Magical Teacher Professor Landry! - Episode 2: In Polite Company

[Riin Whitewind]

A pair of thumps drummed into the soft earth of the planter - one as Dal landed gracefully beside her with a wink and a smile - and another as the jar the wanna-be healer was preparing fell out of her startled hands. Blinking away her surprise, Sao rescued the unharmed jar, stowing it safely back in the medipack.

Opening her mouth to say something, she closed it again as Dal walked past without a word. The Undine watched with an expression of worry, wondering if she needed to step in - she couldn't just sit by if he tried to interfere, but...

Brushing soil from her jeans, Sao stood and pulled her bandana off her face, letting it hang free around her neck. A less-than-graceful step off the planter and a quick recovery was all that was needed to catch up to the slim Irishman, leaving the heavy medipack behind.

Keeping at the shoulder of the apparently-at-ease Dal, she too headed for the computer and the blonde operating it. There had to be a purpose to it, but... what?

[Teal Mage]

"Oh oh oh, oh oh oh, oh, oh." The singer intoned, voice higher than that of the woman she sought to cover. The distorted strings of her robot accompaniment sounded loudly, chimes playing weakly behind them - seeming content to add some semblance of beat to the song.

Confused and frightened, one Michael Jones had scurried into the thicket of ferns surrounding the Southwest most tree - shortly after Sao and Dal had departed, in fact. For a completely normal and, fairly sane, student this whole battle was almost more than he could take.

"Caught in a Bad Romance."

Leaning against the tree as he was, Michael was afforded a good view of Professor Landry and Shuyin's dance battle. Watching the pair of them spar - surrounded by a galaxy of ever-shifting black stars - made him feel the strangest of twinges inside. Had any one been paying attention to him, they'd have noticed a weak black aura emerging from his shoulders.

"Oh oh oh, oh oh oh, oh, oh."

Deciding on a wild impulse, Michael extracted a sketch pad and pencil from his bag. He began to draw - hands moving with supernatural precision - the forms the dancing faculty members were making as they moved. Quite the talent, considering how quickly they shifted stances.

"Caught in a Bad Romance." Did a hint of a smile appear on the darkly spectacled singer's face?

The wall around the Field of Honor now topped the heads of those fighting on it - by several hand-spans, in fact. It seemed they were all but sealed behind a barrier now.

* * * * * *

Hannah's aura flared.

Her bandage wrapped hands released the slim pole that was her staff. Moving with sinuous and inhuman grace, Hannah blurred - kicking foot planting itself on the ground, as she spun round, speed impossible, narrowly avoiding the Scot's thrown shoulder. Her staff clattered to the Field floor as Dean stumbled, feeling something firm and smooth wrap tight around his ankle.

Below the pair, Hannah's discard throwing pegs had spurted a small mass of green vines. They'd snapped around Dean's ankle, holding fast with unnatural strength. Most humans would have trouble breaking them - enchanted as they were.

Aura flaring once again, Hannah's leg lashed out in a wicked arc toward Dean's exposed side. If she managed to strike him, the Dragon Rider would find himself sent flying - into the space between Gorgeous and Astarte, and Professor Landry and Shuyin's dance battle.

It would also really, really, hurt.

* * * * * *

"You are beautiful." Gorgeous offered, blue eyes shining proudly, as he guided Astarte into a graceful twirl. His own steps were graceful and easy, almost as inhumanly elegant as Dal's. The black aura swirling around his body may well have explained it, flared as it was, though perhaps it was merely a talent. "Astarte..." He breathed, holding the girl firmly in his arms. "...I promised to tell you my plan."

The blond brought the fire haired girl back to stand in front of him, their steps returning to the simple one-two-three rhythm. "When Vanilla told me the losing class would be expelled," He explained softly, "I worried greatly that I would not be able to see you again."

"But then, I asked Vanilla for her rule book." He smiled brightly, "There is a way to protect everyone Astarte - it is not easy though." Gorgeous twisted, throwing Astarte into a pirouette yet again. He drew her back, pressed flush against his firm chest for an instant. His firm, calm, voice whispered in her ear, "We must defeat both Professor Landry and Professor Shuyin - before either can claim that it was their victory."

He spun her again, returning them to the normal one-two-three steps moments after.

"Will you help me Astarte?" He asked, blue eyes boring hopefully into her green ones.

* * * * * *

Screaming his frustrated rage, Jay charged at Zet. Teal and black auras mingled, becoming a wild storm around the pair of youths as Jay planted his feet in a firm batter's stance. Muscles grew painfully defined on his arms for an instant, as the black supernatural light whirling around him surged. He swung, tarred bat moving in a vicious arc toward Zet's head.

Zet coolly pulled away.

"I warned you."

Teal light flared, as Jay's bat struck naught but air. A dusty skinned fist plunged forward - for an instant, it seemed to Jay like it was surrounded by blue-green fire - before it smashed into his baseball bat, just above where his hands gripped it. Tarred wood broke like glass, as the fist shattered the meagre barrier - becoming covered in small cuts in the progress.

"Caught in a Bad Romance."

Zet's fist struck Jay's chest.

He went flying backward - the wind completely knocked from his lungs - before landing heavily on his back in a patch of - surprisingly hard - flowers, several paces away. Wood chips showered him, slashing shallow cuts on his face and in his clothes, as the top half of his shattered bat clattered into the flowers by his head - where it lay still. His strength surge vanished, muscles suddenly feeling like lead, as the instinctive burst of supernatural took its toll.

Panting, and looking slightly winded, Zet glared at Jay’s prone form. "Give up you brat!" He growled, "You haven't got a chance!"


* * * * * *

Negotiating the branches of the Northwest Oak tree, Diana steadily climbed toward the mysterious mass of pale blue sparkles she'd seen from her old position. Another peal of gleeful laughter met her ears, as she grasped the last branch she'd need to haul herself into a location where she could make out the source of this mystery. Pale blue sparkles flew into the air wildly, as the mass she'd been tracking fluctuated suddenly. Mind already made up, Diana pulled herself up!

Sitting cross legged against the trunk of the oak tree, a short distance away, was a girl - probably around Diana's own age. Pale blue motes of light fluttered around the girl's frame, moving in an almost gleeful dance. Her skin was a brown-red, a tone that matching Kohana's nearly perfectly. While her hair, a sandy blond, was mostly covered by a blue bandana - the designs on it, once again, reminiscent of the shirtless youth Diana had encountered last night. A white skirt, which came down to her knees, and a like coloured sleeveless top - tied into a knot just above her midriff - offered token covering of this strange girl.

Whoever she was, her attention was focused on the object in her lap. Long, slim and white, it appeared to be a trident of some sort. Gold snake-like decorations lay scattered about the weapon, implying that, whatever it was, it was expensive. The sandy haired girl was bending it - twisting and tying it, in fact. It was apparently quite flexible. She seemed intent on tying into some kind of balloon animal!

Lodged point down into the tree at her back was a black bladed sword. Diana could just make out the weapon's hilt from her position - it reminded her of a dragon. Pale blue lights danced around it as well - though less erratically than the mass around the girl.

So far, the Super Director and Camera Girl Extraordinaire had yet to be noticed. Whoever this girl was, turning the trident she held into a pretzel seemed very important to her! In Diana's mind, her camera girl sense was tingling - this might well be an important character!

But, how to approach her was the question...

* * * * * *

Pale blue eyes calculating, Jack studied the piece of rounded wood lodged into the colossal trunk of the Field's northwest corner oak. A faint black aura surrounded the thrown weapon, though it didn't seem too dangerous. Throwing caution to the wind, Jack took a step closer, hand closing over the rounded wood of the thrown weapon, he tugged it free.

Meanwhile, Sean had joined their merry little gathering. He was exchanging pleasantries with Adeline! The girl had not pressed him on his cryptic comment about testing her - perhaps she thought he was weird.

The object Jack held in his hand was, unsurprisingly, made of wood. Smooth in texture and light in color, the thrown weapon held no blade - indeed, it appeared to be something like a practice weapon. The side that had been lodged in the tree was as rounded as the base, it shouldn't -

The knife's aura flared!

"Caught in a Bad Romance."

A shock of sharp, stinging, pain erupted in Jack's hand.

The aura vanished.

There was no visible damage!

* * * * * *

"So..." Sean began, somewhat awkward, as he addressed Adeline. "You're okay I guess?"

"Yep." Adeline replied, offering a not-quite-genuine smile. She was still bleeding, after all. "Don't worry about it." The girl added, gesturing dismissively. She hadn't moved from her seat on the wide stone bench that surrounded this particular oak tree.

"Whatever, that’s irrelevant." Sean replied, turning his attention back to the battlefield.

Adeline grimaced, rolling her eyes.

"The point is that this battlefield is filled with crazy people and bystanders are going to get hurt." He had a point. "I don't think I care to watch anymore, so how about we cheat a bit and end this prematurely?"

"Wait a second!" Adeline shot up from her seat, "As class president elect, I'm duty bound to tell you that cheating is horrible, and violating the sanctity of the sacred tradition-" She blinked, eyes widening and cut herself off in mid-sentence. "What the hell am I saying?" The girl muttered, hand dropping to the handle of her practice sword. She shook her head, drawing her wooden blade in a rush and pointing it at Shuyin and Landry, "I'm totally onboard Canadian! Just point the way and I'll start hitting whoever you-"

A fleet of those thrown wooden daggers were coming at them!

"What the-" Adeline's free hand shot down to the arrowheads at her belt. Not enough time. She realized, even as her fingers closed around her own throwing weapons. This is bad! Adeline's aura, a dark curtain of carmine energy, flared around her frame - perhaps in response to her emotions?

Though they did not know it, the daggers were non-lethal weapons. Only glancing blows cut the skin - likely a side effect of whatever enchantment was on them. Direct hits would really hurt, but no more than a strong punch. They could take that! Probably!

* * * * * *

Balance thrown off, Shin found herself being forced to the ground by the dusty skinned red-gold haired youth she'd - only moments ago - thought herself certain of beating. Thinking quickly, the mohawked girl allowed herself to fall to her knee. Using her new stability, Shinubo threw Al to the side, turning the muscled youth's strength against him.

Al hit the Field's floor, shoulder first, and let out a grunt of - what was probably - pain. Thinking quickly, the youth threw his weight to the side, rolling away from his opponent, and back onto a nearby stone path. Panting, Al collected himself and staggered to his feet. His glasses had fallen during his roll, revealing a pair of bright orange eyes set into a fairly handsome face. A grimace decorated his features at the moment - probably because of the dark puncture wounds that covered his hands from the last exchange.

At the sight of the raging corona that was Shin's aura, the youth's expression darkened further.

It was unclear whether or not Dal's attempted shout did anything!

* * * * * *

Dropping from his vantage-point in the Southwest Tree, Dal slipped with not-quite human grace from the shelter of the ferns surrounding the massive oak. Slim silver rapier stored securely between his belt and pants, the dark haired youth threw a taunt toward Al – just before the muscular youth was thrown by Shinobu. Without missing a beat, Dal turned and began to walk leisurely in the direction of the mysterious machine – and the mysterious woman operating it. Green and white bandana hanging loosely about her neck, Sao came up from behind him moments later – taking a silent position at his side.

They passed Professor Landry and Shuyin as the pair – once more – broke apart. Shuyin let fly a barrage of wooden projectiles, pulled from within sleeves and hidden pockets in his immaculately white jacket. Professor Landry, moving with sinuous grace, dodged and weaved. Cuts appeared over her dress, revealing thin slits of pale white flesh as Shuyin's knives scored glancing blows. None, miraculously, managed to cut Professor Landry's skin.

Dark eyes smouldering, Professor Landry leapt forward, fist flying toward her azure haired rival's pretty face.

Coolly, Shuyin caught her blow with his palm. Twisting, the white-clad man spun behind his black-garbed foe - bringing her captured arm with him. Pressed flush against the auburn haired woman's back, Shuyin coolly raised his free hand - producing a length of silvery metal with a flick of his wrist. He thrust the dagger down, striking like a snake for Landry's neck.

The blade was halted by Landry's bare, free, hand.

By this time, Sao and Dal had nearly reached the machine.

"Halt!"

Thick blond tresses swirling in the afternoon wind, the scantily clad form of Vanilla Strauss stood in their path. Her clothes, a faded red, midriff baring, halter top and a pair of blue jean short shorts, did not leave much to the imagination - or do anything at all to downplay her ample breasts, wide hips, or long legs. The girl's choice of shoes, a pair of high-heeled sandals, while pretty, were likely not the best choice for combat.

"Professor Shuyin's orders were explicit!" Her aura swirled yellow around her form for an instant, "I'm not to allow any one in Professor Landry's class to get near the machine!" She threw her hand behind her, aura fading to black before their eyes, "So just turn around and walk-"

A pale blue corona of supernatural light flared around her body, causing her to jerk back a pace. "Wha-!" Her brown eyes flew to Dal, narrowing at the rapier at his side, before flickering to Sao's exquisitely colored eyes moments later. Around her form, the black aura flickered again. "So that's what your plan is." She hissed.

Vanilla shook her head rapidly, the aura dissipating. "Well, it doesn't matter." She grumbled, holding her ground. "You're still not getting past me!"

[Overcast]

Jay swung with all the might he had, the faint utterance catching in his ears from the muscled opponent,

"I warned you."

And the huge figure was suddenly not where he was a moment ago. Jay's eyes widened. It seemed impossible, his balance was thrown, in his head he was panicking. Then it came, the fist falling down upon him, tearing through his bat and impacting with his chest sending him reeling across the field.

He shook on the ground, his body screaming in pain. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't move. His hands gripped the flowers desperately, his eyes dripped tears, the lights were fading. It was over.

Then in the darkness laughter, a merry report that echoed through his mind. A voice piercing through the muddled psyche and pain. There she was, Professor Landry. No dress though, back in her labcoat, sitting at a desk that could not possibly be there, dark eyes looking right at him,

"To fight is to love Jay, never forget that!"

Her voice crept into his heart, black fires starting in his chest. She stood from her desk and shot at him an accusatory finger fueling ambitions that burned away the pain of the strike,

"Never surrender, never retreat! Though your body may be bruised, your spirit shattered and your heart broken, in the darkness of the night, believe in me, your beloved Teacher! I will never let you fall!"

She extended a hand, surrounded by blackness that he began to notice on himself,

"Now, take my hand! Together, we will fight! Together we will win! This is your chance! Show me the strength of your heart! Show me the heat of your passion! Do not turn your back, stand once more!"

He reached out desperately, and at their touch came light. Jay awoke with his hand in the air, and in it was a bat. It wasn't one of the bats he had brought with him today, it was an aluminum number that actually read his name along the side. The sudden weight had it falling to the ground beside him as he took a deep breath, his lungs coming back into function,

"Give up you brat! You haven't got a chance!"

The words fell from where he knew the strongfisted palooka was probably standing, and he just grinned. Then laughed, and coughed a bit, but mostly just laughed. He couldn't stop as his bat forced itself into the ground pulling him up to his feet. The pain was still there, it would probably hamper everything he did, but he was beyond it for now. His teared eyes stared across the field at Zet as he pulled at the buttons of his jersey,

"This is nothing."

It fell to the ground revealing the scarred form of his body. Years in the city, all the fights, years at home and all the abuse. A history of pain marked in his form, a new bruise building on his chest.

He placed the bat on his shoulder the cool touch of the aluminum a great relief, to be honest he was still getting his balance back, but he started walking toward him anyway,

"Don't you listen you damn idiot? I NEVER GIVE UP."

He really wished he could have said that with more passion, but he figured Landry would understand that he was in a world of hurt and passion was kinda difficult to pull off right now.

[Arhra]

Gorgeous was off romancing Astarte and trying to convince her of his plan. The other guardian of the strange machine was confronting Dal and Sao.

"Excuse me." Jo said quietly to purple bereted woman operating the machine. "May I ask what is the purpose of this machine?" The pale girl had come up from behind all of them. She was dressed in a dark blue leotard and tight jeans, meaning this was the most almost everyone in the class had actually seen of her, given her tendency toward hoodies.

Jo had entered the Field of Honour from the same side as Professor Shuyin and associates, and then simply waited until everyone was distracted.

But how had she known it was there?

On a nearby rooftop, a second Jo waited, binoculars in hand. With the walls that had risen around the Field of Honour, there wasn't much left to watch. She supposed there was only a small chance of a chance of it opening up again before the challenger was over, but it was large enough to not pack up just yet. Unscrewing her thermos, she poured herself a large glass of what could be summarised as lemony ice slush and settled down to wait.

[krogothwolf]

Dean grinned slight as he saw her blurred and avoid his tackle. A shame, he would to have liked going to the ground with her. It could have been fun.

He grunted as he felt the blasted things circle up his leg. What kinda of crap was this, here he was trying to be nice and not use any sort of magic and such and she was blatantly doing so. So much for a fun little fight. He didn't want to have to hurt her, but it seemed like it would come to that in the end.

His aura flared as he kicked down with his foot, smashing the with unnatural strength, smashing them to pieces, taking a quick step back his mind already knowing exactly what he was going to. The arc kick gave him just enough time to react to it, allowing him to roll away from it, the kick grazed his back and it stung.

Ouch, that's smart. Dean thought as he finished his roll and came up, spinning around quickly to face her. He was still grinning, though he was a bit out of breath from that strength. He then noticed something out of the corner of his eye, just enough to almost cause him to grin wider.

If she wants to fight with Magic, I suppose Filia can have some fun too. Dean thought as he set himself up in a defensive posture, over the music he couldn't hear the paw prints of Filia running, though he could notice the snarl on her face as she came charging towards Hannah's backside, her own aura flaring as she jump stepped at her back. The angle of the attack would, if Filia missed, carry her to land to Dean's left side.

[Girasol of Chaos]

The pain in her leg was starting to subside, Shin managed to pull herself back up on both feet while Al nearly ate dirt. Somewhere Dal was shouting to her opponent-likely trying to be a distraction. A snort of amusement was Shin's response to the pretty-boy's taunt. A strange song was booming on the field, but only the bass was heard consistantly.

Al's glasses had been flung off, clattering on the stone as he rolled away from her. A hasty retreat would not save him, and he was beginning to tire. The oni's smile was malicious, but oddly enough, not fanged. Keeping her eyes locked on the golem's she rushed-and crushed-his glasses underfoot. He was grimacing now. Good. The pained expression looked great on his face.

Not allowing this act to settle, Shin charged again. This time it was at an insane speed. Her fingers coiled tightly around her club and her knees bent into a sliding crouch. Half an instant later, her accellerated movement went vertical. Led by an upwards swing, Shin wanted this man to feel pain, and punctuated the effort with a jump.

A faded thought floated through her sadistic mindset. Was Al capable of screaming?

[Dracorion]

With a sharp intake of breath, Jack dropped the wooden object and drew back his hand. The object, like a wooden peg or something, turned out to be round at the part that was lodged in the tree. Which meant it had to be Shuyin that gave it that much power. Inspecting his hand, he saw it was undamaged.

Turning back to Adeline, he saw Sean had arrived and was proposing the cheat the duel some. Before Jack could answer, though, a flurry of the same wooden objects came flying at the three of them. Moving quickly, he ran in front of the canadian and the class president. His aura flared as his arms moved like a blur, deflecting the flying wooden pegs. He concentrated on blocking the most dangerous ones.

"So Sean, what'd you have in mind?" He asked casually, apparently unfazed by the fact that he was currently deflecting a cloud of high-speed projectiles.

[Bard The 5th LW]

"Well I think all we need is - oh fuck!" Seeing the wave of sharp projectiles, the Canadian immediately raised his hands in front of him. This was exactly what he was talking about! With some focus, he sent a counter of ice and snow. He wasn't sure what that would accomplish, but its better than standing still like a chump.

Fortunately, Jack also joined the human shield show, deflecting them in his own way.

"So Sean, what'd you have in mind?"

"Well friend," he responded, trying to remain as calm as Jack, "the way I see it, neither side has to win. What we have to do is bring it to a premature end. More specifically, what if the game lacks a referee? Don't think a game of hockey could go on like that."

As he spoke, he winced in anticipation of any pegs they would fail to block.

[Astral Harmony]

"You are beautiful." Gorgeous offered, blue eyes shining proudly, as he guided Astarte into a graceful twirl. His own steps were graceful and easy, almost as inhumanly elegant as Dal's. The black aura swirling around his body may well have explained it, flared as it was, though perhaps it was merely a talent. "Astarte..." He breathed, holding the girl firmly in his arms. "...I promised to tell you my plan."

"Oh oh oh, oh oh oh, oh, oh."

The blond brought the fire haired girl back to stand in front of him, their steps returning to the simple one-two-three rhythm. "When Vanilla told me the losing class would be expelled," He explained softly, "I worried greatly that I would not be able to see you again."

"Of course we'll see each other again," Astarte said. "I came here because I really had nowhere to go. If I got expelled, I still would have nowhere to go, and I don't feel like returning to Egypt. So what do we do, exactly?"

"But then, I asked Vanilla for her rule book." He smiled brightly, "There is a way to protect everyone Astarte - it is not easy though." Gorgeous twisted, throwing Astarte into a pirouette yet again. He drew her back, pressed flush against his firm chest for an instant. His firm, calm, voice whispered in her ear, "We must defeat both Professor Landry and Professor Shuyin - before either can claim that it was their victory."

He spun her again, returning them to the normal one-two-three steps moments after.

"Will you help me Astarte?" He asked, blue eyes boring hopefully into her green ones.

"Help you beat up the faculty? This can only go in a positive direction, Gorgeous."

Astarte was a little too focused on Gorgeous and not falling to notice anything else by this point. Now that her sarcasm was out of the way, she decided to go along with his plan.

"But sure, why not? I'll be one of the few spirits in the afterlife to be able to claim to have died twice."

Astarte was brave, or perhaps just fatalistic. Still, something had to change. Their own futures had been gambled by their professors who were still more or less strangers, and Astarte for one didn't feel like settling with that kind of injustice. And now that she was thinking of that, Astarte's own aura began to radiate, reflecting her own anger. "My future was already taken from me once. This time, I'm taking my future into my own clutches."

[SinrXIII]

The goings on of the duel, while entertaining, didn't have Kohana's attention. Sure, he was appreciative of the girl in the bandages, and the ever growing amount of skin Landry was revealing - or would it be Shuyin's fault she was steadily losing that dress? - but the real interest on the Field was the familiar smell of his cousin.

The pale blue aura that occasionally flared confirmed his suspicions. Hie was somewhere on the field. The question, naturally, was Where?

His eyes darted around the field, arms crossed over his bare chest. He surveyed the assembled, looking for traces of his cousin. His foot began to tap, and he growled softly under his breath.

"C'mon, c'mon, where the hell are you Hie? You can't have all the fun here." He starts to walk across the Field, swinging wide to avoid both duels and the dancing pair of Astarte and Gorgeous. He walks towards nowhere in particular, eyes scanning the trees and planters.

He passes behind Sao and Dal, then stops and smiles brighter at the pair.

"Have either of you lost anything in the last five minutes?"