Bloody Show

[Evan Webb]

Seeing the flash in Demi's eyes made Evan question exactly what she meant by 'earning' a name. Who earned a name? His mind went straight to the names he could think of that the person had gotten due to their personality or their rank or their achievements. Alexander the Great, Ivan the Terrible, to name a few. Demi hardly seemed...earned. But what does he know?

"Okay," he simply answered, not really knowing what else to say. It was also the same answer he gave when she gave him a look that screams confidence. Evan had always been good at reading people, which was why he simply nodded at her when she gave him that look.

Being prompted to move, Evan checked the area again before making a left turn into an alley. At least this one wasn't as dark as the one he had been beaten up in.

"Where were you from, Demi?" Evan asked, not knowing whether that was a good question or not.

[Demi Smith]

Demi moved easily, though without sacrificing awareness. Her eyes kept flicking about as she moved, as if she expected someone or something to jump out from the shadows at any moment. Occasionally she'd look back over at Evan, obviously wanting to keep tabs on him and keep on a general path toward the school. His words came out right when she'd looked at him, and she blinked.

"Not from here," she said, speaking the obvious. Demi turned her head away, her eyes lingering on a moment as a girl who looked to be about her age passed her by. Said girl wore skin-tight shorts that showed off a pair of long legs and a shirt that displayed belly; she also looked a good deal more... developed than Demi. The terrakinetic just blinked and looked away, though her face twitched.

"I'm one of the Inherited," she explained. Demi's eyes flicked toward Evan again. "We believe that mutants are going to Inherit the Earth after a Purge rids the world of the previous species somehow. Like the humans replaced monkeys as the top, so mutants will take over. There's also some stuff about how mutants were often the really important people in history and junk too, but I don't remember as much about that," Demi shrugged, obviously not finding anything odd in her nearly apocryphal religion in the slightest.

[Evan Webb]

"Obviously." Evan pursed his lips as he scouted the place ahead before moving out. There were a lot more people that they both could blend into so it wouldn't be too easy for anybody to pick them up.

Evan didn't notice the girl Demi was looking at as he reached for her hand so they wouldn't lose each other. Her explanation of a very disturbing cult-like group had him stealing glances at her.

"Uh...that's...okay." The sensory scryer had no words so he went on walking. He didn't really know what else to say so he walked on. He did briefly wonder if maybe the brainwashing had started before she was hauled off to BA.

[Demi Smith]

The boy grabbed Demi's hand and she turned to look at him, tensing for a moment. She figured that he just didn't want to get separated though, either that or he was too wussy and scared. she'd let him hold her hand then. After all, of the two of them, she was clearly the tougher and more imposing figure.

Much weirder was his reaction to Demi's belief statement. Demi blinked and looked over at him, not quite believing that he so readily accepted it. "Yeah, like you don't think it's super weird and awful or something. That's what everyone around here says," she looked forward, her face hard. "They don't get it: that's the way things are, and we're special, better than them."

She tightened her hand for a moment, feeling a quick burst of anger. Why didn't people here just get it? They were all mutants too; it wasn't like she was saying they were gonna get Purged. They should be thrilled at the idea of Inheriting with her, instead of being all blasphemous and junk.

[Evan Webb]

When he got called out on his vague response, Evan grimaced and shrugged. "My mom told me if I don't have anything nice to say, I shouldn't say anything."

Her anger seemed so misplaced to Evan. He didn't quite get it. To believe in something while thinking they were better than others was most definitely super weird. There is no such thing as a better people. All of them were just trying to get by. As long as people were happy with where they were, wasn't that enough?

He pulled his hand out from hers and turned. "What's wrong?" He asked.

[Demi Smith]

"I'd never get to say anything then," said Demi, blinking a few times. She didn't see a point in saying whatever. If you weren't tough enough to deal with a few words, then you obviously weren't meant to be talking to people in the first place. Like most of what people around here said though, it was just stupid. At least it was the kind of stupid that was ignorable.

Unlike Evan's other stupid.

"This place," replied Demi. She didn't care that they'd stopped holding hands; it felt weird anyway. "I don't get why everyone's not excited about Inheriting and stuff. It means we're better than everyone else. How isn't that cool?" she looked over at Evan, actually falling silent, clearly wanting to hear an answer. Sure, she might call it stupid or dismiss it, but she at least appeared willing to hear a whole response to it.

Once.

[Evan Webb]

"Maybe that would be a good thing." Evan mumbled, mostly to himself. Though he immediately felt bad about it. He'd just have to wait for her to realise what he'd said and he would take whatever she threw at him. He probably deserved it.

Furrowing his eyebrows, Demi's statement made him shook his head. Most of his confusion came from the fact that he had no idea what he was supposed to be inheriting. But the idea of supremacy over anything was wrong to him. It didn't bring him any kind of excitement because he just thought the thinking of being above someone should be eradicated completely.

Sure, mutants could be considered an evolutionary step up from baseline humans, but that was by no means a reason to feel uppity about it.

"It's not cool because it gives us a sense of entitlement. We were born with it, it's not like we earned it or anything."

[Demi Smith]

Demi at first thought she hadn't heard him right. Surely Evan wouldn't say something mean or anything like that. However, when she realized what he said... she actually barked a laugh. She could appreciate someone biting back a little. Plus, it was hardly the first time that someone had told her that she should talk less and do more or whatever, though Demi did try that.

However, all mirth faded at that last, and she snorted. "So what if it does?" she said, shrugging. "People get born into all kinds of unfair stuff. Like, if you were born rich or stupid or something. We're better. Just because we were born that way instead of earning it doesn't mean anything. Besides," Demi tossed her head, smirking confidently: "I did earn it: I'm awesome."

The awesome girl did have to pause though, giving a car a look like it had been a spaceship and the aliens were poking their heads out of the top and waving at her. So her awesomeness was very focused; nothing wrong with that.

[Evan Webb]

Having prepared for the worst, when Demi laughed, Evan was actually surprised. Thank God she didn't kill him or anything. Apparently she thought it was funny? Whatever it was, this girl really was very different.

Evan still wasn't convinced that thinking they were superior than others was actually a good thing. He was a pacifist first and foremost. He was very much into peace and equality for all and that included baseline humans and mutants living harmoniously. It was a far-fetched idea, no doubt, but there was no reason he couldn't hope.

Her confidence was one he actually envied of her. Had he had even a little bit of it, he probably wouldn't have had to head to the nurse's office later when they got to the school.

The car with people waving at them had Evan instinctively tugging at Demi even as a smile forced itself on to his lips. He hurried her along, they had a long walk back.

"So how did you escape, anyway?" He asked, wanting to humor her and not keep their journey silent.

[Demi Smith]

Why were there people and---oh, obviously this was one of those things that normal people used because they didn't have cool ways of transporting themselves around. Demi totally got it. She was tempted to give them a quick show, throw some dust or dirt into their windows or something, but Evan was already tugging them along. So she just grinned, grinned and let a little dust flow around her, give them the very slightest of shows.

"Man, you like to talk, don't you?" she said, turning back to Evan after the older student asked his question. "But I totally outmaneuvered them. They're clearly not used to having to chase people down and junk. Ended up doing some burrowing and heading out under a fence. Was kinda hard though, and they're probably gonna make it harder next time."

Demi actually grinned at this, the sheer challenge of it already sounding awesome. She looked back at Evan, and the grin turned into a frown. "You're totally thinking it would just be easier to get along with them or something, right? You don't get it! They're all stupid and--ugh, I don't know why I even bother," she folded her arms over her chest and stopped moving, turning to look away for a few moments. "Nobody gets it."

[Evan Webb]

"Talking keeps my mind off things. Can you blame me?" He responded. He quickly found it amusing as he pictured Demi actually digging through the earth. Yes, he knew she had the ability to manipulate earth but the image of her physically burrowing made him laugh.

"Of course I am!" He responded after his laughter died down. "No, I don't get what you think is better. What exactly are you thinking of doing to make sure people know we're better than them?" Evan asked, his voice raised just slightly.

[Demi Smith]

Demi was tempted to snort out a yes, but she didn't think there was much point in that right now. People talked when they ran out of things to actually do as far as Demi was concerned. Not like anyone here really listened anyway. Evan just kept proving that point over and over.

The laughter did have her looking at him like he was three different flavors of crazy, which wouldn't have surprised her in the slightest. She stopped walking to stare, clearly waiting for him to finish. then he did so, though Demi couldn't be certain if he was serious about what he said next.

"Uh, we don't have to do anything, because we just are better," said Demi. She finished with a derisive snort. "Seriously, it's not, like, a super hard concept to understand or anything. And if we did have to do anything, we could just, like, go around and kick people's butts or something."

Demi shrugged then, shrugged and continued walking.

[Evan Webb]

Evan shrugged and shook his head, clearly stumped at how Demi's mind worked. Yes, it was true. They were most definitely a step further in the evolutionary standpoint but being better than baseline humans? He still couldn't quite grasp that concept. They were all human. Plain and simple.

"The only thing kicking their butts would do is make them angrier at us." The seonsory scryer noted, something he was sure even she understood. Then again, she was right in thinking that he wasn't listening. He didn't want to. To him, it was all just so absurd.

Shrugging again, he also continued walking, not really knowing what else to say. Perhaps there was nothing else he could say. It was obvious they both had clashing opinions on things. She was entitled to her opinions just as much as he was entitled to his own. He was going to just leave it at that.

Sooner or later, the school was in view. All they had to do was cross a junction, and they were in the compound. He kept close to Demi, not wanting her to run or have her seen by anybody he thought could have been from the school. She exasperated him but he still felt a huge urge to make sure she was okay. Not necessarily being protective because he was certain she could do a better job at taking care of him than the other way around, but he just wanted her safe.

[Demi Smith]

Once again, Demi found that she couldn't really argue with one of the people here. They just didn't get it, no matter what she said or did. How could they argue with the fact that they were obviously better than people around them? Though Demi did have to admit that Evan was probably right about kicking people's butts making them angry. She did have something to say to that though:

"They can be as angry as they want: they'd still know who's better," she smiled at that, more than thrilled about the whole idea. Yeah, they'd so know who was better, and they could whine and complain about that all they wanted. Whining and complaining didn't change anything... Demi knew that all too well. That sobering thought melted the smile from her face and turned her walk into more of a trudge.

Well, they'd reached the prison again. Demi couldn't quite suppress a sigh as they got close to it. She wrinkled her nose and pursed her lips for a bit, before the question sort of leaked out of her: "How bad do you think they're going to punish me for sneaking out again?" Because they would. She knew that, knew it to her bones.

[Evan Webb]

Not really knowing what else to say, Evan kept quiet. She was obviously set in her ways and there was no way she was going to see reason so really there was no reason why he should continue to argue with her.

Turning when he heard the question, Evan looked at Demi and pursed his lips. He felt the sudden need to protect her once more. "They won't." He shook his head before reaching a hand out. A foolish attempt at trying to show that he was ready to help her if she needed it.

"I'll...help you if anything happens." A laughable gesture but he extended it anyway.