Magical Teacher Professor Landry! - Episode 3: Bad End?

[Teal Mage]

As Diana threw herself to the ground and rolled under the bed, the faint jingling from the doorknob ceased. A moment of tense silence passed, "C'mon ugly," Diana murmured, hand clenched around the Sao figurine, "let's see what'cha got..."

An instant later, a monstrous roar erupted from beyond the door.

The room then filled with the sound of something heavy hammering against wood and, while Diana could not see it, she was sure the door was bulging inward with each impact. Paint coated splinters and wood fragments soon began to break away, as the strikes took their toll. Soon, the cacophony was joined by the explosive cracking sounds of breaking wood - the door was buckling.

A new roar - this one of triumph - blasted the small chamber. Below Diana, the very floor seemed to tremble. Then, a new explosion, louder than any before, broke over the room, as if a massive quantity of brittle wood had been crushed.

Beneath the bed, the silence that followed rang in Diana's ears.

And...it stretched.

* * *

Deep green light contracted around one leg of his black dress pants, as Kohana firmly planted its opposite in the root-veined marble surrounding Angel-Shuyin. "Kohana Special!" Golden feline eyes cracked open, as Professor Shuyin silently sipped from his handleless mug of green tea. "Get down here and fight me -" The wolf-shaman's leg lashed out in a verdant arc, "- kick!" Vicious sparks and random lines of supernatural radiance broke outward, filling the air around them like dark green and pale coral fireworks.

Inside that colourful din, something shattered.

* * *

Moving with the smooth motions of a martial artist, Jack knelt down and snatched up Professor Landry's fallen scythe. Heat and strength jolted through the young Wizard's arms, as black supernatural flames roared to life over the polearm's length. Hefting it in his hands, Jack realized that it wasn't quite as heavy as it looked - but it still took both of his hands to hold it steady. That Professor Landry had held it with one hand -

From the crater spotted marble around them, a semi-circle of root spears exploded. Tapered points raced upward, then gracefully arced down, lancing at the pair.

- speculation could wait.

The young wizard swung the scythe back, squaring himself with the roots binding the Professor's legs. Pale blue supernatural power flared around him, clashing fiercely with the pitch black aura of the weapon he held. He swept the scythe forward, and, like a hot knife through butter, the wicked blade met no resistance – cleanly shearing through that set of vines. Not a moment later, the root-spears from Hannah's latest spell converged – darting like snakes toward Jack's unprotected back.

In his hands, the scythe's aura flared black. Around Jack, the air exploded outward in a blast of concussive energy that – strangely enough – did not even so much as stir his hair. Hannah’s vine spears struck the expanding sphere of force hard and were deflected wide, spraying out to the sides.

"Ahahahahah!" Still held up by the vines entrapping her arms, the Professor crowed merrily. "Yes! Just like that! These pathetic posies are no match for the love and dedication of my students!" Her fist clenched, causing muscles and veins to bungle within – what had appeared to be – one of her delicate and pale arms. Auburn hair danced around her face, as she tossed her head defiantly, "Now, cut me free! In honour of your excellent work, I shall crush Shuyin beneath my –!"

Twelve thin root spears exploded from the Professor’s chest.

* * *

"Fool."

Across the tower, Professor Shuyin had dropped his teacup. The golden eyes of a cat, seeming to glow with an inner - and inhuman - light bore into Kohana's brown ones. One of the Professor's hands was raised, the delicate shape curled loosely around Kohana's leg - still unretracted from his last kick.

The Professor hand blocked it - and now, he held the limb in a grip of iron.

"Perfect Palm Defense." Shuyin murmured instructionally, eyes shutting dismissively. "Your barbaric arts can not touch me." The Professor stated with finality, "Flea bitten mongrel."

Kohana grinned toothily. "'least I'm not ugly."

The youth's body surged, head snapping forward and hair billowing. His bent, elongated canine's gleaming, as his mouth descended toward Shuyin's hand -

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Quick as lightning, a series of whipping sounds broke the air around Kohana. From below, the ring of spell forged roots around Shuyin burst to life - extending slender tendrils to bind the youth's throat, legs, arms and chest in steely and unmoving grips. His mouth was held a few inches from the Professor's hand - which had not so much as flinched. Like the vines that bound Professor Landry - these ones had no give to them either.

Kohana was trapped.

Shuyin's gold eyes opened slowly. Orange-pink energy began to ebb and flow in whirling patterns around himself, as, face expressionless, he regarded Kohana, wings beating delicately behind him.

"Ceremonial Torrent."

The sound of a puppy yipping -

* * *

Hannah stared.

The mysterious force that had surged from Professor Landry's scythe had deflected Hannah's third volley of spell-craft. Deflected, but not defeated. The vines had quickly recovered - guided by some unseen force - and flowed around Jack and the Professor, to strike from behind. The flimsy material of Professor Landry's dress proved no barrier, and they plunged through, piercing flesh and organs in one devastating thrust.

The Professor let out a choked grunt of surprise, then slumped. Blood dripped from her lips and chest as she hung there - supported only by her bonds.

"I..." Green eyes wide, the blond knelt awkwardly surrounded by a wall of magical steel. Her broken leg and bleeding arm seemed forgotten. "I...did it?" Hannah breathed, as her barrier retracted back into the form of her bow. She, smiled giddy, "I did it!" Her gaze snapped left, "Professor Shuyin, we -" She gasped.

A monstrous pillar of scalding green tea exploded from where Shuyin was, with a dark, humanoid, shape at its head. Like a speeding train, the column of liquid drove itself into the woven-root-spear that now bisected the Tower of Honor, where steam billowed. Soft wood was stripped away by the scalding liquid, as the blast quickly pulverized the root - and presumably - whoever had been at its head.

"But-but..." Eyes wide and tearing, Hannah stared. "I...she's..." She gasped, again, head snapping toward Professor Landry, "No wait that means -!"

* * *

"...my students." Slumped forward, supported only by the vines of her Ex-Student. Words - little more than wet gurgles - rolled from Professor Landry's lips. "...I won't..." Smokey crystal began to creep up the woman's dress-clad legs, as blood slowly dripped from the spear-tips jutting from her chest. "...I won't..." Black energy flickered around her body, crackling and building like threads of static electricity.

"Let you touch my students!"

The Professor dissolved to motes of glittering black light.

* * *

Far above the Field of Honor, storm clouds rolled and boiled. The golden radiance filtering through them faded, casting the plane below into a dim and cloudy grey. Wild black streams of electricity crackled through the overcast sky and flashes of blackness erupted randomly within the clouds. Gradually, they seemed to build in strength and frequency.

It was around this time that Astarte crossed the final step of the magical piano-key walkway leading to the Tower of Honour. Only a score or so of paces remained between her and the Tower's summit, soon, she would be able to test her mettle against the true foes of this long day!

The final steps of the marble ramp blurred beneath her feet -

"No wait that means -!"

From behind came a great flash, as a column of black lightning struck the tower. A vicious concussion blast rolled outward, deafening the mummy and throwing her from her feet. Dark radiance filled the air for long moments, as Hannah was consumed in the dark stream. Though it seemed a great distance away, Astarte swore she heard the girl let loose another scream, this one of defiant outrage.

In the ringing silence that followed, Astarte found herself upon the ground. The last of her decorative roses were scattered around her body, and her fire-red hair hung loose, unbound. Her entire body - with the exception of her still-numb-arm - ached. But, she was still in one piece.

She had barely enough time to process that fact, though.

Starbursts of dark light erupted around her, throwing dimness in all directions. And, in the next moment, she found herself surrounded. Six figures now occupied the gently inclined stone surface around her - four of them carrying weapons.

Her classmates.

Still as immaculately dressed as she remembered, Sean stood beside a pair of white skinned girls. One in an elegant evening gown that was a shade darker than sky blue, the other in a bulky - and bloodstained - white robe, sporting icicles for hair - both had vicious ice-talons in place of one of their hands. It took her a moment to place them - both looked like Johanna.

On the opposite side, a heavily muscled and blue skinned woman - with horns - had appeared. Her kimono, which looked to have been orange once, was a mess of dried blood and tears. While the large tusks extending from the woman's lower lip were far from the friendliest, the face peaking over her broad shoulders was a different story. A tired looking Sao, somehow still in full finery, seemed to be riding the blue-skinned woman piggyback style. And, judging by the mysterious horned woman's choice of weapon - a vicious looking iron club - she was probably Shinobu.

The last figure in the gathering was dripping, steaming, and at least as cut up as Shin's kimon. In the remnants of what appeared to be a one-piece yellow dress that extended only to her knees, was Adeline Fletcher. A single edged sword of Japanese style was held loosely in her hand, and, like all of the other members of the little gathering, she appeared understandably stunned by this turn of events.

They had been teleported here without warning, after all.

"Uh, hey everyone." the yellow-clad brunette offered, somewhat lamely. She looked like she might have gone on to add something else when a sound, like a soft breeze, filled the still air. Adeline glanced to the side – toward the sound's source; the summit of the Field of Honour.

"My Students…"

* * *

Sweat prickled on Diana's skin. The silence in the room had stretched for what seemed an eternity, and the light from TV set had dimmed; just short of vanishing. Under the bed, she felt chilled, despite the thin layer of sweat that had beaded onto her arms. It was all but pitch dark around her.

Outside of Diana's hiding place, the lighting was not much better. The TV still hummed faintly, though the screen was a uniform and unmoving off-black, leaving the room in a deep gloom. Whatever hint of light kept it from pitch darkness seemed natural, though no sources were apparent.

On the room's south side, the door frame had been smashed. Fragments of destroyed wood hung precariously from hinges, and jagged boards littered the carpet around it. Through the now gaping portal was a dimly lit hallway - though it was too dark to see more than a few paces down. Still, the path to it seemed clear.

Had Diana looked though, the thing that would have drawn here eyes was the closet, or, where the closest should have been. That corner of the room was shrouded in a deeper, inky, blackness.

A darkness that, at that moment, moved.

An arm, black as night and almost invisible in the gloom, erupted out from the top of that darkness shroud. The hand at its end, humanoid for an instant bulged obscenely, twisting to twice its former size and becoming talon-like. That claw reared back, and, in that instant, the vague shape of a head appeared. Bestial, jagged fangs were visible in the thing's mouth, outlined by sickly white light. A glimpse of two glowing orbs – eyes? – was all there was, before the claw snapped down -!

And a child's scream of terror exploded from the closet.

Someone else was in the room.

* * *

"My Students…" The words, soft as a breeze, whispered faintly in the ears of all those atop the Tower of Honour.

"...Professor Landry?" Still unmoved from the north side of the Tower, where she and several of her classmates had been teleported, Adeline frowned. She turned her hazel eyes away from the platform that served as the Tower's summit, and back to her classmates. "Did any one else - Wah!" The tea soaked - though unburned - girl's eyes widened. Countless black motes of light had appeared around her, swirling like stars around a sun.

"Huh..." Mystified, Adeline stared down at her arms. The countless cuts from her battle with the robot horde were fading, healed as if they'd never been. A faint tingling ranged over her whole body, and she felt the soaked garments she wore, along with the braid her long hair was bound in, dry. Though the rips in her short dress remained, the whole garment seemed new, as if freshly laundered. She could only assume her hair had received a similar treatment. She looked to her classmates - and saw that, they too, were surrounded by those same flecks of light.

Surrounded by a great mass of dark stars, the many wrinkles, scuffs and scrapes that littered Astarte's dark garments faded away, leaving only freshly cleaned and pressed fabric in their place. Feeling returned her hurt arm, and the dull aches in every other part of her body vanished, soothed by the faint tingling left by the strange black stars. Strength and energy, followed, refreshing the damaged mummy - she still had a lot more to give. Even her hair, though no longer elaborately styled, seemed revived; its long red strands seemed ablaze with vitality.

Of the Jo twins, only one - the original, though none around her knew this detail - experienced the miraculous healing of the lights. Beneath the ice of her Atrocious Frost Transformation, her white hair spouted once more, growing back to its former length in a burst of cold air. Wounds from the virulent light cast by Marisa's barrier evaporated, replaced with flawless white skin - now covered by an equally flawless white fur robe. Once the tingling faded though, a strange heaviness came over her - it seemed the black lights could not refresh her as it had Astarte. Perhaps her wounds had been too severe? Still, the pain was gone, and she could move freely again. Hopefully, that would be enough.

Strength flooded the bodies of Sean, Sao and Shin - or Chou, as she now styled herself - power that filled them to near bursting. None had wounds to heal, so the power found another outlet; their auras. All three burned with a renewed vigour, as hidden supernatural power awakened within them. Though, while Sean and Chou felt their last vestiges of fatigue vanishing, Sao was not so lucky. A spark of energy had returned to her, true, but she still felt emotionally exhausted from her Basanismenos Sotiria spell.

"Shinubo." A faint flicker of bright red appeared around Adeline, as she addressed the Oni. Her sword vanished in a burst of light and she extended her arms. With a nod toward Sao, "I'll take her; as a candidate for Class President, its my responsibility to enable my classmate's success – you won't be able to contribute as much if you have to worry about Sao." A smile, apologetic, appeared on the girl's lips, as she inclined her head to Sao.

"Believe in me, and you shall not fail…"

On the west-side of the tower, Jack stood alone before a shallow pool of blood and surrounded by corpses of unmoving roots. His borrowed scythe had dissolved into sparks at the same time as Professor Landry. Though, unlike the sparks that his Professor had become in, these hung in the air, dancing around him.

And, they filled him with strength. Darkness burned around his hands, as fatigue vanished, and he felt his power grow. The battle was not over, and, it seemed the Professor had not left him without a final gift.

"Now stand up, stand tall my beloved Students!"

In the Tower's center, motes of darkness swept away the last drops of green tea from Kohana body, leaving his rippling muscles and flowing hair dry. Sitting crumpled against the massive root that bisected the summit, the youth felt consciousness return as the tramua from Shuyin's Ceremonial Torrent was wiped away, like it had never been.

Nearby, a small black puppy yipped excitedly. It bounded up to the boy's face, before starting to lick him happily.

"And smash Shuyin's pretty face into the pavement!"

On the Field's far south-side, Jay stood alone. Having arrived, after running up the vine, the baseball play had been greeted with the horrendious sight of his Professor's impalement. Now, motes of light and her words of encourage filled the air. Fatigue vanished, and so did the sunburnt tone of his skin - but that was not the only gift the lights had for the baseball player.

He was wearing clothes now.

Pinstriped in back, his new clothes were a loose pair of white pants, and an equally white button-up baseball jersey. A large "1" adorned the back, with his last name, "Miles" above it in smaller block letters. The front of the shirt proclaimed, in ornate, but still legible, black bordered red letters, "Love & Fightiology!" A pair of black cleets and an equally black batter's gloves polished off the outfit, along with a basecap with "L&F" emblazoned on it, in similar script to the logo on the shirt's front.

Complete with his trusty aluminum bat, Jay looked ready to handle anything!

"But do go easy on Hannah. Remember: Once a student, always a student!"

Shuyin stood at the edge of the east side of the Tower. Fan-like wings folded behind him, the bluenette's golden eyes were fixed on the floating form of Dal - who had burst through the crystal barrier around the Field, mere instants before his classmates were teleported up. Now, dark motes of supernatural light swirled around the Fae, giving both his clothes, and his own energy, a quick burst of refreshing freshness.

And, in the process, undoing another thread that sealed his former power.

"Professor Shuyin!" In a blur of motion, Hannah - leg and arm fully healed - appeared in a crouch at the bluenette's side. A silver circulet now encircled the girl's brow, nestled inside her freshly washed wavy blond hair. Raising to her full height, it became clear that her clothes had changed as well - she looked a bit like a cloaked Sailor Scout. "I've figured out how to get out of here!" She stated, admant.

The Professor extended a palm, for silence. "A moment," he murmured, then turned his eyes to Dal. "I see that the most deliquent of Professor Landry's brutish flock has finally appeared." He smiled icily, "At least, you have dispensed with your pretence of humanity." Pale coral flared around him, and a sword - of Chinese make - materialized in his hand. "You are," he declared, flatly, "far beyond salvation."

"That's just it though!" Hannah cut in, "She's inside them - they're supporting this place! We have to cut them down to get out!" A faint corona of blackness flickered around the girl at her words.

Shuyin offered a slight incline of his head. "Please support me then, Chapter President."

Hannah seemed to glow at the words, before quickly reforming her long-bow, "Of cour -"

"I mean, it would be simply horrible publicity to encourage you to crush Class Presidents!"

Hannah's mouth snapped shut, and she loosed an annoyed growl. "Oh, will you just be a good ghost and shut up already!?"

[Riin Whitewind]

Recognizing the figures of her classmates around her, the other Class President canditate smiled. Giving the suddenly-tense shoulders under her arms a quick pat, Sao dropped nimbly from the Oni's back. "It's okay, Shin. I can walk from here." It didn't take an empath to realise that Shin did not like the idea of surrendering her rider to anyone.

Climbing the last steps up to the tower summit, the Undine ran an appreciative eye over the breadth of green, woody damage. Someone up here was a very skilled plant mage, and wasn't afraid of letting their enemy know. Maybe Selena could teach me something like this? Skipping lightly over a small boulder of crumbled stone, Sao approached the mass of vines and roots that blocked her tour of the tower. Or maybe I'm not suited to growing things... I will have to ask, at any rate. Beyond the low wall of vines, she could vaguely make out a trio of forms - two with wings.

Before climbing over, the sound of voices floating through the air reflexively made her pause. The canditate for Class President could only make out a few words - but whatever the girl (the voice sounded familiar) was saying, she was very emphatic about it. "She's... they're ... this place! We have to ... to get out!"

Turning to Shin, who had followed in Sao's meandering wake, "Well, someone's not happy." Her dry tone betrayed her remaining emotional lethargy. Still trying to shake a feeling of heavy dread, Sao pointed over the twined vines, towards the tallest figure. She continued, "You take the lead, I'll back you up."

[Bard The 5th LW]

"Let you touch my students!"

Far behind him, Sean could hear a shout. It was certainly an odd thing to say. He turned around, and looked skyward, to see shocks of black electricity through the sky. His attention was removed from Jo completely as he was enthralled by the sight.

"Uh, hey everyone." It was Adeline. Where did she come from... where did he come from. He looked next to him, and there was Jo, and another Jo. He was at a loss for words momentarily.

"My Students…" a gentle breeze blew by, and Sean's fatigue vanished, as did Jo's wounds. What was this?

"Now stand up, stand tall my beloved Students!"

"Professor Landry?"

"And smash Shuyin's pretty face into the pavement!"

He was darting his head around all over the place, trying to find out where it was coming from.

"But do go easy on Hannah. Remember: Once a student, always a student!" There! Again! Sean, unfortunately, decided he would disregard that request. This traced its way back to her, so if given the chance he's probably let loose. But that was neither here no there at the moment.

"Okay, seriously, is everyone else hearing this?" He wanted to get back in the fray as much as anyone, but there were things that needed clearing up.

[Girasol of Chaos]

One moment she had been running into a tower. The blue-skinned ogre had processed that it would be logical to follow the other individual up the root that passed through the middle-it would be easy enough to climb.

The next she was on the roof, surrounded by people. Alarm welled up inside her, but she tried to gain her composure and analyze the situation. Something granted her a short-cut, she needed to use it. Black...sparkles were floating everywhere and apparently talking, this was crazy. Closing her eyes, the energy signature Chou was seeking was off to the left, towards the edge of the tower. The two individuals on the tower were clearly where it was coming from, but until they separated she couldn't tell which one.

"Shinobu" Chou's ears picked up the name of someone she was familiar with, someone she could only interact with second-handedly. Time had trained her to react to the name. Blue eyes opened and fixed on the short, brown-haired girl next to her. Gesturing to the girl on her back, the smaller girl offered to take care of "Sao".

Reflexes caused Chou to tense up. This girl knew Shin - a girl who was brash and Chou only cooperated with in order to survive. But it's clear what happened now. Shin was forced to unconsciousness, and Chou guessed from combat- that was the only reason Chou awoke in her surroundings. It had happened before, but not in such a drastic situation. She'd consult her diary later.

'Sao' patted her shoulders and jumped off of the oni's back, circling to climb up the remaining steps. "It's okay Shin, I can walk from here." Chou nodded, but as the tanned girl pressed forward she became alarmed again. "Wait!" Hoisting her club more confidently she pushed past the others, what looked like identical twins-not yukii-onna, but similar in appearance, a girl with bandages on her arms, and a taller Japanese-looking male who was rather confused at this point. As she passed him, her answer was quick, "Yes".

Her charge was now approaching a giant root and inspecting it. Shouting could be heard, but she couldn't quite make it out by the time her legs carried her to the plant to join Sao.

Three figures were ahead of them, and the two on the ground were the ones she sensed out. "Well someone's not happy. You take the lead, I'll back you up." Her partner's tone was dry, but she left the observation at that.

Chou nodded, "Sure." Her hesitation was clear, sizing up the taller man. He was facing away from them, but the energy readings she picked up ensured this wasn't going to be a fun fight. "Listen...Sao. One of them has something, a talisman of sorts. It's holding this place together, and we need to get out." She paused to glance between the fan-winged man and the girl, both overdressed, the latter looking ridiculous. "We don't even need to win, but in order to figure out what it is, we need to separate them and start breaking things of theirs. Once this is broken, the Torii will be shattered." Her inhale was unstable, nervous.

She noted of the flying...dude...she would need more information later, but from his stance facing the fan-winged man, he may be an ally. Clambering over the wall Chou readied her club and approached the cloaked individual. The blue-skinned youth would keep herself between her opponent and Sao, but she needed to draw the girl away from her partner.

Standing before the girl she halted and paused to gesture the vajra mudra, allowing her club to rest between her neck and her shoulder for that moment. Chou could feel her aura, a dark goldenrod, flare around her as her shadow dissipated, melting as if she had been vaporized. The oni felt empowered with the knowledge she invoked, the visual that her club was now a diamond-based thunderbolt. Even if it wasn't real, the feeling persisted as she clutched her kanabo firmly.

[Dracorion]

Jack raised the scythe in both hands, when the root spears came lancing at him and Landry. Aw crap...

He was out of time, so he hefted the scythe over his head and brought it down, cutting clean through the vines holding Landry's legs. But it wasn't fast enough. He was going to get-

The scythe flared black and he felt the air around him explode in a blast of concussive energy, driving the root spears back. Professor Landry exclaimed in victory, and even Jack couldn't help but smile triumphantly as he prepared to cut the vines holding Land-

Twelve thin root spears exploded from her chest. Landry slumped where she hung as blood dripped from the wound and her mouth. "NO!" Jack screamed. He dropped the scythe and started rushing forward, but didn't make it two steps before he heard Landry speaking, which stopped him in his tracks.

"...my students...I won't...I won't...Let you touch my students!" And her body dissolved into glittering motes of black.

He just stood there, shocked. He didn't know how to react to what just happened. Then, Landry's ghostly voice spoke again.

"Believe in me, and you shall not fail…"

The scythe had also dissolved into motes of black light like Landry, but these stuck around and swarmed him, filling him with strength. He was no longer tired. He felt his magic grow inside him. It overwhelmed him. He took a deep breath, fighting off the feeling of exhilaration, and focused, bending the wind to his will once more. His right hand rose slowly.

"Now stand up, stand tall my beloved Students!"

In front of it, a small square of enchanted air, flaring light blue, emerged into existence and he laughed. He could make it much bigger, he knew, but this had just been a test. The small barrier blinked out of existence.

"And smash Shuyin's pretty face into the pavement!"

Jackson knew what he had to do now. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite what Landry wanted. He strode calmly over to the large root that almost completely divided the tower and clambered over it. He stood on top of it, surveying the situation. A number of his classmates stood at the stairs leading down. Jay was at the other end of the large root, it seemed like he had climbed on it to get to the top. A large chunk of the root was missing, and a shape was stirring in the middle of it. One of his classmates, he assumed anyway, since it looked like an ogre, strode in Hannah's direction. And then he observed Shuyin and Hannah themselves, as well as the flying figure behind them.

With that, he hopped down from the root and calmly strode in Hannah's direction, fists clenched. Gradually, his stride turned into a run. Whoever the ogre was that approached Hannah, they fortunately weren't in his way.

He sprinted at Hannah, raising his fists as his light blue aura flared. He'd spent enough time studying auras, getting acquainted with their ebb and flow, that he knew how to strike to strip away pieces of them. That was the theory, anyway. He felt confident he could pull it off.

"MURDERER!" He screamed, as his rage finally caught up with him, and he launched his fists forward as he ran, one, twice, three, four times. Four air bubbles like meteors, hurtling toward Hannah. She's probably block them, but that was unimportant at the moment. He only needed to close the distance.

[Overcast]

Schizophrenia. It is the idea of being completely detached from conventional reality. Jay had been steadily heading toward this for a minute now, and in the last five seconds he was almost certainly as close as you can get without going over.

He had been happy. Happy to see his teacher about to prevail against the fiendish vines. Then shocked, and saddened. As those vines came back to pierce her. Love, love for his teacher as she screamed to fight for him and his classmates in what he imagined were her final moments. Anger, as he stared toward Hannah ready to ruin her in berserk rage. Then something almost but not entirely unlike relief as he heard the voice of his teacher in his head. Confidence as his new clothes fell onto his skin, his energy returned, his body brand new. And happiness as all the moments before finally fused into one.

Too many emotions. Too close together. His mind was like taffy, all stretched out and delicious. There was nothing here he could rationalize anymore, so he just let it go. This place was a plot, it was time to get acting.

"Got it coach."

He said to the invisible force of Landry that surrounded and filled them all, he brought his fingers to his mouth and whistled big and loud for all his classmates to hear,

"Everyone over here!"

He said waving for anyone who could see before they messed up and went striking on their own. They'd need to get a properly coordinated line up in order to score a double play on Hannah and P. Shuyin. No half assing it this time, they needed a team effort.


"MURDERER!"

Jay smacked his head as he saw Jack running himself all alone at Hannah. Like he was going to knock the ball out of the catcher's hand at home, but he just wasn't big enough. Not all by himself. Jay couldn't stop him though, he was already in full wind up and even trying to quit now would be a balk. But he hoped what was about to happen to him would tell the rest of them to join the huddle.

For now he just stood on the root. Bat in hand. He pointed a finger at Hannah, and if you could see his aura it flared up. He stood in batter's stance. Just in case.

[Krylo]

"Threatening students with drawn steel?" the Fae asked Shuyin in return, as he floated down toward the field a few feet in front of the duo. "I did not realize this was a proper student teacher relationship, Professor."

As Dal touched down, he quickly slid himself into a defensive stance, but made no aggressive motion with his blade. The fae still wished only to end this madness as quickly as he could, and as far as he could tell this was yet another pointless battle--that may very well not have a win condition for him.

However, between Hannah's assertion that Dal and all his classmates had to die to cancel out the field, and Shuyin's blood lust, the fae doubted it was a fight he could avoid. However, that didn't mean his words were necessarily useless. An angry opponent makes mistakes. The angrier, the better.

Tilting his sword forward a bit, the fae flicked it toward Hannah, with a devilish grin. "But, then again, I didn't think that was appropriate either. Apparently Amaranth has a very lax student teacher conduct code," the fae accused, his voice seeming to hide a laugh.

"Everyone over here!"

"MURDERER!"

His classmates were on the move. Jay was trying to organize them, Jack was... a bit more emotional. And they could both use a little assurance that Shuyin and, if he could manage it, Hannah would ignore them for at least a few more seconds.

"Not that I blame you, we fae also have an appreciation for such... dalliances. I just would have thought you'd have better taste. What's the fun in a sycophant like that? But I suppose if you can't manage anyone with a mind of their own..." Dal continued in the most condescending, yet cheerful, voice he could muster. He only regretted not knowing either well enough to personalize his jabs.

[Bard The 5th LW]

And Jack was off! It seemed the question wasn't going to be answered soon, so Sean supposed he would just have to get to work on this. No reason to let Jack take the glory. Sean took off after the wizard, taking long strides to keep up.

"MURDERER!"

A mix of shock and confusion shot through Sean's mind and ears as he trailed his not firend. "Wait, what!?" Someone was dead! That was unforgivable! He picked up the pace in an effort to keep up, praying that Jack was wrong.

Once there, he saw Jack begin his attack on Hannah, sending some kind of projectile at Hannah. Sean didn't know how effective it would be, but any attack would be satisfactory, in fact, he wanted to help. Doing his best to focus, a whirl of ice began to form around his hand, sending a flurry of pointed ice and snow. It wouldn't be a great deal, but anything to throw her off would be decent. As long he knocked her over he could just finish it with his fists.

[Steel Shadow]

The room had fallen into silence once again, and it was driving Diana insane. Something was in here with her. The door had been ripped apart! You didn't destroy a door unless you meant to go through it, right?! But how could something so destructive be so quiet?

Maybe it had already gone?

That thought was so stupid Diana didn't even let it fully form before it was dismissed.

It was in here. And it was looking for her.

The Director didn't move a muscle. She had rolled under the bed and positioned herself out of sight with seconds to spare. Her head rested on the ground on a pooled layer of red hair, her heartbeat hammering loudly in her ears, and her eyes desperately trying to pick out the details of what was going on in the room from what little she could see by peering through the gap between the bed covers and the floor. It was, unfortunately, a very small gap. She couldn't see a thing. If she actually wanted to see what was going on, she'd have to move and look out.

For a moment, she hesitated. This was a bad idea. She'd look out, the thing would be right there, and it'd probably eat her. But her alternative was staying where she was forever, and her legs were beginning to cramp up already...

With a groan that never quite made it to her vocal cords, Diana began to move, edging forwards as quietly as she could. Slowly, very, verrry slowly, she pulled back a corner of the covers...

Her eyes were immediately drawn to the darkness at the door to the closet. There! That had to be it! And it was no where near her! The way to the door was completely clear! She could make it!

She was already pulling herself out from under the bed when the Darkness moved.

For one heart stopping moment, she thought that it had seen her. But that wasn't it. A twisting tendril-arm-claw rose up from the mass of darkness, revealing the thing's head for a moment, then struck at the closet. Well that was wei-

A scream rang out. A child's scream.

In the back of Diana's head, the facts of the situation began to rearrange themselves. The state of the bed. The active TV. The figurines, the manga... Someone else had been in the room ever since she'd arrived, hiding in the closet. It was that someone that the monster was really hunting!

It was a nice theory, but Diana wasn't really paying the back of her head any attention. This was because her body had begun moving on auto pilot the instant she had heard the scream. Throughout her life, the Director supreme had come to rely heavily on her instincts. Mainly these instincts had guided her when it came to directing and filming, but those weren't the only instincts she had. And there was one instinct in particular that was driving her now.

No Big Sister liked the sound of a kid crying out in terror.

The door was forgotten. Escape was discarded. All that mattered was stopping that thing before it hurt whoever was hiding in that closet.

The scream might have covered the sounds of Diana leaping to her feet. It might have distracted the beast's attention from the three lightning paced steps Di took as she dashed across the room, her dark blue gown fluttering around her. But it probably didn't hide the impact of her foot as her round house kick came around to smash it in the side of the head. That sort of thing tends to get a girl noticed!

[Arhra]

In the background, the pair of Jos had been quietly conducting some strange, purposeful actions. The strange icy protrusions on the Jo who had been injured melted away as she shrugged off her fur cloak. At the same time, the other Jo kicked off her high heeled shoes. With that, they were identical once again. Hair and skin white as snow, eyes dark as coal, slender bodies wrapped in dark sky blue. Both were barefoot, their hands tucked into white fur mufflers, a flap of fur from it creating a white strip hanging almost to their knees. Their arms were bare and their hidden hands were not hands, from the forearms down white flesh morphed into ice shaped into vast talons.

Withdrawing one limb from their mufflers, the Jos clasped hands and pivoted about each other, swapping and appearing to swap places several times in a complex, well practiced maneouveur.

It was virtually impossible to tell which one had started in which position.

Almost everyone else had already left.

"You are all such incurious people." Jo - one of her - sighed, looking at the reduced group and a collection of retreating backs. "Don't you want to know what's going on?"

"You can explain things to me if you want." Adeline said, looking sheepish.

Both Jos crossed their arms and half turned away from her. "Very well." one said with a toss of her head, "But understand that we are enemies, you and I."

"What, what, why!?"

"Because that is the way it must be, fellow class representative candidate." Jo said, a smile tugging at the sides of her lips as she picked at the sash at her waist.

"Dalbach and I are not of human descent." Jo told her. "Neither are several of the others here I would guess. This is an alternate space, out of phase with what you call reality. I think it was created by that strange machine when Dalbach damaged it, but the machine was doing something odd before then, some unexpected interaction with the Field of Honour itself. There is a powerful boundary to this world preventing exit. Anything that happens here should not carry over physically to the middle world, but I can't be sure."

"...I see." Adeline said, face blank. "So, this is all probably a dream and one of us will probably wake up in our beds this morning and be all, 'wow what the hell did I eat'?"

It was a light slap on the cheek, but it was done with a massive frozen claw.

"Tell me about that in the morning." Jo said

"We need to move." the other Jo said tersely, trying to peer ahead.

"Let's go and confront one of the unwitting masterminds of this farce." Jo said, stepping forward and beckoning to Adeline.

Jo entered the scene of battle.

"Halt, desist, cease!" the Jos cried out in perfect synchronity, their grasp of English perhaps slipping in the mayhem. They wanted the fight to stop.

"Professor Shuyin!" the mirrored pair said, pointing fingers dramatically. "Your plot has failed, and failed absolutely! That we speak now shows only how far you have fallen! Surrender at once and you might spare yourself the consequences!"