─── 𝐖𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐁𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐄𝐒 !!

[kalo.]

────( ♔ )────────────── 𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐆
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxl( law of nature defiance ) ( tags; james ) ( mentions; jasper ) ( location; gymnasium ) ( wc; 526 )

x
indentWhen one of the teachers finally spoke up to bring forth another anxious student Eli was surprised to see it was Jasper. He was friendly, borderline friends, with the kid and knew how his power worked. It was disasterous if Eli was being honest. He burned almost everything he could [not on purpose of course] when trying to train. So as Eli's eyes followed the male's fire to the dummy and burn it to a crisp it wasn't a surprise. When the smell of smoke hung heavy in the air Eli only rolled his eyes, casting his gaze down to his hands momentarily. It was only another thing to make the negative aura around Eli increase. The scowl on his face increased as he watched the teacher finally finish putting the fire out. Eli assumed the teachers would need a minute to fix the gymnasium up for a second before calling the next student forward.

indentThe sound of a door opening caused Eli to shift his gaze. His eyes locked onto one of few people he truly enjoyed the company of. James. He watched as the extrovert made his way towards him smiling and waving to anyone and everyone he saw. It truly was a mystery how the two of them became such close friends, best friends to be more specific. But Eli wouldn't change anything about it. He truly cared for the other hero even if he never seemed to show it. So when the male called out his name with both hands in the air Eli rolled his eyes. "I see you're late as ever James. What held you up this time?" The comment rolled effortlessly off of Eli's lips, as easy as breathing to him.

indentEli stood up, brushing his hands against his pants, before crossing his arms to look at James. He looked rather dissolved. Hair a little messy, backpack on his shoulders, and a bag of chips in his hand. Eli bit the inside of his lips to suppress the need to make an unnecessary comment about his appearance. "You ready to show the lovely teachers our powers? Best day of the year." Eli let out a huff at the thought of having to go up and show the teachers the same thing over and over again. It wasn't like he could show much anyway. Let an object phase through him, float, and even do some cause and effect work. They've seen several times before but still insisted he had a ton of work to do. The negative thought leaked back out into the air, repelling a few of the negative students around him. If Eli was allowed to [as he had gotten in trouble with the teachers for doing so in the past] he would simply let the negative aura around him expand rapidly and drive everyone away. Only a few could handle the change in nature's law-and James was one of them. No matter how much Eli altered the aura of himself or James, even switching the polarity of the auras, he always was standing next to him. Eli would never admit it out loud, but he enjoyed it.

[a ghost!]

( ★ ) ───────────────────────── 𝐉𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒
　　　( molecular reconstruction )　( mentions nobody )　( tags eli )　( is in the gymnasium )

　　　THE SCENT OF SMOKE continued to linger, and his attention was brought to the thin layer of ice on top of the wooden gymna
sium floor. He was sure that that was not there before, and he was doubly sure that the burns on the dummy, and the floor, were n
ot there before either. His head had tilted ever so slightly to the side in mild curiosity, if not concern for the dummy, before his att
ention was brought back to Eli and away from the site of the fire. He lowered his hands and arms. "I might've forgot," James gave o
ff a sheepish sort of laugh as he spoke, lifting a hand to scratch at the back of his head, "but then I remembered, too!" The boy add
ed with a smile, the very same smile that he's had since he stepped foot in the gymnasium. He reached out his free hand to offer th
e measly bag of (already opened) chips to Eli. "I didn't miss anything, did I?"

James pressed his back to the gymnasium wall behind him, allowing himself to slide down until he was sitting on the floor. He sat ri
ght next to where Eli had been sitting a few moments before. Once he was sitting, he raised his knees to his chest and wrapped his
arms around his legs, looking forward and in the direction of the frozen assessment floor. "Best day of the year!" James agreed with
a nod of his head, unable to detect the evident sarcasm in Eli's words. "It's always amazing when you float, or when somebody punc
hes you, but they don't really punch you!" James reached his arms out in a display of his amazement, before placing them back on t
op of his knees.

Thinking back on the last time that he was on the assessment floor, he did not think that he did anything especially worthwhile. Nor
did he do anything especially worthwhile the many times before. He gave it another moment's thought. How come it can't be anythi
ng worthwhile? Why don't I do something worthwhile this time? Well, all I really can do is give somebody a pat on the back, or a hig
h-five, and then look like them. He placed a hand on the top of his head in order to give his hair a ruffle, his smile remaining on his
face. Maybe he can find something worthwhile to do today in time for his assessment, something that will blow all of the teachers a
way! And then they won't even bother assessing him next year, that is how outstanding it will be! That is how outstanding his power
s will be. "Who should I look like this time?"

[selasphorys]

𝄖𝄖𝄖 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐘𝐚𝐧𝐠
spacepower: mist elemental | tags: open | mentions: jasper, james, eliason | location: gymnasium

Eyes forward, hands clasped, posture straight… Alamere stood tall as she envisioned a real hero would. Stalwart defenders of justice, unfazed by the most dastardly of villains. Or well, at least she could pretend to look the part. Even for a routine event like this, the girl couldn’t help feeling a faint flutter of fear. To have all eyes on her. Too many a time had she been caught off guard by the low humidity, producing meager mists that obscured about as well as a window pane. She had discovered her power only a few years ago, so her control over her ability had been unreliable at best. She reminded herself that she had room to grow from each assessment. Alamere took several measured breaths, running through lists of corrections in her mind: more agility in her acrobatics, more specific shapes for her cloud form, more cover with her fog. Closing her eyes briefly, she began to search for the water droplets in the air. They were there, distant but there, ready to come with her call.

A sudden blast of flame wrenched her from her thoughts. Eyes now wide open, she stumbled backward before catching herself and returning to her proper posture. Serves her right for not focusing on the task at hand. Villains would have similar abilities and this was an opportunity to better understand these other powers. Watching fires leap from the dummy and floor, she shuddered to imagine the injuries any civilians would sustain had they been caught in the blaze. Alamere found herself simultaneously awestruck and terrified each time Jasper had his assessment. As a teacher extinguished the flames with water and ice, the gleaming new layer on the floor piqued her interest. This could provide a resource for her power.

Caught up in her preparations, she hadn’t given much thought to the other students waiting their turn. Now she took a look around, seeing as the assessments were paused for a moment. James wasn’t hard to find, lighting up the room with his sunny smile. But he was with Eli, as usual, and the other student seemed particularly unapproachable right then. Maybe he was doing something with his power? Not that it mattered, since now wasn’t the time for chatter anyway. Conversations could wait. Alamere had plans for this assessment and she intended to follow through. Hopefully.

[kalo.]

────( ♔ )────────────── 𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐆
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxl( law of nature defiance ) ( tags; james ) ( mentions; jasper ) ( location; gymnasium ) ( wc; 555 )

x
indentThe positive nature of James started to clam the scholar, the large negative aura around him shrinking and concentrating to only be a dull ache around him. Enough to bring back some of the younger students that he had repelled so urgently earlier. James had that effect of Eli. To calm a large aspect of his power-the law of attraction and polarity. It baffled his mind how someone could do that. Almost infuriated him, but James was the only person Eli couldn't get angry at. "Forgot? Why is that not a surprise. You'd forget the head on your shoulders if we're being honest." His eyes watched as the bag of opened chips was offered to Eli. He raised his brow in surprise before shrugging and reaching his hand in to take a few. "If by miss you mean Jasper almost burning the gym down, then no. You didn't miss anything. Not like I was paying attention anyway." Eli popped the chips in his mouth before sitting back down with James, deciding that sitting was better than standing anyway. He didn't plan on showing the teachers he was eager for his turn. Or that he even wanted his turn. He would skip if he could.

indentEli bit the inside of his lip as James completely missed the sarcasm laced in his voice about assessment day. Why was he surprised? There were times when Eli swore James said the stuff he did on purpose to annoy and get a reaction out of Eli. Sometimes it worked. "The teachers never seem to agree." The student took a moment to slouch before looking at James as he questioned who to turn into. The thought of James impersonating one of their many teachers [which Eli would pay to see. He hated all of the teachers so seeing them doing something embarrassing or stupid was worth the risk] was almost enough to sneak a smile out of Eli, but he held strong. He would rather be caught dead than smile in front of such a large crowd. He rarely even smiled by himself. There was no purpose. "Depends. You probably want to use someone you're really strong at impersonating so you don't mess up. Teachers are being relentless this year. It pisses me off." Crossing his arms in a [rather childish] act of anger Eli let out a huff of steam. "They're showing no mercy, and rightfully so, but it's always the same thing year after year. I can't tell if it's them being lazy or just not caring."

indentThe blonde watched as the teachers finally had gotten the fire under control and cleaned up the area for the next student. Not that all of the students used the dummies anyway. James didn't. Eli rarely did. Why bother exerting yourself for no reason? Some students stayed out in the gym for up to ten minutes showcasing the intricate parts of their power. It always was a waste of time to Eli. He'd rather just put the basics out and move on. The teachers knew what he was capable of and this test was a waste of time. The urge to verbalize his thoughts with Jame became apparent, so he did so. "This test is a waste of time. We're wasting valuable time sitting around doing nothing when we could be productive."

[a ghost!]

( ★ ) ───────────────────────── 𝐉𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒
　　( molecular reconstruction )　( mentions jasper )　( tags eli )　( is in the gymnasium )

　　　THE SUDDEN CHANGE IN the surrounding air was significant. The thick fog of negative energy that had once encircled Eli was
now only a blanket of kind of negative energy that only sort of draped over him a little bit. A couple of younger students were even
going so far as to stand closer to him than they had been before. That made James happy because it meant that Eli was happier no
w, too. At least happier than he was a few moments back. He looked to Eli with a silly expression, but a joyful one. "I did do that, s
omewhat! I wanted to play a joke on one of my classmates a few days ago by surprising them as them," Laughing, he took a chip or
two and placed them in the palm of his hand, allowing the bag to rest against his shoe, "but then I forgot that I looked like them, so
I looked like them for until I noticed, which luckily wasn't all that long-is that why I smell smoke?" James cut himself off halfway, ha
ving been distracted by the mention of the gymnasium (not) burning to the ground at Jasper's hand. Placing one of two chips in his
mouth, James couldn't believe that he'd missed it. It must've been super cool!

He turned to face the gymnasium floor. Students, both new and experienced, were standing and sitting idly by every which way he l
ooked. They were all waiting for their turn on the assessment floor. Many of the younger students looked to be excited, if not eager
to show off their powers, but a lot more of the students looked nervous and kind of terrified at the thought. Then there were the st
udents that looked like they did not want to be there at all. Eli looked like he was one of them. "That's okay! They don't know how
your powers work is all." He assured. Eli did not look as though he was having fun, and James assumed that it was because he was n
ot having fun. He was wondering what might be fun. Many of his past attempts to make Eli laugh or smile did not work (as far as he
knew), but worry not! Those attempts were not the last or the least of his efforts! James was determined to make today a good day
for his best friend.

Placing the last of his two chips in his mouth, James was beginning to wonder. Eli was right, as always was. The teachers were relen
tless this year. Who was he good at impersonating? Maybe if he were to impersonate somebody that had already done their assessm
ent, and the teachers didn't notice one bit, that could count as his assessment? He could do what he's always done, though it was a
simple demonstration of his powers. A high-five, a pat on the back, and then he was somebody else. He wondered if it would be en
ough this year, too. But what else could he do if it wasn't? James was pulled out away from these thoughts by Eli's words of contemp
t. Turning to look back at Eli, he was glad that they did. He had no reason to worry! Eli said that the test was a waste of time, after
all, so that's what it was. "What do you think is productive? Maybe we can find something productive to do here while we wait!"

[Seokjinnie]

XXX

X█║ 𝔄𝔲𝔤𝔲𝔰𝔱 𝔏𝔢𝔢 ║█X
male || seventeen || umbrakinesis || tags(mentions); open (jasper)

indentAuggie watched on with wide eyes as Jasper set the practice dummy and the floor during his assessment, and honestly, he wasn't surprised as this kind of thing happened every assessment day yet every time he saw it he was shocked. So shocked that he barely registered his name being called until he heard Mr. Wilson clear his throat and repeat his name. As he walked slowly up to where the teacher was standing, his ears felt like they were burning and he knew they were likely a bright shade of pink. There were too many things he could do for his assessment that he found himself racking his brain, last assessment he had a teacher's own shadow to steal the man's ID and hand it to August, and the assessment before that he made the entire gym fall into complete darkness. A light bulb went off in his head, hah, a shy smile bloomed on his face, his eyes turning grey, as he cupped his hands and let his mind pull some of the darkness from the room and within himself, slowly a small dark orb began to form in his hands. Auggie looked down at the dark, now volleyball-sized, orb hovering in his hands, he shot a quick glance to the closest teacher before he held out his left hand and sent the orb hurtling into a concrete wall that no one was standing near. Some of the concrete crumbled to the floor, he inwardly winced, his eyes slowly returned to their normal brown as he quickly moved from the center trying to get to the back of the gym as fast he could. Once he reached the corner, he slid down the wall and took a few deep breaths as he tried to will the nausea away.

[slaughter beach, dog]

█│▒║ ── 𝑾 𝑰 𝑳 𝑳 𝑶 𝑾 - 𝑳 𝑼 𝑵 𝑫 𝑮 𝑹 𝑬 𝑵 ─ ⚜ ─────────────── ─ ─ ─ ─ ─╶╶╶

location; gym (barely) ── tagging; open ── mentioned; -- ── power; self-replication


A crash, followed by pieces of white ceramic scattering across the floor of the classroom. Ms. Martinez held out another mug with the academy logo proudly emblazoned on one of its sides, some PR slogan on the opposite. She shook it a little, beckoning a hesitant Willow to take it from her — to the growing dismay of the original Willow standing behind the replicate, sweat born from intense concentration beading on her brow.
indent"Sorry," she offered, the defeat blatant in her voice despite the placatory smile pressing her lips together. Will had suggested they practice on objects that were less fragile, but Ms. Martinez had insisted the possibility of breaking something would merely act as an incentive to, well, not let it break.
indent"You need to stop apologizing for trying," the teacher countered, her dark curls bobbing with the shake of her head, which Willow had long ago learned wasn't disapproving, but something closer to a habit. She rapped the fingers of her free hand against the lid of the trunk she was seated on. "There's plenty more, but we'll do one and then it's assessment time for you. Waiting any longer won't make it easier."
indent"What if it's not supposed to work like this?" she argued, although with her soft-spoken manner, it could barely be considered protest. Ms. Martinez exhaled, lowering her mug-laden hand into her lap and fixing Willow with a look that left no room for further argument, regardless of how polite it would be.
indent"We wouldn't have made the progress we have if it wasn't. Now, you asked for tutoring, and you're getting it." Her hand came up again, prompting for replicate Willow to keep going. A furrow formed between her brows as she focused both her eyes and mind on the projection, willing it to reach out and pick up the offered mug. Once it was in her grasp, the furrow eased into a hesitant triumph.
indentindentWhat must have been a few minutes later, the replicate lost her hold on the mug and it sank through her hand, shattering against the floor. Ms. Martinez shifted her boot, and the accumulated shards of half a dozen mugs clacked sharply against each other. She clicked the button of her stopwatch, a pleased approval brightening her features in a change that would have been easy to miss. She flipped it over to display the numbers to Willow, who finally let the projection disappear.
indent"See? We've been at this for nearly an hour, and your final time is a few seconds longer than your first. That tells me you can sustain the projection for longer if you want to, but the hard part is getting it to materialize and holding it in that state. Your hindrances are probably more mental than physical at this point, and that isn't something that can be fixed with light cardio in the gym, alright?" Willow nodded her acknowledgement, but a different question had begun nagging at the back of her mind.
indent"What do you think they'll say? After the assessment?" Asking a teacher before the assessment itself was probably bad conduct, but they were supposed to be there to help the students, after all. And it wasn't as if she hadn't been through several of them already, but if she had made as much progress as Ms. Martinez had said, she wasn't certain what they would think of her this time.
indent"Range. You need to work on getting the projection further," the teacher replied with barely any deliberation.
indent"It's that bad?" Willow joked cautiously in reply, a more cheerful smile returning to wipe away the stress of her tutoring. It earned a huff of laughter from Ms. Martinez, which momentarily bolstered Will's own confidence. The teacher pointed at the door, dismissing her insecurities as if the very idea they were centered around were too ludicrous to entertain. Ms. Martinez rarely outright praised students, at least not in an overflowing way, and this was the closest Willow had heard her getting to a compliment. It was a good note on which to end a lesson, bound to set her a little more at ease before the assessment.
indent"Go on, before they lock you out," she urged, so Willow smiled her thanks for the lesson and headed out the classroom door.

indentindentWillow speed-walked along the halls, not daring to break into a run. As she reached the reinforced doors leading to the gym, she stopped to smooth her hair, before trying to enter as quietly as possible. But the doors were heavy, and once she was inside and let go of the handle, they slammed shut behind her. The noise washed over her, bringing with it a flush of scarlet to her cheeks and, undoubtedly, more than one pair of eyes, but Willow fixed a smile onto her face and walked to stand by one of the walls, knowing the collective attention of those in the gym would inevitably move back to the students in the middle of displaying their powers.