A Second Generation Whateley Academy Adventure

Baiting the Hook

by

MaLAguA

 

 

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

“We’re almost there,” were the words that broke Vic from the droning daydream into which the passing scenery had lulled him.

He stirred, stifling a yawn. The prospect of going back to Whateley, for better or worse, had robbed him of a couple of hours of sleep last night and his body had picked the car ride through the serene woodlands of New Hampshire to reclaim them. “Sorry… I must’ve zoned out,” he said, stretching to sit up properly in the passenger’s seat.

“I too usually take time between commutes to rest,” Caroline Kythe, Lifeward, said from the driver’s seat. “I was just saying that we’re drawing close to the school.”

“Great.” Vic’s voice straddled the line between excitement and sarcasm to come across as neutral as he looked down at his hands, one of the many new developments from the break.

What had begun as a small anomaly, a simple discoloration on his fingers and quick healing a month ago, had devolved into a whole condition that couldn’t be easily masked. Courtesy of the spirit that had caught a ride within him when he crashed into that old ornament of stone and metal back in Massachusetts, his hands were now a greenish hue–viridian, was what Caroline had described–and a mixture of scales and microscales was starting to creep its way up past the elbow. With his nails growing thicker and the changes evening out on both halves of his body, it looked like he was wearing rather fancy costume prosthetics.

That wasn’t the case, though, as he could feel the air from the AC blowing up against them and, with a twitch of the new tiny muscles that weren’t there before, webbing stretched itself from between the digits.

“How are you faring?” Caroline asked.

“Think it could be worse…” He would’ve been more upset if it hadn’t been for Josh’s joke about how much worse it could’ve been. In the month after he found out about the changes, he done some research. The idea of becoming something aquatic drove him down the rabbit hole of deep sea marine life… Needless to say, there were FAR too many things he was luckily not turning into.

But there was also the dream on New Years, when he met the spirit within him. “I’m glad that I at least got to see what Ner looks like.” It really took a load off his back to know that he probably wouldn’t be turning into a blobfish. “I just hope the guys of her species are not that different from humans.”

“Heh… yeah,” Caroline said. If he’d paid attention, her tone would’ve prompted concern, so she was quick to carry on. “It’s a developing thing, so Doyle will be monitoring you. The usual precautions.”

Vic nodded.

“Have you heard from the spirit since New Year’s?” Caroline continued.

“Not really. It’s all been quiet…” Vic watched one car or another pass by, feeling safe and reassured behind the polarized windows.

“I suppose we’ll find more answers as time comes. No point worrying over it. We just prepare.”

“Yep…” Vic sighed as he gazed out the windows at the passing road. To think that, just weeks ago, he’d stood at the school’s gates, with his luggage in tow, waiting to be picked up for the Syndicate test. The question of whether he would be allowed to come back to Whateley or not was clear and center in his mind, while the concerns of his own changes were slowly gnawing at the side.

A lot had happened since; it felt like months and yet it didn’t feel long enough. Picked up by Cole, he had been sent with a group of young initiates or candidates to the villain base of Silent Mountain where they would undertake the real trial. Crossing through the Canadian wilds, they’d made it to the designated location just an hour or so after a group of disgruntled employees orchestrated a heist of the place… A whole domino of problems got kicked off and it was a fight for everyone’s life as they took a stand against the enemy, keeping them from escaping and preventing the base’s reactor meltdown.

Once the problems began, Vic had been caught by surprise and stabbed in the stomach. The perpetrator, a power mimic that went by ‘Rival’ threw him down onto the bathroom floor as he took his powers and image. Thinking back, even getting his mind tangentially close to that moment got Vic to sweating, his breath left him and he started to feel the strain in his heart. He really thought he was going to die… that it would be a slow death as he contemplated everyone he would be leaving behind.

Push past that. Just forget about it, he thought to himself. It would’ve been the end of him if the spirit dwelling within hadn’t made herself present to offer aid. He knew that wounds sustained would accelerate the changes, but he refused to die. The entity did so, seemingly sacrificing a lot of her integrity to ensure his wound closed, and he was able to see the fight to the end.

Still, the winter holiday was over. All of it, for good and for ill. Silent Mountain. His stay at Caroline's place. The drama with her daughter Sophie, who'd been listening to her big brother Dereck on too many things. Getting the ever-loving crap beaten out of him by some wannabe capes while trying to get Sophie into a convention to see her dad, the hero Megaton. The GSD was crap frosting on a turd cake, really.

But Caroline was there to help him, to reassure him that GSD didn't have to be the end of everything. She'd even gotten him a glamour necklace to hide the changes. That wouldn't solve the underlying problem, however and whatever he turned out to be by the end of the semester, but it diluted the panic and made it easier to talk about his condition.

“And… there’s Whateley,” Caroline announced as the school came within view. The car slowed as it approached the compound. However, rather than stopping at the pick up/drop off point by the large wrought-iron gates, she steered them towards the large parking lot, slowing the car’s pace as it joined the short queue, stopped only by a student’s parent arguing with security.

“I thought you were going to just drop me off.”

“I am. I just have other matters to attend to,” Caroline said.

“Going to check on Dereck?” Vic could still hardly believe that Caroline was related to him, bouncing between disbelief and veiled pity.

“I wish,” she said, somewhat longingly but punctuating it with a sigh. “But Dereck is a teen, and they would rather be found pantsed in front of the girl they like before having their mom set foot in their cottage. I know how boys are and, from what I’ve seen and heard of his buddies, they would probably tease him to no end.”

Vic only nodded. Although he could very clearly see that being the attitude some of the guys in Twain would probably have, he had half a mind to reject it if that happened to apply to him. If his mom were to show up to drop him off, he wasn’t sure what he would do. He meant it as both good and bad extremes.

Still, personal hang ups aside, he wanted to continue the conversation with a question, but Caroline just carried on.

“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.”

“Must be quite awkward,” Vic mumbled as his eyes strayed down to his fingers, the digits that had been rendered green because of the changes. Caressing them was still a surreal thing as they felt just as normal, but at the same time different from the usual, in a way that it was hard to define. Questions about how it would spread, how it would affect anything under skin level and if he would even survive the change popped up into his mind. Questions that weren’t new but still lacked an answer. “But it wasn’t your fault.”

“I disagree… Have you told your friends about it?” Caroline asked, interrupting his mental wanderings.

“No… Won’t tell them about the stab. The changes, though…” Vic admitted. Well, with the exception of Tanya, but the general gist was that no one knew.

“It’s going to be an awkward topic…”

“Yep…” Vic felt the developing muscles in his ears twitch. It’d been a couple of weeks since he noticed them begin to deform, growing cartilage protrusions he could manipulate. It certainly matched the growing patch on his right cheek. “It’s going to be awkward. I knew I should’ve asked Tanya to prep the way.”

“Well… it’s always like a band-aid. Just rip it off. There’s no real point in hiding it unless you feel like hyping up the situation.” Caroline steered the car towards an open slot. “Not that you can keep it hidden all the time.”

“I know… It’s just so awkward.” A groan wanted to escape his lips.

“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.”

“I guess.” Vic nodded as he unhooked the seatbelt. “Doesn’t make it any better.”

“It never does.” Caroline said. As she opened her door, she chimed in. “But, did you have a fun time this break? The life threatening incidents aside.”

The first week notwithstanding, the past couple of days had been great, actually getting to have a normal life, of enjoying the comforts of a home. After the New Year's incident, Sophie had grown more welcoming by taking in Vic’s help and banishing the original hostility she met him with and just offered to spend more casual time together.

It almost made him look forward to the summer break.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves… he thought. The last thing he wanted was to be a bother for the Kythes.

Still, Vic nodded as he got out of the car. “I did.”

“That’s the spirit,” Caroline said as she noted the sad smile on his face. “Now, off you go. Time to yank that band-aid.”

“Yeah…” Vic reached into his pocket where the glamour necklace was–his belated Christmas present, a simple thin metallic slate wrapped with a black cord. Putting it on would make him look like his normal self at the expense of some of its magic charge. It was what had allowed him to leave Caroline’s house at all, the past several days.

But only a couple of times. He’d been very conservative in using it, preferring more often than not to avoid going out rather than risk himself., He’d been told the pendant was still in need of fine tuning and could have some kinks and flaws.

Even though Caroline assured him that it was a very rare occurrence, it was the thought of the possibility that stuck with him, certainly enough to take hold of his dream that night. He would be out at the mall in Berlin, doing something normal, like buying a drink from the coffee shop, only for both him and the cashier to see his green hand paying for it. Panic would ensue as people called him out as a mutant, calling the police or a team of vigilantes to beat him up.

“Just a leftover from New Year’s Eve,” Vic told himself as he looked at the glamour necklace. There was a temptation to use it, to leave the car and act as though everything was fine, but it would be a waste, especially when he would eventually need to come clean and ask for people to charge the enchanted item for him–not to mention that some of the girls in the M3 table would probably be able to see through it.

Taking a deep breath, Vic pocketed the necklace before exiting the car.

“Ripping it off,” he said as he got out in the open with his altered skin exposed. He knew there would be many awkward talks and looks; he just needed to get them over with fast.

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

A part of Vic wished he could’ve kept on wandering around the school with Caroline just to put off the awkwardness to come, but there was no doubt that, eventually, he would need to get to his room in Twain and face the music. So it was best to rip off the bandage, as he’d been telling himself.

It wasn’t long after Vic bid farewell to Caroline that he walked up to the front of Twain Cottage, taking a couple of steps into the common room.

Unsurprisingly, there were people about, moving their luggage, catching up on the break and so on. And in the corner of the space, was a group of freshmen, his year’s class. 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.

They were playing a card game, using Donut’s pastries as rewards, talking amongst themselves over multiple things about some of the games that they could play. Vic’s ears twitched as he heard them discussing using the common room’s screen to play some video games. He would’ve been interested in joining the conversation.

Still, having played out the potential order of events in his head since he got the news from Doctor Gutierrez, he knew what would come to happen when he stepped up into the common room.

Naturally, some heads turned to look his way. Playback’s ears twitched his way and he was the first to greet him.

“Hey, Vic.”

“Welcome back.”

“What 's up?”

Some just answered acknowledging his presence and giving him a wave.

“Hey guys,” Vic said as he approached them. It was then that one or two picked up on something.

“What’s that on your cheek?” Playback asked, getting people to follow at what was being pointed.

Vic took a deep breath. Of course, there was no ignoring the scales with their change of color, from the knife’s scarring, his fight with Rival had left him. “Actually,” he said as he stopped by the group. “It’s not just on my cheek.”

And with that, he took off his coat just so they could see the change that was spreading upwards on his arms. If the game hadn’t stopped by the time someone pointed out the mark on his cheek, it definitely did when they saw the green and white scales on his arms.

“What the heck?” Bloodhound gasped.

“Oh wow,” Donut added.

“Yeah,” Vic said, running his hand over the modified arm. That drew in the attention of those that knew or had at least exchanged a couple of words with him. Jimmy took a couple of steps closer to get a better look while, in the hallway, the RAs Zephyr and Shaggy checked in to find the excitement going on in the corner..

“As it turns out,” he continued. “My powers had a second thing added to them that I never noticed until late last year. I have an avatar trait and a spirit that had been lying dormant all this time. Whenever I tap into its powers without knowing, I change a little bit more.”

“Oh dang, Vic,” Toby, Sedrynnor, blurted out, with the glazed donut about to fall off his hand. Of course, being his roommate, he was quite aware of the whole avatar matter. His surprise came from the sudden progression of the changes.

“No way… for real?” Bloodhound mentioned. “How did you not notice this was happening to you?”

“Well, it’s a bit of a long story,” was Vic’s copout answer. While he’d mentally rehearsed the reactions and the answers, it was questions that were tangentially related that he knew were coming but hadn’t really come up with his own evasive answers. For example, details about how he changed based on a healing spell would lead to them asking how he got injured, and he wasn’t really in the mood of telling the tale of how he got beat up by four grown men on New Year’s eve, much less got stabbed on Christmas Eve. The same thing went for the nature of his spirit. Telling them that she was female might make them think he was going to turn sissy, trans or gay– in any situation, a target for mockery.

Still, the answer left a lingering silence as people waited for him to expand upon it. Fortunately, to some it was clear that he wasn’t going to answer.

“Sorry to hear that, Vic,” Donut said. He offered Vic a pastry while Jimmy moved in, without a word said, to put a hand on his shoulder in support.

This was a situation that made a knot in Vic’s stomach: being the focus of people’s attention, be it sympathy or distaste. Memories flashed back to him, both old and new. The more recent example was back in the Blackbell Hotel, where everyone could see him for what he was, a freak, a deviant. Someone who looked out of place and needed to be dealt with in some way or form. Something he hadn’t experienced much before… but that he would be dealing with, just out of first impressions, from now on.

Not that the group present here was even close to attacking him, but the discomfort was there. He just wanted the situation to be over with and move on. “So, yeah, that’s about it. I have progressive GSD.”

“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.

“Heh… yeah, welcome to the club,” Bacon reaffirmed, punctuating it with an oink. “I mean, we should’ve known, two pretties rooming together in Twain? That felt off, didn’t it?” He tried to get the others to join in on his joke, but that only got a couple of chuckles. “So, what are you turning into? Is it something like the creature of the black lagoon? You’ll get to enjoy some of the ostracizijining, ostraciation… the rejection some of us get.”

“Hey, dude. That’s not cool.” Bloodhound’s muzzle flaps pulled back into a growl.

“Don’t make things worse,” Donut told him.

“He’s not wrong,” Hardnose scoffed, crossing his arms. “There’s no sugar-coating it. None of us asked for this shit. So he’s going to get it just as we all do.”

“You’re being rude.” Arsi looked almost ready to throw hands and start a fight..

“Hey! Hey! Hey!” All heads turned to look at Shaggy the RA, as he approached the crowd. His partner on the job, Zephyr of the raven wings and talons, lingered a couple of steps behind. Their presence put a stop to the would-be argument, quickly capturing everyone’s attention

“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.

After giving a mixture between a smirk and an awkward smile, he continued: “My point is, every one of us remembers what it was like, don’t we? When we began to develop in one way or another, finding ourselves in that awkward moment of when we just didn’t want to be the lightning rod of attention, didn't we?”

The students gave back a subdued yes, though the ones that Shaggy and Zephyr were waiting for belonged to Hardnose and Bacon, who frowned and looked away shortly after giving their answer.

“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?”

“Uh… right.” Zephyr awkwardly answered.

“Good, good,” Shaggy nodded. “Now, we can call this matter settled, right?”

“Yeah,” The boys agreed in unison.

“Say, Vic, wanna play a game?” Playback said. “We were looking for players.”

“Sure,” Vic conceded while inwardly sighing relief that the matter was over. “Just let me go to my room and get my stuff set up.”

“We were planning the fun for the weekend,” Donut smiled.

“At least those of us finished with homework,” Arsi said, mostly looking in Bacon and Hardnose’s direction.

“Oh, Shaggy. I wanted to ask if we could connect my console to the common room’s TV,” Playback asked.

The RA nodded. “Oh, that should be easy enough, just let me prepare some stuff. Also, I do hope that you’re planning to let others join in.”

“You can play if you really want, dude.”

“Great!” Shaggy said, clapping as he moved out of the way.

And just like that, the conversations resumed as before, letting Vic slink out of the metaphorical spotlight, letting himself take a breath as he grabbed his bag and began to pull it back to his room as he had said before.

But he wasn’t doing the trip alone as Toby quickly got up and offered to tag along. And not far behind, Jimmy trotted to catch up to them.

“Vic,” Jimmy began once they made it into the hallway. “I’m sorry, I can’t imagine.”

“Yeah, same here,” Vic answered. “Unfortunately, there was no way around it.”

“And when did this happen?”

“The spirit possession? Before I got into the school. The news about the change? November,” Vic summarised. “Only Tanya and Toby knew.”

“I’m his roommate, after all,” Toby noted as they reached their room. “It was quite telling when he was concerned about it.”

“I still am,” Vic admitted, trying to chuckle. “But I’m going to have to tell the rest of M3. If you could break the news to them, that would be helpful.”

“Alright, I’ll send them a message or two.” Jimmy said tapping on a hard light keyboard while Tavi looked over his shoulder making suggestions about wording. “I’ll see you later.”

“Thanks, Jimmy,” Vic said just before his friend turned around the corner.

And not a moment too soon as Toby opened the door, letting him drag his luggage back into his room in Twain. Just like he left it before the winter break. He could still remember himself building up the two bags just before his trip to the test that was the Silent Mountain base. It was corny to say that it felt like that was a year ago, but the distance was really felt. Maybe because he’d been through a lot.

Toby’s luggage was on his bed, something that he quickly noticed. “Ah! Sorry. I was gonna sort it out later and forgot about it.” Still, he was quick to move over and, with some help, moved the stuff over to his side of the room

“Honestly, I can’t believe you changed that much in a couple of weeks.”

“Yeah, me neither,” with a bit of a sarcastic smile. How could he tell his friend that he got stabbed and beaten up within a week’s span? “My stomach and arms are now colored green, white and bits of black.”

“Really?”

“Eh, I guess everyone will see it.”

Vic dragged the two bags to the foot of the bed before letting them go and instead letting himself collapse on the mattress as he exhaled a sigh of relief. “But it’s over now. At least, here… I still have to tell my friends at the M3 table and Gwen.”

“Don’t think it was that bad,” Toby said as he began unpacking and sorting.

“It’s the looks that upsets me. The stares,” Vic sighed as he spread his arms as his eyes drifted to the ceiling. “But, you’re sorta right. It wasn’t as bad as I expected it… but it wasn’t something I enjoyed.”

“Well, that happens to many GSD cases.”

“Yeah… I just never expected I would be dealing with this after manifesting,” Vic said as he held his hand up towards the ceiling, pulling out the webbing just to watch the light against the edges of the membrane. “I suppose once this is over things will go back to normal, right?”

“They will,” Toby assured, though Vic felt that he was just saying what he wanted to hear. Here in Whateley, things would be fine, but just thinking about outside gave him flashbacks of the incident in the Blackbell Hotel.

He shook that memory from his head and focused on the part where he was now back at school.

If he were being honest, a part of him had missed it here at Whateley, but another part was starting to miss his vacation time in Caroline’s residence.

“That was a freebie… a break, but not a set thing,” he told himself. Even though Caroline offered him a place to stay during the summer break, he didn’t want to think of himself as entitled to it. Not that she would go back on her word, but after all the trouble, she did a lot more for him than he felt himself worthy of.

His foot tapped his luggage, feeling it a little heavier than before. When he left home, it was during the summer, so traveling light made sense. But now that the weather had changed, and he lost his jacket in Silent Mountain, he was in dire need of some new pieces for his wardrobe. He could only thank Caroline for going ahead and buying him some winter clothes to help fatten his wardrobe.

“I did need the extra garments, even if I didn’t want to carry a lot,” he mumbled.

“Huh?” Toby asked as he was done stuffing his folded clothes into the drawers and sliding the hollowed bags under the bed.

“Nothing. I was just thinking to myself,” Vic said as he stretched on the bed and sat up.

“So, about your spirit. Is it still a question mark?”

“Actually, no,” Vic said. “There’s been some developments on that front. Maybe a bit too many. I actually got to see her form.”

“Her?”

“Yeah, kinda like yours, right?” Vic said looking at the ornament that rested on his nightstand, where Toby’s spirit, a Sidhe inhabited. “I got to talk to her in a dream over the New Year. I learned quite a lot, things that you wouldn’t believe.”

“And?” Toby blurted out after Vic trailed off in his answer. “You can’t just tell that and brush it off like that.”

“Sorry, it’s just that it’s a lot and I wouldn’t even know where to start,” Vic said as he pushed himself off the bed. “I’ll tell you eventually… but now, I just want to go to the common room to have fun and pretend like nothing has changed.”

Toby shook his head but agreed, following Vic out of their room.

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

Saturday at lunch time probably would count as the unofficial start of the school year, as the bulk of the students had arrived back there from their own breaks. By this point they had already mingled with their roommates and some of their cottagemates, now it was the time for them to meet up with their own cliques.

The M3 table wasn’t any different. Reserved by proactive students, it sat in a slot reserved for proper clubs and groups with status. Not that the members had a particular unified front when compared to the rest. They were actually quite varied in terms of background, interests and powers. Just friends met by chance that somehow decided to stick together, and they were only adding more oddballs as time went on.

Today, some of the members were already there, sharing in some of the news that went on and about.

“So…” Laura said, having taken her eyes off her tablet. “Is it real?”

“Apparently,” Bianca noted.

“I tell you, I wouldn’t have believed it hadn’t I seen it,” Jimmy noted. “As I told you, he has the scales on his arms and says they will spread out.”

“Fish boy,” Tavi, the holographic ferret snickered only to find its mouth disappear after Jimmy tapped on the device that projected it. That only got the virtual mustelid to squirm and run around, with its body, fortunately, not making that much of a ruckus.

“That wasn’t nice,” Cally noted,

“You two barely seemed surprised,” Jimmy noted.

“I heard from Erica,” Cally said.

And to that, Erica nodded. “I knew about it, but not by much. Just a couple of days before we got back to Whateley, we met up online to play a game. Then when I brought up the idea of resuming the training since the winter term is really intensive, I kinda ended up prying. I mean, he was already thinking of telling you so there probably wasn’t that much of a difference.”

“I don’t think that it’s much of an issue,” Morgana said. She was playfully caressing Thulia’s collarbone, getting the extra-foreign student to smile. “We all go through that, don’t we?”

“It doesn’t really feel like it counts when you’re basically a shifter,” Laura noted.

“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.

“Plus, it’s not like any one of us expected any further development, right?” Jimmy carried on. “I mean, once we manifest we don’t expect any sudden surprises.”

“It’s true,” Laura noted. “What brought this? Or was he changing really slow last year?”

“Well, he did say something on the matter, but it’s best to just wait for him.” Jimmy said as he tapped onto the device to enable Tavi’s speech.

“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.

“Anyway, he should be here soon. Once this is over, we can move onto other things,” Morgana said.

“I don’t get what’s the problem about scales,” Thulia noted. “Bet there’s something of interest there.”

“Speaking of which.” Jimmy pointed to the side as two figures approached the table.

Vic and Tanya were used to taking the backstage in these meetings, but now suddenly all eyes were on them. Naturally, they appeared uneasy at the slight silence that followed. Especially Vic.

Curiosity guided their eyes to the changes that were spilling out into the forefront. From the change of color around his hands and slipping up into his coat sleeves, to the slight markings that decorated parts of his face, to the way his ears took on a sort of a different outline if they were to focus long enough.

“Hey Vic,” Laura greeted as they took a seat. “So… new changes?”

“Jimmy and Tanya told us beforehand,” Bianca said. “Although it still doesn’t take away from the surprise.”

“Yeah.” Vic awkwardly rubbed his hands together. “Honestly, I had no idea how to go about it without making it even more uncomfortable for me.”

“No way out of it, that’s part of the rite. No way around it.” Morgana snickered. “So… how did it happen?”

“I don’t know,” Vic lied. “It began last year, before Thanksgiving. Where my hand was injured.”

“Ah, I remember that. You told us you got lost in the tunnels, right?” Calli said.

“Sorta,” Vic said. Unlike the first time he told the abridged version of the ring story, this time, they were paying attention.

“Yeah… He did,” Morgana was quick to agree. “Continue.”

“Anyway,” Vic said. “After that, Doctor Gutierrez took notice that I healed a full hand of broken fingers much faster than expected. So she began to take notes and schedule followup tests.”

“Ah, I remember those,” Erica noted, with Jimmy and Bianca nodding along.

“I had no idea.” Laura and some of the others looked surprised.

“So, what did they find?” asked Jimmy.

“A lot,” Vic noted. “The big one was that I was apparently an avatar without even knowing.”

“Really?” Bianca blinked. “How do you not realize that?”

“I didn’t know at the time. I still don’t know much…” Vic took a moment to draw his attention inwardly, wondering if Ner was there. There still appeared to be no answer, even if he felt a faint presence. “I’m still not able to talk to them like I’ve seen some other avatars do, but we’ve had our dreams cross more than once.”

“And what do you remember from that?” asked Erica.

An underwater city? A race of tritons? Magic? Pacing around lonely islands? There were many details and many clues that Vic could share. But until Ner would grow stronger, it was best to not speculate. “They’re blurry for the most part…. So I can’t tell.”

“Really?” Bianca wondered.

“Whatever their story is, I don’t know. Their consciousness was too scattered to tell me, but their essence has a mind of its own when it comes to helping.”

“So, that’s what fixed your broken fingers?”

“Yeah. It is a sort of healing factor that kicks in when I suffer injuries… moderate injuries, I guess. I didn’t really notice whenever I got bruised in BMA,” Vic noted. In the back of his mind, he couldn’t help but feel some anger boil within him as he thought of the beating he got at New Years. That just meant those guys put a whole lot more effort in causing him harm. “Not exactly regen, but just a slight boost needed to accelerate things. Think that might be the culprit for the physical changes, pretty much healing me to resemble the body the spirit used to have.” Vic said, holding out his hands, just so they could watch him grow the webbing between his fingers.

“So it’s an aquatic entity?” Thulia noted.

“That’s…” Laura began.

“Convenient? Lucky? Funny?” Vic managed to chuckle. “I thought about that. Not a fan of being ‘on brand’ but I guess it could’ve been worse.”

“So, anything else?” Morgana asked.

“Well, yeah,” Vic said. “According to the tests. I have a sort of ‘soft limit’ when using my powers. Once I reach that point, I begin drawing from the spirit’s own reserve, which is kinda how I’ve been pushing my power past my registered limit.”

“Ah… right. You were supposed to be a TK-2, right?” Tia noted.

“Yeah, though they kinda exaggerated my original power rating,” Vic admitted.

“But that causes the change to spread faster, doesn’t it?” Laura noted.

“The theory is that it does,” Vic said. “I haven’t tested it for obvious reasons. And outside of the power boost, there is also speculation that I may be developing my own magic.”

“Wow,” Bianca noted.

“Impressive,” Laura said. The sentiment was echoed by the people at the table.

“Sounds like you’re getting a big boost.” Jimmy noted.

“That’s still quite a lot,” Erica noted. “And how are you holding up?”

“As best as I can be,” Vic said. By now, he’d had enough time and enough experience to at least try to project a more positive outlook. He still didn’t like where things were going, but he was managing. “It also helps that I have help from you all…” were the words stuck in his tongue. Too cheesy.

“So. Are we going to see you in magic class?” Morgana said.

“Not sure. I still can’t do anything on my own,” Vic said as he reached into his pocket. “But, speaking of which. I was wondering if I could have some help,” he said as he pulled out the glamour necklace.

“What is that?” Laura asked. To her, it was just a simple nondescript slate of metal at first sight, but to the mages within the group, it drew some attention.

“Ooh, that’s impressive,” Thulia said, leaning in closer wanting to touch the metallic chip with a fingertip that began to glow with red magic, only to be nudged back by Morgana.

“Careful, don’t want to break it.”

“Can I see it?” Bianca asked, prompting Vic to move the item within her reach. Still, she didn’t exactly hold it, she just moved her hand over it, exerting some sort of magical pressure or a small spell upon the surface to make the enchantment lines appear on the once-plain surface: spell grammar and formulas that Bianca seemed to easily decipher. “It’s a glamour spell.”

“Yeah, my legal guardian gave it to me,” Vic said, letting some of the others present to get a good look at it.

“Looks like impressive craftsmanship,” Bianca noted.

“Yeah. I’ve tested it a couple of times by now. It works pretty well for a time. This way, I would still be able to leave school if needed,” Vic said.

“That’s not fair,” Laura frowned.

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

“But, the thing is, this one uses a stored charge to power it up. Until I develop my own mana, can I bother you to pitch in for the recharge?”

“Not a problem,” Bianca said. “And if you can either tell me who made it or let me pick it apart to figure out how it works. I’d love to know.”

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

“Why do I feel like this thing’ll break before the school year is over,” Vic noted, earning a couple of laughs.

“Vic?” Bianca chimed in. “I wondered… You said that your spirit changes you whenever you overuse your powers or take serious damage, needing you to heal yourself, right?”

“Yeah, I did,” Vic nodded.

“Did you change that much in a couple of weeks?” Bianca asked. “I mean, you looked very normal before the break

“I actually wondered…” Tanya noted.

“I think I trained a little bit too hard before going on a break and… stuff happened during it,” Vic said. Once again, being evasive. He really couldn’t go about telling them that he got stabbed on Christmas eve in a Villain base owned by the Syndicate. Or beat up on New Year’s eve… he really hoped this wouldn’t be a trend with him. Still, his answer appeared to be just enough for some to understandably stop prying.

“Well, welcome to the outlier’s side of the team,” Laura said, looking down at her tablet only to gasp startled as she saw Tavi had hijacked the screen, showing a weaselly face blowing raspberries.

“Thanks,” Vic said, mostly to himself as the conversation and the group moved on, past him. Tanya took a seat next to him, her hand brushing his before squeezing it softly for reassurance.

“It wasn’t as hard as you thought, right?”

“It was just as hard as I thought it would be,” Vic said. “Glad it’s over.” Although in the back of his mind, there was still a pending list of people that needed to find out, and at the very top of it was his stepsister, Gwen. How the news would reach his dad, he didn’t know. That would be something that they would need to deal with… eventually.

“You didn’t tell me about the glamour necklace,” Tanya said as she reached over to pick it up. Now that the enchantment lines had disappeared, it looked like a simple metallic slate.

“Well, it was a surprise for everyone,” Vic said.

“If I slip this on, would I look like you?” Tanya teased.

“Not sure. Maybe? Though I might want to keep it secret.” Vic said.

“Of course.” Tanya just smiled, leaning in closer. “Your legal guardian takes good care of you. Had a fun break?”

“It started off rocky… but I got used to it,” Vic accepted the item back. “Do you want to go to Berlin and watch a movie?”

“Are you sure?” Tanya asked. “We can also watch something here. Could get a projector for the clubhouse. We barely use that space.”

“We can. I don’t really have a problem either way,” said Vic as he let the magical necklace dangle. “I just wanted to let you know that normal stuff isn’t off the table.”

“Well, alright,” Tanya said, leaning in to kiss his cheek.

Friday, January 13th - 10:23pm
Doyle

Doyle Hall was the biological research center that also doubled as the school’s clinic and infirmary. Or perhaps that was putting it backwards. It was a place that was used to seeing a lot of turnover throughout the year, far more than at regular schools. And like with everything else, Whateley took things more extreme, at that. 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

Why did he consider this place safe? Vic had to wonder, mostly to amuse himself. It was the least he could do to keep himself from looking down at his feet.

As normal, Vic dropped by Doctor Gutierrez’s office to get the routine checkup, take updated readings and scans, draw some blood samples and revise the biometrics.

Today’s results prompted the doctor to break some tough news to him: namely, Vic’s own legs had begun to suffer small alterations. 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.

So in the near future, he might end up needing special footwear or none at all. There was something funny about it that kept Vic from feeling too bad on the matter. The knowledge of what Ner and her race looked like eased some of the concerns. But it was still something that bothered him now and then. Some of his cottage mates were no stranger to footwear trouble, and he’d heard plenty.

I’ll deal with that later. Vic dismissed the concerns just as another figure appeared from around the corner. The girl had psychedelic skin, with a chalk white base that dyed itself a slowly blending mixture of hues, everything between pale green to soft purple.

“Pastel, heading off?”

“Yeah, the place is mostly dead.” Pastel cocked her head as she noticed Vic and was quick to focus on the differences since last time. “And not in the interesting zombie apocalypse way.”

“I see… Well, it’s the start of the year and the nearby town’s hospital has plenty of capacity. Honestly, I would be worried if you had to do much work this early on.”

“So, what’s Vic Rivera doing here, hm?” Pastel asked. “I heard Tanya talking about that, but I wasn’t sure if I heard it right.”

“Doc wants to give me a test,” Vic said.

“Ah. Can I see where the scales start and end?” Pastel asked, leering at him. “Come on, strip.”

“Not gonna.” He’d heard enough things about Pastel to know that she was a bit on the ‘blunt’ side, to say the least. Still, he humored her by rolling up the sleeve of his jacket to show her his arm.

“Scales? Fish scales,” Pastel said, cocking her head before giving back what could be described as a mischievous grin. “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.

“Don’t worry,” Pastel said. “Vic’s a big boy. He isn’t going to break into tears.”

Vic didn’t exactly feel like responding to that. He just rolled his eyes, which just happened to be the sort of reaction Pastel was banking on as she continued.

“So, what’s he doing back here? What’s the test? Does it involve knives? Maybe some sushi?” she asked.

“Pastel,” Doctor Gutierrez warned. “It’s just to check a detail about the scope of his abilities. That way, if there is an emergency, he can be called to help.”

Pastel cocked her head, seemingly trying to piece it together. She got it about ten seconds later.“Ah, you mean the blood control thing?”

She had been there during the Thanksgiving incident, where they went out in their search for Tanya’s previous roommate, Sterling. Probably the shyest girl one could ever know with powers that didn’t do her any favors. Sadly, the incident ended in tragedy with the victim’s neck slashed open and it had been up to Vic and Pastel to keep the girl alive. It was the first time he’d used his powers in that manner.

The doctor looked at her curiously. “You know about that?”

“He helped me stabilize Case S at Thanksgiving…” Pastel said, looking at her feet and the smile leaving her face for a moment.

“Ah, yes…” Doctor Gutierrez nodded. “Well, we’ll see about that and how well he does.”

“OK, if you need me I’ll be back at Whitman, but I’ll come running for an emergency. Best of luck, goldfish,” Pastel said, and before he or the doctor could react, she was walking away from them.

“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.”

“I’ve heard…” Vic said with a sigh as he followed the doctor. Honestly, he still hated the idea of where his changes were going, but a part of him imagined that there would be a point where he would take comments like that with dignity.

“So, how’s classes?” Doctor Gutierrez asked.

“They’re going alright,” Vic said. “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.”

“Well, the school does encourage some of the students to take on more proactive measures for survival or performance. Combat finals were all about that,” Doctor Gutierrez noted. “Of course, only some turn out as well as yours did.”

That got Vic to smirk proudly. In between the more bombastic finals, his came across as the more subdued one, and yet he had the feeling that he’d gotten one of the better grades. “And the classes are going well enough. I got roped into "Intro to Fabrication.”

“Finding it interesting? I could be wrong, but not many students pick that class.”

“It’s just basic engineering, I think.”

“Between the higher technical know-how and drive gadgeteers and devisors tend to have, intro classes aren’t exactly needed. Normally, the students take it upon themselves to build specific items as part of their arsenal or have particular interest in some piece of equipment that needs maintenance. When the faculty made a point to keep ballistics out of the options in that class, that’s when about half of the usual sign-ins fell.”

“I can see. It’s very technical going around basic tools, functions and that. They’re going to have us put together a cuckoo clock as a final project,” Vic noted.

“Well, that’s something you’re going to have an easy time with,” Doctor Gutierrez told him as they reached their destination.

It was a simple examination room that appeared geared towards patient rehabilitation as well as healer training and practice. Chemistry sets were laid down behind a glass cover, along with several different colored vials, of which the most prominent color happened to be red. Charts of the human body going from bone structure to the nervous system were on display on stands for quick reference, and several different dummies rested in a corner, from the classic CPR torsos, to more realistic replicas made of transparent gel.

“In fact, the fabrication class was one that was ‘recommended’ by Lifeward and the Syndicate.” The doctor spoke much more freely once the door was closed behind her.

“Yeah.” Vic nodded. While he still wanted to renege on his deal with the organization, the anxiety he felt about it was marginally less now, knowing that people like Lifeward and Cole would be there looking out for him. What were one or two small jobs to pay off the debt? “I can’t be surprised when my fidget toy is a padlock.” Vic reached into his pocket to produce one of the locks he used to play with.

“Which requires quite a degree of control and finesse,” Doctor Gutierrez noted as she moved to the back of the room, grabbing the transparent gel arm from among the pile and fiddling with her keys to unlock the cold storage. “It’s the same reason we’re here. Please, take a seat or a position by the table, whichever you prefer. I’ll be with you in a moment.”

“Okay,” Vic said as he stood by the side of the table. He noticed that there was a small camera pointing atop, probably for studying the footage later.

Doctor Gutierrez moved about, making preparations, booting up the computer, opening the storage and sifting through the vials, blood bags and other instruments. “So, as I was saying, you have a lot of fine control over water, which is partly the reason you’re here. I have to say, I was surprised when I heard from Lifeward that you were stabbed during a ‘training exercise’. Wouldn’t have believed it were it not for the patches left in your body. But then again, it’s not as far-fetched as I might’ve imagined, considering blood is 51% water.

“Unfortunately… Or maybe fortunately, there was no footage of the incident to confirm… not that it would’ve changed much, but the school does need special permission to authorize this sort of trial since it uses up resources at Doyle.” Doctor Gutierrez paused for a moment before shaking her head. “Although… Pastel just confirmed that this wasn’t an outlier situation. So I guess the question I should ask is, how do you feel about that?”

“About… manipulating blood?” Vic asked.

“Have you tried it any other time?” The doctor said as she laid down the items on the table.

“No, I haven’t,” Vic said.

“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.”

“I’m going to be working for the Syndicate, you know?” Vic said.

“I know… Which is why this report won’t go to them.” Doctor Gutierrez shook her head. “This is a private test Lifeward asked me to perform.”

“Really?”

“Yes… It’s just in the hope that you won’t be valued any higher by her bosses.”

“Ah…” Vic noted. The agreement he had with the Syndicate, the criminal resource provider, was in the sort of lower tiers of the scale of contracts that were offered: basically paying up tuition for the school, making sure he was provided for and in exchange doing some jobs or working a summer or two for the organization. As opposed to more classic and complete scholarship type deals that were offered just for PR. Lifeward had reassured him that things wouldn’t be as bad as he imagined, but there was the concern that it might change if the higher-ups were to start to take more interest in him as an asset.

“So, let’s see how much control you have,” she said as moved two petri dishes over to Vic’s side, one with a couple of drops of blood, which she checked under the microscope first, and the other one empty. “I want you to move the contents from one dish to another.”

“Do I have to touch…” Vic began but to that, the Doctor provided the beaker filled with transparent liquid.

“That’s a saline solution. Use it as an intermediary so that the blood remains clean,” she instructed.

With the instructions given, Vic dipped his finger into the water, pulling it out like a tentacle. Carefully he had the tip within touch with the puddle of blood, linking up and extending his influence throughout the substance. He had a sense for it. He could tell the blood from the rest from the clean water, and he tried to focus on keeping it that way.

“Hm… You’re keeping the two liquids separated,” Doctor Gutierrez observed.

“I had practice with it.” Vic said as he moved the tentacle over to the empty petri dish. “When I lived with Josh, after I got my powers, once, we tried to use my power to get us some drinking water. Josh’s improvised filters did the rest.”

“And were you okay?”

“We got sick.” His guts gurgled at the memory. ”Eventually, we managed to get it sorted out–that or we just got used to it.”

“Interesting,” Doctor Gutierrez noted as the water tentacle began to push out the blood from within, dripping bits of the water along with it.

“There,” Vic said as he released the water back into the beaker it started in.

“Let’s see how you did,” the doctor said as she moved the petri dish back into the microscope scanner.

They lingered there for a moment or so, with the Doctor turning the knobs and dials, checking it up through the glass or just spying the results on the screen. A long minute after, she pulled herself back with the verdict. “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.”

“Hm… and that wasn’t the case before?”

“I… I don’t remember much about the feeling when trying to save Sterling…” Vic said. But in the other example he’d experienced, when he suffered the stab wound and used his powers to keep it flowing while he healed, he could feel a lot more than on this occasion. He could feel the warmth of the fluid, the way it dove back into the veins and blood vessels and the odd friction that was between it and the water. A feeling quite different from the test.

“Likely there are differences. For example, using it on your own blood leads to a different type of influence. Maybe finer. Or maybe this is the first time you’ve willingly used that ability.” The doctor could have been reading his mind. “Maybe it’s something that will be the natural progression of things and you’ve just been able to narrowly tap into that aspect when you needed it the most, like I’ve seen some students do. It could also be a sort of mental block. Perhaps there isn’t solely a psychokinetic factor but also intermingled with some magical aspect developed by your spirit?”

“I wish I could have the answer to that,” Vic thought.

“It could also be just like the strength rating in your TK. A sort of soft limit activated by strain or stress… if that were the case, then activating it might not be as simple as just upping the load.”

“So that’s it?” Vic asked.

“We’ll figure out more about it. So far, we’ve confirmed that you can sort of pick up blood and maybe have a feel to it. Maybe later we’ll test your ability to separate materials from within and how much influence you can exert, if you’re interested. But this up next is the test Lifeward wanted me to test on you.”

And with that, she laid the transparent gel arm on the table. Up close, Vic couldn’t help but wonder how eerily realistic this thing would be were it not for the yellowish transparent skin that even showed some fake bones embedded at the center. At least, he hoped they were fake bones. At the back end of the arm, where the shoulder would be, was a metallic stub with some plug nozzles, switches and buttons, which the doctor plugged to the tube connected to the blood bag.

Turning on the end of the arm, an uncomfortable droning and pumping sound began to play and red lines began to fill in, spreading out from the stump over to the formless hand outlining the pathways of the veins. What made it all the more upsetting was that Vic could swear the limb was pulsating on its own.

“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. “And…” he was about to ask ‘what was next?’ but the doctor was already on the move.

Doctor Gutierrez pulled out a scalpel and smoothly placed it on the large vein at the arm’s elbow.

“Now, let’s see if you can keep this rare O negative blood type from going to waste,” she instructed as she sliced a cut on the large vein that ran at the center of the limb causing blood to start to guzzle out.

“What?!“ Vic panicked immediately putting his hands against the gushing woundd. Feeling the icky cold blood soaking his fingers.

“Hold it in the time it would take me to fetch gauzes and bandages to stop the bleeding,” Doctor Gutierrez said as she walked away from her spot with all the patience in the world.

“What about this thing? You cut it.” Vic scrambled to apply pressure. Only to feel the blood slip through.

“Don’t worry about that. We have many of these for practice and they can be easily recycled.” Doctor Gutierrez moved towards the side of the room that clearly didn’t have the gauzes and bandages.

Vic frowned but ultimately sighed as he played along, closing his eyes and trying to use his powers to directly tap into the blood. He could certainly feel the presence of water he could manipulate… but there was something else about it. Something that appeared different, trickier, but not impossible to handle.

He tried to contain and push the blood back into the vein, finding that the dummy arm was calibrated to simulate high pressure. It made him feel like he was fighting against a current, constantly trying to spill through until, by his own force, a vein popped from the side, creating another hole that he had to cover.

And he, in all the trouble he gained clarity as a tactic began to surface. Catching the blood in his influence, redirecting it and then repeating at the rhythm of the simulated heartbeat, letting the flow do the rest… and as that happened the bleeding ceased.

“Remember I’ll also evaluate the level of purity in the blood. Wouldn’t want to contaminate the rare blood bag.”

“Wait what?” Vic said, looking at his blood-covered hand.

“Should’ve used the saline solution,” Doctor Gutierrez said as she kept on pretending to search.

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

“That sounds horribly reckless? Isn’t like O negative type kind of rare?” Tanya wondered.

“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. They sat at the Crystal Hall and, today by some sheer miracle, it was just the two of them occupying the M3 table. Normally wide enough to barely accommodate the varying number of members, it felt like abundant space for the two of them.

With the assignments just doled out by some of the classes, the two decided to work on them together ahead of time, all the while enjoying each other’s company. Of course, there was just so much attention and focus the two could muster for a couple of hours of work before they needed to take a break.

“So, are you going to be part of the healer’s team along with Pastel?” Tanya asked. “Using water for treating patients?”

“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.”

“Ah, still, sounds great.” Tanya noted, moving in closer to his side. “I’m just surprised they decided to do this after the break.”

“Yeah… Lifeward suggested it after I told her about the incident,” Vic said, being brief around the tragedy. “She hoped that might count as a school job… but it won’t unless I get better at it.”

“Bet there are a lot of things you would be able to do,” Tanya smiled, her hand touching his just for a squeeze.

“But that’s enough of me, how are you?”

“I’m good. I just had a call from my Dad. He’s doing better,” she said.

“That’s good to know. And any sort of news in Whitman?”

“Any? You’ll have to be more specific or I’ll time out with the options,” Tanya joked. “Nothing in particular. There’s a whole lot of buzz around Caro, Malefis, who suddenly found herself looking normal, results were mixed.”

“Mixed?” Vic asked. While he remembered that Caro was an exotic type of mage and also a sort of paladin, meaning he probably couldn’t relate or assume the situation was of use, it still piqued his interest.

“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. “I would’ve asked for a sort of solution. You know you could probably ask Thulia, right? She’s a sort of researcher.”

“I honestly don’t think it’s a good idea,” was all Vic said.

Tanya snickered. “Fair enough.” She leaned onto Vic’s shoulder. “Promise not to change even though your body does?”

“Already making me promise something I won’t know?” Vic mused.

“I can worry, can’t I?” Tanya said, only taking a deep breath. “I mean, it would be about the same story that I've heard from Nemean before, a story he’s heard before. A young mutant manifests with a GSD. Things go fine until the people, the world outside of the school starts to go after them. They can find themselves falling into bad company.” Taking another deep breath, she lightened her tone. “I mean, I wouldn’t like finding out that you fell into the Syndicate because of that.”

“Heh… Yeah,” Vic just nodded along because of the irony of the situation. He just leaned in to kiss the top of her head. “If I do end up as a villain, I promise we’ll have the friendliest rivalry.”

Tanya giggled at that. “Secret couple. Like Batman and Catwoman.”

Vic chuckled, enjoying the moment. The sweet scent that came out from the top of her head, the feeling of her touch against his skin and just the voice of her laugh. Making him wish that it would be like this always.

But there was a bit of a souring thought behind that as he checked his phone and caught a glimpse of the date.

Tanya was the first to break the embrace, also looking at the time. “Hey, last week was fun, watching a movie alone in the club room.”

“Wanna do it again? On Sunday?

“I’m sorry, but I just got invited to an event of the parkour club and then I have to meet up with the Future Superheroes of America,” Tanya told him. “You can tag along if you want. Although I think they have plans for later. So I don’t know when I’ll be out.”

“Oh…” was all Vic said. Truth be told, he wasn’t sure if he preferred the plan to be shot down or not. “Then maybe another day.”

“I had fun, I’ll look forward to that,” Tanya said, planting a kiss on his cheek. “I’m sorry to shoot down the plans.”

“It’s fine,” Vic said, posting a smile.

Sunday, January 15th - 4:03pm
Tunnels

[Hey Vic. How are you doing? Think the meeting will run short today.] Vic read the message that just buzzed into his phone.

Truth be told, he didn’t expect the signal to reach this deep underground… but then again, that’s what the signal extenders were for.

She sounded worried, Vic thought as he answered. [Don’t worry. I’m alright, just traveling the tunnels, hoping not to get lost.]

To that, Tanya sent a ‘fingers crossed’ emoji, which she quickly clarified. [Not on you getting lost, the opposite.]

He didn’t answer, instead sliding the phone into his pocket.

Truth be told, he felt like the worst boyfriend for keeping Tanya at a distance today and yesterday. But these were the most uncomfortable days for him and, while it might be possible for him to spend it with others, the sorrowful side would always creep in, even more so whenever the thought of happiness loomed in closer.

It wasn’t just the usual woes about the upcoming slow change but those did appear to weigh in his mind more often than not. Even if he knew what the end result might be like, turning into a ‘neotriton’, as Ner had described and presented herself, it still filled him with dread at every little discovery that was made.

On that point, Doctor Gutierrez had heard of every aspect of the topic and was curious about researching the concept of an ancient race reborn. She’d taken notes as Vic described their appearance and began gathering information on the matter just so she would get a proper barometer for the upcoming changes.

“I don’t need to be all doom and gloom about things. I should just learn to go with the flow, as cliche as that might sound.” He tried to make light of his concerns and even chuckle, but instead ended up taking a deep breath.

But the problem was that he was too bothered today to do it. Well, today and the day before.

Today, Vic turned fifteen years old. It was his birthday.

Normally, one would be celebrating this with friends. Getting calls from relatives wishing them well, getting lots of presents and just having fun…

For some reason that seemed impossible for Vic. Not because he didn’t have friends nor lacked the money to buy himself a present. In fact, just yesterday, he got a message from Caroline telling she added funds to his card. But the date felt like a painful memory.

On the 14th of January, five years ago, a nine year old Vic sat at home, enjoying his time home alone while waiting for his mom to return from a job. Late that night, the phone rang. His mother called. He remembered her telling him to behave, brush his teeth and go to sleep, promising that the job was going to be fine and that she would be back with him to celebrate the next day together. That was the last time they talked.

The next morning, he woke up happy and excited, ready to celebrate his day. He awaited for his Mom to greet him with a present like she’d done the year before.

She never came.

He stepped into her room to find her bed undisturbed. She was at a job last night, maybe she’s running late, Vic thought. Maybe she’s buying cake? It was Sunday, so Vic had the morning to wait for her to get back… He called her but her phone was unresponsive.

By noon, he was starting to feel the fear creep up in the back of his mind. He stared at the apartment’s door, waiting for any news, but that changed nothing. In the end, at one past noon, he couldn’t take it anymore. He called every person in his life asking if they knew anything. But none of the people around Mom’s work team answered. Uncle Oscar, Aunt Lily, Uncle Gus… Nothing. And those that did, like Danny and Lizzy, were of the same concerns. Vic called the police, asking for help and they sent someone to look after him as they investigated.

The rest of the day was marred with worry and concerns as he waited, unable to take joy in his usual distractions. And by the time the sun set, he was told that his mom had perished. Just that… not how, nor where, nor when, nor why. Naturally, he denied it. He refused to believe it was true. It had to be a bad dream… and yet, it all came crashing when he was shown her belongings and happened to catch a glimpse of her hand just before they closed the casket for his sake.

He found three presents his mom had planned to surprise him with, but he wouldn’t open them until months and months had passed.

Two days later, his father, the man he’d seen two or three times a year came to take him in. He barely had energy to bid farewell to the sisters.

Even after he moved to his dad’s house in Rhode Island, the shadow of that memory pursued him. Making him think of that last talk, of the waiting, the dread settling in and the lost hope when the weight of reality set in. His stepfamily tried to help him but the memory felt forever fresh.

It also made him wonder what life would’ve been like if it hadn’t happened. If his mom had been there on the morning of his birthday to meet him. How different his path would be. In a sense, it was just the start of the domino rush that got him to where he was today, standing in the tunnels of a mutant school, possessed by a spirit that was slowly altering his body. Even though there had been peace about that, the day welled up with bitterness.

“It’s just for today, It’s just for today.” Vic said as he carried on in his walk.

Where was he thinking of going? He really had no idea. This walk originally started as a way to get him accustomed with the tunnels and the different pathways that he could take but then it just turned into him wandering about down the next interesting hallway he found (although interesting is relative as, most of the time, they looked the same).

According to the map app, he was in the third level of the tunnels, drawing closer to Emerson. Fortunately, unlike the Tangle, there weren’t any sort of instabilities in this area that might result in him getting lost. But even thinking that, he was just waiting for the lights to start to flicker and the ground to open up under his feet, even though he’d just been walking around this level for a good chunk of the hour.

Eventually, he came across an out of place sight, one to break up the monotony of the samey walls: it was a gated doorway, or at least what used to be one. The iron bars covered the sides and top of the passage, with the center of it devoid of anything to block the way. The structure was half fallen apart from the lack of maintenance.

Seeing nothing in his way, Vic just walked himself through. And, oddly enough, as he stepped and walked in deeper, it was as though his eardrums popped as, suddenly, he could make out voices locked in a sort of argument. “I mean… Peter, did you really need to open the bathroom’s faucet?” called out someone.

“I said I was gonna use it,” someone else, presumably Peter, called out.

At that time, Vic turned around the corner just to find himself into a slightly different section of the tunnels. One that was slightly wider than the usually transited paths with some doors sparsely lining the sides with what appeared to be a wide door at the far end. Although most of them were boarded or sealed, with the only exception being a door in the middle of it, with a bunch of ‘stuff’ right next to it, right where the two guys were arguing. They appeared to be about Vic’s age, maybe a year older… so he ventured to guess they were Sophomores from Emerson.

“I asked Trevor if they’d fixed it,” Peter carried on with the conversation.

“No you didn’t!” a third voice said from the inside.

“You said ‘yeah, yeah’!” Peter argued.

“I was busy with my girlfriend, I wasn’t talking to you! Thought you said something inane,” the third guy, Trevor, answered as he emerged from the threshold, waving his soaked left arm just to get the water off.

“Can’t you just control yourself?” The first guy scoffed.

“You know, Will?” Trevor said, matching the frustration of the rest. “It occurs to me this could’ve been avoided if you’d put a piece of paper with the words ‘Do not use’ on it.”

That did get the first guy, Will, irritated. “I didn’t think I’d need to. And where is Giselle? She should’ve gotten our janitor buddy by now…” He only trailed off as he spotted Vic not far away. “And who are you?!”

The thought of just running away crossed through Vic’s mind, thinking that he’d either trespassed or had just ran into something that he wasn’t supposed to. Considering the anger one of the guys had about him, it felt like a valid option.

But, on the other hand, he would be confined to the school in the near future and, knowing his luck, they might end up crossing paths again. So I might as well get this sorted out, he thought. Plus, I haven’t done anything to them.

“I was just wandering about and got lost.” Vic simply said.

“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?”

“What sign?” Vic simply said. Although, he would’ve picked the lock regardless if that wasn’t the case.

“What si-- Giselle,” Will said glaring at Trevor who just shrugged before he made his way down the other side of the corridor. Judging by the filled bucked and soaked mop, he was probably heading to a bathroom. "I really don't give your girlfriend enough things to do and she couldn't just put the sign as I asked?"

“We really have to get our shit together. We’re slipping,” Peter noted.

“I know… I know. But it’s different to move operations…” Will said while grumbling something along the lines of. “I should’ve asked my uncle for advice on how to move bases.”

“This is a bad idea,” Peter said, only for Will to hold out his hand.

“No, we’re doing this. I have a plan to get all this sorted out. There won’t be any objections on the matter,” Will said before turning back to Vic. “And again, what are you still doing here?”

“Think he’s from Twain,” Peter whispered, though the tunnels were too silent to let that go unnoticed.

“I can tell,” Will snorted. “You! Did a cottage houseparent send you or something?”

“No, I was just walking by when I heard the yelling,” Vic said, crossing his arms as he took a couple of steps towards the group. It was just them in the hallway, with the space they were occupied appearing to be in the works, judging by the crates that rested right next to the door. The contents ranged from odds and ends of tech to bags of chips and glass bottles with makeshift labels attached to them. And a little bit beyond that were disassembled tables and stacks of simple chairs. “Is this a clubroom?” Vic wondered.

“Sure, it is,” Will said, clearly dismissive. “Just a clubhouse. So, scram. There’s nothing to report here.”

“Do you need a hand?”

“What?” Will blurted out, not really expecting the offer. Heck, normally Vic wouldn’t really bother with offering it… but given the day and the feelings it brought to him, this might be the distraction he was hoping for. “Did I hear you right? You want to help? What’s your angle?”

“Yeah. I’m bored and you guys are having some trouble getting things set up,” Vic said.

“No, thanks,” Will quickly said.

“What?!” Peter blurted out, clearly being aware of the number of things they still had to drag in.

“No way I’m letting some stranger into our new place. Especially not when we haven’t opened for business.” Will snorted. “Unless he knows a way to fix plumbing and clean a big spill.”

Vic couldn’t help but smirk. “I don’t know about plumbing… but I can manipulate water, so maybe I can help.”

“Great! Come on in!” Peter was quick to say. “The bathroom floor is soaked.”

Will couldn’t come up with a proper objection, so, instead, he just stepped aside to let Vic in, though not without telling Peter: “Keep an eye on him.”

The inside of the place appeared to follow the layout of one of the standard clubhouses, not so different from the room the M3 had come across. Only this one appeared slightly bigger, although that could be because of the way things had been moved away and rearranged. At least that’s what Vic thought until he spotted a couple of corridors to the side, with doors leading to a kitchen and a storehouse. This was definitely a bigger space. At one end of the room, Vic spotted a carpeted area, with a coffee table and a comfortable set of couches moved onto the side, presumably to add another one. While on the other end were what appeared to be shelves in the making.

“This is a big place,” Vic noted.

“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. And it was near there that Vic noticed a wet rag had been placed at the foot of the door. “What did they use the place for before? I don’t know, but they put the effort in installing the air vents to get rid of the feeling of suffocation. They actually run on the ceiling and floor, which is why we can’t let the water seep.”

“I see…” Vic answered.

“So, can you fix it? The faucet has been gushing out for quite some time.” Peter opened the door. As forewarned, the faucet was broken, with the knob having broken off along with the rusted screw, letting the water fill off the sink and then spill off into the ground. “We were just about to have the place’s plumbing checked tomorrow.”

Think the Bohemians sold them a bad space, Vic thought as he rolled up his sleeves. “I’ll try to help.”

“Ah. You’re a fish boy?” Peter said with a bit of a chuckle as he spotted the scales.

“Do you want me to leave?” Vic warned, throwing a glare his way..

“Sorry,” he relented.. “Sorry… Don’t mean to offend.”

“Alright…” Vic said as he took a couple of steps towards the faucet and dipped his hand into the filled sink, and concentrated to spread his influence. He could feel the flow of the liquid coming from the nozzle and spilling down onto the ground, even noticing the stagnation down the drain, where something appeared to clog the thing… Whatever it was, Vic felt grossed out just thinking about the kind of place he was reaching… but that gave him an idea.

Closing his eyes, he moved his influence up the faucet. He couldn’t recall trying using his powers against a flowing current before. It certainly felt like he was fighting against it, but due to the ethereal nature of his powers, it was doable, like a snake slithering past sand. He found the point regulated by the valve and began to try to move them back to a close. The thing appeared stuck, maybe with rust or some sort of nasty gunk (much to Vic’s disgust). Still, he tried his best to do it.

He asked for Peter’s help, getting him to return with a large set of pliers that he used to add a little more leverage. In the end, the gunk gave way and the valve began to close. He wasn’t able to close it all, but having a drip was better than nothing.

“Thanks. Crisis averted,” Peter said in relief.

“No problem,” Vic said, shaking his hand. Despite the briefness of the solution, that whole ordeal took about fifteen minutes of effort.

“Here,” the third guy, Trevor, said, offering out an emptied bucket.

“Can you help with that?” Peter said, pointing at the mildly flooded floor.

“Sure,” Vic said. His control of water sometimes made things like this easy. Just reaching down to let the water limb come into contact with it, and then start spreading out to annex as much moisture as he could into the larger body. Just an enlarged version of the trick he used to dry himself.

Before long, he was depositing the large bubble of water into the bucket, just enough to get it to the rim–but that was all the water.

“There,” Vic finally said as he wiped his hands in the nearest towel.

“Thanks for the help,” said Will, seemingly much more at ease with Vic’s presence. Though there was still clear suspicion about him. “That should save us some trouble, at least until I get the janitor to come and fix it.”

“Right on, dude.” Peter said offering a high five, which Vic humored.

“You’re a freshman from Twain, right?” Will guessed.

“Name’s Vic, Victor Rivera,” Vic said.

“Welp. Thanks for the help, Vic,” Will said. “I’m Will Crossby.”

“I’m Peter Ramsey.“ Peter said. “And our other buddy is Trevor.”

“I still find it a tad suspicious that you showed up just as we were having trouble… but I guess there are weirder coincidences.” With a nudge of his head, he asked Vic to follow him, presumably back out of the place.

“So…” Vic said, his eyes straying over back to the main room, giving the place another look. This time, he would see the third guy, Trevor, moving a crate into the store room with the help of a blonde girl, presumably the Giselle they were talking about earlier. “Can I know what you guys are doing here? This feels like too much trouble.”

“Yeah… It’s a bit of a hassle,” Will scoffed.

“Think the Bohemians gave this place up to mess with us?” Peter asked.

“If they did, it’s a poor job. We’ll make it work,” Will snorted. “Ample space, ventilation system, a lab space with equipment I could use. There is even an elevator that connects it to our cottage. If their idea was to just give us a fixer upper, there are worse things.”

“So… What’s your club about?” Vic asked as they were on the door.

“Well,” Will thought for a moment and then sighed. “I guess there won’t be a point in keeping it a secret if we’re going to spread the word regardless.” Will noted. “This is set to be the new ‘club house for the campus’. We’ll offer entertainment, food and drinks in exchange for a fee. Our own little Caesar's palace in the school.”

“Drinks, like alcoholic drinks?” Vic said, recalling the bottles on the side… and some of the rumors he just began to recall from before the break.

“Yeah. And don’t try to out us to the school or any goody two shoes on the campus or we’ll know. We’re quite skilled in denying,” Will stated, with a bit of a threat.

“Really?” Vic wondered.

“Alcohol will be part of the secret menu, but we do have other cocktails.” Will noted. “Safe alcohol is just the big selling point. The games we’ll offer will be the hook.”

“How about you give him a sample?” Trevor asked.

“The more people spread the word in Twain, the better.” Peter mused.

“Thanks, but I don’t drink,” Vic answered. Although a part of him did wonder if, with all the things he’d been through changes that would be coming his way, he should be considering starting.

“And neither should you two,” Will admonished both Trevor and Peter. “Not while we’re still working. We still have a bunch of things to bring in.”

“Can I help with that?” Vic asked.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I don’t really have anything better to do,” Vic said, half lying. He just didn’t want to be alone with his thoughts today.

Will thought for a moment but then shrugged. “I guess having you help us means that you’re also falling if we’re reported right away… Sure, go ahead and help us bring things in here.”

“Alright,” Vic nodded as he followed the instructions. Not exactly the best way to spend his birthday… but a little bit more interesting.

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

Within the depths and limits of the tunnels, there lay a cluster of labs and spaces forgotten, removed from the memory of students, faculty and even the security that was supposed to chart them. So close to the Tangle, they were uncharted territory anew.

And while, sometimes, one or two wayward students would come by, either because of absent footsteps or devious intention, most of the times they lay empty and quiet. The word eerie being best suited to describe the worn walls overgrown by vines that came from nowhere and the dirt and dark that spilled over from some holes on the broken wall nearby.

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.

Needless to say, the poor feline simulacrum was bored of the quiet void.

Although sometimes, things changed. Sometimes, there was a visitor.

Tonight, for instance its ears perked as it picked up something walking at the far end of the corridor. Steps that echoed but at the same time carried within themselves a supernatural tune like none other it’d felt, one that Mew had sensed before and couldn’t help but feel excited for. It raised itself from the ground, the tail swishing as the magical lines coursing through its body thrummed as it got up on the wall.

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

Mew got up on its paws and let out a soft mewl. Not of distress or panic, but one of acknowledgment as it leapt off to the ground just to walk up to the figure’s feet. And as it did, the shadows began to peel back, revealing the figure of a woman clad in an ornate armored dress.

“What is this, little one?” she asked as the animal passed by her legs. “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.

The feline meowed in response before pacing away towards the broken door of the lab, to vanish into mist and slide into the space that it once called home.

Once the space was cut off and left forgotten from the rest, soon did it fade off into darkness. The only lights that stretched there came from the fixtures out the hallway that were struggling to avoid burnout and some of the screens that would sometimes come to life at the slightest motions. In the back area where Mew first opened its eyes and where the instructor taught it the words it knew, the place was now left in cold twilight that never felt comfortable.

“Thou dost still linger here?” The figure asked as she stepped in through the broken door.

The cat mewed.

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

Mew climbed upon the chair, raising up a cloud of dust that got the visitor wave the robe to dispel it. “I know thou dost enjoy our times together. But there has to be more company which thou can enjoy. Loneliness in a tower is just admiring a world that is beyond reach. Doing so from a dungeon is just… worse.”

The cat mewed pointing at the screen, pawing the air as though reaching for it.

The visitor sighed, though not devoid of candor. “Ah, still thou dost ignore me.”

Mew leaned in, pressing its head against the visitor’s leg, exuding the same blend of magic as her, purring as a sort of apology, but mostly to get her to comply.

“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.

“No respect from me?” the visitor said with a noble laugh. Her fingers caressing the animal’s fur. “I know that thou recognize something within me. Something that resonates within you…. But we’re different enough.”

The cat looked up at her with wide eyes and the visitor sighed. “Fine. If thou dost want a movie, I can humor thee and share some that have captured my liking. This one is from modern times, but it has such a hearty appeal that I can’t just help but love: Kiki’s Delivery Service.” And with that, she reached off to the side to fiddle with the remote. It didn’t take her long to get it to work.

“Meow?” the cat seemingly asked as the movie began to play.

“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…”

To that, the cat had no answer. Instead, it had its eyes fixated on the adorable movie.

The visitor just smiled as her nail caressed behind the feline’s ear.

 

The End... For Now