ic Amygdala

[Cubismo]

"Loki's balls! What's going on?" Astrid cursed, her eyes darting across the room for something that would make sense of what was happening. Their inexplicably changing room. Not to much their inexplicably changed clothes. Astrid's Ziggy costume was gone and replaced with something that was decidedly not her style. Not that style was all that in important, given the situation.

 

The moment Astrid's eyes spotted Dr. Harlon her hands instinctively grabbed at her back to get a hold of Porrklubba only for to realize then that the weapon was just as gone as her costume.  She cursed again, mean and low. Having Porrklubba would have definitely been nice right about now, but it looked like she was going without.  

 

Astrid figured that there was about a 20% chance that this Dr. Harlon might not be on the haunted house shenanigans and could actually be of help. It was a pretty slim chance but Astrid figured that starting off swinging might not be the best way to go... yet. 

 

"Hey, Doc. Where the Hel are we?" Astrid asked as charmingly as ever. 

 

 

[Dr Archeville]

When Davyd saw everyone else's outfits had changed, he quickly checked himself.  "Hunh, okay, some sort of interactive story deal?  Holograms over the guests, to make them look like part of the-"  A look of horror quickly spread across his face, "whoa, this isn't a hologram, this is... aw, man!  My outfit!  I'd spent hours on that!  Oh!"  His hands went to his face, felt no fur, no fangs, no pointed ears, and cursed.  "My makeup!  I'd worked for so long on that, too!  How the- wait."  He pulled his hands away from his face, and stared at them for a long moment.  "I... I can't...," a growing panic swelled in his voice, "I don't have..."

 

He looked to the others, tears in the corners of his eyes, "what is going on here?!"

[Heritage]

"Ah can't hear anythin'," Lulu said in a dull voice. "Ah can't hear the city's thoughts anymore, the constant background buzz." She looked from one of her fellow students to another in rapid succession, becoming increasingly alarmed. "Ah can't read anyone's thoughts!" Then she looked over to Leroy, then up into the sky, her eyes darting around as she became more panicked. "Hey, where'd the dragon go? Could he fly us out of here?"

 

And then her eyes went wide when they fell upon the doctor. "You did this to us!" In a flash of uncharacteristic rage, the redhead grasped the man by his lapels. "What have you done to us?!"

[Shofet]

GM

 

When Danica ran off, Dr. Harlan tried to catch her. “Danica, sweetheart, please, don’t…” he said, softly. Then he sighed as he watched her run off, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well, at least she’s in a good mood today…” he mused, mostly to himself.

 

His attention then turned to Leroy. “I’m… Afraid I don’t know who that is? The current president of the USA is Ralph Nader…” he said, thinking for a moment. He then tilted his head, looking at Leroy. “Tell you what, let’s look him up.” He pulled out his phone, and asked it who Nnamdi Azikiwe was. It returned no results. “Ah, yeah, sorry Leroy, I don’t have anything.”

 

Then he turned his attention to Astrid. “Same place we’ve always been. Claremont Youth Mental Institute. The courtyard specifical--WOAH.”

 

He looked at Lulu as she grasped his lapels, but he looked more disappointed than upset. “Louise Beaumont! I thought we had gotten past this. We do not grab people when we are feeling upset,” he chided as he gently began to pry Lulu’s hands from his shirt. “I don’t know what’s going on with all of you today. It must be the new medication. Look, I know it’s a difficult adjustment, but please, bare with us,” he said in a calm and even tone.

 

Finally, his gaze turned to Davyd. “Oh, Dave. Look, there’s no need to cry. It is Halloween, isn’t it? If you want to dress up, I could definitely arrange something. We have plenty of makeup and I could have Dr. Johansen run on down and pick up some costume supplies. I think you’ve earned that.”

 

He stepped back. “Would all of you like that?”

[Cubismo]

Astrid response to Dr. Harlan's question was as immediate as it was vulgar. 

 

"Oh, you can just go and eat all the bullshit your peddling, you drittsekk!" She cursed aloud, her face having turned into a furious glower. Astrid rushed to join Lulu by the supposed doctor, backing the other redhead up. "We're not crazy, and this is some bush league trickster crap. Loki would be second-hand embarrassed by this shit show."

 

Astrid wasn't entirely sure about the veracity of her words, but that really wasn't what was important right now. She had to vent to stop her yourself from losing her cool. Her body felt... wrong. Weaker that it had been for years, and the feeling was starting to creep up her spine. If she didn't start kicking a fit now she'd end up allowing that feeling to overwhelm her, and Astrid had no intention of that happening. 

 

She edged in close to the doctor, looking him straight in the eye as she said her next few words. "Your going to tell us who the Hel you really are right freaking now, or the by the Gods, I'll sock you something fierce."

Edited October 19, 2019 by Cubismo

[Shofet]

GM

 

Dr. Harlan looked terribly confused, rather frightened and more than just a bit disappointed.

 

"Woah, woah, woah. Astrid. No. We do not... You aren't 'crazy'. That's an awful word. You're ill, that's all, and I and all the other doctors are here to help you get better. And you know me, I'm Wade Harlan. We have sessions every Thursday. You like metal music, me too, remember?" he said. Even now, his tone was calm and soothing.

 

"But this is important. If you threaten me, you make it harder for me to help you, and I will have to send you back to your room for the day. You know I hate doing that, but it is bad for both of us if I let you do that. You can't threaten people. So please, I understand you are upset, but don't threaten me."

[Cubismo]

"Send me back to my..." Astrid repeated incredulously before she just shook her head in utter disbelieve. And contempt. There was a whole lot of contempt in Astrid's eyes. 

 

"Utrolig. You really think you can concern troll your way out of this? Pretend to be my friend so I don't rightfully ask what the Hel is going on here." The Asgardian sneered and clenched her fists. "Well, hate to break this to you 'Doc' but I know this whole thing is a bullshit illusion. It has to be. And you have to be the one behind it, which means..."

 

A more logical part of Astrid knew that sucker punching Dr. Harlon may end up making things go from bad to disaster. Alas, a more ticked off part wanted her to keep her promise and soon Astrid's fist was flying towards Dr. Harlon's incredibly punch-able face. 

[Shofet]

GM

 

When Astrid swung for him, Dr. Harlan moved out of the way with ease. It didn't seem like he was a good fighter, just that somehow, Astrid was suddenly a lot worse at it. He looked at her with wide eyes, but then his gaze went to somewhere behind her. "Wait," he said as a pair of orderlies suddenly came and hoisted Astrid up by her arms with no difficulty at all. 

 

"Wait, come on, she's just confused," Dr. Harlan said frantically. "You don't need to--"

"Sorry, Wade," said one of the orderlies. "This is policy. She took a swing. That means sedation and confinement to quarters." 

 

"Oh, come on," Harlan said. "That's medieval! You don't need to-- Astrid, I'm sorry, I know it's not your fault." There was something approaching heartbreak in his eyes as one of the orderlies produced a syringe and pumped it into Astrid's neck. It was a sedative, and a potent one, one meant to make the more violent go under quickly. 

[Cubismo]

It would be something of an understatement to say that Astrid was perturbed by the current chain of events. Indeed, she made her displeasure quite apparent as the orderlies tried to manhandle her and put a needle in her neck. 

 

"Hva pokker?! Get that thing away from me, you bastards!" Astrid struggled the best she could, throwing out her arms as she tried to ward the orderlies off. Not that it did much good. She felt so pitiably weak compared to what she could usually do and she was being jumped by two people that weren't exactly push-overs in her current state. 

 

Astrid was about to yell out for the others to help her out if they could but she was interrupted by the pain of the syringe piecing her neck. She immediately started to feel its poisonous effects, feeling lightheaded and dozy. It would have been so easy to just let the drug do its thing and for half a second Astrid was tempted to do just that. Maybe she'd wake up from this nightmare if she did? The Asgardian squashed the thought a second after it had wormed itself in her head. She was a punk rock warrior of Asgard and there was no way she was going down to a sedative of all things. Astrid shook her head furiously and forced herself to concentrate on Dr. Harlan and the orderlies. Maybe not all of Asgardian-ness was nullified by this place or maybe Astrid was running on pure teenage defiance, but somehow she was able to resist the sedative and break out of her encroaching fog. Mostly...

 

"Is that... the best... you donkeys can do?" Astrid felt like she had just swam the entire Atlantic Ocean and she was finding it really had to concentrate, but even still, she shut up her dukes and gave the orderlies a defiant glare.

 

"I can do this all night."

 

 

Edited October 19, 2019 by Cubismo

[Dr Archeville]

"No," Davyd pleaded, "no, Astrid, this isn't that way."

 

Whatever was going on seemed to have a more pronounced effect on Davyd.  Was it due to his own overly-malleable form?  An aspect of his Grue nature, defaulting to going along with the dominant collective?  Or something more personal?

 

Maybe Dr. Harlan's right.  What are the chances a quiet, shy, introverted high school theatre tech like me would ever become a superhero?  Would ever get powers?  Sure, things like that happen in Freedom, but to other people.  To athletes and extroverts.  Not to the quiet ones.  Not those like me.  And a trip to the Caribbean?  Back in time?  To outer space?  To another dimension?  Maybe these past six months really all have been a dream.  No, not a dream - a delusion.  Really, someone like me, hanging out with a Prince and his dragon, and a goddess, a gorgeous psychic... absurd!

 

He looked over the group, then back to Dr. Halran, mkaing just fleeting eye contact before casting his gaze downward.  His voice was broken, cracked, "I... I'm not feeling well, Doctor... I think... I think maybe I should go lie down for a bit..."

[Electra]

Danica was having an amazing time running in the grass, seeing the world move past as though she were on the Segway, but with her own two feet powering her for once. It took her a minute to get used to the slightly ungainly lope that her leg required, but it really wasn't too bad! She wondered if she could do other things easily now, catch a ball, maybe, or play a video game. She should try that... 

 

Her thoughts were derailed when she saw the orderlies ganging up on Astrid and hurting her. Danica barely knew Astrid, but she was Mia's friend and teammate, so that meant she was good, and she was at Claremont so that made her a hero, and one didn't stand by and watch while good heroes were being attacked. Turning her run in a new direction, Danica raced back towards the others and jumped on the back of the orderly with the needle. It was surprisingly easy without the shell! Blunt human teeth were not nearly as useful as a spectral beak for getting one's point across, but she took a go at it anyway, sinking her teeth into his shoulder in the hopes he'd release Astrid that much quicker. 

[Heritage]

"Don't you f###in' patronize us," Lulu snarled at Harlan before turning to the others. "None of this real, y'all! It's gotta be a spell or somethin'! We're still in the goddamn haunted house! It must have been some kind of trap!" Noticing Davyd succumbing to the effects of whatever was affecting them, she grabbed him by the shoulders and gave him a good shake. "Don't fall for their bulls###, Davyd! You are a badass shapeshifter and you are better than this! Snap out of it, boy!" Searching his eyes for any recognition, she suddenly leaned in and kissed him smack on the lips!

[Ari]

Leroy had been too busy puzzling over how Nader could have become President to notice the start of the fracas, but seeing Louise kiss Davyd drew him sharply back to reality. 

 

"Oh how splendid, you two!" He clapped enthusiastically, beaming from ear to ear, blinking at the sight of Danica chomping down on an orderly while Astrid hung pinned between the beleagured pair. "...Well, I suppose this our plan." With a flick, and then a harder flick, and then a fierce, sustained yank, he tore the top off his hospital uniform and hurled himself into a spin aimed at the legs of the struggling foursome.

 

"Power of gravity!" He roared as he collided.

 

"I'd love to help, but apparently I don't exist." Dio said.

[Shofet]

Soliton

 

Mia watched the chaos unfold with a sense of confusion. Danica had just been running and enjoying being free, and Mia had been watching that, but now there was a cavalcade of violence unleashing before her. She saw Astid being roughly handled and trying to fight, while Danica was gnawing on one guy’s leg while Leroy was trying out some fancy moves.

 

Well, in for a penny, she thought. With all her might, she threw her leg up into one of the orderly’s jewels, and got a satisfying yowl of pain as the main collapsed. What came after was less satisfying. A sharp whistle came from across the courtyard, and a veritable army of orderlies came and began wrestling the teens off the ground, Mia included. She tried to struggle, but she found that nothing she could do would stop them.

 

As she was pulled away, she noticed a despondent look on Dr. Harlan’s face. That did not bode well. They were dragged inside, into a sterile white environment. Mia tried to look around, but her neck was held firm by one of the orderlies. What was concerning was the fact that they seemed to be a more… surgical zone than Mia had thought normal for a mental hospital. Then she saw the blood, and began to hear the screaming.

 

What was going on?

 

The lights seemed to grow dimmer and more sinister as they were dragged further in. Finally, the orderlies stopped at a room with a signplate next to it that read “Electroshock.” Mia tried to scream, but her mouth refused to cooperate. Suddenly, her whole body seemed to refused to move. She was laid into a chair sat in a circle, and watched her friends be similarly seated. Then, she was strapped down by the arms and legs, and her friends were too.

 

A familiar face walked in. The Joisey Witch, now dressed in a nurse’s uniform, sauntered in, and smiled at each teen in turn.

 

“My, my, my, my, my,” the nurse tutted. “I have been with the Black House for quite a long time and I never met such a nasty little group like yours. You ruined the whole narrative! Oh my, oh my. Well, it seems we will have to make some adjustments to both you and the rooms. That doesn’t happen often.”

 

Mia wanted to struggle as diodes were set on her temples, but still her body refused to cooperate. She could feel a tear beginning to run down her cheek.

 

“Mm,” the nurse said. “Yes, I think you all need to learn some things your parents clearly failed to teach you the first time. Well, I suppose I will see all of you later. Try not to have too much fun! Orderlies, can you pull the lever?”

 

Mia watched as a meaty hand pulled down on the electroshock machine. She tried to brace herself as her eyes searched for some sort of solidarity in those of her companions. She heard the hum of electricity… But felt nothing. Everything went black, and suddenly, she felt like she was falling again.

 

 

“Alright, everyone!” Mia heard in a woman’s voice. It was still dark, at least until she opened her eyes. The area smelled like rubber and… crayons. “Time to get up from your nap!”

 

Looking around, Mia was confused. She seemed to be in what looked like a preschool or kindergarten room. Then, unable to help herself, she sat up and looked down at herself. Her hands were so… tiny. And she seemed to wearing… a dinosaur costume?

 

“What?” she said in a tiny voice. Then, a terrible realization hit her. “Oh noooo.”

 

She realized she was on a sleeping mat. Looking around at the mats around her, she saw chubby, youthful faces, but all of them were familiar. Two red-headed little girls. A tiny dragon. A curly, blonde-haired boy and a chubby faced, dark-skinned boy who, while definitely missing his scars, was unmistakably familiar. Then, she saw Danica in the corner, now massive compared to her, wearing an assistant’s uniform. But also green again.

 

“Oh, come on!” Mia cried. “I didn’t even go to Nicholson.”

 

What the other students saw was a freckly little girl in a t-rex costume, with messy black hair done up in pigtails. Small and chubby in the way all very young children were, she couldn’t have been older than 3 or 4. And it seemed all of them, save Danica, were the same way.

Edited October 21, 2019 by Shofet

[Cubismo]

Everything had happened seemed have happened in a flash. First she's trying to fend off two orderlies with the others coming to her rescue and then suddenly Astrid felt yourself being slammed to the ground and dragged off to some creepy hospital room and bound to an electric chair of all things. Astrid may have been able to appreciate the irony of that if not for the fact she was far to busy screaming various threats to the front desk receptionist who had apparently swapped her witch costume for a nurse's uniform. 

 

As the lever to the electroshock went down, Astrid wondered whether her father, as much of an ass as he was, would be proud that she went down screaming oaths of vengeance to her tormentor or disappointed that she allowed electricity to be the thing that finally did her in. In the end, it didn't matter, because just as Astrid thought that the Orange Squad's number had been punched, she awoke to a woman's voice.

 

Astrid looked around the room they were suddenly in and seriously started to ponder whether she really did resist the orderlies sedative because what she was seeing was batty.

 

"Hva i helvete?" Astrid says in disbelieve, more to yourself than anyone in particular. The vulgar words added to the surrealism of the scene by the fact that for all incidents and purposes a three year-old had said them. 

Edited October 22, 2019 by Cubismo

[Ari]

Little Leroy sat up slowly, his huge eyes roving to take in his new surroundings. He was back in a smaller, kid-sized version of the costume he'd come in with, and the boxy hair surrounding his head was even more adorable than before.His lower lip began to tremble. Standing up by degrees, he took in a long, deep breath.

 

"WAAAAAAAAAAH!"

 

Red-faced and shrieking, he ran straight into Danica's leg, put his arms tightly around it and held on as hard as he could. Still screaming, he tugged furiously back and forth like he was trying to rock her clean off her feet with all his tiny strength!

 

"Mrawr. K-kwit itt, Leree!" A puppy-sized ball of claws, wings and snout bowled into Leroy, the pair going down in a rolling, squalling pile of the human child grabbing hold of Dio and refusing to let go, while the dragon fought furiously to escape the iron grasp of a very angry toddler.

Edited October 23, 2019 by Ari

[Heritage]

Lulu had gone into full on freak out mode as Orange Squad was taken to the electroshock room; it took two strong men to haul the biting, kicking and cursing redhead and force her into the chair. She'd never felt more powerless or terrified in her life, and as the switch was pulled, Adam's name was on her lips.

 

- - - - - -

 

And then she woke up in a pair of blue denim overalls and pink baby Nikes, with her red hair pulled up into a simply adorable topknot on top of her head. Baby Lu Lu wobbled to her feet and looked around, her eyes full of wonder. "Whoa! Wha' happen?" Desiring to get a better lay of the land, she began to awkwardly levitate into the air, on her way to the highest shelf she could see. "Hey, this is fun! Wheee!" 

Edited October 24, 2019 by Heritage

[Shofet]

Soliton

 

Mia watched with horror as Leroy began bawling like… a little kid. Her eyes widened. They got even wider when Lulu began floating up and acting similarly strange. Oh no, she thought to herself. They’ve turned their brains into pudding. But then, a golden light. Astrid, cursing up a storm in Swedish or Danish or whatever. She wasted no time in scrambling over to her team-mate’s sleeping mat.

 

“Astrid!” she cried. “Oh thank God, you’re still you.”

 

She threw her arms around the girl. “I think the electroshock made the others stupid or something. Based on your swearing, I’m guessing you’re more like me.” She paused. “Man. Talking like this really does not match with this squeaky voice. In two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona where we set our scene… Yeah, definitely really weird.”

 

She pulled back and looked at Astrid. “You okay?”

[Dr Archeville]

Lulu's kiss did have the desired effect, snapping Davyd out of his existential funk!  But mere moments after he'd regained his senses -- before he could even say anything -- the House's orderlies had carted him off, strapped him down, and plunged him into numb darkness.

 

What... what's happening?  Where are...

 

Lil' Davyd opened his eyes.  He was in a onesie modeled after a bulldog construction worker from a popular kid's cartoon that featured dogs in various search & rescue professions.  He rubbed his eyes, stretched, then slowly made his way over to one of the play areas.  He pulled out the plastic tub of construction blocks and dumped about half of them out on the floor, then began assembling... something.  As he worked, a second and then third set of arms sprouted from him, reaching out to bring more pieces to his primary arms.

[Electra]

Being carried into the electroshock room was quite upsetting, partly because it was scary and partly because it was so surprising that it actually hurt when the orderlies grabbed her arms! For Danica, physical pain was mainly an observed phenomenon, and for something as mundane as a pair of human hands to bruise her... it didn't make sense! It was definitely the unpleasant counterpoint to being able to run. And the electroshock, of course. But that didn't hurt. 

 

When she opened her eyes, it took a minute to get her bearings. The room was familiar, it was obviously the Pre-k classroom at Nicholson, and the kids were having a field day! The teacher was trying to get the kids to move from naptime to circle time in an orderly fashion, but she was no Mrs. Watson, who'd run the pre-k with a velvet-gloved iron fist. Danica actually didn't know who the teacher was, which was weird because she tried to keep up... 

 

Her train of thought was derailed when a little boy slammed into her leg, rocking her back painlessly onto her heels. "Leroy?" she asked in disbelief as the tiny (and adorable!) dragon puppy jumped on the child. "Is that you? How are you so little?" Another look around let her pick out other familiar-unfamiliar faces. "What's going on now?" Looking down at herself, Danica noticed the badge on a lanyard around her neck. She picked it up and looked at the photo. It was her mom... no, it was _her_, but her as a grownup, with weird hair and tired eyes and little wrinklies at the edges of her lips and nose. It also gave her name and listed her as "Paraeducator, Pre-K." 

 

"Freaky," she said, then darted over to try and keep Lulu from bringing the bookshelf down on herself. 

[Shofet]

GM

 

"Come on everyone, it's circle time," cooed a blonde woman standing at the front of the class. She had cornsilk blonde hair done up in a bun, and was pretty in a tired sort of way, with warm green eyes resting behind a pair of glasses that had been taped at the bridge. Her clothing was colourful, but slightly faded, as if it had gone through many washes, and was clearly made of a tough material. Around her neck, hanging over her jumper was a badge declaring her to be "Ava Johansen, Pre-K". 

 

She looked over at the situation with Danica, and moved over to Leroy and Dio. She clearly understood why Danica was rushing over, given the small wince and extended hand she gave, before turning her attention to the distraught child and Dio as she pulled them apart gently. "Hey, hey, hey, we use our words, not our hands," she chided softly. 

 

She looked up at Danica. "Dani, if you can get them in the circle while I deal with some tears over here, I'd really appreciate it," she said. Then, getting down on one knee, she looked between the duo. "So, do you two want to tell me what is going on? I saw you bolt over here, Leroy. Did you have a bad dream? It's okay if you did. We all have bad dreams," she said to Leroy. "And Dio, why did you tackle Leroy?"

[Cubismo]

Astrid tried her best not to answer Mia's question with sarcasm. She had been turned into a toddler. How the heck was supposed to be okay in a situation like that?! She didn't say any of that, though. Not when one of her teammates was low-key freaking out as well. Astrid took in a steady breath and tried to form something that could pass as a reassuring expression on her toddler face. 

 

"Yeah, I'm good. Mentally anyways," she says before almost immediately amending her answer. "Kind of. It's hard to focus. Everything is so freaking big and colorful. It's..." Astrid tried to find the right word but she was finding it hard to focus. Her eyes began to wander around the room. Scanning the various toys, which were increasingly becoming tempting sirens to her toddler brain. Astrid just barely managed to shake the temptation off and focus her eyes back on Mia.

 

"I don't know what's going on with the others but it looks like Danica is still normal. Maybe we can-" Astrid was abruptly cut off mid-sentence by someone calling them all over. It was circle time apparently. Not that Astrid cared. Astrid looked closely at the blond women in question and squashed up her face in distrust. "She's the witch lady," she declared to Mia, way more confident that she actually felt. "Has to be. She went from witch to nurse and now she's pretending to be a kindergarten teacher." 

 

The fact that the blond women was creeping towards Dio and Leroy only confirmed Astrid's paranoia. "Stay away from them!" she screamed, trying to sound threatening but only reaching petulant. 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 25, 2019 by Cubismo

[Heritage]

But Danica was too late, and Lulu was soon running around upside down on the ceiling, her little topknot bobbing around like a colorful bird. "Wow, ah can see everythin' up here!" Noticing her erstwhile classmate trying to reach her, the psychic imp merely giggled."You can't catch me, Miss Danica! Hee-hee!"

 

Thump thump thump

 

[Shofet]

Soliton

 

Mia watched as Astrid began to bark at the teacher, and knew she had to act immediately. She caught her friend by the arm. "Astrid! They don't start hurting us until we stop playing along," she said. She didn't really know that for sure, but based on last time, it seemed like they were content to play friendly until everyone got aggressive. "I know you're mad, but I really don't wanna get electroshocked again. So please, just calm down, okay?" Her tone was soft and understanding. She didn't like this any more than Astrid did, but by the same token, she didn't think they were going to be able to fight their way out. 

 

Then, her focus shifted to that of Lulu. Running up and down the ceiling, out of Danica's reach. Mia thought about this. She needed to rally troops. Maybe Lulu was still in there, somewhere. She had to hope, otherwise she was going to be at the mercy of whatever this room had in store for them with only partial strength.

 

With a mighty crack, Mia disappeared, and reappeared, wrapping her arms around Lulu, before another crack brought them back down to the floor. "Lulu!" Mia said as she clung desperately onto her. "You're not some little kid! You're a teenager. You have a boyfriend! Adam! Remember Adam! I need you to be here with me. Please." The desperation was clear in her voice.

 

She didn't know what she was going to do if this didn't work. Partially, she braced herself for being hit. Little kids really didn't like it when you interrupted their playtime. But she hoped beyond all hope that her friend was in there somewhere.

[Ari]

Dio looked up at the teacher, his stubby tail lashing back and forth, his pearly-white bone plates quickly sheathing behind thin reptilian lips. Suddenly turning back to Leroy he shouted "BORK!" 

 

At the word of power, earth and stone burst from the floor and rose up around the squalling boy, sealing him in a cocoon that left his head exposed.

 

The effect was instantaneous, Leroy abruptly quieting and snuggling deeper into his cradle of stone, gurgling happily to himself. <"We were just playing, instructor,"> he said in crystal-clear Atlantean, golden eyes shining guilelessly, <"is Mother on her way? She promised to skip the executions this time, and take me to see Cousin Adrian!">

 

Dio managed to make even his monitor-like face look contrite and soulful as he gazed up, adding in his own, oddly-still way of speaking "Jah, m'soree. Kan I szit with Lulururu, Ava?"