Tenaxa

Student Union The Green Tori bowed instinctively in response, putting her hand in her palm. And then stood up looking almost embarrassed. “Oh wow, really? I mean, I don’t want to take your lunch.” She smiled, but her stomach betrayed her with another grumble. She sighed and then shrugged. “Apparently my stomach disagrees.” “My name is Tori; Victoria Hanes-Sykes if you are being formal, but please don’t be.” She said and grinned. “Nice to meet you, Daniel. What do you do here? Student? Professor? Or just passing by on this nice day and took advantage of the location?” She unceremoniously plopped down her computer bag but then in a contrasting way, gently and smoothly lowered herself to the ground. She put one leg over the other and turned, prompting a couple popping noises from her back as she stretched. “Sitting still while studying is not good for me. I need to stretch.”

“Ugh, school sucks!” the girl shouted. The dozen or so other students studying in this indoor common area turned to look at her with a mix of surprise and annoyance. “Sorry.” She mumbled as she picked up her laptop and left. A “PING” came from her computer and she stopped and re-opened it while walking out on green. An instant message popped up and a stylized silvery dragon icon appeared. “Hey kiddo, studying hard? Going to be out of town for a week or so to go see the opening of Bernie’s big new tour in Vegas. Plus we double as security for her and the kids. Stop by to feed the cat please!” She stopped and typed a response; “Will do dad. Leave the basement training room unlocked please, I have some new styles I want to work on and I don’t want to have to pick the lock…again.” A moment later another message popped up. “Great, have fun; we will!” She sat in the courtyard outside the study area she’d just left. She was a little tall, and slim, with brownish hair that seems less than cared for. Her jeans and “Paragon U” sweatshirt were definitely not the cutting edge of fashion, but clear defined musculature was evident. “I cannot concentrate on freaking calculus when there’s…geez, sixteen hot alerts!” She mumbled to herself. Along the bottom of her laptop screen was a ticker of current alerts in Paragon City calling for heroes; from burning buildings to gang fights, to hostage situations, to Rikti sightings. She sits down on a bench as she scanned the alerts and looked at who was responding to each. With a sigh she closes the laptop again. A grumble from her stomach reminded her she needed some food. “Damn, should have eaten after StarDancers last night.” She sighs again, thinking back to the night before. She opens her phone and sends a text, looking sad. “Food…” she said to herself, looking in her bag. She pulled out a protein bar and looked at it with disgust. A young man under a tree eating a rice dish of some sort caught her eye and prompted her stomach to make more noise. “Damn…ten years ago I’d have found a way to steal that…” She said to herself before shaking off the thought. Unwrapping the protein bar she looked around for other, more substantial, food offerings. The cafeteria wasn’t terrible (she’d heard horror stories of the past from her father), and maybe he’d gotten that rice dish from there? She took a deep breath, got up and walked over to Daniel. “Hey, that looks good, where’d you score the rice?”

Mike watch Max jog off (at a pace faster than most sprinters) and grumbled to himself; “That cocky QB better play as well has he talks. ”Hesitantly, a small boy-ish looking student approached. “Um, excuse me Mr. Bana, it is time for your tutoring session. You need to write a paper on Alexander Pope’s Essay on Man.” Mike turned toward the voice and glowered at the young man. “The European Optimistic Philosophy movement in the 1700’s was pretty weak. Most proponents subsequently turned against it and even wrote satires of Pope’s work…er, I mean, I don’t feel like it, you write it for me, nerd!” Then he stomped off hoping no one heard the exchange.

There was a moment when Max’s smile seemed larger than even the hulking man next to him. And then people were talking and pointing at him. Mike let out a low growl of frustration and then tried to smile and make nice. He realized that he’d made a faux pas of sorts – normal people don’t get to see the inner workings of the team. He should have kept this to the locker room but the pretty boy had gotten to him. Still, at this point, he knew Max was in his element so there was no fighting it. “Uh, yeah, the defense is going to continue to step up this year, so we’re hoping the offense can follow suit.” He took an opportunity to lean over and grumble/whisper; “I’m still watching you.”

((Damn, its been so long since I did this...not sure I can really come back, but let's give it a try...)) Much Earlier: The hulking man stood and looked at the other man in the rumpled suit. “Well Mr. Bana, we’ve extended your parole for another year. You don’t have to go back to the Zig, but you do have to stay at Paragon University. Your probationary hero license if also extended. I’m not sure how you managed to be allowed to play on any sport-ball teams but apparently you were accepted. *sigh* Stay out of trouble and we may be able to keep you out of jail for another year…maybe. ****************************************************************************************************** Somewhat Earlier: In a dirty alley in Kings Row: The same hulking man hands over a large sum of cash to a member of the family. “You keep my mutant abilities quiet, and I keep paying you. Got it?” The Family thug smiled and nodded. “Anything you want “Club”. We’ll make sure that genetic testing comes back “normal” and you’ll be able to play.” ***************************************************************************************************** The Green At 6’6” the “Bullet” was big, but he was dwarfed by 6’8” of hulking mass that was the linebacker known as “Club” (aka Mike Bana). Faster than most of the cornerbacks in the conference, and big enough to devour most running backs, he’d led the team in tackles and sacks the past year. Sure, this new kid could huck the ball a mile, but that didn’t impress the Club. The mass of man approached Max. “Hey pretty boy, c’mere. I’ve heard all the hype, and all the chicks are all over you. But you ain’t nuthin’ till you proved it on the field.” Mike smiled, showing a toothy grin, but with one gap where a tooth had been knocked out. Then he continued, quietly to Max. “I break pretty boys like you. Until you prove it on the field, you’re just another hunk of meat to me.” Mike cracked his knuckles and continued to smile at Max. “If you pay half the attention to the playbook as you do to those skanks you might actually be worth a damn. But until then, just watch yourself."

Pinnacle from Launch to Close (with a few alts elsewhere). Mad Gremlin DarkHawke Steel Dragon So many others... Good to be back.

I was wondering if this would actually resurface. Would love to see some more of the old Withmoore and Paragon University alumni come back!