ic Golden Student [OPEN]

[Thevshi]

Claremont Academy, Jasmin Summers Administrative Building

Freedom City, New Jersey

October 2023, 9:20 AM

 

Bernadette O'Connell made her way along a path toward the administrative building of Claremont Academy. The attractive redhead had been asked by the school's headmistress to provide a tour to a newly enrolled student of the school. The Irish teen had to admit she was likely a good option for this task during a school day, seeing as she could be in multiple places at a time (one of her duplicates was sitting in a math class at that moment).

 

The tall girl was dressed in a pair of jeans and a light grey lacrosse hoodie. Checking her phone, she quickened her pace as she realized she was a bit behind schedule. Thankfully she was quick enough that she arrived at the main entrance of the admin building just as a tall boy built like an American football player exited the main office.

 

"Hello, Michael?" Bernadette asked with a warm smile as she walked up to the teen, her Irish accent evident. "I'm Bernadette, Headmistress Summer asked me ta give ye a tour o' campus."

[Poncho]

The new student had been looking at an old, tarnished gold watch, but at his name being called he snaps up to attention, brown eyes under brown hair. 

 

He's made the effort to have a good first impression, with a navy blue suit and grey tie. He puts the watch away and smiles, a genuine smile as he extends his hand. 

 

"That's me, Michael Adon. A pleasure to meet you Bernadette. Thanks for making time for me." In his outstretched hand is a small paper card already. "Here, to mark our first meeting, I've got a coupon for a sampler at Sampson's Sodas." he has the clipped pronunciation of someone whose given a lot of speeches and has practiced to make himself broadly understood. 

[Thevshi]

Multi-Girl

 

Bernadette took the offered card and glanced at it a moment before focusing back on Michael. "Thanks." She replied before tucking the card into a pocket and turning to consider their location.

"Ah guess ta get started, this is obviously ta admin buildin'. Often not a lot o' reason ta be here, an' if ye are, that can be either a good thing or bad, dependin'." The redhead said with a small grin before leading Michael out of the building and onto the grounds of the school.

 

"So, where ye comin' from? Local? Or from somewhere else originally? Claremont seems ta get a fair mix o' both. Me parents live up in Boston, though I am sure ye can gather we are originally from Ireland. But there do seem ta be a fair number of students that grew up in Freedom City."

[Poncho]

"I'll keep that in mind. I'm not much of a troublemaker though, so I'll keep it focused on good reasons." He says as he follows her.

 

"I'm a Freedom City boy, born and raised. Came out of Lantern Hill. I've been watching Lantern Jack since I was a kid." he says with a clear sense of civic pride. "How long has your family been in Freedom?" he pauses momentarily in their walking as he realizes he's floating off the ground and sets himself back down with intent.

[Thevshi]

Multi-Girl

 

If Bernadette was surprised by Michael's floating off the ground slightly as they went, the redhead did not show it. Instead, the teen just continued talking as the two made their way along a path that led toward the center of campus. "Oh, me family hasn' moved ta Freedom, they are still up in Boston. I began here two years ago when I was sophomore, after me powers developed over the summer. Ah, really didn' have good control over them at the time, so was sure ta have caused a problem had I stayed in Boston."

 

Claremont's grounds where pretty much what one might expect of an East Coast boarding school or an Ivy League college, spacious green spaces and large, Victorian style brick and stone buildings. Bernadette pointed to one such building which was north of the path they two were walking on, across a large open space and partially behind the administrative building. "So, that's the residential building fer staff that live on campus." She began, before pointing over to the northest where there were two similar buildings next to each other. "Those are the student dorms, which is where we will end up."

 

"The north end o' campus," she pointed to a space between the staff residential building and one of the student dorms, through which Michael could see large green space that continued much further north., "has the athletic field an' pool, we can head up there if ye want after hitting the main quad and surrounding buildings."

[Poncho]

Golden Star

 

He was honestly happy it wasn't commented on; he felt frustrated enough it happened without him being aware of it. So he focused his attention on listening and made sure his feet were firmly on the ground and he was putting one foot in front of the other and that it was landing on the ground.

 

"Oh. Well. That's a few hours drive, huh? Do you just go back over the summer?" he asked. "And...yeah...I get what you mean about not having good control causing problems." his agreement was very firm, for what were obvious reasons at this point. He eyed the buildings carefully but took an equal, if not greater, interest in the sprawling greens.

 

"Victorian Architecture is pretty nice...I generally like Art Deco a bit more, but it's not bad either way. What are the faculty like? I've not really gotten the chance to meet too many of them, any that I should look out for, positively or negatively?"  He switched focus as soon as he asked his questions; he could politely wait for an answer for any question, but he was also, right now, clearly an endless well of questions, admittedly they were all quite mundane; he was taking as much of an interest in the way Bernadette answered as the answers to the questions themselves- the sort of scrutiny that came from being a dedicated people-pleaser-. The discussion of the greens pushed him to ask more questions as he shaded his eyes with one hand and leaned forward a bit, peering across the greens with interest to try and see the other side. "That's a lot of space. And the field and pool are on the other side? Does this place do sports of any kind, like through the NJSIAA or something smaller? I mean it's pretty small compared to most high schools right, among...other things. So I could imagine there's a bit of difficulty in getting official contests between other schools like set up. And do you do any sports or anything yourself? And sure, I'd be happy to see them after we finish."   Then he pauses and takes a breath.

[Thevshi]

Multi-Girl

 

Bernadette gave a small smirk as Michael launched into a barrage of questions, but that quickly shifted back to a small smile as the redhead continued leading the new student down the path towards the main quad. "I have gone home over the summers an' longer breaks." She began. "As fer the faculty, its rather small, an' I imagine the opinion o' each will depend largely on who ye ask. They are all well versed in their subjects, which includes some ye won' find at even other private schools, though, not too suprisin,' given the students here."

 

As she turned to the questions on sports, the Irish teen's expression became slightly downcast. "Well…we do have some intermural teams, but don' compete in any leagues with other schools or such. I mean, it wouldn' really be fair, seein' there are many here that are physically far above any normal teens. I fer one am stronger an' faster than any normal teen boy our age." Bernadette responded with a small shrug.

 

"Besides bein' so far from home, the lack of true competitive sports was probably one o' the hardest adjustments fer me when I started here." The redhead continued. "I played lacrosse," she pointed at her hoodie, "an' I still keep at it, sometimes with others, but often on me own."

 

With that, Bernadette gave a grin and suddenly an exact duplicate of the Irish teen appeared beside her. "In a manner o' speakin'." The duplicate replied with a grin of her own.

 

"I can create duplicates o' meself," the original Bernadette continued, "an' lacrosse an' other team sports is a good way ta practice coordinatin' with them."

 

The two Bernadettes led Michael through a gate in the low wall that had run south of the path and into an semi enclosed section of the school grounds, off to their left were two somewhat smaller buildings, side by side, and next to a much larger building that was directly ahead along the path. Off to the right side was an area of well manicured bushes, flowers and other plants.

 

"So, these are the gardens." One of the Bernadettes stated, indicating the area off to the right. "There is a Japanese style zen garden in there as well. Some students like ta go there ta meditate, not somethin' I quite have the patience fer."

 

"An' over there is the combination o' the auditorium an’ gymnasium." The other redhead stated, indicated the larger of the two smaller buildings. "An' the St. Thomas Chapel." She added, indicating the smaller building between the auditorium and the larger building ahead.

[Poncho]

"Hrmm, I'll have to keep that in mind. Open minds are good for introductions anyway." he mumbled, but his own expression became pretty downcast at the sports references.

 

"Yeah...I was kind of figuring that was the case. I wouldn't want to hurt someone and I can lift a car, so a normal person...well that would be trouble wouldn't it." he agreed, his own tinge of sadness and frustration made him pause and sigh. "I didn't ever play Lacrosse but I'd be willing to learn if you ever need more players." But seeing her summon another duplicate brought back a big smile.

 

"That's an incredible power! Not just being your own lacrosse team, you could be taking classes or working a job while doing this, huh...and using sports to coordinate with your own clones, that's a really neat idea. How about after this we go play some sports?"  he spoke appreciatively and with a little excitement; he had someone who had already dealt with some of his problems and had a cool power, so he had a pretty positive impression of Bernadette already. As they walked towards the buildings he took in the garden and the surrounding area before focusing on the building.

 

Meditation huh. Interesting. And I guess the Gym is designed for people like us, so that's helpful. The Chapel is very quaint too, I imagine it's got it's own level of peace and quiet. This entire campus is really beautiful. What's the biggest building there?"

[Avenger Assembled]

From around the corner came padding another student, her voice audible before her face. "Thanks to all my fans and everyone in chat!" she said brightly, speaking into what looked like a mechanical insect hovering just in front of her face. "Please remember to like, subscribe, and leave a five-star review for Catgirl Reacts! Super kawaii!" She flashed a double-V victory sign for the camera as it blinked out, reached out and snatched the bug out of the air,  then seemed to catch sight of the  other two. "Oh hi Bernadette," she said brightly as she tucked the bug into her purse. "This must be your new student." She was a petite young Japanese woman with a distinct accent to her speech, her hair hanging loose on either side of her head and down her back. "Hello!" she said brightly, her eyes tightening into slits as she smiled at Golden Star. "I am Neko Musume. Welcome to Claremont."

 

This was, on instant's inspection, no ordinary girl. Her eyes were huge, almost bigger than a person's should be, and yellow with huge vertical pupils. Her whiteish hair was spotted with brown and visibly shaded from fur to hair as the eye moved down from her head to the rest of her body. Behind her twitched a tail about as long as her legs, white and brown furred, poking out above her brightly colored slacks. Atop her head were set two big triangular ears, which swiveled and twitched as she looked at Golden Star. 

[Thevshi]

Multi-Girl

 

"Yeah, the chapel is rather quiet. I often go there fer some quiet, that an mass." One of the Bernadette's responded, pulling a small cross chain out from under her hoodie a moment before letting it hand free once more.

 

As Michael mentioned various ways her power could be useful, the two Bernadettes gave each other a knowing look before the original looked back at Michael again with a sly smile. "Yeah…one o' me duplicates is just finishin" up math class right now."

 

When he mentioned being willing to try out lacrosse, the redhead brightened up. "Oh, I'd be happy ta show ye 'ow ta play lacrosse. Catchin' an' passin' with the sick is probably the biggest learnin' curve, but I sure ye could pick it up."

 

The Irish teen was just turning back to focus on the tour and the large building ahead of them when she heard the familiar voice of her roommate emerging from the gardens, which caused her to stop a moment to greet the other girl.

 

"Hi Neko." Bernadette said with a warm smile. "Yeah, this is Michael Adon, just givin' him the tour."

[Poncho]

"My mom goes to church every Sunday. I'm not as faithful but I know there's more than what we can see." He said as he tilted his head to indicate the chain. Once they went onto other subjects his serious face turned to a grin again and he chuckled at both the clone explanation and the excitement.

 

"That makes a lot of sense. I'm kinda jealous, imagine being able to study three or four subjects at once without concern." but at the mention of lacrosse he nodded intently. "Sure. I...hrmm. I guess I used to play Hockey, instead of 'I play hockey', so maybe I can rely on that a little. Just don't get too mad if I'm not quite good!" Then someone he actually knew emerged from the garden. Not personally, obviously, but someone he'd definitely seen before.

 

"Oh! I do know you. Neko Musume...you're Catgirl Reacts on the Internet and all the socials. My little brother Kenny is a huge fan of yours." he offered a smile to her and extended his hand, once more holding one of those discount cards. "Like Bernadette said; I'm Michael Adon, just coming in today. I didn't pay as much attention as my brother does but I'm aware of you. " he explained as he looked her up and down, getting a read on her before he spoke further.

 

"I like your eyes." he said, staring at them with interest. If he was bothered by them, it seemed to be combined with a genuine interest. "You must really be able to see pretty deep into a person with those, and probably never bash your knee into the table when you're stumbling around at night, which I find a consistent problem for me." He offered as a joke at his own expense. "Here, I keep these discount cards for whenever I meet someone. I work at Sampson's Sodas, this is good for 50% off a sampler set. Maybe we could set up some kind of meeting with my boss for an endorsement or a sponsored event there? If you're interested."

[Avenger Assembled]

Neko pocketed the card and thanked him politely, her tail lashing behind her. She looked at him with those huge yellow eyes and smiled, showing off her pointed front teeth. "Oh, the show is just a little thing," she said bashfully, looking away as her cheeks seemed to blush a little. "But people do like it," she added smoothly. "How old is your brother? If he is over sixteen, he can come to one of the live shows next year on his own - or your parents can bring him," she added warmly. This routine was the sort of thing Bernadette had seen her try with boys before - and between her pretty face and practiced manner, it usually worked. "Do you play sports?" she asked. "I never watched any till I came here." 

[Poncho]

"He's turning 8 in January. So my parents'll have to take him. Or me I guess. Sometimes I take care of him if my parents are busy. So even if it's just a little thing for you, thanks for keeping him entertained. Sometimes we need the help to keep up with him, to tell you the truth." he said easily, watching her with that same politician's smile that seemed to be his resting face.

 

"As for sports, I play Hockey, but I actually helped win the State Championship with Franklin D. Roosevelt High last year in Football." There was a twinge of pride in that. "I don't blame you for not watching them though, they're not for everyone. Do you have any you watch now? Or participate in, even if it's just for fun? I only know a little bit from catching some of your streams and videos, when exactly did you come over?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"When I was a sophomore," said Neko easily. "I was very young then." She smiled at Michael. "Oh, hockey, that is the game with sticks on ice, no? The Freedom City - Blades!" She smiled and said "Maybe when it is colder, you can show me your moves." Moving on, she added, "As for your brother, here is my card," she said, showing off a card with a QR code surrounded by images like a white cat wearing a Santa hat. "If you scan that with your phone, it will show you all the items from my partner stores." Many people had been more than happy to sponsor her show, once they saw just how profitable a real catgirl could be. 

[Poncho]

"Young as a Sophomore? You're still a student, right? Or do you just look young? Sorry, I'm not fully up to date on you." he sounded genuinely apologetic about this; he liked to always know something about everyone but here he's finding himself to not have near as much information as he usually does and attempting to keep up. "I'll pay more attention from now on when my brother is watching your show to try and keep up with that sort of stuff. And sure, I guess I can show you some hockey stuff. It was sort of my second sport but I'm not against it. And yes, the Blades are the local team. I've been to a couple of their games, it was fun to be there, people getting excited and cheering, very engaging atmosphere if you're loud and social." he laughs.

 

He pulled out his phone afterward and held it up to the code, then flicked his fingers around a bit and typed on his phone.

 

"...There. I bought him a lunchbox. That should make him happy for Christmas. Can I get you to sign it? He'd be the coolest kid in his class with a signed Catgirl Reacts lunchbox." he slipped his phone back in his pocket as soon as he finished, he didn't want to seem like he wasn't giving this conversation his all. "You're quite good at marketing yourself and keeping a social media presence. I was kind of thinking of trying to be more active on social media myself. As Michael, I mean. Not to like cut in on your business and run a show or anything, but just so locals might be more aware of food drives and stuff that I'm helping. Do you have any tips?"

[Thevshi]

Multi-Girl

 

Bernadette watched Neko's practiced ploy to get new followers and/or purchases from her sponsored business with a slight hint of amusement. As Michael observed, the catgirl was very good at marketing her channel and brand. The redhead herself was interested in trying to learn some of Neko’s tactics, given her aspirations of being a singer, but right now she had another task on hand.

 

"Alright, alright, enough marketin' fer now." The Irish teen stated with a small grin to Neko. "I still need ta finish Michael's tour, or the 'eadmistress will have me an' me duplicates clean the entire school with toothbushes. Yer welcome ta come along if ye wish." She stated looked over at Michael and gestured along the path in the direction they had been heading.

"Ta answer yer question from earlier, the buildin' ahead o' us is the main quad, an’ is really several different buildin's connected together. Most classes are held in those buildin's, an' there is the cafeteria an' library as well."

[Poncho]

"My apologies Bernadette." He offered a charming smile at her with his sincere apology. "I didn't mean to cause you any trouble, please tell the Headmistress that any tardiness is entirely my fault." he turned his attention back to the path as they moved on, clasping his hands behind his back. He paused momentarily to see if Neko was following them, not having too much issue splitting his attention between the two different conversations as they moved.

 

"The Cafeteria huh...is there a Stan's there? I love their Velocity Victory sub, it's one of my favorites. And I have to imagine the library is chock full of all sorts of useful texts too." So what about after-school clubs and the like? Student Council, Book Clubs, Debate teams? Maybe Tabletop games or something? I'm not particularly good at that last one but I'm excellent at scheduling and planning events and I'm interested in getting my roots down into some new places. Especially with the holidays coming up, I know canned food drives get popular this time of year. I wouldn't mind participating in stuff like that." 

[Huckleberry]

Rot

 

There’s a loud clatter, and then a shady-looking character backs out the door from the cafeteria, bum first. She has enormous green dreadlocks, is dressed in dark, raggedy clothing, and is carrying a large trash bag in one hand, and a trash-picker in the other. She makes a shifty look around and then dumps the contents of the trash bag on the ground. She makes an angry face and waves her hands around a bit, and the trash disappears in a wash of black distortion. With another look over her shoulder, she flies up to the top of a tall hedge row and deposits the bag and trash-picker in the crown of the bush. From that position, she sees your group.

 

She waves, flies about half-way over and then yells. “Hey, Bernie, Neko, what’s up? Who’s the guy?” She asks with a conspiratorial tone. “Can you believe they’ve got me on litter pickup again? This time for ‘Disrespectful Attitude’ in Mrs. Little’s Pre-Algebra class. But, like, I barely said anything!”

[Avenger Assembled]

Her tail thrashing and visibly puffed, Neko frowned as Rot approached them. "Helloooo there! Don't forget that cup!" she said cheerfully, pointing to a discarded piece of styrofoam that was probably out of Rot's line of sight. "You don't want to get into more trouble!" she added, folding her hands together demurely. Turning back to the conversation with the new boy, she added, "There are clubs. I am president of the anime club and the Future Farmers chapter." She smiled at that, showing pointed teeth. "There are no franchises here," she added, "it is an old-fashioned experience." She made air quotes over the second-to-last word, seeming to find the very idea amusing. 

[Poncho]

He frowned at the new person. Something about her felt...off. Like the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up in anger. This person was...evil? Bad? he ground his teeth under his clenched lips, his fingers flexed behind his back.

 

He took a step forward, but his mind started racing; what was he doing? Why was he feeling like this. Parse his thoughts, even them out. Why is he reacting this way? His right hand went into his pocket. He felt the familiar watch. He clicked it, hearing the familiar sound of gears clicking, of the hands of the watch ticking across the face of it. This person was not bad. Not overtly bad. A troublemaker, maybe? No one to be hostile to. Be calm. Count the ticks. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. He slowed his breathing, slowed his thinking. Suppress the anger and be better. It was hard. He fought it down only at the barest chance, but he managed to swallow it

 

To the outside, Michael had taken several purposeful steps forward, and his hair had start to shimmer. What had been brown hair was changed to a crimson gold, a color that had also taken over his formerly brown eyes. The sound of the watch ticking was audible in his pocket. But as he neared her, he turned his attention to the cup, lifted it up, and offered it to her. A vein was still pulsing in his neck, his hair was still miscolored, but he was under control.

When he got to the girl, he bent down, picked up the cup, and offered it to her.

 

"My name is Michael. Michael Adon. It is a pleasure to meet you. I work at Sampson's Soda, and here's a discount card." His voice was almost robotic; fighting against an instinct he didn't understand, but he held the card out with the cup. He continued forcing his breathing under control, and his hair and eyes reverted to normal, leaving him looking a little worse for wear. "I'm sorry...I don't know what came over me." But he still took a step back afterwards, trying to keep his mind clear.

 

"An anime club? And Future Farmers? I'd love to attend both." He said to Neko, but he paused again, shaking his head roughly, trying to get the remaining feelings of anger out of it. He wondered if she had some sort of psychic power. He pulled his watch out of his pocket and clicked it, letting it continue to run, soothing him with the clicking sounds and his memories of his Grandfather's voice.

 

"I'm sorry...I'm...a little lightheaded suddenly."

 

Rot Distaste: 1d20+9 26

Edited November 29, 2023 by Poncho

[Thevshi]

Multi-Girl

 

Bernadette had been about the respond to Michael’s question about clubs at the school when Rot emerged from the building ahead of them, causing the redhead to come to a halt suddenly. She tensed slightly as she saw Neko’s tail puff, but relaxed after a moment. Well, that went better than ta first time. The teen thought, subconsciously fiddling with the black friendship bracelet around her wrist.

 

But then she saw Michael tense up and seemingly start to change in front of her. But the moment passed and he seemed like his normal cheerful self, well mostly.

 

"Umm….hey Suelo." She finally said with a weak smile as she looked over towards Consuelo. "Michael is a new student an' I was just givin' him a tour o' the grounds an' answerin' questions."

 

She focused back on Michael, letting her smile widen. "Yeah, there are a number o' clubs here, an’ students are encouraged ta start new ones if there is somethin' missin' an' they get enough other students together."

[Huckleberry]

Rot

 

You could tell a lot about a person by how they reacted to Consuelo. Some lashed out verbally. Some retreated. A very few did what this transfer student just did.

 

“Uh, thanks?” Consuelo accepted the offered cup, the air around it became dark and distorted, and it quickly crumbled, atom-by-atom, into absolutely nothing. “You’re a fighter, Michael. . . . I like fighters.” And she raised one eyebrow.

 

At that very moment, an overly enthusiastic voice could be heard on the other side of the tall hedge. “Oh crap! The vice principal! Uh, where’s my trash bag?” Consuelo looked quickly left and right, then remembered. “Oh, yeah.”

 

She flew up to the top of the hedge, retrieved her bag and trash picker, and went back to walking the quad picking up trash . . . . or at least looking like she was.

[Poncho]

"T...thanks?" He said, very clearly confused at everything that had just happened in such a short period. He didn't feel like he should he being complimented for the fact he almost attacked a random person. Especially not by the person he just almost attacked. He rubbed the back of his watch again. It took a moment after to process what happened to the card he handed her.

 

"Don't worry, Uh...just. Just tell them I sent you if you make your way there some time. They know I give those things out like candy, I'm sure they'll believe you if you tell them I gave it to you and you lost it." Or would they? Would they just suddenly get mad like him, for what felt like no reason? That troubled him a little, but he felt pretty embarrassed now, feeling like he'd made a bad impression to these three students, and on his first day no less, and the back of his neck flushed momentarily before he got himself back under control.

 

"It's nice to meet you..." he looked at Bernadette for a second but went with what she had said "Suelo. Don't let me get you in any more trouble please, tell them I was bothering you if they get on your case." He offered before turning back to the other two.

 

"I will have to remember about starting clubs. I may have a few ideas of my own." He said as cheerfully as he could, like being relentlessly positive was going to chase away the image of him advancing on her. 

[Thevshi]

Mulit-Girl

 

Bernadette gave a small sigh of relief as everything seemed to more or less be back under control. She knew Consuelo could not really help it, but the girl seemed to spread a wake of chaos wherever she went. Luckily this time things seemed pretty minor.

 

"See you Suelo, stay out o' trouble!" The redhead called out as the green haired girl started back at her task and the tour moved on to the main quad ahead of them.

 

Now that they drew closer, Michael could see that the main building really was several buildings all interconnected. The entire structure was of similar architectural style as the other building on campus, three stories high. Sitting at the corner nearest them, that section of the building was slightly taller than the two wings that extended out from it (one to the east, the other to the south). It also had a small turret located at the southwestern corner that rose above its peaked roof.

 

"So, this is ta library." Bernadette stated, indicating the building with the small turret in front of them. "Pretty much what ye would expect fer a library. Lots o’ books, study rooms, other research resources."

 

"So, ta classrooms are all in ta wings that make up most o' ta quad." She continued, pointing to the wings that extended out of the library. "They go much further beyond, which you can see better when we go inta ta quad in ta middle."

[Avenger Assembled]

Despite herself, Neko had been about to intervene in the altercation between the two underclassmen before it was quickly broken up. "It is dangerous to do that here," she said cooly, tail gradually stilling behind her. "But it was not your fault. Some abilities are a curse, not a blessing." What a girl who could at best pass for a very talented cosplayer thought about that, she kept off her face as she said "The library has many books in many languages; it is very helpful if you want to learn."

 

She pointed to a tree in the middle of the quad and said seriously, "That is where they strap the students who will be flogged. It hardly ever happens now, though." She smiled wide, showing off her front teeth. "So what are your powers?" she asked curiously.