School For Gods (Kamigami no tame no gakkō)

He would have liked to just find somewhere to practice, maybe do some research in the library. However, he knew that mindless Neanderthal of a 'teacher' was trudging around, and he'd rather not deal with him again. So, like a good student, he sat in the classroom somewhere near the middle and waited for the class to start, paying little attention to the other students.

 

His question flipped a switch in her mind causing Sedumere to become slightly peeved. Annoyed that she let him get the best of her, she quickly lit another cigarette and grabbed the closest appendage to her and promptly pressed the burning end against the poor soul's bare forearm. The hiss he let out from the sting of the burn served as an odd way of calming her sour attitude. Calmer than what she was a few moments before, she looked back to Anth and scowled before addressing his question. Dropping the henchman's newly burned appendage, she brought the cigarette to her mouth and took another long drag. The tension between the two was thick and no soul dared to intervene in fear of an untimely death.
"I never said I wasn't interested." She blew the smoke into Anth's face again and ran a finger along his jawline surely driving him mad. "As for me bending and breaking to your every command, I suggest you rethink that"
She smirked and pulled him close by his tie before whispering into his ear, "As for the second portion of your statement... referring to your desire to use my skills. I suggest you stop by my office later to discuss that among your other proposed 'arrangement'."
Feeling like she got her point across, Sedumere let the man's tie go while gently pushing his chest causing him to fall backwards and turned around while dropping her cigarette and crushing it under her shoe.
"You know where to find me, Bookie." She looked over her shoulder and walked off towards the bar in the back of the club, motioning to the band to start playing again, signaling the end of their conversation and overall, the end of Anth's usurpation speeches. Assuming he would take the hint she glared at him while sipping a dry martini, no more blood needed to be spilled tonight and she would see to it not happening.

"Damn Bookie... who the hell does he think he is? Coming in like he owns the syndicate. He's gonna have to work hard to become the Kingpin." She scoffed to herself and downed the rest of her martini and looked at the bartender for another. "You know what to make, Barkeep."
He nodded and went to make her a second martini. "Whatever you say, Iris."
Hearing her actual name for once, she immediately softened her attitude and smiled at the bartender. "Thanks, Hugo."

 

New Character!

Name: Mikhail
Age:36
Powers: Weapon Creation, Berserker Physiology, Molecular Teleportation
Gender: M
Role: Teacher

Mikhail woke up late, it was a general thing. His classes no matter which day it was; Was generally in the late afternoon, Meeting the students was his only incentive but, He would always have the time to do so later on regardless. Upon rising he looked in the mirror to do his morning ritual of shaving, getting dressed, and heading out the door. The sun was shining, Mr. Gunn could be heard disciplining the students from his own home. albeit he lived damn near the school grounds because it was easier to get there and he enjoyed walking. By the time Mikhail arrived to the front gate the first class was nearly over. He was in no rush, but he realized Gunn decided to make a new student run the track. and so he walked over to where he heard Gunn and sat down. Observing the new talent that would be coming into the school. for anyone that looked over they would see a pleasant smile

Always eager to meet new and enthusiastic students is what kept him going, although, it would seem like a generic teacher thing to say. He didn't take it easy on anyone. Similar to gun, He would exploit the enemies weakness to his advantage even if the strength is the weakness. Although he left the war the war never left him, and because of that during his class he treats the students like soldiers. He came in especially early for the day because of new students, they just needed his face and name nothing further. He would allow each of them to call him his first name, he hated prefixes. and so waiting for Gunn to finish with the student. He watched, giving Gunn a notice he was around.

 

Corine, the Witch of Chains
600
Metal Manipulation, specializes in the creation of chains and barbed/concertina wire. Vaewolf Physiology, a werewolf vampire hybrid. Thermovariance, can make blood boil and alter the boiling point of blood by manipulating the trace iron and carbon in the blood.
Female
Unwanted Outcast

 

Name: Sinclair (full name unknown for reasons to be explained in his powers)
Age: 28
Powers: Corruption Infusion (infuses people and objects with corrupt energy), Card Combat and Identity Dominance (the ability to completely control those that know his true name)
----
He plopped himself down in the barstool next to Sedumere, flipping a playing card, the five of diamonds, around his fingers.
"Good afternoon, my lovely she-demon." he started, his voice holding a hint of an Irish accent. "And how might you be this fine day? Might I say you like as beautiful as the Emerald Isle herself? Well," he added, a roguish smile on his lips, "you're a lot more shapely than she is."
Sinclair then turned to the bartender. "Bring me your most brain smashin' beverage, mister alcohol man."

 

Haldor heard the class notice and decided to head over to the next class. he'd hate to see what they do to a person if they were late to class with all the teachers having powers.
As he walked to the next class, he remembered something.
"I really hope that there's no bullies here. But then I guess things could get boring without them. As long as I can learn how to control the prayers that come into my mind, I'll figure something out. "
He listened to some dubstep as he walked along, draining out all of the prayers that where flowing into his mind.

 

She looked at the man who sat next to her and nodded her head as a sort of greeting while placing her glass back on the bar. He has a familiar face, but for some odd reason he seemed to be a total stranger to her.
"Good afternoon..." Her voice trailed off at the end of her response as he began complimenting her figure. Deciding to humor the man, Sedumere placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled sweetly before turning to the bartender and cutting off his request for alcohol. "Actually, Hugo, do we have any of that newer stuff that just came in last week? You know, the most expensive liquor we now own? Why don't you pour the man a tumbler or two?"
She looked back to Sinclair and smirked, "I'll be taking care of his tab tonight." The bartender nodded and did exactly as she requested.

Turning back to Sinclair, she ran her hand down his arm and began to start her usual inquiry that followed the introduction of a new soul, "I don't believe I've seen you here before, what brings you here today?" She paused before going further and finished her third martini, "You wouldn't happen to be here with that bookie, would you?"
Remembering Anth, she made sure to emphasize her feelings of disdain for the new self-proclaimed Kingpin followed by looking over her shoulder to shoot an icy glare his way.

Immediately on the defense, she looked back to the stranger who was still fiddling with the playing card. Wanting an immediate answer, she grabbed his wrist tightly and scowled. "If you turn out to be that scum's lackey and he sent you over here to keep tabs on me, I will not hesitate to break this wrist of yours." Slowly tightening her grip on him, she was a bit off put at the fact that Sinclair seemed to be enjoying this as much as she was.

 

Joseph walked off to the next class, 'So freaken bored and there is still more classes. I am so hungry as well, I wanna eat, I wanna eat more meat! Even though I ate that guys body. I should not move that much, without the proper meal or should I say meat. I get hungry really fast when doing something.' A aura started to appear around him as he walked off to class, with his stomach nearly empty.

 

He seemed pretty nonplussed by her tightening grip, instead picking up the tumbler offered to him and taking a swig.
"Woo! Now that's some fancy liquor you've got there." Sinclair said appreciatively. After seconds of looking the glass, he placed the card in his hand down on the bar, the eight of clubs.
"An' lass, do I look like the kind a fella that bookie would have in his employ?"
He swiftly raised his arm, pulling her until her face was centimetres from his own. "Nah, I'm just here lookin' for some work. Funds from my last job are dwindlin' you see, so I need somethin' to pay the bills and my various exorbitant tabs around the city. An' by the sounds of it..."
Sinclair then moved to whisper in her ear, "You've got a job for me."
He pulled back after that, going back to his drink, complimenting it, as though it would sleep with him if he buttered it up enough.

 

Name: Lucis Penton
Age: looks to be in his mid-thirties, early forties.
Powers: Satanic incarnation, Universal Force construct, and Contagion Embodiment

Looks: he has a shortish brown hair, stands about 5’10”, has piercing green eyes and wears a black suit with a black shirt, satin red waist coat and tie. He also wears a black fedora when he’s out.

Mr. Penton has been known as a successful businessman in the San Tenegra area for a while now. Granted he has a mafia vibe to him, both when you meet him and how he runs things. That probably is because he is part of the SS, the city’s league or super evil. You most likely won’t find him at the meetings since he just sends some representatives in his place that reports back to him. Lately he’s been losing faith in the villain organization. Well ever since B.O.S.S, or whatever that expensive mech was called, took over it’s all about the money and doing stuff that only petty criminals did just to get by. Granted evil endeavors do still need money and it never hurt to expand, but they weren't planning anything big. Only to crush other criminals who got in the way. To show what? To show that us super villains, the ones who have powers, are better?

Mr. Penton has also been noticing other things going on, like how super heroes have been using this time to claim fame as more where popping up, especially in this city. He did not like what he was seeing, villains hiding underground and hidden to the public while the super heroes are out reclaiming the world. When he looked thru his office window looking high above the city, he used to be able to point out all of the villains and their henchman walking the streets taking care of business. But all he saw now was a quiet city that was filling up with damn super heroes and becoming Idols in some cases. Some have even been calling themselves ‘gods’ and even one lady built a school for these gifted children and called it the school of the gods. Mr. Penton slammed down his whisky glass. He couldn't stand what the cities become. He picked up the phone and called for his car to be ready. He’s had enough of watching the world he lived in being drowned and snuffed out my so called gods. He put his suit coat on and took his hat from the coat rack next to the door and walked out of his big boss’s office.

“I’m heading out to the meeting tonight. If I don’t come back call my no.2 and tell him he’s in charge until I come back.” He told his secretary as he walked by her.

“Do you really think that will happen again?” the secretary asked.

Mr. Penton looked back and smiled as he put his black fedora on.

“It’ll happen sooner or later that’s for sure, but it’s better that we’re prepared for it. I trust that my next in command can handle the company and prevent any hostile takeovers.” After he said that he exited into the hallway and took the elevator down to the ground floor to meet his car and his left hand man. It's about time someone said something to B.O.S.S and the rest of the SS organization. This city is long overdue for a wake up call.

 

Victor sat at his desk filling out more paperwork. It seemed that's all he was allowed to do now, since he didn't have a class to teach so far this year. He was kind of glad that he didn't to be honest. He didn't want to have to deal with more talent less students. Rubbing his temple, Victor sighed and got out of his seat. He could finish the rest of his work later. Right now he needed a break. Heading out of the staff room, Victor pulled out a pack of cigarettes and stuck one in his mouth. Walking through the hallway, he noticed one of the students standing around. S*** it's him. He's thought as he made his way over to the student. "Hey, s***stain. What are you doing out of class?"


OOT: I have no idea what's happened while I was gone so I'm gonna just wing it with Grant.

Not Gunn's class again. Grant thought, groaning. He couldn't wait to hear Gunn yelling about some crap again. I really don't want to have to deal with him again... Thinking that, an idea popped into his head. While the students were walking to they're next class, Grant pulled Sam's aside and whispered into her ear. "Hey, I know you don't wanna have to deal with Gunn again. You wanna skip class with me?"

 

Sam looked around cautiously and lowered her voice "Are you sure that's an okay thing to do, Grant? What if we get caught?" She thought for a moment. "Well it's true... Mr. Gunn does scare me..." She shook her head and sighed. "To hell with it, I don't want to be anywhere near that man, Let's skip." She then wrapped both of her arms around one of Grant's arms. "Let's go."

 

New Characters!

Names: Jedrek & Ryker
Age: 24
Abilities: Jedrek - Bone Manipulation, Malefic Force Manipulation, Unrestricted Murdering.
Ryker - Spoon Manipulation, Entity Creation, Golden Rule
Genders: Male

Ryker sat gracefully upon his plush chair, reading a Shakespearean play "Romeo and Juliet" he was always rich since he could make a dollar he would. on an end table sat a saucer holding a teacup and a hovering spoon slowly mixing in the sugar cubes that were dropped in. "I'm glad I've found practicality in my abilities otherwise i'd be seriously useless." he spoke to himself in an empty mansion, as his brother was currently elsewhere. Lifting his teacup he took a sip and placed it back closing the book. "I truly dread Shakespeare's work. It is woefully boring. truly outdated" placing his book down he stood up and walked towards his balcony. Stepping outside he took in the beauty of the sun, the reflection off the lake. It was pure ecstasy. Upon looking outside he noticed his brother out in the courtyard, Casually beating up dummies. "Oh Brother, Give it a break. You're never gonna go out in the world and actually fight someone so long as we're restricted as we are. It was the only thing that saved you from being publicly executed"

"Yeah, Yeah. Doesn't mean that one day it wont be lifted. cause believe me it will, and when that day comes. I'm going to do whatever the hell I want. I promise however, I wont get myself killed. not for my sake, for yours. I know there are somethings that money cannot buy you, Ryker, and that's an eternal bond between twins." Ryker reshaped his bones, the crackling of each breakage could be heard. as the bone protruded from his forearm, blood followed, and the tearing of flesh. It slowly formed into a sharp curved blade made of bone. It was razor sharp and with one strike he cut the dummies head clean off. upon finishing training he began to walk back to the house. his bone slowly returning back to it's normal positions. Upon entering the house he walked upstairs to his brother. "Wanna go out and get some drinks, I'm damned thirsty."

"Of Course! We get to see all the lovely people over at Sedumeres bar. I heard it got great reviews!" Without a second hesitation he stormed outside of the mansion and onto the front steps, Conjuring up a spoon large enough to carry 2 adult males safely. He waited for his brother who shortly followed behind him within seconds they soared in the air on a giant spoon. moments later they landed in front of the bar and walked inside. Ryker was never very subtle on introductions so upon busting through the door he shouted. "Hello bar goers! I am Ryker, and This here is my brother Jedrek. We wish for all of you to have a good time, and tonight all the drinks are on my tab!" Jedrek already walked past him and sat down to get a rum & coke. Ryker slowly joined him and sat down while his brother drank.

Luther felt Victor stumble into him and heard the remark "Shitstain" for some reason it pissed him off, and so. Luther froze the fluid in Victors knees. making his joints give out and ultimately fall over. "I may be a student but don't think that because you have authority over me that I wont kick your ass, even if I don't know how to control my powers that well. I will learn." Luther just continued walking after saying what he had too, accidentally skipping the last class he walked towards gunns room and waited for the students to leave.

 

Miss Marseilles walked in, her papers in a fluster as she haphazardly scrambled them around the desk. "Ah-! Sorry, sorry..."
She looked up at the assembled pupils. "Some must be running late. Oh well," she said brightly, "let's best get started! I'm Miss Marseilles, and I'm the academy's top teacher of the second R aside from Regulation - the ever-important Restraint! Restraint is perhaps the most important of all the R's, though that might be just my opinion... but as you all get stronger, you'll find that Restraint becomes more and more of a necessity, especially among the more volatile of you. Restraint has of course many, many applications both in everyday life and on the battlefield. For example, you don't want to overexert yourself unnecessarily during a fight, but you also don't want to wipe out your local neighborhood just by getting out of bed. I myself do need a rather large amount of restraint, for.... reasons."
She blushed. "Anyway, at this time of your education, Restraint is very unimportant unless you are among the very few who need serious help with their powers. So instead, I'm going to teach you about the Hukong scale."

She tapped a button on the desk and a large scale appeared, projected in the air, looking like a lightning bolt crossed with a thermometer.
"Who can tell me what the Hukong scale is?"
Usse put his hand up, finally useful for something. "It's the scale by which our powers are mentioned, Miss Marseilles."
"Excellent!" Miss Marseilles beamed. Very distantly, Mr Gunn could be heard yelling "MAGGOT" for some reason. "Now, the Hukong scale was invented by Dr Ivus Hukong, the man to first formally categorize superpowers. The scale goes up to 50, although that's just the highest recorded number - our very own headmistress Ella. Though she can be a bit... um, scatterbrained, she's also the most powerful woman in the universe. So bear that in mind before causing her any unneeded trouble."
She pointed to the bottom end of the scale, the large bulky end. "Each point on the Hukong scale is worth double the one before it. Meaning if a person at 1 on the scale can knock down a tree, a person at 2 can knock down 2 trees. A person at 3 can knock down 4, a level 4 can knock down 8, and so on. So far, the lowest recording scorer on the Hukong scale is -"
An image of Usse's face flashed into the classroom. Miss Marseilles went very quiet and Usse buried his face in his hands.
"Anyway," she continued hurriedly, wiping the hologram away, "there are five categories of empowered being - first, the Superhuman. Then the Superhero. Then demigods - the majority of you at the moment fit into this category." There was a moan from Usse's desk. "Beyond those, there are fully fledged Gods - which you hopefully (mostly) will all turn out to be, and then there are Embodiments." As she spoke her finger moved to the very end of the scale, to the tip.
"We have a few Embodiments at this school, but for most, encountering an Embodiment is extremely rare - an Embodiment is a universal constant. Everything in the universe NEEDS an Embodiment, and whilst we have many theories why, we know that - heaven forbid - killing an Embodiment would result in whatever that Embodiment was of disappearing from the universe. For example, if -" she shuddered - "-something was to happen to our headmistress, and she were to somehow die, then... all forms of healing, in every possible form, would cease to exist. Life across the universe would most surely be driven to near extinction, seeing as how at least your- I, I mean OUR human bodies continually renew themselves." She blushed again, a fiery beetroot, and adjusted her chunky glasses. "A-any questions, so far?"

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Anth was... not plotting. Supervillains plotted. Anth was no supervillain, they were cheap amateurs. He was... formulating, the key in his hand twirling as he examined his newly acquired assets. Numbers, dumb muscle, some subterfuge capability - the force in this room, bent to one task, would bring this city to its knees. But, the key ceasing its movement for a second, he knew that it would be only temporary, and with his current forces as they stood he would have to rely on that most loathsome of tricksters - luck. His eyes fell on Sedumere who appeared to be throwing out her chest in an attempt to seem a bigger player than she already was. In his eyes, the ones who commanded fear were not the ones to worry about. The ones who kept themselves to themselves were not to be trusted, like the man next to her. It was the ones who thought the world of themselves that were no doubt the most useful to a man like himself. The boy Rapscallion... the roots of a plan crept into Anth's brain, and Sedumere's annoyance added a beautiful cherry to the ice cream sundae of scheming his mind was concocting, the key twirling this way and that, his smirk widening as he allowed himself a little pleasure.

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A hand grabbed Mikhail by the collar and dragged him into the school's gym showers. Mr Gunn, exposed in all his titanic glory and dripping wet, was towelling himself off, making sure to scrub all the delicate parts.
"Being a manly man such as myself - that is having more hair growing out of my carefully maintained muscles than a herd of especially furry Sasquatches, and I have plucked so many I am forever barred from Tibet - this takes so long I get bored. Entertain me with conversation, Mikhail, I am in a bad mood and if I was not so worried about my third arm knocking your head clean off its shoulders with one accidental swing I would have offered to finally settle that bet we made in the sweat baths back in '78." He turned and spread his legs so he could scrub between them better. "Start talking. I am starting to think my naked body has finally overloaded you with jealousy. Do not worry, comrade, it is simply a lack of killing instinct on your part. I was born to kill so many people I was given an extra limb to slam into them like a truck driven by a overweight rhinoceros."

 

Mikhail being dragged didn't affect him much he was used to the behavior that Gunn exhibited. And as for his titanic glory he had always admired it, He was a fine specimen, much more burlier than Mikhail could ever imagine or want to be, but Mikhail was perfectly content with his own figure. "You've aged well my friend. You've aged well" Like usual he watched Gunn bathe. But it wasn't because of a crush it was his undying trust for him. They were both in the same wars, same service, and saw the same things. They were Brothers in Arms. "As much as I'd enjoy a famous back rub from Gunn himself I must begrudgingly ask for it at a later date. I am afraid I showered early to meet the new students. I know my class is always at the ending half of the day, But, The students will need to see my face before then so they know i'm a teacher." He paused. "Remember the reason I became a teacher here was to make sure that no Super Human would make an attempt to attack or kill you. neither of us have full trust in any of these students until we've disciplined them thoroughly. that being said, I would appreciate if you stuck around for my class today. As it is always boring when I show up in the morning for an ending class." Mikhail got up and fetched Gunn new clothes before he could say a word.

"Get dressed, We're sparring as soon as we head back out into the gym. Gotta make sure I'm in peak performance in case a student tries to get out of line. Maybe we'll get the one black sheep this year that will try to test the strength of us combined." Mikhail let out a playful chuckle, as it was a topic that Gunn and him would frequently discuss. "I'll be waiting out there. My apologies i'm not very talkative today, my mind has been wandering a bit today , Gunn. There are some things that just never leave you." walking from the locker room Mikhail slowly edged himself towards the bleachers. He sat and waited for Gunn to come back out. He assumed that Gunn would stay if he asked, it was less of a question and more of a statement when he requested it. staring at the locker room entrance he waited.

 

As Mr. Penton's town car drove to the meeting, that was already in progress, he called one of the representatives he sent to the meeting to get a report so he wasn't goiing in blind. As the car stopped at the warehouse, Penton smirked as he hung up.
"Today is certainly a great day to be evil." he said as he got out of the car, his left hand man to his left, walking with him.
Once inside he stood for a minute or two looking around before he started to clap slowly.
"Ah, finally. Someone with greater goals has finally stepped up. Was starting to wonder if B.O.S.S. was just a fancy mech suit that was more for show."
All of the henchmen in the warehouse suddenly froze when they heard and saw Mr. Penton. If you had sensitive enough hearing, you could hear rumors being passed from one to another as some asked who this cold fella was and why they'd gotten a chill all of a sudden.
'Whats he doing here?'
'Isn't that the super villain that takes hostile takeover to a whole new level?'
'heard he can be good to work for as well as being bad... depending on how you work.'

As he stepped up onto the stage, he looked over the overly lavished and too expensive suit.
"What a shame. Complete waste of money and technology, don't you think?" Penton continued to Auth, the one who was in charge of the SS now.
"Your handy work I presume? I apologize for being a little late but running a major corporation does have it's drawbacks and theres dirty work involved as well as a schedule to keep. Anyways I'd like to introduce myself and offer my skills. My names Mr. Penton, founder and CEO of Penton Enterprises. To whom do I have the pleasure of meeting?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Haldor looked around and raised his hand before he asked his question.
"So how do you determine our spot on the scale and how do you measure our powers and abilities?"

 

Victor fell to the ground, cigarette falling out of his mouth and rolling on the ground. The feeling returning to his legs, he got up and quickly walked over to Luther, pulling out another cigarette and lighting it. "You little fuck!" He said, grabbing Luther by the collar of his shirt and slamming him into the wall. Putting pressure on him, Victor used his weakness inducement ability on him, giving him a weakness to smoke and heat. Turning him around to face him, Victor took a long drag from his cigarette and blow the smoke in his face. "You like this? This is what happens when you don't show your teachers the proper respect!" Taking the cigarette, Victor put the tip of it onto Luther's neck.

 

Realizing that he had gotten the best of her, Sedumere sneered, grabbing him by his collar and got out of her seat. She was beyond pissed off, "What makes you think that I'd have what you need?"
She drug Sinclair away from the bar forcing him to abandon his half consumed drink leading him to some hallway out of the way of the other patrons. Once they were far enough away from potential eavesdroppers, she let go of the man's shirt before looking around one last time to make sure there wasn't a soul around to bother her.

Taking a cigarette out of her carrying case again, she sized up the man and forced him back into a corner, "First things first, you try something like that on me again and you can bet your ass that you can kiss your family jewels goodbye."
Stepping back, she quickly lit the cigarette and took a drag from it before acknowledging Sinclair again. Sneering, Sedumere crossed her arms and giggled mischievously. The nonplussed looked on Sinclair's face brought her some joy, "Now, shall we get to business?" Her saucy attitude started to rear its ugly head.
"You're aware of how things work with me, correct? If not," She moved grabbed his collar again, pulling him down to her height to finish whispering her sentence in his ear. "I'd have no issue with explaining the ins and outs of my services." Waiting for a prompt response, she let him go and stared at the possible client, she didn't like being made to wait, especially when she was as miffed as she was at the moment.

From what she could gather from his body language, Sinclair seemed like the type to push the envelope with her, so to speak. In all honesty it drove her wild. There hadn't been someone who came to her as bold as he was in a while. He looked like he knew what he wanted and he sure as hell knew just what to do to get it.

 

Miss Marseilles tapped a section about a third of the way up the scale, and a picture of Haldor's face materialized in front of the class.
"We measure them by determining the impact of your powers upon the environment around you. According to the data, your powers of physical perfection and energy infusion, at your current recorded level which is somewhere around 32, we estimate that should for whatever reason you unleash every drop of your power, you could very easily wipe out..." She put her finger on her chin, thinking. "Probably something around about the size of the Earth and the Moon combined. Maybe Saturn. Something like Saturn. As for your first question, we compare you to the highest recorded and the..." she blushed, looking anywhere but at Usse, "the lowest... recorded. Then we place you on the scale accordingly. Would anyone else like to know where they are on the scale?"

"Might I ask what you two are doing out of class?" a voice inquired curiously behind Grant and Sam, with no malice or anger in the tone. It was the frenetic muscle-bound lightning-bolt-mustached teacher who hadn't yet formally introduced himself to the students personally, his arms folded with the colossal sword at his back swinging gently in its straps.

Bigg Gunn emerged from the showers, wearing only a pair of tight underwear. "Get on the mat then. I am going to give your bruises bruises, then I am going to make your aches ache more, and by the time I am finished wringing you out like a wet dishcloth you will not be able to defecate for a week!"

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Auth studied Mr Penton with an intense gaze, as though Mr Penton was a rather fascinating microbe under a microscope.
"My name is Auth," he said, the key never ceasing its incessant twirling in his fingers. "I have heard of your company and of you, Mr Penton. I believe we can do some business. It is not everyday someone like you comes along, and yet... it is not everyday someone like me comes along, either..." He chuckled, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. "I will not delay you, Mr Penton. I have no doubt that time is not something you have to waste. Therefore I shall make you an offer that is to be taken at face value because ultimately it is a very simple arrangement."
The key stopped, as Auth leaned forward. "I am preparing... an operation, Mr Penton. This operation could use someone like you in oiling the wheels of its mechanization. It would be of great help to me. With such emphasis in mind, consider this offer - in exchange for your service and that of your company's, I will give you control of the global economy. Tit for tat. Please, take your time if you wish to search my deal for catches and tricks, as I am prepared to wait until you find none. I will explain further if you so wish but only to a limited degree."

 

He but his hand up and starting talking without the teacher acknowledging him.
"What's the point of telling us how strong we are? It will just lead to a lot of the weaker ones getting demoralised, and the stronger ones getting their egos stroked. Not to mention it would likely lead to this school's version of a class system. So why tell us?"
----
Sinclair looked at the quite obviously flustered woman across him for a few moments, before pressing her against the wall, his body flush with hers.
"Not what I was gettin' at, but I'd be more than happy to oblige you."
His left hand strayed down her body to her leg, which he raised so it was up against his hip. "I was actually suggestin' I'd do somethin' about that bookie you're havin' problems with. Maybe tail him awhile, an' snuff him out when he slips up."
Sinclair then leaned in, his lips now grazing her ear. "But then the question would be," he whispered, "what would I get from you in terms of compensation?"