A&E 101-Neil Shuman's take.

[Zip]

Itch.
Itch.

Instinctively, he pummeled the back of his neck with his fingernails. Rubbed raw. That'd make a great album name-'Rubbed Raw', with skinless rats on the cover.

He pulled out his schedule. The A&E he could understand-but the 101?
Mimicking the schoolboard having a discussion in his head, it went something like:
"We need to have a class...but need to make it sound dangerous...how do we do that?"
"Add numbers to it. Numbers make everything dangerous."

And lo, the gym was before him. A room swarming with body heat, girls, so many GIRLS. Sweaty girls-
no, just think about the class, not the people in it-
but MOIST GIRLS-
no, think of the 101, the 101 does not make sense.
Neil folded the paper and set it in the back of his filthy jeans.

[i n k]

WORK IT HARDER MAKE IT BETTER

Attack and Evade 101. The first level of a long, winding, perilous video game that would end in a C+ and several burn marks. Zander swallowed, fists clenched. He had been trying for seven endless weeks to wield enough fire from his fingertips to beat the class's top competitors.

That was not going to happen.

Dressed in dorky gym uniform from head to toe, Zander glanced around the overly spacious, glistening room. His tennishoes squeaked like angry mice on the shining false-wood floor, echoing the calls of other footwear far away. He noticed a boy standing next to him, wearing street clothes, and felt a look of confusion cross his features.

"Where's your uniform?" He asked, complete innocence. "And aren't you a human? How'd you get into attack and evade?"

TOO MANY QUESTIONS. DANGER, ZANDER EVERYTHING.

DO IT FASTER MAKES US STRONGER

[Zip]

"Yeah, I guess you could say I'm human," he said, still scratching excessively at his neck.
Interesting scent, red-dude.
"Then how come you're in this class?" the demon asked, familiar as ever with the school system.
"Malfunction with the database."
"They never make mistakes."
Neil smiled, his fingernails slowing down on his throat, sliding blissfully.
"Well, then, I don't know."
Zander looked at the human's t-shirt. Grease stains, as many as you would find in a pizza box.
Neil looked at the boy, noting how uncomfortable he looked in the uniform.
"So, uh, do you know what the 101 stands for? Cause I've been thinking about it, and...no solutions, man."
Maybe they wanted the number 101 because it was lisp-friendly...

[i n k]

THAT, THAT DON'T KILL ME

"Are you a shapeshifter?" Zander asked, curiosity peaking. This other guy was showing a lot of animal habits, probably unknowingly. "And as for the 101- it's the first class of A&E you can take here," he smiled knowingly. "Most freshman level classes are 101- they just kept it in A&E because the name never changes and you can't rank them like english classes."

Man, this school does not make sense.

"But yeah," Zan pulled his white "CN" t-shirt down at the bottom hem- a nervous habit. "Humans never get into A&E, unless they're like, ninjas or something; and based on your body language, you're no ninja."

CAN ONLY MAKE ME STRONGER

[Zip]

Tugging shirts, red hair, broad smile-weird kid. But sweet.
"I can transform into a ninja," Neil said, emphasizing what he said by crouching his toothpick frame into a pose.
"For a ninja, you scratch your neck a lot."
"Well...." Neil paused, standing up, "...I'm a ninja with fleas. And I'm coming into this class because I need to know how to avoid them."
"Yeah?"
"Yes."
Zander crossed his arms, still smiling.
"So you're an animalistic ninja with fleas?"
"No, just a ninja with fleas. Being animalistic is out of the question--just--out of it."

[i n k]

NOBODY GETS; ME NO ONE AT ALL-

"Huh." Zander shifted his weight between his feet, as if judging something on his person. He looked across the gym and then back at Neil. "A ninja with fleas. That must be sort of an occupational hazard or something."

He held a hand out, palm up, and concentrated, watching with glee as the beginnings of flames began to flicker. He felt the fire grow, felt its tingly warmth dart through his veins to the tip of his fingers, and finally saw it blare through his skin. Zander's hand errupted in an inferno; he gasped, happy as hell, and stuck his appendage towards Neil. "LOOK. LOOK." He pointed animatedly, as if the giant ball of pain wasn't inches from his aquaintance's face. "I MADE FIRE. LOTS OF FIRE."

The entire class was watching- some impressed, some annoyed, but most cracking up.

TIME'S NEVER WASTED HERE INSIDE MY PERFECT WALL.

[Zip]

Eyes wide and mouth open as though he were going to swallow it, Neil suddenly shook his face away from it. His hand pressed against his nose, tear ducts watering onto his sleeve.
"Zander, calm down!" someone yelled out.
There was no stopping him.
His bright blue eyes were open in nirvana, the adrenaline rush tingling through his body at the sight and feeling of his hand burning.
The more excited the demon became, the more tears ran down from the transformer's eyes. The bony body of Neil shrunk down
-literally-
-leaving only his greasy clothes behind.
Zander was ecstatic, lost his his world of pyromechanics and unaware of how many people were staring, cheering, or rolling their eyes.
Neil poked his little pink nose out from a smelly sleeve, and looked up with small beady eyes. Still, the smell of the fire and whatever else was still present, leaving Neil to flee to another part of the gym.

[i n k]

SOMEONE YELLS "LESS TALK MORE ROCK,"

Zander's peals of laughter echoed up towards the ceiling, bright and estatic with a rush of triumph. He glanced over towards Neil- or what had been Neil seconds ago, the fire lessening and popping into nothing with Zander's sudden panic.

"H-HEY! Ninja-guy!" He picked up the greasy shirt and held it up, poking at it. He'd melted! OH, GOD! HE'D MELTED! Zander felt the overwhelming fear grow in his stomach and throat, heart pounding. He'd be expelled for melting a student- even a ninja one- and he'd never be accepted into C9 again, and he'd have to be homeschooled and oh my god he'd melted.

Mr. Luco, the batty old A&E teacher, stepped out from the changing rooms, coincidentally right next to Zander and Neil's pile of clothes. His old eyes narrowed into slits behind his tortise-shell glasses. He turned to look at Zander and bellowed, "What happened?"

He wasn't angry, oh no- just as deaf as deaf can be with one able to still hear, if not barely.

"I-- I don't know!" Zander jumped back a step, shaking. Oh snap, oh snap, oh snap. "He just.. He melted!" Oh SNAP.

...MOSTLY UN-IRONICALLY.

[Zip]

"Excuse me," a solid voice said from behind both of them.
A girl with messy hair cupped a rat in her hands.
Zander and Luco both turned towards her.
Cringing, she turned to the teacher.
"I believe that demon-boy here just-ah-overwhelmed this guy."
"Overwhelmed who?" Luco shouted at her.
"I don't know his name, sir."
Zander watched the conversation between the two, facinated.
"What I just saw, was Zander flaming off, and this one just--shrunk and ran."
"What place to you have to talk like that to me, miss-?"
"-Vedder. June Vedder." she replied calmly, in despite of her jittery hands.
"Miss June, you have NO RIGHT to mouth off-"
"I wasn't!"
"-TO A TEACHER LIKE HOW YOU ARE NOW."
Zander stepped in.
"Mr. Luco?"
The old man's eyes flashed towards the boy.
"WHAT?"
"She's telling the truth."
Scratching his graying head, he turned back to the girl.
"You're off on a rough patch, girlie."
Frowning, he walked off, sweatpants clouding his skinny old legs.
Zander and the girl looked at each other.
"Well-he needs his clothes-and-ah-"
"You're a dude. Take him and the clothes to the lockeroom with the hand that wasn't flaming."
She handed him Neil quickly without another word.

[i n k]

OOC- you got Mr. Luco so perfect I could cry. <:

I'M NOT GONNA WRITE YOU TO STAY;

"Uh...O-Ok." Zander gently plucked Neil from June's hands. "Thanks... June, was it?"

She nodded.

He smiled.

"I'll be right back, I guess." Scooping up Neil's clothes from the floor while balancing the actual rat in his opposite hand, Zander scooted quickly into the locker room; it was damp and warm, the showers clouded from the previous hour's critters and other beings cleaning up before their next class. Red lockers lined every wall and several columns, while benches sat every five feet or so, chipped but new. Zander placed both bundles onto the nearest wood seat and turned his back.

"Sorry about that."

IF ALL YOU HAVE IS LEAVING I'M GONNA NEED A BETTER REASON.

[Zip]

Scritching was heard on the tile floor
Smells like-baaaaad!
Smells, smells, scents-food?
demon, feet, funk
Arching his patchy back, he squeaked. Zander resisted to turn around to see if anything was wrong.
Squeaking turned to a loud groan, then a sharp "Ow!"
"What's 'ow'?"
"Lockers."
"Sorry."
"Nah, it's cool."
Again, he resisted turning around to speak face-to-face.
"Man, that girl smelled good. I mean, real good."
Pulled his shirt up.
"Then again-" he yanked up one skinny sleeve of his pants "-they all do. One girl's as good as another, right? Oh, and you can turn around now."
As Zander did, he noticed how the slant of the cieling conflicted with Neil's height.
"Sorry again, about that-thing that-"
"It's cool-again-about that thing."
Zander hesitated in asking.
Yeah, you freak him out then ask him why.
But he did anyway.
"Whydidyouchange?"
Tweaking his bulbous nose, Neil answered,
"Your hands' smell completely changes when you do that. It's a lot for me to handle."
Zander held his hand out in front of him.
"Can you smell it now?"
"Nah, it's died down. That girl, though, I wonder how she knew that you should have used your other hand?"
The question hung in the air, unanswered. Zander was rather inquisitive about her. How did she grasp onto the situation so rapidly? Just popped out of nowhere, talked to Mr.Luco while he was panicking, and just so happened to have Neil in her hands. And at that, despite her asserting nature, she cringed whenever Luco would shout.
The shape-shifter broke the silence.
"Well, guess that's your cue to go and ask her."
"MINE?"
"Yeah, she's closer to you than she is to me. Age-wise."
"What do you mean, 'ask'?"
"I dunno."

Neil was out the swinging door before Zander could object.

[i n k]

STOP, COLLABORATE AND LISTEN

WAIT, MISTER! THAT WASN'T VERY NICE!

The words drowned themselves in Zander's throat as he steamed- literally. Smoke slowly curled out of his ears like a crack in a crock-pot lid, listlessly drifting towards the ceiling in silky ribbons. Ask her? Ask her what? How she knew? Oh gosh, he was no good at any of this stuff.

Inhaling deeply, all the while pouting, Zander stomped out of the locker room back to the open gym. He spied Neil on the opposite side of the floor, smiling crookedly and waving halfheartedly toward him in a mocking fashion. Jerk. Mr. Luco was shouting from the center of the room, words directed at the 100+ students milling around the edges of the courts.

"LISTEN UP, EVERYONE. TODAY IS A VERY IMPORTANT DAY."

Eyes rolled skyward all around him; he said this every day.

"TODAY WE PAIR UP AND FIGHT, HAND TO HAND. IF YOU'RE NEW HERE, LIVE WITH IT. IMPROVISE."

Zander's heart stopped. Pair up? Hand-to-Hand? Live?

All of these impossible, quickly gaining on him. Mr. Luco spotted him standing awkwardly and pointed in his direction. "SEE ALEX OVER HERE?"

Zander's hand crept up. "My name is Zander, si-"

"ALEX NEEDS A PARTNER. I CAN SEE IT ON HIS FACE."

Zander's hand smacked into his face, pulling it down in frustrated humiliation. He looked around- June was running in his direction, hair bouncing, as she jogged easily toward him. "I got this one, Luco."

The old man glared around the room, adjusting his glasses and hitching up his pants. "THE REST OF YOU. GET A PARTNER, STAT."

Bodies moved, laughter followed, and people readied themselves for attack.

SOMETHING GRABS AHOLD OF ME TIGHTLY.

[Zip]

She slowed as she arrived to him, and half-heartedly smiled.
"So, 'Alex', I guess we're pairing up."
Zander froze.
"Oh jeez, you're going to beat my ass and you know it. There's no need to be freaked by fighting me-or is that not quite it?"
He nodded, then shook his head, then slapped himself.
"No, hit me, not your face."
But it's fighting hand-to-hand-!
June sighed.
"I can see you're morally opposed to this." With the most amount of exaggeration he ever saw in his life (that was the most blatantly obvious), she flung herself to the hard, wooden floor. Intentionally squishing her face, she yelled.
"OW. MY ARM. IT HURTS. SO. BADLY. OW OW OW!"
Sticking her arm up, she hissed,
"Grab it!"
Zander blinked, still shy.
"DO IT."
He did.
"OWOWOWOWOW."
Mr. Luco looked satisfyingly over at the scene.
"THAT'S THE WAY TO TEACH THEM GIRLS, ALEX!" he bellowed, saluting him with the silver whistle that hung around his neck.
Zander turned to the floor, only to see that the girl was up again. She raked her short hair back with her fingers.
"There. Stupid bat got what he wanted."
Zander laughed.
"What?"
"I kinda thought he looks like a bat, too."
June smiled.
"Great minds think alike," she said, grinning more broadly.
Nice smile, he thought, looking at her pale face.

[i n k]

HOW UNFORTUNADO

Or rather, small minds seldom differ.

"Thanks for that." Zander smiled, fired up, actually ready to try and fight. "Let's do this for real."

He wasn't sure why he had this sudden urge to show what he was made of; he felt the flames pulsing through his body, behind a locked gate that was meant to break open. He could tell it wouldn't be long before he could actually call himself a fire demon, and he would get that raise in his allowance.

Yesssssss.

"Have you ever done hand-to-hand before?" Zander asked, assuming an offensive stance, half crouched. His incisors were flashing, bright glints of white, his eyes flashing blue rays of excitement. His entire body was tensed.

June looked a bit confused, then slowly morphed into a defensive pose.

SHE WAS THE GEM OF HIS APPLE OF HIS EYE OF HIS HEART

[Zip]

"No, but I think you're going to teach me how," she said, returning his pointy grin and sudden enthusiasm. Crouching awkwardly, she felt the heat in his veins, the thudding of his heart, the excitement he felt.
Closing her eyes, she looked-
(Look for the bare parts and burn them-)
A flash of her legs passed through his mind, followed by an instinctive heatwave flowing up his arms.
June crouched lower.
(aaaaaaaaand-)
"HA!"
Zander shot his arms out, an incinerating flame skivving the floor, just under June as she jumped. She slammed back down on the black marks that could have been her feet. Looking up at his smiling face,
(her weak point?)
she stood up.
Oh, he was a happy demon-boy, she could tell that even by not using her gift. His incisors gleamed, his breathing was heavy, and his eyes took on a whole new look of malice as he was presented a challenge.
(burn her arm)
The fire came quicker-before he was just warming up, if you'll pardon the pun. June twirled around, her arm just barely singed, and used the momentum to knock into him.