Round 4: the Bird

[François Laffont]

Demi did guess what his power was but she sure didn’t try to help him in here. Maybe he should not have called her crazy. But psychopath sounded even worse. Yet psychos were the ones who liked killing little animals just because they could. And her whole level of aggressiveness didn’t help Franck feel any more comfortable around her. He felt really sorry for the staff having to deal with her. He hoped he would not have to do it as well, some other time. She was too violent for him. Franck was such a pacifist that if words could not work, he’d back down and come back later to try and talk this through once the steam would have blown away.

Demi was not exactly giving him that option although he did think he could just turn around and leave her to attack the tree over and over. But he somehow feared she could chase after him and he sure didn’t want to expose his back at her. What she said next only brought more puzzling questions to the boy. Brainwashing? What did she think this place was? “It’s a school! You go there, you learn things and then to kick you out for you to do whatever you want of your life. Where do you see brainwashing in that?” he let out, unable to hide his surprise at the way she talked of Bellefonte. Had she never been in a school before? It was no different here, except they also offered lodging, something not all schools did.

And claiming that Franck was weak thanks to them, now that was absurd! If they did anything to him, it was making him stronger. “Yes, ‘cause it’s a life and you don’t joke about life, even one of a puny bird. I don’t see people around with pitchforks to kill you,” he replied. Perhaps he shouldn’t have pointed out her small frame like this but her bubbling up emotions and his despair at trying to make her understand had him grow impatient and careless in his choice of words. “And what the hell is that Purge!?”

[Demi Smith]

What was with everyone and talking like this whole school thing was the only way to do things? Demi had never gone to "school" in her life, since the Inherited all taught each other and stuff. Something about home schooling or something; that's what she'd been trained to say by way of explanation. Then again, Demi didn't exactly go along with any of the things she'd been trained to say. She didn't train well, at least, not in that matter.

"It's all brainwashing. They put you in a stupid seat and teach you stupid things that nobody but stupid people need to know," replied Demi. She finished by rolling her eyes again. She didn't see the point in continually explaining these things to stupid people like this guy. He clearly wasn't ever going to get it: way too far gone for that.

Yep, all wrapped up in the whole mushy life thing. Demi just snorted at that, shifting slightly. She wanted to start punching things again, and the guy was sounding more and more like a tempting target... except he was a mutant, obviously a confused, brainwashed, wussy one, but a mutant nonetheless.

"The Purge," she said, her tone telling Franck just how much of an idiot she thought him to be, "is when all the humans in the world get wiped out by, whatever. And no, I don't know how it's going to happen. I just know that we're the Inherited, the People that are better than everyone else, and so we're going to Inherit the Earth when they're all gone." There, easy to understand, though the idiot was going to freak out about it. Demi was already bored, turning to look at the tree and considering doing some more punching.

[François Laffont]

Franck knew how faith could blind you. He still made nightmares of his mother the day she tried to exorcise the devil inside of him with members of their community. No matter how much he cried, how scared he was, nothing shook her faith. It made her blind and deaf to his plea, froze her heart. He could sense the same in Demi. He knew whatever he would say, her faith would not quake under his words. She was so convinced that his words would be nothing but idle talk from someone who didn’t know better. Whatever he had to say, his point was invalid before he could open his mouth.

He did have a tiny smile however at how she described school. It was true that a lot of the lessons they were given was of little use to them. Some would need it for their future career but Franck could see why it would seem pointless to her to learn algebra. Even Franck couldn’t see how relevant it was to him while he intended to study psychology. “I get that not everything is relevant, but it teaches you other things, like how to listen and be attentive, or work in group, or respect the opinion of others, all things that are important if you want to fit in and get a good job,” he said even though he had the feeling fitting in and finding a good jobs were two things very low on her list of priorities.

He was shocked however at how easily she can laugh about life. Franck grew up thinking all lives were important. Her lack of respect was insulting to him. “You may not think a bird is important enough, but it’s still a living being. You’d like that people decide it’s alright that you die because you’re small and obnoxious?” he pointed out, unable to hide how much he disapproved of her behaviour.

Demi then decided to initiate him to her faith. Obviously, she had been part of some awful cult to believe in that. The whole idea of the purge sent shivers down his spine. What would start said purge? She said she had no idea how it would happen but Franck could guess one thing: it would be by the end of mutants. He had no idea how either, but that sort of talk generally meant you would be the cause of the plague. To think they were better, just because they were mutants, it was wrong in so many ways. “Yeah, well, while your Inherited cause that purge of yours, I won’t be with you, I’ll try to save as many people as I can. Feel free to think whatever you want of me, I will never back something that means killing thousands of innocent people and if you think being a mutant makes you superior, you’re the stupid one,” he told her. He said all of this with great calm it even surprised him. Franck turned his back, ready to leave her. He knew he could not change her mind but he said what he had to say about her beliefs

[Demi Smith]

Demi snorted as Franck lectured her on the whole school thing. Yeah, she'd heard all that junk before. Hearing it in a weird accent from a wuss definitely wasn't going to change things. Especially since she didn't think, like, half that stuff was all that relevant. When did she ever need to respect someone else's opinion?

Then more lecturing, this time on bird life. Demi started to roll her eyes, but ended up snorting. "Yeah, let them try it," she said. She smiled confidently and flicked her fingers, more dust flecks shooting off from her. Clearly she could take care of herself, especially since most of the people she ran into around here were the same kind of wusses that Franck himself was.

He even wussed out at the whole Purge thing, and he didn't get it totally right either. Demi rolled her eyes, more of the frustration bubbling up. "You're so one of those stupid types that cares about the humans. Which is okay, I guess. It's not like you're going to be Purged or anything, because you're a mutant. You can act like you're not better then them, but that doesn't mean you still don't do something they can't, have something they don't. We're like better versions of them. They're a bunch of chimps. But if you want to save your own little house full of chimps or whatever, that's fine with me," Demi shrugged. "Also, I'm not stupid."

Obviously. Because nothing she'd said or done since meeting Franck would indicate that in the slightest, after all.

[François Laffont]

Talking to Demi now that she shared her views about the Inherited that they were left Franck with a bitter taste in his mouth. He remembered his mother. She had always been very pious. When he was just a little kid, she might have scared him with stories of hell and her punishments for disobeying had turned him into such a people pleaser but the worst part had been after his power came out. He still kind of blamed her for it. He wouldn’t be surprised if her sudden change of behaviour towards him had a role in what happened next. He then became an empath which meant he became an abomination to her. He could still remember the fear he felt from her, fear that he put in her despite all the love he had for her and how hard he tried to be her good little boy. He recalled the exorcism. How he was tied up so tightly the restraints marked his skin. How his heart beat so fast out of fear that he expected it to explode in his chest. How he cried until the faces gathered around him were all blurry.

Franck shivered again as he tried to forget about this. He knew the images would stick for the day and that he might even have nightmares of it. He still had them from time to time. He didn’t want to think about that however, and Demi’s rambling brought him back to reality. “Being different doesn’t make you better or worse. It only make you different,” he pointed out. He was different enough to know what he was talking about. She must be too young to get it. “And I haven’t left a group of crazy fanatics only to join another,” he added. Not like he expected Demi to invite him to her Inherited or whatever the cult was called. She seemed to make it pretty clear that even though he would not die, she wouldn’t cry if he did.

Franck had moved away from her but he still heard her claim she was not stupid. He turned around, shrugging at her. “Whatever you say. But if I were you, I’d play along with this school. The place they could send you to if they knew how twisted you are, trust me, it will make this place look like a haven,” he told her, a smile on his face that nearly look menacing. He wasn’t quite sure why he said that, it just came out of him. But she deserved it like she deserved his second impulsive thought that was to turn away and ignore her.

[Demi Smith]

Blah, blah, different. Yeah, different like there were different mutants and different humans. But the difference between mutants and humans was more than a difference, it was an improvement, but if this guy was too dense to realize that, then Demi didn't see any reason to try and correct the idiot who kept thinking that way. She wasn't quite sure what to make of the crazy fanatics comment; it just buzzed some memory she had stored in the back of her memory, something about how everyone would berate the Inherited for trying to spread the truth or something.

The last bit though, as Franck more or less threatened her, that got Demi's full attention and interest. She focused on him, eyes narrowing. "They wouldn't do that!" she hissed, her fists clenching. "My people know that I'm here! They made a deal with the school!" Demi wasn't exactly certain how that worked or something, since she wasn't exactly around for the discussions and such.

"And I'm not twisted," she hissed again. Her anger bubbled up and she glared at Franck. "You throw around a lot of insults for a big, fat, wussy idiot,' she hissed. Demi extended a hand, starting to gather dust there, her body trembling with the anger. She'd lash out at him, she would. She wasn't entirely sure why she hadn't already. Guy definitely deserved it; had since he'd stopped her from beating up the stupid bird.

[François Laffont]

Franck could not see himself as superior from the ‘normal’ people. To do so would mean to be incredibly vain and vanity was a sin. He could say anything about him not being with a bunch of religious fanatics he was still a catholic and he thought as one. If he could see his power as a gift from God, he would never claim that made him better, evolved or in any way superior to humans. He felt sorry for Demi if she believed that. But he did not worry, in due time, she would pay the price of her arrogance.

He was actually proud of himself when she let out they would never do anything to her. He shouldn’t love torturing her like this but he really thought she deserved it. He didn’t mean to be violent, unlike her, only to teach her a lesson. “Oh yeah, and what is the deal exactly, do you know?” he asked her. He made a few steps back in her direction but still kept a reasonable distance between them. Her little fists didn’t hurt too much earlier but she nearly hit a spot that would have and he didn’t want to give her the opportunity to try and hit it again.

“You sure about that? Because if they find you trying to kill small animals, that’s what they will think. They’ll think you are a danger to the other students and if you don’t calm down, they’ll find a way to do so for you,” he added when she argued once again that she was not twisted. He decided to completely ignore her insult. Big and fat, yeah he couldn’t recognize himself there. He bent down a bit so his face was at the level of hers, a smirk playing on his lips. “Go ahead, attack me. They’ll lock you up, tie you down and give you meds that will knock you out until you’re an obedient little girl,” he threatened her. Alright, he was exaggerating to say they would lock her in a loony bin, but at the same time, he could not believe the school would do nothing if she turned out to be even more dangerous than SPECTRE. He stood up straight after that and shrugged at her. “It’s your choice really. You either play by their rule until you can get out, or they will make you and then who knows when you’ll be with your people again.”

[Demi Smith]

"I know it means that they're not gonna lock me up and turn me into some kinda experiment," replied Demi. She felt more and more dirt rising up her arms, swirling about her body, responding to unconscious mental commands. One flick, one good push, and she knew she could lay this guy flat. A few moves after that, and she'd have him hurting. He certainly didn't look like anyone had ever trained him to take a hit.

He kept going though, outlining a future that Demi didn't like one bit. The school already knew about her fights and stuff. Still, they didn't really know about the whole desire to kill things. Demi glared at him as he leaned close though. She clearly wasn't as dangerous as SPECTRE, though who was to say what would happen if she kept going on the path. She could feel her anger rising with each one of Franck's words.

"I'm not playing along with your stupid game, and I'm not going to be all goodie goodie and nice miss brainwashed,' she said. She grunted and shoved forward. Dust and dirt flew as though fired from an air cannon, exploding out from her. The proximity meant that she flew backward a few feet as well, landing hard on the ground. she rolled and bounded up quickly enough, breathing hard. Smirking, she turned, figuring that she'd done enough and that now was as good a time as any to get out of there.

[François Laffont]

In a way, Franck wished his threats were true. He knew they could consider her a danger but letting her out would be even more dangerous. Still, there had to be something they could do about that, other than detention. Had detention ever solved anything? Even Franck, when he ended up in one, failed to see what it was meant to achieve. Franck also knew he should stop talking. Demi was about to lose it. Even from this distance, he could feel her rage building up. And it affected him and made him reckless. Who cared about being careful, she needed a lesson. “Not if they think you’re dangerous. They will not risk the lives of everyone just because you decided you were better than all of this. They will work for the greater good,” he replied. Well, he hoped but at the same time, locking her up with a straightjacket and lots of meds seemed excessive. Even Franck would wish they didn’t go that far, when he was the one suggesting it was their methods. But Demi was not the empath, he was. And so she couldn’t tell about the dual feelings inside of him.

At the same time, he had little sympathy for the girl. She was so much at the opposite of him and he couldn’t reach for her, or didn’t know how to. He felt she was lost and even if he wished she could be saved, he didn’t want to put everyone, well mostly himself in the current situation, at risk while she matured. She was a mad dog let loose. He didn’t want that around him and the people he liked. He knew he was being judgemental and he always hated people reacting that way. But something in her just made him go to that extent.

She finally let loose of her power. The hit was even more powerful than he thought it would be. If she had that strength and was barely trained... Franck flew backward as well but unlike her, he was not used to it and so hit the ground hard. He covered his head until all the dirt had fallen back to the ground. He had some in his eyes, his nose and his mouth. He dared to look up and saw Demi, standing up. He was certain she flew just like him during the deflagration. He stared at her but dared not make a move. What could he do anyway? He didn’t have the strength to contain that.

[Demi Smith]

Greater good, dangerous, all stuff that Demi had heard before, heard and ignored, almost violently ignored. It all grated on her, reminding her of who she was and why she was here and what was likely to happen to her. Franck danced upon all her fears, poking at the terrors that lay at the back of her mind, likely without meaning to. Demi quickly turned fear into anger though, as she so often did.

Thankfully, she had a lot of control for someone her age. All the years growing up in a mutant compound, learning techniques and theory, learning marital arts, learning just about everything but how to adjust and be normal, had left her way ahead of the curve in that regard. She had scrambled to her feet, panting, the dirt and mud and stuff hanging off her, leaving her looking paler than normal.

"That's," she said, throwing emphasis behind the word, practically spitting it, "what I'm gonna do to people. Nobody, especially nobody from this stupid school is going to lock me up," she took another deep breath, turning to spit, feeling some grit leave her mouth while she did. That blast had actually taken something out of her; she'd put way too much into it. moving felt and sounded a bit like a bad idea, but Demi could still rail for a bit. maybe she could just chase him off that way and go find something else to hit on for a while.

[François Laffont]

Franck did catch her fear as he talk. She could bury it in all the anger she wanted, it would always be stronger to him. It was not her fear however that was rubbing off on him, it was her anger, as she let it flow out of her with all the rage her little body could hold. And she was made of concentrated rage. And now Franck was paying the price.

No doubt he would be quite sore by tomorrow. The shock had surprised him and it did have him worry what she would be like after she gained better control. Sure, he could argue it blew to these proportions because of the anger he built up in her. But that didn’t change the fact it was powerful, or that she seemed to be dealing with the after effect a lot better than most did at first. She was a dangerous one. He had no idea what her name was but she was dangerous.

Franck slowly sat on the ground, not daring to make any sudden move just yet, certain his body would hate him for it if he did. He stared at her as she spat her words at him. Oh, he bet they had seen worst than that or dealt with strong heads like her before. But he didn’t need a crystal ball to tell she would give them several headaches. He wished she’d go back. They didn’t need a bomb like her around here. She was against almost everything he believed, she would put the people here in danger. He didn’t want that. But he also knew this was the place to prevent her from being a threat. If her cult had raised her to become this, it was a good thing she got out.

Tears ran on his face. It was not sadness, merely his eyes taking away the dirt that got in them. He also sneezed a bit to do the same thing before wiping his face with his hand. “How come you haven’t crashed already? After such an impact, you should be good for the infirmary,” he let out. After the blast, Franck didn’t feel like angering her further. He also didn’t want to stay near but he knew he might need a moment if he didn’t want his legs to give up on him.

[Demi Smith]

In truth, Demi felt exhausted. She'd definitely stretched her powers there, and she knew it. Her entire body ached, and she could tell that she was probably gonna have a nose bleed soon. it felt like she'd gone several rounds with someone or spent a few hours lifting weights. But her will refused to let her down, even as her body screamed at her.

"Because I'm good," she snapped back, anger and frustration bubbling up there. Demi was good at this; it was pretty much the only thing she was good at. Fighting and using her power. Demeter of the Inherited was something of a genius at using both, but she desperately lacked behind in everything else, and she knew that she fit in about as well here as a mutant would at a SPECTRE meeting.

"Why aren't you leaving? Aren't you afraid I'm gonna blast you away? I totally will, you know, if you make me angry," bluffed Demi. It even sounded like a bluff to her, not that it stopped her from flinging the words out, angrily throwing them at Franck like they could form a shield protecting her from this whole awful situation.

[François Laffont]

Franck was rarely physically exhausted with his power. He had mood swings, he’d sometimes react in a way that would later shame him, but obviously, there was no reason for him to have any major physical pain because of his ability. Demi however, well she ought to be exhausted right now. She was new to this school, yet she could take in more than most of them. Oh, she probably would crash soon, he expected it. But she still achieved more than many of the students in this school.

He did not fear her when she threatened to blast him away. No matter how good she was, everyone would need some rest about that display. She could throw dirt at him, maybe, but other than hurting his eyes, that wouldn’t do much. “How do you plan to do that? You look like you’re about to collapse at any moment. Save your strength, that would be absolutely useless to waste it all here,” he pointed out.

Slowly, Franck forced himself to stand up. Oh, he might get some cramps from the way he landed on the ground. He stared at Demi. He wanted her gone, there was no denying it. But he knew it would be even more dangerous to send her way right now, without teaching her a thing or two about powers and life. “You know, you’re taking it the wrong way. The more you’ll fight against them, the more resistance they’ll show you and the longer you’ll stay here. You should think of that, next time you get angry on those who can leave, unlike you,” he said, tapping his head with his finger.

He wanted to leave but he was still hesitating. Why is that? He knew, but he couldn’t believe his goody-two-shoes self had to act up even now, even for her. “You should rest, go to the infirmary or something. Will you be able to walk?” he said. Alright, he will ask and since it was Demi, she’ll push him away calling him a wuss and he will be able to leave without feeling too bad for doing it.

[Demi Smith]

"I can still kick your butt," insisted Demi, smirking. She took several more shaky breaths, forcing herself to remain in the same position, her eyes boring into his. She could so take him; she was confident in that. Confident enough that she smirked already.

His words made that smirk twitch though. It wasn't just what he said, it was that Demi could see the point there, had even half thought about it herself. Part of her wondered if she shouldn't just pretend, if nothing else. Bow her head and shuffle her feet or whatever. But no, no, she was going to keep fighting them every step of the way. She knew she was in the right, knew that everyone else sucked, and she'd keep punching and kicking until everyone in this stupid school understood that just as well as she did.

"I don't need the infirmary," she spat, clinging to her anger yet again. "They just use a bunch of impure substances there," her voice actually trembled with that. The sheer thought of going to the infirmary terrified her: filled with drugs and who knows what else, all made by humans. Just the thought of that junk tainting her body nearly made her want to throw up. Probably didn't help that she wanted to throw up anyway.

"What do you care anyway?" she snapped, looking up at him, her face tight. "I'm not your friend, and I'll totally kick your butt any time," she really didn't understand the wusses around here. Demi grunted, pushing herself to her feet, wobbling only slightly, sheer willpower and all that training helping make her at least manage that.

[François Laffont]

Demi could smirk all she wanted, he doubted she could kick his butt. Not now, at least. Once she was well rested, then yes, sure, she could kick it, he had no trouble thinking that. But right now, after spending so much of her energy and fighting to keep standing, he doubted that. Franck had cramps but he could obviously hurt her more right now should it comes to this. Not that he intended to. He would most likely use his strength to get away from her.

He couldn’t see why she was fighting so hard. They had yet broken her enough to understand how pointless it was. She couldn’t win against them, they had tons of students before her who tried. It would be so simple to go with the flow and take in only what she wanted from her time here. She didn't know this world and condemned it already. Kind of like his mother when his power appeared. She was as close-minded. Franck couldn’t see anything good coming out of it.

“Impure?” he let out, as she spat on his suggestion to go to the infirmary. What could be impure there? It reeked of disinfectant precisely to get rid of anything that could be referred as impure. Obviously it meant something else for her but Franck would be damned if he knew what. “They’ll just offer you a bed to rest on,” he pointed out. Oh, why did he bother? She probably was just scared of hospitals.

Demi didn’t seem to understand why he bothered with her still. At some point, neither did Franck. No, if he thought about it, he knew why he still bothered. “Because if I’m against what you believe I’m not against you and I won’t leave you if you need help. Feel free to think whatever you want from it, I already know you think I’m a wuss,” he told her. She probably wouldn’t understand his point. She mustn’t be used to people extending a hand with no hidden motive behind their gesture. Her loss, really. “But if you want to go back to your dorm on your own, that’s also fine by me,” he added. He wouldn’t force himself upon on. She was enough of a pain already and he doubted she was the thankful kind.She'll probably thank him by kicking his butt, as she said.