The Silhouette Institution

Spencer watched in complete silence as his expression transformed from fear to a smile and then as he attempted to greet her, or at least that's what it looked like. She did not try to shake his hand or aid him in his confusion; it was rather fun to watch him struggle. Clearly she had caught him a bit off guard, but now there was nothing she could do but admit she had, yes, overheard his private talk with himself and have a laugh with it. Also, she didn't feel threatened by him in anyway, he didn't seem to get mad at her for sneaking in nor did he seem dangerous. He was certainly also a New Blood, just like her, since they were standing just a few steps away from the class she believed was hosting Power Control 101, and therefor could not be much more experienced or older than her. Plus, his awkwardness and embarrassment made him all the more fragile.

As he spoke a few words that broke the silence but made absolutely no sense in the current situation, Spencer stared at him whole, finding that the cellphone that he had been holding to his ear just a moment ago was now absentmindedly hanging between his fingers, resting as if it was off. Only now did she have time to think what a coincidence it was that both their cellphones had rang at the same exact time, and a even bigger coincidence that none of them apparently cared about the person on the other side of the line. It kind of felt as if she was interrupting a conversation, even if she had said nothing, so she smiled, adjusted her bag on her shoulder, approaching the boy and pointing at the device on his hand, asked: "Does your friends also like to talk to himself? Is that a thing you guys do or...? Cause I could totally dig that."

She waited patiently for an answer, since he seemed a bit lost for words from the moment he had noticed her, but discretely checked the clock on

her cellphone. According to it, class would start in exactly one minute, and since she hadn't even had coffee, she figured it wasn't the best idea to arrive late and take a small nap in the first class of her first day ever in the new school, if the Institute could be called that at all. She turned off her phone as to prevent it would ring again during class and took one more step in his direction, also approaching the room's door. Indeed, there was a general noise coming from behind the door, and she could only assume that was the right class. "We should really rush now. I think class has already started. If you want, we can talk together to ourselves inside." she pointed out and then turned the door knob, peeking inside the room to see how many people were in there already.

"...name is Mister Elliot." she heard a deep masculine voice state. It should be the teacher, and she was a bit embarrassed to slowly walk in. She made no comments, only gave him a look as to ask for permission to enter. At least she was not alone. There weren't many seats left, so she took one on the side further away from the door, trying to move as silently as possible so to not disturb whatever instructions were being given. After she was seated, she glanced first at the door she had entered a moment ago, watching as that strange boy approached the seats as well. The only available ones were one right behind her and another close to some students she recognized from the day before. They had also been made fun of by other students. One of them was the girl she could not seem to take out of her mind, the one that had power regarding plants. Then, her gaze turned to the front of the class, were stood Mr. Elliot, a rather young, black haired professor. But he was not the one who called her attention, it was the girl who stood close to him. The girl from her dream. Spencer was not surprised, but also not completely at ease. Of course she had considered the possibility of her - what was her name again? - being an actual student at the Institute, but there had been no way to be sure. That is until now. Also it concerned her a bit that this person could actually get inside her head. She had stated than she wouldn't do so without permission, but was she trustworthy? And even so, what if there were other students with similar powers but very diverse intentions?

"Atheya." she mumbled lowly to herself, suddenly remembering the girl's name.

---

The was an answer to Jon's call that he didn't expect... unsurprising given how broad a method a method he'd used in terms of using his phone. However he ended up standing in silence for a period, honestly rather unsure of what he should be doing at this point in time. The presence of other voices on the other end of the line encouraged him to stay silent in case of further conversation ensued.

"Wow, actually didn't think that would work," Jon voiced the remark more to himself. The drop in volume hopefully indicated the operator of the phone he was currently using was holding the phone away from their ear. However, since he was not reaching those he tried to get in contact with, and thus ended the call.

Jon took a breath, looks like he was going to class by himself. In that case, he simply ended up wondering which Superlative he'd have as a supervisor. However, he didn't intend to wait much longer than fifteen minutes in regards to class. If no one showed up by then he'd simply skip class and entertain himself in another fashion. In all probability that'd consist of him going back and watching the 101 course. Quite naturally once more that plan hinged on which Superlative was supervising.

"If nothing else I guess I could just go back to bed, though it'd be such a shame to waste today's good weather." Jon suddenly found himself thinking that maybe a small prank or two wouldn't be all that bad.

Lysander kept waving. The other girl didn’t seem to be waving back, just staring at him with a certain amusement. As he kept waving, the girl made her way towards him. She seemed to be eying something in his hand. “Does your friend also like to talk to himself? Is that a thing you guys do or…? Cause I could totally dig that.” Lysander was going to reply with something snarky and witty but he couldn’t think of anything off the top of his head. Instead, he just kept staring at her awkwardly as she tried to check her phone in the most covert way possible. She took a second to look at her clock, while Lysander tried his best not to let her notice how uncomfortable he was. He didn’t really mind that she was checking her phone. He was thinking more about why he was still waving to her this whole time. He abruptly put his hand to his side, hoping that the tension between them would diminish. “We should really rush now,” the girl said, “I think class has already started. If you want, we can talk together to ourselves inside.”

As she walked in, Lysander began to breathe easier again. Girls seemed to make him tenser than ghosts did. Perhaps he should have listened to his brother, Edward, when he told him in 4th grade to start hanging out with girls. But back then, for Lysander, girls still had cooties.

Lysander felt rather at ease again. “That wasn’t so bad,” he thought to himself. And now, he at least had one person he could talk to in school. Of course, he would have known some more people if he had actually made it back in time to the Institute for orientation. ”Meh,” he said to himself, however, as he began to walk towards the classroom door, ”Not knowing a lot of people isn’t that big a deal.” Though he found himself subconsciously believing the contrary.

As he walked in, he once again felt tense. He forgot that this was exactly the reason why he hated being late. Lysander stood at the door, frozen, and just stared at the teacher as the teacher stopped talking and turned his eyes towards him. ”I’m late,” Lysander stated bluntly as a figurative captain’s hat fell on his head. Stitched upon it was the word “obvious” but no one could see it because it was imaginary. The teacher looked at him, ”Yes. Yes you are late. Now please sit down.” Lysander looked around. He had two options: to 1) go sit with people he had never met or 2) go sit near the girl with the amused look on her face whom, in the hallway, he had just made a complete fool out of himself in front of. Lysander sighed. He bowed his head in shame as he walked across the class towards his seat that, fortunately, was closer to the window. ”You know,” he whispered to the girl as he sat down, ”I’m usually not this awkward.” But that was debatable.

A few minutes passed. ”Yeah. We can talk telepathically. It’s a guy thing,” he thought to himself, ”No that’s stupid. Why would that be funny?”

While Lysander was trying to come up with witty responses to the conversation he had in the hall over five minutes ago, the phone still laid in his hand. ”Oh shit!” he thought to himself as he remembered that the phone was still on. Just then, someone walked through the door.

While the boy who walked in, a superlative, seemed completely normal, Lysander felt as if an unexplainable presence accompanied him. It wasn’t the dead girl. It was something much darker. He could get in trouble for this, but he decided to take the risk anyway. He put his head down on his desk, tucking it into his arms, and, in a mere second, let his body go limp as his spirit leaped out of his body. In the physical world, he would appear to be sleeping, but in the spirit world he would be able to walk around the class without being detected.

Unfortunately for Lysander, he didn’t have his lantern, so his spirit would have to walk up to the presence if he wanted to get a look at it. The room was dark and he could only see people and objects within a one meter radius. However, it was very clear that whatever the mysterious specter was, it was the same thing he had seen the first day he had walked into the Institute. The overwhelming darkness of its presence was unmistakable.

Hello? Lysander said shakily as he tried to reason with the entity. He hoped that it would be something with logical thought processes, but it was unlike anything he had ever seen before. It wasn’t alive, nor was it dead. It was just…dark, like a shadow. While Lysander felt an irrational fear overcome him, he felt at ease knowing that at least one familiar person was within the room, even if there was also a strange shadowy specter in the room as well. He moved through the room, trying his best not to step on the ghosts of the two dead monks that had died there centuries before. They were naked. Never was that a pleasant sight.

Lysander warily approached the dark essence in the front of the class. The teacher’s voice was drowned out and all Lysander could hear was heavy breathing and the thumping of his own heart. Of the two noises, only the latter was he causing. The other noise must have been that of the shadowy creature. Despite his fear, Lysander found himself compelled to keep moving forward, walking passed the teacher and the Superlative girl and towards the Superlative boy.

Suddenly, as the dark entity came into sight, Lysander felt his entire being become seized by an overpowering grasp. Waves of darkness flicked violently off the entity and rose Lysander’s spirit off the material ground. ”You are not welcome here anymore, spirit-walker,” the phantom said, ”The spirit world of this Church is my domain.” and with those last words Lysander’s spirit body was flung back into his physical one, causing him to wake up with a loud gasp and fall out of his chair. As he got up, tried laughing it off, and awkwardly settled back down into his seat, he looked intently into the Superlative boy's eyes. Something was off about him. The way that dark shadow followed him; it wasn’t natural (though hardly anything was in this Institute). Furthermore, Lysander knew that boy's powers had ties with that dark phantom, and he didn’t feel right about it. Whatever the boy’s powers were, it was imperative for Lysander to find them out.

But it was also imperative that Lysander finally hang up the call he had answered a while ago on his phone. Fortunately, the person on the end already did it for him.

---

---

Scott watched as a second Superlative entered the room. He looked pretty harmless, but there was a dark, ominous presence behind him. He wasn't getting good vibes off of the guy, so he resolved to stay away from him until they were of similar rank. He didn't want to be dragged into the dark by some kind of shadow demon like something out of a bad horror movie. The teacher encouraged them to set up a plan of training and goals. His instructions aligned perfectly with what Scott himself had planned.

Putting his hands together in front of him, he began to think.
It's true that I need a plan of action. If this place has a gym, I need to go there and build up muscle. I'm also going to hone my fighting skills by knocking out as many New Bloods as I can. Do you have any suggestions, Valor?
There is a training room not far from this classroom.

Might be a good place to get more use from my powers.
The Kashaxi have told me that you should go there on your next available break.
I'll go there after I work out in the gym. I've got to put all that I've got into getting stronger if I want to be ready for whatever cataclysm is about to hit Earth.
Indeed. I'm glad that we are on the same page.

Scott had the plan, but he also needed some preparation. He grabbed a piece of paper from the counter and wrote his room number down before handing it to Katrina.
"I need as many of those natural energy boosters as you can make for me for my training. You can bag them up and leave them on my doorknob for me. You may not see your power as very great, but the medicine and energy boosters that you can make are invaluable to me. We can work together to become stronger and more experienced."

After putting his phone back in his pocket, Lysander took a second to relax and breathe. It was such a jarring experience that his whole body felt suspended and his nerves seemed to rattle his body subtly but uncontrollably.

As it finally became easier for him to calm himself down, he looked back at the boy and his specter. They both stood perfectly still, nothing seemed evil about them nor did they seem out of place. The physical version of the entity he had just encountered in the spirit world just stood silently next to the Superlative boy and made no effort to acknowledge Lysander or anyone else in the room but him: the blonde-haired Superlative boy. How different was the creature he had encountered in the spirit world than its physical counterpart that Lysander was entranced with figuring out why.

Suddenly, his thoughts were broken up by the girl in front of him saying, “I’m pretty sleepy too, but you were right, bud. You’re not awkward at all. You’re like Casanova charming. We should hang.” With her latter words, the girl couldn’t help but let out a small giggle, which caused Lysander to let out a little one too. However, while the girl’s laugh was natural and easygoing, Lysander's laugh was more through his nose and in a manner that resembled that of a bull exhaling. He, indeed, was pretty awkward, but what could one expect of a person who spends his whole life conversing with dead people more than he did the living? So he agreed with her on that part of her statement, though he couldn’t really agree with her on the rest. Lysander was less of a Casanova charming and more of a Humphrey Bogart charming. Maybe he should tell her that later on so there would be no confusion.

---

How Lysander sees himself:







"Here's looking at you, kid"

---

As Lysander prepared to get up out of his seat, he saw another girl head towards their side of the room. It was the Superlative girl from the front of the class. She came over to the girl that sat in the desk in front of him and they exchanged a few words. Though what they were talking about made absolutely no sense to Lysander, what he got out of their conversation was their names. The Superlative girl’s name was Atheya and the girl who sat in front of him was named Spencer. “That’s funny,” Lysander thought to himself, “my mother’s name was Spencer.” But he didn’t like to think about his mother too much since she was a drug addict who was always stoned and (with his father) abandoned her family when Lysander was four. “But, oh well,” Lysander said in his head. The failure of his deadbeat parents was something Lysander repressed a long time ago. It didn’t really faze him anymore nor did it force him dwell on it either. Though it did sort of strike him as weird that his father's name was Spencer too...and their cats' names...and his eldest sister's birth name. "I guess it's just a blessing that my other siblings and I weren't all named Spencer as well," Lysander thought to himself. Because that was very well possible since his parents were borderline brain-dead.

But after a while of being fazed by bad childhood memories and then being forced to dwell on the failure of his deadbeat parents, Lysander abruptly snapped out of his trance and turned his attention towards the front of the room. The Superlative boy was standing near the door with his dark specter and made occasional glances towards Lysander. However, still thinking about his odd in encounter with the specter’s sprit, Lysander continued to observe the specter carefully.

Lysander couldn’t decide if the entity was only violent in the spirit world and simply covering it up in the physical world or was just bipolar. The entity just stood still in this realm, its body seeming to hang nonchalantly around its bones and its state of mind seeming to reflect that of boredom. But in the spirit realm it revealed itself to be much more violent and controlling. Lysander didn’t know if the being was harmless or harmful. Perhaps both.

Either way, however, Lysander felt the need to go near it, regardless of whatever its intentions were. With the compulsion to meet the boy and the specter, Lysander got up from his seat and began heading towards the front of the room. While also motivated to figure out what exactly the dark entity was, another thought popped into Lysander’s head while making his way towards the boy, “Perhaps whatever powers the boy has are related to the spirit world, and, since the boy is a Superlative, maybe this would mean he knows more about it than I do.” But as Lysander approached the boy, he became aware of one other thing, which was more trivial than it was important. “This boy is tall as shit!” Lysander thought to himself. With all of his insightful observations, it was as if Lysander was bloody Sherlock Holmes.




"I'm a high-functioning sociopath."

Katrina was really bad at paying attention, especially with all her classmates coming in, she had to resist going off and chatting while her teacher was starting class. She did allow herself to smile and wave to some new students, giving a big wave to Atheya when she saw the superlative girl up front before finally putting her hands down. When Mr. Elliot encouraged them to talk and work on their powers Kat was reminded as to why she liked this class. Though she really wasn't too great at the whole setting goals part. She pulled out her Big Book of Plants, turning to a random page in the thick book, taking out a pen and taking down notes on various plants.

Scott pulled her attention away from the book when he handed her a slip of paper. Kat looked to the paper, seeing a room number written on it, her smile gradually widening as she listened to Scott praise her power. "Oh I swear, you're my best friend just for saying that! Ahh, I might cry!" Kat wiped at the tips of her eyes, trying not to smudge her make up. She figured her power had at least potential to grow but she hardly ever really believed it, especially after frustrating days like the day before where she couldn't even grow a fruit. Kat wasn't the best at taking compliments either, always so flustered and overly happy. "I'll make as much as I can as soon as possible." She turned to her book for a moment, still smiling, thinking for a whole minute about what her goals would be before figuring she could use a break.

"So what are you're goals so far?" She questioned, turning to Scott as she closed the book in front of her, "I mean if we're gonna help each other out I should at least know what you're striving for."

---

---

As Todd left the superlative meeting, strolling down the hallway on his way to the Medial Power Control Class, he couldn't help but feel... saddened? No, upset was better. He had been furious, really. The reminder about that New Blood girl... it was still too much for him. Todd had been trying particularly hard to forget that incident. He had been on duty when it happened. Even though the teachers all waved it off and told Todd to move on, he couldn't. How could he? If he had been faster, stronger, more perceptive, he could have saved her life. Instead, he had to live with himself. He had to live, something she would never do again. They increased the guard, doubled the surveillance equipment, and held stricter regulations on campus, but what good did that do now? It wouldn't bring that poor girl back to life. It couldn't heal the wound his incompetence had torn in the hearts of her family. Todd suppressed the urge to scream, opting, instead, to punch the wall immediately to his left. His hand whipped out, cracking the paint and stone, leaving a fist sized dent in the wall. For a moment, he stood entirely still, a scowl on his face, his fist still entrenched in the wall. After a while, the scowl vanished, and though Todd's usual smile didn't replace it, he did manage to make himself feel a little better. After all, he was helping to teach Olive's class today. Wearily, Todd extricated himself from the wall, and dusted his knuckles off. As he made his way to the classroom, Todd recalled the events of the Superlative meeting. His work, it seemed, was never finished.


A yawn escaped the Atheya’s mouth as she gave a flick of her hand, a casual salute in return to Todd's wave as he came into the meeting room, one of the last to do so. Well not exactly the last. Their always, slightly, late teacher, Ms. Hennessy, trailed in and shut the door behind herself a split second after he entered. Todd was fond of Hennessy, and all the teachers at Silhouette really. They were like a scone family to him. After all, he didn't of get to leave to go home in the summer. She made her way to her seat, and Todd did so as well, making his way to the back corner, where he usually stood. After Hennessy had gotten herself settled, she addressed the room, replying first, to Todd. "Not exactly that, Todd. I have been told, as many teachers have, to inform students of the higher security measures being taken. More guards at doors and more cameras, all due to the unfortunate death of the New Blood girl last year.” She told the class in a somber voice.

At the mention of Delilah, Todd's vision went black. All he could see was her broken body. Her blood, pooling on the floor, dark and viscous. She was so pale, like a porcelain doll, her eyes were just as blank. Todd's head drooped to the floor, and his eyes stared into empty space, somewhere near his shoes. Todd saw nothing. All he could hear was her voice. He had promised to help her practice the very next day, after his shift was over. They were going to go out, into the forest, to practice her abilities away from the prying eyes of other students. Todd remembered her smile, her bright eyes, and her general cheeriness. To the rest of the world, Todd was blank. His face was deathly pale, and he had broken out into a cold sweat. Delilah had looked nearly identical to his little sister. They could have been twins. He had failed her, and he still didn't know who had been responsible.

Most of the other students were equally torn up about Delilah. The room was bathed in silence, a mumble or two broke the heavy quiet, but faded away just as quickly as they arose. Todd felt some of their eyes turn to him. They knew Todd had been on duty. They knew that he had taken a particular interest in the girl. Some of the eyes were gentle, consoling. Others were angry, how could he have let it happen on his watch? Todd wished they'd yell at him. Anything was better than their silence. Suddenly, Ms. Hennessy cleared her throat, breaking the tension with her voice. "Other than that," she stated in a cheery voice, trying to break the tension she had created. "We want to have a welcoming event Friday, whether it is a dance, or competitive games, something. Be creative, have a theme, and come up with something and let me know by tomorrow your ideas, and we will decide what we want to do then. Spend the rest of class getting re-acquainted, and coming up with ideas." Todd recalled, in mild boredom, how horrific last year's had been. He didn't remember who's bright idea it was to hold a scavenger hunt, but they idea had flopped. It sounded good at the start, but like all things at Silhouette, kids using their powers ruined the event rather quickly. Some kid had just reached out with his mind and collected all the clues in an instant. What was supposed to take hours had wrapped up in, roughly, twenty minutes. Todd groaned.

Lost deep in thought, Todd stood for a moment, his hand at his chin. Todd's reverie was broken by the lilting, tinkling, sort of laugh, that could only belong to one person, his good friend Theya. She glanced over at Todd and spoke, saying, “I'm curious as to how many people would be delighted about a school wide Godzilla Re-enactment.” For some reason, the idea was utterly hilarious to Todd, who was, perhaps, trying to find a way to distract himself from the mention of Delilah. He laughed, a single, harsh syllable, before speaking, directing his thoughts at his good friend. "Like I said, I've always wanted to go a few rounds with big, scaly, and ugly. If anyone is interested, I'm in too!" Todd joked.

There was some discussion of a dance, suggested by one of the frillier girls. Todd merely nodded in agreement, as there was no way that a kid could use his powers to make a competition out of the thing, and, as a Superlative, it meant he would be able to sit out by claiming the responsibility of chaperoning. Though most of the students would love that kind of. thing, Todd certainly didn't. A Jinouga possessed, not two, but four, left feet. Watching Todd dance would be humorous if he weren't so dangerous to the people around him. The girl who had suggested the idea turned to Todd, with a mischievous look in her eye. She made some noise about wanting Todd to take her to the dance, but Todd pretended not to hear. If he even went to the thing, he'd have to go with Olly. She'd be furious if he didn't ask her. Or would she? Todd didn't even know what she might think. Either way, he wasn't prepared to deal with that sort of thing this early in the morning. Todd tried to respond, telling her he wasn't sure if he was going, but she wouldn't have it, and pressured him for an answer. As if on cue, the bell rang which stated the ending of the Superlative class, and the starting of the real classes for all the students. "Ahh, what a shame, I've got to be going. Ta-ta!" Todd taunted, as he bustled his way out of the door and off to the Medial class, where he was assigned today.


In the morning, each rank, apart from the superlatives that is, had a power control class. Superlatives, instead, were to attend either the 101 class, for New Bloods, or the 102 class, for Medials. This was to take the load off of the teachers and help give more students precious one on one instruction. That being said, most of the superlatives hated it, and more than a few skipped. There were, probably, seven Superlatives in the Institute at once. Some would trickle in or out, but the base number of students at the Superlative ranks was only ever about seven. So, of course, roughly four of them always skipped the peer instruction obligation of the Superlative rank, and played hooky. They called it, "Patrolling," but Todd knew what that really meant, sneaking off into the nearby city, getting into trouble, and hooking up with each other. It made Todd sick. They were here to help, weren't they? Why shirk your duties? In Todd's mind, they were the reason Delilah... Delilah was... wasn't around anymore. Todd shook his head. Thinking like that would only make him more sad.

Instead, Todd needed to shake things up, get his feet back underneath him and forget about how sad the ordeal had made him. He wouldn't be able to protect anyone if he didn't keep his wits about him. Having finally reached the Medial's Power Control 102 Class, Todd sat in the teacher's desk. Hennessy was running just a tad late, as usual, so Todd figured he might was well have some fun. When the kiddies all rolled in, Todd planned to pretend he was the teacher. Most of the students would know he wasn't, but he couldn't resist giving Hennesy a little jibe here and there. It was all in good fun, after all. Approaching the desk, Todd slung his messenger bag off of his shoulder and set it down beside his teacher's swivelly chair. As he sat, Todd plopped his feet up onto the desk, and pulled his phone out of his pocket. Casually, he sent a text Olive's way. "Dearest Olive, you haven't overslept have you? Your class is starting in about... 10 minutes. Better get down here soon, eh? I'm assigned to your class today, after all. It's be a shame to waste such a good opportunity to chat. See ya soon. ~Toddy" Todd nodded to himself as he sent the text on its way. "That should brighten Olly's morning." Todd said to himself. Luckily, it was still early, and no one had really began to arrive yet. As such, Todd let his head slump, and he felt his eyes close dangerously. He slipped into a light nap as the students began to arrive. However, Hennessy wasn't here yet to teach the class. She would, most probably, enter last, meaning Todd might get a full twelve extra minutes of sleep.

Scott couldn't help but crack a half-smile. Katrina was like a ray of sunshine on an overcast day, lighting up his bitter and disappointed heart.
"You're welcome."
She then assured him that she would get as many to him as possible.
"Excellent. I'll need all the energy that I can get."

She then caught him off-guard by asking him what his goals were. It was hard to say, because he really didn't know what kind of cataclysm he had to prepare for. He also didn't really want to tell her about his desire to beat down all his bullies and naysayers. He settled for the best description of what he wanted.
"I want to be strong, and I'm going to do everything in my power to achieve that."
The truth was that he wanted to be the mightiest, most courageous, and most powerful student at Silhouette, so that he could be ready for this cataclysm that would be like nothing that he had faced before.

Of course, if he said that, people would misunderstand him and think that he was arrogant. This might also cause fights with people who would take exception to that. The Medials and Superlatives were too strong to beat at this point, but with Valor at his side he would eclipse them all. There was no choice in the matter.
I won't fail. I can't afford to.

Katrina caught Scott's smile, albeit a small one, she couldn't help but feel content over it. She loved helping people be happy, she found it helped if she was happy, and look! Proven right once again.

She listened carefully to Scott's goal, "Well I'll do my best to help you but I'm afraid the most you'll get out of me is protein supplements seeing as I'm about as defined as a twig." She held up her skinny arm as if to further prove her point. "But I could probably work out now and again, not that I think it would affect my power." She commented, looking to the arm she held up, letting it fall to her side. Kat looked back to Scott with a small smile, "I still need to improve on taste of some edible plants, not to mention the size, oh and the mutations... alright let's just say I have a lot to work on." She tapped a polished finger on the big book in front of her as she mentally made a list of what she hoped to improve on.

Most of the skills she hoped to attain were probably far off into the future, but she could still hope. Kat stood abruptly, going to a small supply closet in the classroom, and quickly picking up a mini pot with soil and a small packet of various seeds. It was something she made sure the classroom had after the first few days of doing nothing but sitting in her chair and twiddling her thumbs. She sat back in her seat next to Scott, smiling slightly over to him, "I have to fit practice in whenever I can." She explained, looking back over to the packet of seeds. An advantage of her power was that she could tell which seed grew what, it was like a sixth sense. She picked through all the seeds of the plastic baggy, finally selecting one and carefully burying it underneath the soil. Katrina always did feel a little awkward just practicing in public but she focused on the pot in front of her, her smile dropping as her face grew a determined look. Her hand hovered over the pot and soon a green sprout came up from the soil. The sprout continued to grow, a small white flower blooming, followed by a green strawberry that ripened into a plump red strawberry. A smile grew over her face but she already knew that appearance as only half of it. The strawberry had always been tricky for her and she didn't even consider offering it to Scott, the boy might be crazy enough to trust her and eat it. Kat picked it off the stem, letting out a breath and smiling weakly, glancing over to Scott, "Here goes nothing." She muttered, taking a small bite. Sure enough it was sour and tasted horribly off, her face scrunching up at the bad taste. She let the plant wither into the soil, absentmindedly stirring it in with her pencil to fertilize the soil, putting on a smile as she looked back over to Scott, "Now that you've seen my power you'll have to show me how yours works eventually."

Scott watched as Katrina flexed her skinny arm, revealing slight muscle.
"Your part is to make the supplements. I give you demand and practice, and you give me supply. Any physical labor that you do is optional."
She then explained to him that growing a plant successfully was hard work. He looked at the big book that she was holding and nodded in understanding.

Katrina then got up and carried to her desk a mini-pot and a packet of seeds. After depositing one seed, he saw her hover her hand over the pot. Scott watched in amazement as the seed grew to a fruit-bearing plant in seconds. She picked the strawberry and took a bite of it, and by the expression on her face afterward, it did not taste like fruity goodness. After mixing it back in, her customary smile returned. Scott smiled at her and then turned his gaze back to the flower.

Katrina grew more useful to him by the minute. Her plant powers were amazing. No, they weren't as showy as some other powers, but her power was a great support system. While her offerings nurtured his body, she nurtured his soul. Because of Katrina, the Silhouette Institute was starting to look like a good place to him. She then wanted to get a better idea of how Valor worked.

"Well, when Valor is fully-formed on my arm like this, I call it a Formation. I can only do three of these a day, and each Formation can only use one technique before its power is used up. I only know one technique, the Fist of Valor, but I haven't met the person or material that can withstand a direct hit from it."
He held Valor up in front of him, revealing the intricacy and beauty of its black-and-gold design.
"But, like you, I want to expand it."

"I have this theory that if I learn enough about Valor, I can get this armor to cover my whole body. The outer shell can't be pierced, and its practically indestructible unless I'm using a technique. If it takes enough damage, it breaks off like glass. However, my fight with Shell-Shock proved that Valor doesn't have to be fully-formed to execute a technique. If you'll meet me outside tomorrow about thirty minutes before class, I'll show you a Formation and a Fist of Valor strike. A picture is worth a thousand words, right?"

Of course, he was leaving out the fact that the origin and construct of Valor was alien to this dimension, and he wasn't telling her about the telepathic link that he had to Valor. This was sensitive information, especially since he still didn't fully know the exact purpose of them giving him Valor. Scott clenched his fist, and Valor became a solid rainbow of color.
"When Valor glows like this, I can use a technique. Valor is beautiful and powerful all in one."
Like a good woman, he thought as he looked into Katrina's eyes.

Women-Def Leppard

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HR0P3sIb80

Jon had gone to the men's room at some point during his wait. However, he wasn't the type to include that during his time limit for how long he was willing to wait...something of a courtesy. After all, he didn't want someone to hold the simple call of nature against him so at the very least Jon offered the same. However there had been a changed in the occupancy of the room while he was away, he wasn't the only one in it anymore. He took a close look at the new comer.

Todd something the Superlative, Electricity User of some sort. The thought made him frown. To Jon, this could be called a worst case scenario. After all, who better to realize he wasn't a pure magnetic user than someone who could wield electricity? However Jon did find it rather strange that despite being an electricity user that the Superlative hadn't appeared on his radar...was the guy suppressing it?

In spite of all that, he still chose to stay in the classroom, technically his conditions had been met after all. However he intended to get a bit of payback for the wait. To keep things small scale, he once more relied upon his collection of metal pellets. With a bit of mental maneuvering he surrounded the Superlative with a little circle of them on the ground. He didn't want to be accused of attacking a stupid after all so things had to be done indirectly. The remainder of his little prank consisted of him willing the tables and chairs into the air. His intent was to simply let them fall from there and let the noise do the rest.

Jon paused at this, was he really only going to do this? After all he could do MUCH better to torment the fellow. Common sense however dictated it better to keep things simple for this one. As a result he continued with his impromptu 'plan A'.

"AaaCHOOO!" He faked a sneeze just to enhance the image of accident before slamming the desks, cabinets and chairs back to the floor. Quite naturally the noise was incredibly loud, however since he held back enough to not damage anything the noise was far less than it could have been.

Katrina listened carefully to Scott's explanation, processing the information carefully. She couldn't help but laugh a little at the thought of Scott fully covered in Valor, fighting crime like some kind of superhero. Kat blushed a little as she realized Scott might think she was laughing at him, quickly trying to explain, "Sorry, I was just kind of imagining you, like, fighting crime in a full suit made of Valor. The more I think about it, the more I think Man of Valor would be and amazing superhero name." She grinned, staring at Valor, unable to help herself as she reached out to touch it, feeling the smooth metal beneath her fingers before regaining her self-control and pulling back with a sheepish smile, "Sorry, sometimes I forget that some people like their space."

"But I'd love to see the strike in person, I'd imagine if I could feel it all the way in the girl's dorm last night that it must be a grand performance." She added in. Kat found herself staring at Valor more than she looked at Scott, admiring the beautiful display of colors on Scott's arm. Forcing herself to look away from Valor and up to Scott. Her eyes met with his and she couldn't help but blush, looking back to Valor, "It really is amazing to look at." Kat praised, putting on a bright smile, trying to hide her blush. "I can't wait to see Valor in action. It's gonna be like a scene from a real life action movie!" She was back to her energetic self as she imagined how it must look, "I only wish I'd seen your fight with Nick last night."

Scott watched as she started to laugh a little. She quickly explained that she had imagined him covered in Valor armor and fighting crime in a city somewhere.
"Hey, I might just do that if I can get a full suit of him between now and graduation."
She then said that 'Man of Valor' sounded like an awesome superhero name.
"Yeah, but I can't help but think that someone somewhere will call me 'Valor Man'."
He chuckled at his own joke, the first time he had laughed since he had arrived at Silhouette.

Scott watched as Katrina reached out and touched Valor, running her hand along it. She then pulled away, afraid that she had violated his personal space.
"You may touch Valor anytime you want."
I don't remember agreeing to that, Scott.
You liked it, though, right?
Honestly...Yeah, I did.

Katrina seemed excited to see Valor in action.
"It's pretty awesome."
He relaxed his fist, putting it back to its regular black-and-gold form. He saw her blush when she looked at him, and he smiled openly. She then said that she had wished to see the fight between him and Shell-Shock.
"It was a sight to see, definitely."

He sat down and gave her a play-by-play of what had happened in the fight between the two.
"I have to admit that I was scared when Valor started to chip away while I was pushing through the Shell Cannon. But we pulled it off, and Valor and I did it together. He's not just a weapon, he's a very important part of me."
You know that I always have your back, Scott, and I'm glad that you appreciate it.
"I imagine that I'll have fights with those other two guys sooner or later, especially once I advance in rank."

Kat laughed along with his joke, "Valor Man? Oh that's gold, we're going to have to save that one, it really completes the super-image in my mind." The girl's smile brightened as Scott told her she could touch Valor anytime, relieved that he wasn't weirded out by the girl that just randomly touched Valor. Kat almost went in to touch it again, opting instead to hold back and keep her self control in check. She wouldn't want Scott believing that she was only interested in his power.

Katrina sat in fascination as she listened to Scott tell her how the fight went down last night. "You and Valor seem like you make a great team." She commented cheerfully, her smile dropping into a small frown, "I just can't believe you were challenged on your first day! I mean how rude of them to pick on you for no reason, I ought to go over and give Mr. 'Shell-Shock' a piece of my mind." Kat glanced over her shoulder to the almost-Medial New Blood, who chatted with his own friends. She's always been protective of friends, if she needed to she would go up and talk to Nick, but she also had to face the reality that Nick would very likely shut her up in a not-so-polite way. Kat quickly looked back to Scott with a bright smile, dismissing the thought from her head, "I'd imagine that you'll advance in no time, and I'll be on your support team to help you out." She smiled, winking playfully, her smile slipping slightly to show concern, "But you shouldn't push yourself just to fight jerks." Kat realized that really it wasn't her business what Scott did with his powers, but she couldn't help but worry for her new friend.

When Katrina said 'Valor Man', he struck a dynamic-looking pose, like something out of a comic.
You know you're acting more Japanese superhero than an American one, right?
Is that so bad?
...
He was happy about her assessment that Valor and he made a good team.
"We need each other, that's all."

However, an unusual frown darkened her face. She then said that she wanted to chew out Shell-Shock. He wasn't going to tell her not to, but she opted not to on her own. He thought that was a good decision, given Nick's attitude. Apparently, Nick's loss to him had not hurt his popularity much, as he was surrounded by his own friends. But, at least he wasn't shooting his mouth off to him, and that was a victory in and of itself.

She then began acting like a cheerleader, saying that she would support him and cheer him on. He actually did imagine her in a cheerleader's outfit, and the image looked so good that he just held it for a minute.
Focus, Scott. You have to train, not chase girls.
I'm not chasing girls, Valor. Just let me have this mental image.

Scott snapped out of this conversation to reply to Katrina.
"Thank you for your support. I don't know how quick my advancement will be, but I'll give it my all."
She then told him that he shouldn't push himself because of jerks.
"It's not about them. Everything that I do in training is for me, for my own reasons."

Katrina's concern was washed away by Scott's comment on how his training was for him and not anyone else, and she put on her usual smile. "Good, it's probably harder to advance if you're not doing it for yourself." She was happy for Scott, he really seemed to know exactly what he wanted out of the institute, unlike Katrina. Kat knew for sure that she hoped to understand her power a little better, maybe even advance, but that was about it. Other than that the institute was just an in between place where she would be surrounded by peers like her... well that's what she was told, but a lot of the other students just seemed much more advanced in their power.

She noticed that Scott seemed to pause every once in a while, probably just thinking to himself but Kat's curiosity overtook her, leaning in a little with a smile, "You sure are a thinker huh?" She commented, resting her head on her folded hands and looking up to Scott, "Then again, it might be that I'm just a talker and aren't letting you talk much, I do tend to do that sometimes." Kat could sense herself beginning to get off tract, focusing back to the original question that had been floating around in her mind, "What are you thinking about?" She questioned, cringing slightly at her wording, "Wow that sounds like I'm some annoying girlfriend, but I really don't know how else to phrase it."

Scott nodded.
"Yeah, if you're heart and mind isn't in it, it's definitely harder."
She then asked him if he was a thinker, and also indicated that maybe she was just talking too much.
"No, no, you're fine."
She then asked him what he was thinking about, and that made him hesitate in his answer. There was no really good honest answer to that.

If he told her that he was imagining her in a cheerleading costume, she might take it well. Of course, she might also think he was a pervert, or think he was imagining her naked. Hmm...Naked...
Focus, Scott!
Sorry. Should I tell her about our mind link?

I would hold off on that, at least for now. When you have a better understanding of me and your purpose, then you can tell her about it. Besides, if you told her something that fascinating, she'd probably duct tape herself to you just to barrage you with questions.
You're a real ladies man, Valor.
Human mating rituals are more complicated than those used by the Voltari. I don't entirely understand it, but I do understand that your training comes first.

What switched you to 'parent mode'?
Fine, then. I won't speak to you unless spoken to.
Scott didn't want to lie to Katrina, so he settled on a less-detailed answer.
"I was thinking about growing my power. I was also thinking that you're the first friend that I've made since I got here."

Katrina grew a little worried as Scott hesitated to answer. Maybe she'd hit a sore spot somehow, or maybe he just didn't really want to share what he was thinking, not everyone was as open about most things like Kat was. She began worrying every passing moment he didn't answer her, maybe he decided that he didn't want to hang around someone who was apparently so snoopy. Kat realized that it was possible that she was over reacting just a tad, building up the situation in her head into some big complicated mess, just making herself fret even more, her smile faltering for a moment. Before she could wave off her question and tell him that he didn't have to answer her at all if he didn't want to, Scott spoke, instantly calming all her nerves.

Her smile was bright again, with no chance of faltering, a small blush on her cheeks made her pray that it blended in with her makeup. "I'm really glad to hear that! I promise to try to live up to the title of 'first new friend'." She laughed lightly, really tempted to hide her face in her hands and scream out of excitement like the teenage girl she was. Instead, Katrina played with a lock of her curly hair, trying to distract herself. She was beginning to think that she might harbor deeper feelings than those of friendship for Scott. Call her crazy for starting to crush on a guy the first day of meeting him, but as a teenage girl, Kat held the right to develop feelings for cute people as soon as she first saw them. The realization of the developing crush really only made everything she had said to him so far seem embarrassing, making her blush a little darker just from pure embarrassment. Kat realized that there was a moment of silence, quickly going to fill it, "So I'm really the first friend you made? I figured you'd be quite the popular guy what with your looks-" Kat cut herself off, backtracking a little,"I mean, what with Valor being all impressive and shiny, I can't be the only thing on this campus who was attracted. Attracted to Valor I mean, cause of the design." She finished weakly, figuring at this point it would be best to just shut up and smile like she wasn't mortified by her awkward wording.

Scott smiled.
"Well, that title doesn't bear a whole lot of responsibility, so I'm sure that you'll do fine."
He thought he detected a light blush, but it was hard to tell. Then it got darker, and there was no denying it. She then said something about his looks, something he was used to. Of course, she seemed to be embarrassed by that, so she switched to talking about Valor, using the word 'attracted' ambiguously.

Wow, does she seem pretty awkward to you now, Valor?
I believe that she is displaying all the signs of what you humans call a 'crush'.
She's definitely not hiding it very well. What should I do about it?
That's up to you. I would caution, however, that you won't have much time to date because of your training.

Well, I definitely want to spend some time getting to know her better before I worry about any romance. I'll just pretend I didn't see it and move the conversation along.
"Actually, many people didn't find Valor to be all that impressive. It takes effort to summon him, so while I was trying to do it, people were calling me a 'fake'. After I did it, they made fun of how limited it seemed and called me 'Tin Can Man'. You're actually the only person that I've met who seems impressed by it."

He then decided to address her mentioning of his own looks. In truth, he had been as popular at his old school as you might think, but that was also due to his warm and outgoing personality, as well as his courage and compassion. His disappointment in Silhouette had given him cause to hold back his feelings. He decided to answer honestly and concisely.
"At my old school, I had no problem making friends. At this school, I had no problem making enemies."

---

---

Why did so many people want my attention Olive thought in her head as she was trying to stay asleep. She purposely turned off the first alarm after she realized that Todd was no longer in the bed with her. That made her sad. He was so comfortable and she enjoyed being his arms, holding him close. With that thought, the young blonde pulled the pillow closer to her, but frowned. "It's not the same" she said into the pillow. Olive had finally given up on the dream of getting sleep and she checked her phone. First she saw a missed call from John. That wasn't ever good. Not just missed calls from John, missed calls in general. The young woman always believed that when someone calls its important and when its missed then that is a problem. Taking mental note to apologize later, she checked other things. There was a text from Todd. Immediately a smile formed on her face. She loved getting text from him so early in the morning, it showed that he cared. As she read on through the message she started getting excited and then her world shattered. 10 minutes before class started. Tossing the phone out of sight she scrambled up from the bed in desperate need to get ready.

Olive bounded into the bathroom and took the quickest shower in her life. Standing before the mirror she changed from sleeping beauty into belle of the ball. Satisfied with her look, she ran back into the room, gathering the necessary items needed for school. Bag. Check. Cell phone. Check. Coffee. No check. Olive needed coffee. It was her jolt of life before dealing with teachers. Convince Toddy to get you some later she thought. Quickly she ran her fingers through her hair and did one final sweep of her room before leaving it. As she started bolting down the hall she realized that she forgot to grab the keys to her room. Olive stopped dead in the tracks and turned back, running back into her room. The young woman grabbed the keys from her desk and left the room, locking it behind her, and taking off to class. This wouldn't be the first time she was late, but the teachers never really liked it so she tries to be on time. Olive can't help her beauty rest. She needs it. Without it, she wouldn't function or have the energy or desire to do anything.

Just as the final bell rang, the young blonde walked into the room. Technically she was on time. A warm smile was on her face as she looked around for a teacher, but an even bigger smile formed when she saw Todd. Joyfully, Olive skipped over to him, sat on his lap and wrapped her arms around him. "Toddy!" she said while engulfing him with a hug. She loved when she he would help teach her classes. They would talk and she wouldn't really learn much since she was too busy talking and messing around with her best friend. Olive removed her arms from around him, but she didn't removed herself from his lap. "I was so sad when you left this morning. I was trying to cuddle a pillow, but it wasn't the same" she told him.

Lysander calmed himself down a bit, and tried focusing on the task at hand. He had made light of the situation, but deep down, he understood the true severity of it. The dark presence that stood beside the Superlative boy was another spirit-walker like Lysander himself, which meant that the entity could be just as or more powerful than Lysander. And given Lysander's lack of experience, the latter was most probable.

But the fact that another cognizant being was roaming around the spirit world, no matter the potential threat that it posed against Lysander, was pretty extraordinary. The spirit world contained millions of conscious spirit-walkers. But due to Lysander's filter on what he saw, he didn't encounter them very often. In fact, after his twin brother, Edward, trained him to see only fragments of what the spirit world contained, the only two people that Lysander knew could consciously traverse the spirit world were himself and Edward. All the other spirits just seemed to replay horrible events, usually their deaths, over and over again; so stuck in their despair that they never moved from that stage of their life onto the afterlife that the spirit world provided for them. Not that walking around aimlessly through their eternal afterlife would have been any better.

Suddenly, Lysander snapped out of his contemplative state. While he was stuck within his thoughts, he had been awkwardly staring at the Superlative boy without saying a word to him. He scanned over the classroom, everyone was talking, including Atheya and Spencer. "Good," Lysander thought to himself, "No one else, except for the Superlative boy, probably noticed me staring at him for so long." Lysander awkwardly waved at the boy. The Superlative boy looked at him. "Maybe I should say something too," Lysander said in his head. So he did.

"Hey, I'm Lysander Marcelle, a New Blood," the spirit-walker said in order to introduce himself. But before he could say anything else, the Superlative boy said something instead.