"B-Breaking and entering-?!" Ackley wrapped a nearby plant over his fingers in fear, a habit he often found himself doing. "You told us that those things are bad! We could hurt people...!"
"Don't worry, Ackley," Clarence assured the nervous boy. "I wouldn't let you lot do something so terrible. Luella and I will go instead."
"That's not fair!" Red piped up, her hair flaring. "We were involved in this, too. We should be able to help!"
"She's right, you know," Felice noted. "This is the only time something remotely exciting has happened. And I'm bored."
"Besides," Dai intruded, holding Carlen's arm tight. "You always told us that we should learn how to use our powers. This would be a perfect chance to teach us how to not injure people with them."
"No..." Clarence still didn't seemed convinced. "...you are all students, not soldiers. I wouldn't forgive myself if any of you got hurt."
"We can protect ourselves!" Yelled Carlen, pulling Dai closer to him. "We're not those little kids you rescued from horrible situations anymore. We're your best students!"
"They do raise a good point, Clarence," Luella told him. "Besides...I doubt that we could do it alone. We're not miracle workers."
"The answer is still no," Clarence replied, shaking his head. "Please understand..."
"This isn't fair!" Red stomped her feet angrily. "The one time when we can help you, and we can't even come along?!"
"R-Red, please calm down..." Ackley murmured. "It's not as bad as you think."
"D-Daddy...!"
Everyone's attention suddenly turned to the newcomer that had wondered into the room. It was a little girl, one of a pale complexion. As soon as Clarence had spotted her, he ran towards her and scooped the girl up in his arms.
"Oh, Luna! Did you have a nightmare again?" He cradled the girl gently, slowly inching out of the room. "It's okay, sweetie. I'll protect you..."
Luella closed the door behind him, before turning to the group with a grin on her face. "Okay, everyone go through that door over there! We're going to bust into a secret place!"
"It's not much of a secret if people know about it." Felice commented, readjusting her glasses.
"That's not the point..." Luella quickly shoved some bookcases out of the way, revealing a hidden door. "...the point is, rather, that you guys can come along and help m- um, us! I'd rather have more people come along, since there's not much a mind reader and a gravity changer can do."
Carlen grinned, dragging Dai with him to the door. "Sounds like fun! Maybe I'll be able to get some cute pictures of Dai whilst I'm at it..."
Dai's face flushed a crimson colour. "Your room is littered with pictures of me-! I don't get how you take those pictures, especially of the ones of me sleeping, but it's...!"
"That's creepy as hell, Carlen!" Red rolled her eyes at the blond boy. "Jeez, Dai might as well be your husband or something!"
"Dai? My husband?!" Carlen jokily pretended to faint, only stopping a few feet off of the ground. "I can only imagine...!"
Dai hid behind Ackley, who was just as confused at the whole ordeal. Instead, he was playing with a nearby plant, watching as the leaves stroked his fingers.
"Luella? What are you doing?"
Luella gasped and ran towards the newly entered Clarence, whom had returned from his babysitting. She threw herself into his arms, much to the surprise of the latter.
"I'm so sorry!" She wailed, her eyes tearing up. "I would love to go away for a while, with just the two of us, but this requires more of a team...!"
"Luella, please, I didn't mean to cause you any distress-!" Clarence attempted to soothe her tears. "If it means so much to you, then I'll take us to the city on a sightseeing trip. You'll get to see those beautiful sculptures that you like. And no one will run away from you, because I'll make sure everyone sees you just how they see each other..."
"Thank you..." She hugged him, whilst drying her tears. "...I-I, um, I need to pay you back for this, really.
"You don't have to pay me back for anything, Luella," Clarence replied. "You being here in my company is enough."
All of the students eyed each other, all thinking the same thing. Well, minus Dai. He wasn't catching on at all.
"Um, we won't have to...kill anyone, will we?" Ackley shifted around nervously. "I don't want to harm anyone."
"No-! Of course not-!" Clarence started to show signs of panic. "If necessary, we can just knock some guards unconscious."
"Say, Ackley!" Felice suddenly brightened up, a habit of hers when concerning Ackley. "Didn't you say that one of your plants had a habit of making people fall unconscious if they smelt it or something like that?"
"Oh! Yes!" Ackley beamed, growing a small flower from the palm of his hand. "Maybe...maybe if we somehow get this cutie in that place, no one would have to get hurt!"
"What about the air vents?" Dai pointed out. "I'm sure you can grow your little plant in there."
"What about the security cameras?" Red noted. "I'm fairly certain they don't count as human minds. They're machines."
Carlen gestured to the lighting in the room. "Surely if we cut the power-"
"If we cut the power, everyone will be alerted," Clarence explained. "Our best bet is to go into the main generator and cut out a few things, like the alarm and the security cameras. That way, nobody will notice a big power cut like that."
"I hope you aren't counting on me to do all of that," Carlen stretched out his arms and yawned. "Reminder that I can only go to places that I can see or have been before..."
"We can work it out!" Luella exclaimed, still holding Clarence's arm. "Those vents are all joined up, anyways. If we enter through them, we can also go to the main generator on the way to our destination to get rid of the security camera problem!"
"I'll be able to tell you all where to go," Clarence tapped his head, smirking. "I can find out where they keep their spare reactors. Just please don't touch it with your bare hands..."
"Alright, alright." Red was starting to get impatient. "Can we head out now? I'm itching to actually do something for once!"
"Yeah! I've seen the cars you've got in your garage, professor!" Dai headed for the nearby door. "Can we pick which one we go in?! Please?!"
"W-We're not going in any of the fast ones, and they have to be big enough to fit us all in," Clarence explained. "And no using the vintage ones! They're from my parents, and I'd rather not damage them..."
"So basically what you're saying is we can't chose?" Felice said. "Too bad..."
After a tiny moment of arguing, the group finally decided to get to their destination. Once arriving, they went through everything once more.
"We need teams," Ackley acknowledged, looking at the map of the place. "If there's two corridors leading to our main goal, we need to check that both of them are safe. Some people might be wearing gas masks or something, allowing them to not be impacted by my plant."
Red shuffled uncomfortably in her seat. "Question - how are we supposed to not be impacted too? Do we have to go around wearing gas masks?"
"My plant only attacks the people it's unfamiliar with," Ackley told her. "It doesn't like strangers that much...but it knows you guys, so you should all be safe."
"Let's sort out teams, then," Clarence decided. "Luella, you can go with Red and Carlen. Then we can have Ackley, Felice, Dai-"
Luella interrupted him. "I don't think it's a good idea for you to come too," She began. "We need someone to stay here and keep an eye out, and with your powers, you're perfect for it. You can even warn us about dangers ahead."
"I'm sorry, Luella. But I can't just send you all out there," Clarence continued. "If anything happened-"
Luella moved Clarence's seatbelt back over him using her gravitational powers. "Stay."
"...fine. You've convinced me," Clarence sighed. "I'll stay and guide you. Dai, you're in charge of your team."
Dai's eyes brightened up immediately. "Wow, really?! Thanks, professor!"
"No fair!" Felice whined. "How come he gets to be the leader...?!"
"Please don't argue..." Ackley piped up. "...this is an unnecessary argument."
"Let's get going already," Carlen glanced towards his destination - an outdoor vent. By using his powers of teleportation, he could get the group through security and into the vent. "Everyone hold onto me - and make sure to hold on tight."
Everyone did as they were told, and instantly they were teleported to the outdoor vent.
Ackley used his plant manipulation powers to rip the vent open, helping others to reach the vent ('Don't step on the plants too hard! You'll hurt them!').
Once they were all crawling through the vent, they began speaking to calm their nerves.
"Hey, we should totally have superhero names or something," Red grinned widely. "I've been thinking of mine for a while - Essex Firenze."
Clarence began to speak to the group using his telepathy powers. "Is that what you kids do these days? You've all been watching way too many movies,"
"I think she's onto something," Carlen agreed. "I'll call myself...Shadow Fighter."
"But...you're not a shadow..." Dai looked very confused, before speaking again. "Not that anybody wants to hear, but I'll call myself...Mirion Quartz."
Felice quickly grabbed her glasses before they slipped off of her face. "If I have to come up with something, then I guess it'll be Illusionio."
"I've been thinking that..." Ackley smiled down at the plant in his hand. "...Nature Guardian sounds nice."
"Now for you, Ms. Yvette!" Carlen was interrupted before he could continue.
"I've already got one!" Chorused Luella. "Diamond Gravity...I came up with that one a few years ago."
"None of you are making a name for me," Clarence seemed a tad annoyed. "Every time someone does, they always compare me to a fictional character, even though are nothing alike!"
Luella shot a smirk towards the group. "He's talking about a guy from the X-men series. He gets so annoyed when someone compares Superhumans to them! Always going on and on at the fact that 'Superhumans and Mutants are two different things - our situation is not a comic book series!' Or something like that."
"Mutants?" Dai tilted his head. "What kind of mutants?"
"In the context of what we're talking about, they're mutated people, in which their mutations give them special powers," Luella explained. "But there's always something like that everywhere. Even the plot of having a school full of special kids is overused, in my opinion."
"All of this seems...familiar," Felice noted.
"Let's just move on," Ackley pointed to an opening in the ventilation system. "Look, there's the security room. I'll get my plant ready, and then we can waltz right through this place."
"Right, almost forgot about that," Carlen admitted, glancing towards Dai. "So, uh, if we die-"
"You won't," Clarence quickly told them. "For one, you have Dai. He can prevent anything serious with his powers. Two, you'll always get a warning of what's to come from me. And three, it's a bank holiday. Which means security will be lax."
"What's a bank holiday?" Dai asked. "Do banks have vacations or something?"
"We'll explain later, Dai..." Luella quickly changed the subject. "Now, Ackley, are you ready?"
Ackley nodded, telling his plant to start spreading its spores. Nobody really knew if the plant was actually doing something, but a large 'thud' near them told them otherwise.
They all proceeded to go to the security room, where they proceeded to hatch the next part of their plan.
If only it had worked out as planned...
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new aesthetic: when characters call out blatant bs or say 'I've got a bad feeling about this' right when something bad is about to happen
- Hatty