I don't know how it happened, but I'd lost control. I felt myself freeze, only for a moment, but it still happened. I felt my blood boil as I saw her. A girl curlled up, shaking in fear. She got to her feet, and began to walk toward the dummies. She was drained, weakened. I began to walk towards her, fueled by my anger. I quickly channeled a wound worthy of someone who'd ripped my control from me. I remembered it well. It was a wound I have suffered when I was just nine years old. My mother had burned my back with a hot iron rod. The pain at the time was immense to me, but it seemed trivial compaired to what lengths I am now willing to stoop to. I remembered the pain from the burn, the fear I felt after my own mother had hurt me. I grabbed the girl by the arm, and she turned toward me. I saw fear in her eyes. I felt the pain shoot from my back across my arm, and move into her. She let out a scream as I felt myself give her my old pain. I just stared deep into her eyes as the pain moved through me and into her. No one takes control of me. Not anymore. 

Ok, so update:

We currently have 10 active characters including Sam's new character (Charia, Reed, Emma, Bryan, Troy, Alynah, Wren, Izzie, Elliot and Mia. If Dan joins in before this posts, then he'll be included too), which might sound like a lot, but it'll be easy to deal with in a school setting/ when splitting up charries. For all those I talked to about jumping in later, I'm going to be introducing various teacher, hero, student and villain characters further on during the story, and I think it'd be best to work out joining as one of them if you still want to join in. Anyway, here's another entry:

Reed~

The stadium had to be at least a couple football fields large. But looking around, it was needed if hundreds of incoming first years were to be tested. I stole a glance at Mr. Levitski, still standing all high and mighty on his platform. He was probably one of the most cocky heroes, I'll give him that. If he was trying to scare us with the sudden introduction of the exam, it wasn't working. At least for me it wasn't.

Those who did their research, like I had to, knew how the exam worked already. Every student was recorded: The exam lasted about 15 minutes. Those who demonstrated an adequete amount of potential using the equipment provided were passed and confirmed in the incoming student class. Those who protested, were defeated, or showed power not useful enough to be considered in the new class were expelled. So those who thought it was going to be like any other hero school orientation? They were basically screwed from the start. 

Kids were already going at it like it was the hunger games, so I had to act quickly, before all the equipment was destroyed, or I got caught in the crossfire and taken out of commision. I stretched and jogged over to the enormous climbing wall. Some idiot had frozen over the entire thing. I swear to god, some people these days are way too full of themselves and their gifts. 

I could only think of one way to pass the practical exam most efficiently: A full blast. Yeah, it hurt, and I likely wouldn't be able to use my gift anytime soon after, but my parents would scold my ear off if was expelled during orientation. I interlocked my fingers.

As soon as I stretched my arms and cracked my knuckles, an enormous shock wave erupted from my hands. It rippled through the air, shattering the wall into giant chunks of concrete. I was tossed backwards, but managed to land on my feet, as a result of practicing every time my parents felt unsure of whether I'd pass or not.

I looked back to Levitski. He noticed, but seemed completely unphased, even by my most powerful display to date. I expected that, but if he ended up failing me, I'd be mad. He flashed his classic poster boy grin and gave me a thumbs up. Whatever that meant, I didn't really figure out. This guy was giving me mixed feelings.

I flinched as a chunk of wall landed a couple yards away from me. The shock wave wasn't bad compared to practicing it, but I needed to find something to do for the rest of the exam, or else I'd look like a lazy bum. I gathered myself and prepared to do something stoic, like rescuing fainted students. But before I could do anything, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, man, I could use your help."     

~Bryan 

"Bro, that is one super-city". Sebastian's voice is solemn but he looks the opposite of scared.I laugh.

"Don't turn it into a volcano before lunch will you? There's supposed to be a pizza buffet."

"Oh and save the soccer fields." Mikel adds. "I am so going to destroy in 1 on 1."

"Do it, you won't."

I'm only half listening, trying to take in the hyper-security walls looming to the horizon. And the guards, I mean what kind of person doesn't react to a joke?" Though maybe if I had a tazer and sweet shades I'd act cool too. So ya, RGAZ is impressive. All the same, I wouldn't think about going if a lot of buddies hadn't been accepted, Mikel and Sebastian included. But a lot of good people didn't. Does that mean they can't be heroes? 

We get through the last barrier, which closes with a boom. The car's quiet for a few moments. 

"Whew... Ya know I think that 7 foot CIA dude back there wrote something on your registration." jumps in the indomitable Sebastian. "Probably... what about 'troublemaker with zero soccer skills?'"

I push him off the seat. "Mine or yours? Anyway what could we do? This place is hard core."

"How about baby alligators?" asks Mikel. 

"Where the heck does that come from?!"

"It's just an idea."

"For what?" He's about to explain when we slow in front of the entrance. 

"Welcome to Hero Academy, the only combination of the Marines and juvie." intones my dad. He's joking of course but I still can't quit the nervousness. My mom gives me a big hug when I step out, though I'll be seeing her soon. 

"Watch after the boys please." She whispers. I nod. They're all great kids, just got to keep them from overdoing the punk. Dad gives me a stern warning to be respectful and then we're walking through the doors.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next part coming soon.  

Okay, I'm just going to redo my charrie 'cause she's boring.

Name: Rune Hyperkill

Gender: Female

Age: 14

Appearance: Straight brown hair dyed black, grey-green eyes, fair skin. Average height, very fit but not buff. Wears the clothes that identify her as a Gifted and a Student of the Academy. Can I draw them? :), lithe movements that are almost hypnotizing. Adrenaline junkie.

Personality: A mix of introvert and extrovert, charming, brave, a natural leader but knows when to step down, kind, firm, strong, stoic, a heartbreaker type of girl.

Gift: She's hypernatural: That's the short word for it. She has the ability to teleport, make people hallucinate, mass destruction, and can can shapeshift. She is very good at using her powers, but she vehemently hates herself for her powers and she goes into Survival Mode when she uses her powers, becoming an ultimate warrior, stopped by nothing until her enemy is defeated, which is not very good.

Background: Was a total nobody before the Gifting. She was found by the RGAZ and taken off of the streets, and is now recieving an education and ROP, or Refinement of Powers, from RGAZ.

Other: Shipped with Damien White. 

Izzie~~~

I let out a gasp of pain as a whited haired man with purple eyes grabs me. I can feel pain flooding through my body, I can barlet move barley breath as I'm stuck in his grasp. I take a deep breath in and surpress the panic. I need to teleport away, but not far. If I go behind him I'll still have streangth to retaliate. 

Behind him. Behind him. BEHIND HIM!!!!

I can feel the electricaty flowing through my body as I fade out of exestance. Soon I'm behind him. Barley thinking I take the electricaty still in the air and shoot it towards him. He stiffens and stays their as I back away slowly. Once I'm far away from him I disperse the electricy around him. He falls forwards and I'm taken into a smaller room by one of the teachers.  

Btw, I'm changing her power so that she can use gift-generated energy if she has the Gifted's permission. 

Alynah~

The room is in chaos. I can feel energy, flinging around the room in a frenzy, but it's like bits of treasure floating around in water-- I can only pick up a fraction of it. I find a corner, where it's quiet enough to concentrate, near a girl who can jump really high, and a boy who-- wait, is he drawing on that wall? No time. I close me eyes, and visualize dragging a net over that huge ocean, collecting all of the non-gift-created energy. Motion energy specifically. I take it, and then shove myself upward. When I open my eyes, I'm flying. And a good chunk fo the room has stopped moving. They tentatively start to move again, and I use the last of my energy to move a trampoline under me. I land and bounce a few times, then finally touch down.

I continue trying to show off my powers. No-one comes to get me. I start to breathe hard. I need to get in and stay in. I need to pass this exam. I start collecting random bits of energy and chucking at at everything.

Finally, the boy who was drawing on the wall comes over. He says, "Are you okay?" 

Sure Rogue, I'd be open to shipping 

Damien~ 

After the girl retreated, I began to recollect myself. I saw her run off as a slight burst of electricity hit my back. I turned, and saw her dragged to a back room by one of the teachers. I already knew how this worked. I came up to the next closest person I could find. Some stiff that just obliterated a wall made of ice. I thought up a fitting pain, something that would get me hauled off to one of the side rooms. It was a recent wound I had experimented with, in fact, I still had the limp. I had sliced my achilles tendon. I grabed a kid's shoulder and said,

"Hey man, I could use your help." I began to feel the pain move from my left leg up through my hand into his shoulder. He collapsed, unable to stand."Sorry friend. You have to get in somehow." I pulled away as he struggled to his feet.

"I don't go down easy." He replied. He interlocked his hands, and a pulsating force pushed me back. I'd noticed him bring down the wall before, but this was no where near as strong. I quickly ran forward, and slid next to him, quickly grabbing his leg. I didn't have time to get specific so I quickly channeled a collection of stab wounds I've collected over the years. He reeled back in pain. As I got to my feet, I backed up toward one of the walls. As expected, a teacher pulled me aside to a new room. 

Hey Ferris, maybe one of the teacher/professor’s could have a power relating to fur? I mean like once that person touches or even slightly brushes against an animal’s fur, than that Professor would immediately turn into that animal. But the only way they can turn back is to touch human skin/hair... hm. Maybe this is to detailed... just a suggestion! Thanks for listening :)

@Tuxedo: Sure, I'll take the suggestion into account when making the teachers.

Reed~

I turned around to see some jocky looking kid standing behind me. He was bundled up in layers but I could still see his face. White hair, and... purple eyes? They looked very similar to mine, almost identical. He flashed a menacing smile, and a piercing stinging suddenly radiated through my ankle.

"Sorry friend, you have to get in somehow." I fell to my knees, and saw him pull away dismissively. He was trying to trump my display, that dirty freeloader. I forced myself to get up.

"I don't go down that easy, bottomfeeder." I raised my arms defensively, though this pain was enourmous. I could barely stand at all. Whatever this guy's gift was, I hadn't seen anything like it before. He gave off an eerie vibe, too, like he knew he was going to win no matter what, and he was going to enjoy it.

I interlocked my hands again. It was a bluff, of course. I wouldn't be able to use any of my main fingers anytime soon. Unfortunately for me, he didn't back off.

I made a quick switch and cracked my thumbs. A shock wave rocketed off towards the guy, but it was clumsy and weak compared to my previous. He dug his heels into the turf, and quickly recovered from the blast sprinting back towards me as if to finish me off. He prepared for a lunge, so I painfully stepped out of the way as best I could.

No good. He saw through me, sliding past me last minute and grabbing my leg. Pain sprang up and through my whole body. I collapsed, not even able to fight back. I reached out for him, but he was pulled out of sight by a security guard. In fact, most students began to be hauled off towards the nearest doors. Mr. Levitski approached the microphone once again.

"Attention students, we seem to have recorded sufficient footage of each of our incoming first years. Please allow yourselves to be escoted to one of our recovery rooms."

What? It hadn't even been half the duration of last years orientation exam.

"We hope those of you hoping to suceed have found yourselves able to thrive under this years key lesson: efficiency and performance under pressure."

That slime ball. He knew that a lot of us had expected the test to be longer. Last years key lesson was "Surpassing your limits", but I had no idea that wasn't a one-off thing. I tried to stand again, but my body felt like it was pulling me to the ground. My vision grew hazy, I could only make out fragments of Mr. Levitski's speech.

"...wait until recovery...following... gain consciousness...acceptance ceremony...in around an hour..."

I passed out before the guard even finished carrying me off. 

Elliot~

Focus, faster. I need to do something impressive. I take out my felt tip markers. What do I draw? Instinctly, my hand begins to move. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a wave of chocolate brown hair shoot upwards. Wow, she's talented. I looked around. Nobody was noticing her. She seemed to panic.  

I walk over to her,  and put a hand on her shoulder. She whips around, and I meet her eyes. 

"Sorry. Are you ok?"

"Oh. Yeah. Just trying to do something impressive. I just can't seem to."

"That thing you just did was great."

"Thanks. Um, why did you draw on the walls?" I looked over at my drawing. The wall was covered with multicolored butterflies. Face palm. I always made butterflies for my little sister. Come on. Play it cool. I thought about happy memories with my family, and willed a butterfly to fly off the wall. It hovered in front of the girl's face. It was golden, with hints of blue, just like her eyes (that was done on purpose). She smiled, and held out a hand for it to land on.

Closing my eyes, I willed the wall of butterflies to come alive. The swarm of color filled the room, flying toward a group of administrators. The girl laughed, and the butterflies started falling from the air. Before they could hit the ground, the lights in the building turned off, and the glowing butterflies shot through a gap in the ceiling, and into the sky. That definitely caught their attention. 

The golden butterfly hesitated, then flew away too. A teacher pointed us to a different room. I followed the girl.

"That was cool, but why butterflies?" I could tell she was smiling.

"My little sister Alina likes them." 

"Your sister's name is Alina? So is mine. Odd."

"Really? We call her Ali. Maybe I should call you Lynah. I'm Elliot."

Before she could respond, the doors closed behind us. It looked like orientation was starting.

@A New Person, I was thinking our charries could be in a NON-romanic friendship, thoughts?

@aspen, I was thinking our charries could be kinda disliking towered each other, I think it could add some fun scenes to write  between them, but it's totally your call

Emma ~ 

my life story-I ran. 

I practicly ran from everything, my parents, my problems, my fears. considering, all three take form in the same two people, maybe I don't run from too many things. It's always been a strange way of life, both my parents had gifts, and they past them on to me. But that's where the simalarities end. both my parents had dark brown hair, and amber yellow eyes, I had a dull lemon color for hair, and my eyes were an orange/brown caramel. my parents had keen, almost perfect, eyesight, yet here I stood with sky blue framed, cat eyed, glasses. not only appereances though. My mother, had he ability to make people do her bidding with a snap of her fingers, and even though her spell only lasted five minutes, it could be deadly. My father, had the gift of the probability, when he has a zero percent chance of esacping something (or someone) he chances his odds to 100%. I had stupid gravity. it was fun when I was kid, when I would go outside on my swing, get really high, then jump off, altering the gravity just around me, so I could float gently to the ground, but now, i find it useless. 

there's only one other small difference between us, their evil. and no, I'm not just saying that because they didn't get me some giant extravegent gift for my birthday, no, they are evil. and they have been ever since I can remember, probably even before that. when I was younger and moldable my parents constantly tried to get me to go with them on back robberies, the typical "easy" stuff, but for some reason I never like the stuff. 

maybe it was because I was a pretty lazy kid, and breaking laws seemed like a lot of work, but my intersts were never in that sort of stuff. I didn't bat an eye normally, when dear old dad, and Merciful Mom would come home with a giant sack of money, but when I was twelve, things started getting really bad. they were obsessed with the idea of ruling. everything. the wanted to brain wash the super heros. wanted to get rid of them for good, that was the first time I ran. I was terrified, because of the strange feeling I felt while around me parents, the feeling of boiling anger-put the singe of power that fluttered through my chest, when my Mom persuaded me into helping her build her brain washing machine. something was wrong with that, and I knew it, so I ran. 

I was alone on my birthday, when I first became a teenager, I was too afraid to go back home, too afraid that they would figure out that it was me who had stolen the peice of their puzzle that had taken six years to build, a small glowing orb, in the shape of a lopsided heart, if you squint your eyes. I kept it on a chain around my neck, tucked into my shirt, if it was gone, I would know. 

But never once did I think to run towered danger, or work-like I said, lazy.

but it was june 11 and all I could remember was my parents talk about the wretched school for heros. I was determined to get in, because my parents may have been the one who started this war between us, but I would be the one who ended it. 

I had my hair tied up messily behind me, wisps falling into my face. wearing a black tanktop with a pastel pink heart where my actual heart was, and beneath it had the words 'love is love' written in cursive blue letters , jean shorts that had minimum holes, (so I'm lazy and clumsy, so whay) and my run down grey sneakers.

it was finally time for me to prove to my parents and myself that I'm more than a puppet that can be yanked around.

I started off running, but for the first time, I ran toward what could end up being my greatest problem yet.

I came to the outside of the school, and I was in awe. I had never seen such a giant beautiful well kept building, the walls seemed to shimmer in the mornings early light. I longed to be able to go in, to explore what may be hiding behind thoe sophisticated dividers known as walls.

"woah there! Miss, we're gonna need a DNA sample," a guard held his hand out in front of me, and held up a strange device. I blinked, not exactly sure if he was serious of if this was some joke, in my defence I had never really spoken to many people before, only my parents and the few friends I had before I ran. this was very different from those times.

"I'm sorry?" I asked, not sure how to respond, the man rolled his eyes, and tweaked a single hair from my head. "Hey!" I said, swatting away an already gone hand. the man gave a short laugh as he put the strand of hair on to his device, he stopped laughing then.

"you're a luis?" he said, eyeing me over, as if I had some sword hidden beneath my arm. I gave a hesitated nod. he scowled and took out a walkie talkie, "I need some escorts, we've got a special guest it seems," he glared me over, his eyes focused, I've heard of X-ray gifts before he didn't think I was hiding something. 

he made me take a step aside, and wait. I expected another bulky builded guard to appear, but instead a short skinny woman with corn stalk black hair look up at me. she sandwitched my hand in hers, and stared straight into my eyes.

"her intentions are good, let her in, Johnathan," the woman said, smiling at me, "I wish you luck, sweet Emma," and with that she walked away. the gaurd stepped aside to let me into the building of wonders.

the inside was glorious, but I didn't have much time to look around as I was pushed into a large room. something that looked much like a training court. And low and behold, people were training, was this some sort of test?

I caught the eye of a boy with a tan complextion and strangly mystical red hair, the light reflected off some random weapon, hitting him just right to show a glint of ambition in contrasting dark light green eyes. I smiled, and he scoweled looking away. I took a breath, telling myself this should be expected. I was new and I was known. 

almost out of view I noticed running lanes, and I sighed in releif, something I could actually do. I lined up just as the race before me ended, and I scooted over to lane three, watching as another girl appeared. brown hair, and cold hazel eyes, but I was probably just imagining things, why would she be glaring at me. I closed my eyes trying to shake the sinking feeling that was growing within. 

"why, hello," a voice broke me from my thought, a boy with messy chesnut brown hair, and dark hazel eye. a jokish expression lit up his face. "the names Bryan, and you are?" he said, smiling down at me. 

"Emma," I said, tucking a lose strand of hair behind my ear. "so wha-" I was cut off from the starting pop of the race, catching me off gaurd I started a little behind the others, but it wasn't long before I picked up speed, breathing steadily, I kept my head straight intel I finally reached the end breathing heavily.

"woah there, try not to over exert yourself before we even get started," a soft laugh came from someone in front of me, I lifted myself from my hunched position and found my self face to face with the boy from earlier, soft red hair, and now I noticed a sloppiling cut peice of cloth attached to his face, a faint red splotch in the middle. 

"you don't have to worry about me," I breathed, trying to regain my normal heart rate.

"you're that luis girl, right?  I've heard rumors about you and your parents," he raised an eyebrow, waiting for me to defend m gaurdians.

"I don't associate myself with them," I didn't mean for it to come out so cold, but it kinda did. 

the boy smiled, giving another short laugh, "Troy, Troy Branwnn." and with that he walked away. 

Rune~

I survey the room, trying to figure out just what exactly we are supposed to do. I shrug. I've already seen two kids get pulled away into separate rooms. That seem to be the only way out of this arena. Both of them displayed large amounts of power, including the frail girl freezing almost everybody (I wasn't frozen because I teleported away from where I was supposed to be standing frozen) and the boy made another kid collapse, unable to stand. I smile at the originality, but I am hypernatural. I will not fail this test. I know people are watching, so I concentrate and I locate all of their minds. Then, I use one of my many powers. The ones I put on the sheet are just the ones I use most often. I know the Instructors are watching my non-existent display of immense power. I withdraw the image. A giant of a man comes up to me.

"This way." He beckons me into a room with one huge hand. In it is a table with a small brown package. "You passed the test with flying colors. Those are your clothes that identify you as one of us." The big man smiles. "Welcome to RGAZ, kid."

~Bryan

There's widespread hums of approval for what I really want to compare to an airport lobby. I see a couple people I know in the tense crowd, they look relieved when I wave them over. I also get a dashing smile at Rune but she's already talking to someone. Quickly, our group finds a back row to wait out waht starts as a typical orientation speech. Then the walls split apart.

"Guys, stay together." I shout while in only a few seconds mass destruction gets unleashed on the courtyard.

"Does anyone know what's happening?" I yell over the rising din.

"I do." Rune's appeared from somewhere (did she actually teleport?).  I look at her.

"You've got to prove you've got enough talent to be a hero," she says calmly, "hopefully without hurting anyone seriously."

I look around, putting on a reckless smile. "Who wants to show how badass (Is awesome a better word?) their power is?" There's a slight cheer and everyone starts breaking off. 

"Bryan, you gonna be okay?" Rune hasn't moved. 

"You're asking me?" I laugh "of course, dont I always impress." I keep up the confident grin fro about a second after she teleports away. 

This is exactly what I was afraid of. My gift is about the most useless one possible. W/ the people making it snow and causing earthquakes (I'm pretty sure that's Sebastian) and freiking slowing time, I'm headed straight to the rejected list. Maybe they give points for humility. I almost laugh but it's suddenly a serious thought. Besides determining how powerful you are, this is a paradise for showoffs and power maniacs. But its how you get into this crazy school. 

Suddenly there's a huge shock wave that blows almost everyone back. I'm flattened against a wall. How am I possibly going to compete in this? As I stagger up I realize I'm a few feet from a door, and the guard's looking at me kinda suspiciously. Ya know, I'm going to get expelled anyway. I wink at him and then focus on the emotions swirling around his now blurry form. Happiness. I think. The guard drops his gun, eyes take on a glazed look. I feel a bit of regret. I'm pretty much manipulating this guy's mind."Hey Bryan, watcha doing?" Someone yells. "Getting attention." I say without moving my head. 

Security breach. I think next. The guard swiftly turns to the door and punches in the code, before sprinting into the corridor behind it. I got to move quick, the wierd song they hear only lasts about a minute. So I run after him, constantly gathering feelings of danger, focus, school attack then turning back on him in the form of a killer soundtrack. The dim hallway ends at the stage. My guide slows but I give him the simple thought of move. I'm getting tired fast. Keeping a persons thoughts on just one idea is pretty straining to both of us. We burst onto the stage. About half a dozen men with hardcore guns and the blue haired hero turn to look at me. I can't take them all. I think with an awful stab of despair. You mean you've never tried. Another thought responds.  Oh gosh. I close my eys and reach for all the colors. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Is this too OP? And Ferris is this okay?  

@Chardon: I think it's fine, as long as you know your limits.

Reed~

I woke up in some kind of hospital bed. The room was a hazy yellow-white, daylight still pouring in from outside. It was still early, but the final acceptance ceremony was probably sooner than I thought.

I looked over and saw a TV mounted on the wall, displaying footage from the stadium. The auditorium had ben retracted back to it's original place, and most, if not all kids, had been pulled off. Just my luck, I got dragged off with the failing bunch instead of the passing bunch. Well, it was worth a shot.

I shifted my body and stood up and out of the bed. I could still feel the pain all over my abdomen, like a bunch of scars. I spotted a nearby crutch and wedged it under my left arm. I struggled to walk, but it was possible. An announcement came on the intercom just outside the room.

"All students, the final orientation ceremony begins in 10 minutes. Please report to the main auditorium with the help of a teacher in 10 minutes. Thank you." Well, I guess that was it.

The door opened suddenly, and a fragile looking old man hobbled in.

"Ooh, it's nice to see you're up and walking about already." He had on an RGAZ ID tag, as well as a lab coat, tie, and pants that looked way to high. He looked up at me and adjusted his glasses. "You might need a little help, though." I give him a blank expression, and he shrugs.

"Hold still."

As soon as he touched me, I began to float about a foot or two off the ground. He then spun around and left out the door, leading me along without even touching me. He looked back as we were walking- er, floating.

"It's an interesting gift, no?" I tried not to look impressed. I just wanted to get this over with and go home.

And then as suddenly as the old man came into the room, the school alarm went off.