Mike might still be under the weather for a bit, so let’s shift to a different student.
HOT MESS:
@garrett What did Emma really mess up this summer, what evidence did they fake to get someone else in trouble for it (who was it, btw), and why haven’t you told anyone?
@Dave what did Emma do for your (either at this school or your last) that was nice for you, and didn’t ask for anything in return? (Yet)
I thought Margie was the one who came up with Problem Child.
During an assembly early in the year, Joe was being quietly heckled with whispered “Hey, monkey!” “Wanna banana?” and similar witticisms from a couple of older kids. Before he could lose his temper and done something that would have gone down on his record, Emma, sitting next to them, stood up, and yelled at them in a loud voice, “You calling him a monkey? You’re monkeys! We’re all monkeys! You’re the just rudest monkeys here!”
It got her in trouble (for interrupting the Headmaster’s address), and embarrassed Joe mightily, but it also quieted down that particular line of insult (the taunters ended up having a long talk with the Headmaster as well, which left them visibly shaken as well as saddled with a 75 page paper on hominid genetics), and Joe was quietly touched that she did it.
Emma and Nono went to the beach. Emma decided to take over a food hut after it closed down for the day, accidentally blew it up, and pinned the blame on Hunter Duncan via fake social-media postings (because of course everyone would think that guy did something bad). Alex says nothing because either Emma or Hunter might need a favor and Alex wants leverage.
You thought correctly. I was lied to by @fragolakat. Quoth @Margie :
Problem Child
Paul Grey - Reformed (barely) - he/him
Power set: low level brick. A JD who, in Juvie, got enough of a tough love treatment to get set (mostly) on the straight and narrow.Questions:
- Why did Sgt. SURGE “sponsor” him into the Academy? (Dave)
- Who does he know in class from “the old days,” before his his time in juvie? (@garrett)
Okay, we’re on Problem Child. I might have a follow up question to Margie’s.
Also this implies PC is in the “Clean Slate” program. Which I am down for.
Sarge also does some sports/gym work with disadvantaged youth in Halcyon, work at the local Y, etc. He didn’t know Paul specifically, but had seen kids recruited by the villain Special Educator before, and was happy to help sponsor in a Clean Slate kid who broke away from her (esp. as he’s a Clean Slate member himself).
It’s gotta be Emma, and he assumes she’s here on Clean Slate as well (whether she is or not is up for debate). Unlike a lot of other JDs, Emma got actual training from a professional adult villain and he knows this.
While Paul was also recruited by a professional adult villain, he wasn’t being trained as a protege the way Emma was (as I recall), but simply serving as a thug / mook.
(Thank you, btw, for the reminder of “Dinosaur Island” – that thread was awesome.)
Editorial says: Leaning toward Hunter as the Protege (not ‘batman/robin’ style) or the Nova.
(I like Protege because it makes Vic being the joined EVEN MORE INTERESTING.) Then again, I like the Nova because then they’d share an origin story… @fragolakat - what do you think?
@fragolakat: Why did Hunter miss so much school last year?
@Margie: What are the rumors about Hunter’s family? Are they true?
Almost forgot: @insomn14 What is the most annoying thing about being friends with with Paul (Problem Child) ever since you were kids?
From Sync’s VO narration: “Eh, Paul… We were neighbors growing up, but then Paul got super powers! And then instead of using them for help people, he decided to be a dick, get in with the wrong crowd, and now–worst of all–they’re just letting him join Phoenix Academy like nothing happened!? That’s not fair!”
EDIT: Oh, I just wondered if both Roddy and Paul had the same love of superheroes/superpowered people as kids, but Paul got into the wrong crowd and got involved with some Power Broker-style enpowerment gang.
Also, Sync keeps getting paired up with him for gym. The unstoppable force against the untouchable object leads to a lot of “He just keeps dodging!” “Well yeah, if you tapped me I’d fly into a wall!”
I’ve got two pitches for a Transformed student. If either of these sound interesting, start asking questions once you’re ready.
A typical student who went on a field trip and wished on some local Monkey’s Paw equivalent for “the perfect body - you know, like those statues of Greek gods”. So they got turned into… a living marble statue. Might be too close to Joe, though.
The subject of an accident or experiment. It turned them partially invisible. Normally some percentage of their body is invisible, but it’s never 0% or 100%. They can force the invisibility into certain parts (like their head or arms or whatever), but it’s like flexing a muscle - it becomes harder and harder to maintain. So basically sometimes they look like they’re missing a limb, while other times you can see through the skin to see skeleton or organs. For this reason they stay tightly covered up most of the time. Their name alludes to a broken mirror - seven years’ bad luck.
I like them both, but Seven-year seems like a really cool dynamic to get into the group.
I like this. To quote my father “I have to wonder what kind of powers he has to feel confident pushing supers around.” And in looking at the protégé play book I saw there is power mimicry, which would definitely answer that.
Hunter and his mentor Greywand (and Vic?) were traveling around searching for a lost relic that could seal away the mentor’s nemesis, Phantom Lord. In doing so, they carelessly destroyed numerous artifacts, including several from Kiln’s own culture. They ultimately found the relic they were looking for, but it failed to seal away Phantom Lord.
Quoth Margie:
There are rumors about Hunter’s family being part of a cult – which is maybe how Hunter got his powers, unholy sacrifices, all that jazz.
It’s not true. They are part of a very quiet, ascetic religious sect, but conspiracy theorists gotta conspiracy theorize. Which doesn’t help Hunter, his disposition, or his trust of other people. Why bust your butt trying to be a good guy when everyone assumes you’re not?
((And, not to jump the gun, but I have a thought for a Nomad, once we get there.))