Being Yourself(IC)

[Ari]

Pavor and Broma had practically glowed with pride at the words of Victoria and Serge.

---

The two siblings looked at each other "So..foul line thing sounds good to me." Galanta shrugged "Eh, I got no problem with it, let's go. Yo!" she called over to Rodrigo, scribbling calmly away on a nearby bench "You sure you don't want in?" she asked with a kindly smile, which was met with a cool stare and a crisp Spanish <"No, I'm alright. Go ahead"> With a brief look of chagrin at her cousin, Galanta produced a basketball from the depths of a large bag she had brought along before loping over to the foul line. Tossing it into the air, she grinned at the others, jumped up, grabbed it in mid-air, and threw it with a fluid movement straight through the basket, the ball bouncing hard enough off the chain-link fence to rocket across the court and bounce back, skittering to a halt at Subito's feet. Kicking it up into his hands he looked at his sister reproachfully "C'mon, Galanta, don't go and show off like that." "Ahahahaha! Don't get so sore 'cayse you're not so limber, 'Bito!" she laughed heartily, rocking back on thick heels and looking quite pleased with herself, folding two muscular arms across her chest and smiling challengingly at the three Claremonters. With a theatrical sigh, her brother tossed it to Victoria "Here, you go next Vick."

The quick sounds of Rodrigo's pencils drifted over the darkening court, lit by harsh streetlights overhead.

[Azuth65]

Vicky dribbled the ball a few times as she moved to the foul line, taking a deep breath before sending the ball through the net herself. She had briefly considered letting it go wide, teleporting to it in mid-air and dunking it but she thought better of it. Public displays of teleportation just generally were a bad idea when she was unmasked.

She walked over, picked up the ball and passed it back to Subito. "I'm honestly surprised that actually went in," she said before moving to stand on the sideline with Galanta.

[Ari]

Whistling in admiration and clapping appreciatively at the successful throw, Subito gladly caught the ball "I'll see if I can top that!" he said with a confident grin, moving over to the foul line, eyed the net above him, tensed, crouched, and almost leaped into the air as he threw the ball in a graceful, curving parabola that sailed several inches to the right, bouncing off the backboard with a resounding *dongggg* and whistling towards his shoulder. Leaping backwards he caught the ball, letting it impact his chest with a thud. He frowned for a moment then shrugged, smiling encouragingly at Serge, tossing the scuffed basketball over to him with a cheerful "Your turn bro! Hope your aim is better'n mine!"

[Vahnyu]

Serge had taken off his shirt, leaving only his tanktop. He tested his jeans a bit, to see if he could move freely. Afterwards, he started dribling with the ball, to get a proper handle for it's size and weight, occasionally mock-shooting it in a completely upwards tranjectory. When he felt confident, he positioned himself roughly one step behind the foul line. Putting his right foot and hand in front, he lifted the ball above his head, while simultaneously taking a step forward with his right foot, bending slightly his left one. Upon completing the step, he propelled himself with a light jump in the air, while he released the ball from above his head with the right hand's wrist bending inwards. You wouldn't call that sequence graceful, but it WAS fluid, if unorthodox. The ball achieved a relatively high altitude before dropping straight downwards as it closed in on the basket, seemingly going for a swish, but Serge had miscalculated the distance and gave more power to the ball, which, instead of scoring through the net, hit the rim doing a toilet bowl, before eventually rolling outwards.

"Well, not really bro, but the motion felt good. Guess that means we're teaming up." Serge responded to Subito with a light smile.

[Ari]

Thumping Victoria on the back, Galanta stepped over to the other side of the court, catching the basketball as it bounced past her and tossing it into the air, bouncing it off her head as she directed the others. "Okay, Victoria, you take the front court. I'm a bit taller so I'll do better on defense. 'Bito, you and Serge start..."

Twenty minutes later:

"Great job guys!" she sang out enthusiastically and clapping the Claremonters not related to her on the back "You've got good moves Surge! I don't think Vick would have gotten that last shot in if she hadn't done that twist-thingy move at the end." she turned her beaming and sweaty face to the red-eyed girl "Good work on offense, by the way! Never would have thought of having both people work in tandem like that." she glanced at Subito, raising an eyebrow and the heavily-panting boy "You...feeling alright 'Bito? Didn't seem like you were giving it your all, you know?" her brother looked briefly chagrined and then laughed it off with a dismissive wave, gasping out "Nah! I'm just-just out of practice, I guess..I'm gonna go sit down, just a second." he said with a reassuring smile, walking over to the bench next to Rodrigo, who was busily sketching away at his notebook. Glancing with interest over his shoulder Subito gave a low whistle, provoking a sharp look from his cousin, oblivious to that he observed brightly "That's great work Rodrigo! Really good detail, 'specially on the upper legs and shoulders of Vick and Surge" he said admiringly, pointing at the well-drawn areas of interest, the withdrawn boy next to him responding with a quiet "Yes, it is. Got good photos to work from. Copying wasn't too hard." Shrugging away the praise he went back to his drawing, long hair drooping over the sketchbook. The bulkier put his hand on Rodrigo's shoulder, saying lightly "Hey man, don't-" only for his hand to roughly seized by Rodrigo's own, which very suddenly began to glow blue as armor slid over it. Glaring daggers at his cousin the lean and ungainly Puerto Rican said on a low, dangerous voice, the armor slowly covering him from head to foot "You do not know art. You do not know talent. You would not know a good line from a bad one, you are ignorant! I will not accept praise from you, who knows and understands and is nothing!" he thundered, his body clad entirely in a hulking suit of gothic plate armor, with two fins running down the beak-like helmet.

Raising Subito into the air he thundered "I've put up with your taunts, snide remarks and plain damn idiocy for TOO LONG!" and then threw him clean across the court to crash into the net!

[Azuth65]

Victoria watched her friend and his cousin, staying out of their business as much as possible until the latter's voice began to rise. When the blue armor slid up his arm to cover Rodrigo's body she gasped, then did a double take as Subito was thrown clear across the court, slamming into Serge and knocking the boy into a post in the chainlink. The smaller boy slumped unconscious without a word.

Acting on pure instinct, the teleporter gathered some of her own blue power into her right hand. "Now that wasn't very nice!" she yelled, throwing it at his face while jumping between Subito and his attacker.

[Ari]

GM

The blue blast scarred and dented the plates of the helmet, warping it as if it had been struck by a giant fist! Rodrigo cried out in surprise and pain, then staggered backwards and clutched at his head, swaying in place and not moving for a few seconds, Wisp's attack having briefly stunned him.

Galanta had stared frozen in horror at the shocking sight of her cousin attacking her brother, but the blue lance galvanized her into action! Hurling herself forward the muscular young woman leaped into the air before she reached the transformed Rodrigo, a powerful leg slamming with a mighty clash into the armor's side, only to simply bounce off him without leaving even a mark. Gritting her teeth Glanta tossed off the baseball cap, getting into a ready stance and calling over to Wisp "Alright! Keep 'im off his guard, Vick! I'll get him next time for that." she said it like a promise, and the iron in her gaze said she would do it.

From the nearby apartment buildings, both women could make out the noises of shocked exclamations that usually followed the start of super-fights.

They were at least a little more shocked this time, as very few of them started out in basketball courts.

[Azuth65]

Grimacing as she heard the noises of the neighbors she charged in again. God damnit, she mentally grumbled as Galanta joined in on the attack after calling out her name. Taking a deep breath she focused on the strength enhancing properties of her energy control while reaching inside herself to call up her teleportation powers.

As she unleashed the latter in a flurry of kicks, elbow and knee strikes, smoke erupted around her with each short 'poof' as she moved around the blue armored Rodrigo. Returning not far from the other girl she whispered in a rushed voice, "No names. Secret identities and all."

[Ari]

As Wisp smashed and battered at the armored Rodrigo, Subito groggily got to his feet, holding his head with a free hand as waves of pain washed through it. Catching sight of Serge lying nearby, he almost jumped to his feet and struggled over to his friend. A quick check proved he was unhurt, just unconscious(though that was bad enough!), and now Subito saw the blue knight, who Wisp and Galanta were already battling.

In an instant, El Heraldo appeared in a swirl of gold that slammed into Rodrigo, shouting "Whoever you are, we'll tear you off my cousin, monster!"

[Ari]

GM

"Right, sorry...comrade!" Galanta hastily corrected herself, driving another kick into the blue knight's side, which also rang off harmlessly. "What the Hell are you made of?" she demanded peevishly as she rubbed her shin with a grimace.

"Graahhhhh....shggggkkkk" Rodrigo managed, his voice warped and echoing in the evil-looking helmet. He was still shaking from Wisp's latest battering, and obviously wasn't fit to start fighting back just yet.

[Azuth65]

Bracing herself, Wisp threw a second, slightly less powerful burst of crackling blue and black energy at Rodrigo. When it connected, the dented and malformed helmet was knocked clean off the boy's head revealing his face, including the bloody nose and what was sure to become an impressive black eye. Faced with her handiwork, the white-haired young woman winced.

Turning to the others she said in a voice that would not carry far. "Okay, medical treatment time. Galanta, do me a favor and grab Serge. Subito, can you hold up your cousin? I'm taking us directly to Claremont's nurse's office."

[Ari]

The blue knight crashed to his knees with a clatter of metal, which slowly dissolved off him to reveal the battered form of the young Puerto Rican. Rodrigo was breathing painfully, clutching the side of his head and mumbling in pain. "Oh Roddy, why..." Subito asked quietly, gently picking up his cousin, who even in a dim morass of pain tried to snarl something indecipherable.

Galanta nodded, dashed over to the fallen Serge and hoisted the mutant Claremonter over her shoulder, jogging back to Wisp and looking at her expectantly. "So, ho-?"

And they vanished with a puff of smoke.

---

The trip to Nurse Joy's office was quick and painless, the kindly young woman leaping into action the moment she saw the two injured boys, rushing them to a free room and quickly seeing to it that they were cared for. Soon Rodrigo and Serge had ice packs on their painful bruises, and Subito's cousin was given painkillers. Galanta called her parents about what had happened, Pavor and Broma's shock and horror evident just from her desperate explanations.

"Yeah. Love you too, see you in a bit." she put down the phone into its cradle and leaned against a wall, shrugging and looking at the floor. "They...they said they didn't think it would happen so soon. They'll be here in a few minutes."

[Azuth65]

Taking a seat in one of the less than comfortable chairs, the white haired girl rubbed her temples. "When he wakes up, I owe him an apology of epic proportions, don't I?"

After a minute or two of sitting with little more than the sound of florescent lighting overhead to fill the air, Victoria let out a sigh. "So, while we're waiting, I don't suppose you can give me at least a short version of what they didn't think would happen so soon?" she asked, looking at Subito and Galanta.

[Ari]

"I have no idea!" Galanta protested, looking uncharacterisically fearful "They just said they 'didn't expect it to happen so soon, we thought there was a year left' and then they talked about other stuff for a while. I have no clue what that's all about." shaking her head, she leaned a muscular arm against the wall, running thick fingers through her coarse hair.

"This is the first I've seen anythin' like this!" Subito told Victoria anxiously, looking even more agitated by his parents' cryptic message than his sister. Sitting on Nurse Joy's desk he went on, almost tearful "He's gotten mad, yeah, but he didn't get all armored up and start beating on people like he did back at the court. And..." he hesistated, seeming to stare into space for a moment while his lips moved. Blinking as his eyes refocused on the small office, he told the two girls "Yeah, the Blue Dame has no idea what just happened either. Maybe he's been merged with some kind of mystical monster or somethin', or maybe he's a mutant?" he offered miserably with a helpless shrug.

It took only twenty minutes for Pavor and Broma to arrive, and they both looked very grim. Quickly sequestering themselves in Rodrigo's room(with Broma telling her son curtly to "Go outside, and turn your ears from us"), they spoke with the nuse for fifteen minutes before emerging, much more relaxed, smiling even. "I am dreadfully sorry this happened on your first visit, Ms. Knight" the lean Pavor told Victoria with an apologetic smile "Our family is..under a certain weight. It only emerges once per generation, so that might well be the only time you will have to assault my nephew!" he gave a surprisngly hearty laugh, then warmly embraced his son and daughter "It's alright, I spoke with him, and what he said and did was under the influence of that terrible knight. He'll be home soon, and quite sound of mind. Let's go home, children, the dessert awaits." he ushered the nervous Galanta out, the powerful girl glancing back at Victoria with a faint smile "C-come back anytime, I'd love to hear about this place." she said, then vanishing down the hall and down the path to the parking lot.

Subito hung back for a moment. "Whaddaya think about..this, Vick? I have not a single clue about what's happened." he confessed dismally, leaning against the doorway, and unable to look at the young teleporter.

[Azuth65]

Bowing her head, she replied to Pavor, "I'm sorry I had to. He's more or less okay now thought, right?" As the Sondos started to leave, Vicky hung back with Subito. Putting a comforting hand on his muscular shoulder she shook him slightly, "I think he needs his family and their support. And if he's anything like me, he probably wants a rematch but that's beside the point. Subito, of the three of you, you're the one who's had any training with the things we deal with and your cousin is probably going to need the same."

After giving her Porto Rican friend a minute to let that sink in, she added, "Come on, lets get you home. Dessert awaits you and I left my shoes by your front door."

[Ari]

Patting her hand on his shoulder thankfully, Subito smiled awkwardly at Victoria. "T-thanks Vick. You're right, I know, but this is still a lot to...it's just so out of nowhere!" he shrugged, and his smile grew more genuine "I'll do my best to help him cope. For all I know he's had a voice in his head like me for years, and it's been driving him crazy over the years. I...haven't been a very good cousin to him, a lot of the time" he confessed "Me and Galanta usually tell each other to 'suck it up' when something bad happens, and he might have figured we wouldn't listen. Or-yeah, this is just me talkin' 'cause I dunno what to say. C'mon Vick, let's go back to my folks, they'll need us to keep Gal from eating all the crepes! And I bet Morgan would get mad if we didn't go back for your shoes." Slapping Victoria on the back, he outright grinned.

Then the pair vanished in a flash and a puff of smoke.

END