Descendant Tower

Conrad Wagner
xxxxxxxxxxparentage // nightcrawler
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxoutfit // x
xxxxxxxxxxxxxhex // #021595
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xxxxxxxxxxT'Chioke
xxxxxxxxxparentage // black panther
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxoutfit // x
xxxxxxxxxxxxxhex // #4d5050
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xxx
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xxxJa'zmyn J'onzz
xxxxxxxxxparentage // martian manhunter
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxoutfit // x
xxxxxxxxxxxxxhex // #1c6a01
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x
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xxxxxparentage // daredevil
xxxxxoutfit // xxxxxxdialogue // BB141E

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J A C Kx M U R D O C K
__________________

"Wait...woah. Do you have some kind of death wish Sparky?"

His brows kneaded together. Did she not realize taking out the guards was not only mandatory, but the best way to stay alive? Doing nothing would be a death wish.

"Obviously not," he countered. "But if we don't defeat them now, then...what are you doing?"

She snatched Jack's hands away from the chair and pushed him backwards, angling his shoulders and hands as though he were a department store mannequin. What on earth was Wren Wilson up to now?

"Are you on crack or something?" he scoffed. Whatever she was doing, it was wasting time.

"I may have set the alarm off, but you failed to kill your half," she said.

"Yes, I know I'm a dummy. Is that your justification for moving me around like one?"

"Don't move!" she ordered, unsheathing her glinting katanas. Once she strided closer to the door, his puzzled brain finally pieced together the hazardous feat she was about to undertake.

"Okay, stop! You're insane!" he barked, breaking out of his position. Like he didn't already know Wren Wilson was the craziest beyotch in the academy. "You don't have to do this by yourself! Fifty fifty, remember? It's too dangerous to-"

The warning glance she shot was enough to shut him up. "If you move, you'll probably die," Wren stated. "So, just trust my mad genius once... Ok?"

He didn't like what she was doing. How could she force him to stand still when she didn't know for sure the swarm of enemies would overwhelm him? This scheme was worse than entering a boxing match with one broken arm. It was entirely impractical and made him feel like an ass. What if her nutty plan went wrong somewhere? He couldn't stand there and watch her perish. Or worse...

But it was something about her tone, her choice of words, that reassured him she knew what she was doing. And although she was unpredictable, Wren always had a grounded motive. She was reckless, but she wasn't stupid.

Jack sighed, returning back to the position his partner had placed him in. "Okay. But for the love of god...Please," he gritted, "Don't. Mess. This. Up."

And with that, she punted the metal chair into oblivion and speared her swords through two soldiers' faces like they were fish. Then a hailstorm of bullets cracked, and while Wren used her body as a human-ammo-shield, Jack employed his trusty senses to dodge stray shots. After headbutting another poor devil, she pivoted in place, holding up her index finger towards him. It was sharp, but not as sharp as the bullet holes which pierced her suit. The more he stared at them, the more he regretted agreeing to her plan.

"Wait, WREN -" he instinctively took a step forward.

"Be right back. Don't move." The door slammed.

Realizing there was nothing he could do to stop her, Jack released a worried groan and once again, returned to his former position.
While listening to the muffled sounds beyond the door, he tracked her position using radar sense. "Punch. Dodge. Slice." he muttered along with her movements, as if she could actually hear his directions. It was like silently coaching a newbie in the ring. When she stayed still instead of ducking, he heard a loud thud. "Ouch! That is no way to treat a lady!"

Frantically, he avoided some ricochet bullets that escaped through the door's fissures. Then it completely swung open, as in being knocked off its own hinges open. A decapitated body fell on top of it. Seeing Wren, he quickly rose his hands in the position she had placed them in before. "Heads up!" she cried, pun intended.

By god, he did not think she would mean that literally.

I am living in a freaking Tarantino movie he repeated to himself while realizing the head's features were Lanky Icicle Man's. If only he had stayed by that tank, he wouldn't have felt the steel wrath of Wren's blade. "Well don't just stand there! Open it!" she cried, continuing to swipe her katana back and forth like a painter who only used red. All she needed was a yellow track suit, and she was Beatrix Kiddo.

After pressing the head to the glass, the retinal scanner tolled a loud ding and the three-foot thick door slowly shifted open, allowing Jack to snatch the envelope from the mainframe. "Put it in your suit, quickly." Wren instructed. Hoping the manila wouldn't so much as crinkle underneath his padding, Jack unzipped the front of his costume and tucked the prized item into his chest, smoothing the paper out for good measure. He could hear the far-off rumpus of more footfall only a few stories above them. The group of soldiers, yet again, were heading down in their direction. And there were more of them.

"Get ready," Wren said, digging her hands into her utility belt. He turned to face her, noticing an alarming amount of crimson dripping from her suit. Of course, he couldn't exactly see such crimson, since his eyes didn't process the color, but the smell of blood was dreadfully pungent. Turns out that red she had painted with was her own - simulated soldiers had no need for bleeding.

"Let me handle this wave," he pleaded, putting a hand on her soldier. "You've done enough. You need to save your strength!"

But Wren had another cheeky trick up her sleeve, or rather, in her belt. She pulled out a grenade. An actual grenade. For some reason, he wasn't surprised.

The rest of the fight happened so fast, it dulled the intensity of his senses. As the soldiers flooded in, she tossed the unpinned grenade and slammed the door behind them. Then she held him against the wall with her arms as glass and bodies and rubble flew. He ground his teeth together, trying to remain in place against the booming explosion. Thanks to Wren's protection, no shrapnel pierced his suit.

Again, his ears rang. There was a certain morbid silence about the room, as well as a miasma of charred flesh and sawdust. But despite all of the grotesque sights and sounds and smells, Jack couldn't help but let out a cry of joy.

"WOO! That was amazing. Blood-pumping. I haven't felt that level of anxiety since-"

It was then he noticed the shards of glass embedded into Wren, some of them the size of knives.

"Shit...Goddamit. Okay," he exhaled, hoping she wouldn't faint on him. "I'm really sorry if this hurts..."

He quickly dislodged the large pieces from her side, back, and calf. There was nothing he could do about the smaller shards. But they were part of the simulation, so maybe if they hurried, the glass fragments would disappear. "Alright. Now it's my turn to help you." he said while placing her arm over his shoulders, guiding the limping girl through the maze of dead and groaning soldiers. Through the doorway, a strange-looking plastic card lay face-down on the ground. He leaned over for a moment, picking up the blue curiosity and seeing the word schlüsselkarte printed on its bottom. It took a good minute for him to realize it fit neatly through a slot next to a conveniently-placed elevator. Wait, there was a freaking elevator this whole time? Jesus, if only he had known that before...

Once the doors opened, he punched the ground floor button and made sure Wren was safely inside. "Geez," he mused to himself while the metal contraption rose. "I don't think I've had to complete a test this trippy since...well, since Xavier's." He thought of Phoebe, as well as the rest of his classmates. Were they done with their simulations already? Hopefully so. He needed someone who could remove the tiny pieces of glass from Wren's suit if they remained past the opening to the simulation. Stark went for realism in all his tests, and only the mentors knew how real he made them.

The elevator stopped, and the door opened to the same hallway Jack had fought through mere minutes ago. The soldiers on the floor were all unconscious or barely awake, save for one. "Sie verrotten Kinder! Du wirst für dieses Chaos bezahlen!" shouted a broken-legged guard, trying to crawl forward. "'Scuse us, jackass." Jack replied, propelling the heel of his boot into the man's forehead. He finally slept with the rest of his friends. The two students exited into the frosty air, heading in the direction of the forest. No need to head through the front door, what with all the triplines and heavy artillery and other shit Stark had placed there.

The artificial sun began to rise as they slogged through the snow. Birds were chirping, the wind was softly humming - everything was right in the world. Jack kept checking Wren every so often, making sure she had enough strength to move forward. He had carried her into this simulation, and now, in a sense, he was carrying her out. "Hey," he muttered. The usual snarky undertones of his voice had dropped. "I know I make it clear that you get on my nerves sometimes and I'm not particularly sweet as pie in your presence, but...thank you. For what you did back there. Not only do I appreciate it, but that was...amazing. Seriously. Like, Mycroft even suggested not blowing up the facility in any way and you used a grenade, and the envelope's still fine! It was just...."

He chuckled, but then stopped, clearing his throat instead. Too much...

"I'm sorry. I don't even know what I'm saying anymore. I'm just...blabbering like an idiot..."

Jack didn't even pay attention to Mycroft's announcement as he passed through the doorframe out of the simulation. His only concern was to make sure Wren was okay. "BEEP BEEEEEP, OUT OF THE WAY, EARLY BIRDS!" he yelled to Caitria, Petra, Ross, and Ja'zmyn, who were all resting at the end of the hallway in the lounge area. "Injured trooper girl coming through..."

He rushed Wren to one of the available chairs, crouching down beside her once she popped a squat. Jack removed his horned helmet, as well as the envelope from inside his zipped suit. "You okay?" he asked his partner, turning to his buddy Ross once she made her status known. "Yo, Mirror Master! Come over here!" he motioned him. "You know glass better than anyone...you see any pieces stuck inside Wrenpool, here?" It was then he remembered cold-as-ice Petra Maximoff had the power of telekinesis. If tiny shards were still stuck in Wren, perhaps she would be willing to remove them...

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xxxxxparentage // wonder woman
xxxxxoutfit // xxxxxxxdialogue // EAC117

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P H O E B Ex P R I N C E
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Eventually, T'Chioke made it to the watchtower. His absence had given her enough time to pry open all the secrets hidden inside the Hydra base. Thanks to the maps, diagrams, and lists hidden inside the manila envelope, she now had an extensive knowledge of everything they faced. She flashed her partner a gentle smile, snorting as he nodded his head in approval towards the unconscious soldier. "He should be out for a while," she assured the prince. "He told me the mainframe in the basement is kept behind a thick, as well as bulletproof, glass door. There's also a retinal scanner. This little thing right here..." She retrieved a blue diagram of the door from her manila folder, circling her finger around a microscopic system inside the glass. "I know the claws in your suit are crafted from vibranium. They should be able to tear through the glass, but if not, we'd need to knock out a guard and use their eye to disable the lock. Actually, it might be a cleaner, less noisy method. Up to you what you'd want to do."

Nearing the table, T'Chioke told Phoebe about the elevator system and how they could either ride the elevator, disabling the camera inside, or travel down its shaft. Both options came with pros and cons. She nodded, creasing her lips into a straight line. Then the daughter of Wonder Woman grabbed a map of the ground floor and slid it to the tabletop's center.

"Climbing down the shaft would be a good idea. However, if the elevator moves up below us, we'll be forced off track. If it moves down above us, we'll be crushed. Believe it or not, there is an easier way. Ah good, you've got two." She pointed to the key cards T'Chioke still had in his possession. "Those key cards do a lot more than just work the elevators. They can actually turn off alarms and camera systems in one of these control rooms..." She pointed to a small space across from the ground floor elevator. "We know the base has fourty floors: twenty above, including the ground floor, and twenty below. There are four control rooms in the Hydra base, one for every ten floors. One guard works in each control room, and they monitor their own ten floors. We don't have to worry about the control rooms on the rooftop or the eleventh floor, since we aren't traveling that high. We just need to hijack the control rooms on the ground floor, as well as the control room on sub-level eleven."

She shifted through her folder again, pulling out another blue diagram. It was a map of each floor's maze-like ventilation system. "Here's what we're going to do. We'll approach the entrance you found, then I'll climb through the vent until I'm above the ground floor control room. I'll get the drop on the guard in the room and turn off the camera systems and alarms using the key card. In the meantime, you secure the control room from the outside. That way, no soldiers go in or out. Use your invisibility so no one sees you." She started shoving each map and list back into the folder, save for the diagram of the ventilation system. "Then we'll ride the elevator to sub-level ten, take the stairs down one flight to sub-level eleven, and do the same thing over again. We'll go to the basement, get the envelope by whatever means possible, and then ride all the way up to the ground floor. We leave the base, walk through the forest, and voila: simulation complete." She closed the folder with a hard thud, looking at him with a know-it-all grin. "The only problem we may face are guards stopping the elevator to get to other floors, but we'll deal with that when or if it even happens. We'll probably have to knock them unconscious and hide their limp bodies somewhere so we don't raise suspicion. Other than that little hitch, we should be fine."

She cracked her knuckles while gazing down at the ventilation system diagram, trying to cram its shape inside her memory so she wouldn't drop into an incorrect room. "Ready when you are. Although I really hope I don't forget this-"

Then she remembered.

"Oh my god, I almost forgot!" she sputtered while retrieving Jack's cellphone from her pocket. Fortunately, she knew his four-digit password and took a picture of the map using the phone's camera. Then she turned the screen towards her face and motioned for T'Chioke to come closer. She gave a goofy, unamused expression and tapped the screen with her thumb. Then Phoebe put the phone down on the table, looking at the facetious selfie with glee. In an instant, it became Jack's new background.

"Sorry, it's, uh...it's an inside joke," she explained to T'Chioke, who was probably very confused. "Nasty habit of Jack Murdock: he takes embarrassing photos of people when they're not looking. Keep an eye out for him. He's worse than the paparazzi. Something you're familiar with, I'm sure?" Phoebe chuckled, placing the phone back in her pocket and getting her shield, sword, and lasso ready. "Okay. Lead the way, Prince of Wakanda."

She let him guide her across the base, and thanks to his efforts near the pillar, they didn't encounter any conscious guards. Her finger pointed up once they reached the first vent. "There it is. Hand me one of the key cards, then boost me up." Once he did as she instructed, Phoebe quickly crawled through the vent, pulling out Jack's phone and using her photo as a guide so as to not lose the way. Finally, she reached the control room, removed the metal sheet over the vent's opening (super strength came in handy during tight moments like this), then pounced on the single guard in a silent takedown. If everything was going according to plan, T'Chioke was outside, watching the door. She swiped the keycard through two slots, shutting down the camera and alarm systems from floors one through sub-level ten. If intruders spotted them, they wouldn't be able to alert the rest of Super-Scary-Simulated-Hydra-Base of the partners' presence.

Then, looking at the unconscious man on the ground, Phoebe concocted a glorious idea. She locked the door from the inside. "One minute. Just give me a sec." she lowly called to T'Chioke, crossing over to the grounded man. Her hands quickly unbuttoned his shirt and pants. She took the articles of clothing and draped them over her own body, tucking her dark hair into the soldier's cap. Now, her and T'Chioke both had invisibility: he had his suit, and she was disguised as a Hydra soldier.

Phoebe stepped out of the control room, modeling her new uniform for T'Chioke. "It's uncomfortable as hell, but it'll make life easier. I won't have to crawl through anymore vents while disguised like this. Just keep watch while I walk through the front door of the next control room." She called the elevator and stepped through once it opened, punching the button for sub-level eleven. "I know we said sub-level ten before, but since I'm dressed like this, just turn invisible once we reach the floor. That way the cameras won't see you."

Taking out the next control room was just as easy. Again, Phoebe shut off the alarms, cameras, and even found a slot to disarm the sirens inside the mainframe. Then she sauntered back to the elevator, punching the basement's button. As she waited next to T'Chioke, she pressed her new shirt to her nostrils, grimacing from the horrid smell.

"Blech. That guy really needs to learn how to do his laundry..."

Then the elevator began to slow near sub-level fifteen. Phoebe gasped, hiding her sword and lasso behind her back. "Okay, T'Chioke," she rushed, "Just turn invisible and stay silent. Don't do anything unless they grow hostile. I've got this." Finally, the elevator stopped, and two laughing Hydra guards stepped on. They pressed the button for sub-level eighteen. There was nothing Phoebe despised more than lazy people who couldn't walk down three flights of stairs.

One guard eyed her up and down, paying close attention to the shield she tried to conceal. She knew Themysciran, Ancient and Modern Greek, Spanish and French, but Phoebe couldn't speak a lick of German. The man nodded. "Hallo, err...Wilhelm."

Wilhelm? Oh right. Wilhelm Wicki: the name embroidered onto the front pocket of her shirt.

She nodded in recognition of his presence. There was a wave of embarrassing silence until the soldier asked, "Ist das ein alter griechischer Schild, den du dort hast?"

His eyes trained to her shield. Racking her brain for what to do next, she blurted out the first German word she knew.

"JA."

He nodded. Kind of awkwardly, but not in a way that rose suspicion. He waved her goodbye once him and his partner reached sub -level eighteen. The elevator continued to lower once they left. God, that was close.

Finally, Phoebe and T'Chioke made it to the basement and entered the room where the monolithic mainframe stood. "Alright. See if you can pierce through the glass with your claws. If not, we can go find a soldier to knock out or something. Or we can skip the claws and go straight to the soldier. Up to you." Phoebe idly leaned against the door into the small space, crossing her arms and taking a deep breath. She didn't realize how tired she was. Maybe it was just from the jump of adrenaline that now returned to a normal pace. The stealth route, although safer, took a mental toll.

"Hey, this may be overstepping the boundaries of our acquaintanceship," she murmured, filling the silence, "but I've always been curious...what's it like to rule a nation?"

caitria allen

parentage: flash | hex code: #7B7383

As soon as Caitria stepped out of the simulation, the Hydra base, landscape, everything, transformed into a fifty foot by fifty foot room. The simulation door closed as Caitria continued forward.

Caitria noticed Mycroft and Phil seated before dozens of moniters. The former leaned in his seat as he checked something off the list in front of him. Mycroft pressed the intercom button as Caitria picked up his voice.

"Congratulations Ms. Allen," he said in a professional tone. "You are the first to finish your simulation." Caitria refrained from grinning. She knew that she was probably going to be the first to finish, but that didn't make her any less proud. "We ask that you take a seat in the lobby at the far end of the hall as we wait for your other classmates finish."

Before Caitria could speed on over to the lobby, Phil leaned forward, commenting, "although you passed the simulation Ms. Allen, we ask that next time you are posed with a circumstance like this that you consider team work." Caitria furrowed a brow at that, pausing to listen to the rest of what Phil was going to tell her. "Those that fight alone die alone...everyone needs alliances because you won't always be faced with a situation where your particular skill set is the best option. Everyone at this academy has a specific set of skills that are different anyone else. You shouldn't be so quick to discredit that."

"I'm aware," Caitria said lightly, trying not to sound rude or standoffish. "When it's needed, I always consider teamwork, since unfortunately, superhuman speed can't always be the answer." Caitria shrugged. "But it just so happened that this simulation, considering my particular skill set, wouldn't require teamwork. Therefore, I chose to go solo. Besides, it isn't like anybody asked me to partner up with them."

Mycroft cleared his throat as Caitria finished speaking. "Do not open that envelope," he warned. "We'll still fail you if you open it, or if you leave before everyone has rejoined us."

Caitria couldn't help but think that it was possible for her to sneak away without anybody noticing, but Mycroft was probably reading her thoughts at that very moment. Caitria saluted, before speeding over to the lobby, making sure to take the best seat.

A couple minutes after Caitria sat down, she noticed Petra, Ross, and a bit later, Ja’zmyn pop out of their simulations and enter the lobby. The brunette nodded to her, sitting down on one of the seats. Caitria gave her a friendly smile in return.

Caitria raised an eyebrow in surprise as Jack Murdock ran out of his simulation while carrying Wren Wilson. "BEEP BEEEEEP, OUT OF THE WAY, EARLY BIRDS!" he shouted to Caitria and everybody else who had already finished the simulation. "Injured trooper girl coming through..."

Jack set Wren down in the chair next to Caitria, who scanned the redhead, half of her concern not evident on her face. "You okay?" he asked Wren, before turning to Ross. "Yo, Mirror Master! Come over here! You know glass better than anyone...you see any pieces stuck inside Wrenpool, here?"

Caitria decided to give the poor guy some advice. "Petra's telekinetic," she mentioned, motioning towards the other redhead in the room. She turned to Petra before speaking. "You could remove any glass shards in her body, if you don't have a problem with that."

---

andrew mulligan

parentage: toxin | hex code: #ceaa16

Lilith nodded in response to Andrew's ramble. “Sounds fine, as long as you got my back?” Of course, the question was obviously rhetorical, since both of them knew that Andrew always had any ally's back, but Andrew grinned and responded anyway.

"That's a given," he commented reassuringly.

Lilith used a vine to shoot up to the second floor. She shattered a window in the process. Oh well, Andrew thought. There goes the stealth plan. He camouflaged, plastering himself to the side of the building as he trailed after her.

As Andrew hopped into the building through the shattered window, Lilith released a fume of toxins as she bombed the entire floor. “You're on envelope duty!” Lilith singed to her partner, before adding in a more serious tone, “try to hurry.”

Andrew nodded brusquely. He ran to the nearest elevator he could see, still in camouflage mode, shooting any enemy in sight as he turned his right arm into a machine gun. Snatching a guard's key card - in case the elevator required some kind of scan, Hydra wasn't stupid - he scanned the key card in front of the elevator. Fortunately, it was close to Andrew's current floor. The brown-eyed man caught a glimpse of the Hydra guards and soldiers figuring out how to deal with Lilith as he entered the elevator. Truth be told, he was a little worried.

Andrew scanned the map in the elevator quickly - he pressed the sublevel twenty button as fast as he could. Luckily, the simulation had really fast elevators - Hydra probably updated them in real life, concerned about their efficiency.

As soon as the elevator door opened, Andrew shot anybody he could see, using his special mini-bomb bullets (he had absolutely no idea what they were called) that could take out a few guards at a time. After he used a generous amount of those, he switched to regular bullets, approaching the thick glass door as the Hydra guards died around him.

Andrew scanned the key card, hoping that it would work - he didn't have time to see if he could smash the door down with his super strength (it probably wouldn't work anyway, considering that this was Hydra headquarters). Luckily, the guard who previously owned the key card that was currently in Andrew's possession had high enough access, and the door opened. Andrew dashed in, grabbing the envelope, and head back the way he came.

I'm going to run out of bullets if I keep this up, he thought. Andrew wasn't exactly an epic killing machine in his normal form - he preferred to stay in that one, thank you very much.

Andrew gasped, out of breath as he entered the second floor once again, narrowing avoiding a guard who happened to be charging at him. "Oh shit," he muttered, fumbling to stab the guy in the gut. He really needed better stamina. And he had to start remembering how important his camouflage was.

His eyes widened as a red dot aligned with Lilith's chest, the blonde raising her hands in surrender. Andrew, as quietly as he could (which wasn't that quiet), ran over to Lilith, shoving her out of the way as he shot a Hydra soldier in the chest. The red dot disappeared as a man collapsed on the ground. Andrew turned to Lilith.

"I have the envelope," he said, still slightly out of breath, "but since we sounded the alarm, we have to kill everybody in this building before we leave."

---

thaleia castle

parentage: punisher | hex code: #49a98a

Thaleia noticed Tobias clench his jaw at the nickname and felt slightly guilty. She refrained from slapping herself in the face at that thought. Sure, she wasn't going to lie - she could be a bitch sometimes. Her cold demeanor and blunt nature was not taken well by anybody. But contrary to popular belief, while Thaleia thought of herself as heartless in a sense, she didn't actually try to bully anyone, especially when it came to family.

Thaleia sighed before grasping Tobias' shoulder. "Sorry," she grit out. It's been a long time since she said those words with even the slightest hint of sincerity. "You may think otherwise, but that wasn't an insult at all." Technically, that was true. Thaleia and her passed father, compared to everybody else, had fucked up morals. When Thaleia called Tobias "Maggy Jr.", she wasn't talking about his allegiance. She was talking about his skill set and power.

That was all.

Tobias moved past her, saying nothing, as he hurried down the stairs. Thaleia followed suit. Two guards stood at the end of the hall, their backs towards the two descendants. Tobias lifted his right hand towards the two guards. Nothing happened, until the two men suddenly started struggling and collapsed to the ground. Tobias glanced back at Thaleia. "They work," he said, referring to his powers.

After that, the two just killed everyone, with Tobias in the lead. Hey, laugh at Thaleia all you want, but at the end of the day, she was merely human. Not a metahuman like Caitria Allen was, but just simple, unaltered human. Of course, Tobias had to refrain from killing everybody on the spot and let Thaleia murder a few guards too.

Tobias probably wasn't happy with her slowing him down, but technically, he did accept her offer to be partners. If he wanted, he could've rejected Thaleia for all she cared.

(But no, he was probably just too nice.)

The two reached a desk that sat across from the elevators as Tobias held his left hand out towards the lift, bringing it up to their current level. The pair started sifting through the paperwork on the desk, attempting to find the location of the mainframe. Thaleia scowled slightly. Nothing. "Guess we'll have to go one floor at a time," Tobias commented bitterly, clearly annoyed as he and Thaleia entered the elevator. Thaleia opened her mouth to comment on the floor plan on the wall, but Tobias beat her to it. "Or...sublevel twenty." Thaleia pressed the respective button as Tobias spoke.

Tobias did his thing as the elevator door opened. He slid his metal spheres into his pocket as the guards dropped to the ground, dead. The two approached the glass door. Tobias knocked on the bulletproof glass a couple times as his eyes shifted over to the manila envelope. Thaleia couldn't help but feel a little bit smug when Tobias was unable to manipulate it due to the lack of metal. He turned to her. "You're up again," he said, gesturing to her guns, "but those won't work."

Thaleia hefted her guns into the straps on her back. "No need to worry," she told Tobias as she approached a guard's body. "I'm actually not stupid." She grabbed the guard roughly, snatching his key card in the process. Thaleia dropped his body back to the ground, heading towards the door. The key card worked and the glass door opened.

Thaleia entered the room, grabbing the manila envelope before turning around and heading back towards Tobias. She waved the envelope in the air. "Bingo," she said. "Now let's get out of here before we end up finishing last."

---

---

When Jaxon said that the situation was not looking too well for him above, Xavier acknowledged and was about to teleport straight to where his companion is and bring both of them out of the simulation room unscathed as soon as possible, since morning is approaching quite fast and he would rather not missing his precious breakfast and morning news, especially since he had just been to an event last night. It may sound a bit pompous but Xavier still takes career as an actor seriously, and who wouldn't be delighted when they are praised for something they did well? But for short, just like any of his fellow descendants, he too wanted to get out of this as soon as possible.

However, merely moments later, Jaxon suddenly come up with a plan to obliterate everything around him with his nova blast. Wait, Jaxon, we just need to get out of here so there's no need to waste your energy. Xavier reaffirmed, but apparently the younger descendant didn't hear it. He sighed. His partner has been helpful up til now, but the boy needs to pay attention to what others said, otherwise he'll end up doing unnecessary things. Asides from that, they have been working well enough so Xavier is hoping that the mentors will overlook the minor flaws.

Transporting himself to the entrance of the facility, Xavier had just made it right just before the energy within the field is concentrated all in one position. Knowing all too well what is about to happen, he erected a barrier surrounding himself. Jaxon contacted him one last time to warn him to prepare for the outburst. Way ahead of you, my friend. He replied, and a second later, the fiery figure standing not too far away from him literally explode. Everything flashed up violently and Xavier had to cover his eyes as not to blind himself. But the explosion took less than a minute, and when it cleared up, all simulated guards, the Hydra base and the surrounding forest were vaporized. "Quite impressive." Xavier remarked. Jaxon must have used up quite a bit of his energy already, yet the overall damage that the explosion had just caused can match up to that of a nuclear bomb.

When the smoke cleared up for a bit, Xavier casually walked up to Jaxon, who is now lying flatly on the ground, completely drained of all ounces of energy. "I must say, it was quite a bespectacled scene to behold." He said with his usual calm smile, while lowering himself and hovered his hand over Jaxon's chest, transferring a good amount of his own vitality to the younger hero, "But next time, do think more than just one time before you exact something." Xavier straightened himself up and extended his arm, helping Jaxon to stand up.

"Let's go back. I have a feeling we didn't manage to be the first birds, but I think our performance is good enough." He moved his hand in a circular motion as a portal open, revealing the sub-level 23 of the Academy on the other side, just besides where the mentors are standing. Xavier took out the envelope from within his coat and showed them that their mission is accomplished, but apparently they are not ranked and allowed to get back to their chambers until the rest of the descendants return. But it wouldn't hurt waiting a bit more for everyone, so Xavier just made his way to the lounge.

As expected, quite a few others have made it back before them, which includes Caitria, Petra, Ross, Ja’zmyn, Jack and Wren in a little bit of a bad shape. With her speed, there's no doubt that Caitria would be the first to finish. But Wren being injured? That's certainly a sight you don't get to see everyday.

Xavier was about to offer to take care of Wren's wounds, but Caitria just suggested that Petra should do it since she was also a telekinetic user, so he decided to just let the younger descendant to do her job. Instead, he walked to the coffee machine and poured two coffee cups, for himself and for Jaxon. After all, they do need a bit of a refreshment after the exercise earlier. "Here." Xavier offered a cup for the flame boy and took the seat next to him, "We need quite a good job, aren't we? Next time we team up though I could use a bit more of your patience." He commented as he took a sip from his coffee.

The steel doors opened with a rush of cool wind that whipped the hair around Liz’s shoulder. Hinting at the conditions to come, a sprinkling of snow fluttered through the doorway, making Liz regret the lack of sleeves to her suit. “Step lightly, there’s no telling what we’ll be walking into.” Liz warned her partner briefly before stepping through. The cold was unpleasant, but the real shock was the quiet. The sounds of men and artillery could be heard in the distance of course, but they were mechanical, digital reproductions of a mind made of coding. There were no thoughts to hear, and though this was strictly a disadvantage for the success of their mission, Liz could help but bask in the momentary relief.

“OHH- holy shit balls that’s cold! A little heads up next time?!” Cree had landed nearly waist deep in the snow as she entered, and with that the silence, much like the freshly fallen snow, was ruined. Carefully, Liz lifted Cree out of the snow, and telekinetically shifted them both to a spot with a bit more cover.

“There are a lot of guns between us and that fortress. We could try approaching from the air, but the moment we’re spotted, we’ll have a dozen turrets locking on and firing on our position.” Liz assessed as she took in their surroundings. They’d be discovered by a patrol soon enough though if they stayed put, but with the trees as cover it would be more difficult to be bombarded.

“Can you use that force camouflage at all?” Cree asked as she pulled out her pack.

“It’s not called that, and no. There aren’t any minds whose perception I can manipulate here.” Liz replied with reproach. “I can shield us from any oncoming damage, but there are likely to be snipers out here as well, and it’s difficult to shield against damage I can’t see coming.”

“Alright…” Cree trailed off for a moment, looking around intently until she spotted one of the opposing turrets. “Think you can give me some cover? I’ve got an idea.” Cree didn’t wait for Liz to reply before pulling her guns out and racing toward the turret. Two quick shots took out the guards manning the turret, but there were still plenty of guards on the ground looking to draw blood.

The move seemed rash, but snippets of her partner’s plan began taking shape in Liz’s mind as she erected a telekinetic shield to start deflecting bullets. Simulated guards were easy enough to throw around into the trees, but things began to get hairy once another turret began firing in their direction. Bullets were one thing, energy blasts from alien tech was another. ‘Whatever you’re doing, hurry up.’ Liz urged as she simultaneously blocked an energy blast and knocked back a guard advancing on Cree’s position now in the turret.

‘Just a second…and…BINGO HA HA!’ Whatever Cree had been doing to the turret, it appeared to have spread to the others. Suddenly the gun that had been firing down at them swiveled to the right, and began firing on the guards. ‘I put the guns on auto pilot, and changed their defense parameters to shoot anything that moves and doesn’t give off a heat signature.’

‘That’s…actually kind of brilliant.’ Liz complimented with as much surprise as Cree felt receiving it. She beamed like an idiot, which definitely ruined the bad ass intellectual vibe she’d had going on there, but Cree was too pumped to care.


With the turrets mowing down the guards in between them and the base, getting inside the compound became a much easier task. Cree had elected for speed on her hover-disc, and Liz was just as happy to fly as they made their way through the main entrance. Cree’s attempt at a mental montage was far less tolerable.

‘Get your motor runnin', Head out on the highway!’

‘Please stop…’

‘Lookin' for adventure, and whatever comes our way!’

‘I’m begging you.’

“BORN TO BE WI-I-ILD!” Cree sang out load for the last chorus, tossing two electric pulse grenades ahead that short circuited the oncoming guards. Liz threw up another shield as they stormed their way through, flinging any oncoming guards against the wall telekinetically until they were a smoking pile of scrap. The feel of crushing something went a long way to soothing her irritation.

“We need to move toward the basement. If we stay here to head them off, we’ll get entrenched.” Liz cautioned as she tried to move them further through the base. Her shield could protect them for a while, but it has limits she’d rather not test in this simulation.

“Right. According to the schematics we should turn here and take a lef-” A bright flash bone shattering crash interrupted Cree before she ever had time to finish that sentence. Her ears were ringing, and the first conscious thing Cree registered was that she was sprawled on the floor like a rag doll. Her body wouldn’t respond yet, still reeling from the shock of the impact as she lay there, useless as a puppet with cut strings. Bomb? Her mind tried to rationalize, hand twitching as she felt around uselessly for her pack. That amount of concussive force should have been deadly, without Liz’s shield it probably would have been.

“Liz?!” Cree croaked out, blinking smoke out of her bleary eyes as she tried to search for her missing partner. The clank of footsteps was a clear sign more guards were approaching, and laid out like this, they’d be sitting ducks. “LIZ!” Cree shouted again, trying to pull herself up on shaky feet.

When she finally spotted Liz, Cree almost didn’t recognize her. Part of her suit had been torn apart, probably a lost cause, but the amount of skin showing wasn’t nearly as disconcerting as the fact she looked like she was engulfed in flame. Floating nearly to the ceiling, like some kind of freaky mini sun, Cree wondered how she could have missed her. “What the hell is that?!” Her mind screamed, as Liz opened her mouth, letting out some kind of screech that shook her at what felt like a molecular level. The robotic guards apparently had a similar reaction, and just seemed to…melt, like they’d been thrown into some kind of fire. Suddenly the whole room felt too hot and suffocating, like the oxygen was being sucked out by the fire.

“LIZ!” Cree choked out desperately, unsure what was even happening, much less how to remedy the situation. Her partner’s eyes turned then on Cree, black pits that too seemed illuminated by the flame. Those frighteningly void, almost alien eyes appraised her a moment, head tilting in an almost bird like fashion. Whatever she saw, Cree was grateful, because Liz finally descended back toward the ground before promptly fainting. It might have been funny if it were for the fact that left her with an unconscious teammate, a bunch of melted bots, and possibly a concussion. “Fuck…”

xxxxxP E T R A x M A X I M O F F x • x h e x x // x b22222 x •

---

The trip back through the mirror realm was quick, Petra almost floating along in the wake of their easy success. Ross's compliment stayed with her, lending her expression a little more smile than she'd normally have - I like da way yer nose scrunches up when yer frustrated. She didn't know anyone noticed things like that about her, the small quirks and gestures that made her Petra, instead of the icy Scarlet Witch she put forward.

Caitria was already waiting, back in the academy, when they stepped out of the simulation. Petra released her grip on Ross's hand, sliding her fingers delicately out of his grip.

"Congratulations Mr. McCulloch & Ms. Maximoff. If you could please go to the lounge at the end of the hall with your envelope. You will wait there until the remainder of your classmates finish the simulation."

Ross's reaction said it all. Not that she'd express it in so many words, but they were promised they'd be allowed back to bed if they completed the simulation. No protest passed her lips, but her spine was a little stiffer and her steps more pronounced as she headed towards the lounge area. "Hello," she greeted Caitria as she passed, her voice low. It was a little hard not to let her annoyance show, especially since Caitria didn't deserve to be on the receiving end, but the irritation needed to go somewhere.

A few minutes more, and Ja'zmyn came through her door. Now there were four students back - four out of the original twenty-two. They might have to wait a little loner.

At this thought, Wren and Jack burst back into the room. A little entertainment might be nice, Petra mused, as Jack screamed at them to get out of the way - a little redundant, since there was no one in his way. Taking in both of the students clad in red, Petra noted that they seemed to be a little worse for wear; of course they'd met expectations and gone in with guns blazing, no doubt.

"Petra's telekinetic - you could remove any glass shards in her body, if you don't have a problem with that." The redhead's attention snapped to Caitria, taking in her beckoning hand and Jack bent over Wren's wounds, fussing. Oh.

"I have no issue, if Wren doesn't." She might not like the other girl, but Petra wouldn't refuse her help. At least, since Wren hadn't quite given her reason to yet. Rising in one fluid motion, Petra approached Wren, kneeling so she was level with Wren's wounds. "This will sting," she warned. Disallowing Xavier's sudden appearance from making her concentration waver, she focused on the flesh wounds, telepathically pulling the glass shards out of Wren quickly and cleanly. The bits that were further in her flesh proved to be a little more difficult, but Petra made sure they slid back out the way they came as quickly as possible, without causing any further tearing.

"I'd say take the time to catch your breath and regenerate, but you'll be up on your feet in no time," she commented, pushing herself to her feet and looking down at Wren. She smiled perfunctorily at the patient, with no sign of mockery - or much friendliness, for that matter - and took a step back, her job done.




xxxxxxxR I L E Y x B A R T O N x • x h e x x // x 7a378b x •

---

One moment, Riley was standing ankle-deep in snow, the next, he was in a hallway stretching away to his right, dry and (if he was right) heated. He shook himself, trying to reorient himself - he was never ever going to get used to Conrad's zapping around. Perks of being a perfectly ordinary human.

"I'll take the first door and you get the second?"

"Yeah, sure," Riley agreed. He leaned against the door and tried the knob - locked, but there didn't appear to be anyone inside. Casting a quick glance around for security cameras and finding none, Riley backed up as far as the hallway would allow him, and placed a well-aimed kick at the door. It swung inwards, and he leaped forward, grabbing the edge of the door to prevent it from smacking against the wall on the inside and creating unnecessary noise. As it was, busting the door down was probably already enough to warrant a little unwanted attention.

"Jackpot." The room appeared to be a security office of some sort, with screens displaying feed from what was presumably cameras all over the facility. Scanning through the screens, Riley found one showing a glass enclosure - with an envelope inside.

"I haven't found anything. You?" Conrad's voice came from behind Riley, and the archer pointed, smiling.

"Right here, baby. Look - the envelope, this is the corridor outside the room, all we gotta do is take down like, three guards. Maybe more, but that's about as many as I can see from here. Could you get us there?" He wasn't exactly sure how far Conrad could teleport, especially with minimal knowledge about their destination, but he trusted in his friend's abilities. Either that, or they'd work their way down the floors and hope they didn't encounter too many enemies. With Conrad around, he could afford to be a little more optimistic.

Bow taut and at the ready, he smiled at Conrad. "Ready to go, partner?"

xxxxxxxU L R I C HxxZ O D

xxxxxxxxxxparentage: Dru-Zod
xxxxxxxxxxhex: #230404

"Mr. Zod." The computer man must have said for the several hundredth time.
"What?" He asked staring at the ceiling under his blankets. Apparently this too was part of the human norm, being tucked in bed at 3. Now J.A.R.V.I.S was saying he should have been up and about, ready for battle.
"You are required to be at sub-level 23 within under a minute now. Lack of attendance will result in failure."
Although still somewhat confused, he picked up his feet and got dressed. What he did know was failure wasn't an option so attendance he shall be in. "I just don’t get it though. Aren’t most of us supposed to be asleep at this hour?"
"The purpose is to condition you for every hour Mr. Zod. Your adversaries do not wait for the time to be at convenience."
Ulrich gave a nod. "Understandable."
"You have few seconds remaining."
Ulrich hadn't realized the time he lost, so darted down with his super hearing active to avoid being in the dark of their task. "Sorry." He called, flashing by the mentors and just got through a steel door and entered the simulation in time. He huffed out and gave his white surroundings a brief analysis then dashed to the base.

Without hostages to consider, it'd be a field day. He burst through the top floor and worked down, clearing out floor by floor as the alarms wailed insignificantly as his opponent's cries of startle and pain were the real music. They were thrown into walls, suffered his weight and super strength being slammed into them, and even tossed out of the building. Right up to the point he reached the basement, broke the protective case around the envelope and retrieved the letter then darted back. Ulrich gave the envelope a last look over and it seemed in the good condition the mentors wished. Much unlike his clothes that had little bullet holes in them.

Ulrich drifted over the lounge when prompted. Apparently Caitra was faster because she was already there. And Petra, Ross, Xavier, Ja’zmyn ...Just about everybody. Was he the last!?
There was a fair amount of action outside of the simulation too. Mostly teamwork orientated he noted, whether that be feedback between Xavier and Jaxon or aiding Wren's injuries. While Kryptonians or Zod’s army anyway looked after each other they didn’t really ever have teamwork so that was always a work in progress area for Ulrich too. It was part of why he joined, and, of course, in hopes of converting him to his own man with underlying implication that the man had to be good.
For now Ulrich stood in the lounge in his own space and let his gaze fall back on the envelope he had retrieved.

Conrad Wagner
xxxxxxxxxxparentage // nightcrawler
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxoutfit // x
xxxxxxxxxxxxxhex // #021595
═══════════════════════════════

═══════════════════════════════
xxxxxxxxxxT'Chioke
xxxxxxxxxparentage // black panther
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxoutfit // x
xxxxxxxxxxxxxhex // #4d5050
═══════════════════════════════
xxx
═══════════════════════════════
xxxJa'zmyn J'onzz
xxxxxxxxxparentage // martian manhunter
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxoutfit // x
xxxxxxxxxxxxxhex // #1c6a01
═══════════════════════════════
x
═══════════════════════════════

____
_____Protege of Captain America

_____Dialogue: #4d2be2 || Outfit
_____________________________________

She spared but one in the control room, after cutting off coms. and cameras. Astrid pointed the gun towards his head and while they may have been testy and loyal to their cause they didn’t know Astrid which meant she could have been a trigger friendly woman. “How do I get to the main frame?” She demanded, sick of the rat warren the base proved to be, a new patch of guns and soldiers just waiting for her at every new corner. Astrid squeezed the trigger lightly before he gave up the location of the blue print.

A new wave came then and Astrid stuck up her shield to protect herself from hostile fire. It was too rapid to break defensive position and Astrid flinched at the ricocheting high ones and the fact that they shot their own man remorselessly. Astrid adjusted her aim low and towards the source of enemy fire and pulled the trigger. She heard a few cry out of pains and there were less bullets coming towards her but not enough to lower her shield. "Reloading!" Hydra's priorities weren't to protect their own or get their wounded out of the way but to keep the fight hard and kill the intruder, if not severely harm and capture them. Heavy pressure was on her and she didn't know if an opening would occur without somebody to cover her.
Astrid lowered her shield to her body and fired. One, two, three, four shots as the last bullet of theirs hit her shoulder while they fell back.
She hissed looking to her shoulder and saw her uniform turn red in the area.

She pressed on with the new intelligence, communications off and cameras blind and having more sense of the place now. It made her journey much more breezy though that could have been because she felt like she had taken out more than half their forces already. Even so Astrid still treaded lightly all the way down to the basement where the envelope was kept.

Three guards had gathered around the prized possession. Quickly. Astrid strapped her shield to her back and lay down her weapon quietly.
She kicked off one wall and booted a guard in the back with her momentum. She approached the next without losing a beat, wrapping her arm around his neck and kicking out at the third with both feet. The one as leverage slammed to the ground and Astrid's fist whacked him square in the face to assure he'd stay down.
Astrid jumped back to her feet and incapacitated the other. The third however clutched her bad shoulder digging his thumb into her wound. She screamed out before wrestling him off. He went for his gun but she snatched it away and aimed at him with a cool gaze. Astrid moved for the envelope taking her eyes off him for a mere moment and in that moment he launched another assault trying to wrap wire around her throat from behind. Astrid stamped on his foot and threw her elbow back into his rib cage. He let go and wheezed for air but Astrid finished him off then and there, slamming her shield across his face.

She finally broke the glass and retrieved the envelope. The basement to the first floor was a smooth run due to clearing it out earlier on and for that strategy at least, she was grateful. Astrid dumped her emergency weapon in the snow.

Astrid returned to sub-level 23 a little sore and sorry. Then traveled to the main lounge scanning over the people that had made it back in one piece. Not all of them yet which meant there was still some waiting around to be done and with a possible bullet lodged in her shoulder, it was going to be unpleasant. Astrid frowned lightly as she didn't want anybody else plucking it out, no matter their dexterity or magic.
Her eyes landed on Ross then. “Hey, mirror wizard.” She smiled much too tightly. “Any trusting reflections about so I can sort myself out?” Astrid gestured to her shoulder. Even then she'd probably need tweezers or something but one problem at a time.

---

________
________Protege of Poison Ivy

_____Dialogue: #e116d8|| Outfit
___________________________________

Lilith quickly regained balance, gripping Andrew's wrists and using the wall as support as he came in like someone had opened the gates of hell and shoved her out of the way. “Thank you,” she gasped through a glare, because a millisecond later and it could have been her on the ground. She really had lost her gambling touch or perhaps dear Andrew didn’t have the patience to understand alluring prey.
Or, more likely, that protective trait of his kicked into overdrive.
"I have the envelope," he said, slightly out of breath, "but since we sounded the alarm, we have to kill everybody in this building before we leave."
Lilith studied his face expressions carefully. Her moral compass didn’t argue to kill hostiles but Andrew's might have, if only to contain his seriously problematic alter ego. She nodded and looked past his shoulder. She’d apologize once they made it out of the sim unscathed. “Okay. Just take five if you need it. Seriously, you've done more than enough,” she said looking back to him.

Lilith commenced the killing though at times difficult to summon the green with how cold she was and the frosty conditions outside. Yet she prevailed for the most part, her vines snapping up and binding multiple men at a time and constricting firmly, her thorns piercing through hydra layers and finding arteries. They would sometimes clutch the soldiers just to stop them in their tracks so Andrew had an easier target or Lilith could create some lethal toxin. When that failed she would put her melee to the test, capturing a wrist and pulling reversals assuring they didn't cheat the close combat with guns, though she was fairly confident with nightsticks, knives...fair play melee.
A soldier had managed to get close enough to wrap his hands around her throat and lift her feet off the ground. Lilith instinctively struggled against him trying to push his arms off her but his grip was iron. However, a glance in his blood lusting blue eyes reminded her that he was merely human. She cupped the back of his head and pulled his face in so she could kiss him and few seconds after their lips connected his grip turned limp and he collapsed. Lilith coughed and wiped her lips glaring coldly at the now lifeless body before checking on her partner.
“Andrew? You still standing?” She called and looked around as if expecting him to be close by. She had unfortunately obtained tunnel vision in battle assuring her and her plants won.

For good measure, Lilith induced poison through the ventilation. Then met back up with Andrew hastily. “Let's get out of here.”


The first thing she felt being back in the academy again was physical warmth. Not relief. Warmth. But before she got too cozy and comfy in the lounge, or even headed there, she gently grabbed Andrew’s forearm for his attention then just as quickly released her hold. “I''m sorry. I know your initial strategy was a stealth approach but I didn't want to be some damsel that couldn't even find her way into the base. I also realize my method was worse for that whole damsel factor,” she pointed out, “but my intentions were never to make you uncomfortable. So sorry to put you through that. I’ll try stay out of your hair in team activities.” She twitched up half a smile. Lilith wasn't going to pretend to know what it was like having this other whole other rogue dark thing lurk inside him beyond unpleasant. She did know however that violence and fights were a possible trigger and she still put him through that.

xxW R E N00W I L S O N

---

xxxxxxxxxxp a r e n t a g e x//x deadpool
xxxxxxxxxxa t t i r e x//x outfit
xxxxxxxxxxd i a l o g u e x//x #BB141E






xxT O B I A S00L E H N S H E R R

---

xxxxxxxxxxp a r e n t a g e x//x magneto
xxxxxxxxxxa t t i r e x//x outfit
xxxxxxxxxxd i a l o g u e x//x #57428c






xxF R A N K I E00P A R K E R

---

xxxxxxxxxxp a r e n t a g e x//x spiderman
xxxxxxxxxxa t t i r e x//x outfit
xxxxxxxxxxd i a l o g u e x//x #FF0057






xxR O S S00M c C U L L O C H

---

xxxxxxxxxxp a r e n t a g e x//x mirror master
xxxxxxxxxxa t t i r e x//x outfit
xxxxxxxxxxd i a l o g u e x//x #ff8d34

xxxxxP E T R A x M A X I M O F F x • x h e x x // x b22222 x •

---

Her job done, Petra backed away, retreating to a corner where hopefully no one would bother her further. Suddenly exhausted - the combination of being awoken after only three hours of sleep, the exertion of the simulation, and the interaction with her classmates - she wanted nothing more than to return to bed, or maybe grab breakfast, then pass out at the table. Still, after talking to Ross, she felt oddly lonely now that his attention was elsewhere.

Spotting Tobias at the far end of the lounge, she approached him, wondering if he was in a chatty mood. Probably not - seems to be a family trait, now that I think of it - but he was family anyway, and she knew that he was the one person who wouldn't leave her behind or drop her once he got bored. Regardless of his less-than-noble parentage, he had a good heart. At least Petra could trust him.

"Hello," she greeted, stopping a foot away from him. "How'd you find the simulation? They've got themselves in a bit of a tizzy there; very realistic simulation Mycroft's put up. Are they setting us up for something?"

She still couldn't find it in herself to call him uncle. At least he wouldn't be too concerned about titles. Tobias was a little more predictable than he thought he was.




xxxxxxxR I L E Y x B A R T O N x • x h e x x // x 7a378b x •

---

"As long as I can see where I'm going, I can get us there. Just be prepared to fire once we're there. We won't have a lot of time before they signal the alarm. I know my ability makes it difficult for huma-" Conrad's mouth snapped closed, likely having realised the implications of his words. Riley smiled ruefully - unfortunately he could not say that this was the first time he'd heard anything of the sort, although coming from Conrad he could forgive his friend a little more readily.

"That's alright, Conrad. We can - yeah, we can go now." If Riley's grip was a little tighter on Conrad this time around, his partner said nothing.

They phased into the room, Riley appearing almost nose-to-nose with one of the guards. They were in too close range for Riley to use his bow, so instead he hit the guard in the jaw, returning his bow to its magnetic holder on his back as he did so. Throwing himself forward so he was practically kneeling over the guard as he landed, so he threw in a few punches of his own, knocking the guard unconscious in no time at all.

Noting that Conrad had taken out the other two, Riley got to his feet, looking around to ensure there weren't any more guards coming for them. Once confirming they were safe, he returned Conrad's thumbs up with a tentative grin, and his partner grabbed the envelope from inside its enclosure.

"I don't even care about alcohol, I just want my bed. Get us out of here." Riley blinked, and they were back in the academy. Already a number of students were back, the simulation appearing to have taken its toll on them. Riley backed away from the crowd, a little less worried than Conrad was. Wren would be alright - she was a tough bird.

Turning away, he spotted Frankie exiting her simulation. "Heya, Frankie. I'm not sure, I just got back myself. You and Nathaniel make it alright?"

---

xxxxxparentage // daredevil
xxxxxoutfit // xxxxxxdialogue // BB141E

---

J A C Kx M U R D O C K
__________________

"Oy, ya prick. She's got healin' abilities. What er ya freakin' out fer?"

Before the Scotsman had replied, he rubbed both eyes and gave a soft yawn. Maybe the mirror realm allowed him to complete the exercise in the bat of a lash, but with the bone-chilling cold and musty smell of the base, how was Ross still tired?

"Dude, wake up." Jack chuckled. "The healing abilities are precisely why I'm freaking out. She could heal over it, and then she'll have glass trapped underneath her skin. Didn't they teach you basic anatomy in primary school?"

While he said this, Petra Maximoff approached the scene. With Caitria's suggestion, she had graciously offered to telekinetically remove the remaining glass from Wren's skin. Well, maybe not graciously. Petra was a bit of an icewoman. Cold and conscientious - far from the warm scarlet that made up her hair, lipstick, and lineage. He felt bad for Xavier. A little twinkle had shone in his eyes when he past an injured Wren, but he'd shied away from the challenge once Petra stepped up to the plate. Jack felt that in the academy and on the silver screen, Xavier's quirky genius was often overlooked.

"Hold up a minute... ya call her 'Wrenpool'?" Ross laughed weakly, patting Jack on the back. He was still in a crouched position, right by his partner's side.

"And I call you Mirror Master. We've been over this."

"Ya need to work on yer nicknames... They suck."

"That's the point, Captain Obvious." Jack deadpanned. Ross had taken a dig at his pride.

Suddenly, he sensed a jolt of warmth. As Wren squeezed his hand, he felt her tender skin, bones, blood vessels, and everything inbetween. After trudging through that monstrous snowstorm, she was still heated, still crackling with vigor. He even heard her fluttering heartbeat. His own heart practically pounded out of his chest.

"All better now, worry wart," she said, shard-free. Petra completed the job in less than two seconds. She'd be thanked later.

"Good," he smirked, getting back on his feet. He grabbed the manilla envelope, tucking it under his arm."So next time, when you're slicing and dicing and unpinning grenades on an entire army of murderous Hydra bastards, don't do it alone. See ya around, crazy girl." And with that, he left her. But not before shooting Wren a flirtatious wink.

A pep in his step, he sifted through the crowd of students until his buddy, Jaxon, was found. Yet again Xavier appeared, this time sipping a cup of coffee in the seat next to him. "Sup, Hot Stuff?" Jack extended his arm forward for a high-five. His friend looked just as lively as ever, like he'd barely broken a sweat inside the simulation. "How'd you do? I'm sure the snow wasn't a problem." Turning to the protege of Doctor Strange, Jack gave a snarky expression. "He didn't cause any trouble, did he?" His thumb pointed to Jaxon, almost drumming into his nose. He saw Xavier walk into the simulation with him just before leaving with Wren, so clearly they had partnered up. "I know he's not the most tempered of people. Sometimes I like to keep a fire hydrant with me so he doesn't burn down the whole building...You should see him drunk."

Jack pressed an elbow into his friend's shoulder. He liked to poke and prod, but it was all in the name of good fun. "Hopefully the mentors aren't keeping us here too long. I dunno about you, but that goddamn simulation left me famished and tired. I could go for some breakfast right now. If you're not jumping into bed right away, you can come up to my penthouse and I'll make some eggs benedict, Hell's Kitchen style. You're invited too, Strange," he flexed his brows at Xavier. Might as well make it a party.

"Maybe I'll text Ross and Conrad. See if they're up for it..."

"Not without a phone you won't!"

Behind him, Phoebe slapped his silver device back into his palm. That's right...He'd left his Iphone behind, in her hands, before entering the simulation. Tightly, she wrapped his earbuds around his neck, as though tying a noose. "Woah! What's your problem, Princess?"

Taking a step back, she crossed her arms and gave a sharp glare. In all his years of knowing her, he'd never seen such a prickly expression on her face. Not even in battle.

"Why don't you ask Wren Wilson, since she's your new partner now."

Her words came out colder than Stark's simulated snow. Seriously? That's why she was furious? Because of a choice he made for a stupid assignment? The Devil of Hell's Kitchen scoffed as she strutted away. He was going to invite her over for breakfast, but now shuddered at the idea. His head shook at Jaxon. "Girls. Am I right?" Then Jack clicked his phone back to life and was greeted with a curious surprise: an updated lock screen wallpaper. More specifically, an agitated Phoebe posing with her new partner.

And who was he? Why, none other than the Prince of Wakanda.

---

xxxxxparentage // wonder woman
xxxxxoutfit // xxxxxxxdialogue // EAC117

---

P H O E B Ex P R I N C E
__________________

Before returning Jack's phone in a vexed fashion, Phoebe listened to T'Chioke's words, struck by their meaning.

“Sacrifice," he answered. It was a simple sentence backed by a more complex cadence. "Everything you do is for the people of your country. You don’t get to think about yourself when you have thousands depending on you. It can be like walking through a minefield at times. If you make a wrong step, you not only hurt yourself, but the people counting on you. Not very inspiring, but ruling a nation isn’t something anyone can do.”

She watched as the Black Panther's vibranium claws cut effortlessly through the thick glass, as though it were made of butter. With a push, the dismantled chunk of wall hit the ground with a loud crash. Guards would be coming any minute.

“Let’s get out of here.” T'Chioke pressed, tucking the envelope into his suit. Phoebe nodded and quickly followed him through the door. She wanted nothing more than to complete the mission and get out of that sweaty Hydra uniform. Nasty smell aside, she felt gross wearing it.

Once they entered the elevator, her thumb ticked the button to the ground floor. She leaned

against the back wall, somewhat drained. Phoebe tried to think up an intelligent response to his statement, but her mind whirred along with the metal contraption, rehashing harsh memories and expectations. Sacrifice...she knew the definition of that word all too well.

"My mother wants me to rule Paradise Island," she exhaled, eyes downturned. "After I graduate. She wants me to reclaim the throne with her and keep Themyscira at peace while she works with the Justice League. That's why I'm training here."

She didn't know why she was telling him such an important insecurity. Jack didn't even know yet. But T'Chioke would listen, he seemed to be the type to care. And above all else, it felt good to release the truth.

"I know what it's like to take a wrong step. Or rather, no steps at all. It leads to the same result, the same disappointment you speak of. I'm not ready to be a ruler. I don't know if I'll ever be ready. Not because I can't handle it, but because I don't want the power."

The doors opened and the passageway was clear. It was a steady, surprisingly easy walk back to the forest. The sun hung low in the sky. They'd be the last ones to finish the simulation, but at least they hadn't set off any alarms. Slow and steady usually wins the race. It might do wonders for their grades.

"To put a long story short, I learned something important after meeting the current queen of Themyscira," she continued once they were in line with the safety of the evergreens. "Those who seek power are least deserving of it. My mother always used to tell me that...titles and superpowers and money don't matter - it's what we do that defines us. I'm terrified of becoming the new queen. I don't want to make a wrong step, or no steps at all. I don't want to see myself become a villain."

She gave him a knowing glance, as if to inform him that information would remain a secret. She didn't need the entire academy learning of her future fears.

Once panther and princess reached the top of the hill, the world around them began to shapeshift into a dull, fifty by fifty-foot room. Mycroft and Coulson sat before an ensemble of monitors. Once they revealed their comments, Phoebe unbuttoned and unzipped the Hydra uniform, casting it onto the floor.

"Good job! I really appreciate your willingness to partner with me, T'Chioke. I didn't think anyone would." She sheathed her sword and gave him a quick hug. He deserved it. "Thank you so much for your help...your advice. Means a lot to me. Talk to you again soon?" she asked while exiting the room, a merry smile adorning her face. She hoped with all her heart he'd say 'yes'.

★ ★ ★

Afterwards, Phoebe propped herself against the hallway's edge, as far away from Jack Murdock as possible. She wasn't mad by the fact he'd partnered with Wren Wilson. Rather, she found it rude he'd left her stranded after seemingly giving off an impression of companionship. They had been a team many times before. He could've let her know before breaking tradition.

Yet she immediately regretted her coldness upon reuniting with him. Perhaps she'd apologize later. Jack was her best friend, after all. He was like an older brother. A test wasn't worth the jeopardization of their relationship. Placing her shield and lasso on the ground, Phoebe crossed both arms and languidly stared at the pool of students. She still felt like a stranger in this academy, even though she knew most peoples' names now. It took her a while before noticing Magneto Jr. nearby, pursing his lips in indifference. Odd - even after the assessment, his helmet wasn't back in his possession. It wasn't on the ground or in his hands. Perhaps the mentors forgot to return it? If he didn't have it by the time they were free to leave, she'd remind Mycroft.

Picking up her Themysciran treasures again, she left the wall as soon as Petra approached, crossing over to Frankie and Riley. At least she didn't feel like a stranger with them. "Hey!" Phoebe smiled. While listening to what Frankie had to say about Nathaniel, her mind wandered. Everyone still had their envelopes, which, according to the mentors, were to be left unopened. What on earth was inside them? Since they hadn't been confiscated, perhaps they each held something pertaining to the students. Hopefully the truth would be revealed in time...

xx N A T H A N I E L x S A N T O S



xxxxxxx p a r e n t a g ex // xbane
xxxxxxx a t t i r ex // xoutfit
xxxxxxx h e x c o d ex // x69ad4c

xxxxxxxxxxJ A X O Nx S T O R M
xxxxxxxxParentage: The Human Torch
xxxxxxxxDialogue: #FF5901

andrew mulligan

parentage: toxin | hex code: #ceaa16

Lilith scrutunized Andrew's face, before nodding in response to his statement and looking past his shoulder. "Okay," she said. Just take five if you need it. Seriously, you've done more than enough."

Andrew was hesitant to agree to Lilith's proposal - not because he thought Lilith's skills with insufficient, but because he didn't just want to be sitting around on an assignment. Eventually, though, he nodded briskly.

After fidgeting for a minute, Andrew decided to go back into the game - after all, it would definitely speed things up if he pitched in.

As Andrew fought off a few measly soldiers while struggling to contain his beast form, he thought back to when he had saved Lilith. Now that he was thinking about it, she probably could've saved herself. After all, she was Poison Ivy's daughter. It wasn't wise to underestimate her.

Of course, Andrew being Andrew, it was impossible for him to think up any logical answer when he was in the zone. His protective and emotionally-driven personality prevented that.

"Andrew?" the brunette man turned his head at the call. "You still standing?" Andrew could tell that Lilith was close by and headed in the direction of her voice.

"Yeah, still here!" he responded. The two met up quickly.

"Let's get out of here," Lilith said. Andrew nodded in agreement as the two headed back to the academy.

Andrew let out a sigh of relief as he headed out the simulation doors. "Yes," he breathed. Being the son of Toxin, Andrew had a high heat resistance, but the other side of the spectrum wasn't on par with that.

Before Andrew could head over to the lounge, Lilith grabbed his arm, catching his attention. "I'm sorry," she said immediately. "I know your initial strategy was a stealth approach but I didn't want to be some damsel that couldn't even find her way into the base. I also realize my method was worse for that whole damsel factor, but my intentions were never to make you uncomfortable. So sorry to put you through that. I’ll try stay out of your hair in team activities." She curved her lips up into a half-smile.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Andrew rushed to reassure the blonde. "I've never been one for strict plans anyway; a lot of factors can change out there in the field, so I prefer to think on my feet. You didn't make me uncomfortable, and I have nothing against your approach to the situation - after all, we still passed, didn't we?" Andrew beamed. "I'm just the type of person who'd act impulsively, so sorry if I messed up your plans in turn. But if you want, I'd really have no problem partnering up with you again!"

---

thaleia castle

parentage: punisher | hexcode: #49a98a

Tobias nodded towards Thaleia rather civilly as the two started hopping their way around the dead bodies on the ground, heading towards the lift. Both brunettes stayed silent on the way up, making no move to acknowledge each other's presence. Although Thaleia was sure she could've succeeded in the assignment by herself, there was no harm in teaming up with someone as powerful as Tobias Lehnsherr.

When they approached the simulation doors once again, Tobias stood aside and let Thaleia go first. What a gentleman, Thaleia thought sarcastically, although there was a hint of truth to it. The petite brunette nearly gave Mycroft the finger on reflex as he ordered the two to go to the lounge, but restrained herself at the last moment. She caught sight of Tobias rolling his eyes at Mycroft - justifiable, considering that the older man took away the younger's Magneto helmet.

(Thaleia's father would call that a serious offense in the anti-hero world - or any world, to be honest.)

Thaleia's gaze drifted around the lounge, before landing on the oh-so-pampered Wren Wilson. Jack Murdock was losing his cool - at least in Thaleia's eyes.

"...the fuck?" Thaleia muttered relatively quietly, although she made no move to be discreet. "Wilson could grow a second arm if she wanted to, for fuck's sake." Thaleia rolled her eyes, muttering a few obscenities and how ridiculous the situation was.

Thaleia retreated to her own little corner of the room, checking her ammunition as she flipped her gun in the air nonchalantly. As she did so, she let her blue-green eyes wander around the room once again. Well, look at that. Apparently, everybody was a morning bird and was having fun chatting with their friends or something stupid like that.

I'm not jealous, Thaleia told herself bitterly. No matter what anybody wanted to say about it, Thaleia was the true loner of Descendant Academy. Some could argue that Tobias was in the same position as her, but that really wasn't the case. Everybody avoided Thaleia because in all honesty, she was an unfriendly ice queen. Mr. Son of Magneto, on the other hand, was merely antisocial because his daddy was a villain and everybody thought he was just another one of his father. But really, most people were accepting of him. Or some shit like that.

(Maybe, the devil on Thaleia's shoulder taunted, everybody likes him 'cause he's actually nice!)

As she thought that, Thaleia noticed Petra approaching Tobias out of the corner of her eye. Fair point.

____
_____Protege of Captain America

_____Dialogue: #4d2be2 || Outfit
_____________________________________

"Yeh, just hold on." Astrid nodded and watched him consult his bag. Her eyes washed over the tail end scene around Wren and smiled slightly. Not because it was good to see her in pain or anything but the whole crowding aspect in general.

Pretty quickly Ross returned and her attention shifted back on him. "I got somethin' better," he said.
“Wha - Ross!” She growled at him being unguaraded for the tiny burst of pain. Quicker than a band aid it was out and attached to the magnet and equally as quick she collected herself once again. “Thank you. I meant thank you.” It didn’t matter if she disapproved and wanted to do it herself, she still had manners and courtesy for a more impulsive helpful friend. Lesson learned not to ask though.

She rolled out her shoulder testing its mobility and pain tolerance. "Sorry. But yeh would only do more damage doin' it yerself," he justified then gave her the bullet.
“I could have been the judge of that,” she commented.
"I suggest getting that stitched up with some ointment... Er rub some dirt in it like you tough people do."
She rose both her brows towards him before she grew an inevitable grin, even when she didn’t want to be smiling at him after the stunt he pulled. “Thank you for your wisdom, doctor. Now if anything happens to me you’ll be accountable,” she teased. “Not only for your advice but your involvement,” she said, a little more 'pay heed to my warning' undertone in her voice and words.

She nodded once again to him and found her own space figuring others wanted their bed and were in too sour head space to be sociable. That or just too exhausted or angry at getting shot at around 3 in the morning.

---

________
________Protege of Poison Ivy

_____Dialogue: #e116d8|| Outfit
___________________________________

She rose her brows gently and blinked relatively stunned at the response she was receiving from Andrew. He wasn’t going to snap at her or even admit it was a faulty move that jeopardize bringing his nasty alter ego out? It took longer than usual for her to actually wrap her head around him claiming it was okay and appearing to mean it. Add the additional fact that he was the sweetest guy that had a monster lurking in him... “Now I feel worse,” she said in a mutter. “Surely you're not this forgiving to everyone?” she asked, evidently more hopeful than inquiring. The reality was not everyone was deserving of it. Lilith wasn't even at times. In this case she was genuinely sorry and concerned about what Andrew may have had to repress back in there, but even she could see the manipulative and cunning villain she could be sometimes that would stomp all over his generosity. As it was however, she felt somewhat in debt to him for saving her backside so she wouldn't be betraying him any day soon.
“I can comfortably say you ruined no plan of mine,” she assured.

Lilith smiled and waved him on to what had transformed to the waiting room as others finished off their simulations and awaited instructions from Mycroft and Phil. Lilith crossed her arms to keep the heat in her body and made a mental note to never underestimate the beauty and joy of warmth again and next time anyone announced come prepared for battle, to rug up. And if it was somewhere hot she could lose layers.

“Lil, you alright?” The sister of the academy called gently.
Lilith turned to her and offered a reassuring smile. “Just defrosting. I'm unscathed.” She nodded towards Andrew as Lilith stood by Astrid. “He had my back, and I like to think I had his.” Lilith laughed lightly. “What about you?” Her eyes scanned over her and rested on the small entry wound.
Astrid dismissed it with a flourish of her hand. “It's fine. The sim was a little...challenging but I got through it evidently.”
Lilith pursed her lips and nodded. She definitely wouldn't be able to do solo in that fortress of hostiles with arms and that freezing environment. Above all, Astrid wasn't even a meta. “You should be proud you pulled up in one piece.”
Astrid winced but replied with a short, “thanks.”

xxW R E N00W I L S O N

---

xxxxxxxxxxp a r e n t a g e x//x deadpool
xxxxxxxxxxa t t i r e x//x outfit
xxxxxxxxxxd i a l o g u e x//x #BB141E






xxT O B I A S00L E H N S H E R R

---

xxxxxxxxxxp a r e n t a g e x//x magneto
xxxxxxxxxxa t t i r e x//x outfit
xxxxxxxxxxd i a l o g u e x//x #57428c






xxF R A N K I E00P A R K E R

---

xxxxxxxxxxp a r e n t a g e x//x spiderman
xxxxxxxxxxa t t i r e x//x outfit
xxxxxxxxxxd i a l o g u e x//x #FF0057






xxR O S S00M c C U L L O C H

---

xxxxxxxxxxp a r e n t a g e x//x mirror master
xxxxxxxxxxa t t i r e x//x outfit
xxxxxxxxxxd i a l o g u e x//x #ff8d34

xxxxxP E T R A x M A X I M O F F x • x h e x x // x b22222 x •

---

"If I had to guess the next simulation would be similar but focused on the Brotherhood. Suppose it's designed so we know our enemies."

The Brotherhood...Worry dipped Petra's eyebrows, and she crossed her arms, briefly taking a defensive stance. Not against Tobias, never against Tobias, but his father, her...grandfather. Less merit was given to their relationship by the Academy, seeing as Petra had inherited her mother's powers and was less similar to Magneto than her uncle was, but still. A burden neither of them could fully shake. An ancestry neither had asked for.

And going up against his father would have its detriments on Tobias. Regardless of the front he put up.

Petra's worries were temporarily shoved aside in favour of the mentors' announcement. Reaching into her pocket, she extracted the envelope, the force field winking out of existence. Sliding a nail under the flap to open it, she carefully extracted the stiff document inside, scanning its contents.

You are cordially invited to...

"Are you fucking kidding me!? We went through all of that... For a fucking ball!?" Petra winced at the screech, her grip on the embossed paper tightening infinitesimally. Gods but did that girl get on her nerves.

"... following the events of Sokovia..." Petra's fist closed even tighter upon the paper, creases beginning to form. A battle her mother had never talked about, but Petra saw the pain clouding her eyes. Had seen the footage. Had seen the images of the body. Her uncle's body. The one she was named for.

And now, here they were again. The Descendants, used as a weapon? She'd burn before she'd let that happen. Would let the world burn before she was used as a weapon, used to hurt others the way she'd hurt herself before.

"How much do you want to bet that invitation... Excludes me." Tobias's dry comment snapped Petra out of her rage-fuelled reverie, her eyes snapping up to his, momentarily disoriented. "Tobias, I'm sure..." The halfhearted attempt at comfort trailed off as she watched him make a beeline for Mycroft, knowing that nothing she could say would change the situation. Mycroft would surely not be persuaded.

"Aye, red." Petra turned to Ross as he approached. "Ross. I don't suppose you'd want this as a keepsake?" She held out the invitation, realising too late that it was singed where her hand had been gripping it, the only remaining evidence of her temper. "Never mind. I'll keep it." She stuffed it back into the envelope quickly, before Ross could get a good look.

"Yeah, that's an idea." She caught on to his plan quickly, nodding. "Sorry if you wanted to ask me." Only half teasing, she touched Ross's shoulder gently, an unspoken thanks for a job well done, and hurried after Tobias's departing back.

"Tobias. Tobias!" Her voice echoed up the stairwell as she called after him, the stupid cape almost getting caught in the door as it snapped shut behind her. Damn style to hell. "Come with me to the ball. As my date. We'll need you there, it'd be a good sign if you were seen on our side." Almost immediately Petra winced, knowing how the words sounded, but determined that she should try anyway. "Don't let Mycroft keep you away. That old man doesn't know what's good for him."




xxxxxxxR I L E Y x B A R T O N x • x h e x x // x 7a378b x •

---

Riley waved as Phoebe joined them, the three friends forming a little circle, Riley trying not to tower too much over the girls. He knew how it must look, but with his friends, he felt a little less self-conscious. "Phoebe!"

"Ah, working with Conrad was great. That guy gets me, he's got my back. I almost killed him, but that just proves how sneaky he is! And don't worry about it," he reached over to place a hand on Frankie's hair, ruffling it some, "I get it. It's good that we're working with everyone, so we don't end up handicapped if we're thrown together with someone unfamiliar. And what do you mean I'm not attractive?" He feigned insult, punching the blonde lightly in the shoulder. "See if I ever partner up with you again, Parker."

"Riley! Breakfast in the devil's kitchen after we get out of here!"

"Yeah, sure!" Riley called back, raising a hand to point a finger at Jaxon, acknowledging the invite. "Sorry, Frankie. Phoebe." Although, truth be told, he rather liked the invite - asking him specifically meant Jaxon was thinking of him, which was good. At least he knew he wasn't forgettable.

Following Mycroft's announcement, Riley watched Conrad as he opened the envelope, deducing its contents from the ripple of excitement that spread among the students. A ball, huh. He'd be lucky if he could dance without tripping over his feet. Maybe the mentors would be content to let him stand in a corner and look capable of protecting the world.

"Eh. You girls have fun," he responded absently, ducking away as Frankie removed her arms from around him. "We're gonna talk about, uh, cars and annoying blonde girls," he teased back, laughing. "Seeya, Phee. I'll help you girls look at your dresses after breakfast if you want." Breaking away from their little huddle, Riley loped towards Jaxon and Jack, beaming, and bumped Jaxon's shoulder once he got close enough. "Thanks for the invite. Hey, Murdock."

---

xxxxxparentage // daredevil
xxxxxoutfit // xxxxxxdialogue // BB141E

---

J A C Kx M U R D O C K
__________________

"Are you fucking kidding me!?" shouted Wren once the envelopes were unsealed. "We went through all of that... For a fucking ball!?"

Word-for-word what he had been thinking. It was a nice surprise, sure, but something the mentors could have waited until noon to reveal. Definitely not worth the simulated death traps and bullets. He would have given a small cheer if he hadn't felt so whiplashed from the exercise - all Jack could muster was a nod of approval.

Sokovia, Thaddeus Ross, military control...nothing particularly surprising or unexpected. Time and time again the government enforced restrictions upon mutants and vigilantes, and time and time again those rules created more division than unity. That's why his old man never mingled with household name superheroes - the Captain Americas, the Spidermans. The Avengers. Daredevil preferred to stay underground during his crime-fighting days because he knew the higher someone climbed up the totem pole, the more surveillance they received from the hawks above. Descendant Academy was already attracting government attention. That must have said something about the people within it.

Well, whether tomorrow night was good or bad for the school, it was a worthy reason to get

dressed to the nines. The gala, meeting U.N. members, and the soon-to-be breakfast soirée all stirred his excitement...until something slammed flat across his chest."Here. You can fucking have it... I can barely stomach looking at it," Wren said, leaving the invitation in his hands. That was not the reaction he had hoped for. Particularly because a part of him wanted to ask her to the gala.

"Hey...wait!" he called, but by the time the words escaped his lips, she was already ascending the staircase. For a quick moment, his anxiety calmed. He tried focusing on the sounds ahead...maybe she heard his cry and was now proceeding to turn around, back towards the hallway. Instead, he picked up something from behind.

"Oh, and Mr. Lehnsherr... That invitation excludes children of current terrorist factions." Mycroft Xavier's pretentious purr, of course.

"I know." The metal doors of the elevator shut with a cold snap. Tobias didn't even look infuriated, just blank - like he'd been expecting it. If Mycroft didn't already hold the title for Douchiest Piece of Trash Ever to Exist, he certainly won it now. What a fucking jerk. Who thought hiring that prick was a good idea? He didn't seem like the type genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropists such as Tony Stark or Bruce Wayne found universally appealing.

It wasn't his business, though. For now, it was another little secret to tack upon the wall. He returned his attention to Jaxon, Xavier, and now Riley, who had joined the circle while he'd been off listening to a conversation nobody was supposed to hear. "All right, boys," he smirked, beginning to tap up a text message for both Ross and Conrad. "I'm gonna head up to my penthouse now. Just give me a few minutes to get my shit together and then you're free to come in. Don't fall asleep on the way there. I can't eat all the eggs myself - I'm fat enough."

His thumb ticked the blue send button, and off the message went to Mirror Master Jr. and Conrad-super-long-name-Wagner...

Hey bitches. Breakfast at my place. Be there or be as square as Mycroft's tight ass.

Jack then saluted his fellow classmates goodbye and hopped on the elevator, just as someone else was about to make her way in...

---

xxxxxparentage // wonder woman
xxxxxoutfit // xxxxxxxdialogue // EAC117

---

P H O E B Ex P R I N C E
__________________

"Working with T'Chioke was...refreshing," Phoebe added after Riley, a smile gracing her lips. "I threw a lot at him and he took my direction so well. We barely encountered any hitches, save for one instance. I didn't have to worry about anything while I was with him..." He was a much tamer partner than Jack, that was for sure.

"Sorry about that... Not picking you. I wasn't thinking. I was distracted by attractive men." Frankie grinned as she nudged Riley's shoulder. "Of course, you'd be the only man in my life if I was your type." Oh. Phoebe's eyes widened a little. This was the first piece of information she had heard regarding Riley's sexuality. Yes, she caught the subtext. And it made her inexorably happy.

She laughed at Riley's quip, cringed at Jaxon's mention of a breakfast party in Jack's room, and wanted to back into a corner once the gala invitations were revealed. Flashbacks to awful high school dances replayed in her mind, especially that one year during homecoming when her dress tore in the middle of the dance floor. She hid from the laughing cheerleading team and spent the rest of the night in a bathroom stall. It wasn't like anyone was willing to drive her home. Her mom couldn't come to the rescue either - she was off battling the Joker's henchmen in Gotham with the Justice League. It wasn't Phoebe's worst memory, but it was one of the many terrible ones.

At least this time she'd be dancing with friends by her side. With Frankie's sunny personality and Riley's sense of humor, this gala was bound to be a memorable experience. She couldn't wait to go to Frankie's room later and talk about outfits or boys or whatever it was girls talked about before a formal occasion.

"Eh. You girls have fun," Riley responded absently, moving towards Jack and his little circle. It was starting to turn into a ridiculous boys-club-thing. "We're gonna talk about, uh, cars and annoying blonde girls," he teased back, laughing. "Seeya, Phee. I'll help you girls look at your dresses after breakfast if you want."

"Yes, you can be our personal stylist!" she giggled as he sauntered away. Her eyes flicked to Frankie. "I'm going to go put these weapons back in my room. I'll see you in a bit. You're going to have to tell me all the itty bitty details of your time with Bane Jr...I'm dying to know more." With a playful wink and a knowing grin, she bid goodbye to her friend and departed for an open elevator. She made it through just before the doors closed. However, her smooth timing was barely a stroke of luck...

Standing in front of her was Jack, avoiding eye contact. Just him. No one else.

Was it too late to take the stairs? This was going to be a bumpy ride...

---

---

Cold, biting silence. Grey metal walls only heightened the claustrophobic feel. Realizing the elevator wasn't moving, she quickly scurried forward and pressed her floor's button. She was quieter than a mouse: just like she was before they'd talked in college. It was like he could feel the goosebumps rising on her nape. Seconds passed slowly. His fingers fidgeted along with her trembling heartbeat.

This was absolutely ridiculous. "Listen, Phoebe-"

"I'm sorry," she blurted, just as the contraption began to rise. Then she froze. "Oh wait...my apologies. You were saying something...?"

"No, it's fine. You first." Her temperature increased. So did his. Finally, they were thawing. Albeit slowly.

"No, I was just gonna say...I'm sorry. For how I treated you back there...You had every right to partner with someone else. I guess I just got mad because, well...we usually work together. I was caught off-guard, and it turned into unjust anger..."

"You had...have a right to be angry." Jack scratched his fingers across the back of his head. "I shouldn't have abandoned you like that. To be honest, I keep forgetting you've only been here for a little while...I won't leave you next time. I'll ask for your permission before-"

"Jack. Stop right there," she said, turning her body in his direction. "I accept your apology and everything, but...and I mean no offense by this...I need to start connecting with my surroundings." His brows creased. "Okay...are you referring to meditation or...?"

"No, I mean...this partner-test-thing made me realize I need to...I dunno...open myself up more to people? I'm keeping myself in a bubble right now. I've always been that way. But...today I learned that people trust me. Someone was willing to take a chance on me this morning. I don't know why, but he did. And everything went smoothly. I can't just ignore opportunities to join forces with people like me, because this may be the only opportunity I get to build something new. I...I need to..."

"Stop telling yourself that you're worthless and start realizing how powerful you are," Jack finished for her. "Yes, I wanted to partner with Wren this morning, but I left you because I knew you could handle yourself. You can handle yourself, you just don't believe it. Why do you think you got accepted into this crazy academy in the first place? You can't be a million dollar baby if you keep telling yourself you're trash. You're not trash. You're Phoebe goddamn Prince."

Dimples folded across her cheeks as he pressed his shoulder into hers. That movie had always been their 'thing'. The first time she opened up to him, he compared her looks and smile and spirit to that of Maggie Fitzgerald's. In retaliation, she screamed, "Mo Chuishle!" whenever she came to watch one of his fights. Her teasing voice grounded him in the ring, and that was why he'd never lost a match. They had a million more inside jokes. They were close enough to be siblings, and they could never really stay mad at each other. "Okay. I won't tell myself I'm trash," she murmured, her cheeks glowing pink. He smiled back, gave a nod, and clicked on his phone.

"Good. Now explain this."

It was his new background - the picture of her and T'Chioke. She looked away, coyly. "Yes, that's T'Chioke and I. He's the one who asked me to partner with him."

"So I've gathered."

"He's nicer than people assume. And very intelligent..."

"Did he stare at you more from up close than from afar?" He batted his lashes for effect. The punch that landed on his shoulder seemed to say, he's not in love with me, asshole.

"Not as much as you longingly gaze at Wren Wilson! Doesn't take super senses to notice the way you look at her..."

"Don't turn this around, Princess." The elevator stopped, and the duo exited through the doors into Jack's penthouse. She draped herself across his sofa like a queen on a throne, setting her shield and lasso on the hardwood floor. "I guess you really are the son of Matt Murdock. He had a huge crush on a wild, red-clad woman too...a certain Elektra Natchios, if I can recall correctly..." He was about to pour himself a glass of water from the nearby sink. Instead, Jack slowly pivoted on his heels, his ears perked high like a rabbit's. Apparently they always rose whenever he was startled, as Phoebe never failed to laugh whenever he made what she referred to as 'the surprised face'. "Now where did you learn that private and very personal morsel of Murdock family history?"

She smirked. "Jessica Jones is more of a gossip than you think."

Damn Alias Investigations and the alcoholic woman who ran it. After a few months interning there, Phoebe was starting to become a PI herself. Jack ran two glasses of water under the faucet - one for him and one for his partner-in-crime - and then sat next to her on his comfy beige couch. "Well, unlike Elektra Natchios, I don't think Wren Wilson has the gall to join a villainous ninja organization, kill her sensei, and bury herself inside an imploding building. She's loud-mouthed and strange and annoying..." he sighed, "but she's not...completely...crazy. I hate to admit it, but...she's actually kinda fun."

"Please tell me you're going to the gala with her," Phoebe giddily squealed inbetween a sip of water. With a frown, he shrugged. "I wanted to ask her after we opened the envelopes, but she left before I could say anything. She seemed pissed. Like she'd rather drink a gallon of hot garbage juice before going to the damn thing..." Odd, considering Wren didn't seem like the type to turn down a party.

"Well maybe that's because you haven't asked her yet! I may not be as experienced when it comes to romantic relationships, but Jack...if you like her, go get her! What are you waiting for?" Did those words actually come out of Phoebe Prince's mouth? She wasn't one for giving advice so...rash. Nevertheless, she was right. Perhaps with the right cajolery, Wren would be willing to go with him. It wasn't like he was asking her to marry him or anything - We'd just be going as friends. Phoebe's opinion was one he could trust. She was blessed with the wisdom of the gods, after all. Not only was she a brilliant tactician, but a shrewd counselor. He nodded. "All right then, I'll ask her now." He pulled out his phone again and found Wren's number, then cautiously began to type up a text. "Ask her in person! That's always nicer!" Phoebe interjected. He gave a teasing sigh and rolled his eyes, then pressed 'send'.

Hey Wrenpool. I'm serving breakfast in my penthouse. Come up if you want...I need to ask you something.

Hopefully she'd reply soon. He gave Phoebe a half-smile, then finished his glass of water. Maybe she'd stay for breakfast. "I just hope she decides to go the gala, at least. Don't know if I'll be able to tolerate a horde of snooty U.N. officials without her crazy shenanigans keeping us distracted. I just feel bad for Tobias. Mycroft told him he's not allowed to attend the event because his father's part of a terrorist faction..."

Phoebe's face went whiter than a ghost's. She cupped a hand over her mouth, keeping a swig of water from escaping, then swallowed hard. "Wait, what? When did Mycroft say that to Tobias?" Jack shrugged his shoulders. "Just after we opened the envelopes. Tobias didn't seem too surprised, actually..."

She fixed her gaze at the wall, shining topaz eyes suddenly turning a shade darker. "That's terrible...no, not terrible. Wrong. Someone needs to tell Mycroft he's incriminating Tobias for a crime that's not his fault...In court, that's called unlawful discrimination." She rose from the couch and slowly paced across the room. The expression on her face was a swirling collage of anger, confusion, and anxiety. Clearly she cared about this to an intriguing degree. "Phoebe, I know it's wrong and everything, but it's none of our business." Jack intoned. "The mentors get to call the shots, not us. There's probably a good reason for why they're doing it. Tobias Lehnsherr doesn't have the cleanest slate when it comes to family history...we don't know anything about him."

"So you're just going to sit there and let it happen?" she said, shaking her head in disgrace. "I don't know about you, Jack, but I became a lawyer to defend the oppressed. Not only is what they're doing unjust, it's dangerous." She put her glass of water on the ground, then grabbed her lasso, leaving the large Amazonian shield behind. "J.A.R.V.I.S.," she called to the speakers above while striding towards the door, "Let Frankie know I might be late to our meeting. And tell Mycroft I need to speak with him in his office. It's important."

"Yes, Ms. Prince."

"Not a smart idea, Phee," Jack called as she turned the knob. What on earth did she mean by dangerous? "You're letting your emotions get the better of you."

"What, prejudice doesn't bother you, Jack?" she replied through the crack in the door. A fire crackled in her eyes. "Keep my shield safe. I'll come back for it later." And with a slam, she left him.

xxxC A I T R I A x A L L E Nxxx• x #7B7383 x •

---

Caitria turned towards Wren, who had scooted over to the blonde's side. "So... How long did it take you this time?" the redhead drawled. "20... Maybe 30 seconds?" A playful smirk landed on Wren's lips. "You're getting slowwww..."

Caitria laughed at her friend's antics, shooting the redhead a sly look. Many in the academy found Wren Wilson annoying and difficult to befriend, but she and Caitria had hit it off before the blonde could grow impatient with the other woman. As it turns out, the two of them had a lot of similarities. Although Caitria wasn't as cocky, sarcastic, or talkative as Wren, both of them paid no heed to the status quo. Wren was actually a surprisingly decent friend.

"Sorry to burst your bubble," Caitria retorted good-naturedly, "I'm still keeping it to under 0.1 seconds." Caitria grinned. "I'll have to watch my back though. Can't have Ulrich catching up to me."

Caitria hated to sound like an arrogant snob, but she thought her position as fastest in the academy was pretty safe. Okay, so maybe she wasn't as fast as her dad yet, but she was getting there. Her top speed was 127,489 miles per second - not quite the speed of light yet, but that was already pushing her current limit. Most of the other speedsters at the academy could just exceed the sound barrier at most.

Before the two could talk any more than they already have, Mycroft stepped in, along with the other mentors. They explained the gala the academy would be holding extensively. Caitria frowned slightly. She wasn't the biggest fan of galas or balls, but she wasn't as averse to them as Wren or some of the others were.

After the mentors finished their speech, Caitria headed back up to her room. She didn't sleep as much as most of the other descendants, but she had been working on an important chemical solution in her lab when she was interrupted. The solution would eventually allow Caitria to create an updated Flash suit based off of previous designs by Francisco "Cisco" Ramon, one of Barry Allen's closest friends. Sure, her current Flash suit was nice, but there was always room for improvement.

Caitria dashed into her lab, checking on her solution, which was still in prime condition. "Good," she muttered to herself. "Everything has been going smoothly." Caitria placed the solution down before quickly scanning her notes.

The blonde speedster zipped to a corner of her lab, attempting to find one of her other solutions she had placed in a secure container. "Ah, here it is." Caitria turned around, content, before almost knocking over a few of her beakers. She gaped at her lab wall.

"What...the hell...is that?" Caitria stared incredulously at the Hydra symbol that had absolutely no place in her lab. "No one in the academy could've done that...I would've caught them infiltrating my lab." The blonde frowned, furrowing a brow at the emblem. It was merely a slip of paper with the Hydra symbol on it - nothing else. Of course, posting that on the wall of Caitria's (sacred) lab was offensive enough.

"Idiots," Caitria muttered, ripping the paper off and setting it in her paper bin. Caitria rarely ever threw anything away - she tried to make use of everything. Even a rubber band could become one of the most powerful electrokinetic weapons in the world.

Caitria knew she should've thought more of the symbol - after all, literally no one besides herself could even access her lab (save for maybe JARVIS and all those top dogs). However, her solution held higher priority - Caitria couldn't wait for it to settle down and lose her opportunity.

"Alright, let's get to work," Caitria slid on a pair of gloves and goggles, carefully lifting the beaker with her prepared solution over the beaker with the transparent purplish-gray mixture.

xxxA N D R E W x M U L L I G A Nxxx• x #ceaa16 x •

---

"Surely you're not this forgiving to everyone?" Lilith asked - even Andrew could easily pick up the hopeful tone in her voice.

"Not everyone," Andrew attempted to reassure the blonde. "I mean, someone would have to be the best of the best for me to forgive then after they seriously backstab me or something. I'll admit, I can get attached, but I uh, kinda take betrayal really seriously." Andrew beamed at Lilith. "If it's not intentional, then I probably won't hold a grudge."

Andrew nodded along with what Lilith was saying, relieved when she mentioned that he hadn't ruined any sort of plan she had in mind. The two exchanged parting smiles as Andrew headed over to the lobby while Lilith went to speak with Astrid.

Andrew's gaze roamed around the room - there were multiple clusters of people speaking to each other avidly, even though most would be asleep at the hour. Andrew, unlike some of his peers, actually slept like a normal human, despite not being a normal human himself. However, the simulation had fully awakened him - there would be no going back to bed at this rate.

Andrew made a decision, heading towards Ulrich Zod. To be honest, there were other people in the academy who were closer to Andrew than Ulrich was, but at the moment, Andrew didn't have any problem with the slightly older man. The two could be somewhat similar in certain areas of their personalities - Andrew could appreciate that.

"Hey Ulrich," Andrew approached the man amiably, who was off in his own world. "Let me guess, you went solo?" Andrew grinned in his usual easygoing demeanor. "What do you think's up with this envelope?"

Apparently, Andrew's question was about to be answered. Mycroft cleared his throat loudly, about to speak to the students before Alfred spoke instead, congratulating the descendants for all passing the simulation. And with that, Mycroft and the others explained the envelope and the upcoming events for the descendants.

"Are you fucking kidding me!?" Wren Wilson shouted indignantly as the group opened the manila envelopes. "We went through all of that...for a fucking ball!?" Although Andrew didn't have as much of a problem with a gala as Wren clearly did, he had to agree with the redhead's opinion on this one.

Eventually, after the mentors finished explaining the upcoming gala, Andrew turned to Ulrich. "Going through that entire simulation was a bit much just for a gala, don't you think?"

xxxT H A L E I A x C A S T L Exxx• x #49a98a x •

---

As always, Thaleia was near-invisible; no one approached her. In all honesty, the brunette was fine with that. She fiddled with her guns, frowning when she noticed a flaw on one of her bullets.

"Fucking unacceptable," Thaleia muttered to herself, peering at the bullet. She was examining the gun barrel when Mycroft made an annoying loud show of clearing his throat. Thaleia rolled her eyes at the action, but lifted her head to give her attention to the mentors nonetheless.

When the envelope turned out to just be for a fucking pathetic gala, Thaleia Castle narrowed her eyes and shamelessly admitted to herself that she and Wren Wilson were definitely on the same page on this one. A simulation? For a fucking ball? Thaleia absolutely despised social events; she wasn't the conventional definition of charming. Besides, the rather...amoral and anti-heroic methods she and her father used to achieve their goals weren't exactly popular.

When the mentors finally finished up their fucking speech, Thaleia spun around an headed directly to the elevator. She jammed her finger on the button to her floor, practically glaring at the inside of the elevator as the doors closed and the lift started moving.

Thaleia nearly flew out of the elevator, placing her gun back to where she had taken it. Even if she did go to the gala (did she even have a choice?), Thaleia would probably show up in her normal combat attire anyway.

xxxxxxxU L R I C HxxZ O D

xxxxxxxxxxparentage: Dru-Zod
xxxxxxxxxxhex: #4c0000


"Hey Ulrich." He lifted his gaze to Andrew and offered a smile. "Let me guess, you went solo?" Ulrich grew a guilty boyish grin and shrugged in response. "What do you think's up with this envelope?" He asked next.

Right before Ulrich could say anything, they were given permission to open it. When prompted, Ulrich slid his finger like a knife under the envelope. The content he pulled out was kind of disappointing, in that sense he agreed with Wren, even when he never expected much but he couldn’t see the benefit in a ball thing either. It could have been currency or a well done ribbon or badge but an invitation to a gala held absolutely no benefit. He sighed out and placed the invitation back in it's envelope as if he never saw it and having to admit internally ignorance could be bliss.

Upon hearing the mentors explanation , he had more understanding of how it benefited them and their project in the academy but not him individually. In fact gaining funds and sponsors could prompt the exploration of more meteor's holding kryptonite or more advanced technology to contain him. His brows knit together. Either way could lead to a threat to him but the lesser evil was apparent.

Ulrich's eyes washed over the room and judging by most of his peers reaction it was a joke in bad taste. Wake up at 3 o'clock, face snowy conditions, fight or sneak to get goods from a Hydra base to know you've been invited to a gala event. Well, least they kept things interesting.
Andrew turned to Ulrich. "Going through that entire simulation was a bit much just for a gala, don't you think?" Once again snapping Ulrich out of his thoughts.
"I guess handing invitations in person or through mail is overrated," he remarked.

The mentors just went about their merry way. Ulrich rubbed his head once in the clear and suppressed a well-earned groan. "I still don't get people," he said as if Andrew had some answers or could help him make sense of them. He released a sigh. "So how about you?" He said for change of topic. "Did you go solo too and how do you feel about the gala?" Others seemed to cause a stir and huff and puff about the event or the way they received the invitation to the event but Andrew was more restrained about his verbal feelings towards it.

xx N A T H A N I E L x S A N T O S



xxxxxxx p a r e n t a g ex // xbane
xxxxxxx a t t i r ex // xoutfit
xxxxxxx h e x c o d ex // x69ad4c

xxW R E N00W I L S O N

---

xxxxxxxxxxp a r e n t a g e x//x deadpool
xxxxxxxxxxa t t i r e x//x outfit
xxxxxxxxxxd i a l o g u e x//x #BB141E


x

---

xxT O B I A S00L E H N S H E R R

---

xxxxxxxxxxp a r e n t a g e x//x magneto
xxxxxxxxxxa t t i r e x//x outfit
xxxxxxxxxxd i a l o g u e x//x #57428c


x

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xxF R A N K I E00P A R K E R

---

xxxxxxxxxxp a r e n t a g e x//x spiderman
xxxxxxxxxxa t t i r e x//x outfit
xxxxxxxxxxd i a l o g u e x//x #FF0057


x

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xxR O S S00M c C U L L O C H

---

xxxxxxxxxxp a r e n t a g e x//x mirror master
xxxxxxxxxxa t t i r e x//x outfit
xxxxxxxxxxd i a l o g u e x//x #ff8d34

---

---

Xavier sat and spent time interacting with Jaxon patiently while waiting for any remarks from the mentor. The younger hero sure is a nice company to keep around. Not that he is trying to sound arrogant, but for someone who has gone through all kinds of high and low in life, he has the rights to called himself a 'seasoned' guy, not just during business, but also in his everyday life as well. For that, pretty much all things that he usually came across with are rather dulled. That also included the assignment that the big bad boys have just told them to went through. That is why he needed to someone with high spirits like Jaxon around to keep himself from boredom.

Chuckling a bit when seeing his partner flirted with Ja'zmyn, Xavier noticed that the protegé of Daredevil - Jack Murdock was approaching them. "Greetings, my friend." He greeted the younger descendant. They aren't particularly close friends, per se, but Jack is seemingly someone nice enough whom he can get along with. The guy didn't seem to mind an old man like him around either, which is a good thing. Amongst all snickers and talking behind his back about how untrustworthy he is, it is certainly a breath of fresh air to have some people who weren't part of that club around him.

After exchanging greetings with his friend Jaxon and whatnot, Jack turned to Xavier with an expression that suddenly scrunched up, and asked him whether the flame boy caused any troubles during their mission or not. He simply replied with his usual calm smile, "Well, I would say that the volcano really did blast its' debris up into the high heaven, but I guess we work quite well together. He did a good job keeping all the simulated guards at bay while I went and retrieve the prize, so you got to give him the credit too."

With that said, Jack came up with the idea to invite his friends to come over his penthouse to enjoy egg benedict from Hell's Kitchen. Of course, it was a breakfast up to Xavier's usual taste, and he doesn't have any plans at the moment, so might as well join Jaxon and Jack and whoever the two boys tag along later. Xavier would be lying if he says he isn't a bit tired after going through with the simulation and shooting some of his vitality over to Jaxon, who looks as if he's a bunny on a sugar rush.

"Yes, breakfast sounds good, Jack. My pleasure to come along. Although I usually prefer something a bit more MasterChef, Hell's Kitchen sounds fine as well." He responded to the Daredevil's offer, "And please, Xavier is fine."

And then, the mentors waltzed in, trying to look as highly and intimidating as ever. Though having worked under them for quite a long time now, he still find them to be quite amusing when they tried to look scary while none of the descendants seemed to think that way. Of course, Xavier still respects them for their capabilities and how 'experienced' they are, it just that they, especially Mycroft, should tone down their pride a bit.

Unknowingly even to the protege of Professor X, Xavier had actually peaked into the content of the envelope earlier when he took it from where it was kept using his magic, so he wasn't surprised now when the ticket to the ball was revealed. It was hardly surprising anymore, knowing the mentors. Their tendency to make the descendants to go through hell just to get a teddy bear is something they are all used to by now.

It seemed that this gala is going to be quite an event, where all the big bad boys funding and supervising them and whatnot are going to gather in one place. Of course, for a social bird like Xavier, much in contrast with the disbelieving reactions from his fellow descendants which he found amusing, this event is something he wouldn't miss for the world. But the ball has barely even begun yet and his sixth sense is already tingling. Something definitely is going to happen there. That's just how things always are. A party is not so much a party without its' crasher, after all.

After Jack left to return and prepare for their little get-together, Xavier turned to Jaxon, "Well, if you don't mind, I'll keep this." He waved the envelope in front of the younger guy and tucked it inside his coat, then stood up from whence he sat, "I'll go back to my place to get changing for a bit. I'll go to yours after I'm done and we can go together, okay? Catch you later." Xavier saluted and opened a portal and get back to his own penthouse.

_______
________Protege of Poison Ivy

_____Dialogue: #e116d8|| Outfit
If she was blessed with medusa’s power, the academy’s beloved mentors would have turned to stone and it looked like most of her acquaintances shared her frustration. With the same glare in-tact, her eyes flickered to her partner who held the precious invitation and she shook her head. So they stuck their necks out to impress a bunch of stuck up government officials for another day. Not that she minded dressing up and getting a bit classy but the extents of getting the invitation was insane.

Nonetheless she sighed and brought her hands together in a firm clasp as if that's where she stored all her composure. She walked in step with Astrid heading to her penthouse in a preoccupied silence.
“I’m thinking of training some extra hours since I’m well awake now. Any tricks, tips, technique advice?” Lilith pried innocently and released a subtle pheromone to persuade Astrid to be compliant and nurturing.
“Use agility. If your opponent can’t hit you they can’t defeat you,” Astrid replied keeping her gaze locked ahead. She closed her eyes and tilted her head like she had a strain in her neck. “But I'd also say stick to fortifying your other strengths as well and...Lilith!” She snapped.
Lilith merely giggled and rose her hands in surrender. “You can't blame me for trying to get the help I need.”

Lilith opened the door to her penthouse and quickly spun on her heel to Astrid guarding the contents of her little home. “Well looks like I'll be having a shower and training all alone then.” Lilith grinned wickedly then looked Astrid over. “You okay?”
“Just…still not okay with killing. I know it was just a sim but it represents reality. Every texture, blood, facial features, wounds, were real.”
Lilith leaned against the doorway. She put her hand on her chest, playing smug and innocent. “Personally I wouldn't want to keep around a worthless bunch of soldiers that couldn't keep two, admittedly, extraordinary people out anyway. They had an army and guns at their disposal and they still lost. Why would they invest in memory recollection techniques to people that aren't worthy? I'm sure some big bad mass operation like that can afford another line up of corrupt soldiers without breaking a nail. They just respawn like robots.”
Astrid leaned forward. “It’s not some big mass evil op. it’s hydra. And they should not be an underestimated threat. No enemy should and you should know that because that means the victim walks right into disadvantage.” Her finger tips hit the wall passionately. “They surely know about the metas and supers that want to fight against them. They might not have exact numbers or statistics but I can guarantee they know something about us and they'll put in measure to defeat us. Which includes finding hazy memories from their comrades then disposing of them.”
Lilith's smile faltered a little through Astrid's avid lecture but she smirked in place towards the end.“I skipped mastermind school with the Riddler. Came here instead.” Lilith tapped her head, clicked and pointed to Astrid with a wink. “Noted. I'll see you soon.”

Lilith finally closed the door in departure and stared at the hydra symbol that seemed to stare right back at her. “Assholes,” she muttered.

It burned into her otherwise productive time trying to clean the damn thing off and when the last trace of paint was gone, she sighed out and wiped her brow. Part of her thought that was a day's wrap and she deserved a reunion with her bed but being weak was a reputation she couldn't live with.

Lilith jumped into the shower then got changed into some active wear, tied her hair in a ponytail and made her way back down to the training rooms. The mundane ones. No simulations with x-factor weather and guns just yet.

---

____
_____Protege of Captain America

_____Dialogue: #4d2be2 || Outfit


Astrid wasn't the only one disappointed by the content in the envelope but there were far worse things and people didn't need to rattle off like they did. The way most of her peers carried on was unnecessary and flashed their inability to control their emotions like spoiled children and honestly it made her rather embarrassed to stand with them.

Alfred, Phil and Mycroft broke into further explanation. "They are attempting to get our Academy shut down or put under military control to be used as a weapon for the U.N.. Similar to the same issues the Avengers encountered following the events of Sokovia," Alfred had said and Astrid inclined her head defiantly. Never again.

Once more than few members started dispersing Astrid dropped her shoulders and waved her company onto the march back to their penthouses.

Lilith stated she'd train more and asked for advice which Astrid gave willingly. She was a slim girl closer to speed and agility than brute force so she could capitalize there. But maybe she was being too short with Lilith. Astrid tipped her to keep using and strengthen her abilities as well since they were one of a kind but Astrid wanted to give more. She wanted to physically be there and oversee her training and help her to the best of her ability. But before that she was intent on walking Lilith to her penthouse then heading for her own for a power nap and review. “Lilith!”

After a few more words with Lilith, Astrid headed for her penthouse.

Guns didn't kill people alone. They needed a person to take aim and pull the trigger to kill. She put her shield away and ran her hands through her hair. She was going to have to commit to a way of battle rather than be indecisive or whatever suited her in the moment.