Citizen_Stu

Mr. Book raised an eye brow and walked through the open door with his hands held firmly behind his back.

'The plot thickness." He thought to himself.

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“Please Lupis help” Unix’s uttered right before receiving a slap across the face from the hellion bending over her with a knife. “Look at me! I have never slaughtered a hero before and I want to see the look on your face.” The hellion growled to her as he pressed the knife against her throat.

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The only warning the Hellion got was a low growling from behind. Then suddenly he felt jaws clamp around his wrist and yank it back as Sam bit into him hard. It was not the playful bite of a young dog exploring the world with its mouth. It was the kind of bit intended to draw blood.

The Hellion panicked as Sam shook his he violently back and forth, still holding on to the wrist. The knife was dropped and skidded across the floor harmlessly. Sam could still be heard growling even though he had Helions wrist in his mouth.

"Get it off me. Get this dam thing off me." The Helion shouted as it started to punch Sam in the face.

Sam's reaction was to just bite harder and start to pull. There was only so long he could hold on but at least he could by the heroes sometime and do some damage. He was not going to let go.

Yep. Virtue is the unofficial role-playing server

Sam barked at the sounds of battle, unable to do anything from his cage. All he could do was try to dig under the cage door with his paws. Since the floor was made of tiles it would not work but that did not stop him from trying.

Sam put up some resistance to being put back in the cage but he could also feel the tension in the air. When the cage door was closed he looked up at Constance with his puppy dog eyes and whimpered. He reached up with a paw and touched the lock of the door, lightly clawing at it.

People were shouting. The black murky stuff he had been pulled out off (much to his relief) suddenly engulfed him again and the nice silent girl.

In fear Sam started barking again and pulled to get free.

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"In here, be quiet."

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Sam was becoming nervous in the strange black fog. He did not understand what was going on and a hand was still tightly holding on to his collar, stopping him from moving. He barked at the cloud hopping it would go away.

Mathew was starting to get the impression this girl had a hot temper despite her apparent cold abilities. He really did not want to be on the receiving end of it.

"No, no I don't. I was just asking. I didn't mean to up set you." He quickly apologized. He leaned back from the table, hands slightly raised as if defending himself. Some students had turned around to look at the two of them.

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"So, I registered. Have to register, right? So much for the women's NBA," she sighed.

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Mathew had thought her hand felt cold. He should have realized sooner but he thought the frostbite comment was a joke. After all it was winter, maybe she had just come in from out side.

"Do you mean you're a mutant?" He asked carefully. Some people did not like the term mutant. He then looked to the slowly freezing drink. "Does that mean you can never touch anyone?" He realized to late what he was asking sounded like.

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Unix then peeked her head around the corner. The rest of the hallway looked clear and there were some open cages along the wall. Unix decided now was a good time to get Canis lupus familiaris back in its cage. Unix slid a gauntlet finger under Sam’s collar and led him to the first open cage.

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Sam let Unix take his by the collar. Maybe they were going for a walk he thought and wagged his tail. That was until he saw the small room with bars and stop dead in his tracks. He tried to stop himself from being dragged in but under Unix's strength his paws slipped along the floor. His claws could not dig into the tiles and he started to whimper.

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Constance knelt and opened her arms, gesturing for the dog to come to her, trying to get across to Unix that she didn't want to lock the poor thing up.

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Sam looked to the friendly girl who had scratched him behind the ear. Rather then trying to stop himself begin pulled into the cage by standing still he tried to move towards her.

Mathew followed Dani to the cantina. The morning set of lectures had just concluded and a few students were starting to filter into the cantina. Luckily this meant most the good food was still left. The word ‘good’ was a term used loosely in the university cantina. A lot of money went into the University, its facilities, its equipment, its staff but next to nothing went into the cantina. Budget cuts had to be made somewhere.

Mr. Thorn, the cafeteria cook smiled when he spotted Mathew in the slowly growing line along the food counters. “Mathew, still working hard?” He asked, already knowing the answer.

“As always.” Mathew replied. “The food smells good.”

Mr. Thorn chuckled. “Your joking right? This is not proper cooking. If the university would let me I’d show you what real food is. Not this ‘ready made’ crap.”

A few of the students looked up from their trays. Mr. Thorn chuckled again.

“I better not say anymore before I get myself in trouble. See you later Mathew. Take it easy.” He said.

“I will. Bye Mr. Thorn.” Mathew replied.

Mr. Thorn was the kind of man who always spoke his mind, which had been known to get him into trouble a few times but nothing serious. The irony of the situation was he was a very good cook but with budget cuts, regulations and what he was given to work with he could not make the quality food he wanted. Despite it all the slightly plump dark haired chef managed to stay happy and friendly. However, he took no nonsense from students who started messing about.

When they had gotten their food and found a space Mathew sat down facing Dani. He placed his plate of pasta, coffee and books on the table. He felt a little awkward and unsure what to say to the girl. After all they had only just met and that had been by him knocking her to the ground.

“Sooooo… you’re a Psychology student. I thought you looked more like an Art or Media student.” He smiled, unsure of his own joke. “What do you plan to do when you finish University?”

Mathew waved goodbye to Angela and Narshawn as they let. He liked the sound of extra credit.

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She looked towards the remaining Professor Clemmons and Matt, "Anyone feel like some coffee?"

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"I was just on the way to the cafeteria when..... well..... you know.... sorry. Anyway, coffee sounds good. I hope they have something better then the same old stale sandwiches this time."

Mathew started to pick up his books off the ground. Luckily Miss Binks hand not realized the books had been dropped otherwise he would be in real trouble.

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Unix knelt down and grabbed the dog’s paw. “It’s claws aren’t anywhere near as sharp as I thought they would be. But it does have a really cute face and eyes.”

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It must be a game. Other people that came to look at dogs liked to hold his paw, shake it and say hello. Usually it was the smaller people (children) who liked to do that. Sam liked them the most because they were usually more friendly then the big people.

Sam’s tail was wagging from side to side as he stretched out his head and sniffed Unix. He could not understand what she was saying; he could not understand what anyone said. People were so strange but he had learnt what some of the strange sounds they made meant.

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“I don’t think so the one in the picture doesn’t have the name tag attached to it and it a bit wider on the top than this one. Sam huh, No wonder you are so dumb your owner wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer either. He only put his first name on your tag? This city has a couple thousand people there must be at least a few hundred Sam’s. We should put it back in his cage if we can find it make sure it doesn’t get itself hurt.”

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He knew the sound ‘Sam’ because people said it around him a lot. They usually said it when they wanted him to do something. The only other sound he understood was ‘cage.’ He did not like that sound. It usually meant he was about to be out in the small room with bars. He barked once in objection but his tail kept wagging.

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Once Unix had cleared the way, Constance approached the dog, fingers closed to her palm, outstretched to allow the dog a sniff. Then, gingerly, she scratched its ears.

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Sam stretched out his head again and carefully sniffed Constance's hand. She smelt friendly to so he let her touch him. He liked it when people scratched him behind the ear. He moved his head slightly so she could find his favorite spot.

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Unix turned to the small hero and said “If you don’t mind me asking what is your name?”

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Constance looked up from her kneeling position. Disentangling her fingers from the pup's fur, she drew a line across her throat, then crossed her hands over her lips and shaking her head.

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Sam looked up at Constance and cocked his head to one side. His tail stopped wagging for a moment as he tried to figure out what was happening. Must be another game he thought and his tail started wagging again.

Mathew smiled when he heard Angela Barstoe politely but firmly talking to Miss Binks. Angela was one of the few people that could stand up to Miss Binks and win. That was one of the reasons Mathew liked her. The other reason was she gave great lectures.

When Narshawn was introduced Alex raised his hand in a gesture of greeting. "Hi"

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"It is an open lecture, but with your talent, I would like to see you here." Her look told Mathew she knew something, direct and lingering, almost a challenge. Being a Mind Controller and telepathic, she did.

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As much as Mathew got on with Angela and respected her as a lecturer she always made him feel nervous when she gave him that look. It was a look like she knew something but Mathew was not sure what.

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"Shall I reserve seats for you, any of you?"

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"Ah, yes, Professor! I'd like to go. My major is Criminal Justice with Psych."

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"I'd like to go too Professor Barstoe. I always enjoy your lectures." Mathew added with a smile. He looked side ways at Dani, hoping he had not pissed her off since they were going to be attending the same lecture. Come to think of.....the pink hair....he had seen her in a few of the same lectures before.

Matt realized how cold the girls hand was. He looked at her slightly puzzled but before he could think on it any more his attention was taken by the arrival of one of the Paragon University professor. Matt had seen the man around campus but did not really know who he was or what he taught (until now).

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"Accidents do happen around here, I'm sure the young man didn't mean to bump into you. And please, try to avoid loud noises or colorful language in the library in the future? It is a place of learning after all...ok?"

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Great, just great... now my Psych Prof think's I'm a disturbance to the peace as well. Bloody wonderful."

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Matt looked from the pink haired girl to the professor. "Uh... This is my fought. I was not looking where I was going and I walked into....er......" He didn't know her name, ".....this girl. I didn't mean to create a disturbance."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. It was an accident. I was not looking where I was going. I didn't mean to walk into you." Matt babbled.

He pushed his glasses back up onto his nose and started to pick up his books. Suddenly he realized pick up the books first when he had just knocked the girl to the ground was not the gentlemanly thing to do.

"Oh sorry. Here, let me help you up." He put the books down again and held out his hand to help her up. There was an awkwardness in the way he dealt with the situation. He stood again and held out his hand to her.

“I’m really sorry. My names Mathew. Every one just calls me Matt…….. What’s that you’re listening to?” He asked nervously. As soon as the words left his lips he became aware how much like a bad pick up line it sounded. Having just knocked someone down seemed like an odd time to introduce your self but Matt was trying to be friendly in the hope the girl would not get any more angry at him. He was not good in confrontations.

"Shhhhhh. This is a library remeber." Came the sharp voice of Miss Binks from around the corner.

((OOC: I hope it’s still ok to join in))

Sam awoke with a surprise at the sound of a near by explosion and the smell of burning. His head jerked towards the noise. When the Hellions had attacked the building Sam had been locked in one of the large dog cages. With no super powers there was no way he could have fought them off but he had tried. When he had been thrown in to the cage he had hit his head and been knocked out cold.

When he awoke it was to find the cage door strangely open. He had no idea how it had happened. Maybe it had never been properly locked to start with. Carefully he looked up and down the long corridor before exiting the cage. He could not hear anything now above the barking of the dogs in the other cages.

He wanted nothing more then to leave the building and escape but he could not leave with others still trapped. He crept around the corridors and rooms towards where the sound of the explosion had come from.

Eventuly he came close to were he thought the explosion had come from. He looked around the corner to see a group of people (who looked like heroes) in another room at the end of a long corridor. He could show them where the others were and they could all get out but between him and the heroes was a group of three Hellions. They were slowly sneaking up on the heroes. Sam knew the heroes could look after themselves be he could not just stay there and do nothing. He had to warn them.

Sam jumped around from the corner and shouted out a warning to the heroes. The Hellions spun around to face Sam in their surprise. A look of puzzlement crossed their faces, momentarily forgetting the heroes.

The Hellions found themselves looking at a young Border Collie Dog that had just jumped out from around the corner. It kept its head low, barking and growling. It could not have been much more then 6 months old with white and black fur. Around its neck was a red collar with the name tag Sam.

((OOC: I know a lot of people who play heroes whose secret identity are either students or teachers at Paragon University. So I was thinking what better place to set an open RP. The general idea is there is no set story and anyone can join in. Feel free to create courses, lectures and locations with in the university.))

Mathew was still feeling tired from a long night of studying. He was glad that the university library was not too busy. This time of day most of the other students were still in lectures. The only other people currently around were a young couple using a quiet area of the library to make out. They were too busy to notice Mathew and unfortunately for him they were standing in the way of the books he needed to check.

Feeling rather embarrassed he tried to make his presents known by coughing. At first they did not hear him but on the second attempt they broke off their long kiss. Realizing they had been caught the blond hair girl simply giggled, said sorry and led her male friend by the hand to another area of the library to continue. Mathew’s cheeks burned a little with embarrassment but he was able to find the book he needed.

Matt (as his friends called him) was 18 with short, red, slightly messy hair and green eyes. On his nose sat a pair of wire frame glasses. He wore a grey Ghostbusters T-Shirt, blue jeans and trainers. Despite his slightly geeky look he was quite handsome under it all. However, he did not have confidence in that fact.

Once he had found the book he needed he took it to the check out desk along with the other two he had found. The Science of Parapsychology by Dr R Stans, The Unbelievable Truth by Dr J Adams and Famous Hunted Locations by E Brown.

“You returned the last two books a day late and you expect me to let you check out more.” Grumbled the librarian. She had a reputation amongst the students (and some of he tutors) as a strict woman. She was highly organized, everything had its place, everything had to be done right. She did not like it when books were put back in the wrong place by the young students who as she put it, ‘had no respect for her library.’

“I’m really sorry Miss Binks. I was really busy with home work at the time and I didn’t realize they had to be back.” Matt spoke with an English accent. He sounded very sincere in his apology and tried to smile.

“A likely story,” she mumbled while opening the front pages of all three books and stamping them hard with the return date. “Don’t bring them back late this time.”

“I won’t.” He picked up his books and left.

“This book is three days late young lady,” he heard the unhappy Liberian inform the student who had been waiting behind him when she retuned her book.

Matt’s mind was wondering, thinking about what he would get for lunch from the cafeteria. Hopefully they would have something better then the usual stale sandwiches and half cooked food. The chef in the cafeteria was friendly enough but his cooking still left something to be desired. Matt was not looking out and did not see the person in front of him. He walked straight into them and clumsily fumbled to keep a hold of his books but they fell to the ground, open at random pages.

((Tag anyone))

I've had no luck getting my laptop to work on my parents internet connection. I'm going to have to wait till after the New Year when I am back in Holland to join you

I'd love to come but I'm already back in England for Christmas with my parents and their computer can not run the game (but I can still post). However, maybe I can get my laptop working on their internet connection. I'll give it a try.

((OOC: That's ok. I'm just happy I did not screw things up ))

Mr. Books jaw clenched at the mention of need to find a new host, a living desendant. He faught to keep is anger in check, to still be a gentalmen. He stood a little stiffer now. The air around his started to grew colder and a light wind blew through the room. To anyone who could feel it the wind felt like the light tuch of hands dragging over them, some of them weakily trying to grab hold.

After a short moment of silance giving Mr. Book the time to think the air started to return to normal, his jaw became unclenched. Still, he tried to hide the fact that he had been on the verge of losing his temper. He was not happy that Medb had some how obtained information about him which he had gone to great lengths to keep secret. Could she know his true family name too? She must do if she knew the person he seeked. For now he decided he would play along.

He gave a small bow. “You speak truthfully. I must apologies for my miss understanding of your intentions. Such a thing would indeed be bad for us all and if you can aid me with my ‘short term’ goal as you elegantly put it then I think we can work together. As for my long term plans….. I believe now your plan could also aid me, yes.”

((OOC: Agh. I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to do that. Maybe Medb knows the location of the person Mr. Book is looking for (the one I told you about) and will give it to him in return for help. The weapon could also have other abilities that would be useful to him.))

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"Nothing but two-dimensional thugs. I'm talking about real villains. There aren't too many left anymore."

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Mr. Book looked at Kirke with interest, the words striking a cord with him. It was not as elegantly put as he would have put it himself but Kirke's statement was regretfully very true. Villains today were just thugs, two-dimensional, no sense of style or decency. Even villains such as the ClockWork king were guilty of this. Maybe Kirke was not the mindless thug Mr. Book had first believed him to be. It was still obvious that the man had little or no class but in his own common way what he was saying was very poetic. Kirke's honesty about his abilities had been foolish but in a way Mr. Book also respected him for it. However that did not mean he would be inviting the man to any social gatherings any time soon, not the kind of circles he mixed in.

Mr. Book also wondered how truthful the others had been or if like himself they had omitted certain facts about themselves. Giving to much information about ones self was dangerous. Give too much and someone can search for a weakness.

They all listened as Medb informed them of why they had been summoned. When she was finished Mr. Book spoke up.

"Forgive me for being so rude as to ask but how does helping you achieve this goal aid us? I myself have no need of super weapons. However, I can not vouch for your other guests."

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"Ladies and Gentlemen, please. We are guests here, and as such I believe we should behave in a manner befitting such. Such acrimony does not suit us here."

Andre placed his cup down and steepled his fingers.

"Now then, I have introduced myself, and all you have done is fire questions to me and our host. I assure you, I know little more of her grand game than you, but perhaps if we sat and listened we would learn. Perhaps if we all re-introduced ourselves to each other it would be a better start."

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"Finally, someone with some sense of decorum." Mr. Book thought to himself. Even the new arrival ((Mr. Dark)) had only the appearance of a gentleman and none of the manners in Mr. Book opinion. Sadly Andre was right; Mr. Book was included in the group of people who had rudely demanded to know why they had been summoned. How could he have let his manners slip so? It was something he would have to be careful he did not do again. It must have been the time he was spending in America that was to blame. Americans were so much more vulgar then his fellow Englishmen.

"Very well. I apologies for being so rude. Since we have not all introduced our selves to each other let me be the first. My name is Mr. Book. I come from the island of England and was born in the summer of 1822. I died in the winter of 1852." He smiled, always enjoying the reaction he got from that little fact. "I am what you may call a Paranormal. The body you see before you now is not my own, merely one that I inhabit."

((OOC: The vulgar Americans comment is purely in character.))

Mr. Book looked down at Nomegeh. Obviously no manners or proper up bringing. What a pity. It was starting to seem that the others where nothing more then street thugs and lackeys. He looked sideways at Kirke

Why had he, a villain of decency and some up standing been invited to a meeting with a group of common riff-raff?

Rather then forcefully taking his chair back he decided to rise above the situation and remain standing.