualization helps me."   She caught Ash moving, and the protective sister thing.  Well what she thought was the case.  The smile didn't waver, but the eyes that looked at Ash for a moment didn't have that smile either.  Perhaps a bit too much clarity her expression as she regarded the surly big sister.

She had the performer mask, like Judy.  She could get it to her eyes, she was better at hiding.  But her intuition told her that Ash was flanking.  Corinne put a hand on his shoulder, "Hey, how about I cover something to nosh on while we wander over towards the library?"  The blonde smoothed over, "And everyone can talk about their powers.  If they want."

[Ari]

"Afraid that leaves me out," Leroy said with a wry look that twisted the scars on his cheeks, "none of my powers are mine, or ever will be. And yes, a splendid idea O sunset star, to the library." Taking up the lead alongside Davyd, the other boy led the way along the winding stairs and through the hallways connecting the cafeteria to the other buildings making up the castle-like front of Claremont Academy. Almost alone among the group, he'd been politely interested in the display, though Judy's upset had made him take half a step in her direction...before her sister swooped in and took over.

 

"That was a remarkable likeness of me, Mr. Palahniuk." Leroy casually hugged the wall to let a stream of other students jostle by. Waving back to some of them before they vanished around the corner, he went on brightly "I had never met a face-dancer before, Mother usually keeps them on the rings so they need not fear the call of the raging earth. But they are quite well-loved, according to my friends on Earth-2. How do people feel about your like on Prime?" 

 

"Oh," suddenly remembering something, his face fell "no, my dragon is several meters long and currently fighting in the hills. He is green, with a curved fan running from crown to tail-tip, you can spot him on campus with a tree limb crunching in his mouth." 

 

"But the library is wonderful! Well-stocked, in many languages, a carpet so soft and warm it puts life in your toes." He led the trot up another flight, spiraling around one of the mini-towers that jutted from the quad. "Not to mention a secret, forbidden room into which no student has ever stepped! Many have tried, but all fail!"

 

At last, they reached the library's main door and stepped into the velvety hush created by long rows of books, desks and people crammed into alcoves reading as hard as they can. 

[Avenger Assembled]

Judy took Leroy's hand as they went, taking comfort from his near-presence, and from the way Ashley was staying close too. "Ah don't see why people want to sneak around in the library," she commented. "Rules are there for a reason," she said with the assurance of one with reason to know. "His dragon's a real nice guy," she told Davyd. "You'll like him." 

 

Ashley was in a bind; she felt bad for the teenage shapeshifter who obviously had some serious issues controlling his powers, but Watchdog wasn't supposed to be the sort of person who had a lot of empathy for the misfortune of others; especially not somebody who might be a Grue. She settled for giving the Ukranian teen a glare from over her sunglasses and hung back, letting her much more empathic charge (and the others) handle Davyd. 

[Dr Archeville]

"Ohhhhh," he replied to Corrine, "so you can do to others what I do to myself?  Wow!"  He flashed her a matching smile, "did you get your powers in a lab accident, too?"

 

He gave Leroy a quizzical look, "your powers are not your own?  What do you mean?  Oh, and please, call me Davyd.  Or Dayv."  His further comments draw more odd looks, "Earth-2?  Oh, you are from another Earth, from another dimension!  Wow!  Oh, but, uh, to answer your question," his tone shifted from excited to withdrawn, "people here tend not to like -- or trust," he gave Ashley a sideways glance, "shapeshifters, what with all the problems we've had with Grue invaders.  And people tend to get... uneasy if they see someone who looks exactly like them."

 

His eyes went wide and his jaw slack -- slightly moreso than a human's should -- when they entered the David Sloan Library.  He tried to steer the group towards the audio-visual section, while still listening to everyone.  "Forbidden room, eh?  Have any of you tried entering?"  Once at the A-V center, he was disappointed (though not surprised) to see most of the DVDs were of documentaries, but he did find a few narrative features that were "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" enough to have been included on both the American Film Institute's "100 Best" and on the National Film Registry.  "I look forward to meeting your dragon!  I wonder if I can mimic him..."

[Zeitgeist Blue]

The A-V center was empty of people save a girl on a wheelchair at one of the corner tables. One of her ears was covered by the headset she had plugged into her laptop and the other was left unattended. She stifled a yawn as she continued to watch but as the teenagers moved into the room she took the chance to look away from her laptop and up to the students who had just entered.

 

It wasn't exactly a winning group of people, Nicole noted. She would have brought her headphones down on both ears and ignore all of them but there was a student she had not yet seen.

 

"Davyd? You mean, Davyd Ocheret Palahniuk?" She called from the corner of the room before hitting pause on what looked to be some old film that looked to be Psycho. Then she drove forward, her curiosity winning over her aversion. She extended a hand towards Davy, waved at Lulu, and pointedly ignored the other students besides them.

 

"I've heard about you in the FCU campus incident and some bits afterwards. You're an interesting case study really, your genetic structure bondi--..." She trailed off then shook her head as if getting rid of a nasty thought. "Nevermind, I never get to say any of the fun stuff."

 

Her eyes strayed towards Leroy but she sheepishly moved them back when he caught her looking.

 

"In any case," she said, managing to only slightly grimace. "Welcome to Claremont, even if the year's ending. What're you looking for here? Everything's really dry, mostly Nat Geo documentaries about bird migration and some old movies."

Edited April 21, 2019 by Zeitgeist Blue

[TheAbsurdist]

"Generally not people, well myself.  I guess.  Stuff mostly."  She trailed off, letting everyone else get their dig and commentary.  She was on her outro after all, and it was not leading the same path as the rest of everyone.  She munched on whatever she had grabbed, given the fact she ate for a half-dozen people.  Or at least that was the joke.   She bantered a little bit with other people about classes, and such, and tried to bait Ash into a high five.

 

Then as LeRoy guided them together she started to list back humming to herself, and singing softly, barely audible.  Until came the screech of Nicole.  The pointed ignoring of everyone else. Like, seriously, Nicole, how the hell can you be that way?  Whatever... whatever.  "Davyd, this is Nicole.  Be careful she might want to get a sample."  Her tone was jovial, and not really teasing, but she inwardly winced, expecting vitriol from the tetchy, touchy teen.

[olopi]

Once she'd split off from the group, Monica took some time to breathe. Right now she mainly needed to figure out how she felt about everything that had just happened. Sure, she'd heard of shapeshifters before. The Grue were a thing, after all, even if she didn't know how much of the things one heard about them was just propaganda – them being aliens and all. But actually meeting somebody who could do it, and what was associated with it, was a lot more complicated.

 

Her grumbling stomach reminded her why all of this was happening in the Cateferia. She scanned the room real quick, but from the looks of it, none of the people she'd maybe talk about this with were around at the moment. So she just grabbed one of the avocado sandwiches that had been prepared for the day (private schools, crazy), before figuring out her next move.

 

Somehow Monica had the feeling that just disappearing from the tour would lead to trouble later down the line. Maybe from Summers, from one of her classmates, or somebody else entirely. She'd have to deal with these feelings for now, until she actually had some time to settle down and think – or talk – about them properly.

 

A quick text confirmed where the others were at the moment, so Monica walked in only moments after, a single person was always faster than a group when it came to these things. She was still carrying half her sandwich, rules about eating in the library be damned. It was her alibi after all. She helf it up for the others to see as she rejoined them without saying a word.  

 

…And apparently Nicole was here. Monica was already regretting this, but it was too late to leave again.

[Heritage]

Was is freaky seeing Davyd transform? A bit, sure. But as a telepath, Lulu was used to strong reactions to and mistrust of her powers, so she'd be a massive hypocrite to treat Davyd in any sort of similar way. "That's actually pretty sweet, Davyd! Definitely a useful power if you need to be in two places at the same time."

 

And then, a gentle mental nudge. -I'm a telepath. People tend to be nervous around my kind as well. You get used to it. I like movies, too!- The mental voice had the same tone and timber as Lulu's, but no Alabama accent, which was interesting.

 

Upon seeing Nicole, the redhead offered a hushed but friendly greeting. "Hey there, girlfriend!"

Edited April 23, 2019 by Heritage

[Dr Archeville]

Davyd jumped a bit at Lulu's telepathic message.  -Oh, wow!  This is... wow!-   He smiled at her and gave a giddy laugh, -I can't believe all the stuff I'm seeing today!  I mean, yeah, I grew up in Freedom, I'm used to seeing people with powers, but to actually interact with them, know I'll be attending classes with them, learning with them... wow!-

 

He looked around for Monica, the one superhero he knew in the group  He hadn't expected to be this overwhelmed, and he was looking for her, a known element, as an anchor or touchstone.  Which is probably a bit unfair to her, but it's just until I get my bearings.  He grew a bit agitated when he lost sight of her, but waved excitedly when he saw her entering with a half-eaten sandwich.

 

"Oh, is that Hitchcock?," Davyd asked when he saw Nicole's monitor.  "He was an artful director, but a lousy- wait, what?"  He was a bit blindsided by her, or rather by her incomplete comments about him.  "My genetic structure?  What do you know of that?"  He lowered his voice a bit, partly because he was in a library and partly because he wanted to try to keep some cats in the bag.  "How did you hear about what happened to me at FCU?  My name was kept out of the papers... do you know someone at the Albright Institute, or Freedom Medical?"

[Ari]

"Ms. Nicole studies natural and paranatural phenomena, Davyd," the smiling boy had somehow brightened even more; he also apparently hadn't noticed the underlying tension, gently massaging Judy's hand in his own, "her research has placed her in a unique position to learn of new powers and dissidents. She is a master of both the open and hidden arts, skills in heavy demand since the expansion of Archetech." He looked suddenly grave "...although, her graduation is soon, and then her wisdom will pass beyond our reach."

 

"In any event, the library here functions like its cousins elsewhere. When you are ready, perhaps the dormitories?" Leroy glanced out at the others, his eyes gliding off them. Suddenly they locked on Monica, something stirring to reptilian life as he bowed subtly to her, though as usual their eyes never met.

 

"Lightbearer Monica, perhaps you would take the lead?" The two had barely exchanged words since the philosphy round-robin, but most of them had been weighted in almost religious undertones. In torn, stained robes, wild hair and lyrical voice, he even carried an almost prophetic air.

 

"Dio is well," he added, apropos of nothing, "the thing has lost blood and retreated into the caves. They are beautiful, like crystal palaces on the shores of a dark sea, we should visit them." The last was directed at Judy, along with a tender smile.

 

 

[Avenger Assembled]

"Ah don't think there's anything wrong with wanting to do a little science," said Judy with a wink at Nicole and Corinne. She actually did think something was wrong with it, very much indeed, because she remembered the wires, and the needles, and how awful it had been after her perfect life, but she wasn't going to be rude about it, especially not to a girl in a wheelchair. Judy smiled at Leroy, shooting a glance at Ashley. "Ah don't think mah sister would really go for that...but it sounds fun," she admitted. "Maybe we could just visit the outskirts..." Ashley made a noise like a Keurig, giving Leroy a distinct look. "Or maybe somewhere else. There are some nahce spots around here Ah never really got the chance to see." Ashley pulled up her sunglasses, the better to hide the fact that she was paying attention to the conversation between Nicole and Davyd. 

[Zeitgeist Blue]

Salvo

 

"I wouldn't say no to one," Nicole said in response to Corinne, driving back to her laptop. "Hair, saliva. I wager they morph just as easily as your skin and bones. You wouldn't be a very effective shapeshifter if  you couldn't now, would you?"

 

"Well, yeah, that's all you cared about." She coughed awkwardly into her hand as Leroy finished what could only be described as a glowing recommendation. She turned from the Prince in a certain state of undress to face Davyd. "So relax and move, you're blocking my laptop. I know a couple who responded to your incident. Word gets around in scientific circles and human info security needs sprucing up, but trust me when I say your power's mechanics and its applications will be safe with me. I can understand why you'd want to keep it a secret."

 

Her jaw was set, as if that would convince him she was dead serious, and she pushed at his arm to get a better view of her laptop. Now her thoughts shifted on how Davyd's DNA was eerily similar to dogs, particularly of the Chihuahua breed, and that tangent led her to shapeshifting Chihuahuas, and though the transformation process would probably be horrific to witness, she could imagine owning a pet that could disfigure itself to be whatever breed she wanted. She could see why Davyd would be embarrassed about that particular aspect of his power but, whatever, she's seen worse.

 

She shook her head to rid the thoughts before she could go down that rabbit hole.

 

"Science is great but what isn't is this assignment," she muttered darkly as she stared at the paused movie. "How am I supposed to connect this to the anti-affirmative and labor laws of Cahill and his yes-men? Pure torture." She clapped her hands together. "Anyway, satisfied, Davyd?"

Edited April 27, 2019 by Zeitgeist Blue

[TheAbsurdist]

Corinne's lips pressed together for a moment, but she didn't say entirely what was on her mind.   "Sure. Sure.  Though, maybe speak about the things you aren't going to mention in whispers, perhaps?"  Her tone light, more to prod people in understanding social cues, than to actually rub things in people's faces, as everyone had a backstory, and most of her classmates weren't socialized normally.
 

Not that she was either, being sort of exposed to Hollywood, and all that.

Or the super powers.

 

Really any of it.  She was just trying to not bait Nicole, though she believed the girl didn't give a crap about Davyd's comfort anymore than anyone's else.  But then, they were all self-involved, more than back home even.  Maybe it was the superpowers.  Or, who knew.  She listed off to the side, not deflated, just letting the people who wanted to lead this do just that.

[Dr Archeville]

"Ohhh," Davyd replied to Leroy's explanation, diffusing some of the tension between him and Nicole. He turned to her, "you are going to work at ArcheTech? Even after all..." he gestured vaguely around, trying to reference the chaos and destruction wrought some years ago by its (apparently possessed) founder.

 

He was quiet for some moments, feeling pressure from the obvious tension between his various student escorts.  This had clearly been built up over some time, and, as a newcomer, he was clueless on some of the finer aspects of it. So he reverted to his theatre techie training, taking a few steps back and blending unobtrusively into the background.  He did so more literally in this instance, though, his skin taking on the color-matching traits of a chameleon!

 

Get it together, Dayv, you'll be facing much worse out there.

 

"I think I would like to see the dorms, please" he finally said, though still blended in with the rack of DVDs behind him.

Edited May 9, 2019 by Dr Archeville

[Avenger Assembled]

On the way outside, Judy released Leroy's hand with a grateful smile and stepped close to Davyd. "Ah'm sorry about what happened earlier," she said, giving him a sincere look. "Ah don't really have a lot of experience with friendly shapeshifters." She reached up, brushed her hair back behind her head, and folded her hands in front of her - and when she met Davyd's eyes, she lied smoothly. "Ah've had some, um, bad experiences. But there's no reason we can't be friends," she said with a frank smile. Once inside the dorms, she hung back a little and said, "Do y'all have a room-mate yet? Ah room with mah sister, but we're special cases because of where we came from." 

[Heritage]

"The dorms are pretty nice; ah hardly ever see mah roommate, ah guess she's pretty busy trainin'." Lulu sent another message Davyd's way as they walked down the dorm hallway. 

 

-Everybody doesn't always get along; we're all teenagers with superpowers, so things can get intense pretty fast. But when it comes down to it, we all have your back. Don't be afraid to be yourself; you're among friends.-

 

She gave him a quick smile, then turned back to Judy. "How are you two sisters gettin' on? Ah mean, ah love mah brother Bobby, but ah think after two weeks sharin' a room with him, ah'd be pullin' out mah hair!"

Edited May 6, 2019 by Heritage

[Avenger Assembled]

Living like a nun, wearing novelty pajamas to bed, you want a list? Ashley thought - but not too loudly. The telepath made her uneasy, which let her put a little bite into her words. "We've been in worse places than this," growled Watchdog at Lulu, "and we've gotten out." 

 

"Oh, well," said Judy with that beauty queen smile as she shot Lulu an apologetic look. "we've had some practice living in close quarters before, so this wasn't so bad. Ah do miss havin' my own room," she admitted, "but when you've got a big enough family you get used to things like this." She brushed the hair back from her face and flushed slightly. "Ah don't know if this happened to you, Davyd, but during that little dimension-folding, um, incident, we met versions of ourselves who had to live in, um, sort of like an Indian reservation here in Freedom City but for people with superpowers, so really things could be a lot worse!" 

[Ari]

"I would give much to see my sisters again. Even once a year, that would be enough." At some point Leroy had ducked into his own room, changing swiftly into a fresh tunic and trousers to replace the tatters and handing back Ashley's leather jacket with a grateful smile. Nestled against Judy again, the boy shone in green and gold, a black sun reaching fiery hands across an embroidered desert, conjuring emerald plants and beasts from gilt sands and stone. "Hope is hard to find this far from paradise."

 

At the mention of siblings, his easy cheer had faded a little. "I bunk with the valiant and wise Mr. Kingdom, and our talk often turns to the evils in this world. Many are ones my elder sisters have destroyed elsewhere, but here there is no respite or salvation from them, for all the power arrayed against. On such nights the walls close tight and the very air smells of ash and slow death." As he spoke, Leroy's face grew ever more grave, and his hand held Judy's more tightly.

 

"But such is a passing shadow!"

He beamed suddenly at Davyd, golden eyes sparkling, totally relaxed. "Soon the world will be born anew, we need only overcome this hourly trial." He snapped his fingers. "Which reminds me! It bears mentioning that the floors are divided by gender, intrusions are not tolerated and strongly discouraged!" 

[Zeitgeist Blue]

"Well, yes-- but-- you know," Nicole said, looking everywhere but at Davyd as she formulated a reply. Finally she shook her head and brought out her homework file, typing as she spoke to Davyd. "That's all in the past now and Archeville got his comeuppance and more. It's got the best science and powered research. Mister Tulink, that's Citizen for most people, showed me around on my first few days." The subject after all was an awkward one for her and she waved her hand as if Archetech's science excused its history.

 

Then she stopped typing and leaned towards Davyd, her lips upturned in a smirk. "And I'm not going to work there. I already do, have been for three years. Only difference is when I get paid. It's great doing what I'm best at and what I love. You're a movie buff, right?"

 

"Y'know, Hitchcock and artful-ness." Her hands formed quotation marks as she said the words. "Maybe you can start by helping me with my paper and I could trade with whatever science subject you're banging your head against. But looks like I won't be taking much of your time."

 

Behind him, Davyd's ad-hoc posse stood and Nicole gestured to them impatiently. When Davyd indicated his desire to go to the dormitories left, she returned to her schoolwork, holding back a yawn that threatened to escape her lips.