REVISED
"Don't get lost."
"Yes, dad. I'll be back before midnight."
If looks could have killed people, Mercer's glare would have erased him from existence, alongside half of the city with him. The short, blonde evolved wasted no time in getting out of the mansion as quickly as he can. All the while smiling ears to ears, not even once looking back.
After he closed the gate shut behind him, he looked around at his surrounding neighborhood, eyeing the street and other mansions in slight interest. There were the occasional pedestrian and car passing through, but that's about it.
What's really worth telling of is the chirping of birds from the nearby trees. It honestly relaxes him.
Today, he is going to scout out the place! He's not Mercer, who had the grim luck of consuming some New Yorkers who moved out of Detroit or simply had went to the place, giving him an out-of-date information of the area, but that still helped him, nonetheless. Damian never went far from New York, nor any of the Blackwatch or Gentek personnel he ate. Which means he has to do this the good old way by himself.
Well, not really all by himself, he just felt like he needs to start taking his responsibilities... something about growing up! Mercer wasn't convinced when he said that, and he's certainly not convinced about it himself. It sounds much better in his head, honestly.
Arguably, Damian was only sixteen... or was it seventeen? Maybe he was fifteen, he juggled the memories. And Apollo himself is not event a-tenth of that. His only real interaction so far was killing or consuming people, annoying Mercer and the other Evolveds, add in some spices of espionage and sabotage activities, and you have someone who would make Colonel Rooks wished he had hair just to rips it out with his bare hands out of frustration.
Let's just say he has done a lot of damages behind the scene. And, no. Talking with Alex doesn't count. Reasons.
Not wanting to look like a delinquent or someone that doesn't belongs here, he had shapeshifted into his previous apparel prior to talking to Mercer, back in his bomber jacket, shirt, jeans and everything. And of course, the crimson baggy hat. That always stay on. It looks pretty casual, and rather comfortable to put on. He made sure they all looked clean and tidy before going out, the last thing he wanted is to get a cop pulled on him because he looked like a troublemaker on a wealthy street such as Palmer Woods.
A truly discomforting truth in America. Hell, no matter what he wore, with the racial discrimination that these humans likes to get themselves into, if he was brown or black, they might aswell just drag his ass anyway.
"-just saying, but why should we wear those hideous uniform? Those old hags in the board always makes these stupid rules, revoke them, then add them again later, its so ridiculous!" Curious, He turned to look at the direction of the owner of the feminime voice, an approaching crowd of teenagers which is problably around the same age as him, he stepped aside by instinct as they comes closer, giving them room to walk past without a problem.
A small group of three in varying outfits, all girls. The shortest girl is wearing what seems to be a classic school getup; A brown football jacket that somehow fits her long, wavy brown hair. The blonde who stood in the middle is wearing a red blazer and a short skirt, while the tallest one who's accompanying the blonde on the left is wearing a regular turtleneck sweater and dark leggings. Looking at her long, raven hair with those dark outfit reminds him of Mercer.
Gloomy, but certainly not an Emo.
"That's Detroit to you, Valeria." The tallest girl replied with a bored look on her face. "They don't have to work as the whole thing is broken from the first place."
"Awww. Lighten up, you two!" The brownhead started with a grin that would rival his, "We're about to hit summer break, and you're still dying over some school policies?"
"Well, I suppose Olympus is still a better option than public school...."
By the time they noticed him and looked him over, he was doing the same. The brunette winked playfully while the Blonde just eyed him with an raised eyebrow. The raven-haired girl didn't even batted an eye. Walking past him as if he never even existed.
Ouch.
If Mercer knows, he'd be rubbing this on his face until the end of time. He literally is right infront of the mansion, not even one step away from the gate and this already happened.
Okay, he's just overreacting, moving on. He mentally shrugged to himself before walking toward the opposite direction that the girls went off to avoid them, he had stored the brochures inside his jacket and was planning to visit the schools after getting into a good vantage point to look over and memorize the local surroundings. Maybe he'd find several points of interests that he hadn't found in google maps.
Let's see what this city has to offer!
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He found solace on the top of the Renaissance Center, casually lying down on the edge of the tallest building in Michigan. The chilling breeze up here didn't bother him even the slightest, hell, this feels like a natural air conditioner.
Detroit, as it turns out, is a cold, desolate place that has a lot in common with New York... Zero. The East side of Michigan consists of multiple abandoned industrial complex and run-down suburbs which is in a much worse state than Manhattan itself during the outbreak. The Downtown was hardly notable; The streets were empty of life for the standards of a city at this size, not a lot of vehicle drives around save for the highways and more than half of the city looks like slums or ghettos. Wait, they are the same... He think?
He's going to need to do a lot of background research later, Find out how come Detroit had decayed so much... Damian personally believes that if an outbreak hits this place, maybe Uncle Sam will just napalm the place or save themselves the trouble with a nuclear payload. Because there's just not enough stakes in Detroit to make it worth saving.
Compared to New York, with just a glance... you can clearly tell which city is going to be actually saved, or cleansed.
Well, first objective done! Without a worry for the world, he stepped off the ledge and let gravity does the rest. Spreading both of his arms and legs, he glides down from the Renaissance Tower toward the closest rooftop as he heads west. By the first step after he landed, he used the momentum to help him accelerate and sprints all the way there, at least until he ran out fo buildings to cover him.
Oh, he missed the thrill of running and jumping in the streets or ontop buildings without a care of the world. Add running on walls, that sure is badass.... although he was pretty sure leaving nasty scars on the nearby buildings won't go well with Mercer (and his, technically) 'laying low' agenda.
Only when he reached the outskirts of downtown Detroit did he slowed down. He considered using the emergency stairs... until he decided jumping down into the alley is a much faster option and gracefully landed on both of his feet, leaving a small, barely noticable crater on the already old pacement. Patting down his clothes, he turned to see the widened, shocked eyes by what he could assume as a hobo which was resting beside a dumpster bin. They had an awkward, staring contest until the blonde throws his hand around in frustration.
"What? The stairs are too slow!" He grumbled, And just like that, he left the scene with a small tint of redness in his cheeks, pouting about his weight not being structure-friendly.
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If only he could see the insides of the schools, he could've narrowed down things. So far, he could only observe the exteriors of the schools he visited. It didn't gave him all the informations he really was hoping, but it would be a cold day in hell until he starts consuming people for something as trivial as this.
Would that makes things easier? Hell yeah. Would that be right, though? Good and bad are arguably relative, as both concept depends from the perspective of each individual. But he doesn't needs to have a degree in Philosophy for something as obvious as this.
He wondered if Mercer would had done the same.
Breaking off his line of thoughts, Damian looked back at his list, and read the name of the last highschool he would be scouting...
"...Olympus High." He mumbled, there was something about the name that...
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Apollo choked.
Olympus High?
Yeah, He needs to check this out, Zeus is going to love this.
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Hmm, one of those Independent schools for those who could afford to attend the place. Its located near the rich neighborhood, which says a lot to the place, considering that this is Detroit.
The place looks nice from the outside, and seeing the students that were hanging behind after-school living their lives made him a bit... It fills the blonde evolved with both wonder and hope.
"I wonder if I really can be like one of them..." Damian muttered quietly to himself, before deciding to head somewhere else.
To be honest? There's actually no point to determine which one is better or worse, because by the end of the day, they are equally worse. Oh, what did you say? They were renowned for their top academic records? If that's probably obtained from certain dealings or fucking their teachers for grade, then, yeah, pfft. What's the goddamn point?
America doesn't had the best education system, but that is no excuse to simply let it be until the end of days.
....Wow, he just went edgy, or Mercer, in this case. His mood was all bright and sparkling, the next moment, back to being a pessimistic, nihilist fuck.
Goddamn, life is a big mood.
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Detroit thrived through its limited industries, but expected that it's economic boom would last forever. It was also torn by racial conflict. Once reality settled in, people just left. Detroit became a shadow of its former self as attempts to revive the city leads to nowhere. Those who stayed had a much harder time trying to make a living out of the city compared to those in the countryside. Violence and corruption is rampant, and only a quarter of the high schoolers graduates, a failing school ssytem. And a quarter of the population is unemployed.