Kevin
"If they're on your back, it's probably because you did something stupid like Raisa or I, or you can't control your powers like Jackal or Dara. You should be glad they're even willing to give you a shot to impress them. I am. And I screwed things up big-time. Nearly got Raisa killed," he says, fidgetting as he watches Thunder and Nova's creatures.
"I doubt you have anything to worry about from the others going... wherever we'll be going. Probably will focus a lot on teamwork and ethics I bet.
"Thanks for the offer but I'd rather figure Raisa out on my own, and hope that Dara doesn't start hitting me with frying pans again."
X12
Empath listens to you, one eyebrow arching somewhat as you talk. "Well, lets start at the top, shall we?" Empath says.
"Monica is exceedingly promiscuous. She's already been warned about it twice. The only advice I can offer you is to lay down very clear lines of conduct with her if you want to be her friend. If she crosses them, let her know and get away from her. I've given up trying to stop students from getting involved physically, though if you are going to do that, get protection from the nurse," she says with a wry grin. "I'm not sure I am comfortable with her being on the team, due to how she acts. She seems very self-oriented. A lot like Kevin in fact.
"Now, Anna is opening right up since coming to the institute. Her accident left her very fragile, and it's good to see her feeling friendly and sociable. If you are worried about her taking things the wrong way, you better talk to her, not me. If you can't be honest with your friends, you have a bigger problem than you realize on your hands. Women like honesty, X12. Really we do.
You hear a muffled, "That better not have been a crack at me!" in the background, to which Empath grins over her shoulder before returning her attention to you.
"Your flashbacks may be occurring more rapidly due to a natural breakdown of whatever was keeping the memories repressed. I am more than a little cautious of swamping you with memories by forcing that barrier away. A great deal of physical and mental stress is about to be heaped upon you and the others. I would truly prefer you allow your memories to surface naturally, plus my telepathic abilities are not good at all. I would fear harming you.
"But I have another solution. The man we delivered Jackal to, Master Wen, is a very skilled man. He also has a son that I believe you should meet. When we send Kevin, Raisa and the others to him as part of their training, I think it would be a good idea for you to join them."
John
You gather the weapons of the still unconscious thugs, then using your size and stretching abilities, wrap them all up in a bundle.
"Wow, you're amazing!" says the younger girl. "I can't believe how easily you handled them all!"
"I recognize you now," the older woman says. "You're the one that took on that giant monster on TV yesterday! You're that EPIC fellow, Straightjacket!"
"The path is just over there, and it's a quarter mile to the main car park. I'll call the police on my cell," the younger girl says, dialing the police as you lead them through the forest in the direction they indicate.
"Good job, boy," your father says approvingly. "Seems that training at school is payin' off in spades."
After about fifteen minutes of hiking, you come across the car park. Two police cruisers are there, as are a pair of news vans and an ambulance. When you come out, the news crews are on you in seconds.
"You're Straightjacket, right?" one asks as microphones are lifted up to you.
"What happened here? Did you save these women from those thugs?"
"Back up, back up," one of the officers says, forcing the news crews back and leading you to the cruiser.
"Hey, I recognize these punks. They're the same ones responsible for those muggings in Central Park. Wondered where they went off to," another cop says.
"Straightjacket, right? Yeah, good work there yesterday. You saved a lot of our crew out there. So what's the story here?"
You see the women giving statements to the police, sitting in the back of an ambulance, getting checked out by EMS.
Johan
"Thanks to ARIS, if you try to modify your armor to include something dangerous, alarms are going to go off and I'm going to get alerted," she says with a grin. "Besides, you don't seem to have the same urge to make things go boom as Anna and Rebound do. Here, let me show you how the design and testing extrapolation programs work," she says, showing you one of the most advanced computer design and design testing programs you've seen.
Michelle
Fuel to the fire. You're nearly to the door when Monica grabs your and Dara's wrists and stops, turning you right around and walking right at the pack of boys. "This'll be fun," she growls, little sparks coming from her skin.
Dara doesn't seem convinced. Let's just go into the mall, Monica, you hear her say in your minds. Monica ignores her. The boys stop, she walks right up to all of them.
"Ok, Sparky," Monica says to the one that asked the price. "Let's see it. I wanna know if it's even worth my time to consider an offer." There's suddenly far less talking among the boys and most are fidgetting nervously. "Oh, sure, not much talk now. C'mon, unzip it."
The boy lagging behind is wide eyed and quickly starts heading around, giving you all a wide berth. He's looking at Michelle and then his eyes go wide in recognition and he kind of moves to the side to watch with a silly grin on his face.
"You couldn't handle what I got," the boy says with false bravado, starting a much weaker round of cat-calls that slowly wither under Monica's stare.
"I'll be the judge of that. C'mon tough guy, let's see it."
No no, lets go, c'mon, let's just gooo. Please, Monica, let's just..." You see the boys looking around wondering where the voice came from.
"Not until he puts up or shuts up. You got enough metal in those pants, boy," Monica says to the boy in front of her. "I bet I know someone who can tear those things right off you."
