Inner Demon [T] [Most Original 1Q '12]

[Legend]

(OOC: Hey Wolf. Just saying that Supervegeta's character is in the same room as Cody. So I am inserting you after Supervegeta's appearance. It's no biggie. Just telling you :/)

The silence of the room was disturbed by the words of a young man. The voice was not familiar, requiring Cody to glance over to the owner of said voice. It was the money counter from the other room, whom Cody invited to join him in leaving Josh's room. The man was fairly well mannered and introduced himself as Edward Trent, however Cody couldn't help but notice that Edward was rather poor at making eye contact with his eyes wandering all over the place with occasional stops. Cody tried to track Edward's vision but stopped about halfway out of laziness. However, pure deduction based on the man's previous behaviors made it fairly easy to guess what captivated Edward's attention. Cody was observant and logical, coming from years of apathy and simply watching the world progress before him from his corner seat in any room. He was able to bring these skills into his few interests including philosophy and psychology. Put two and two together and you have a man who can read people fairly well.

"Cody," he answered Edward's question a moment or two later. As Cody answered, another individual stepped into the compartment. With bedhead, unique fashion including a headband around his neck, a Ho-oh t-shirt, poor posture and strangely piercing golden eyes, the man was certainly unique in his design. Cody shifted over to the seat next to Edward, allowing the man to take a window seat. Cody felt the desire from the man to avoid conversation with Edward and himself. It made sense for Cody and Edward to next to each other if they were to continue speaking. The newcomer took a window seat and stared out, mimicking Cody. "Let's hope he isn't like Josh," Cody said with a slight chuckle.

"So Edward, do you have any hobbies other than staring at my watch and necklace and counting money?" Cody asked, making eye contact with someone for the first time in a while.

 

[Aura Rift]

Josh sat alone in the compartment, a slight smile on his face, but his brow was furrowed and the hand that held the tissue to his nose was shaking slightly.

The pushy c.... no it wasn't fair to call her that was it? She, despite her anger at Joshs idiocy had shown him compassion in its most basic sense, she had complied when he had asked for help, he couldn't help but feel a grudge against her a slight hatred for her cruel words, but he knew that wasn't justified. The other boy, the one he had called emo, he had truly jumped to that occasion to freely, he had stood up and defended his honour against Joshs insults, it was in the form of hurling insults of his own which essentially brought him down to Joshs level, but he had still defended himself either way, Josh could respect that, but his words stung deep.

"Tried to make wisecracks. Tried to sound all intelligent. " he had said. Fair enough on the wisecracks but Josh knew he was intelegent, stupid slouchy boy didn't know what he was talking about on that front. *Pfffft... and I'M quick to jump to conclusions about people, kid needs to buy a mirror and take a look at his own shortcomings.* Josh thought.

"He focused on rather simple things when analyzing a person based on first impressions." Josh chuckled slightly to himself. *Delusional child, judging first impressions is essential to reading others, you produce an idea of the kind of person in question and expand on the idea as you get to know them, eventually knowing them inside out, perhaps I was a little to open with my ideas but... oh well*

"Good bye, good sir. Good luck at school. You'll need it," Josh stopped as he recalled this part of the boys incesent ranting. He then sighed deeply. *I know I will.* Josh thought, he felt tears brimming in the corners of his eyes but he wouldn't allow himself to cry. *All in all my friend, your analysis was, almost accurate. I'm impressed, you... pass.*

The third boy was indifferent, almost slightly understanding though Josh knew he didn't really care. *Needs further probing.* Josh thought wiping, tears from his watery eyes in defiance of their falling.

Josh pulled the wallet from his pocket, there was a small note with a parcel inside. Josh opened the note and read.

"Dear Josh,

Because I know you too well and know that it's not possible to fit all your belongings into that tiny rucksack. For a while I know I've been your only real friend, that may seem a little sad but you've never met these people before, so try to make new friends and everything will be fine, I promise!

Mom~"

Josh opened the parcel to find a wad of money inside, at least half of his mothers avains were in here.

Josh didn't block the tears now, he didn't sob or cry or winge, it was more like a leak in the emotionless shell he was building, in fact his face was built into a warm smile.

"I'm sorry Mom, but making friends never really is an option for me, I'm too much of a jerk." Josh laughed.

To think though, that whole situation had occured not because he wanted to test anyone or make a good impression... but because he wanted to help a younger boy, he wanted to make the bully feel bad for the cruelty he showed. How dare he? HOW DARE HE?!

Josh clenched his fists and felt his hands begin to glow slightly as balls of green energy, tinted with black, formed in his hands.

"I... hate... him. I hate all of them." Josh muttered to himself.

A few minutes past and Josh had calmed down. The energy dispersing from his hands and his eyes showing sadness.

He stood up and left the carriage, his arms folded and his face stained with tears, there was still some dried blood just below his nose. He saw the kid he helped down the hallway, he was talking to some kids his own age. He saw Josh and smiled. Josh smiled back.

"So worth it." He murmured lowly to himself.

***

Josh stood there against the wall pondering, looking around, the people from the compartment he had been in had moved on and were talking to different people. However no matter how hard he searched he couldn't find any seats, even the place he had sat just moments ago was now full. He saw the girl who had given him the tissues, he reached into his rucksack and pulled out the still relatively full box. He had long since thrown the blood-stained one into the bin.

He approached the girl, now talking to a musician fellow, Josh saw him as the "cool" guy musician type, but he now knew better than to blurt it out. He approached, placing the tissues in the seat beside the girl.

"Thank you, I appreciate your kindness despite my rude behavior, for which I apologise." Josh said, he felt his pride hurting but he ignored it, he was about to leave, but he stopped momentarily and turned to the musician.

"I think you... I think your guitar is cool. It sounds nice." Josh left the compartment.

He walked down the hallway a bit and finnaly saw an empty seat, however the room contained the two boys from the previous room, the moneyman and defiant emo. Josh sighed, he didn't want to think of them like that, they seemed like alright people despite the em.... shaggy brown haired boys obvious dislike of him, there was another in the room, taking up the third seat, he had a very "colourful" fashion sense a complete contrast to Joshs dull tones, however Josh actually kind of liked his style, it seemed adventerous and in your face and Josh found that kinda cool. In the end Josh made up his mind to do his best to make ammends, he swallowed his gut and entered the room. He sat down in the vacant seat next to the colourful boy and immediately began rummaging through his rucksack. He pulled out two small glass pendants shaped like a lightbulb, it felt very cheesy and Josh had never actually used them before but he tossed one onto the lap of both boys from the cabin beforehand.

"Those are Sunnyshore city light pendants. I brought them along as I was almost sure I'd have use for them, as I knew that I'd upset someone. Well... I mean it's not like this is just a chore for me but... well... *sigh* they're meant to be given as a sign of friendship and respect but I'm giving them as a sign of apology, especially to you, ehm.... boy with shaggy brown hair, I didn't quite catch your name. This, as you might expect is not something I usually do. But I was in the wrong insulting you as I did and well... all I'm asking is you please let me sit here, I don't actually have a seat, they're pretty much all taken, you don't even have to interact with me if you don't want to. Honestly considering the fact you can't stop me sitting her anyways I thought... well I'm trying to be nice. I've apologised to the girl from earlier aswell, though I didn't have a pendant to give her. However I'm not apologising to the rich snob, thats where I draw the line. I guess I'm saying sorry, I was wrong in what I did, to you two and the girl and I'm sorry." Josh realised he had been ranting and was now short of breath.

He stopped talking then half-waiting for a response half-thinking about wh the hell he was doing what he was doing. This wasn't like him, at all. Though he supposed he didn't want to make enemies. *Heh, at least not yet.* Josh thought to himself.

 

[SV]

The guy opposite Edward introduced himself as Cody. Before anything else could be spoken, someone joined them. Edward looked up at the newcomer and observed his features. The most obvious thing that he noticed was his strange eye color. There was something obvious about his eyes that reminded him of money. Edward stared at them for a moment, and wondered, in a hypothetical situation, if he plucked them out, would they sell very high in the black market back home? Probably not, and the thought of carrying around eyes in his pocket make him shiver.

Cody moved over to the same side Edward sat, allowing for the newcomer to sit across from them. "Let's hope he isn't like Josh," He said with a chuckle. Edward looked at him for a moment to remember who he was talking about. He usually doesn't retain information of thing invaluable for too long, but suddenly remembered, and in a delayed reaction, gave out a small chuckle as well. There was silence for a moment, before Cody spoke again, looking at Edward as he did.

"So Edward, do you have any hobbies other than staring at my watch and necklace and counting money?"

Edward stared long back at Cody. He thought in his mind what a fool he was for staring at the objects in question for a while. He was always a bit too greedy sometimes, even for his own good. He couldn't help it. He always wanted more. But Edward wasn't flat out staring to make it too noticeable. It would have to take someone reasonably observant.

Observe. That's the first step, it always is.

In any case, Cody is certainly more than meets the eye. Who knows? Edward might be able to...

His train of thought was interrupted by the kid from before. Josh was his name. He came in, and sat in the empty seat next to the boy with gold coin eyes. He then gave Edward and Cody a pair of pendants, and went into an apology. Edward stopped paying full attention at the words 'Sunnyshore City light pendants'. Instead, he observed the pendant as he held it up by the chain in front of his face, attempting to determine it's worth. No matter what it's price, it was a nice gesture.

Edward tuned back in to hear the last of what Josh was saying. "...I was wrong in what I did, to you two and the girl and I'm sorry." Edward knew he was referring to them two, but didn't recall exactly what it was that Josh did that was wrong to Edward, but for the price of the pendant, Edward decided to play along so as to keep the pendant for himself.

"Hmm...very well, I accept your apology, though I was still hurt quite a bit by your behavior...it went straight to my heart. Perhaps...if you had anything additional to offer, I may recover from the traumatic experience inflicted upon me..."

Edward turned back to Cody, and brought up the topic before. "I'll talk to you about it later." He said quickly. "So, where do you hail from?" He asked, before adding one more thing. "Also, why did you decide to come in the first place?" The second question was genuine. A little while ago, something very strange began to happen to Edward, which ultimately chained in a set of events that led to him leaving for Hope High School. He wondered if any of the other students were in a similar position, or if this indeed was not the work of 'lady luck', and was all simple chance. But could it be?

 

[Legend]

Before Edward answered Cody and in a tale twisted with bitter irony, Josh walked in. Cody verbally sighed, barely remembering that he flat out told him he didn't like him. Cody was rarely one to waste words or lie. Conceiving and then telling a lie was too much work. In fact, Cody rather not speak if it meant not being honest. Silence was easy. Never required much effort.

Regardless Josh attempted to be peaceful, not blurting out anything obnoxious. It was rather out of the character Cody had constructed in his head. He had assumed Josh was rather hostile and likely volatile. Easily stirred, and possibly violent. Socially awkward, probably the result of a poor childhood. Whether his rude nature is a result of that is questionable as Josh could possibly have a deeper disdain for humans in general.

Tossed into his lap was a perplexing necklace, shaped like a lightbulb or something. It was readily apparent that it was a peace offering as an apology quickly followed. Cody didn't recognize it, but he barely heard the phrase "Sunnyshore City light pendants." City barely rang a bell. Cody shrugged at it. Could be worth something. Cody gently placed into one of his bags side pockets, unsure if he wanted to wear it. It was probable, no likely, that is a facade. Or a test. Cody didn't care, nor act on it. Instead he went along with it.

Edward spoke to Josh shortly, trying to squeeze more kind gestures out of him. It was this point that Cody painted a picture of Edward. Horribly selfish and concerned with monetary values of objects or cold hard cash. Desire to acquire said wealth is plentiful. Likely came from a middle class family and learn the value of money early and quickly. Potential thief in the making, if not one already. Would make good salesmen and/or politician.

Cody took a brief turn to speak: "Yeah, uh, thanks. You can call me Cody." He was unsure of what to say being caught off guard to say the least.

Edward turn backed to Cody soon after, preparing to speak. Cody hoped he would go back to the topic from before Josh's reentrance."I'll talk to you about it later." Edward said quickly, probably to shift to a new with haste. "So, where do you hail from? Also, why did you decide to come in the first place?"

Cody pondered the question briefly, wanting to conceive a short answer. Small chit-chat was to be expected but still quite tedious: "Castelia City, Unova. I came here because I got the letter in the mail. Maybe they saw my test scores. Not quite sure. Hated parents. Wanted to leave. Left. Took the credit card. What's your story?" Cody fired back, curious if Edward's was any different.

 

[Saturated Hue]

In another life, I would be your girl
We could keep our promises, be us against the world
In another life, I would make you stay
So I don't have to say you were the one that got—

Deleted.

Since when did this mainstream crap get into her cellphone? The answer to that question, she cannot fathom. I don't give a rat's ass if this song was #1 on Billboard. What kinds of idiots listen to this ****? Alexis thought to herself. She scrolled through her songs list. Luckily, it was sterile from other songs—pardon, noises that inflict bloody ears to the listener. Annoyed, she rapidly rolled the trackball with her thumb, picked a random playlist, and played it.

When she was just a girl
She expected the world
But it flew away from her reach, so
She ran away in her sleep...

Much better. Somewhat satisfied, Alexis turned her head and gazed out the window. It was snowing in Snowpoint—there's a surprise! Alexis couldn't see much beyond the falling snowdust, aside from rolling hills covered by a thick blanket of snow. There were brief glimpses of trees and bushes—if Alexis weren't mistaken, they still had their leaves attached—but they were quickly blurred by even more snowdust. It was hardly surprising, since the train was moving at quite a speed.

Suddenly, the creaking sound of the compartment door opening disturbed her silent observation. She thought nothing of it, and continued to stare at the whiteness outside through the window. However, her observation was yet again interrupted when the jock from earlier. His eyes—now Alexis could see that they were actually heterochromatic—registered surprise.

"Oh, didn't see you there," he said somewhat nonchalantly. His deep voice prompted the freshmen around him to look at him, and though they immediately withdrew their attention, in fear of being treated like the unlucky fellow who had a run-in with him eariler.

Alexis's reply was nothing more than a grunt and a nod.

He sat opposite of her, flashing a brief smile, before he opened a book and began to read it. Alexis's eyes fell on the title on the cover. Plato, Timaeus. Now it was Alexis's turn to be surprised. He was into fiction? Granted, it was one that was actually able to put a strain on one's mental capabilities, but still, he seemed to be the type that revelled in realism. Alexis decided to ignore that, though. He didn't seem interested in making the first move towards a conversation, so Alexis took the liberty to do just that.

"So, the name's Alexis. What's yours?" Alexis said. It was a standard conversation starter, but it was still something.

Before he could reply, however, the compartment creaked open again and the ordinary guy with the not-so-ordinary watch came in. He stopped when he spotted the guy Alexis just addressed, and quickly said,"Sorry to bother you two. I will be quick. Rich Jock…guy. Nice punch. The punk deserved it. Enjoy Plato and good luck in school." He moved onto the next compartment.

Not an hour on the train and he already punched someone. While on most people's books it would make a bad impression, to Alexis, it was quite the opposite. Her interest took a sharp turn for the better.

"So, as I was saying. Your name?"

 

[Skymin]

Atom Watcher - Back on my Feet

Atom's face followed Liz's frown as her face grew slightly red and she returned with a sharp "no". Was it something he said? His chords grew a little odd, looping four minor chords over a few times. She didn't frown for long, her face relaxing. Atom smiled back as she talked again.

"Why? Do you only go for good girls?"

He was about to reply with some suggestive remark when a boy interrupted them, handing Liz a box of tissues. Who was this guy, her brother? His face looked a little weird and was twinged an odd colour. Maybe he was the kid who he heard got punched. Or gave the punch and receive one. Or maybe he was just sick. Whatever, he was interrupting the moment.

He approached the girl, now talking to a musician fellow, Josh saw him as the "cool" guy musician type, but he now knew better than to blurt it out. He approached, placing the tissues in the seat beside the girl.

"Thank you, I appreciate your kindness despite my rude behaviour, for which I apologise," apologising didn't sound very brotherly, so he was probably one of the people Liz said she had "introduced" herself too. Sure, it was nice to come apologise to the girl but what was redemption going to do? Was he stealing Atom's thunder? But the boy wasn't done yet, now focusing on Atom. "I think you... I think your guitar is cool. It sounds nice."

"Thanks. Get out," though Atom really didn't have to tell the guy, he had left as soon as he had finished talking. He turned back to Liz, continuing to play.

"Good girls? They're usually pretty boring, y'know?" That was true. You never saw movies about good girls. You saw movies about good girls doing bad things. "What's the point of being good when it's no fun at all?"​

 

[Swolligator]

Kieran Davis: Introductions and Greetings.

Kieran was happy to be away from the others, but he had barely gotten into his book when the girl opposite him spoke up, "So, the name's Alexis. What's yours?"

He hadn't really intended to talk to anyone on this journey, simply sitting reading Plato and ignoring the people around him was perfectly fine; except this girl was different from the rest. From her look, she probably wasn't as upper class as he was, but she was definitely close enough warrant at least an introduction.

"The name's Davis, Kieran Davis. Nice to meet you Alexis." he spoke, closing his book and replacing it in his bag. Motioning to the Elekid sizing Alexis up, "this is my pure-bred Elekid, Alec." Alec gave a small cry, signing that he liked Alexis, although, given the chance, he would befriend most people.

"So I guess the hot topic on everyone's mind would be each other's back stories. So what's yours?" Now that Alexis had started the conversation, Kieran felt somehow obliged to continue it on, despite the awkwardness of the question.

"Maybe this might end up somewhere..." he thought to himself, but quickly dismissed it, he was here to learn, to become brighter, not to find a girlfriend and make friends.

 

[Saturated Hue]

"So, the name's Alexis. What's yours?"

Alexis thought she saw a brief moment where the boy's face showed annoyance. He was trying to read his book, and Alexis bothering him with questions wasn't exactly helping his case. Whoops, oh well.

"The name's Davis. Kieran Davis. Nice to meet you, Alexis," he said. Now that the book was out of the way, Alexis could finally get a good look at his face. Square jaw, prominent cheekbones, stubble. All good signs of a jock. "So I guess the hot topic on everyone's mind would be about each other's back stories. So what's yours?"

"Eh, you know. Parents went bankrupt, boarding school. Can't be the first time you've heard that one," Alexis replied, before taking a sip from her soda. "Lucky me, though, the school had plenty of scumbags I could mooch off of. Or if that doesn't work, I just take the dough by force. Height is benevolent for intimidation, you know." Alexis took another sip. "Your turn?"

 

[Swolligator]

Kieran Davis

Kieran was about to reply when the apathetic kid from the previous compartment stopped by his door and stuck his head in, "Sorry to bother you two. I will be quick. Rich Jock…guy. Nice punch. The punk deserved it. Enjoy Plato and good luck in school." Kieran was a bit taken back, not many people congratulated him for beating someone up, they would often look at him like something was wrong with him, but they were the ones with the problems, not himself.

"Eh, you know. Parents went bankrupt, boarding school. Can't be the first time you've heard that one," Alexis replied, before taking a sip from her soda. "Lucky me, though, the school had plenty of scumbags I could mooch off of. Or if that doesn't work, I just take the dough by force. Height is benevolent for intimidation, you know." Alexis took another sip. "Your turn?"

Kieran watched her talk, her speech mannerism, her accent screamed of upper class, yet she had just openly confessed to him that she was less than what she appeared to be, and Kieran began to have second thoughts about this girl. If her parent's didn't have money.... Shaking his head, he jumped off that train of thought and back to the conversation at hand; replying to her question.

"I got sick of the high school I was at in Ecruteak, was filled with people trying to be what they weren't. I got sick of it because the teachers knew nothing and the students were boring....I wanted somewhere suited for me. Hope High seemed like the right place, but I am starting to think maybe not..." he trailed off recollecting the punch he gave the kid called Josh.

As soon as he finished talk, Kieran realised that he did not have anything to talk about with Alexis, not that he didn't want to, but because nothing came to mind. Instead, he chose to sit awkwardly opposite her, hoping that she would possibly ask him another question about himself or talk about herself more.

 

[Mira]

Elizabeth smirked as he started to respond. Yes... He's interested, she thought with satisfaction. There were few things she found more satisfying than when her plans succeeded.

Her basking in the glow of her social success was cut short by the appearance of one of the last people she wanted to see at that moment. It was cow boy, dropping her packet of tissues on the seat beside her. He began going off on what was obviously some sort of apology, but Elizabeth stopped listening after the first few words. She sat glaring at him, very unhappy at being interrupted. The boy said something about Atom's guitar.

"Thanks. Get out," was his only response.

She covered her mouth and stifled a laugh. I definitely made the right choice... She watched as the boy scampered away to bother people elsewhere. Hopefully, he would start to get the picture that nobody really wanted him around. Poor loser.

"Good girls? They're usually pretty boring, y'know?"

Elizabeth looked at Atom with a dry smile. She thought back to her sister and all of her preppy friends. Annoying. Yeah... I know that pretty well.

"What's the point of being good when it's no fun at all?" he asked.

The girl grinned, deeply enjoying her conversation with him. "My thoughts exactly. It's why I was so happy to get away from them in the first place." Elizabeth leaned forward, taking in his piercings, tattoos and scars at a closer range. "Hmm... You don't exactly strike me as much of a 'good boy,' either. Am I right?"

 

[SV]

"Castelia City, Unova."

Edward raised an eyebrow as Cody mentoned Unova. He apparently came a long distance to get here in Snowpoint. Edward wondered how he managed to get all the way here on his own.

"I came here because I got the letter in the mail. Maybe they saw my test scores. Not quite sure. Hated parents. Wanted to leave. Left. Took the credit card. What's your story?"

Edward frowned. He was expecting a different answer. He was hoping that this whole trip was for something, although he didn't exclude that it wasn't, but the chances certainly weren't looking good. It seemed that all this school was for now was, well, a school. Edward looked down at his wrists, and shrugged. He took one look at the other two passengers before looking back at Cody. By his eye movement, he clearly didn't feel like talking to much in front of the other two.

"I'm not sure why I'm here yet. Lady luck sent me here, and now I'm trying to figure out if it's a false sign or not...." His voice trailed off, but he continued speaking after a moment of silence. "...You look like you know what you're doing. What do you say we stick together while we're here? Might make the time here a little more bearable. Besides, we can learn something from each other..." Edward said, as he put the pendant Josh gave him in his back pocket.

 

[Legend]

"I'm not sure why I'm here yet. Lady luck sent me here, and now I'm trying to figure out if it's a false sign or not...." Edward took a brief pause. "...You look like you know what you're doing. What do you say we stick together while we're here? Might make the time here a little more bearable. Besides, we can learn something from each other..."

Cody snickered a bit. Him? Know what he is doing? Bah! Cody never bothered to think that deeply to actually know what he is doing for any length of time. Planning took much work. And lady luck? Cody never listened too much thought into luck to look at it as anything much than the element of chance that was often out of anyone's control. Cody predicted now that Edward was possibly spiritual with his own set of religious beliefs or at least with his own brand of philosophy guiding his life. The fact he used the phrase "false sign" took aim to the former, but the latter was more plausible at least with the given evidence. Cody had not met too many religious individuals in his life to warrant the silver of a chance that Edward that was himself. Especially, if Edward was indeed a potential criminal. Religion and crime traditionally do not go together.

Cody shook his head from thought and returned to the task at hand. He had a conversation to continue, even if it was getting old quick: "I have no idea what I am doing," Cody laughed lightly. "I just go with the flow, man. Take life as it comes. Best way to live. But yeah, we should stick together. Could be fun. I am curious as to what you could possibly learn from me though. I got nothing to offer," Cody said with a light sigh.

It was partially true. Cody was never one to consider himself skilled at particularly anything, except maybe video games. Cody considered himself a bum through and through and with that in mind, Cody carried himself a certain sense of humility. Humility bordering a lack of self confidence in fact.

 

[Wolf in the Rain]

The buizel slowly fell into sleep, much to the envy of his trainer, his head coming to a rest on Soul's shoulder. The trainer couldn't believe Takeo was able to fall asleep while the other two people who shared the compartment with them squealed like schoolgirls about how they were going to be the bestest of friends forever. Soul had to suppress a gag as he gazed out the window, doing his absolute best to ignore them.

His phone was in his bag, right? A little music to block out the mindless chatter would make this whole trip a lot more enjoyable.

As Soul went to reach for the duffle bag, Takeo shifted in his sleep, falling off Soul's shoulder, his head falling and resting on his trainer's lap. The rest of his body stretched across the remainder of the seat. With a sigh, Soul uncrossed his arms, scratching the Pokemon on the top of the head.

<Thanks, Takeo.> Soul mentally groaned as the Pokemon stretched in his sleep. With his Pokemon on his lap, he had no chance of reaching his bag.

The next 3 hours were going to be hell.

 

[Karma Police]

"Holy crap... what have I gotten myself into?"

Terrance pushed through the massive crowd, which mostly comprised of rich, arrogant kids. Exactly the kind of people Terrance detested. He grimaced as he kept banging into kids showing off their 'oh so awesome and expensive' possessions. Once or twice, he even managed to make these people stumble and drop these items, and Terrance would simply mutter some fake apologies and walk away with a satisfied grin. If Terrance had been some normal kind of guy, they probably would have attacked him or cursed him, but looking at such a massive wall of pure muscle in front of them, the kids probably would have been happy they didn't break any bones along with their items.

When the massive train came into view, he stopped and admired the mechanical marvel. For most other people, it probably would have been an antique of sorts, but for Terrance, who had never traveled in a train, it was as if he had just spotted Arceus. He stayed still for a moment or two, staring at the train, but at the same time scanning the crowds as well. He could easily sense fear among almost every person in the station, but this definitely wasn't the fear he was used to. This wasn't the 'scared of death' kind of fear, but the kind that people felt when they were about to go somewhere new. The fear, of what lay ahead in their journey. Since this was a new concept for Terrance, he was definitely not able to absorb or obtain any kind of power here.

"And anyways, why would I need power in a station full of nerds anyways?" He thought with a smirk. He finally started to move on in his journey when he realized he was getting a bit late. As he continued to walk towards the train, he almost knocked an old lady down. At first he didn't realize that he had stumbled into an old lady, as he said, "Hey, watch where you're going, you son of a..."

When the tiny old lady came into view, he quickly apologized, and helped her back onto her feet, hoping she hadn't heard him insult her. The woman brushed the dust off her already dirty and old uniform, and finally looked at Terrance, which was a bit of a problem as she had to crane her neck all the way up.

"Sorry about that dear, going to Hope Academy?" She said, smiling sweetly. Terrance was pretty sure it was a fake smile and she was pissed like hell at him for not watching where HE was going and then cursing her. Oh well.

"Well, there's no other reason I'd be at this dump, would there?" He said, half chuckling. The woman didn't appreciate the joke about her workplace. She held out her hand towards him, and Terrance looked at her, confused. She raised her eyebrows, looking at him as if the gesture was an obvious one.

"Ticket, please." She finally said, sighing. Terrance snapped his fingers.

"Ah, right, here you go." he tapped his pockets, feeling around for the small piece of paper, and finally tracked it down to his left pocket. He took it out, and examined it for a second.

SNOWPOINT TRAIN STATION
BOARDING PASS. ONE WAY TRIP.
TRAIN 1337
Issued To: TERRANCE PETERSON
Departure: 12:00 PM, AUGUST 13, 2016
Arrival @ Location: 3:00 PM.

One way trip... no way back. Terrance still thought all this was a big mistake. If his mother hadn't forced him to come here, he probably would've been hanging around at home, ruling the streets after he had done away with his gang. Probably the place had been for his academically hard working brother, who had probably wanted to get this kind of education all his life? He still didn't get how they had chosen him. They probably would have done a background check, didn't they notice that for half his life he hadn't even attended school? Or that maybe, he had spent some time behind bars for murdering people? This was all a big mistake... and seemed awfully off to him.

Terrance snapped back into the real world when he heard a throat being cleared. He looked at the old lady move her hand impatiently, and Terrance nodded, handing over his ticket. The woman quickly tore it in half, and handed over one of the torn pieces of paper to him. He quickly pocketed the stub and left for the train, leaving the old woman with the dirty makeup behind.

Terrance immediately began looking for a compartment to sit in as soon as he entered the train. Unfortunately, all the compartments were filling very quickly, and were filled with weirdos. There was a compartment with an emo and a kid with a pokemon in his lap, there was one with a kid playing some songs on his guitar with a girl. He kept walking through, peeping into compartments, looking around for someplace interesting to sit in.

He passed a small group of people chatting in hushed tones. Apparently they were talking about some rich kid who had done something, and Terrance felt he could sense fear in their voices. He walked over to them, and asked them, "Hey, what happened?"

All the faces turned towards him, and one of them answered his question. "Apparently some rich kid punched a guy. Pretty huge guy. He's sitting in that compartment with some girl." The kid pointed at the compartment, and Terrance smiled.

"Looks like I found which compartment I'm gonna sit in..." Terrance thought. He entered the compartment, and saw two people inside, sitting opposite each other. One of them was a pretty girl, who in Terrance's opinion, looked like a ****. He had seen a lot of girls like her in his neighborhood, those who tried to impress the rich kids with cheap makeup and perfumes and stuff. This one looked exactly like a higher level of that kind of people. The other guy was similar to Terrance, huge, tall, muscular, just like a jock. No wonder he had punched that kid. Terrance smirked, this guy looked interesting to him... probably he should have a small chat with him.

"Craaaaazy crowd outside, eh?" He said, as he dumped his bag underneath a seat. He settled into the seat next to the girl, and looked at the rich jock curiously.

"So, you're the guy who punched that kid, huh?"

 

[Skymin]

Atom Watcher - The (Shipped) Gold Standard

"My thoughts exactly. It's why I was so happy to get away from them in the first place," Liz had leaned in further as Atom continued to play. He was enjoying what he was doing. He was enjoying what she was saying. If he was at his old school then tonight, they would go to a party and make fools of themselves. Then he would spend the night at a random person's house, talk to her over the weekend. They would be a thing for a few weeks and then they would fight, it would fizzle out and it would all be over. That's how Atom worked. Though this was a new school, you couldn't just hang out on the weekends at someone's place. "Hmm... You don't exactly strike me as much of a 'good boy,' either. Am I right?"

"Yeah, no," he said, lifting his right hand off from strumming to wave his fingers about, letting the skin that had grown over the scars shine like new skin did. "I kinda got... kicked out of high school." He stifled a small laugh as he continued. It wasn't a 'kind of'. It was a 'yes, you were caught at a party with alcohol and some kids had drugs and you totally were thrown out of school for it. Then you were totally put under house arrest which you also failed.'

He wasn't terribly skilled at following the rules.​

 

[Aura Rift]

Josh smiled at the two, Edward and Cody, as they accepted his gifts, it wasn't much of an apology, but Josh thought it was a step in the right direction at least. He heard Edward ask about living locations, and Josh tensed for a moment, he had technically lived the last few months of his life in Sunnyshores home for the mentally challenged due to his killing of his own father. Josh laughed to himself, oh how it had been worth it, it was comedic justice, in a way, that out of alot of people on this train Josh was probably the least likely to have stabbed someone to death, yet he was probably one of the only ones who had, and almost certainly the only one who had done such to his own father.

"Castelia City, Unova. I came here because I got the letter in the mail. Maybe they saw my test scores. Not quite sure. Hated parents. Wanted to leave. Left. Took the credit card. What's your story?" Cody answered before Josh got the chance, however he could sympathise Codys story, after all he had hated one of his parents like Cody hated both of his, however the only difference between Josh and Cody on that front was that Josh had taken the miserable b***ards life. However now Josh had an even harder question to answer.

Obviously he couldn't blurt out and say "Oh my story? I killed my own father in a fit of hatred and have spent the last few months in a mental asylum?" He'd have to make something up.

However he'd have a bit more time to speak as Edward explained his own reasons for being in that cramped little compartment.

"I'm not sure why I'm here yet. Lady luck sent me here, and now I'm trying to figure out if it's a false sign or not...." His voice trailed off, but he continued speaking after a moment of silence.

"...You look like you know what you're doing. What do you say we stick together while we're here? Might make the time here a little more bearable. Besides, we can learn something from each other..."

*Sticking together?* Josh hadn't really thought about it, he had always been a bit of a loner, but these dudes seemed alright, however he didn't exactly know if the offer was outstretched to him... but he was going to accept it anyway, he however continued listening for a moment as Cody spoke.

"I have no idea what I am doing," Cody laughed lightly. "I just go with the flow, man. Take life as it comes. Best way to live. But yeah, we should stick together. Could be fun. I am curious as to what you could possibly learn from me though. I got nothing to offer," Cody said with a light sigh.

"I wouldn't be so quick to discount yourself as someone a person could learn from. The experiences we encounter in life are unique to each individual so everyone always has a story to tell, and every story always carries a lesson, I can tell our lives have been quite different, all of us, and thats what makes learning from each other so valuable, by combining and sharing experiences, we combine and share our wisdom and intelegence." Josh said.

"Well at least thats what I believe..." As Josh finished stating his point he also finished creating a fake backstory in his mind.

"In response to your questions, Twinleaf town... I was raised in Twinleaf town but recently moved to Sunnyshore city..." Josh knew that only half-lying always made things much more believable.

"I'm here because... ummm, well my father was killed, in an electrical malfunction very recently..." Josh did his best but he couldn't stop himself scowling as he uttered the words "my father". " and my mother been low on money so funding for my education has been quite hard to come by... so the scholarship was the perfect oppurtunity for me to learn and for my mother to have less pressure and one less mouth to feed. But in honesty what I'm really looking for is a fresh start, an escape from the life I had before, a life where I wasn't happy, I'm hoping that here and now I can change that... and well... thats it really. Nothing more to tell, my life hasn't really been to out of the ordinary. I think sticking around you guys would be a good experience that would definetely benefit me, oh and I mean that as a compliment in case you guys took it the wrong way." Josh sighed.

"But I don't even know what this place looks like... what about you guys, seen any pictures or anything? It seems a little suspicious to me." Josh stated.

 

[Mira]

(OOC: Train's finally moving x3)

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, hiding her surprise. She was more impressed than anything, but she still seldom heard about people getting kicked out of school where she lived. They were all too scared about getting in trouble with their mommies to do anything warranting expulsion. Elizabeth herself had managed to get herself suspended for a couple of days, but that was an entirely different story.

"Kicked out? How'd you manage to do that?" she asked, genuinely curious. Her mind began running away with the possibilities. Did he start a food fight? No, that would be a few days out tops. Punched out a teacher? Probably not... people went to jail for that, and not being able to go to High School anymore would be the last thing on their minds.

"ATTENTION PASSENGERS. PLEASE TAKE YOUR SEATS AND PREPARE FOR DEPARTURE. WE WILL BE ARRIVING AT HOPE HIGH SCHOOL IN APPROXIMATELY THREE HOURS. WE HOPE THAT YOU ENJOY YOUR RIDE WITH US TODAY."

The girl smiled to herself as the strangely chipper voice of an obvious smoker (the gender was very well obscured by the rasp) cut off. Everyone was already on the train, which meant that they all already had their seats. She glanced around their little section, pleased to find that the two had it to themselves. My day just keeps getting better and better.

She glanced out of the window, squinting at the train station. It was beginning to clear out, and she didn't see her mother anywhere. With any luck her mother simply gave up on trying to get her the suitcase, but that seemed rather unlikely. Regardless... There was no way that woman would have her way. She was determined never to wear that uselessly frilly clothing. Not in a million years.

Elizabeth returned her attention to Atom and smiled. "Do you mind if I sit next to you? The sun's in my eyes."

 

[SV]

"I have no idea what I am doing," Cody said with a laugh. "I just go with the flow, man. Take life as it comes. Best way to live. But yeah, we should stick together. Could be fun. I am curious as to what you could possibly learn from me though. I got nothing to offer,"

Edward was about to tell Cody that the world was full of surprises, and one often would learn the most unusual things from the most unlikely people. At least, in his life and profession, that was the case. However, Josh spoke before he had a chance to. In essence, he said basically what Edward would have said, the only problem being that the conversation didn't really involve him. Edward looked at Josh while he was speaking with a blank stare.

"Well at least that's what I believe..." He finished. Josh then went on to tell his reason for being here, and where he was from and all that junk. Edward leaned back as he look at him, trying his best not to seem completely uninterested, which he was. Josh had inadvertently placed himself into a conversation that was really only between Edward and Cody. But the more was to come.

"I think sticking around you guys would be a good experience that would definitely benefit me, oh and I mean that as a compliment in case you guys took it the wrong way."

Edward cocked an eyebrow, and crosses his arms across his chest as he observed Josh.

"Err...Josh, was it?" Edward began, as he scratched the back of his head and continued to speak. "Yea...the offer to stick together was only for Cody here. Thanks again for the necklace, and all, and don't take this the wrong way, as I mean no offense by it...but you really seem like you're too much of an a** to really be around. And if I have to go back to f*****g school again, there's no way I'm going to spend it around people like you. So...yea...good luck getting that fresh start here, but if you're looking for a friend, maybe you could try the dude to your right..." He said, as he pointed to the third boy with golden eyes sitting next to Josh. "...because I really want no part to do with you."

As he finished, Edward and Josh exchanged a long glance with each other before Edward shrugged as he looked at him, giving a half smile. Again, it wasn't that he disliked Josh, but more that he knew the type of people that would end up giving him a big headache, or too much notoriety. Cody was simple, laid back, and never one to get in the spotlight. Perfect person to know.

"ATTENTION PASSENGERS. PLEASE TAKE YOUR SEATS AND PREPARE FOR DEPARTURE. WE WILL BE ARRIVING AT HOPE HIGH SCHOOL IN APPROXIMATELY THREE HOURS. WE HOPE THAT YOU ENJOY YOUR RIDE WITH US TODAY."

"Ah, finally." Edward said, laying his head back against the wall for a moment as the train prepared to begin moving. Edward suddenly shifted slightly in his seat for a moment as he recalled the announcement.

Three hours..., he thought, There's NO way I'm sitting here for three hours. Hmm, there's a lot to do on board, though, lots of people with full pockets and bags.

As Edward's mind began racing with the thoughts of the possibilities of the many items he could acquire on board, he inadvertently brought his eyes to Cody, and thought for a moment. He wondered if he should ask for a moment, before deciding that the worst possible outcome would be rather trivial, at least in Edward's eyes. Besides, Cody might find it quite fun. He leaned in and whispered in Cody's ear as to not allow Josh or the golden-eyed kid to hear.

"Hey, wanna see something cool? Leave with me in about twenty minutes when the train's been moving for a while."

He wondered what Cody would say in response, but either way, whether with Cody or without him, there was no way he was staying in the compartment for three whole hours sitting with Josh and another kid who keeps his Pokemon out as if to cramp up the space even more.

 

[Swolligator]

Kieran Davis

As if the awkward silence wasn't bad enough, a rather large guy came barging into their compartment and sitting beside him, proceeded to ask about his altercation with the emo kid. Dealing with the little snot nosed creep had made him feel better, but in his eyes he was pathetic for fighting someone below him, despite the kids inability to hold his own tongue. Yeah, sure, he felt a little bit better about it when the apathetic kid congratulated him for it, a little bit shocked by it too, but why did this lower class fool have to make his way into his compartment and interrogate him about it? It was absurd!

"How can people think they can get away with talking to me? If they had a couple more dollars, then of course I would hesitate to pay attention to them." Kieran thought to himself, he was better than all the people on the train here, he knew it so why didn't they?

Alec jumped off Kieran's lap as he gathered his bag up off the seat and stood up. Giving neither of the two even the tiniest of a glance he stormed out of the compartment, smashing the side of his closed fist against the door, producing a rather deep dent in it as well as drawing attention from other people aboard the train. He stormed down to the end of the train, where a tiny platform bordered by a steel fence jutted out from the edge of the door, providing enough space for two people to stand. With Alec trailing behind, trying to catch up but having trouble getting around bags and feet, Kieran ignored all those around him until he made it to the door.

A large gust almost caught Kieran off guard as he wrenched the door open, but it was open for little more than a couple of seconds before he closed it again. Alec unfortunately was a little too slow, and unable to open the door, he merely sat down in front of the door, waiting for Kieran to come back inside.

The wind whipped at Kieran's hair as the train hurtled away from Snowpoint City, the sky having finished snowing and instead displaying a late afternoon. He took a seat on the platform floor, leaning up against one of the walls on either side of the door, feet crossed-legged. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall, the wind catching the tears that slowly streamed from his face.

"ATTENTION PASSENGERS. PLEASE TAKE YOUR SEATS AND PREPARE FOR DEPARTURE. WE WILL BE ARRIVING AT HOPE HIGH SCHOOL IN APPROXIMATELY THREE HOURS. WE HOPE THAT YOU ENJOY YOUR RIDE WITH US TODAY." Came the muffled announcement through the door amidst the howling wind.

"This is going to be one long train ride..." he thought as he shed another tear.

 

[Skymin]

Atom Watcher - The Party Song

"Great skill on my part," he joked. "No, uh, well," how could he fluff it up to seem more cool? The whole thing already screamed 'you are a bad ass' but he needed something more. "I went to this cool party with my friends that we weren't even invited to," he had stopped playing now so that he could use his hands to tell the story, "and it was a really cool party. Giant house, indoor swimming pool, the works. It was pretty much open bar because all the kids that went had too much money to know what to do with. Yeah, and we got wasted and then some guy thought I stole his shirt or whatever and totally punched me in the face. We got into a fight and then the police turned up and pretty much everyone was arrested because there were guys upstairs who were smoking something. Then I got expelled, house arrest and now here."

The truth was it was just a party at a guy's house with lots of drinks and yes, some guy smoking something upstairs but it sounded way cooler like that. He explained the whole thing like someone explains a dream because honestly, he couldn't remember much about the party.

"ATTENTION PASSENGERS. PLEASE TAKE YOUR SEATS AND PREPARE FOR DEPARTURE. WE WILL BE ARRIVING AT HOPE HIGH SCHOOL IN APPROXIMATELY THREE HOURS. WE HOPE THAT YOU ENJOY YOUR RIDE WITH US TODAY."

He felt the train lurch forward as the voice cut off. Yeah, enough time to get seats. Whoever had been lucky enough at the time to be standing probably all fell over or something.

"Do you mind if I sit next to you? The sun's in my eyes."

Atom sat up from leaning against the two seats, holding his guitar properly. "Yeah sure, go ahead. It's not like we should be afraid anyone else will join us now the train is moving, right?" he laughed again, though it wasn't really a joke. He wasn't sure what other kids went to this school, but if Liz was the prime example, maybe Hope High School wouldn't be that bad.​