The STRANGE: Origins

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Frida walked to one of the isles on the sides of the theatre and backed up on one of the walls. She had an arm crossed over her chest with her other arm resting on it as she pulled her hand to her lips. The petite girl locked her eyes on the floor below, right by her toes. She began playing with her lower lip using her fingers, deep in thought.

' What just happened back there? ' was all that seemed to come up in her mind.

They had a performance, yes. They got a really odd reaction, yes, definitely. How come it bothered her so? Maybe it was the fact that she expected a roaring crowd or a crowd so speechless one could only see the gawking faces of awe staring at them. Maybe she was used to the Madam praising her for her works (though they usually involved no electricity whatsoever) or maybe it was that little threat of being caught for the actual message of this whole act? Maybe it was all of the above. Probably.

No.
This wasn't right. This just wasn't right.

The candy-colour haired girl sighed and dropped her arm over the other. She tilted her head back to the wall and turned her attention to the stage, might as well just stop thinking about it for a moment and try to enjoy the show. Though, the girl was certain her mind, often always rambling with an unstoppable momentum, would disagree and conflict her again. However, her mind didn't do that. The girl was stunned to realize that she couldn't see anything at all. It was dark. Apparently, it's been dark for quite a while.

' Was I that bothered to have not notice? ' Before her mind could go on further, she noticed the immature tendencies erupting form the crowd. She groaned, not the slightest bit impressed, and wore a sour expression on her face. She raised her arm once again and slowly rubbed her fingers together. Frida could feel the electricity scorching through her, towards the tips of her fingers taunting to go out. Tiny, possibly unnoticeable, sparks illuminated when the tips of her fingers pressed against another. ' Who ever this is better be good or I'm totally out and I'm going to light up this place before they realize that Frida Logan has left the building.'

 

'...Any second now,' Sam thought to himself as he took a deep breath. The only sound in the auditorium was the collective buzz of scattered whisperings. He could feel his heartbeat picking up. 'Calm down, Sammy. Ya can do this. Easy peasy, right?' He assured himself as he took another deep breath. He narrowed his eyes, hoping to focus through the darkness, but he could still only see faint silhouettes. He closed his eyes and slowly opened them, now impatient. 'Come on. Turn the lights on alre-'


BRUMMM!


The sudden loud beat of a single drum signaled the only spotlight and cued Samuel. There he was, standing on edge of the stage facing the audience's left. He had rehearsed it many times, finding the perfect spot and angle so the audience could only see his left side. There was no music, no more drums, no sounds, just the silence after the initial beat. There were no special effects, no costume, just the left side of one A-Class student, showing his blue, denim jacket and his jeans. His faded-colored hair, cursed skin, and glowing red eye were as they always has been. One more deep breath...and then,
"Oh, Jaggerjack, Jaggerjack! Wherefore art thou, Jaggerjack?" He called out dramatically.

Pause. Let the audience soak in the half-appearance of 'Samuel Dean' in his normal clothes.
"Jaggerjack! My sworn protector! My promised savior! Has thou abandoned me?" Sam demanded to know as he waved his arm in dramatic motions before pointing to himself. He started to walk forward, making sure to stay completely straight so that his class would only see the one side that he was showing.
"Has thou, a mighty god from times past, chosen a more worthy vessel than I, a measly mortal with a great ass?" He asked seriously, silently laughing at his humor...but nobody answered.
"Jaggerjack, mighty, fiery Jaggerjack..." He called out again when he reached the center of the auditorium before stopping. "Thou had promised to protect me, called me thoust brother....but here I stand, without you at my side! What shall I do without your protection? Your counsel? Your lessons? What shall I do without you?!" Sam demanded of his inner deity, but...once again, no answer.
The A-Class student looked down, closing his eyes with sadness.

Pause. Let the audience interpret the performance. Let their curiosity and sadness fill them with interest.
Now, turn!
"I am here, Master Samuel!" He said it in a loud growl as he revealed his full appearance. The left half, the side shown to the audience, was the familiar vision of Sam Dean: shaggy, hair that reached his sand-colored neck while a red eye peeked through; a blue denim jacket with the sleeve reaching down to his wrist; a single leg of his pair of jeans was down to his ankles, which ended in a white tennis show. His clothes were neat, ironed, and even seemed new. But his left half, the half he had been hiding in darkness was the complete opposite. The right half of his hair was messy and pointing in all directions (thanks to his favorite hair gel); his face was painted with black and red ink around his eyes, swirling on his cheeks, and a line from his mouth that gave him a permanent half-smile; his right sleeve was torn and tattered, only reaching his elbow, and revealed a tight black leather -also covered in red designs- down to his hand, which only had three large fingers, each ending in large claws (thanks to the theatre department's large array of gloves); the right leg of his pants were the same, cut below his hip with black leather covered in red markings, down to his right foot which was now a large talon (the theatre department held many types of prop shoes as well as gloves). His appearance was in perfect symmetry: the left half was completely human, neat, and Samuel; the right half was completely demonic, tattered, and...not Samuel nor Jaggerjack.

Pause. Let the audience take in the costume.

 

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"With these lights out, you can bet that there'll more people making out than paying attention to the next act."

The electricity emitting from her fingers came to an abrupt stop when she picked up that same, annoying voice from the student that took a seat infront of where she was standing. She turned to the non-power user and huffed at his absolutely immature comment, "What are you? A hopeless 12 year old?" Frida hissed at him. She placed her attention back to the stage that still stayed still in the darkness, which reminded her of her initial intention if the stage remained its silence. The sparks of electricity appeared from her fingers again, dancing around each one as she rubbed them together.

"You might want to turn off the light show.Our stuff is done and over with. ...Or is there something on your-"

To think the guy couldn't get anymore annoying. Does he think that just because they had worked in a project together, he could freely talk to her in public like that? Sure, it was dark but that was absolutely no excuse for anything. She was a power user and he wasn't. They simply weren't on the same level - and they never will be. Nonetheless, that metaphorically shut her up. The sparks disappeared suddenly once again. He really knew how to get her pissed off, like, was he asking for an electric shock or what? She just couldn't take it. She glared at him in the darkness, slammed her hand on the handle of his seat and leaned closer to him fiercely.

"Listen up. You are not permitted to tell me what to-"

"Sh!"

Frida, without turning away from Hunter, raised her other hand towards the probably R-class student who shushed her and sent a spark directly to the student's face, shutting him or her up.

"to do, and even more so, talk to me. Maybe in the little fantasy you've created somewhere up that messed up head of yours, you're a power user but hello reality! You're not! You have no powers and I do. Which means I-"

BRUMMM!

Her heat skipped a beat as she practically jumped at the drum beat. With the spotlight turning on and concentrated on the stage and illuminating the room slightly, she immediately stood up straight, backed up to the wall and away from the non-power user. She glared at him for one last time and hissed slightly, 'saved by the bell.' She sharply turned away from him, crossing her arms over her chest and put her attention to the stage. There was a student on stage. Just one student. Frida wore a confused expression on her face as she wondered what was going to happen.

She did recognize the performer. Some A-class guy names Samuel something. She never actually met him, but heard of him. He was a cool guy, said to have some sort of transformation or something. A strong transformation plus, A-class was a good class, the Advanced Class. The petite girl was often impressed by the A-class students of the school, excelling in skill and technique over their given powers. Realizing what class the performer was on, she knew that this should be a great performance... yet, this seemed a little odd. Samuel began to blabble poetry and stuff causing Frida to cringe a bit, this was a little awkward. All alone on stage, shouting out poetry and some JaggerJack thing. This was just really awkward for her. Sounded like something a non=power user would be doing. Performing like some fail drama club student with nothing to back anything up. Though, props to him, Frida was putting all her attention to this performance but probably just because this was cringingly awkward. She sighed as Samuel bowed his head. This was kind of hard to watch, poor A-class guy.

"I am here, Master Samuel!"

The sudden roar grabbed her attention in a snap. The A-class student had almost completely transformed! His left side, same student, his right, some demonic thing. It was actually pretty good! In fact, this was all getting interesting.She straightened up properly and eagerly watched his performance. What really got her was that monstrous growl. That was definitely not human. That was powerful. That was power. She smirked, 'Oh, the A-class men never disappoint.'

 

"Lying demon!" Sam called out as he quickly pivoted to show only his 'human' side again. "Thou art not my Jaggerjack! Thou art a foul demon, nothing but a shadow wretch!" Without warning, he pivoted completely to show only his 'Demon' side, revealing a glowing eye.
"I am not a creature of deceit, Master Samuel," the supposed Jaggerjack growled as he moved his hand in a begging motion. "I am your protector, your soul-brother, and you, my host."
It was a trick that took Sam and Jaggerjack weeks of practice. He could feel the mark embedded on his chest burn. He wasn't even the slightest bit transformed, no, but he had tapped into Jaggerjack's presence in his body. He was the one speaking, not Jaggerjack, but he was able to twist his voice into a more humanoid version of Jaggerjack's with this trick. His eyes glowed brighter than normal as he was accessing the god's power, but he had worn a dark contact in his left eye to make it seem as if only his 'demonic' eye was glowing. While he was in this state, he could slowly slip into Jaggerjack's form as opposed to the normally instant transformation...but that was for another time. However, the trick wasn't mastered. He had to channel Jaggerjack's influence through certain postures, which the fire god had helped him develop into a 180 spin.
"Do not lie to your master!" Sam demanded. "What is thy goal? Where is Jaggerjack!?"
He started to argue with his demonic half (or himself, if you thought about it), pivoting with each change in voice and waving his arms dramatically as 'they' argued.

"Honestly, human? Disaster! Jaggerjack is gone! He hast abandoned thou and left thy body for my means!"​

"Thou revealest thy nature?"​

"Yes, I seek to spread chaos, havoc, and danger!"​

"Where is Jaggerjack?!"​

"Gone, and never coming back!"​

"Reveal the truth, demon! I have no use for a liar!"​

"Make demands of me, mortal? Thou dost not realize that thy situation is dire!"​

"I fear not a lowly demon! Thou use my body for thou has no true freedom!"​

"Lowly demon? Silly mortal, rid thyself of the thought! I am much more than that!"​

"I care not for thy identi-"​

"I am Abbadon! Firstborn of Satan! Brother of Alastair and Crowley, child of Lilith and Morningstar, father to Belial! And I shall rule this world with my legion!"​

"Idle threats from one who with no body to call thy own! I do not fear neither Abbadon, Crowley, nor any other demon!"​

"Thou revels in security for Jaggerjack shall always protect? But does thou not realize, that the fire god is no longer here?"​

"Jaggerjack's word is always kept!"​

"Then why, human, dost thou shed tears?"​

"I-he, bec-"​

"At a loss for words! I laugh at thou pitiful nature. True, I have no body to call my own, for no earthly vessel can hold my fire! However, the vessel of Jaggerjack himself is made for such fire! Thy body shall be mine, my will be done, and this world will belong to Hell!"​

"Think again, spawn of Lucifer! The shoelessness of thy backside, I have a solution for!"​

"Even the smallest puppy has a loud bark, but thy bite misses the mark!"​

"I shall-"​

"Thy shall do nothing! For your body shall burn and bend to my will! This world shall burn and everyone killed!"​

"This world will never be yours! I will fight until I am but a corpse!"​

"Thou threatens with the power of Heaven, but thou possesses the only the strength of a man."​

"I know thy plan, Abbadon! Possess my body and gain the right to walk the Earth! But while it is Heaven's power that I lack, it is Heaven's will that shall be done, not the will of Hell! And if thy forces succeed, man will rise again through the ashes like a phoenix to fight again!"​

"Endless cycle, slave, for if man rises again to strike me down, then I rise again to take my throne as ruler of the mortal realm! My kind shall fight, ravage, slaughter, and burn this world until it is ours! If we fall, we shall be reborn! We have eternity to fight, thou hast but a lifetime! It is futile! Jaggerjack could fight us, but not the likes of you, human! Thou kind is ​

as irrelevant as the worm's to mine!"​

And with that, Samuel turned to face the audience, showing his asymmetrical appearance before falling to his knees.
"...Thou is right, demon. I am mere human, not a form of deity." As he gave up, his skin started to darken and crack. His right hand, the 'demonic' one, raised and grabbed his neck. "My soul-brother has abandoned me. There is no hope. I had believed all will be well," the words started to sputter out as the grip tightened, choking him, "But perhaps, my will and this world shall fall to Hell. My last words sh-shall be...I always belie-lieved in you...Jaggerjack!" Suddenly, fire erupted from Samuel's back and took the form of wings before his body crumbled into ash, leaving only a large flame on stage.

 

As the audience watched Sam turn to ash before erupting into a large ball of flames, complete with wings of fire protruding from the fire-ball, loud drums started to play in a slow beat.


DUN-DUN!

DUN-DU-DU-DUN!


DUN-D-D-DU-D-DUN-DUN!



"SAMUEL!!" A gruff voice roared the student's name as the flames started to die down, signaling the end of the drums. "MASTER SAMUEL!!"
The flames fully withered away, revealing the fully transformed Jaggerjack, the self-proclaimed "God of Flames." Sam and Jaggerjack were well-known, especially in the A-Class, but Jaggerjack was rarely seen by the others. Now, here he stood. At least a foot taller than Sam with over twice the width, Jaggerjack was a humanoid leopard with light red skin. He was extremely muscular, his muscles bulging through the skin-tight black t-shirt that he wore. There was a red belt around the black, seemingly leather pants that the god wore. He wore leather gloves but his arm from mid-bicep to wrist was bare, showing his red fur and black spots. He wore no shoes, showing his large paws. His ears were short and his eyes pure white beneath the valiant domino mask that he wore. The fur around his mouth was white and his thin lips closed. A pair of large, dark-red, feathered wings extended from his back. On his chest, right in the middle of his shirt, laid his emblem: a solid red circle with small curved lines surrounding it, which he called "The Sun of Jaggerjack." The "Sun of Jaggerjack" was the complete insignia of the flame god and a special variant of it was embedded into Samuel's chest, connecting the two souls.
Jaggerjack let out a roar, clenching his fists as fire spewed from his mouth. "Expel thyself, dark effigy!" He yelled as the spewing flames turned whirled into the air above the audience like a thrashing snake. "Expel thyself so you may feel my enmity!" Jaggerjack jerked his head backwards and the whirling flames snapped onto the stage. The flames started to contract and condense itself into a smaller form as Jaggerjack closed his mouth. "Abbadon, foul and forgotten son of Lucifer! Thou shall experience a world of hurt!" The fire-god threatened in his attempt at modern banter as the flames molded themselves into a humanoid figure. The flames now resembled Sam's "demonic" costume, but was fully symmetrical, but instead of flesh and cloth, it was simply ember and smoke. The fiery visage of "Abbadon" smiled as Jaggerjack stretched his wings and reared his back.

 

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Alice had slowly walked round the room, still invisible back to her group, while watching the performance. This guy wasn't bad at all but she wasn't really the biggest fan of overly dramatic monologues, they just seemed a little too over the top and drawn out for her liking. He wasn't bad at it and from what she could understand from it, it was fairly interesting. So there was a god or demon or something living inside his body? That was pretty cool. It did make her wonder how much of this was just to make it impressive and how much actually went on normally in his body. She had no idea what it would be like to have another being sharing your body.​

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However, she couldn't pay as much attention to the performance as she'd liked to as she happened to be passing by Hunter as he made his comment. Stupid art class sissy? Is that what he really thought they all were? They weren't that bad. What was so bad about being creative? They might not be as willing as other classes to fight but that didn't make them sissies. They could fight if they wanted to. He'd been nice enough to her but was that just a front? Did he really think she was just pathetic? That hurt.​

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She just stood staring at him, grateful for her invisibility and while she stood there Frida got in on it too. Those two fought, it was nothing serious but still, she thought they'd actually put their differences aside and now they were just like this. She looked back at Sam performing and smiled at his impressive flames. This was just going to eat her up, she knew it would, she had to do something. But what if he hated for it? What if he turned on her? She could always vanish.​

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Taking a deep breath, she stood directly in front of Hunter with her arms crossed and suddenly became visible, appearing out of thin air. "Hey. Would you mind repeating what you said about R-Classes? Is that what you really think? Of me? Of Nix? They guy you weren't happy with isn't even in my class, so would you mind not making assumptions?" She asked, her voice still quieter than normal speaking volume. She was shaking and wanted to turn back invisible so much but she didn't. She stood there, gazing up at him, waiting for his answer.​

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◘ Ｉ ＷＯＮ'Ｔ ＬＩＧＨＴ ＴＨＥ ＦＩＲＥ， ＢＵＴ Ｉ ＷＩＬＬ ＮＵＲＴＵＲＥ ＴＨＥ ＦＬＡＭＥＳ ＯＦ ＲＥＢＥＬＬＩＯＮ ◘​

Nix came to alert when the lights of the auditorium flicked off. It looked like it was Sam's turn to do his act, but Nix didn't know what that entailed, and so he was wary of everything around him.

He watched around him for his fellow act-players, and found them, though they were not really together. Alice had just appeared in the crowd momentarily, and little Volts seemed to be having some sort of internal conflict going on. He frowned, wondering what was wrong with her. For just a moment, he was tempted to check on her, to see if she was alright, but he figured she probably wouldn't like that much - and then Hunter had appeared and Nix shot the suggestion right out of the sky.

That was one person he didn't want to interact with if he didn't have to. Troublesome person . . . And it wasn't because Nix was shaken by him in any mental way, it was more that he didn't like to deal with people whom he thought were an annoyance.

A jolt shot through him and his attention immediately turned to the stage, in anticipation of what Sam had in store for his act. It seemed a little . . . awkward at the beginning, but Nix could appreciate the poetry for what it was. The only thing about it was, what was Sam aiming for? Sadness, being ominous, a mix of both? Nothing seemed to happen from his slightly violent prodding at the inner being he was aiming to summon. Nix almost felt bad for the guy.

Almost.

"I am here, Master Samuel!" growled a voice, and Nix raised an eyebrow. He'd never really known Sam, or cared much to know him, but this bit about him was pretty interesting. A-Class students usually were, though. After the full shock of what had happened sunk into him, he observed the performer on the stage. Different. He was definitely different. Half of him normal, half of him . . . not. Was this the Jaggerjack he called out to? Whatever it was, it was definitely something else. That something else . . . was powerful.

He continued to look on with interest as Sam began a back-and-forth dialogue with the demon that was half of him. The act wasn't bad, not at all; Nix could appreciate the form of speech he used and his command of the stage and mood. Should have laid off a little on the dramatics - but hey, no one was perfect.

After the full transformation took place ( Nix was a bit stunned by it, really ), an external showing of an internal struggle took place, and he was impressed by the beast.

Just then, his attention was pulled from the act and over to the small group of his performing partners. Nix raised an eyebrow and listened in to what was going on.

"Hey. Would you mind repeating what you said about R-Classes?" she said, and he wondered what got her to confront on his, "Is that what you really think? Of me? Of Nix? They guy you weren't happy with isn't even in my class, so would you mind not making assumptions?"

Whoa. Whoa. Don't drag him into that now. Nix was a single being. A class in his own right. You didn't group anyone with any single group. He didn't like the classifying organization of the school, but he never said anything because it was never really an issue - but Nix was an individual, and everyone was different.

If Hunter wanted to think of them all as one, all weaklings, then that was his idiotic misjudgment and only made him an ass. Nix didn't care as long as he wasn't dragged into that.

"Yo, keep me out of this, please." he said to the small group, and then returned his attention to the stage. He decided it was probably a good idea to keep his ear out for trouble just in case Ghostie couldn't handle herself.

 

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Jaggerjack let loose a large stream of fire from his mouth toward the fiery vision of 'Abbadon,' but the flame-composed demon jumped into the air, easily dodging it. "Does thou...DARE?!" Jaggerjack roared as Abbadon's body elongated and shifted form to a large serpent, its jaws opening wide while its body quickly surrounded the fire-breathing leopard deity. The now snake-like Abbadon kept Sam's facial features and eyes, but its jaw was unhinged wide just like a snake's, while his body was now a python's. "Thou shalt not steal the body of my heir!" Abbadon let out a flaming hiss as he tightened his body around Jaggerjack, constraining the body, arms, and wings of the fire-god. The forgotten son of Lucifer raised his head close to Jaggerjack's as he unhinged his jaws, intending on swallowing Sam's protector. "Leviathan! Now I see thoust true form!" Jaggerjack roared as Abbadon hissed in his face. "No, not now, not ever, Hellborn!" With a growl and another roar, Jaggerjack broke free, shattering the majority of Abbadon's fiery body. "No one on Earth, Heaven, Hell will ever again hurt Master Samuel!" The winged leopard jumped, his wings stretching and flapping to keep him in the air as he reared his head back and released a torrent of fire onto Abbadon's body-less, floating snake-like head. The wave of fire completely enveloped Abbadon's head and continued over the audience, raining ash and casting shadows through them for several moments until Jaggerjack folded his wings and fell to the floor, before dropping to his knees. As the embers faded, letting the single spotlight once again solely illuminate the auditorium, he dropped his head and looked to the ground. ​

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"Master Sam?" He called out in a whisper, but there was no answer. "Master...Samuel?" He called again, wishfully, but still no answer. "...Please, Sam...it is I, Jaggerjack. Will thou answer? Am I... too late?" There was a whimper in the last word in what was usually a very gruff voice. "I swore to protect, to always be there," the god solemnly said, "And times I have failed have been quite rare...but now...is this the final failure of the leopard red? Did this result in Master Sam...lying...dead?" The final word came out in a choke as Jaggerjack's massive body started to tremble. "Always and forever, I would give my life for Master Sam and this time...I shall perish for him to live again." With this resolve, Jaggerjack stopped shaking and closed his eyes.​

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"Free the prince forever damned," the deity started to chant as he slowly lifted a knee. "And show once more, the bound man. Revive him with heart of fire," Jaggerjack slowly continued to chant as his body began to gray, "and release him from this godly mire." The fire-god stood up completely, but continued to look down as his now-gray skin started to chip away. "Fade, fade, o'mighty Jaggerjack," he looked up, a sorrowful look upon his frightening face as his body began to collapse into itself, "and rise the chosen, Master Sam!" He roared the last phrase, his wings spreading before his body turned to complete ash, throwing a small gray mist into the air. ​

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When the ashes cleared, Samuel stood there with his entire appearance normal again (no half-Abbadon this time) and a confused expression on his face. He raised a single hand and to his chest, right above his heart, and whispered a single word as he looked around. "...Jaggerjack?" And suddenly, the auditorium went dark. There was a brief moment of silence before Sam's voice rang out in a whimper, asking an unanswered question:​

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"...Are you there?"​

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Completely embraced by the spectacle on stage, Frida was thoroughly impressed. She was sure other students were too - maybe some of them thought it was little over the top and show-off-ish, but this was exactly what sparked her wicked little spirit. A smile curled up on her face and almost immediately, she forgot her troubles - Hunter, to be specific. She watched every action and listened carefully to every word. This A-class student was truly amazing. She could already feel the power from the two individuals in the same body as the two voices argued.

Then, the performance reached another spectacular sight as the student went up in flames and completely transformed. "Wow" She breathed out as she studied the creature on stage. All she could think of was the power of this student. Power. Incredible power. It pumped her up, she absolutely loved this. This was just brilliant and fantastic and it was beyond any-

thump

Out of nowhere, a small object hits the side of her face - right at the corner of her eye. She gasped. Instantly out of reflex action, she caught the little projectile in her right hand and cupped her victimized eye in the other - it was practically a direct hit and she could feel herself tearing up a bit. She looked down at what hit her - a pencil eraser. Frida didn't even need to think this through. She fiercely turned to Hunter - who she was absolutely sure was the culprit. Rage and annoyance replaced her oh-so happy mood in less than a second but before she could make her way to the pathetic non-power user, Alice had appeared out of nowhere.

"Hey. Would you mind repeating what you said about R-Classes? Is that what you really think? Of me? Of Nix? They guy you weren't happy with isn't even in my class, so would you mind not making assumptions?"

Nix also joined in on the action - well, sort of.

"Yo, keep me out of this, please."

That was Frida's cue. She stomped towards Hunter and angrily told him, "While you're at it, you can have this back too!" She gripped the little eraser butt in her hand and forcefully, as hard as she could, slammed it on the top of Hunter's head - making sure she added a little electric shock as her hand made contact. After which, she grunted, stuck her tongue out at him, crossed her arms over her chest and stomped back to her place by the wall that, again, offered her a great view of the performance.

Now, the creature was alone. Well, of course it was still the same two guys technically but the normal voice of the A-classer had gone. The monster on stage yelled and growled and moved dramatically. It was nothing short of incredible like how it began. Even just on appearance alone, Frida was again impressed. The wings, the horns, the fire. The fire literally and the fire she could feel from within this person in the creature. As another power user, she felt like she could really understand this guy - this power. As the show drew to an end and the creature began to gray and fall, there was a final dramatic cry from the deteriorating figure: "and rise the chosen, Master Sam!"

Then it was ashes again, and back to the normal Sam. After his last line was said and the room was filled with darkness, Frida clasped her hands together and began the clapping with a satisfied smirk on her face, 'Gotta give that guy major props. Incredible. Brilliant. Inspiring.'

 

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Alice's whole body tensed as Nix suddenly appeared. Ohh no, oh no, she'd screwed up. She looked down, not wanting to meet his gaze and wanting more than even just to turn invisible once more. "Sorry, I didn't mean to" She said, even quieter than usual if that was even possible. How she managed to speak so quietly and yet still be heard clearly was a mystery, though she was pretty certain that wasn't part of her powers. Still she did not vanish, despite her deep longing to, if she did then that would just prove Hunter's point and she did not want to give him that satisfaction.​

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She opened her mouth to say more, but before she could Frida came over. "While you're at it, you can have this back too!" Alice watched with wide eyes as she watched the girl slam the rubber into Hunters forehead. She didn't know how to respond to that. She'd thought they'd managed to finally put their differences aside. Right. She took a step back away from them both, though Frida had already turned to go back. Okay, she was slightly uncomfortable right now.​

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Taking a few more steps away, she concentrated more on the A-class's performance, she'd still been watching it out of the corner of the eye through this drama but now she just watched fully gripped as his performance came to it's big climax. This guy was something else. The monologue might not really be her thing but how he used his powers in this, it was incredible. Then finally it came to it's end and the small blonde girl was left stood there, staring at the stage...wow.​

 

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Anya Kurse glanced at the Teacher as she announced she'd next be performing. She saw the glance at the cameras and was also aware of what was going on in the Teacher's mind. Security would be coming to end the class prematurely. The performance from earlier as subtle as it was definitely had caught their attention. However... Anya didn't panic as she emerged from the shadows of the corner she had been looming in and slowly approached the stage, all eyes glancing at her as she did so. All the students knew it was odd. She was willingly coming up for a performance despite her reputation? Something was coming. All of them knew it, even the Teacher. Anya despite how she was had to respect Madame Lumia though. She believed in self expression and was sticking to her guns even though she knew what it would mean to do so. Especially since... there was no doubt in anyone's minds that Anya's performance was gonna be anything but subtle. ...And they were right.
Anya had no intention of beating around the bush. She may not be an artsy student, but if this was going to be a self expression task, then she certainly was going to express herself no matter what it might mean. Doing this could result in something far worse than the White Room for her. Even death. Regardless, she continued to step up to the stage, right until she stood dead on center. The room had gone quiet. Even the stupid bickering from the back of the classroom between the group that had performed earlier was eerily quiet.
'What was she going to do?' A lot of the students must have been wondering. ...Well, Anya wasn't about to waste any time.
So she started.

Everyone would be confused at first. She seemed to just be standing there. Her vivid yellow eyes closed. ...A look of concentration came onto her face as she started to force her power to work.
"Look!" A member of the class suddenly called out as they finally noticed it.
Anya's face was starting to morph, and even her skin tone was starting to change colour. Normally, transforming would be quick and seemless. Anya could easily transform her body into a deadly weapon instantly. However what she was achieving here was very different. She was taking the form of somebody else. She had to focus to get every groove right, each part of the structure right, every wrinkle, and line, every shade. But at last... it was finally starting to take form. Her face was resembling what she was seeking it to be, and the whole class, even Madame Lumia recognised it.
Finally, Anya opened her eyes. The vivid yellow was gone. Instead, replaced by dull red. Her bright orange hair had changed too to thick white locks. What was once a feminine face was completely gone. In it's place was the face of a 50 year old man, and her dark skin tone was now completely white, which clashed with the rest of her body. It was the face of the infamous School Councilor. Mr. Blood.

Such a thing would probably seem comedic if not for the seriousness of the situation. Some might have laughed, except instead that dead silence remained. 'Why?' They must be wondering now. Even Madame Lumia must be extremely curious to see what she would do next.
It was just as Anya planned. This was a direct statement. She wasn't leaving anything in simple hidden messages. She was being straight out open and expressive. Some might have viewed what was happening a brave, and others as stupid. It mattered not to Anya. She knew it was both.

Now, she raised her hand and that too began to change, the transformation extending up her entire arm, albeit a lot smoother and faster than her forced transformation of facial features. Replacing the feminine hand was a deadly set of claws. Now... some of the audience may have caught on. Others may not have. But Anya wasn't even paying attention to the audience. She instead was looking straight at the security cameras watching them. She was looking at what she knew would be the man she was imitating watching her from behind a screen, along with many of the other staff and security of the Academy. Her claw arm came up and before the audience could even gasp, it came down, slashing big gashes into her own face. A face that looked like that of Mr. Blood. Now, blood was dripping to the floor. The face was now disfigured, but slowly those gashes were already starting to close up thanks to her regenerative abilities, so she bought the claws across her face again. She didn't utter a single word. She didn't wince or show any signs of pain, and yet the silence and simple act spoke volumes. This was a statement, but it was more than that. It was upfront disobedience. It was rebellion. It was a promise.
Anya was running out of time, but she'd already achieved what she wanted. She knew that only a few seconds were left. Security would be here to disrupt the class. To take away the trouble makers, and to stop her outright horrifying masterpiece . So last but not least, she raised her claws one last time, made a rude finger gesture to the camera and then thrusted her claw inwards, plunging the long nails into her gut. As a river of red ran down her abdomen, she collapsed forward onto her knees and then face first to the floor, the transformation reverting entirely.

She'd be defenseless against oncoming security, sure. But there was no point fighting them anyway, and besides... she'd already won the battle here. She'd done more damage then any physical action could have achieved. She wasn't in any mortal danger. Her regenerative powers should save her now. Of course... that depended. Were she to be tossed into the White Room right now, her powers would stop because of the Rendium and she'd surely bleed out. It entirely depended on the risks she already knew; that this performance could in fact kill her.

Regardless... before everything went dark, Anya did have a deep smirk on her already healing gashed face. She may not be an art student, but she had put on one hell of a show, and at least in her mind... It was worth top marks.

 

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Hunter didn't turn on her, he didn't shout at her, that was good. He seemed to take it reasonably enough though she wasn't really sure what she'd hoped the outcome of that to me and if she was happy with that response. She nodded, maybe she was taking things to heart a bit much and it wasn't even aimed at her. Still she didn't like what he said about her class but that was over and done with now. She just had to get on with things. It still annoyed her slightly when he told her to sit down, he had no right to tell her what to do but she sat down regardless.​

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Turning back to watch Anya take to the stage, she looked at the girl who she'd noticed a few minutes ago curiously, wondering what her performance would entail. She just stood there for a bit, which actually Alice quite liked. Though it seemed like the start of the performance was boring, it was very effective for building up the audience's interest as they wondered what she was going to. She actually noticed what was starting to happen before some student shouted to point it out, the way her face seemed to be changing so slowly. Shapeshifting of some kind? She watched on the edge of her seat, fascinated by the transformation, wondering what she was transforming i- wait, that face. She was turning into Mr. Blood...what was she doing? Then her hand, claws?? Oh no, this performance was rapidly getting more dangerous.​

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With the first swipe, Alice gasped. She was hurting herself. It was one hell of a statement to make and probably even more dangerous than the hurt she was doing to herself. If their performance had whispered hints of a revolution, Anya's screamed it, nobody could miss this one and she was certain that the teachers would not ignore it. However, Alice's concern was more on the sheer amount of pain Anya was inflicting on herself, she was ripping off her face!! She was losing a lot of blood and although it appeared from the way her cuts started to close, she had some sort of healing ability, she wasn't healing fast enough. She had to be given chance to heal and if they carted her off too the white room, she wouldn't be able to do that.​

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As Anya did her final gesture of defiance to the camera and stabbed herself in the gut, Alice couldn't take it any more. She vanished, turning invisible and ran straight through everyone and everything to get to the stage and the collapsed girl as fast as she could. Once there she moved protectively around the girl, despite nobody being able to see her and tried to stem the bleeding so she didn't lose too much blood before she healed, doing it in such a way that didn't give her presence away. "You're going to be okay, I promise" She told Anya, though she was unsure if the girl was concious enough to hear her. There was a reason why she always spoke so quietly, she was a master of speaking in such a way that only the intended recipients heard what she said. She knew security would be upon them momentarily, she only hoped she could keep her promise.​

 

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Frida wanted to go over to Samuel and give him recognition for his grand powers, but before she could even take a step forward from where she was Madam Lumia announced for the next student and another girl took the stage. She decided to stop and watch. Another interesting performance could come from her - noticing the trail of dangerous yet exquisite performances the students seemed to have going on.

For some reason, the petite teenager felt like this performance would be one to watch indeed - even from the beginning. Just standing there, but when the girl closed her eyes the magic began. Her face began to morph. Frida's eyes widened at what it morphed into. 'Talk about being direct... no subtlety at all.' The bluenette found herself staring into not the face of her talented school mate but now, their dear leader, Mr. Blood.What was this girl trying to do? Get herself killed? Frida bit her lip at that thought, she had no right to think of that - her group pretty much did the same thing, and so did that Sam guy. They just did it differently but all the same, they were asking for trouble. She let out a little sigh. Trouble was what she enjoyed, but perhaps they got a little out of hand?

The loud gasps around her pulled her back into reality. The audience's faces were filled with horror and disgust. She turned to the stage again but what her eyes witnessed caused her to release a gasp of her own. The stage was quickly painted with blood. The girl on stage was harming herself - she was bleeding out. For a second maybe that was her power? Illusions? Maybe cell regeneration? However she probably figured not with the amount of blood that kept piling on and wounds that didn't close. Then, the girl gave herself one last blow to the gut, causing blood to spurt out even more then collapsed and also returning to her true form. Just then, security personel made their presence.

"Dean, Holson, Kurse, Logan, Moon, and White; you are sentenced to the white room by orders of your headmaster."

Logan.



White Room.

Frida froze completely. The White Room. Logan. The White Room. White Room. White. Room. It rung in her head for a few seconds as she couldn't completely absorb what she just heard. After a moment, she pieced it together: She was going to go to the White Room. It was her biggest fear, that room. She's never been in that room, despite the trouble she causes, and she never wants to be. It was the room where her powers would be completely neutralized and she wouldn't be able to do a thing and as everyone surely knew, to her: her powers were everything. She'd be nothing in there. Aside that, they didn't exactly just break a school law - they probably broke one of the biggest ones which meant there's probably more to that scary room than they'd expect. She couldn't go to that room. She knew she couldn't and she wouldn't. That's what she decided - she will absolutely NOT go to that room.

Quickly, she scanned the doors - nope. There was no way out there. Then she turned to the stage. Back stage was literally just backstage there was actually no escaping. The stage? She stopped her rambling mind from going on when she saw Anya still bleeding out. She figured she would be in the White Room too - but after her performance? She needed to get healed! Looking more closely, she noticed someone - well more like, nothing - trying to stem her bleeding. She had an idea to who it was and looking back to where her group was, she concluded that it was Alice. They'd get her as well at this point. Frida's eyebrows furrowed - she had to do something. Besides, what was she thinking? Escape? That was SO not Frida Logan style. If something like this happened, something where she had to be put down and she had no means of escape anyway, might as well go down in a bang. She was in enough trouble as it is already and just like she decided - she was not going to that room. Four guards and her powers? Please, they were not taking her.

The petite girl took a breath before she sprinted up towards the stage, hopped up on it and went beside the two other girls. She gave the audience, Madam Lumia and most especially the security her signature smirk before a great deal of electricity erupted from her palms launching forward at the four armored men but also at the same time creating this cylindrical wall of electric currents around the girls that scaled up at least 3/4 of the height of the room. She eyed back at them, "Alice, I know you're here. Is she going to be alright? Keep her safe, don't worry, nothing gets past my electricity."She looked back forward and launched another wave of electricity towards the security personel. "Oh and, don't tell people I said that - the me caring part - I've got a reputation I want to keep."

 

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As soon as the security made their announcement and she heard her name being called out she looked up in panic. She'd never been in the white room before but she'd heard a lot of people talk about it and she was a bit scared to go in. She wasn't a trouble causer by nature, the performance was the first thing she'd done that broke the norm. However, this wasn't unexpected, she'd known the risks when she'd performed and she'd been fully prepared to take the consequences of her actions without any fuss. The only problem was that was before she'd had Anya to consider, she couldn't let them take her to the white room and potentially kill her. They had radium though - if they approached her, she would be revealed to everyone and be powerless to stop them.​

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"I'll make sure she's fine but I'm betting they have radium, be careful. Keep them at a distance, do not let them get close. This probably isn't the wisest of ideas but we don't have much choice. And I don't think your reputation is in danger with your current show. I'm hiding her, let me know when it's safe. Good luck." Alice spoke quietly as always so only Frida could hear her, with a strong sense of determination showing through.​

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That was it, she'd made her choice. Anya was injured and Alice wasn't physically strong so she couldn't really take her far but she had to get her hidden. They were on the ground floor so she couldn't phase straight to the floor before. However they were on a stage that was hollow. Perfect. She knew by doing this she was probably making things worse for herself and maybe her friends but she had to help Anya. She made a promise and she intended to keep it. She first turned put her arms around Anya to hold her securely and turned her invisible with her so it would be as if Anya had just vanished into thin air. Then came the tricky part, she carefully phased them both through the stage floor and into the hollow space within the stage. Phasing with radium being so close was dangerous, if it stopped her from phasing while she or someone else was within an object, it had disastrous consequences. It was a risk she needed to take though, she was quick about it. It was dark but there were slits of light so her eyes simply had to adjust. She stopped using her powers while they were within the stage to save energy but worked in the dark to help stop the bleeding silently, while listening carefully to every work that was spoken in the room above.​