((Could be a video call or a regular phone call. Rio can join in if Riwane connects him.))

[Upon seeing video footage of Jon's predicament, Chiyo has been alight with panic and fear. Her first instinct after contacting him was to ask her dear sister for help.]

SIS! SIS! HELP! JON'S IN TROUBLE! AND I DON'T KNOW WHERE HE IS.

[She's almost on the brink of tears and her labored breathing makes it evident that she's running.]

[It had been a while since Joel had used explosives in a way that didn't involve blowing someone or something that used to be a someone up.

But hell, it was the Fourth of July. He wasn't sure if anyone else celebrated the Holiday, so he didn't make a big deal of it on the network.

He DID however, purchase a few bags of cheap fireworks.

If you hear some Popping or Whizz Banging or Basplosion noises of any kind, that's probably him down near the over-filled lake, letting off a few crackers.

Happy Birthday, America.]

[[OOC: Feel free to come find him and shoot off a few fireworks of your own, or just chat. He's down for either!]]

I see folk are looking to investigate the lake and what have you. I urge you to be careful.I've pointed it out elsewhere, but it probably bears mentioning here that the lake is not alone in rising - down at the docks and on the beach, tides are coming in progressively higher.

Just... be aware of your surroundings. Don't allow them to overwhelm you.


( Private and locked to Riwane, Chiyo and Rio. )

[Action: Jon can be found in his dorm if you've a mind to go and find him. He's feeling twitchy, restless, grumpy, sleepless and head-achy. So, not wonderful company! Feel free to risk it, though.]

My sweet academy!

[Voile is bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.]

Do you know what we're missing that we haven't had in quite some time? And I understand that is mostly my doing, however, I'm going to make up for that. The last contest hall and host club gathering was a success. We should have another one, and I've already begun work for a springtime celebration for the end of this month.

So what do I need? [Not eggnog.]
Volunteers. And believe me, I'll pay you handsomely. In food. Money, I guess if you need it or want it. Tailored clothes? Sure.

While not necessarily in need of a full committee, I'm interested in ideas for decorations and outfits. Although I'm very tempted to make flower themed outfits for everyone. I assure you, I could make flowers manly, too.

But if you're interested in lending a hand, whether helping me prepare, or playing the part of a host, you should say something here. There will be prizes and other such things, so it might be a good way to calm down after Valentine's Day. There's plenty of time to get involved and no rush. I promise.

Chiyo couldn't focus. For the past 45 minutes, she had been sitting at her desk and staring at the same set of words unable to process any of it. Her mind was preoccupied with a few too many past events and individuals.

Particularly the individuals.

Chin in hand, Chiyo sighed. She then glanced at her roommate Mona. Maybe she could talk to her about it? About them? It'd certainly get things off her mind instead of allowing them to run on repeat in her head.

"Mona? Can I... Uh. Do you...? Um."

Oh words. Where have you gone?

"Q-Question...?"

[Fuyuhiko's been out of the world for... a while now. So long that he is doing less than great in his classes.

...When he can actually find his classes.

He's also relearning the internet, so when he finally learns how the video posts function, he uploads a desperate plea:]

Is there any place around here where you can get a tutor?

[The camera jitters a bit when he adjusts it, more from nervous habit than out of necessity. He's not really looking at the camera; his gaze is further off to the side, as if in embarrassment.

Not that Fuyuhiko would ever be embarrassed.]

I should like to say that I, personally, am quite relieved to have not fallen in love with a cow this year. Mind you, there is nothing wrong with a tender steak dinner. Simply that a line ought to be drawn between loving animals and... well.

[Soryk pauses.]

Loving animals.

[With a flick of his wrist, he continues.]

On a related subject, after a good deal of thought, I have decided it is far past the time in which I should like some information on the creatures we refer to as 'Pokémon.' Their properties, naturally, and other such traits.

[Someone's poisoning extravaganza didn't go quite the way he planned.] For instance, what allows a Pokémon to die and yet, miraculously return from the dead? Eating habits. Life cycles. And so on.

I always thought they were merely animals with a higher intelligence than that of a house pet, yet it seems there is something more to them. If you are a Pokémon, share with me some about yourself. If you have a Pokémon, tell me about your companion. I would very much appreciate it.

[The video feed turns on and centers on a yellow and white fox sitting in a chair, wearing a red scarf, with maybe something underneath it resembling a necklace. He waves to the camera and grins.]

Hey, Smash Academy! It's been a long time... four and a half years since I've been here, to be exact! Only about two and a half for me personally, but... it's still a blast from the past being here again.

I've already been enrolled and should be getting my classes shortly...

...ah, but for those of you who've never met me before, I should probably introduce myself. I'm Tails! I come from the same place Sonic, Knuckles and Blaze do, if you've met them. [And Eggman. Sigh.] And like I said before, I used to attend the school a few years ago, but I'm back.

Hope to see you guys around sometime. I think I'm gonna go visit the stadium again for a little bit.

[And the video cuts off.]

[The video feed comes on and one can clearly see Chiyo donning an apron in the Home Ec. room.]

Hello! [She gives a small wave and a bashful smile.] This is Chiyo. I was just wondering... since Valentine's Day is coming up, would anyone like to join me in making some chocolates and other goodies? I've got a lot of the stuff prepared in the Home Economics room, but we can always buy more if we need it.

[She briefly looks off to the side to see if she forgot anything.]

Um... and, well, I just thought it might be good to get a head start, but I'll probably be in here most of the week, especially Friday to finish up some things. If... there's something you'd like to make but don't know how, then I'd love to help you. Um.

[What else? Uh...]

I guess.... that's all? Um. Feel free to drop by whenever or let me know if there's something you'd like for me to make for you. Or teach you how to make. I'd be happy to, really.

[Okay... she's about to go in circles. Time to end before it got awkward.]

So... hope to see you around? Have a nice day everyone.

[Another wave and the video ends.]


[[OOC: Feel free to respond with a video or drop in on any day to see Chiyo in the room. She'll be making goodies for everyone.]]

[[OOC: If the involved players would like her DR post to be canon, then this journal post can come after it. I'd be happy to finish those threads there.]]

Hello everyone. For those of you who may not know me, my name is Chiyo and I'm a Vaporeon. I first arrived at Smash Academy two years back and spent, according to the time here, a year away on an unexpected break. If by chance you may be curious as to where I've been, I was away traveling through a few worlds before I was able to find a portal to return here. Speaking of which, portals can be rather complicated to understand and use, so please be careful when you see or plan to use one, okay?

That aside, I'll be in college this year! I'm greatly looking forward to studying, spending time in the library and greenhouse, swimming, and hanging out with friends again. Although I'm saddened to have discovered that several friends I knew have left, I still look forward to making new friends and hope we'll have a pleasant year together.

In the meantime, I'll be taking a walk around the school and will be looking to reunite with some friends. If you'd like to meet or text me, please feel free to do so. I'll have my phone with me and will answer any texts as soon as I'm able.

Again, it's nice to be back. I hope I didn't cause too much trouble when I disappeared. If I did, I'd like to make it up to you. Other than that, hope you have a great day!



( Private Text to Mondo )


[[OOC: Feel free to make action threads if you'd like to interact with Chiyo on campus.]]

[Audio on]

Ah.... h-hello, everyone.

I'm... back. 

[Pause]

This is Chiyo, and... and I'd like to say I'm very sorry for disappearing for a while. I. I suppose you could say I've been traveling... through worlds, I think? The things I've seen, the people I've met... they've all given me food for thought. And I can say that I'm glad to be....

[Another pause. She wants to say "home" but isn't sure how that'd be received. Would it be strange? ...Yeah, it might be.]

...back at Smash again. I hope everyone's been doing well.

But, oh. I, I didn't mean to leave without notice. Really. It's just.... It just happened accidentally? I guess it was my clumsiness not to realize I was going through a strange portal.... I thought it would lead home.

But anyway.

I'll be around campus or settling down in my room and... would more than appreciate your company. Um... Thank you for listening, and... I hope to see you around? 

H-Have a nice day.

[CLICK]

[ ooc: Feel free to make action threads~ If outside, she would most likely be in the library, garden, around the woods, or by the lake. :) ]

( The birds are singing, but Chiyo is.... ) 

[Text]

Hello, everyone~ How are you today? Prom was lovely, wasn't it? I had an amazing time with everyone, getting to know them and dance with them. Thank you for all the fun. I'll never forget it.

Though, now... it seems that I can't speak? I don't recall doing anything to damage my voice, so I'm feeling a bit lost on what to do. But! On a random note, I do feel a bit more like Ariel~ She also lost her voice when she became human. Maybe it was just something meant to happen? She did eventually get her voice back, but only after defeating the white haired, purple and black octopus witch, Ursula. That probably wouldn't happen here with me, but it's still an interesting thing to think about.

In any case, I just wanted to let people know that. Oh! And don't worry too much about me, too. I'll be fine. It'll take time to get used to, but I'll be okay. Also, I'll be carrying a notebook and pencil to use to communicate with, so please don't misunderstand me when I write my words down instead of speak them. :)

[Finishing off a piece of candy, Chiyo smiles happily as she turns on the camera of her laptop.]

Hi everyone! I'm finally out of the hospital and feeling much, much better. I really want to thank everyone who came to visit me. It made my stay there much more pleasant and helped my recovery go along smoothly. For everyone's kindness, I hope that I can do something special in return for all of you. Please, if there's anything that I can do for you, feel free to let me know!

[Clearly, she's not as shy as she usually is and is, instead, giddy. It's almost as if the whole ordeal she went through has made her into a more assertive person. She can't help but feel refreshed and overjoyed to finally be out of the hospital and back at Kraken Lake. Pausing a bit, she hums to herself softly as she looks around away from the camera for a moment before returning her attention to it.]

Has everyone been well? I hope no one else has been hurt while I was away and that nothing terrible has happened. I'm still a bit sore on my ribs, but I can't wait to go swimming again. Would anyone like to join me? I'm out by the lake, but we can always go to the swimming pool, too. I still haven't had the pleasure of swimming in it yet. 

Well, just let me know! Thanks for watching!

It's some crazy crap out there. We all know that. If you need to be gettin' anywhere, I'll be doing free trips out from campus. Just let me know, and I'll get you there. You might see a lot more of the Highwind in the skies, try not to let it bother ya none.

Stops in the city are possible, but at your own risk. She can only take so much at each hot zone.

Look, we all know this FDC riots business is bullshit. No one needs me tossin' my two cents in, but unfortunately, I feel the need to. All the fuckin' Pokemon trainers on this campus better keep a close eye on their Pokemon, humanized or not. Take it from someone who knows, you don't want to be sitting there, lamenting the fact that you were too late to stop something from happening.

It's not a good feeling.

I know my own can take care of themselves, but it's not stopping me. Bulba, Char, Jolt, Nyx. If you wanna go to the city at any time, I'm coming with you. I don't give a shit, we're going together. Not a single one of you looks especially human, so that's that.

[An emotionally charged but determined angel stands in front of the screen. It's focused on his upper body; his fists are balled and he looks earnest about whatever he wants to tell everyone.]

Students and staff alike! I know it's been kind of a drag lately for reasons I'm not gonna go into, but we can't let that get us down! We're Smash Academy students, aren't we? Plenty of us have done wonders before! We've kicked space alien butt, cooked up Eggman's schemes for dinner, squashed baddies fifteen times our size, saved kingdoms from evil overlords, rescued princesses from the clutches of countless kidnappers... I could go on! Seriously, I could. We're heroes, remember?

But, I know... some of us don't feel so safe alone. [He lowers the tension in his hands and lets them fall to his sides.] Some of us don't feel like we're good at protecting ourselves yet. I get that. And that's why I'm here.

[He jabs a thumb at his chest.] I'm offering myself as a personal bodyguard! Need someone to walk to class with you? I'll send you an angel! Don't feel safe walking around the city when you go out on a personal errand? I'll tag along and make sure you're safe! I'm an awesome fighter with tons of cred. No one will lay a finger on you when I'm by your side. Guar-an-teed.

[He pauses, like he's afraid he's going to forget something. Then a lightbulb goes off.] Oh, right! If you need to contact me, you can knock on BE-08. Buuut you could also shoot me an e-mail. That's more reliable. And I just got a cell phone! Here's my number! [He shoves a shred of paper ripped off a notebook with his number scrawled on it.] I don't take texts, so you're gonna have to ring me up old school style.

[After a few more moments, he removed the scrap of paper to reveal that he is smiling.] I wanna look out for you! Let me know when and where I can be there.

[THE VIDEO OPENS with a shot of a figure hiding under a blanket. After a few seconds of silence, the blanket shuffles around and Skull Kid's bright yellow eyes peek out from under it.]

...They don't like us anymore, do they?

[aaaand with that he's back under the blanket.]

A casual Monday outing turned tragic when two men were brutally gunned down in front of Malo's Gun and Ammunition mart. The victims; Kaplan Stridehr and Marple Dethrris were found dead with a single Aperture-Brand Resolution Pellet to the head. A third victim, Hendorff Ditherrs, was found at the scene asphyxiated to death. All three of the victims regularly donated community service hours to the FLUDD orphanage and were cherished by their grieving families.

The murder suspects, Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Vivan Johnson, and Rick Johnson, all attend Smash Academy and have been interrogated at least once by the FDCPD. Rick has been hospitalized for the time being with life-threatening injuries, though his condition is stable. He will be questioned when he regains consciousness. It's unclear if his injuries were inflicted in self-defense, or by the other two Smash Academy students in the middle of the attack.

The Smash Academy students claim they were the ones who acted in self defense, but FDCPD has not reached a clear verdict yet to a very messy and terrible situation.

"It's not completely clear this was in self defense." says the police chief. "If you're not looking to kill, you don't put a bullet in someone's head."

Several eye witnesses to the attack also claim the smaller student, Vivian, was the one who open fired and murdered the victims, unprovoked. All three are on juvenile preemptive probation until further investigations are finished. It should be worth noting, again, these were non-human students of Smash Academy, a fighting school that accepts many different kinds of unnatural, humanoid creatures. They could still be considered dangerous despite the probation. Aperture Science is also being questioned for product deficiency, but has not returned any of our calls.

[Lakitu, an unnatural, humanoid turtle man, shuffles the papers on his desk and prepares for the next, possibly vaguely related news story.]

An abandoned church on the east side of the city was mysteriously engulfed in flames last night. Fire accelerants were noted in the area, suggesting that this was no accident. It's uncertain if this incident is related to the gun attack, but non-human terrorists are suspected given the target. If you have any important clues or tips to report, please call the FDCPD immediately.

It's truly terrible this historic building has been reduced to tinder and ashes. Residents are outraged and are calling for Martial law. Mayor Tabuu is taking this into consideration with rising rates of violence and crime, but states he is not likely to come to a decision or see any action result for a least a month, especially given the complicated nature of FDC. Martial law would necessitate the need for an outsourced, contracted military, and the Mayor wants to ensure he has the best for the job.

---

[video]

[Seth appears on video, close up and fiddling with the camera before settling in his seat, a grim expression on his face.]

In case you weren't aware about a certain fiasco that happened between Mary and Vianca a while ago, a new development has recently come to my attention, and I for one am ashamed. Shame on you!

Honestly, she's just a child and didn't know any better. That's no reason for anyone to go antagonize and bully her! I want to think better of our student body.

You're all so quick to turn a blind eye when that murderous swordsman returned to campus. You hardly bat an eyelash at knowing there's at least three new and different murder suspects residing right here! Have any of you even seen the news lately? They're right here, living amongst you all--murderers as your very neighbors. But the moment a naive little girl does something she didn't even know was wrong you ostracize her unfairly. I don't want to name names but you know who you are.

Everyone's double standards here are truly unsettling. You should all think on your sins.

[Ahem. He clears his throat and adjusts his collar, as if to clear out all that ~undignified emotional outpouring~]

Anyway, I apologize if any of that came across as harsh or blunt, and Mary's poor name shouldn't be dragged through the mud any longer. Mary has all my condolences, I wish her the best and above all that this doesn't happen again. That was a while ago anyway--old news. She should know better by now.

I'll see to it personally.

[ Video turns on to show a blue-haired girl, who apparently is having difficulty with her webcam as she is fussing with it live. ]

Um... I-Is this on? Ah...

[ It takes her a moment, but she finally takes notice of the red light emitted from her webcam and quickly sits back. A light dust of pink settles on her cheeks from embarrassment, shyness, and discomfort from being filmed. She straightens her posture and timidly looks into the camera. If you look closely enough, you'll realize she's in the computer lab. ]



H-Hello... My name is Chiyo, a new student here. I'm... I'm deeply sorry for being so late with introducing myself. I, ah, I'm not very good with computers, so... please forgive me for being so slow. 

[ She pauses, and it is clear that she feels worried about something. ]

I come from Kanto, and am a water-type Pokemon known as a Vaporeon. My p-purpose for coming to Smash is to learn and to... b-better myself as an individual. 

[ Whether or not it was obvious, her face is reddening from her rising anxiety and stress. She vaguely even wonders if anyone will watch this video, or if they're even watching it now. The thought doesn't make her feel better in the slightest, and so she hastens the end of her introduction. ]

I-I hope we can be good friends! Thank you for watching!

[ End of video ]

[ There's a little sheep going around campus... okay no, not really. Sort of. There's a Mareep turned human going around, with a basket carried in both hands. It's filled with what looks like tissue paper, tied and wrapped around a thing. ... Like circular balls. Oh, how mysterious! Sometimes, her basket might look nearly empty. But no worries, 'cause she'll soon have more in there.

And she's looking for people. Anyone. Everyone. You. Or maybe you. She's especially looking for faces she recognises, even if those faces don't recognise her.

Or maybe she's never seen you before, but hey, if you're around and don't look terribly busy (or maybe you are), maybe this girl with too much light blonde hair will come over to you. What's up?

And people whose rooms she knows of or of their classrooms, hey, you're getting a visit. Library goers, too. Greenhouses. The stadium. The gym.

Everyone, you are going to meet this girl.

Spoilers, for those with good noses: it smells like chocolate. ]