A small prank

It was right at lunch time for Alabaster High School students. Jeremy had just walked in after pretending to listen to an older kid named Chris yell at him about how he's a freak. He didn't listen long enough to get anything out of the conversation and went on his way into the lunch room. He really wanted to prank this loser who wouldn't shut up. He would've already done it if he wasn't alone at the moment.

Jeremy got his lunch and sat down at a vacant area on the table to eat away and he didn't really sit with people because he's never had too much reason to, he was quieter than most people and didn't like getting involved in large conversations.

The halls were bustling with life as class got out, marking the midway point in the school day.  Byron strode through the Alabaster High hallway, ignoring the chattering people around him as he headed to the lunch room.  Almost to his destination he heard a loud familiar voice up ahead.  Byron continued around a corner and saw Chris, a notorious school bully who especially hates those with powers, shouting at and reproaching a short brown haired boy as they entered the lunch room.  

Byron began to feel something boil under skin and was about to move in, but once the two entered the lunch room, they split apart after a final enraging remark by Chris.  "Just go home and don't come back, freak."  The heat from under his skin flared up for a second before Byron regained his composure.  He took a deep breath and sighed, I have to keep control or else I'm going to leave marks.  Little did he know, a red line across his nose had appeared as if he had been sunburned.

Byron stomped into the lunch room, still attempting to cool down.  He grabbed a tray and piled food on top of it.  Byron glanced around the lunchroom for a place to sit, when his eyes fell upon a boy sitting at a table alone.  It was the same boy from before, who was being picked on.  Byron made up his mind and moved toward him.  He stood next to the table and spoke to the absentminded boy, "Hey, you okay?"  Byron wore an expression that wasn't quite concern, but was instead a more stern face, having asked a serious question.

David shrugged slightly, thinking that it wouldn't hurt to try sitting there. After all, if he wasn't welcome, he could always just put his headphones back on and head up to the roof, maybe wait until another day to start trying to socialize. He took off his headphones as he walked, popping a stick of gum into his mouth and starting to chew it, his mind racing a hundred miles per hour trying to analyze the people he was about to sit down with by appearance alone, but he was far from a master of this particular technique, and he came up with close to nothing, at least no reliable assumptions of their personalities.

As he sat down at the table, choosing the seat closest to both of them (either sitting across from them, between them, or next to Jeremy, depending on which option would be the closest to both), he stretched his arms and legs, leaning back in his seat, almost going completely horizontal before sitting back up. "Yo. How's it hangin', guys?" He asked curiously, cocking an eyebrow at them. Then, as he was close enough now to notice the stern look on Byron's face, tilting his head slightly. "Sorry if I'm interrupting... Is something wrong?" David asked, watching Byron closely, wondering if he might be harassing Jeremy. Then David realized that he didn't know either of the two boys' names, and he quickly interjected to introduce himself, "Oh, and my name's David, by the way. David Porter. New here." He said, offering a friendly smile, simply watching Byron still.

Reference Image, Ignore The Gun:

Jeremy looked up from his food at Bryon and nods, "Yeah, I'm used to it. Guy's a bit of a prick and I honestly only debate whether or not to heat or cool down his drink to a point where he is either burning or freezing." He sighed as David comes up to him and says, "I'm Jeremy. Nothing really wrong, just thinking how I want to shut some jerk up and leave people alone..." He took a few bites from his lunch after giving his reply.

Over the loud chattering of the lunchroom, Byron heard Jeremy's reply.  "Burning or freezing, huh?" A smirk flashed across his face before quickly disappearing. "Guess that makes us two of a kind. Hope you don't mind if I sit here."  Byron put down his tray on the table and slid into the seat opposite to Jeremy.  Maintaining a serious demeanor, Byron took a bite of his food.

Byron returned his gaze to Jeremy, about to resume the topic when a new boy, this time with black hair, plopped down next to Jeremy.  Quickly the boy interjected a greeting, slightly bewildering Byron and caused him to raise an eyebrow yet maintain a stern face.  David swiftly amended and introduced himself.  Jeremy responded, allowing Byron to hear both of their names for the first time.  

With the ice broken, Byron decided he should introduce himself as well, "I'm Byron.  Sorry I didn't get a chance to mention it before."  Byron noticed David watching him, and blushed slightly in embarrassment.  The blush was slightly covered up by the apparent sunburn on his nose but the redness of his ears was clearly noticeable.  Byron turned his eyes away from David, trying to appear more calm and less tense.  

"Anyway," whatever the reactions or responses, Byron attempted to shake it off and regain his composure, "So Jeremy, right?  If you are getting bullied, you can't just sit back and take it.  He has no reason to act superior to you, so I can't just let this slide."  Byron recovered his serious demeanor, gaze intense with conviction.

"Hmmm.... Bully problem, huh?" David said, almost muttering it, thoughtfully. He clasped his hands in front of him, leaning on his elbows against the table in front of him, his eyebrows furrowing slightly. "What is there to bully you for, exactly?" David asked, out of genuine curiosity. Of course, David had heard the boy's earlier comment about heating up or cooling down a drink, but he didn't want to jump to any conclusions just based off of that. He preferred to hear the answer straight, and from the source, whenever possible. The less your information is diluted, after all, the better, he thought.

He watched Jeremy now, carefully, reading his face and his movements, analyzing him more out of habit than any particular suspicion. His eyes switched from Byron, to Jeremy, and back again every couple seconds, his eyes now scanning their clothing and bodies, which could easily be misconstrued as 'checking them out', especially now that he had relaxed his shoulders and put on a small, barely noticeable smile, his eyebrows no longer scrunched up in thought. "Anyway, if you're looking to be rid of a bully... I believe I could be of some help. I'm sure my preposition could be... Beneficial, to all of us. That and, I just can't stand bullies."

David followed his statement up with a soft chuckle, putting his right hand against his cheek, and resting the same elbow in his left hand as he crossed his legs and waited for a response, his mind already formulating a way to remove the bully problem for good. It would take some effort, but he thought there might be a few different ways to go about it. It didn't take him long to settle on a plan that he found particularly favorable, but he also decided that he would hear out what the others had to say, considering that he still didn't know if his offer would even be accepted. In the meantime, once he got his fill of examining the two boys at the table with him, he began scanning the area around them, making sure that no one was eavesdropping, or planning something foul.

I wonder where that bully they were talking about is right now.... David thought to himself as he idly scanned the lunchroom, his eyes never resting on one subject for too long, his muscles tensed as if he expected to be attacked at any second, which was of course an entirely irrational paranoia for the time being. His eyes settled on a rather average-looking upperclassman sitting at a table not too far away, laughing boisterously and, presumably, bragging about his recent bullying exploits. The way that other students looked at him, or merely skirted around him when walking past, combined with his rather loud and alpha-male behavior made him too easy to pick out of the crowd. That'll be him. Doesn't look too tough... Wonder if he knows how to fight? Probably at least a little. Can't be that much of a prick without getting into a scrap or twelve.. Hmmm... He looked back at Byron and Jeremy now, smiling still, with that calm look on his face, despite being deep in thought.

Jeremy shrugs to Bryon and David, "Doesn't really matter to me if you sit here or not." He then points to Chris, who was now up and refilling a cup of water, "I'm wanting to heat up that guy's drink to dangerous levels as he likes to chug them down, he'll probably bring it all in at once and have the worst time of his life, that'd certainly get him to stop making fun of powered people for at least a little while." He looks at David, smirks, and jokingly says, "What skills do you have to put into the table." After a while he shrugs, "Just kidding, but anyways, thanks for your help guys and I already have an idea of what we should do to burn his mouth or something, he drinks a lot of water and will use the restroom in about ten minutes or so, so all we have to do is do some overly complicated plan to replace the water with a really, really, hot cup."

Byron leaned in closer and responded to David's inquiry on why someone would bully Jeremy, "You said you were new here, right? So I guess you wouldn't know.  Chris is just one of those discriminatory jerks who hates people with powers for one reason or another."  Byron's gaze shifted to Jeremy and then back to David again to catch him staring once more.  This time David's gaze was much more intense, as if he was examining Byron's body.  Byron missed the fact that David also did a similar scanning of Jeremy, which led to all kinds of implications in his mind.  

Byron blushed violently, his heart-rate increasing as his internal panic grew by the second.  He jerked his head away feeling especially self-conscious.  Byron's mind raced in that moment, but he couldn't maintain a proper train of thought.  He attempted to speak, but no words escaped his lips.  Before he could say anything, David offered his aid in dealing with Jeremy's bully problem.  Byron turned back, attempting to get his mind back on track to the issue at hand instead of such fantasies.  

Byron cleared his throat and the red slowly faded from his face as Jeremy declared his revenge plan.  "Even if you do that, Jeremy, how will it make him stop picking on people with powers?  Unless he knows it was you or someone with a power, he will just have anger to direct at whoever he gets his hands on."  Byron fidgeted, occasionally stealing glances at David.  "And anyway, how is your plan going even work? David," Byron shifted his gaze, hesitating for a second, "did you say you had an idea, too?"

David couldn't help but raise an eyebrow curiously at the candid nature of Jeremy's suggestion, and even the somewhat detached way he seemed to deliver the whole statement. It was as if he'd been thinking about this for a while, but the way he spoke made it all sound like some sort of joke, even going so far as to reference the overly-complicated nature of such a plan. He couldn't quite figure what to make of this Jeremy kid, but something about him was simultaneously interesting and off-putting.

Trying not to dwell on this thought for too long, David simply shook his head and leveled his gaze at the table in front of him, staring at it, deep in thought. After a moment, he finished gathering his thoughts and smiled up at Jeremy and Byron again, favoring Byron with a calm, cool gaze and a friendly smile, lacing his fingers together in front of his face, attempting to calm Byron down upon noticing how flustered he had gotten, seemingly out of nowhere. Once he started speaking, David nodded encouragingly. Byron was getting very close to addressing David's issue with the whole plan, and he appreciated the level of thought Byron seemed to be giving it all.

David turned his head towards Jeremy again, laying his hands flat on the table in front of him. "Byron has a good point, Jeremy. How would it stop him from bullying anyone?" David began, before squaring his shoulders and taking a soft breath, shaking his head knowingly. "Let me just say the answer; It won't. Don't get me wrong, it sounds like a roaring good time, and this Chris punk sounds like he really deserves it, but... Recognition of who did it, or why, won't really do anything. In fact, using your powers to harass Chris will only make the problem worse. If you want to get revenge, then your plan will work just fine, and I'll even help you, no problem, but," David stretched out, his smile fading somewhat as his eyes became just slightly darker.

"If you want to stop the bullying, you have three options. You can become the bully and harass people constantly until no one will mess with you, which makes you scum just like Chris. You can find his reason for bullying you, the real one, and then neutralize it. Or, you could get him expelled, which could be a bit tricky, but it's definitely possible." David said, shrugging slightly as he finished his explanation. "Personally, most of those options are a bit too involved, so don't think I'm really suggesting anything there. I'm just letting you know that revenge won't solve your problem, really. It'll just be lots of fun." David said, with a soft chuckle accompanying his words.

"Of course, I could also be dead wrong. I'm only 16, after all, so enough with all this dour talk of mine. I'm sorry for being so negative. Actually, other than that small issue, I really like your plan, Jeremy." David announced, smiling again now and turning his gaze back on Byron. "As for my idea, Byron, I'm afraid I've already forgotten, for the most part. I got too caught up in talking about all that.... Anyway, I do remember the main point of what I was going to suggest. I'm thinking that Jeremy here could find two or three other powered friends, such as yourself, and form a sort of alliance, and stand up against bullies together. It's kind of like becoming the bully, and is just as effective, but a lot less scummy. What do you think?"

Jeremy listens to both their arguments, understanding what they're meaning, "I know what you guys mean, about being a bigger jerk, no I just want revenge for all this time really quick. Just good fun payback there, but the idea of stopping the bullies does also sound like fun, and help us practice our abilities. Kinda like school superheroes. Anyways, any ideas other than my overcomplicated plan to include multiple powers into it?"

Hearing David agree with his sentiment caused a fluttery sensation within Byron's gut.  He felt strangely happy for something so small.  Byron stealthily let his gaze fall upon David.  Byron's eyes drifted, moving from David's slim frame and square shoulders, to his silky black hair with its vibrant red streak.  Then moved down to his calming, inviting scarlet eyes that seemed to draw him in.  Finally resting upon his warm smile formed by two tender li-

Byron stopped himself at that thought.  His face had grown a softer, lighter pink during his reverie.  He vigorously shook his head to free himself from his daze and lightly slapped his cheeks to regain his focus.  He may have only just met David, but he could already tell he was developing a particular...interest in him.  This thought would cross Byron's mind, and acknowledging it, he stored it away for now, realizing that now was not the time.  He would get to know David better later, so with his thoughts to rest, he redirected his attention to Jeremy.  

While Byron was daydreaming, David had already declared he would be delighted to help Jeremy, whether it be extreme like getting Chris expelled, or something as straightforward as a small prank.  He even went so far as to suggest some sort of superhuman alliance to stand against the bullies.  Byron played around with the idea.  An interesting prospect.  

Byron listened intently to Jeremy's response, now that his focus had returned to him, hearing that all he wanted was his little revenge prank.  Jeremy's enthusiasm for David's idea for 'School Superheroes' gave Byron a little more interest in it as well, if the group could actually form.  "If you are just pulling a simple prank I can offer my help, too.  Not sure what I could do exactly as subtly isn't exactly my specialty.  I'm better with frontal confrontation."  Byron rubbed the back of his head, unsure of what part he could play.  

"That whole idea about forming a group to fend off the bullies seems like a good long run plan if the right people were put to the job."  Not used to this sort of close interaction so soon after meeting someone, Byron hesitated for a moment, "Basically what I'm trying to say is, whatever the plan is, I'm all for it."  Byron looked at his two companions with a straight face, yet earnest and genuine.

David, still having refused to mention anything about his own power, simply shrugged at the idea of incorporating multiple powers into the battle plan. "Well, I feel I understand, at least to a certain degree, what your power does Jeremy. Unfortunately, I'm not very familiar with what Byron can do. As for me, I'm really nothing special, I just know a little bit of self defense, and I have the power to think before I act." David chose his words carefully, but the truth was that, at the moment, he really didn't see his power as being particularly worth noting. He also just preferred to be careful how much he told before really knowing people.

David glanced over his shoulder, now, and saw Chris standing up in a hurried manner, beginning to pace furiously to one side of the room, where David would assume that the bathroom was located. "There he goes..." David said, turning his head back towards Jeremy. "Whatever we're going to do, we're going to have to act fast. I like your idea of heating up his drink.... What if... Oh, that's brilliant. Hold on, I'll be right back!" David said, barely suppressing a devious grin as he stood up and rushed through the line to grab his lunch, taking long, confident strides. On his way back, he was still smiling, winking at Byron and Jeremy knowingly.

David let out a soft sigh as he sat at the table again, setting his tray down proudly. It had a simple pile of cafeteria mac and cheese, a fruit cocktail, chocolate milk, and some corn. There was only one thing on his tray now that wasn't part of the standard lunch for the day, and that was a tall, refrigerated bottle of water. He picket it up now, placing it in the middle of the table. "Gentlemen, I have a proposition." David said, beaming a smile at the two boys he was sitting with. "I think you should definitely heat his drink up, Jeremy. But then, you're also going to cool down this water, here. Our friend, Byron..." David turned his head to Byron, now. "You're going to take the bottle of cold water and offer it to Chris when he starts freaking out because of the intense heat, and he'll take the bait hook line and sinker. When he takes a drink, he'll be overwhelmed by the sudden drop from blazing hot to freezing cold."

"Meanwhile, I'll stand ready to intervene, should Chris decide that Violence will be the answer to his thermal shock." David said, putting emphasis on the word shock, nodding firmly. "That's just the basic framework, though. I know you said that you're better with more physical tasks, Byron, so if you'd rather switch spots with me, I'm alright with that. And, if anyone else has something to add to the mix, well.... The more the merrier." David waited, watching Byron in particular to see what his response would be, curious to see what he had to say on the matter. He had the feeling that Byron was a little smarter than he let on, or maybe Byron just didn't realize it.

Jeremy smirks deviously, "I love it, sudden change in temperature, the best kind of 'torture.'"  He said torture rather jokingly even though it was still partly true.

His smirk never left, even though it started looking a little goofy.  He then looked to Byron and said, "If we'really going through this, I at least want it to be unanimous."  He then waited for an answer from Byron.

Byron watched from the table quizzically as David went to get his lunch and returned with a bright smile, a wink, and a bottle of water.  Byron wondered what sort of plan David had in mind and waited expectantly for David to explain his thoughts.  David began his proposition agreeing with Jeremy's plan, but adding a little twist of his own.  Heating up and rapidly cooling down was a feeling Byron had experienced firsthand, given his power.  It was by no means a comfortable feeling.  Byron winced at the thought but quickly recovered into a small smirk.  Quite an interesting plan.

Apparently David had appointed him as the designated delivery boy of the near frozen bottle of water while David would intervene should things get too extreme.  He did, however, also attempt to take Byron's feelings into account as well, having heard that Byron prefers to handle physical and frontal situations, and offered to switch jobs with Byron.  Byron took a moment to think, a serious yet thoughtful look on his face.  He was better at handling those kinds of situations.  Maybe I should just have us switch. Wait...  Byron thought through the possible outcome a bit more and came to a thought.  If things do go south, Chris is going to target whoever gave him the water, not so much someone who happens to step in.  And not only will it be bad now, but they may also be a primary target in the future.  Byron made up his mind.  He couldn't risk putting that on David.  He would much rather take it upon himself.  Especially since Byron wasn't exactly a pushover and was kind of intimidating himself, he figured he could handle whatever Chris threw at him.  

Once David was done talking Byron noticed David watching him, as if he expected something in particular from Byron.  Byron's cheeks gained a little pink but not much more.  Both David and Jeremy seemed to like the plan and were ready to go.  Jeremy also turned to look at Byron, waiting for confirmation that he was for the plan or against it. Byron crossed his arms and nodded, "It sounds like a good plan to me." He looked up, staring at his two companions with a vigor.  He aimed his thumb to point at himself, "I'll take the bottle to him.  If you guys think I can do it then I will get the job done."  Byron watched both of them expectantly, ready to execute the plan.

David's lips formed a broad smile as both Jeremy and Byron agreed to the plan. Even more so as Byron boldly accepted his part in the plan. Whether or not Byron realized the complications that he would be facing by being the one to deliver the chilled bottle of water to Chris, David was still impressed. Good... Neither of them seem cowardly. David thought to himself, before taking a deep breathe and deciding it was time to get started.

"Then let's do it. Ready... And go." David said, his smile fading from his face as he took on a much more business-like persona, the one he had had to use for a while now, whenever dealing with the state or its "carefully selected officials". One had to be careful in such dealings, so one developed an excellent poker face. His expression gave away none of his thoughts or feelings, while also not betraying an overly serious mood. In that moment, he appeared to merely exist, and nothing more noticeable than that. The only change in expression was a very brief, almost unnoticeable twitch at the corner of his mouth when he looked at Byron, handing the bottle of water to Jeremy and standing up from his seat.

"You guys know what to do, I need to go talk to someone." He said, with a very convincing sense of finality in his tone, distancing himself from the entire situation in the public eye, in case not everything went according to plan. He took a few paces off to the side, and began engaging in an entirely separate conversation with a group of people he had never met, regarding a topic he had no knowledge of or interest in. He merely responded with simple laughs, one-word filler statements, and other such things. Plenty to get by in the social throes of a highschool cafe.

Meanwhile, Chris's table was growing increasingly unattended, as people stood up to get food or water, or simply left to talk to people they were actually friends with now that Chris had been gone for a fair amount of time. Chris himself was starting to finish up in the bathroom, even stopping to wash his hands after punching some random kid in the nose that had bumped into him on his way out. Feeling distinctly refreshed after all that, he began to make his way back to his table, but his focus was off to the side as he ogled one of the prettier girls from a distance, winking at her playfully. It was the perfect opportunity for Jeremy to do his thing.

Watching carefully out of the corner of his eyes, David waited patiently for the plan to unfold, hoping that Jeremy would not falter in his resolve to commit this heinously righteous act of retributive pranksterism. He mouthed the words "Go on, do it." to Jeremy, tilting his head towards the glass on Chris's table.

Jeremy nodded as their plan was put into action. He looked towards Chris's drink and heated it up to an extreme amount from his distance. He then looked at Byron's bottle and nearly freezes it, saying, "You're good to go." He then turned to Chris for a split-second as he grabs the nearly boiling water, starts chugging in a dominant manner and almost immediately starts shouting about how hot it is and screaming in pain over it. Jeremy grabbed his sandwich and appeared to not care in the slightest, holding his usual expressionless face that any close friend of his was used to by now.

"Then let's do it. Ready... And go."  Byron was prepared. Now was the moment of truth where their plan, however simple, would be executed.  Byron wore a serious expression; one that may scare of a few kids but was full of conviction.  Byron watched as David's expression changed to one that was much more professional, but there was something almost artificial about it.  Rather than noticing anything special about David's expression, it was more like there was nothing to notice.  David glanced at Byron for a moment and for an instant there was a small falter in that professional expression.  It was almost unnoticeable but in that brief instant Byron noticed it.  What was that about?  David moved on and gave the water bottle to Jeremy to be cooled, then excused himself to go talk with a different group of people not too far off.  

Byron turned his attention to Jeremy now, who proceeded to heat Chris' drink from a distance.  Byron was mildly surprised at Jeremy's capabilities as Byron could change temperature but to do something to that extent could cause himself serious injury, and it would take a good long while for the heat to transfer from his body to the beverage.  Byron was almost jealous, but doing things subtly wasn't really his style anyway.  Next Jeremy cooled the bottled water sitting on the table to near freezing and handed it to Byron, who activated his own power and chilled his body so as to not affect the temperature of the bottle too much.  "You're good to go."  Byron nodded at Jeremy, ready to spring into action as soon as Chris took a drink.  Byron stepped away from the table, moving closer to the lunch line so it would look as if he came right from there when his time came.  

Byron carefully and stealthily watched Chris stride back to his empty table confidently.  Trying to make as big a show of himself as he could, as soon as he got to his table he took a huge swig of his now near boiling beverage.  First confidence.  Then confusion.  Finally alarm.  Less than two seconds was all it took to cycle through these emotions before finally yelping in pain as half a cup of scalding water slid down his throat.  Byron saw Jeremy eating his food nonchalantly as if he wasn't involved at all, or didn't even notice the cries of pain coming from a few tables over.  However, both him and David still stole the occasional stealthy glace at their victim.  Almost everyone in the lunch room was looking at Chris now, as his shoats were audible over the hubbub of the cafeteria.  

It was Byron's turn now.  He needed no more preparation.  Jeremy had done his part, now it was time for him to do his.  He walked straight up to Chris, no fear or doubt or even a hint of nervousness visible on his face.  Chris was so frantic, attempting to find something to cool his gullet, that he hardly noticed Byron until he called his attention.  "Hey, here."  Byron said things simply.  Saying too much would over-complicate things and make them more suspicious.   He held out the pre-prepared bottle to Chris for him to take.  Normally, this would have been suspicious enough to warrant caution by Chris, but he was so desperate that the thought never crossed his mind.  He immediately ripped the bottle out of Byron's hand and began fumbling to get the cap off, eventually settling on using his teeth.  As soon as the bottle was free of his hands, Byron returned his body temperature to normal and began to walk off, waiting and listening for the moment Chris felt the shock of the sudden temperature drop.  

There was no shriek of pain this time.  No, this one was much more subtle, but Byron could easily recognize those stuttered noises.  Those noises you make when you try to scream, but the noise wont leave your mouth.  Every couple seconds there was a new set of gasp like noises assumably coming from Chris.  Finally words managed to escape his mouth, "H-He-Hey, you!"  Byron stopped and turned just enough to the side to where he could see Chris who had taken a step towards Byron.  "What?" Byron made sure to squeeze just enough irritation into his voice.  Chris may have been a few months older than Byron but he was not bigger, and Byron made sure to use that to his advantage.  "T-this drink w-was way too cold."  Chris attempted to speak with a sore mouth.  "You needed a cold drink, so I gave you one.  Problem?"  A look formed on Byron's face that would easily scare off most children with a simple glance.  "S-so y-you did this on p-purpose?  Then I'll b-bet that you're j-just one of those f-f-freaks!"  Byron turned all the way to face Chris now, staring daggers at him.  Chris' stutters were no longer from the mouth sores, but for a different reason entirely.

David tried to remain as inconspicuous as possible while watching the whole series of events go down just over half a dozen meters away. He was actually starting to get a headache from staring out of the corners of his eyes, though, so he turned to face the action, shrugging to himself as he decided that it wouldn't really matter if anyone saw him watching at this point. Then Chris took a wild, deep swig of water, and David could see an immediate look of shock and regret splash across Chris's face. It was pretty funny, David had to admit, but he was easily able to contain any laughter, since he didn't really take joy in seeing people in pain. He was glad that everything seemed to be going according to plan, though.

Then he saw Byron handing Chris the bottle of water from before, smiling softly at the exchange. Everything was going so smoothly that David couldn't help but be somewhat on edge. It was a natural paranoia of his, that any time anything was going well something bad would inevitably happen. He tried to shake the feeling, after all it's not like this was exactly the most serious thing in the world. At worst a small fight would break out, and everyone would be scolded by a teacher or a security guard or something like that.

Then when he saw Chris confronting Byron, and saw Byron staring him down rather intimidatingly, David's whole body went rigid with anticipation. He knew that Chris would attack soon, like a cornered rat, but he didn't know how.

"...Then I'll b-bet that you're j-just one of those f-f-freaks!" Chris shouted, and Byron's gaze visibly intensified, and David started to hear something that he was hoping he wouldn't hear. It wasn't a sound that either Chris, Byron, or even Jeremy was making. Not David either, for that matter, but a large number of other students. He started to hear silence as everyone's attention was welded onto what was happening to Chris. Then, there was a note of laughter that caught like wild fire, and there was suddenly a roar of giggling, chortling, jeering laughter as Chris was being pranked and subsequently humiliated, apparently by the younger Byron.

David didn't like hearing this because, as far as he knew, if you took a violent, pubescent male and not only pranked him, but then challenged him, that was already bad enough. But then, if he thought he was being laughed at? That was a recipe for disaster. David could already see the muscles bunching up in Chris's body, he was obviously about to pounce. David's mind was racing, trying to predict how Chris would attack. This part of the plan wasn't very well explained, but David needed to interrupt on Byron's behalf. It wasn't because he thought Byron couldn't handle Chris, it was more that he felt it would be the best, most definitive way to show solidarity between those with powers, and show that bullying them for their differences wasn't just a mistake; it wasn't even an option anymore.

But as always, something went wrong. David felt a chill go down from the back of his neck all the way to his tail bone as adrenaline flooded his system, his eyes wide with realization as he completed his analysis of Chris' posture. David knew how he was going to attack. "Fuck!" He cursed loudly, galvanized into action. He bolted forward, towards where Chris and Byron were standing. He could swear that in that brief span of time he was running faster than he ever had before, just to get within teleporting range of Chris.

What David saw before anyone else, except for those watching Chris carefully, was Chris grunting angrily as he put a hand behind his pack, reaching for his waste band and positioning his feet as though he was preparing to really throw his weight into a massive lunge. David hadn't waited to see the flash of metal, he already knew Chris was pulling a knife on Byron. He had no idea how to stop a knife, though. He had practiced martial arts, but he was little more than a novice, and had no experience dealing with weapons of any sort. Byron looked fast, but he didn't know if he would be fast enough, or skilled enough, or even perceptive enough to see the knife and dodge or counter it.

Without thinking, David stood, positioning himself with a hand out to about where he estimated Chris's knife hand would be once he swung at Byron. His normally racing mind was blank now, as he simply acted. Like his body was being controlled by an outside force, compelled by a need to stop Chris.

David let out a loud grunt, followed by a shout of pain as his arm erupted in white hot agony, drops of red dropping to the ground from his hand as Chris's small, 3 inch pocket knife was run straight through the center of his hand vertically. Chris's expression was one of pure confusion, much like many of the onlookers. David had been running just a second ago, easily 10 or more feet from Chris, and then he had stopped, disappeared, and then reappeared like magic, standing in the same position he had taken just before teleporting, facing Byron with his hand out to the side, catching Chris's knife, which had been on a course towards Byron's face. A moment of silence from David and the crowd of students passed before David winced and recoiled, wrenching the knife from Chris's hand, now limp with shock. "Fuuuuuckkkk... That hurts like a motherfucker...." David was grunting under his breath, holding his hand.

"I-I... U-umm... W-what th-th-the... A-are yo-you another f-f-f-f-freak?!" Chris began, stammering from both the shock of what had just happened, and also the still-vexing sensation of thermal shock in his mouth. His tone was almost angry still, though, as if he felt he was in the right somehow, and David's interruption was a mere nuisance, even if it was surprising. David had loud bells ringing in his ears now, though, almost unable to bare the pain in his hand, falling to his knees and gritting his teeth hard.

Jeremy had turned to Chris as soon as he took the near frozen drink. As soon as he saw Chris move his hand back, he got up and got ready to help a friend out. He noted David run in, a lot quicker than he can even move normally, and get cut. After putting on a look of shock, he returned to a completely serious face and went up to Chris, shoving him while saying, "What's wrong with you? Attacking random people when they try to help you with a knife, and then you also call them freaks? You sir, need to calm down before you kill someone, pfft, you probably would've killed someone if it weren't for that 'freak' there stepping in!" He took a moment of silent to let Chris take this in and then turned his back before saying, "Maybe you should learn some sort of restraint or something in the next school you end up in, because I think the least you're getting for bringing a weapon to a school, and then pulling it on someone, and then even cutting someone, along with insulting them is a month-long time in OSS, the most you'll get is expelled at this point." He then walked back to where he was sitting, to continue eating, acting as if he had nothing to do with the whole thing and just stepped in.

Byron did not notice that all eyes laid on him and Chris.  He didn't even notice the cafeteria burst into laughter.  Byron was completely focused on the adversary in front of him.  Things were getting much more serious than their plan had called for, but Byron was prepared for this too.  He would not back down and let anyone tower over him or anyone else.  Someone like this needed to be pulled back down to the same level as everyone else by any means at Byron's disposal.  

Byron noticed Chris tense up as if about to pounce. In response Byron readied his stance; not an offensive stance, but one with his arms at his sides and read to act at a moment.  He watched carefully as Chris reached behind his back for something.  What is he doing?  Byron maintained his stance, watching, when Chris sprang into action brandishing a knife.  Byron was ready to defend, but the fact that Chris had a knife was something he had not anticipated.  There was a moment of hesitation from Byron as he took this information in before realizing he couldn't dodge it at this rate.  Byron brought up his arms in front of him defensively, waiting to feel the sharp pain of the knife running through his forearm.  

The pain never came.  Instead, something materialized in front of Byron which took a moment of confusion to recognize him as David.  The knife made contact and red spat from the newly formed fissure.  All seriousness melted from Byron's face leaving only shock and horror in its wake.  Byron stood completely still, not even taking a breath, in shock for a moment as David wrenched the knife from Chris' hand before finally crying out in pain.  Byron knew David said he would jump in if anything went awry, but he was not ready for this to happen.  Byron ignored the world for a moment, only hearing the faintest of Jeremy's voice as he came over to reprimand Chris.  During that time Byron was only focused on David who had fallen to his knees.  

Byron quickly moved in on David, steadying him.  A million questions raced through Byron's head, but they never became words as the current situation was much too pressing to ask now.  He needed to stop the bleeding, and he needed something to cover it.  Unfortunately, Byron didn't have anything like a handkerchief or even sleeves to rip off his tank top.  Byron had one option if he was to act quickly.  Without hesitation but with a twinge of embarrassment, Byron pulled off his tank top, took David's bleeding hand, and  pressed the bunched up shirt into David's palm.  A new brand of seriousness, one wracked with worry entered Byron's face and voice.  "Keep the pressure on.  We need to get you to the nurse."  

By this time Jeremy had already returned to his seat at the lunch table.  Byron helped David to his feet before noticing Chris out of the corner of his eye staring at the two of them.  Remembering the world and the cause of David's injury sent a writhing fury through Byron's core.  Byron momentarily left David's side, and almost appeared directly in front of Chris, muscled chest bare.  Byron seized Chris' collar and yanked him up so they were looking straight into each other's eyes and Chris' was just holding himself on the ground by the tips of his toes.  "You," a hellfire of passionate fury spewed from Byron's mouth, and for a moment his skin ignited with his rage before coming back under his control.  "If I didn't have more pressing matters to attend to right now than punching in your pitiful face, you better damn well believe I'd do it without a shred of hesitation."  Chris was stunned, having never been on the receiving end of aggression by his peers before, yet his mind registered exactly what Byron was saying.  

Byron released his grip, letting Chris fall on his behind.  Byron dashed back to David, now completely ignoring the existence of Chris.  He worriedly attended to David, probably more so than was necessary, attempting to help him walk even though it was his hand not his foot that was injured.  "If you feel faint at all just lean on me," Byron said with a straight face, not realizing his embarrassment until much later.  From there, unless David resisted, he would take David carefully from the lunchroom straight to the nurses office.

David was consumed by the pain in his hand before long, unable to hear anything but a loud ringing in the back of his head as he stared down at his head. A hundred thoughts flooded his head, but he couldn't focus for long enough to actually finish any of them. He briefly wondered if he might lose use in that hand... He hoped not.

David didn't pay any heed to the fact that Byron had removed his shirt, far too distracted to do anything but hold his wrist in a vice-like grip that he didn't seem to have any control over the intensity of. When the shirt was pressed into the palm of his hand, David winced but complied with Byron's demand to keep the pressure on, gripping the shirt in his hand and simultaneously using his other hand to push the balled-up cloth into his wounded palm. Blood trickled down onto the ground, onto David's pants, coated his forearm. "B-blood..." David said simply, clearly in shock.

His face was white as driven snow, his lips trembling and his eyes wide open. He hadn't been making much noise so far, but as he slowly came back to the world, the pain in his hand only grew that much more intense and unrelenting. A scream was wrenched from his diaphragm now, as he was helped to his feet, and he almost fell back down to the ground - undoing all the progress made towards helping him so far. Thankfully, he was able to steady himself with Byron's help, leaning against him firmly as the two boys went off towards the nurse's office.

As children gathered around to see what had happened, David could hear only one thing, seeming to repeat itself in his head over and over. The sentence filled David with a strange sense of pride, stifled only slightly by the white-hot agony of having been stabbed. "... Or, you could get him expelled, which could be a bit tricky, but it's definitely possible." Once David and Byron were nearly to the nurse's office, David had started to smile awkwardly, walking more and more on his own as the shock faded away. He looked up at Byron with a strange gleam in his eye, his voice still shaky as he held the boy's shirt tightly against the deep puncture wound in his hand, "Hey, at least my plan worked. Right?"

The way David spoke at the moment was oddly calm, almost like some sort of psychopath who had secretly planned the whole thing. Of course, that wasn't the case, but David had given off that sort of vibe in the past, so he wouldn't be surprised if Byron started to have his suspicions. David had always had a certain knack for thinking fast on his feet, and being able to adapt his plans on the fly surprisingly well, which often led others to believe that he was much, much smarter than he actually was. When the school's nurse saw the state of David's hand, she nearly feinted herself, not having expected to see a stab wound when she came into work today.

After that, there was a whole lot of fuss, but not a lot actually happened. David was given some more appropriate bandaging, but after that he mostly just sat in the nurse's office, waiting as the wound's dressing steadily became darker with the red of his blood. The dressing would be changed for clean bandages, and this would repeat until someone more qualified to handle wounds like this arrived; either one of the heroes teaching here at Alabaster High for those SAFE courses that David was going to be taken, or simply a doctor from a nearby hospital to put in stitches. Either way, it seemed like David had to wait much longer than he should have, though it could have just felt like that because he was in pain.

If Byron had stayed with David to keep him company while he waited for someone who could help him, David would turn his head to look up at the other boy. He was much more calm and collected now, and though his face was twisted by the sharp, burning sensation in his hand, David was regarding the injury almost as a nuisance more than anything at this point. "Hey... Thanks for helping me, Byron. That was really brave... I'm not sure what happens next, but I think... I think everything's going to be okay. Don't worry about me, alright?" David said, not wanting Byron to be too concerned at this point. In truth, David had no idea if he would even still have full use of his hand after this, but he didn't want to worry Byron with that possibility, so he acted like everything was fine. He even forced himself to smile again, trying to look strong.

Jeremy waited for at least a minute to get an idea of what was happening to Chris after this. He was taken away pretty quickly, so that was a relief. After that, he got up and went to check on his newfound friends or allies. He didn't really mean to leave them on the spot like that, but he was determined to let the fact of what Chris did sink in.

Once he got to the nurse's office, he opened it up and went in to check on David. "Oh my God are you okay!?" He was clearly surprised that his friend got stabbed over this whole endeavor. After a moment of silence from Jeremy, he let out a sigh, "Sorry for not instantly going over to make sure you're okay... Just wanted to maximize damage or something... I have no clue what was actually going through my mind right then."

As Byron was helping David to the nurses office he had to be careful to balance between getting there as quick as he could while not rushing and thus making it harder on David.  They were almost there when David finally spoke up, "Hey, at least my plan worked, right?"  

Byron looked over at David who was now attempting to walk by himself more. He had a strange smile on his face that may normally be interpreted as madness, but Byron's mind went first to realizing it must be because he was in a lot of pain and was trying to cover it up.  Byron frowned at him for a moment before realizing he should at least humor him for the time being.  He shook off his frown and replied, "Yeah, not only did we get a bit of revenge, but I think he's at least going to be suspended for a while."  He specifically tried to avoid mentioning the hole in David's hand.  

When they finally arrived at the nurses office Byron called out, "Excuse me, we have an emergency."  The nurse got up from her desk and gazed over to see one boy who for some reason wasn't wearing a shirt, and another slightly hobbled over with a drenched piece of cloth in his hand.  Byron swore she was about to feint when she saw that.  She immediately grabbed her stuff and waved the two over to the sink.  Byron helped David over where the nurse took over, holding Davids hand under the hot water as she began cleaning the wound.  Byron stepped back and sat down in one of the chairs.  There wasn't much he could do right now but wait.  

At some point after putting the first set of bandages on David's hand, the nurse grabbed a shirt from the back, normally for students who broke the school dress code, and handed it to Byron.  "Sorry, but it looks like that shirt you had is ruined from all the blood, and we can't have you going around the school shirtless."  Byron sighed, he didn't regret what he did to help David, but he didn't exactly have a lot of money to spend on new clothes.  He reluctantly put on the shirt that was too baggy, even for him, as the nurse finished up with David.  

"This will have to do for now until we call in one of the SAFE instructors.  Don't move it around too much or flex your fingers or it will keep bleeding like that.  Now you sit tight.
I'll be right back."  She nodded to the two of them before heading off to get the instructor.  After a few moments David spoke up to Byron, "Hey... Thanks for helping me, Byron. That was really brave... I'm not sure what happens next, but I think... I think everything's going to be okay. Don't worry about me, alright?"

Byron looked surprised for a moment, eyes slightly widened, "Oh! No, it was nothing!  I didn't really do much.  In fact I'm the one who should be thanking you.  After all, you jumped in the way of that knife for me, even though you didn't half to.  ...mmm, sorry I didn't say it sooner, I was kind of caught up in what was going on."  Byron was clearly flustered.  His eyes seemed to look everywhere but at David.  "And even if you say to not worry, that's kind of hard you know..."  Byron's face was pink, taking a couple glances at David and then away once more.

Maybe David said something in response, but before Byron could say any more Jeremy burst into the room, "Oh my God are you okay!?"  Byron jumped from the sudden visitor, "Sorry for not instantly going over to make sure you're okay... Just wanted to maximize damage or something... I have no clue what was actually going through my mind right then."  Byron took a moment to recompose himself, holding a hand to his chest and taking a deep breath, before acknowledging Jeremy's appearance, then asked, "Ah Jeremy, there you are.  How is it looking out there in the cafeteria?"

David was certainly glad that Byron had seen fit to humor him. He didn't like looking weak, like this, but sometimes this was just what life was. He'd spent plenty of time during his formative years feeling nothing but weak and helpless, anyway, so this really wasn't that bad by comparison. The pain was a unique one though, that much was for sure. One of the worst he had ever felt - by far. "Yeah, suspended. More like expelled. I can't believe he had a knife!" David said indignantly.

Going along with everything the nurse told him to do, it didn't take long before David was well and bandaged up. Byron even had a new shirt on, though David thought momentarily that he didn't entirely dislike the shirtless look on the tall, muscular boy. Still, dress codes were a thing, so complaining wouldn't really do any good. David did regret that Byron's shirt had been ruined, but he was dirt broke himself, so he couldn't offer to replace it. He chose not to say anything at the moment, but made a mental note to apologize some time in the future.

Once the nurse went off to get one of the instructors for further aid and David had thanked Byron for his actions, Byron seemed to get more than just a little bit flustered. That actually managed to put a smile on David's face, forcing a light chuckle from his diaphragm. He looked down at the ground, then back up at Byron, holding his injured hand gingerly in the other as he watched the bigger boy blush and look around, trying to avoid looking at David directly. It was cute, David thought. "Don't apologize, really. I didn't expect a thank you or anything, I really don't even want one. That's... Not why I did it."

When Byron then continued to say that it was "kind of hard" to not worry about David, the injured boy couldn't help but smile even wider. "Oh? Don't tell me you've got a crush on me, now!" David said jokingly, but something about the coy smile on his face and the delivery of a sly little wink as punctuation to the statement made the sentence seem a lot more flirty than it may have sounded. Of course, this was intentional, but David was trying to be at least a little subtle, so who was to say if Byron would catch on to what he was doing.

Then, Jeremy burst into the room, asking if David was okay and explaining - somewhat apologetically, it seemed - why he hadn't gotten up to help right away. David quickly held up his uninjured hand to stop the boy, smiling at him warmly. "I'm fine, Jeremy. You did good to stay behind and watch. Besides, Byron had me well under control." He said, glancing at Byron out of the corner of his eye.

Then, David let out a soft sigh, knowing that he should probably explain what had happened in the cafeteria. These two deserved the truth after the fright that David had put them through. "So, I guess you probably figured it out, but... I have a power too. I know I misled you guys, and I'm sorry for that, but... I like to play my cards close to my chest sometimes, especially with what exactly my power is. Plus, it's really not that big a deal, so I wasn't totally lying." David explained, genuinely believing that his ability to teleport wasn't all that impressive of a power, despite the fact that others might vehemently disagree with him on the matter. "You'll forgive me for not giving you another demonstration, I'm a little tired after all that. But, suffice to say I can 'move without moving'. That's what I called it as a kid, anyway. The technical term is 'teleportation'." David finished, watching the two closely, mildly concerned that they would be mad at him for hiding his power.

Jeremy was relieved no one seemed to be angry that he had stayed behind and didn't check on David. He let out a relieved sigh and started describing what happened. It wasn't that hard, he didn't have much more to explain. "Okay, so basically, it worked out great, I decided to put salt into his already bad wound by reminding him of what he did. I'm hoping for expulsion so I don't have to deal with him later... As harsh as it sounds."

He listened in on David's power set, being mildly impressed. That's a cool power that he has. Teleporting can be used for many different techniques to either sneak or even battle. He could see so many different tricks in his head already. "That's a cool power. You could do a lot of good with it."