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Post by zuyuri on Jan 3, 2024 1:13:54 GMT
“See, for me the tricky part is when I can use my shadow magic,” Riku steepled his fingers together. “I could shadow possess the train and hold it in place, but then what do you do with the hostage? I’d need all my focus on shadow possession, so using my powers to pry the metal off of the hostage would be tough.” There was also what time of day it was. Dawn of dusk, not a problem. Night time would be trickier.
Zuko doodled the situation in his notebook. The hostage was stuck, and who knew his fast that train was going? Utena said not everyone would walk away with just minor injuries, but at least no one was going to get killed. “For me, I’d…try to heat the metal off of the hostage as best as I could…” He trailed off. Suddenly, the searing heat onto an innocent person made him feel queasy. Cinder had burned him, but this was no accident. The thought of doing it to someone else, even it was well meaning…
“What about the train?” Riku asked gently, observing Zuko’s sudden tension. “You got the hostage out, all that’s left is that.”
Zuko looked down at the crude drawing. Right, the train. Hostage freed. Fire couldn’t help. It’d only lead to more danger. Melting the tracks would take too much time given how fast a train went. Unless….“Don’t some stations have one of those switches to change tracks?”
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jan 6, 2024 21:54:45 GMT
"That could be an option," Utena agreed. IF they could switch the tracks and have the train going in another direction, it'd alleviate some of the problem.
Zuko trailed off with his idea and he wasn't looking so good. Bella wondered what he was thinking. Did he need some water or something? But he seemed to snap out of it once Riku cut in again, so she let it go for the moment. "I think they'd be satisfied with any of those answers," she said. "I think they just want to make sure we're thinking these situations through and not jumping in and doing something stupid," Bella said. "Like...I don't know...using super strength to punch the front of the train and make it go backwards instead of forwards." She doubted anyone would really do that, even some of the bullies around here, but she also knew that just talking about it was different than actually facing the situation in real life. Panic could make a person do dumb things. But that was what these kind of questions were for: to help heroes stop and think instead of just rushing into things.
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Post by zuyuri on Jan 6, 2024 21:59:23 GMT
A wave of relief washed over Zuko as Utena said that the switches could be an option. He exhaled and took a sip of his coffee, and frowned when he realized that it had gone cold while everyone had been discussing rescuing the damsel from a silent movie strip. He picked up his cup and pressed one hand against the ceramic cup. After a few seconds, steam started curling from the liquid and he smiled to himself.
This was noticed by Riku. "Hey, nice trick," he gestured to the cup. Realizing that there had been a brief distraction, he looked over at Utena. "Are there any other scenarios our teachers want us discussing? Bella made a good point about us thinking them carefully."
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jan 9, 2024 2:49:56 GMT
Zuko conveniently heated his cold coffee up with his powers, making Bella say jokingly "I guess that comes in...handy?"
Utena blinked. Bella, making a joke? Usually, Utena was the one trying to lighten the situation.
Bella noticed her sister looking at her. "What?" Joking wasn't in her nature, but the pun had just kind of come out. She just felt really relaxed here, even if the essay questions were a bit puzzling.
"Uh, nothing," Utena replied, going back over her notes. Bella seemed awfully casual here. When did that happen? But Riku asked if anymore scenarios might come up and Utena combed her notebook for a second before coming across something. "Yeah, something like this: Five robbers are looting a bank. One is standing guard at the front door, three others each have an employee at gun point, and the fifth is attempting to break open the safe in the back. Describe how you would stop the robbers while making sure the employees aren't hurt."
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Post by zuyuri on Jan 9, 2024 5:27:52 GMT
A small smile crossed Zuko’s face at Bella’s joke. Her shyness usually kept her from making quips, but it was kind of nice seeing her out of her shell. He picked up his coffee and took a satisfied dip before setting the mug down. “Haven’t heard that one before,”he said dryly.
The exchange had not gone unnoticed by Riku. Did Zuko and Bella like each other? Well, in a ‘more than friends’ kind of way? Eh, it wasn’t his business. He’d ask about it after they were done with this boring study stuff. A break would needed after they saved the hypothetical bank robbery.
“Okay, so first, I’d use my powers to snag the guns. Once I threw those out of the way, maybe behind the glass of the bank desk, I’d use my shadow sneak to take out the guy trying to open the vault. The lookout guy,” he gave a scoff, “welp, that’d be a good old fashioned tie up thanks to shadow telekinesis on whatever I can use.”
Zuko nodded. “Those shadow powers are impressive. I’d probably do the same order. The guns are the bigger threat, so dealing with them first is better.” Of course, unlike Riku, he couldn’t simply hide the guns. “After taking care of the thugs, I’d have the bankers maybe cover the gun with a trash can or something to avoid fingerprints.”
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jan 15, 2024 2:56:57 GMT
Riku and Zuko's powers were different, but they pretty much had the same strategy: take away the guns the four main robbers had first, then try to go after the one in the back trying to open the vault. "I could probably do the same thing with vines," Bella said, thinking out loud. "Just use them to snatch the guns out of their hands, then take them out."
Utena thought for a moment. Her sword wasn't exactly a long distance weapon like fireballs or vines. As soon as she went after one robber, the others would react. "I wouldn't be able to go through the front door without all hell breaking loose," she commented. "I'd have to sneak in or something, Mission Impossible style." Maybe in that situation, she could get onto the roof and get in that way, through a door or a vent. Utena had some muscle, but she was also slim. She could probably fit.
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Post by zuyuri on Jan 15, 2024 3:24:17 GMT
Riku almost spat out his tea from the laughter that bubbled out as Utena pitched her Mission Impossible strategy. Luckily, he was able to swallow it in time and regain himself befre he dissolved again into another fit of short lived giggles. "Sorry, sorry, I just pictured you popping out of the vent with your sword swinging like the world's most dangerous hedge cutter." He breathed once again. Utena was no joke with a blade. Tose robbers would probably be cut down before they could even shoot.
"How come that question was easier than the last one?" Zuko asked. It seemed that all four of them had come up with so many different ways for it to go. Even then, a good chunk of them had agreed on the same strategy of getting the guns out of the way before beating in the bad guys. That could have been the answer. The fact that it was such a universal problem with so many different answers, and in a weird way, it could almost be a team move.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jan 22, 2024 0:18:49 GMT
Riku laughed the Mission Impossible comment, which Utena could admit, that was kind of funny. "All I would need is sunglasses, a suit, and an English accent and I'm the next James Bond," she joked.
"I don't know if it would have the same effect as the movies," Bella said with a little laugh. Saying movie quotes to robbers would probably just make things awkward, although it could confuse them enough to get the first hit in.
Utena shrugged at Zuko's question. "Maybe they just want our basics covered?" she asked. Robbers were considered kind of basic and were usually the first kind of criminals students handled on their own. Of course, they still couldn't take them lightly. Everyone had superpowers, but not many of them could help if you got shot.
"We'll probably get more intense situations thrown at us later on," Bella commented. "Like, teachers love to pose hypothetical questions based off of their own experiences."
"Hope they never ask what we'd do to stop a meteor or something," Utena said. "If that situation ever came up, I'd be screwed."
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Post by zuyuri on Jan 22, 2024 3:21:30 GMT
Zuko looked at paper while Riku snickered at Utena’s jab at being James Bond. The rest of the questions were filled with other scenarios he had seen through countless movies; stop the bomb, heal someone who was hurt, car chase down the bridge. Blah blah blah. If the teachers had been going through any of these, he had no idea how bad heroes had it.
“You’d think that they’d give us more in person experiences,” he grumbled, putting the paper away
Riku set down his teacup as he heard Zuko’s objection. He made a similar protest as a underclass man. Tough lessons to learn, but hey, better that this hothead learn them now. “We’re just students. You probably won’t be getting any big assignments until your teachers think you’re ready.”
“What, saving the fountain plaza from a hydra not count?” Zuko remembered the expedition that turned into an all out brawl. The hydra had been dealt with accordingly.
Riku’s eyes widened. A hydra? Dang! That made Cinderblock look like a third grade kickball game. He shrugged. “It looks good on your report card if you showed…I don’t know, true heroism?”
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jan 27, 2024 21:53:52 GMT
"Well, the hydra was kind of...unplanned," Bella admitted. Mrs. Locklear hadn't been expecting such a massive monster to show up when she'd taken some students out for patrol. But at least it had gone well.
"Man, I'm still peeved I missed that. I want to see some action," Utena grumbled. She hadn't done much since the weird cinderblock monsters had attacked way back when.
"You probably will soon enough," Bella promised. The older they got, the more dangerous missions teachers would take them on. Utena would definitely have plenty of time to shine.
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Post by zuyuri on Jan 28, 2024 3:17:58 GMT
“Who knows? Maybe you’ll get a chance to fight some bank robbers and put your skills that we just planned to the test,” Riku quipped with a snort. In this town, it seemed that there was some crime going on every which way. But he supposed people had to make their own fun.
A shadow of a smile crossed Zuko’s face. One at being pleased about being there for fighting the hydra. Second had been there with a teacher that seemed proud of him. Or at least, he liked to think so. He also looked over at Bella, who had helped him in the fight. “Whatever comes at us, we’ve got this. Bella and I made a good team.”
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Feb 4, 2024 16:33:07 GMT
Utena laughed at Riku's quip. "One can only hope," she laughed. Although bank robbers sounded a little simple compared to hydras, or even giant cinderblock monsters for that matter. But, they were one of the most common types of criminals around here. She considered it a miracle that banks could even hire anyone.
Bella found herself blushing at Zuko saying they made a good team and hurriedly hide her face behind her cup of coffee as she sipped it. The hot drink wasn't exactly a help with her red face though, which didn't go unnoticed by Utena.
"Ease up the caffeine sis, you look like you've got a sunburn," she said.
"Oh, ha ha, yeah," Bella said, her laugh sounding a little forced. God, why was she acting like such an idiot? And Utena was looking at her with more scrutiny than usual.
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Post by zuyuri on Feb 5, 2024 5:04:13 GMT
Bella was blushing so brightly that her made her hair look pale. Utena was staring at her quizzically, as was Riku. A bit of a strong reaction there. He looked over at Zuko, who looked simply uncertain. He felt the energy in the booth dip slightly, so he did what he normally did when his teammates got heated during a scuffle; redirect. “So…you guys got weekend plans after we turn all of this in?” He made a sweeping gesture to the forgotten homework and textbooks.
Zuko began tracing small patterns with a droplet of coffee that had fallen on the table. Bella had reacted to suddenly, and he didn’t know what he could say to help. Saying more would probably make her more nervous, so he stayed quiet. Stupid. He should have just mentioned other people being on the team. Sure, he got along with Ruby, but Bella was his friend. Friends deserved to be spoken about nicely. But then Riku asked about the weekend, and he visibly cringed.
“I’m working double shift here. A lot of people are taking the weekend off with Valentine’s Day, so I’m picking up the extra slack. But it gives me spring break off, so I guess there’s something to look forward there.”
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Feb 6, 2024 0:59:20 GMT
There was an awkward silence for a moment and Bella felt her insides twist. She felt like everyone was looking at her. Luckily, Riku changed the subject, diverting all the attention from Bella.
"Eh, I was gonna splurge on some fast food this weekend, maybe as a treat if this test goes well," Utena replied with a shrug. "Cafeteria grub is good and all, but it's been a while since I've had a good cheeseburger." She scooted the notebooks away from her. "Although I think we've covered enough material that we should do decently." Yeah, the math problem was a little confusing, but that only made up a part of the test. If that gave them any trouble, they could probably make it up with the essay questions.
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Post by zuyuri on Feb 6, 2024 23:45:31 GMT
“A burger sounds so good right now,” Riku agreed. How long had it been since he had one that wasn’t a party that had been waiting in storage before being warmed up and thrown on a cafeteria tray? Now he just pictured the huge hunk of meat cooked to his liking oozing with melted cheese. An intense workout would iri only follow, but it was a treat, like Utena said.
“Tell me about it,” Zuko said, “If I have to eat one more instant ramen or pre packaged sandwich, I’m going to set a trash can on fire.” He had eaten better since living away from Cinder, but it wasn’t the kind of four star dining experience people could afford.
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