First Meet Up (Team D)

[Artemis Elwood]

Artemis stepped into the clearing she had specified, her eyes glancing around. She had arrived a few hours early so she could make sure to beat everyone there. She wandered around the clearing, her eyes panning over the plant life and what she would have to work with. As far as her new team members knew she just wanted to meet them outside of the office, not the plans she had in mind already. She had yet to introduce herself to any of her team members, having only really interacted with Aiden at that point. She nodded a bit, satisfied with the plant life around the clearing. She was going to have plenty to work with once things got going, and that made her at least less anxious. Yes, she was worried about her plan not going off as well as it could, but after looking over files she knew that none of her team members dealt with high temperature fires like the one that had eventually resulted in ehr reassignment.

The only one that could even sprout fire was the dragon mimicker after all, and even then it wasn't something she was too worried about. She had defenses against fire, just not perfect defenses against fire of high temperatures. Ice didn't really bother her, because she could easily break through ice with things like bamboo shoots. However, she knew that if they all teamed up then she could be overpowered. How likely was that going to be though? She hadn't looked at the psychological profiles of them all, but they hadn't had a commander for a while and, from what she had heard, Team D had been the laughing stalk of the Prefects for some time. Her goal was to change that, aiming to get them respect like the other teams and get them into a more combat ready position.

She wandered over to a tree, quickly forming a viney hammock out of them and hopping into it, laying back and closing her eyes, letting vines lace the clearing She would nap for now, the moment someone stepped onto the vines she would be alerted after all. She had a long week and she needed all the rest she could get before they got here. It wasn't every day she encountered odds so stacked against her after all, and even with her training things could get bad for her once they all arrived.

[Bosco Hoppus]

Bosco was lost in his thoughts as he made his way into the clearing in the middle of the forest. Well, it was not actually the middle of the forest, but the point was that there were trees everywhere around this area. Trees for the new leader to use, maybe? All that the straight-faced prefect was aware of was that the commander, Artemis, wanted to greet her underlings in this specified location. The place itself was no direct indication to what kind of introduction this was supposed to be, but he suspected something out of this place. Maybe it was important to her? This may seem rather creepy to some, actually. Wanting to have a meeting alone, somewhere where no one else would just happen upon. She may just want to greet the member's of Team D without anyone else butting in, but it could be possible that she chose a place void of other students for another reason. Bosco was careful to take note of that. He did not have a clue what his new leader was going to be like, so he could not know what to expect. He also took note that if he got caught in a fight out here, it would be horrible to use his fire breath. A forest fire would definitely be horrible. Especially if he messed up his suit, he wore it specifically because he wanted to make a good impression on the person he was meeting. It may have been better to wear his uniform, but it was unspecified, and he wanted to ruin that even less. Whatever the case, it would be rude of him to ignore the only other person in the clearing by just standing around lost in thought.

So, the young man took some steps closer to the girl, who was resting in a hammock. Her appearance was appealing, in the way that she did not look like she wanted to kill anyone. A little cute, actually. She appeared to be shorter than Bosco, and, because he knew that the only one shorter than him was Simon in Team D prior to her joining, he knew that would only aid that appearance. Was that strange? Artemis had been chosen to be a commander, so she would likely have a side behind that, right? Hopefully she would. How could one be a commander without seeming commanding? Because he was busy taking in all of this, the prefect himself forgot that he was trying to discard his thoughts when he approached so he could greet the girl. The girl who was probably aware of his presence by now. He coughed awkwardly in attempt to gain her attention, or to at least let her know he was about to speak. "Sorry, miss, I was lost in thought for a moment." He paused while reaching his hand to his tie, making sure it was tidy. "Hello, my name is Bosco Hoppus. Is it possible you may be Artemis Elwood, the new commander of Team D?" Voice even as ever, Bosco asked the question he believed he already knew the answer to. Unless he had gotten to the wrong place in the woods, but he felt certain this girl was the one he had been supposed to meet.
Well, there had always been room for error in the past...

[Simon Alexandre]

Simon had only arrived at the island a few weeks ago, and was still getting into the pace of the school. He'd been attending every class on his schedule, and he'd even had free time to wander the courtyard and meet some new people that gave him some hints. He'd even managed to avoid parties, alcohol, and bodies of water, for the most part. If nothing else, that was a huge achievement in Simon's books as he didn't know what he would do if he did come across a group of drinking teenagers. It'd be his responsibility as a prefect to stop them, but he didn't know if he could when the time came for it. Simon's eyes flitted downwards as he walked outside of the dorm building, having been told that he needs to meet his prefect team. Hopefully at least one of them would understand that he couldn't deal with alcohol situations, but how would he give an explanation for that? It's not like he could tell anyone about his father's drunken rages. Even the thought of telling someone why he had to avoid alcohol caused his heart to start racing, and the acceleration of his breathing. Even bringing up his distaste of it would send his head spinning. Saying it would mean he'd have to confront it, and he wasn't ready to do that yet. He'd figure the whole situation out somehow, but he really wasn't sure how quite yet.


Simon had heard very little about his team, except that the group had only recently gotten a new commander named Artemis and that everyone else had been in the team for a while. The commander and him maybe had gotten in the school around the same time, with him maybe having been part of the team for a tiny bit longer. Simon did find that a little odd, as he wasn't sure of why one of the previous members of the team weren't promoted, but he didn't know how things worked around the school so he wouldn't bother asking. It could be a very sensitive subject that Simon wouldn't want to touch upon in case it caused some conflict. At least he could cross that off of his list of conversation starters with his new team. He had not interest in making enemies on his first day with them.


Simon was dressed in what he felt was appropriate for the situation. Since they had been told to meet in the forest, he hadn't dressed too formally, but he still wanted to make a good impression on his new teammates. Therefore, he decided to pick from his semi-formal wardrobe with nice grey jeans and a light blue dress shirt under a black vest. He could still move a lot in case they wanted to start off right away with sparring, but he looked nice enough with it to make a good impression. He even had his pockets filled with coins in case he needed to use them in a fight - a round of sparring would explain why they were meeting in a clearing far away from any other people. He had many formal apparel so it didn't bother him much if it got dirty or ripped by his steel appendages, either, so he was just about ready for anything.


As he approached the specified clearing, he saw it was covered in vines that all led to a girl who was asleep on a hammock. This was not at all an impressive first impression of his commander, who he assumed this girl was. Literally, she arranged for them to meet in the forest where she was lying on a hammock, dozed off without a care in the world for anyone else around. He crossed his arms and stood at the edge, unsure of whether he should just wait for the girl to wake up, before another prefect stormed into the clearing. The guy was much, much taller than Simon, and Simon hesitated to move forward as he watched the teenager approach the girl. Assuming he was on the same team after he began to spoke to the girl in the hammock, Simon walked up and quietly made his way over to introduce himself. "Hi there, you two are part of Team D right? I hope I'm not late: I had a bit of difficulty finding the right spot. I'm Simon Alexandre," he introduced himself quietly, eyes flickering between the two of them to see if they made any quick movements. He did that subconsciously, though, as he was used to looking for possible threats due to him having to try to analyze his father's behaviour every day he spent with him. His muscles were tense, as they always were when Simon met anyone new, and he was ready to leap away at any instant. Fortunately, though, he'd also heard the guy next to him say he was Bosco Hoppus, who was also arranged to be his roommate so Simon hoped he was not a violent guy.

[Damien Cook]

Damien had received his assignment upon completion of his prefect training. He had been assigned to team D, which was apparently the last team of prefects. He supposed all of the other ones were full, and he was fine with that. What he was not fine with was the fact that said team had a bad reputation as being a “useless” team amongst the prefect teams. If one thing was for sure, the raven-haired young man was going to change that perception as quickly as he was able to. After gathering some data on his team in the past and his current teammates, he had determined a few things. One thing was that the current team was an interesting mix of powers. Another thing was that, for some time, they had no real leader, so he figured he would have to end up being the de facto leader. As if the government had noted his concern, they appointed a leader to the team a month or two after he had joined it, which made him feel a little better. He was willing to enforce order and control, but he was not sure if he was quite ready to lead a whole team yet.

Damien had received a message from his new commander on the day they were going to meet. She had respectfully requested that they meet at a specific clearing in the forest that Damien was not familiar with at first. Of course, being the diligent student he was, the bespectacled young man was able to get his hands on a map and study it. Thanks to his memory, he was able to remember the area as soon as he thought about it, so he would have no trouble arriving at the clearing he was supposed to be at after school. As per school guidelines, he wore his Ashford uniform, which would certainly allow him a greater degree of mobility than any other items of clothing he wore. Dress pants and jeans were too restrictive, and he tended to only wear dress shirts. He brushed off his white blazer and headed directly from class to the forest, keeping his focus on getting to where he needed to go. The raven-haired young man was never really one to get distracted, even when people were talking to him. Some people liked to say he has a one-track mind, but he preferred the term ‘extreme focus’. After all, it was hard to get distracted when one’s brain is processing at the rate of two supercomputers.

As he walked along in the forest, Damien took note of his surroundings. Approximate distance from average branch is 10 feet. Trees are several feet apart in length. Good hiding spots for plant manipulators or those who can camouflage. Branches on the ground can give away position if stepped on. These and many other observations whizzed through the raven-haired teen’s head. He was surveying his environment so as to have an advantage, should he have to fight in this area of the forest in the future. No body of water present. It might be hard to fight in here with ice, he noted with a small frown as he pushed his thin-rimmed glasses up his nose. He noticed that, the farther he travelled, the hotter it became. It was not necessarily because he was out of shape; on the contrary, he was actually in very good shape considering the circumstances in which he found himself. There was a gym in the school that he could work out in and there was a waterfall and an ocean that supplied him with water for his powers. He wished that he had a bigger source of water to work with, but, thankfully, he had the forethought to clip his reusable water bottle to the belt loop of his uniform pants. Of course, if they were going to fight, he would have to shift the water into a container that could stay on his person, but, for the moment, the water bottle worked. Heat gets oppressive in here. Make sure to bring more water for adequate hydration, he noted to himself, shoving a large section of vines out of his way to keep moving.

Damien arrived at the clearing earlier than the stated time and surveyed who was there already. One of them was taller than the other, and was, oddly enough, dressed in a suit, of all things. The raven-haired young man raised his eyebrow; what the hell was he wearing that for? Surely, he did not expect to be taking his commander out on a date or something. The other young man was dressed slightly casually, but he also had an air of formality about him. Honestly, they both did, which made him feel a little more at ease. Then again, they were supposed to, he assumed. They were meeting the leader of their team for the first time, so they were all supposed to exchange pleasantries and paste smiles on their faces. The real test would be when something occurred, which the strategic young man assumed would be very soon. He coughed into his fist as he approached the team and blinked slightly before speaking. “Good day. You must be the rest of team D, no? My name is Damien Cook.” He nodded to both young men in turn. Bosco was the young man who possessed a beard; Damien had remembered that from his file. Simon was the newer member of the team who had lighter hair, but he was not to be confused with Arthur, who was taller. He looked around for the only female on the team, Artemis, and did not see her. He raised a dark eyebrow when he noticed a hammock nearby and shook his head. How unprofessional, he thought, making a ‘tsk’ noise under his breath before approached the hammock and speaking to the young woman inside. “With all due respect, Miss Elwood, I do believe it is rather disrespectful for you to be sleeping when you were the one that called us here,” he said, a note of irritation seeping through his calm tone.

[Arthur Bishop]

The forest seemed an odd place for a meeting. Arthur couldn’t help but wonder why Miss Elwood would choose such a place to meet them. It would have been easier to meet in the school, or at least somewhere more convenient to reach, but he was certain that the commander had her reasons. Even so, the silver-haired prefect maintained a healthy sense of skepticism about him as he picked his way through the jungle brush. Perhaps it would have been wise to wait for Devlin so that they could make the trip together. After all, the forest was not known to be the safest area of the school, but his friend seemed to have plans of his own and so Arthur made the journey alone.

The island humidity was intense as he walked and sweat shone on his face. He wore the Ashford uniform, his prefect badge pinned neatly on his chest. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, the hike was taking its toll on him. There was a deep ache in his chest and it was difficult to breath in the thick, warm air. He wished Miss Elwood had picked someplace-- anyplace other than the middle of the forest to meet. By the time he reached the clearing, he was struggling to keep a steady flow of oxygen in and out of his constricted lungs.

Pausing, the asthmatic prefect pulled a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe the sweat from his face. He did his best to conceal his laboured breathing as he stepped forward and nodded in greeting to the three young men who had made it to the meeting place before him. Arthur noted that one particular young man was missing. Pressing his lips together, he forced himself to take a deep breath before his eyes finally settled on the figure in the hammock. The girl appeared to be asleep, or at least pretend to be. He frowned.

[Devlin Ainsworth]

Trekking through the dense and humid forest at midday hardly seemed like something anyone would want to do. Now, if it had been the wee morning hours when the humidity had yet to reach its peak then perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad. Unfortunately the mastermind behind this brilliant idea had decided that they’d begin their adventures while the sun was high in the sky. So, he was being forced out of the comfort of the air-conditioned school to go meet his brand spanking new ‘team leader’. A term that was hardly relevant in his vocabulary and one that wouldn’t be making a grand impact any time soon.

It was rather annoying, having to half hazard guess which direction was the right one to make it to this meadow or whatever the announcement had called it. Devlin hadn’t gone into the forest much, he’d rather run on sand or work out in the gym than, which meant that this was completely uncharted territory. But on the upside, the British teen had an the amazing ability to skip over the parts of the trail that were iffy looking at best and take some ease off of the strain of the woods. Walking on air was a fantastic gift to possess at times. Now the only things he had to worry about were the low hanging branches, his asthmatic friend, and how this meeting would turn out.

Currently, at the top of this list was his friend. Devlin was well area that simply getting out to this meeting was going to take a beating on his friend. The insanity of the plant life alone would be enough to trigger his monstrous list of allergies and most likely cause the silver haired teen to a few issues on his walk. A grim look slowly came to light on Dev’s strong features. His thoughts began creeping to the idea that his childhood friend was probably wheezing up a storm and struggling to get a decent breath. It was completely idiotic for their so called leader to drag them out here and possibly endanger one of her own. Of course, there was always the possibility she didn’t know.

Trying to keep with the benefit of the doubt, Devlin let out a low breath in attempts to calm himself down. Thankfully, it was just in time to come to a break in the woods. Stepping through the trees, Devlin hung along the outer edges to watch the small gathering for a moment. It would seem that he was the last to arrive, a fact that he knew he should care about but couldn’t bring himself to do it. One female and a group of males. ’This should be amusing,’ he smirked inwardly, wondering which one would start hitting on their commander first.

Although, as he surveyed the crowd there was a tinge of disappointment when he realized that none of the other males looked like they would. Or even looked like they knew how to have a bit of fun. One was in a suit, a bit on the ‘taller’ side and appeared like he was held back for a few years. Another one had silver hair and a bit more semi casual attire was standing in jeans and a vest. The dark haired one was a nice medium between the two, wore his Ashford uniform. Lastly, came Arthur who also showed off how to properly wear one’s uniform. ‘Yeah… a bundle of sticks in the mud,’ He thought, his attention beginning to get away from him.

Deciding that it was time for the teen to make his less than grand entrance, he slung his hands in the pockets of his loose jeans and began walking over to Arthur. Digging around in one pocket, he produced the spare inhaler that he always kept on him and offered it to his friend. Without greeting him with more than a nod of his head, Devlin looked over to the girl who held all the attention, it was quite easy when he was a good half a foot taller than the next tallest member. His dark eyes watching her with an undying boredom. She seemed less than impressive and had already earned some irritated words from the other members of the D team. This was bound to be exciting, not.

[Artemis Elwood]

Artemis barely shifted when she felt her plants shift, the weight of a few bodies entering the area that she had laced with vines. She didn't shift or move in any way. She had hoped no one would show up before the designated time, the girl having wanted to get in a full nap, but it looked like this was not to be the case. She started to smile a bit as she felt more and more people enter the clearing, glad people had been able to find it, though she did hear wheezing from one of them which made her frown a little, the vines and leaves shifting around her and moving her into a sitting position, her eyes opening as she looked at those gathered. She stayed silent for a moment, her head tilted a tad at their reactions to her. A few of them seemed either surprise or confusion, thought she was mostly getting irritation from them, probably due to her having been napping while she waited. She let the vines drop her to the ground, the fairly small girl landing lightly on the ground.

"Chello," she started, no sign of the fact that she had been napping in her voice, though the girl silently hoped that they wouldn't have too much difficulty with her thick accent. She knew there was a bit of a language barrier between her and English speakers. Sure, she could speak it decently but she was definitely not a natural at the language, having grown up most of her life speaking purely Greek. "You are correct to assume that I am Artemis Elwood, the new commander for D-Team. It is a plezoor to meet you all." She gave them a once over, noting the inhaler that Arthur was now almost most definitely needing, a small frown crossing her features. "I am sorry for making you come out here. I did not know that there is an asthmatic on the team." She bowed her head to the boy, hoping for his forgiveness before speaking again.

"Though might I suggest adding Reishi Mushrooms to your diet? They are good anti-inflammatory herbs. Unless you are allergic to mushrooms they should chelp." She shifted a bit before looking across the others, a soft smile returning to her face. She glanced over the group once again, her eyes falling on all of them, taking in their builds and heights. She had really only glanced over powers to figure out if she'd have any major issues with what she had planned, and now seeing them physically she could see that they were, for the most part, fairly physically fit as well. It would make things more interesting as the night progressed. Would she be able to hold up against them? Her training said yes, her body said maybe.

"Now you all are probably wonder why I chave asked you to come chere," she started, starting to walk a bit, wanting to keep moving as she surveyed the group in front of her. "I called you here because I wanted to test the current effectiveness of the team. I figured the best way to do that was to pit you against a major threat." She crossed her arms behind her, a small smirk playing across her features as she stood there at the ready. "I am sorry to those who seemed to have dressed up, but I thought that you'd at the most be wearing the school uniform." She nodded a bit, taking a few quick steps back, putting some distance between herself and the others before holding out her hand, a staff sprouting from the plant-life, the scythe forming quickly, the blade being covered after a moment in sharp pine needles. "Now if you are ready, then your opponent will be me. You can tzoose to work together or separately to take me."

Gods help me. The plants around here should be enough, but there's still that possibility...

[Bosco Hoppus]

One by one, everyone had begun arriving. Bosco was observing his team mates as they appeared, and had only just realized this was likely the first time most of them had had any formal introduction to one another. That would probably hinder the situation that was about to take place, but before that, the straight-faced prefect was taking in the look of everyone around himself with only a nod to show his acknowledgment to them. That, and a bland introduction. "My name is Bosco Hoppus." There was not much need for conversation between the group at this point, the overall team was Bosco's main focus. Simon Alexandre was notably short, but not as short as Artemis. However, he did appear to have a combat ready body. That teenager's skin also showed that he spent some time in the sun. Damien Cook, on the other hand, seemed to be more opposite. He had black hair, glasses, lighter skin, and did not appear to be quite as athletic. He also seemed to carry himself with a sort of purpose. The assumption was brought up by how he immediately approached Artemis about her lack of respect to wait for them before sleeping. Everyone here had shown up slightly early, so she could not be too at fault, but the young adult held his tongue. The last thing he wanted was to create conflict, and it looked like the commander was ready to disregard the statement entirely. While listening to his leader, Devlin was surveyed. He was a currently silent giant, and appeared to be able to easily hold his own in a fight. Maybe not against someone with super strength, but it was noted regardless. Then there was Arthur, who somehow managed not to die on the way here. He had white hair, similarly to Simon. It had to be briefly wondered if they were related, but that thought was go. A lot of people had white hair, and they had different family names. Chances were that they were not related. Anyways; That was everyone, and they all seemed to be able to take on their new team leader's challenge that she offered.
Especially the dragon.

"I will be the first line of defense." He stated as he took a step forward as the challenger, being careful to keep his eyes on his new opponent. Even though she was nice enough to let them know it was fight before they started, there was the obvious chance she would attack them unexpectedly to teach them a lesson about letting their guard down. The young man had little interest in small talk, though he had noted that advice on asthma, and knew that they would not win if this were not treated as a real fight. Artemis had been appointed as a commander, she had to have at least some competence in combat. His voice was collected as he told his plan, as if he had been thinking about something like this since he arrived. Certainly not to show he had been improvising for the most part. "I am unaware of most of the powers you four possess, but I am going to assume that we should treat this like a real fight. I can hold my own easily in close combat, especially if her small body shows her strength. Any support would be appreciated, but do not let it get in the way of planning unless I am in an inescapable bind." He took off his tie and shoved it into his left pocket after folding it over a few times while he spoke. He did not suspect that he would ruin his suit since he was that confident his abilities would not let her touch him, but Bosco would hate it if he were wrong and were to wind up getting choked. These little variables were why he did not look to his team mates as he talked to them, and let his eyes focus on his target. "An attacker in any real situation would not give us the time to plan our moves ahead, so I will let you all use me as an excuse to buy time for you to formulate one to better defeat her. Remember that she has a sort of nature manipulation, and that she must have some affinity for close combat because she chose a close range weapon, but we do not know the full extent of her ability with that power, nor if she has anymore." With that the prefect's fighting position initiated. There was not a doubt in his mind that Bosco could take on his commander in a battle that only relied on close quarter combat, granted it might be difficult if she could control the vines littered throughout the clearing. Whatever the case, he prepared himself to fight. His stance had him facing the right side of his body to his opponent. If she threw her weapon, this would make him a harder target to hit. He no idea how she was about to fight, so it was best to plan for everything. He thought that even as he cautiously moved closer, leaving maybe a few feet between the two. Of the two to start attacking first, the dragon would let his commander be the first. Attacking first was always a terrible idea, and may lead to ruined clothes.
"Ladies first, if you do not mind."

[Simon Alexandre]

Simon's eyes would glance over every once in a while as soon as each new individual arrived to examine them, but he was on edge. This seemed to be the right amount of prefects for their team, but based on Simon's lack of knowledge of the people around the school, it was possible that some of these people didn't actually belong. What if there were shape-shifters, too? These people could very well be some of the volatile 'crazy' people that people spoke about that lived in the forest. Simon internally shuddered and he took a cautious step back from them, before his leader finally spoke. He remained eerily quiet while she did so, trying to avoid being noticed in case these people actually weren't to be trusted. While doing so, he glanced over at the other silver-haired boy who was much taller than himself, noting that he had asthma and that the other boy had given him an inhaler. That meant those two knew each other well - it made sense that at least the two of them were on the team and could be at least partly trusted because of this. Simon figured most insane people worked alone, so if those two were together it made more sense for them to be normal people. However, the thought flickered across Simon's mind that he could be wrong, but he tried to push his paranoid thoughts away. There was no way he would be attacked, and if he was, he'd live. He'd done it before and he could do it again.


As his fear subsided with this thought, Simon found himself looking the other members up and down again. All of them, apart from Artemis, were a lot taller than himself, and he found himself shrinking further into himself as he observed this. At the very least, Simon had a little more manoeuvrability and could duck under punches if the team did end up internally fighting. He doubted that would happen, but at least he had that comfort in the worst case scenario. Most of the others were sporting their uniforms, but Simon was pleased he had chosen not to do so. He had only just recently received his and he didn't want it to get ruined in the first week - and the clothes he was wearing now were mainly disposable. "Simon Alexandre, nice to meet all of you," he added quietly, reminded by Bosco's introduction to repeat his name for the people just arriving. 


Simon's thoughts returned to the approaching fight, and he turned his head to look at the other silver-haired boy. He still seemed to be breathing heavily, although his inhaler would probably help. Simon did find it a little odd that the commander was getting ready to battle when the boy was clearly having an asthma attack, and he hoped that the boy would feel better in time for the fight's start. Simon's eyes returned to his commander as she formed a scythe, and Simon immediately found himself doubting his leader even further. Why in the world would she pick to use a scythe? Scythes were a lot more predictable than the usual sword, as they couldn't stab or do any motion apart from swinging, they were very bulky, unsturdy, and unbalanced, and they were completely useless in close combat. Not just that, they were slow moving and very impractical against any mobile opponents. A spear would be handy against it - spears would be too fast moving for the scythe to block and the constant jabs from it would wear her out. Obviously, it would need to be blunted as no one wanted to die here and he'd have to get close enough to use it on her in the first place. Simon noted that in his mind, as he could form a blunt spear out of his coins if he needed to. Her choice of weapon immediately told Simon her fighting style, too - she'd try to keep people away with her plants and try to slice at them if they got within the radius of her scythe. If the team got too close though, the team leader would be in trouble. Simon had no problem with her style, though, as his coins could travel long distances and he could make them sharp enough to cut through the plants. If she tried to lock him down, too, he could unleash his steel appendages which could cut right through the vines. However, she seemed to be very confident in her own abilities against the whole team. Either she was ridiculously stupid, or she had a reason for it.


When Bosco took immediate initiative and began to bark out orders, Simon found himself listening intently. Simon knew, based off his name, that the guy was supposed to be Simon's roommate, and he hoped that meant that he was a normal person. In the situation that he was shapeshifter, he obviously wouldn't be, but Simon had no other option other than to listen to Bosco's words and hope that he wasn't a psycho. He looked like a big enough guy to fend off a crazy anyways, so Simon was hopeful in thinking that he actually wasn't insane and had an idea of what he was doing. Besides, Simon adored following instructions, and the tall boy that offered him orders, although they were vague, gave Simon a sense of reassurance. Though, Simon did disagree with Bosco when he said that she picked a close range weapon, as Simon would argue that it was more designed for cutting grass and hay and less for fighting people, but he remained quiet.


So, Simon prepared himself for the spar that was to come. All the coins that had been jingling around his pockets immediately flew outwards, and ten more appeared out of thin air to join them. He'd keep adding coins whenever he needed to, as the more he had the more he could do with them. At the time, he had had maybe about thirty coins total in his pockets, most of them quarters with a few pennies designed for speed, and the ten coins he'd made were all Canadian toonies. He'd be able to block most attacks with that much, while still launching some weak offensive manoeuvres until he needed to make more - in which case he hoped Artemis would be surprised by the appearance of more. The coins hovered around him, ready to move and mould together if she attacked him, but each one of them was now shaped with razor-like edges, designed for cutting through things. This was in case she latched her plants onto any one of them - especially Bosco or himself. Simon would just send his coins at a high enough velocity to cut the plants. "If she ties any one of you down, give a shout and I'll try to help." His voice was monotone, almost uncaring as he didn't know any of the other members. This didn't mean what he said was a lie, as he understood the importance in helping his teammates against Artemis, but it meant that if his attempts to help didn't work out Simon wouldn't be too hurt. However, Simon prided himself in his ability to defend himself and others, so he would be ready to leap into action or leap in front of anyone if the time came, even if he didn't expect them to do the same for him.

[Damien Cook]

Damien glanced at both Bosco and Simon. He did not see a purpose in re-introducing himself. If other people were late, that was their problem, not his. Still, his eyes shifted over to the commander when she introduced herself. She’s far shorter than the rest of us, he noted, looking around at the group, Except Simon, perhaps. They seem to be similar heights. The raven-haired young man nodded briefly to acknowledge Artemis’s words of welcome. He was not too pleased with their new leader, and he held his tongue so that he did not make a scene in front of his teammates. He needed to give off a good impression at first, and then, after that, he would not even bother trying to hide his short fuse. He was sure that he would be able to get through whatever exercise she had planned fine, as long as things were organized. He was not entirely sure how much research his teammates had done on him, but, hopefully, they knew at least something about his abilities. He realized after a moment that the water bottle was still brushing against his leg and he quickly transferred the liquid to a special pouch that he had approached someone about making. It was water-resistant, especially with motion, which was ideal for when he needed to make constructs and beams in a hurry. Just after he had made the transfer, the team leader had declared her intention of a spar, and he snorted quietly. The location made sense; after all, she was a plant manipulator and the forest was her playground.

Damien glanced over his teammates again, picturing their files in his mind. Bosco Hoppus- Dragon Mimicry, Flowmotion, Super Strength. Mostly close-range offensive capabilities. Simon Alexandre- Coin Manipulation, Steel Appendages, Enhanced Durability. Long range offensive. The appendages could be useful to jab at or slice through vines and plants. Arthur Bishop- Reactive Power Replication and Rapid Healing. Also asthmatic, apparently. Try to keep him fixed so he doesn’t slow the team down. Devlin Ainsworth- Intangibility, Air Walking, Peak Human Condition. Mostly close-range defensive, though could be considered offensive too, with the conditioning. Before the bespectacled young man could say a word, Bosco spurred into action. The raven-haired young man let out a disgruntled huff, crossing his arms over his chest. He knew that time was of the essence, but he also knew that knowing nothing about who you were working with could be a detriment to the team. “I do understand that we are in a bit of a rush here,” he said, slowly drawing some of the water from the pouch in his jacket and starting to freeze it slowly. “But we should at least be aware of what powers each of us possess.” He then started to rattle off everyone’s powers and his observations that he had thought about earlier. He cleared his throat and shaved the edges off the ice spear he was making before he spoke again. “Mr. Bishop, I would recommend not exerting as much as you might be used to. I have no doubt of your abilities, but this environment puts you at a disadvantage.” He looked around at his other teammates, “Mr. Hoppus and Mr. Alexandre should take the front lines, since they are the most durable aside from Mr. Ainsworth. And perhaps Mr. Ainsworth could assist Mr. Bishop since they already seem acquainted.

Damien cracked his knuckles, being careful to turn the spear to the blunted end so as not to injure himself. He was not exactly the most durable, or even the strongest, most likely. However, he was almost sure that he was the smartest out of all of them. “Since she seems comfortable with close combat,” he stated, “I suggest we start with long range attacks to make her uncomfortable. It will either force her to back up or come closer. If she comes closer, we should try to bombard her. Just be aware of the vines and grass. We do not know how much plant life she can control.” Damien waited for a few moments before adopting an offensive stance, his right foot in front of his left, and watched Artemis for any sign of movement. He was not entirely sure what the odds were, but he was confident that they would be successful. Hopefully.

[Arthur Bishop]

Arthur’s attention was drawn from the sleeping commander as Devlin arrived behind him. Noting his friend’s casual attire, Arthur fixed him with a quick glance of disapproval before shaking his head and giving in with a wheezy sigh. He should have expected it, and he couldn’t deny that he was glad to have Devlin there, even if he was bound to cause trouble. It wasn’t until the taller boy extended the inhaler to him that Arthur noticed the looks he was getting from the others. Apparently he wasn’t hiding his breathing troubles as well as he’d thought. Dropping his gaze, he accepted the inhaler with a breathless “thank you”. The plastic felt heavy in his hands. It was a symbol of personal weakness, and under the scrutiny of his comrades he already felt the weight of their conviction. A twinge of self-consciousness pulled at his gut, but he squared his shoulders and forced himself to lift his chin to meet their gazes. Whatever his physical limitations may be, he refused to let them get the better of him.

By that time Artemis was awake and stood before them. It was, Arthur had to admit, a rather strange group. The girl was petite, a stark contrast to the company of nearly-grown men she would be commanding, but her size hardly meant anything to the silver-haired prefect. After all, who was he to judge someone based on their physical composition? He took a puff from his inhaler as the girl spoke, making note of her accent. It was undeniably Greek and an encouraging, almost-smile drew at his lips and he listened to her fumble with the awkward English words. He was fluent in many of the major European languages, but Greek was not one of them. The smile vanished a moment later as she addressed him directly. Once again he felt the attentions of his teammates drawn to him. Keeping his composure, his expression settled on something between politeness and indifference as he dipped his head in acknowledgement of first her apology, and then her advice.

“Thank you,” was all he said in response. There was no use in drawing the conversation out further and the asthmatic prefect focused on what the girl would suggest next. Raising an eyebrow in surprise, he took another puff from the inhaler-- he would be needing it if they were in for a fight-- and slipped it into his pocket. Before he had time to comment, Bosco was already taking charge. Settling back on his heels, Arthur listened as his teammates spoke up and prepared themselves for the fight, shouting out instructions to one another. His eyes flickered to Devlin, already predicting his friend’s displeasure at being told what to do. “I’ll watch your back if you watch mine,” he muttered in his usual monotone. At least now his breathing had eased, even if it wasn’t quite normal.

His attention turned back to the others, watching as they settled into various fighting and defensive stances. He couldn’t help but feel a bit uncomfortable about the whole thing. Five-on-one hardly seemed like a fair fight and he hoped Miss Elwood knew what she was getting herself into. As far as he knew, all of them had at least some combat experience. The biggest challenge would be staying out of each other’s way. He took a deep breath, taking a quick inventory of the situation and where he would fit in best among his teammates. It was critical that they work together, though he wasn’t too keen on letting the others take charge. But, as Damien mentioned, everything about the environment was stacked against Arthur. He had no choice but to back down and let his teammates take charge.

Slipping into a defensive stance, Arthur turned his focus on their opponent. It was obvious that she had some sort of plant manipulation, and all he needed was for her to get a good shot at him and then he could counteract her powers. In this fight he would be taking on a supporting role. He could only hope that Devlin would have the good-sense to listen to his teammates.

[Devlin Ainsworth]

After they all arrived and seemingly inspected one another, it didn’t take long for their new leader to take on her role. Devlin found his eyes shifting from the tiny girl to the other boys to the area around him, boredom slowly creeping in along the edges of his line. He wasn’t captured by her delivery of the small spiel or her appearance so he found it very hard to keep his mind centered on the girl. Thankfully, he was able to at least tune in long enough to catch the gist of this whole ordeal. They were going to train as a group, hopefully work out some team work bullshit, and do this with a five v. one fight. Lovely.

Devlin’s attention wasn’t peaked as the other boys began sliding into their different positions. In fact, he simply crossed his arms and rocked back on his heels for a moment to watch all the activity going on around him. His eyes carelessly floated from Bosco to Damien as they barked out orders to the rest of the team. For a moment, he felt his anger spark and he felt like bashing their heads together would be a better way to spend his time. However, as Arthur spoke up he let out a disgruntled huff and attempted to quiet the anger building in the back of his mind.

“Always,” he replied with a quick nod to Arthur as his eyes flittered from teammate to teammate. In all reality, he didn’t trust as single person in this field besides his childhood rival. He didn’t know them and he certain didn’t want to blindly put his faith in them for the first time in a fight. “Since we’re constricted time wise I understand why you’re assigning position, for future reference you may want to see how other’s feel about that placement,” he called out to the two who had taken it upon themselves to call the shots. “Or perhaps learn how they use their powers at all,” he added under his breath as he sank back slightly, edging into a defensive position in the air.

Sitting back, he waited for the first moves to be made. He didn’t like being automatically being assigned to be defense just because some twat decided to read his file and believe that it was the best way to make use of his power. Devlin had never been on the defensive long, more or less he was constantly working as an offensive player, ever since he was little. Whether it be a game at school or sparring against a mentor, he always tried to use his size and strength to his advantage. He always worked to push the other person back and corner him. Now knowing that it was very likely he could be the one being forced back right away simply wasn’t sitting well with him.

However, despite his personal objects Devlin knew that he had to make this work to some capacity. He had to at least try to behave and prevent fighting within his own team, especially if they were pitted against someone they barely knew about. Shaking his head, Devlin shifted to the balls of his feet a good meter or so above the ground. He would be ready to move if he was needed or saw an opening to make an attack. If anything he could play a bit of both given the chance, he just hoped that no one did anything idiotic that could risk the spar for the entire group, himself included. 

[Artemis Elwood]

Artemis waited patiently, her stance obviously well trained as she shifted her weight, holding the scythe in the same way you'd see someone wield a quarterstaff. She tilted her head, noting the changes in demeanor from one person to the next, noting Devlin's obvious irritation at being ordered around though she did note his obvious closeness to Arthur. He could prove to be a bit troublesome compared to the rest considering they, more or less, seemed to understand the situation and wanted to coordinate together. She gazed across them, trying to get a feeling from their body language about how they felt with the situation. She waited, staying patient as everyone prepared.

It wasn't like she was going after a group of delinquents who had escaped the law for too long this time, she testing their teamwork and ability to assess a threat to their safety. Would she find herself in trouble too? Probably, she hadn't taken on this many at once before, but she could handle four at once so what difference could one more make? Her eyes flashed to the kid forming coins in the air, her eyes narrowing a bit. The kid, Simon, would be an issue if she didn't take him out quickly. The vines could only withstand so much force, and small coins was not one of them. Sure, her bark armor was more sturdy but she had no idea how much cutting force the coins could have, or if the kid could serrate them to make the cut through the hard bark. She made a quick glance at her hand, the bark hardening over her skin. Redwood bark could survive lightning strikes and fire, so she had a slight advantage there, but how much could it withstand a direct cutting force?

The young agent shifted her weight, her eyes closing for a moment. She probably should have worn shorts under her skirt, but that wasn't something she really did. Maybe that would end up becoming a plus considering they were all guys? Who knew how they'd react, but that could be seen through the course of the fight. If they were any good they wouldn't care what their opponent was wearing after all. She opened her eyes again once she heard the conversations end, a light smile playing across her lips. "Now if you all are done, let us get started shall we?"

With that, plants suddenly shot up out of the ground in front of Bosco, aiming to throw him completely off as she darted forward, a series of vines exploding out of the ground around Simon Attack the support first, get them weaker without the crowd control so that I can use my own. Then shift to a more defensive stance while I assess the rest of the situation.

She spun the staff, the blade falling off as she grew Seer's Sage around the clearing along with vines, trying to isolate herself with Simon. She kept her simple smile on her face as she darted closer, hoping to close the gap quickly enough to catch Simon off guard as she brought the staff around, spinning with it as she made a quick strike at him, praying that her bark armor would protect her from the coins. Bosco had flames, if he light up the clearing now there would be a strong hallucinogen in the air that could help her in the fight, at least until the dose got too strong for her as well.

But unless that happened she just needed to take out the person with the most crowd control, especially when he countered her own abilities so hard all the while trying to zone everyone else away.

[Bosco Hoppus]

Bosco had to admit he felt vexed about what had transpired. Not vexed enough to take his attention away from his opponent for arguing, but enough that he might hit Artemis a little harder than needed. The reason he took the initiative in ordering the team around was because he was looking at this as though they were set in a fight against someone who would not let them plan their moves ahead, since someone who would let them do just that had to be extraordinarily arrogant. As anyone of the team mates could now tell, extraordinarily arrogant was not quite one of Artemis's traits. Arrogant enough to assume that she could take on all five of her team's members, yes, but not enough to let them get away with making a carefully formulated plan. What the team had come up with before she made her move, or what Damien had come up with, should work out fairly well. There were only a couple of issues Bosco had with it, though they were not ground-breaking. The first being Devlin as a defensive character. Not just because of the offensive attitude he showed, but his powers would not be immediately useful in assisting Arthur in whatever trouble the asthmatic would be caught in. Actually, the attitude both Devlin, and Damien, showed could have come from Bosco taking charge so suddenly. He would apologize for his assumptions before they all left today. The other side of the disagreement was having Simon on the front lines. It would turn out very poorly if he were shut down in close range by any surprises their leader must have in store, since his powers would be invaluable in this fight. It only made more sense to use the dragon as a guinea pig since he could handle so much in combat. That, and they may need a bit of time to learn each other's way of fighting so they would not get in each other's way. Actually, that could be reason that Damien only stated two to be on the front lines. Devlin as a defensive character was still disagreeable, but it made a bit more sense now. Back to the matter at hand, Arthur's abilities would be lovely to have, if he could take a good hit. Alas, Bosco did not have the time to continue his thought process. Artemis decided to take the first strike, but at least that had been anticipated.

Plant manipulation had been expected from the moment the commander made her scythe, which was now a quarterstaff, so Bosco was ready to move out of the way of the vines. His right side was facing forward when this happened, so he reacted accordingly. The young man leaned himself backwards, using his left leg to push himself off the ground while reaching out his left hand to execute an altered one-handed back handspring. Altered because he could see that Artemis was making a strong charge to attack Simon directly. The change in the hand spring was that it was overshot slightly, so Bosco could land his feet in the air at a slight angle making it easier to make a leap at the white-haired boy's aggressor. The plan was to intercept her charge in mid air. All of the calculations for this interception had been made in just a few seconds, so there it was flawed. The dragon was not going to wind up in front of Artemis because he underestimated how fast she was, but would get the chance to grab her from behind since he leaped head-first. If only he had also estimated the distance properly as well, he would be able to go for more than her lower body. Although that bothered him, it forced him to notice that with how fast she was moving, it lifted her skirt just enough to see what she had under it. Meh... was the only thought that crossed his mind before he reached out both of his hands. The right hand was to to grab her leg, close to her knee had been where he was aiming so it would be difficult for the girl to dodge without throwing herself off balance. If she was thrown off balance, it left her completely open to attacks from the ones closest. Simon's position on the front lines would actually prove to be a great choice if he could react in time. The silent disagreement with Damien had to be rethought, but no in-depth thoughts were given to it now. Not since it would be worse for the commander if Bosco did manage to grab her. This super strong man would just pull her into the ground leaving her wide open to another attack from himself instead of any team mates. The other reached out hand that had been previously mentioned was close to the ground so that if the attempt at stopping Artemis in her tracks failed, Bosco could enter into another handspring and land himself back into his combat ready position and intercept her charge again. Of course more vines could shoot out of the ground, but the commander would have to direct her eyes to see where exactly the send them. It may lead to a ruined suit, but it was apparent that this girl was not going to take it easy on the team. Any distraction Bosco could create should give enough time for Simon to do something with his coins. Hopefully something non-lethal.

[Simon Alexandre]

Simon had little to no interest in arguing with his teammates over control. He was simply one to follow orders, and he didn't want to disobey them or pretend that he knew any better than an authoritative figure. Though it was true that none of his teammates had any actual power over him, Simon respected that they'd all been on the island longer than he had and that they probably knew better than he did. He had opinions about the whole situation, of course, but that didn't mean he was about to voice them. For example, Simon found the instructions that Damien gave him were questionable, as he had no interest in being a 'punching bag' just because he was more durable than the others, even if he did understand the reasoning behind it. Besides, he couldn't trust the others to attack the girl while he was being beat up. He'd just met them for the first time and he had absolutely no idea if they would even try to help him or not. However, arguments and disagreements within the group would only cause more trouble, so he kept quiet although his intentions were not to just sit around and be attacked. Devlin, however, seemed to disagree with Simon's 'stay passive' philosophy, and the boy made it quite clear that he was not impressed with the situation. Simon wrinkled his nose.

Thanks to his overall skittishness and paranoia, Simon quickly spotted Artemis offensively moving towards him. His stance changed almost instantly, putting a stronger bend in his knees so he was prepared to launch himself back if he needed to. That is, until the vines exploded around his sides. I've got to do something about those vines, I can't stay trapped here, he mused, eyes narrowing before his body decided to react for him. There was a sudden ripping noise as four sharp steel appendages, each about fifteen feet long, tore through his shirt and cut through the nearby vines that were surrounding him. They were quick-moving and extremely sharp, giving them the force to slice through the plants with seemingly little to no effort. Adding to his defense, about ten coins appeared and they all flattened out completely and hovered on Simon's left, blocking one of his sides from any attacks.

Unfortunately for the white-haired prefect, Artemis had decided to thrust her attack in the opposite direction from what he'd expected, and her roll had prevented Bosco's attack from being successful. The quarter-staff made contact with his shin, and he bit back a grunt as he, naturally, stumbled backwards a bit. It felt as if he'd just been hit with a slap-shot from a casual hockey player, and although he worried that his shin bone was damaged, he put a certain level of faith into his durability and hoped that, at the worst, it'd only swell and bruise. However, that hit was definitely going to keep him off that leg for at least a minute, no matter how durable he was. Besides, he didn't want to splinter it or injure it further by applying too much weight on it. To make up for it, one of his steel appendages grew smaller and dug into the ground next to his injured foot, providing him with a sense of balance. However, he was lucky enough to have his coins in an optimal position for a counter-attack. He knew he didn't have the time to change each individual coin's shape, but he managed to mould all the coins together in a shield-like formation and send it flying towards Artemis in an attempt to shove her away and give Simon time. Hopefully, this would cause her to stumble and his teammates could be able capitalize off of her moment of weakness. If nothing else, it would allow Simon to take a breather.

Regardless of whether the 'shield' hit or not, the coins would separate back into their serrated shapes and try to embed themselves in her wood armour. Since there were around fifty of them, Simon hoped at least one would make its way in, and if one did, it would begin trying to drill through the wood and weaken it. Then again, if she'd managed to jump away from the shield-formation, she might have the chance to block the coins with a plant which would slow them to the point of uselessness. However, if she did jump away, that would give Simon some space.

Damn, The white-haired prefect gritted his teeth together while his shin throbbed. He hadn't been in a real fight for a while, having never done such things at school on the mainland, and the last time he'd been genuinely hurt...Simon flinched. This shin-pain, however, was far from the worst he'd experienced and the pain was slowly reducing to nothing, so he expected himself to still be capable enough to fight as well as normal, especially with the help of his appendages. However, to ensure that something like that couldn't happen again so soon, he used his good leg and his steel appendages to fling him back about six feet away from the girl, growing a little concerned. I can't have these things out forever and when they're gone, I'll be screwed. The prefect grimaced, glancing at his teammates that were standing in the corners of his eyes. If the battle lasted that long, which Simon hoped it wouldn't, he'd have no choice but to rely on them. And that was something he didn't want to do.

If the commander went after him again, Simon guessed that she'd probably try to go for his injured leg. The pain had already begun to subside now that the initial shock was over, but he still needed a defense - if he was hit there again, it'd hurt more than the last time. Reacting to this realization, about a dozen more coins appeared by Simon's feet, growing serrated edges so that they could easily spin and cut through any vines that tried to latch onto him. Additionally, his three, currently unused steel appendages grew shorter, to about four feet, as he tried to use up less of his energy, although they were still ready to act instantaneously to any attack. All-the-while, Simon focused on controlling his offensive group of coins. This would be interesting.