Baiting the Hook by MaLAguA

Friday, January 6th - 3:56pm
Road near Whateley

Sleeping in a car ride, lucky. Cariline Kythe, aka Lifeward, only woke him up as they were nearing Whateley. I knew the changes would be more, but not this much to his hand and arm up to past his elbow. And it includes thicker nails, oh boy, that is going to take some adjustment. Yeah, Josh is right, you could be becoming something out of nightmares, but you aren't.

Continued monitoring by Doyle, probably more powers testing as well, Vic needs a break already. Nothing from Ner in almost a week, she was really drained by the whole adventure. The whole Silent Mountain incident, the Syndicate is lucky none of the kids died. Crap! Panic attack as Vic thinking even close to he moment 'Rival' nearly killed him triggered it. Vic, that isn't healthy. You need to confront the incident and learn how to deal with it instead of forgetting about it.

Seriously, after all Vic has gone through since his Winter break started, he needs another vacation from that 'vacation'. Oh, Caroline has other things to take care of at Whateley. Aww, go visit Derek, pretty please. If he is hanging out with friends who would tease him over his mom visiting, he deserves to be teased.

“I just have to meet up with some members of the faculty and staffers. Update them on some stuff.”

“Syndicate stuff?”

Caroline gave a halfhearted shrug. “For the most part, yeah. I have to give a small update on your and Leslie’s status within the program. Then, I’ll be passing by Doctor Gutierrez’s office to share some of the scans I took. Although I’m not looking forward to explaining why a kid under my care has scarring damage that might suggest a stab injury.”

Please, let Doctor Gutierrez be understanding. Vic, worrying about the changes isn't going to help; go find your friends to take your mind off them.

Oof, telling everyone besides Tanya, who already knows, about the changes. Vic is going to need to destress after that, no matter how it goes.

“You’re a teen, Vic. Everyone finds it as the most awkward time,” Caroline said as she turned off the car and pulled out the key. “You’re just going through it with a couple more extra steps than most people.”

Some of us never outgrow that feeling of things being awkward from our teens. Oh, good, Sophie opening up Vic, just what I hoped would happen. The glamour necklace itself is a band-aid, one he keeps having to remove, or it will wear out and need to be recharged. The pendant needs fine-tuning; it has kinks and flaws, uh oh. Ouch, nightmares, I hope Dr. Bellows can see him more often.

Friday, January 6th - 4:27pm
Twain Cottage - Common room.

Time to rip the band-aid off at Twain.

He saw Bloodhound, Hardnose, Playback, Bacon, Boltrunner, Arsi Khan, Sedrynnor, and Donut hanging, with Jimmy standing on the side and typing something into the device that contained Tavi.

That is a lot of freshmen back, I wonder what kind of tales they have from their Christmas break? Donut's pastries as rewards in a card game, are you trying to encourage cheating to win those?

Oh boy, Playback first to bring up his cheek, and Vic points out it isn't just his cheek. That is one way to get everyone's attention. RAs Zephr and Shaggy, nice to see them still around. Toby, aka Sedrynnor, knew about the avatar thing, but the extent of the changes, oof. Ouch, so many things Vic has to leave out to keep the Syndicate scholarship a secret and over worry about how the guys would react to his spirit being female.

Vic, you need to stop thinking you are a freak because of these changes.

“Think that’s cool, Vic,” Playback said.

“Yeah, it could be worse,” Bloodhound agreed.

“I guess I should say welcome to the club,” Hardnose added with a bemused smirk.

These guys are good friends. But Bacon, he needs some lessons on tact! Oh boy, almost a fight broke out until Shaggy and Zephr called them out.

“There’s no need to argue, dudes,” Shaggy said, in his usual friendly and relaxed tone. He moved over to Vic and put a hand on his shoulder. “What we have here is a friend that is suddenly going through some changes, much like everyone here is. Some of us did it more drastically than others, others just developed superpowers, but we’ve all been through some changes, right? I mean even if you weren’t a mutant, you would be going through puberty, feeling your body grow hair in different places, your voice crack, and other things …” he let his voice trail off as he eyed the awkwardness the subject brought to the other kids.

Hehe, using awkwardness to get them to forget why they almost fought in the first place. Shaggy has gotten to be a good mediator.

“So try to make things better for your friend,” Shaggy said, tapping Vic’s shoulder. “And you don’t need to worry about what you become, because you’ll still be you. And, if you ever need help or someone to talk to, you have your friends, your teachers. And us, your RA buddies, to help you out. Isn’t that right, Zephyr?”

See, Vic, support system and friends all around.

Ooo, what video game console does Playback have, and what kind of games with it? Jimmy breaks the news to M3, so it is easier for Vic, good, and less stressful for Vic. Yeah, some periods just feel like they are longer because of what you experience. No one enjoys coming out about anything they fear will make others treat them differently. Seriously, Vic needs to see Dr. Bellows ASAP. The Blackbell Hotel, how people treated him because of his GSD, isn't right.

Worthy of, Vic, people do things for you because they care about you, not because you are worthy of them or not. Toby gets to learn about Ner. Vic, start from the beginning. It's a very good place to start. Aww, pretend like nothing changed, that will buy Vic a few hours.

Saturday, January 7th - 1:11pm
Crystal Hall

The bulk of the students are back, I wonder how many got 'vacation brain' over the short break? I wonder how big M3 will grow by the time the core group graduates in 4 years. Laura and Bianca chat about the news of Vic's changes, and Jimmy confirms them. Tavi! Don't be rude about Vic. Erica found out as she pried it out of Vic while they played an online game together, so Cally finds out through Erica.

“Guess that means we have another off-colored member for our group,” Bianca noted. “Though, did you say he has white parts?”

“He’s trying to steal your thing,” Cally noted with amusement.

No one could steal Bianca's thing. And they have to wait for Vic to find out why he is changing further.

“Tavi shall not be silenced!” the digital ferret squeaked, producing a megaphone to scream through. “But Tavi will be nice,” he said smugly as its attention became suddenly drawn to Laura’s tablet as the blue girl appeared distracted.

Tavi, you are like an annoying little brother who has to be taught a lesson from time to time. Vic and Tanya approach the table, and all eyes are on them, eep.

Ah, how it all started with a full hand of broken fingers too fast for Vic's known powers to account for. Wait, her species is more like tritons from D&D than some other aquatic species, interesting. The so-called "heroes", I hope the authorities did something beyond them being barred from the event, I can't recall if they did. A spirit compatible with your existing powers is lucky to gain. Imagine if it were a fire spirit, Vic. So many things Vic has to be careful about to prevent the changes from spreading faster; not getting badly injured, not pushing his powers, is there anything else I'm forgetting?

No magic class just yet, at least give him the book from the beginner course to help him out. Thulia calls the pendant impressive, which means it is a great magical item. Bianca analyzed the pendant's magic quickly; her spirit gives her some impressive abilities.

“That’s not fair,” Laura frowned.

“Lucky,” Bianca said, though lacking apprehension in her tone.

But Laura, you can make your own gadget or devise-based disguise for yourself.

“You can count on any of us,” Morgana agreed while Thulia licked her lips with daring curiosity.

Thulia, restrain yourself, no taking it apart to analyze.

Oh boy, the question of how Vic changed so much in a couple of weeks comes up.

“I think I trained a little bit too hard before going on a break and… stuff happened during it,” Vic said.

Good friends don't pry. Tavi! Give Laura back control of her tablet, you said you would be nice. A pending list of people to find out, Gwen at the top, please don't let Derek be there when he explains. Tanya, you goof, no wearing the glamour pendant for fun. A projector for the clubhouse, a perfect addition.

Friday, January 13th - 10:23pm
Doyle

Vic wasn’t really surprised when he heard Doctor Gutierrez mention that some of the more common occurrences included concussions, scrapes and cuts from BMA encounters that went out of hand not to mention byproducts of poorly calibrated lab tests such as burns or even shrapnel. Heck, last month during the combat finals he bore witness to some of the more gruesome incidents that might paint Whateley as a school for little psychos.

Those Combat Finals incidents were major outliers, Vic. Safe is a relative term, Vic. Think of what the people outside of Whateley, the bigots, etc., would want to do to you compared to just the bullies and idiots at Whateley.

The bones in his feet had grown slightly bigger than the previous record, about five millimeters, while the leg’s tendons bore mismatch marks in terms of tensile strength as a result of the ongoing process, even taking into account standard growth. His toes appeared to be getting reinforced. Not that he could be surprised as, in his memory of the meeting, Ner stood on the balls of her feet, like he’d seen with some of the animal-type GSD cases

Give the poor boy a break already! Footwear troubles, seesh, he is going to need a lot of custom clothing at this rate. Pastel, you wouldn't like a real zombie apocalypse.

Pastel! You don't just tell someone to do that, boy or girl.

“Hey, welcome to the freak club,” Pastel smirked. “We have cookies. Or would you prefer fish flakes? Don’t worry I don’t judge, my best friend likes raw mice.”

“I think that’ll be enough, Pastel,” Doctor Gutierrez said from her office door.

Pastel, you aren't a receptive empath, are you? So you don't know how someone will react to cruel jokes and teasing. Thus, knock it off! Of course, she knows about the blood control thing from the Sterling incident. Pastel, just go back to Whitman. And no nicknames like that for Vic!

“Pastel… is promising. Skilled in healing and empathic enough to actually care for others.” Doctor Gutierrez sighed once the girl was gone. “Her bedside manner still needs a bit of work.”

Seesh, only Doctor House has worse bedside manners from what I've seen.

“I still find the winter term incredibly weird… having regular BMA replaced to add weapons and yet most of the time everyone just feels as though they’re improvising on their own time.”

Shoot, I would want to learn at least a few weapons if I went to Whateley. Roped into 'Intro to Fabrication', which is a useful class, Vic. No ballistics in the class, sounds like fun for non-Gadgeteers and Devisors who want to know how to build things.

That is a simple examination room? Fidget toy is a padlock, you were destined to take the 'Intro to Fabrication' class. Blood is 51% water, I knew it was high, but dang. Special permission for a trial to test Vic's ability to manipulate blood; this is serious.

“Are you interested in using it?”

“I…” Vic paused for a moment. “I’m not.”

“That’s good,” she said as she poured a transparent liquid into a beaker and, using a pipette, began to drip some bits of blood onto a petri dish. “Doctors have even more of an ability to harm than the regular person. Knowing how the body works also means that we have a cheatsheet on how to make it stop working. With a power like that, the best I can hope for is that you have a strong moral compass and the knowledge to deal with things.”

There is a reason Bloodbending on Avatar: The Last Airbender was considered so overpowered and dangerous.

This is a special test Lifeward requested, good, we don't want that creep in the Syndicate finding out about Vic's ability to manipulate blood. You don't want attention from the higher-ups in the Syndicate, they would insist he get training on using that power for assassinations. Practice keeping two liquids separate. Vic is just full of surprises.

“You do have the ability to control blood. Not bad. Most of the blood cells are intact, even if one or two appear to have burst. That was probably out of applied pressure.”

“It was pretty different. It wasn’t much like I was controlling the blood as much as it was manipulating the container. Like handling a glass canister.”

It almost sounds like Vic was more focused and able to tap into a skill he can't normally use, but can in life-or-death situations, such as the time with Sterling or the time he kept his own blood flowing to save his life. So many things why it could be different this time.

Next is the test Lifeward wanted Dr. Gutierrez to administer. A transparent gel arm, I hope those are fake bones too, Vic.

“We get these from an advanced hospital in Maine. They’re normally used for practicing injections and proper tourniquets. So this’ll be the last test of the day,” she said, moving the arm closer to Vic’s side of the table. “Come on, touch it.”

Vic did, effectively, he could feel the limb pulsate as the blood flowed, softly twitching under his fingertips, made only more eerie by the clearly fake gelatinous skin.

Do those exist in our world? Please say they do, I want more hospitals to train nurses how to draw blood with them. Gah! That is one hell of a test, such pressure not to fail for Vic. He has to hold the blood in while she goes to get gauzes and bandages, arrggh. The technique Vic came up with is perfect for him to use; despite Gutierrez's comment, he won't always be where saline solution is available to work with.

Friday, January 13th - 5:21pm
Crystal Hall

“In the end, she lied about it being rare O negative blood. It was just synthesized A type,” Vic answered as he flipped around his notes, though he had no intention of actually reading them.

Oh, I could give her such a pinch for getting Vic all stressed out about wasting such valuable and rare blood. Only Vic and Tanya are at M3's table; where is everyone else?

“Well, the whole blood bending thing is kinda inconclusive, or rather inconsistent, as the test proved. The doctor says that, if the ability is there, it’ll fully develop naturally, so she has me noted as a backup member. So in the meantime, she thinks that my power has uses such as the management of fluids, using fine control for things like suturing and so on. She even suggested some sort of therapeutic massage treatment.”

I could go for one of those therapeutic massage treatments. Rats, still needs a school job unless he gets better at blood manipulation.

Tanya's father is doing better, at least there is some good news. Wait, how did Caro, aka Malefis, find herself looking normal? She didn't use her magic to do that, did she?

“Yeah. She’s developed a bit of an attitude that doesn’t mesh well with the others,” Tanya said looking up at Vic’s way.

Oh no, don't say she is reverting to how she was in her old high school. *facepalms* Tanya doesn't want Vic to fall in with the Syndicate because people in the outside world start to go after him. Vic, even if your spirit wasn't changing you, things change with time; they can't remain one way always. The date, uh oh, Tanya having stuff with the Parkour club and FSoA, I hope Vic doesn't get depressed over this.

Sunday, January 15th - 4:03pm
Tunnels

FSoA meeting ending earlier, Vic wandering the tunnels and hoping not to get lost. Oh, yeah, I forgot Ner described herself as a 'neotriton'. Ack! You should have told Tanya it was your birthday today, happy 15th, Vic. Oh god, to have his mother call and say she will be home to celebrate his birthday with him, only to be left home alone and wondering where she was. No answer from his Mom's work team, a call to the police, and they had one come over to stay with him while they investigated. To hear his mom had perished on his birthday, good lord. This is a nightmare situation for any kid, to lose their parent, and to have his father, who barely showed up 2-3 times a year, come and take him to his new 'home'.

The memories of all that, no wonder Vic is such a mess. Vic, the What Ifs will drive you crazy if you don't learn to let them go. Oh no, wandering down the next interesting tunnel is how you ended up lost in the tunnels before. The third level of the tunnels, closer to Emerson, so no instabilities in the area, thank you. A former gated doorway, hhm. Wait, where did Vic just end up to have his eardrums pop?

Someone is arguing with a student named Peter, who opened a bathroom faucet. This is an unusual section of the tunnels. Is Vic in part of the Workshops? Sophomores from Emerson, is Vic right, though? Trevor and Will, this argument is inane. Giselle, uh oh, this is starting to sound like a group Vic wants no part of.

“That sounds awfully unlikely,” The guy, Will, said. “For starters, this space is under Bohemian jurisdiction. Didn't you read the 'do not enter' sign?”

Oh brother, not this group of dysfunctional idiots. They are moving bases. Does the school staff know about this, and just stating you have jurisdiction over an area means squat without proof of ownership at Whateley.

They are turning this space into a clubhouse; they have fallen on hard times. Vic offers to give them help, anything to distract himself. Will, you have some ego to refuse help. At least Peter recognizes how useful water manipulation is for their current issue. Sounds like a huge clubhouse; how has no one else gained this before now?

“Bohemian property… actually, we think that the previous members commissioned the expansion of this area without their knowledge. We just got lucky by buying this place off them at a discount,” Peter said as they carried on down one of the hallways.

Hhm, why would the Bohemians sell this place so cheap?

Good, Peter knows when to pull the shoe out of his mouth. A stagnation that clogged the drain, yuck! Down to a drip from a constant high stream, I hope Vic didn't push his powers to do that. I would have loved to have that trick with water that Vic just did in the past. Will Crossby, Peter Ramsey, but what is Trevor's last name? Whiskey and his group, this is bad news, get out of there, Vic!

I can't believe Will just let Vic know what kind of club they are opening, they will get caught and be in a lot of trouble for this. Good, Vic, don't start drinking at your age, it will lead to nothing but trouble. Vic, I know you don't want to be alone with your thoughts, but you should go find your friends, not hang out with this group.

Sunday, January 15th - 10:10pm
Elsewhere in the Tunnels

Okay, getting goosebumps here, this description has me worried. This place is sounding more and more like a location from a horror movie.

For Mew, who had been born underground and sent off to make a life of its own, it was home in spite of itself.. A creature of unknown origin, of high intellect and a bevy of abilities, and yet all its days were spent confined underground.

Aww, it's Mew, I wondered when we would see them again.

A shadowy figure emerged from the dark. Cloaked in shades that concealed green and gold auras, with slits of light that represented the eyes.

Who is this woman, and did she create Mew?

Sorry I was out… but thou knowest I do not tarry for long. I have things to do, places to go and people to be… but it’s been a moon cycle or two, hasn’t it?” She reached down to caress the animal’s head. Magical energies flitted around from their contact.

I hope she is friend and not foe to those at Whateley. Such a strange location for Mew to linger in.

“Was I missed? Thou knowest that I’m a friend, not thy keeper,” she said with a comforting voice.

She is a kind soul. Mew, she is right, you need to make some friends. How about starting with Vic?

“Ah well… want me to share a tale with you?” She mused. “Maybe my recent travel to the Balkans, where a young girl was afflicted by a rat’s curse-”

It just responded pointing at the screen with its paw.

“Or, thou wouldst just want to see a movie.” The visitor sat down on the dusty sofa, with the feline creation quickly climbing on her lap, purring and stretching before settling down.

Mew is as much a cat as any cat born that way. Kiki's Delivery Service, so perfect to watch with Mew.

“Me? I just come and go. I have to depart to see the master of the House… but I shall be back to meet up with my ward soon. See how much she has relished these past few days.” The entity mused. “Perhaps you’d be interested in being her familiar, wouldn’t you? A child created with a bit of my essence, paired up with my paladin. A classic trace of fate…”

Wait a minute. Is this woman Grimma in physical form or is she insinuating that she created Grimma with a bit of her essence and paired her with Caro?

I'm glad Vic has so many friends willing to support him and be there to help him through his changes. Doctor Gutierrez's help will be critical to keeping him stable and figuring out which way his changes are going. Though the trick with the blood in the fake arm, way to stress out a kid who is already very stressed out, doc.

The Twain kids, except Bacon, are all good kids. Bacon needs lessons in tact ASAP before he ends up ticking off someone he can't handle or survive. The M3 kids, I can't believe they made those jokes, at least Vic took it in stride. Pastel, well, she is Pastel, and I doubt that will change anytime soon.

I know Vic's birthday is connected to a very traumatic memory. But I wish he had opened up to his friends and not decided to go it alone that day. I only hope that Whiskey and his crew don't drag Vic down and get him addicted to alcohol as a coping mechanism. He is a good kid who doesn't realize he isn't a burden and should let others help him.

Mew is adorable and smart. I hope we see more of him in the future. The mystery woman, I put my guesses in as to who she might be in the last part of the story comments. But are there other options besides those two that I could be overlooking?

I can't wait for the next story with Vic and the rest of M3.

Vic taking stock of his changes (and providing convenient exposition). Not as far as he feared, not as minimal as he hoped. Perhaps the Imp will have some suggestions for him on the proper care of scales.
I get the feeling that Lifeward is aware of the history of mutations resulting in gender changes. She's probably saying as little as she can about it to avoid freaking Vic out. At least he'll have a support system if he shares the news with his team (or his sister).
Speaking of Gwen, I wonder how Dereck's influence on Sophia (and the resulting backfire) will influence his relationship with Gwen.

Filling the rest of M3 in on what happened - It'll be a necessary evil, but one that will pay dividends if things take a turn for the strange. I wonder if Security will be bringing him in for a (non)standard debrief, as he had more adventure than your average student.
Vic was frugal in his use of the necklace - the Imp would be proud.

At least Twain is familiar with greater (and lesser) GSD, so it's probably much better than the reactions he might have gotten as a mellvillain. And Jimmy is helping prep the rest of M3 for the basic GSD part of the change. That's what teammates are for. And continuing with the bandaid ripping, Toby is let in on the greater GSD aspect. Hopefully things will stay calm enough.

Filling in M3 on the dirt. I get trying to downplay just what led to the drastic changes, but they are smart cookies, and some of them will add two and two together to get four, sooner or later. Good news is they care about who you are for you, not what you look like.

And now the news that Vic's feet are being affected. I suspect the injury and subsequent healing that was done at silent mountain was the ball that started changes rolling, and Vic's going to have to see them through.
Pastel's humor feels a bit off, but it's probably part of how she copes with her unique looks.
Dr. Gutierrez seems to have been fully read in on Vic's situation. Makes me wonder if he might not be ex-syndicate. Intro to fabrication. I doubt Vic has a latent 'G' on his MID, but it does seem like an oddly useful skill with his water bending.
A man's moral compass is his gift to himself. As Dr. Gutierrez said, having skills with blood bending is a serious double edged sword. I don't want to consider the circumstances where it may be necessary to use it again.
And Vic's secret danger rating just went up a notch with that test. Being able to manipulate the blood in that way is actually somewhat impressive.
The simulation with the arm feels like he was thrown in on the deep end. Better to learn how to use the skills here than on an actual victim. Perhaps Morgana will have some insights on what it's like on the fringes of the medical profession. (Certainly Vic would have been useful if two dragon girls happened to come in with severe bleeding)

Tanya joking about Vic and the Syndicate. If you want to be a couple, you'll need to come clean about that at some point. I would argue that there is a place for a 'trusted' intermediary to act as a back channel between the Syndicate and whatever the local brand of superheros is.

Vic lost in his memories. I can see how birthdays would be problematic for him.
And Vic stumbles on someone's clubhouse. The bohemians?
Survey says, yes. I thought I recognized the name 'Giselle'. I wonder why they're moving their clubhouse. Vic, as Doughnut would tell you, you don't want to get involved with them.
Ok, not the Bohemians, but someone just as bad, if not worse. I'm hoping Vic realizes the sort of bad news Crosby is, but the title of the story makes me suspect otherwise. I suppose I can't blame Vic for feeling a bit off.

I wonder who created the pet Mew. I'd have guessed Pet Shop, but the speaking style of the mistress doesn't feel right. I'm going to guess Summoner (from Lady of the Ring - had to look back to find who she was), as the location and skill set feel right. At least she has good tastes in movies.