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Sonja was wrong. There was higher and lower among humans, like Vyse who had put himself higher through drugs and control, who had put her in a cage. Every mutant who had beaten her down and left her broken and bleeding had been higher. Words were air; Morri had seen that again and again and again. Actions mattered, and what Alex had done mattered. In the violent world that was all she remembered, there was only who hurt you and who you could hurt. Alex could kill her, and that made him an object of terror. She hadn't known he could do that, and the fear of what else other could do ate at her confidence in this place like a cancer.

It wasn't all fear. There was grief, too. Grief for the mew-sick and pie and guh-tuars lost; a sense that she was losing something she'd really miss. But she wouldn't risk her life over those things. Deeper inside was a keen sense of loss for the way she'd felt when making the mew-sick or pie - a sense that for once she wasn't utterly confused and lost. For a few brief hours, the world had conformed itself to her for a bit and been a place of joy.

The outer wall of the school loomed ahead of them. Sonja slowed down a bit, ready for Morri to zig left or right to continue the chase. Instead, she threw herself forward into some overhanging, dead vegetation. There was a splash and an echoing sound, like water in a metal cylinder. Sonja pulled back the vegetation to see a culvert that went under the wall. It was far too small for the large woman to get down it, but Morri had fit easily.

The feral mutant pulled herself inside the tube and flipped onto her back, putting her face out of the water. She was now utterly soaked in the freezing water, but she ignored the discomfort as she pulled herself with her hands and pushed on the bottom with her feet. She had meant to go all the way through and keep running, but Sonja could get over the wall. Morri stopped halfway, prepared to wait for Sonja to get bored and leave.

Morri's memories were all of Africa, and the dangers inherant in that land, such as sunstroke. Here, in the dark cold water, the danger was far less clear and just as deadly. Silently, she waited, ignoring Sonja's calls and racked with growing tremors.

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Oneca had done her good deed for the decade and sussed out Warren for her prize. Finding him was easy, but every where they went there students. Littering the place like beer cans on the side of highway. Cheap beer. So, she kidnapped him from the beer cans and bee-lined if for the woods. She'd been exploring the grounds and finally found a few places that the other couples hadn't already staked out or couldn't get to. Her favorite so far was the stretch wall in the woods that ran along the creek; it amused her that Drumm thought it was any sort of actual impediment to students sneaking away whenever they felt like it.

The ones that can fly, at least, she smirked. They'd finally gotten situated and were finally getting around to her treat when she heard the last thing in the world she needed right now: her sister. Yelling. Great. Now what?

She was still in the process of detangling herself from Revenant when she heard a strange kind of splash and a metallic echo. "Hey," she said quietly to him, "I'm gonna fly us down and see what's up. Barbazilla's annoying, but she's got that shrill actually-might-be-an-emergency tone."

She brought them both down to where she'd heard the sound, sighing as she reluctantly let go of him. She ducked her head down to peer into the culvert and frown when she spied legs. "Uh, hey, that's gotta be cold. If you want out, I can fly ya' pretty much anywhere you wanna go. After you dry off. I'm not even touching it and can tell that that water's freezing."

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Aradia perked up happily, taking the passes from Eileen.

""Okay, thanks! I think it'll be good for her.. you know, get out and about a bit, do some normal teenage stuff."

"You're probably right, Aradia. I'm glad you guys are involving her, the socialization will be good for her. Here.. the keys to the van."

Aradia grabbed them, halfway to the door before pausing. She turned back around, a concerned look on her face.

"Yeah.. speaking of which, one last thing. We were talking about pizza, and Morri seemed to think that--"

The rest of the energetic young teleporter's question was, however, drowned out by a subtle roaring sound, followed by what sounded like a quarry explosion. The two women scrambled for the window in Eileen's office, and reached it just in time to see the line of trees topple like three gigantic bowling pins in slow motion.

THWAM - THWAM - THWAM!!

They grabbed onto the windowsill as the ground vibrated slightly from the impact, and the school prankster turned up at the school guidance counselor, both of their eyes wide with surprise and concern.

"My god, what's going on down there? Aradia, stay--"

*BAMF*

"--here."

_______________________________________________

Aradia appeared next to the fallen trees, but at that point, Alex and Sonja were both gone and she stood alone next to the carnage. She glanced up in the air, looking confused as she watched the golden boy streak through the sky, towards the forest.

"What the hell happened out here?"

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The gods hated him. That's was the only explanation, it had to be! Somehow, Warren, a guy who'd never even kissed a girl before had managed to find a for his first actual girlfriend, Oneca who was eyepoppnigly gorgeous, fun to be around, just as nihilistic as he was, and best of all a complete horn dog! She was insatiable! Most girls would wanna talk, or hang out, or see movies or talk on the phone or go shopping... not Oneca, she was always down for making out, which was totally okay with Warren because he was.... just... uh... y'know, trying to be in the supporting male role and just cater his girlfriends wants and needs... it was strictly for her, all for her... it's a good thing he was so understanding and supportive. So why? Why is it every single time they got to the point where they might be able to run to a base, any base, beyond first the gods threw some drama in their lap? Statistically it was impossible unless one factored in a karmic boomerang that come back to hit him every single time something good was about to happen to him to make up for all the times he'd been an asshole to people.

With a sigh, and a 'the gods hate them both' smirk on his face he nodded an 'okay' to his love.

Much like Oneca, other people's problems never really concerned him much, at least, he acted like they didn't. Warren knew what scared was, he'd worn the mantle many times. He also knew that, despite the coddling, the baby talk, and the constant babysitting everyone had to do around Morri... she was several times smarter than they gave they gave her credit for. Sure, book smarts waved bye-bye to her long ago but she had cunning, instinct, she was a survivor. Warren knew what that was like to some extent and while his experiences couldn't compare to Morri's there was at least some common ground.

As he approached to meet up with Oneca he gave her a caring rub at the base of her back and peered down with her. "Hey there Multi-Pass," He used the the nick name he'd given for the character in the 5th Element who English was terrible in the beginning. Also because Alex asked nicely for him to stop referring to her has 'R-Tard'. "Neca's right, girl, that's gotta be cold. Why not come outta there..."

The way she moved and squirmed with such determination told him that she was on her way out no matter the cost. Even without super senses, Warren smelled fear. "She's afraid. Someone or something scared her. Baby, be careful." It was his first instance of using a term of endearment instead of Oneca's name. Warren knew she could take care of herself so instead of doing the typical 'guy thing' and telling her stand back while he handled it he just offered her a warning. He hopped down into the culvert, his boots getting a bit wet as he tried not stay out of the waters path.

"Multi-," Sometimes it sucked being a complete asshole with a golden heart. He sighed as he started his sentence and decided to rephrase it. "Hey, Morri, it's Warren." That really wasn't a point in his favor, Morri and Warren were not really the closest of people, he ignored her for the most part and only really spent a few minutes of times with her by chance because Alex was his roomie. Okay, calling her R-Tard for her nick name probably didn't help either. Warren had a way of pushing people away only to have the karmic boomerang bite him in the ass in moments like this. "C'mon sweetie," He didn't even realize he'd called her that, and surprisingly his tone had a certain measure of caring in it that neither lady present had ever heard in his voice before. "C'mon out of there and tell Neca and me what happened. If you wanna leave, we're not going to stop you, but the way you're going is not the proper way, you're going to freeze to death and I know you're smart enough to know that dying is not what you want."

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"Curtis Shane." He told Sakurako, taking her hand and shaking it. Then the blaze of light- or rather it's sound and then shouting in the distance. He paused, looked out, then saw Alex soaring through the sky towards the woods. "I'm guessing the trip is off. Want to go back to the labs, Josh?"

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Sakurako sighed. "Another thing I've messed up today... Perhaps I'd better not go anywhere today... I'm liable to cause everyone no end to the stress."

She shakes her head. "I... think it has to do with Morri... but right now I don't think I should be near her until this gets sorted."

"I'm sorry it turned out like this, maybe another time, Natalie. Maybe just you and me."

She turns to Curtis. "Mind if I tag along, Curtis? I'd like to see this lab personally."

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“A-a-a-a-a-alexxxx… b-b-b-b-b-bad.” Morri’s teeth chattered violently as she answered Warren, though not pulling herself out of the hole yet. “S-s-s-s-sonjjjjja chase. A-a-a-a-a-alex m-m-m-make p-p-p-p-p-pie. M-m-m-make m-m-mew-sssssick.” There was a word and her brain hunted for it for a long moment before she found it. “A-a-a-a-alex m-m-m-make bee tray t-t-t-t-to M-m-m-m-morri.”

Bee tray. She had no idea what the word truly meant, but Eileen had said it was when someone was nice to you then were mean. Alex had pretended to be weak with talk of bad-touch, then he smelled angry and showed her how he would kill her. He’d wanted her to submit to him or he’d burn her.

The cold was bee traying her too. Morri could feel it stealing her strength and making her tired. The water was pulling her, drawing her back onto school grounds. Her fingers slipped inside her gloves and she went under the water. Choking, she pushed herself back up, but was half out of her hole before she caught herself. Hands wrapped around her and pulled her out. Morri struggled feebly but the frigid wind sliced through her wet clothes and she couldn’t do anything more than shiver.

The mutant was a mess. Soaked head to foot in icy water, she already had ice forming on her coat, hair and clothing. Her shivers were getting worse; she wasn’t going to be running anywhere. Her expression miserable, Morri wrapped her arms around herself and shuddered.

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She didn't get much out of that, except that Sunshine had done something to upset the feral girl and then Sonja had the brilliant idea to chase after someone that acted more like a cat than a person. None of that really mattered at the moment, though. The girl was probably already headed for a cold at the best and pneumonia and frostbite more likely. At the sputtering, Revenant made the decision for her and pulled the girl out of the culvert by the boots.

It's so weird when he calls himself Warren. It's like he's saying someone else's name or something. And did he call me baby? Cute, I guess, but I think I'd prefer something a little less....babyish? Hello! Feral girl freezing in front of you! Deal with nicknames later!

She pulled her attention back to the moment and helped him get Morri standing. They got her standing and Oneca deftly peeled Morri's coat off ....not going to tell her or Sonja why I'm so good at that now...and pulled her own cloak off and wrapped it around her. "Well, Alex is a boy. They do stupid things sometimes." Revenant got a quick apologetic smile at that. "But you're soaked and you're going to get sick. You need to take off your other clothes right now. Then I'm going to fly you back to the school. I won't let Alex hurt you. Promise. I bet he's sorry for scaring you already."

"Here," she pulled Morri over to where she was facing the wall, where any searching eyes wouldn't be able to see her undressing. "Can I help you get out of those wet clothes? Before the cloak gets wet too and gets you colder?"

Morri nodded, her teeth chattering and her fingers numb and fumbling from the cold. It took a little work, but the two of them managed to strip off the near-frozen clothing; Oneca wrapped the cloak as tightly around the feral mutant as she would allow. "Okay, I'm gonna pick you up and we're all going to fly back to the school. Rev and I will make sure Alex can't get to you. You need a hot bath to keep you from getting sick or frostbite."

She glanced at Revenant before taking off, reaching out to touch his hand so he could borrow her powers like he did when he was helping her learn what she could do. Coming back to the school looking like a girl might be a little embarrassing, but Morri really was in danger of pneumonia and obviously freaked out. Oneca wanted him with them to reassure her as much as to reassure Morri. Her offer made, she stepped up to Morri. "Hold the cloak closed with one hand and put your other arm around my shoulder. I'm going to lift you up with one arm under your shoulders and one under your knees, okay?"

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The ambient light suddenly climbed a few notches as the bete noir of the moment dropped down out of the sky about ten feet from where Morri was shivering inside Oneca's cloak. Alex had seen Warren pull Morri from the water and, with a certain amount of relief, had drifted lower in anticipation of being called down by Sonja, who had circled round to stand with the others. But the sheer miserable state of Morri, dripping wet and with ice forming on her, had prompted the solar mutant into action.

"Morri?" he called gently, keeping his hands by his sides as he took a step towards her. "I'm sorry. I wasn't going to hurt you."

"I think you've done enough, glowbug. Whatever it was that you did." Oneca said somewhat acidly.

"Yeah, Lite-Brite." Warren muttered. "When a girl hides in a freezin' drain from you, it's time to take the fuckin' hint." Alex glanced at them and frowned, but turned his gaze back to Morri, who watched him with a sullen shivering stare, unwilling or unable to run. He moved closer.

"Morri. I'm never going to hurt you, okay? What I did to the rock was just to show you I don't need protecting. I like you. And I like teaching you music, too. I want to be your friend, not higher or lower than you. And I can help you like you help me. Look."

He had moved closer still, and his aura was expanding over the small knot of students, the warmth of a hot summer's day in July, small motes of light dancing in it. "You're cold, Morri. I can stop that, if you let me. You're tough, but the cold is still bad, isn't it? I just want to be friends with you - that's all I ever wanted." He offered her his hands slowly, palms up. "It's okay, Morri."

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Stiffly Warren's hand impeded Alex's approach and the look on his face told Alex that he was momentarily more serious than he'd ever seen him before. He had that look on his face that showed up right before he threw down with someone. All Warren did was gently shake his head at Alex, warning him that he wasn't getting any closer. He could see that Alex, whatever he did, didn't do it on purpose, so that was a mark in his favor but all he was attempting to do was set things right, he was just trying too fast.

"Alex," Again, there no nick names. His tone was quiet and carried a measure of concern not often heard in the bad boy's voice. "We don't know what you did, and frankly, we don't care. Obviously it was an accident, but give her some time to settle and warm up. Give the ladies some time together. Too much too soon will only make the matter worse." He lowered his hand, but still stood as one intimidating barrier to move around. "Chill, dude. We all have plenty of time. Relax, and let her do the same."

"Neca," He turned his head and then nodded towards the school. "I got NiteLite, see what you can do for her, okay?"

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Kia shook Sakurako's hand and nodded.

"Hikialani Mizuki. Everyone calls me Kia. Hi, Curtis."

She looked around, then back at the other two. "The others should..."

Her assurance was interrupted when there was a noise like distant thunder, or trees falling. Then Alex streaked past and she followed him with her eyes, her mouth opening in surprise. He was MOVING.

Kia was about ready to go find out what the heck was going on when she spied Curtis and Sakurako and Josh conferring about wanting to head on to the lab?

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"She's 'chilled' enough." Alex retorted mildly, meeting Revenant's gaze, but he didn't try to move closer to Morri. "And I get it, Warren. I've acted like a dumbass, but I'm not stupid." The warmth, and the attendant light, grew steadily until for roughly 50 metres in every direction it was suddenly high summer, bright sunlight and 86 degrees in the shade... of which only Sonja was providing much. There was a sudden flurry of snowmelt from nearby trees, and steam started to rise from Morri's soaked clothing as the ice in her hair began to melt.

Shucking his coat, Alex moved back from where Warren was standing guard and leaned against a rapidly-drying tree, removing his shirt before folding his arms. He was too bright to directly look at right now, every single one of his cells slowly releasing heat and light into the area as a corona of golden flame danced around his body. The scintillant radiance pulsed and flickered like a star's on his skin.

"If you give her a few minutes, she'll warm enough so she's out of danger." Alex stated matter-of-factly. "And I can do it from over here. It's the least I can do, assuming I'm allowed." There was a touch of sarcasm there, but only a touch. Alex's main concern was Morri, despite the sting of 'pick a fight to prove you're tough' Warren trying to act like a voice of reason and the general 'you're an asshole' vibe he was getting from everyone.

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Alex’s arrival made the feral stiffen with fear, but as she was already shaking so hard that her silent announcement of terror went unnoticed. However, she didn’t miss that Oneca and Revenant were stepping between him and her, and they seemed to be able to stop him. Revenant in particular seemed to control Alex.

Morri had always avoided Revenant; she’d heard people talk about his fight with Kazuo. He was a nova who decided things with his fists and Morri had known that if he challenged her, she’d have to fight him. She tried to avoid him so that she wouldn’t get into fights. And now he wanted to fight Alex for her.

Oneca was an unknown to the feral. She was somehow belonged to Sonja, though the connection wasn’t clear to Morri. The concept of ‘family’ was currently foreign to her. Oneca was largely a non-entity to Morri before today; so far, she was building herself into another Kia, just by the care she was taking of Morri right now. That wasn’t the truth, but to the feral the perception of the moment was given the greatest weight.

Morri flinched as Alex started to glow again, but he didn't kill her. Instead, he made it warm again, which wasn’t smart. She could heal from what the cold had done to her, and then she’d have a better chance to fight him. His words hurt her, though. That was something new for the feral; words were not weapons to her. But Alex telling he wouldn’t hurt her was somehow painful. Unsure, Morri stepped behind Revenant and huddled against his back, using him as a shield. He’d stopped Alex from coming closer; maybe he could stop Alex from making the light hurt her.

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Sonja had been at the other end of the metal culvert - it was narrow enough that she doubted she'd have been able to fit even before her growth spurt - waiting for Morri to come out, when she heard her sister's voice reverberating down its length. Cocking her head to the side, she had listened as Oneca and Warren talked Morri out of the tube. Hearing the rustling of Morri exiting the culvert, Sonja had circled around, leaping the wall and coming up behind them. A moment later, she had felt a summer warmth as Alex settled down beside her. Maybe Warren is a good influence on 'Neca...

At little hurt that Morri was letting herself be comforted by her sister and was talking to her when she had run away from her and said not a word, Sonja kept back and silent, not wanting to her to bolt. If that took Oneca getting Morri of her icy-wet clothes and wrapping her in her cloak while she stood by like a giant, useless lump, so be it. She kept an encouraging expression on her face and tried not to notice the flashes of dusky curves through the part in the cloak.

She frowned slightly as Warren and Alex stood off, when narrowed her eyes as Alex shucked his coat and shirt and began to glow like the sun - tried not to notice his bronzed, masculine chest - pouring out nearly as much heat as Hotstreak. Her frown deepened, fair brows crinkling in puzzlement, as Morri hid behind Warren to get out of the direct sunlight. Why...? Oh, it still must be her dominance/submission thing-issue. Alex's lasers and the heat and I dunno what else. I just want to help her and I'm not sure how.

"Morri, he wasn't - it's not - " Sonja sighed at Morri just huddled even further behind Warren. "He's just trying to apologize - to say he's sorry in a way that'll help you and that you'll allow," she finished lamely. She straightened her shoulders and smiled ruefully. "None of this is getting you back inside and into some dry clothes - though I guess you won't be needing that hot bath."

"Here," she said, slipping out of her pink coat and extending it to Morri - when she didn't take it, she turned to hand it to Oneca, giving her sister a small shrug and a tiny nod - as close as she would come to conveying her heartfelt thanks in public. "The cloak might be keeping her dry enough, but the faculty will have a fit if they catch a glimpse of her coming out of the woods in nothing but a cloak. I think my coat will cover up anything they shouldn't see."

The big blonde stepped back towards Alex, glancing down at him and placing a hand on his shoulder to show Morri that he wasn't hot enough to hurt - though hot enough in other ways for other things - her smile turning wry. "I think you can turn the sun off now, Alex - she's outta any immediate danger I think. Oh, and I guess you can put your shirt back on."

Remembering Morri's feral quirks - like the corner table so she could see anyone approaching - she turned back to Morri as Alex stood up. "We're gonna walk ahead, in clear sight, 'kay? And just remember Morri, understand, Alex and I - most of us here - don't see 'higher' and 'lower', we just see you - a friend. Let's get her back inside guys."

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Sakurako tagged along but before she left.

"Sorry, Nattie... I swear we'll have an outing with the two of us. I'm sorry I messed this up."

She turns to Curtis who had already started to get moving. "Coming!"

She ran to catch up then moved in lock step with him. Practically shoulder to shoulder. "So... what's in the Lab?"

She attempts to make small talk... she was... curious about the school's resident genius.

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Kia hesitated, torn between peer groups, but finally decided that Josh and Curtis and gang seemed fine, while Alex was going so fast that it might mean trouble.

"Hey, uh, Curtis? Sakurako? Josh? I'm gonna check in on Alex and see what the big deal is. Do you guys want to come?"

(OOC - Took me a few reads to see where I got so out of sync...I had missed Saku's reply to Kia all this time somehow, so I thought Kia had never encountered them after all and...anyway! I'm silly. This post goes back in time a little, but it catches up with continuity in the present so hopefully it's okay. :))

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"And where ever there is drama, Sonja is right there in the middle of it." Revenant mumbled to himself. To Warren, Oneca's sisters only mutant power was the unparalleled ability make sure she remained in everyones business and at the complete center of attention at all times. If you're gonna be good at something, might as well be the best. It wasn't that Sonja and him didn't get along it was just that they had a totally different way of looking at the world: Warren believed people should have space and room to breathe and make their own mistakes in life... Sonja appeared to think that everyone's life should come to a halt while they did everything she wanted to do and acted as her personal entourage. It bugged him. It didn't mean she was a bad person, but it bugged him. This was the perfect example too, Warren and Oneca had the situation well in hand and here she comes barking orders and directing traffic...

...like no one could solve this without her or something.

"You guys go on ahead," Warren said. "Neca, could you keep an eye on Morri? It was this 'circle of friends' that already scared her once, make sure they don't go for a repeat performance." It was Revenant's way, he didn't blame Alex for this fiasco, he blamed everyone that was present when it happened, even perfect 'little' Sonja was suspect. "I didn't like the way "Lexi" here," Alex didn't miss the female pronunciation of if his name. "Looked at me so I think he and I are going to have a little talk. See if there's something he wants to get off his chest..."

No doubt about it, Warren took that tense look like a cock strutting the yard and unfortunately it didn't bode well for Alex. Revenant didn't like his tone, he didn't like this situation, and he personally blamed Alex for his having to be sweet to the resident Downs Syndrome R-Tard mutant. He kept his hard exterior up as best he could and this little debacle could spell bad news for him. People might think he was a nice guy, people might talk to him... people might... wanna be his friend. No. This was not going to fly. Not. At. All. Alex had some explaining to do and a lot to answer for.

"Sit tight LiteBrite." He gave Alex a glare that almost dared him to fly off or run, knowing that it was unspoken that if he ran now, it would be ten times worse later.

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Sakurako looks confused. She mutters under her breath "This whole place is a madhouse!" before speaking up. "I really don't know if it's wise to bother them. Something Morri said earlier got enough under my skin where I went off on her. I was unaware she was like she was because she was feral."

She scratches her head. "I think... she mistook me for trying to become an alpha, now that I analyze things."

"The teleporter was going to get authorization for our trip but that seems shot to hell. With the chaos I heard... possibly literally."

Sakurako honestly doesn't know what to do except follow Curtis at this point, but her roommate is standing there too... How fair is that? Eventually she tears up and defaults to instinct. Make amends, and fix what was broken.

She runs off to see what happened, to see if anyone was hurt. This was all her fault and she was going to fix this right here and now.

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“No fight.” The miserably whispered words were almost lost in Morri’s chattering teeth; she was warmer but still chilled deep inside still. However, she took a step forward from next to Oneca and pleaded, “No fight.”

She shouldn’t have interceded for Alex. He had tried to dominate her, and she didn’t want to be hurt by him. But the mew-sick had happened, and the pie, and she remembered how his smile had made the day warm. Now it was all wrong and different and bad and she didn’t even know why it wasn’t just so simple. It was the bee traying. It was something to do with that. She didn’t know what, but it was.

“Don’t worry, Morri, Alex and I are just gonna talk,” Revenant said, his arms crossed.

Talking didn’t sound so bad. But she wasn’t sure about leaving. Still, Oneca was gently urging her, and even though Sonja was too, Morri let herself be lead. She wasn’t sure what Sonja was talking about, but Morri figured it out on the way back to the school. Alex had dominated Sonja, so she was forced to do what he said, or he’d hurt her.

That made sense to her. But something told her that it wasn’t right either. Still, no other logic presented itself. Morri was confused; for the first time in her life, instinct and logic weren’t the same and she didn’t know what to think or feel anymore.

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Sakurako finds no one is there at the site where the rock was slagged and the trees toppled. She hovers up and looks about to see where the tracks might lead and sees them all over the place, but one set of tracks, in fact the majority, lead back to the school. Of course those footprints can be anyone's and her vision isn't the greatest since she's a sobbing wreck.

She starts making a bee-line for the academy, starting to make a circle.

"Is everyone alright? Hello? No one is hurt are they?" She hollers as best she can.

She obviously sounds distressed, and now completely worried.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Alex watched as the Bahaar sisters - a mismatched set of attractive bookends if ever there was - bracketed Morri and gently ushered her back towards the school, then sighed as he pulled his shirt back on, then slipped his woollen overcoat on over it before straightening up and facing Warren.

"Let's get this over with, then." he said matter-of-factly. He had no illusions about actually putting up a successful fight against the street-tough mutant, but he wasn't going to back down or run away, either. He could use his powers, but that would make a stupid schoolyard squabble into something deadlier. Better just to keep it mundane. "You wanted to 'talk'. So talk."

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Sakurako lands back on the ground near the doors nearest to where the van and everything were parked. Completing her circuit.

She just stood, numb with her arms crossed. This whole day was ruined because of her, and there is nothing anyone could do to change her point of view of it.

"Great fucking first day, Sakurako... great first fucking day." She growled to herself.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Warren had to smirk. Alex was a decent guy, but he wasn't a tough guy. It showed and the whole tough-guy routine, although Warren had to give him credit for balls, wasn't flying. The glowing mutant was standing his ground but there was still the nervous tension all over him that gave him away. Revenant knew that if he flexed suddenly, Alex would likely jump, or probably accidentally fire off another nuke or maybe on purpose. Toe to toe, Warren would whoop this boys ass, but if things got ugly, a lot of people might get hurt for the wrong reasons. No one would ever know it, but Warren was playing the responsible card, putting the safety of others over his own testosterone urge to kick some sense into Jonny Big-Dick leaning against the tree..

"Relax, LiteBrite." Warren raised his hands and pumped them downwards a few times. "If I wanted a fight we'd have started already. I'd be hitting you, you'd be bleeding like a little bitch, powers would get used, trees would burn, fire would rain from the sky, kinetic blasts would level the landscape..." He used his hands, arching them out to help Alex envision the nightmarish landscape. He glanced at Alex, meeting his eyes. Smirking he quirked a brow. "It'd be a fucking mess, and we both know that somehow I'd get blamed for it. I have a date Friday, so I'm trying to keep my shit in order til then."

Alex returned the smirk, Warren seemed moderately successful at shifting the mood slightly towards 'less tense'. "How, noble of you."

The death mutant shrugged, the devil's grin still plastered on his features. "S'kinda wonderful guy I am. Look, I have an image. I was posturing for the sake of the others, keeping up appearances, y'know? You're a decent guy Alex, it's not like you to pull some shit like this, so c'mon, what's up. I've done some things in my life that I'm sure not proud of, people expect shit to blow up around me, but you? Nah. Despite all that though, I've never gone back on my word, man, so if you got a story to tell, lay it on me and it doesn't go past you, me or these trees."

With the back of his hand he smacked Alex in the midsection to spur him on a bit. "C'mon, something has been eating away atcha, I can tell. Roomies, remember? I see you more than 'Neca half the time. I'm willing to call a temporary truce of personality conflicts. Once in a life time offer... Whatdya say?"

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Walking back to the Academy was miserable. By the time they'd made it back, Oneca was freezing herself and more than ready for central heating. They headed for the front doors; Oneca glanced over at the feral and asked, "So, you wanna go to your room or somewhere else?"

She sighed when she saw another puffy-eyed girl standing by the doors. What was it with the other girls at this school? Was she the only that wanted to be a normal teen? Piss off some teachers, make out with her boyfriend, break the laws of physics on a daily basis? Seriously. She glanced at Sonja, nodding towards the new girl in a silent 'you take care of that one' sister speak.

"Wherever we go, I gotta stop by room for some smokes. My pack's out and this is definitely a clove-heavy day." She peered at Morri curiously, "You smoke?"

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Sakurako could just look away in shame. She saw Morrigan, and she steps back. Knowing she might receive her full rage.

"Morri... I... I..."

She defaulted to her instincts. She bowed deeply. "I'm sorry, Morri."

She kept her head down... at this point whatever Morri did next... Sakurako felt she deserved.

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Alex was taken aback. Though he believed that Warren was fundamentally decent at heart, he certainly wasn't expecting his roomie to show that side to him. He gazed at Warren for a long moment, then relaxed slightly, his air of expectant defiance becoming somewhat shamefaced chagrin.

"There's no big dark deal." he said, sitting on a stump with a weary sigh. Small stars winked weakly here and there under his skin as his cells soaked up what weak sunlight there was. "It's all kind of stupid, actually."

"Yeah, most of the time it is stupid." Revenant answered casually. "But you ain't a stupid guy, LiteBrite. Dumb, but not stupid."

"Thanks." Alex shot back ironically, but he relaxed a little more. "It's kind of a bunch of little things all building and building, till one thing set me off. Stupid, like I said."

"List 'em." Warren leaned against a tree and grinned.

"It's embarrassing, but... Fine. First up, there's my arsehole parents. I've had some time to deal with the fact they don't want to know me anymore, but the way they acted..." he shook his head ruefully. "It wasn't fear or ignorance - that's what really pisses me off. They treated me like I was an inconvenience, an embarrassment. I was a mutant, so I was in the way of their ideal life. Such a shame." he grimaced.

"'Kay, so your folks are dicks."

"Yeah. Then there's the whole getting-undumped."

"Un-dumped?"

"Well, Violet and me, we weren't really a thing, but I wanted us to be. C'est la vie, and all that jazz." Alex shook his head. "It's really a stupid thing to get maudlin about - I'm going to go with blaming hormones." Warren snickered, and Alex rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I know. This stuff is all smalltime, so why the big kaboom, right? Well, it was Morri."

"Multipass? What'd she do?"

"Bit my nose."

"What the fuck...?"

"She bit my nose." Alex grinned, seeing the funny side somewhat. "I'd been spending some time with her, teaching her to play the guitar - she's actually pretty quick on the uptake. But there's a problem she has with another student and she asks me and Sonja how we straighten out the dominance stuff without fighting."

"Huh." Warren said. "Can't say as I bother tryin' it without fighting." He grinned again.

"Well, we try to explain, and she decides to illustrate her point she's going to bite me on the nose. Not hard - it didn't hurt - but she did it to show that I was subservient to her." Warren was trying not to laugh - Alex could see that, so he hurried to the end of the episode.

"So I get a little upset, sure. And I ask her what the hell, and she says that I'm too weak to fight for myself." Alex sighed again, looking embarrassed once more. "So I... demonstrated. On a rock."

"On a rock?" Warren looked puzzled. "Multipass freaked out because you scorched a rock?

"A big rock. Uh... I sliced through it, kind of." Warren hadn't known his roomie could do that, but contained his reaction well. "And some trees."

"Trees too?"

"They were behind the rock." Alex rested his chin on his palms. "I just wanted to show her I wasn't some pack omega, or whatever she thought I was. I guess I was kind of irritated at being treated as second-rate."

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There was a long silence, Warren gave him his time to reflect and make sure that Alex was finished with his tale before he continued. "Did I ever tell you about my ability to regenerate?" Alex, thinking it an actual question almost started to reply but Warren but he simply continued on. "But not like Morri, no, mine has a price." He pushed off the tree and started to move around a bit, not going anywhere particular but Warren was the sort of guy who had to move as he talked. Pacing and gesturing and walking were the fuel to keep the gears in his head turning. "Now, I know we're not considered 'mature adults'" He air quoted and Alex smirked. "By any stretch of the imagination but when I was just a boy, maybe five or six, I was enjoying a bubble bath and playing with my Dragon Ball Z action figures..."

"Wait, bubble bath and action figures?" Alex started to laugh but the death gaze from Warren kept him quiet. He cleared his throat. "Please, continue..."

"Anyway..." The glare persisted for a moment, but he went on. "I was pruning so mom came to collect me. She had this thing where she'd cup my cheeks and rub the tip of my nose with hers. It always made me laugh, or giggle, or whatever six year olds do. This time though when she cupped my cheeks, and I cupped hers... we didn't giggle. My touch caused her pain, the energy that made her her seemed to drain away and invigorate me. I tried to let go, but I couldn't, I didn't know how to make it stop..." He told the story with practiced emotional discipline, but it was obvious that the memory was a painful one to share. "There, in my hands, she withered away like a body in the desert sun. I killed her. The guys in the labs at The Facility, oh they loved it. They always tried to get me to use it so they could test how it worked. They'd have me beaten, battered, sliced up and on the verge of death from bleeding out, but you know something?"

Alex just shook his head, what did you say to a story like that?

"I never used it Alex, not once. Not then, not now, I could decimate all my enemies with it and live forever, but my mothers face, pressing her nose to mine, is all I'd ever see, my greatest regret relived through each victim. My point Alex, is that no matter how your parents may have treated you, you have the opportunity to do some good in this world, to change their way of thinking. Going off half cocked and leveling acreage isn't the best of starts. If you didn't love them, it wouldn't be riding your conscience like this so hold on to an image of them, freeze a moment in time that was just yours and keep it there when the rage and angst and teen drama swell up all around you, let it relax you. Whether it takes two days or fifty years, Alex, trust me, the day you get that call and it's your dad saying 'Son, I know we've had our differences, but I just wanted to say: we're proud of you'... it'll all be worth it." Alex knew Warren would never be getting a call like that someday, perhaps in his own twisted sense of honor the death mutant was trying to 'pay it forward', teaching others to strive for things he couldn't so he could live accomplishments vicariously through them. Either way, there was weight in his words. He was, in his own way, trying to teach Alex a lesson in restraint and Warren was the last guy in the world, one would, think knew anything about restraint. "We all hurt, bro. All the pain and misery I've gone through in my life... there was no quick-use mutant power to make it all go away. I don't need to preach to you, man, because I can tell you feel it... that pang of regret eating away at you the moment you saw the look fear on her face and that look is yours now, forever. We have a greater responsibility than humans. When they get mad, they go to the gym and hit a punching bag for a couple hours, when we get mad, we level forests."

"There's two kinds of people in the world Alex, the guys in the boardroom, and the guys in the mail room. Now, me, well," He thumped his chest with his fist and gave a mock gang sign. "We both know I'm mail room for life, yo'. People look up to you around here Alex, you've got charisma n' shit. Guys like you don't need to blow shit up just to prove they can, you're a leader Alex, an alpha. Omegas vie for dominance because thy have something to prove, but alphas, they only fight when they have to because the pack knows that if he does, something is going to die. Keep the big guns locked away bro, they're so much more cooler when people don't know you have em."

"On a side note..." Warren found another tree across from Alex and leaned against it, thrusting his hands in his coat pocket. "I think you made your, so much for second-rate. Was she haulin' ass or what? Damn near crapped herself." It wasn't funny. Really, it wasn't... but when you're angsty teen, everything is funny. Within a matter of seconds Warren's deviant smirk broke through his defenses and Alex snickered a little bit.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Morri snarled at the sight of Sakurako, but when the girl bowed her head, the feral relaxed. It probably wasn’t the best thing for Morri’s psyche, but it was the best thing Sakurako could have done to not make things worse immediately. Instead she walked past the other mutant without attacking her, which was about the best you could ask for with the Morrigan.

Oneca and Sonja flanked her as they escorted her to her room; though better, the feral was still shaky and jumpy. Oneca set her down on the bed and reclaimed her cloak and Sonja’s coat from the red-eyed mutant while Sonja ran a warm bath. When the blonde giantess stepped back into the room, she blinked at the image of a naked Morri huddled on her bed. “You should be wearing clothing.”

“Relax, Babezilla,” Oneca grunted. “She’s getting right into the bath, we’re all girls, no harm done. C’mon, Morri, up you go.” Oneca noticed that the girl’s skin was still a bit cool to the touch; the bath would do her good. The darker Bahaar led Morri to the bath and got her in the warm water, then stepped back out to give her some privacy.

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Seeing the group walk away with Morrigan confused, but also at the very least made her feel things weren't as unsalvageable.

She held herself for a moment as she stood back up to full. She still looked down at the ground, her glasses fogged up a little from her crying.

She was at a loss.

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Natalie walks over to her roommate and extends a hand.

"Come on. Let's head back to the room and hang out. They'll be other days to go on trips to town."

It's clear she's trying to cheer up Saku, but doesn't know how.

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"I... I think that would be best, Natalie." Sakurako said. Knowing that any further interaction today with anyone was unwise. Their plan was a total disaster because of her, so she is fully expecting for the next few weeks she was going to catch shit for today's incident. Innocent or not.

"I should start arranging my personal effects anyways. This has been... too stressful."

Was this going to be what I was to expect from these... children? She thought. Being a girl raised exclusively with an adult bubble around her was not exactly a good environment to be in. Particularly when she had to know how to interact with others her age.

"I sort of feel like I'm trying to tread water without some sort of life preserver to keep me afloat..." Sakurako slips out a bit of her internal monologue.

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  • 3 months later...

"She was, wasn't she?" Alex said, trying desperately not to laugh, an effort betrayed by the twitching at the corners of his mouth. "I turn around all "Me-mighty-rock-slayer" and there's this Morri-shaped hole next to Sonja that should've had a cartoon lettering 'VOOM' over it." He snickered again. "And Sonja's expression was priceless too. Kinda halfway between 'you douchebag' and 'new shorts please'." He laughed, then made a desperate attempt at sobriety, his face straightening. "I shouldn't laugh about it."

"Sure ya should." Warren drawled, shrugging. "No-one got hurt, and in six months time everyone will be looking back and laughing about it, so why not now? If it's funny, it's funny."

"You shouldn't play yourself down, Warren." Alex told him earnestly, though he was smiling as his blue eyes regarded the death-mutant. "Mail room, my arse." Warren merely looked at him, and Alex shrugged. "You're smarter than that, that's all."

"Maybe I like the mail room." Revenant told the glowing youth with a shrug of his own.

"Maybe." Alex allowed, before sighing and standing up. "Thanks." he said, a trifle hesitantly. He wasn't sure how Warren would respond to heartfelt thanks, but it wasn't in the solar mutant to let a good turn go unacknowledged. "For... you know, the advice. Just being cool. And listening. It's hard to step outside myself sometimes and see things with perspective, you know?"

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"Don't call me that!" the fairer Bahaar muttered, quickly pulling her lingering gaze from swaying of Morri's bare hips.

It wasn't that she was uncomfortable with nudity, precisely - she herself was pretty casual about changing in front of other girls, if far more reticent about any men peeping. It just seemed rather inappropriate, Morri huddling there on the bed in the buff.

When Oneca stepped out of the bathroom, Sonja glanced up over a strong shoulder from laying out a set of comfortable flannel pajamas for Morri. Sonja doubted Morri would think about it herself and the PJs would be fine for padding around the dorm, if not outside.

A tiny, subconscious part of her was disappointed that it wasn't a glistening and naked Morri stepping out of the bathroom.

The Bahaar sisters took seats on opposite beds, waiting for Morri to finish, an awkward silence growing between them. They didn't have much in common, and the disparity between them just kept growing since the accidental death of their youngest sister, followed by the revelation of Sonja's mutant status, the way Oneca's had awakened, and Sonja's latest growth spurt.

There was also Oneca's goth phase she hadn't gotten over yet, the smoking, and her... relationship with Warren Sonja suspect was closer than she wanted to know or believed suitable for her fifteen year old sister.

"So..." Sonja ventured, shattering the crystalline silence, "... um, you did well with Morri back there."

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