Introductions

"WAKE UP, BASTARDS!"

A very rude awakening for ten unfortunate students. They found themselves seated in a circle of new school desks, all surrounding, in the center, a stuffed bear.
A moving stuffed bear.

"Sleeping in class, eh? Didn't think I'd have to punish anyone so early...keeping your headmaster waiting, in a dark quiet room!" The bear feigned a gloomy expression.
It was quickly replaced with a devious grin. "Alright, it's attendance time. Let's begin...with...you!" The bear pointed to its first victim. "I want name and title. Maybe even tell me why you're here."

The person who was being pointed to flinched.

"A-attendance...?" he stuttered, evidently only half awake. But once the boy registered that it was, in fact, a talking bear looking at him, he jolted awake.
"Oscar Barnes! Sir! ...Ma'am?!" Oscar nearly shouted. His eyes were now wide awake, which was very wide indeed. Then to make sure his introduction was satisfactory, he added, "S-Super high school level Alchemist! I'm here because...I research alchemy, of course!"
He paused for a mere milisecond, "I mean, I've done other things..."

What Oscar was neglecting to mention was the fact that he was never successful as an actual alchemist. He instead gained respect through his natural knack for chemistry and unintentional discoveries for the medicine field. His eyes now scanned the room, looking for someone to take the attention off of him.

The girl sitting next to Oscar shifted slightly, not quite awake yet. She muttered something unintelligible, then blinked her eyes a few times and straightened in her seat.

"Well, I go by Laura... Laura Besley," she said quietly. Laura assumed that this was just some sort of silly initiation they do at the school to get the kids to know each other, and that the real teacher would come out soon.

"I don't get why it's important, but I'm here because I ride a dirt bike. Pretty well, I guess." She grabbed her ponytail in her left hand and fiddled with it absent-mindedly.

"Placed first in my state, Arizona." She glanced around the room, looking at the other students. What a screwed up bunch, she thought to herself. She twirled her wrist as if to signify she was done talking.

"Uh..." her eyes darted between the others in the room and the bear standing in the middle
"I'm Adda Geist..." there was uncertainty in her voice, and she nervously laughed a bit before continuing.
"I guess most normal people must think I'm some sorta girl who just sits in a room with a bunch of candles chanting weird stuff... but that's not really entirely true... I just really know stuff about spirits and not-so-tangible things?" She looked around nervously again.
"I've been to a bunch of ghost hot-spots and stuff since I was little..." her voice trailed off. Normally, she could go on for hours about her field, but under these... bizarre circumstances, she was left wringing her hands beneath her desk, anxious to be done and hopefully get an explanation.

Marci looked around curiously at all the other students - some seemed to be nervous, while others managed to keep a poker face of sorts on. They all stayed quiet. A small smile appeared on her face as she started to speak.

"My name's Marci Gracidon. I'm a Super High School Level Poet. Uh...I always wrote things," she paused for a moment, trying to figure out her words, "but I guess I was just...always a bit better than everyone else." She shrugged.

"I don't usually go by Marci, though. I have a pseudonym. I...like my privacy, I guess. Besides, none of you have probably heard of me under either name." She gave a light laugh.

"It's nice to meet you all. I'm sure we'll all be friends."

"I guess that makes it my turn," said another boy, sitting next to Marci. "I doubt there's any actual need for me to introduce myself, but for those of you still unaware, the name's Jaden Masters."

He cast his gaze over the other students, expecting to see looks of recognition on their faces. There was no such response. Jaden shut his eyes in annoyance and continued. "I'm the star of the fourth season of Disney Channel's 'Shake it Up!' At least, I was until I quit to come here." He feigned an impatient sigh.

"Can we move this along? I'm expecting some big things from this school, and this isn't exactly what I had in mind."

Alexander was already up by the second introduction, looking calmly around at the other students. He was a bit miffed he didn't hear the first introduction- he would have to ask the man later. Though perhaps that would be ill advise... if he tapped him on the shoulder, the slightly chubby teenager looked like the type to jump and fall flat on the face.
His eyes flicked from one speaker to the next, cold grey eyes sometimes darting to the people on his left.
His own speech was slightly delayed as his mind drifted off to how he was sleeping in class.
He straightened up, realizing it was his turn, slightly frowning.
"Alexander Redman," he stated, closing his eyes and sighing. "I'm a kickboxer. Considering I was invited here, someone thought I was very good at what I love. I came because I simply do not turn down an opportunity."
He opened his eyes again, darting them at the person next to him. They were next.

Asher leaned back in his chair, feet atop the desk he woke up at. Considering everything, he was surprisingly relaxed.
"Name's Asher Reizen. You might not know my name, but I can guarantee you've been to one of the carnivals my family's put on-" his chair fell over as he said this, but he gracefully tumbled to the floor and stood the chair back up, sitting down with his elbows propped up on the desk before continuing.
"Super High-School Level Carny. I've mastered every carnival game and act, and can make a pretty mean corn dog while I'm at it. Can't run a fair show unless you can prove it's winnable, right?" His stance relaxed as he waited for the next person to begin.

David let out a short sigh and sat up from his chair. His hat was getting a bit too low again, nearly covering his eyes, so he pushed it back up and looked around at the odd, mismatched cast of characters that surrounded him. They seemed alright - not good, not bad, just alright. For now, that is.

"Name's David River," he said, a bit bored, and with a tinge of mock formality "I'm a chauffeur. A few Super High School Level Popstars in an upper grade here refused to have someone as low as some normal guy drive them around. So they hired me to drive for them." He shrugged. "I'm here for no reason, really. Not that I'm complaining."

"Here's a tip from someone who's drives people around, though -" he laughed, "Don't drive people around."

He sat back in his chair, slouching just a tad, and looked around, waiting for the next person in line to introduce themselves.

Head rested on her fingers, the girl seated next to David took the spotlight.
"Eloise Rutford, Super High School Level Royalty," her voice is soft, legs crossed at the ankles in a delicate pretzel.

Sudden laughter breaks her grace however. "Not. I could make a better crown than this thing!" She gestures towards the mask on her head, "Super High School Level Disguise Artist. I got started behind the stage and on it. Did a few impressions and not too long ago got picked up by law enforcement." She begins grinning wide, "Not like that. I didn't get in trouble, I swear."

"Shocked no one recognized me," she adds, running her fingers though her hair, "I guess I'm that good."
At last, with her introduction done, Eloise begrudgingly gave up the attention to the last student, giving a slight bow with her head.

There was a light snort after Elouise's introduction. "Self centered-tart," Herbert growled under his breath, possibly too slurred and low to be understood. The showy introduction of the woman next to him was the final bell to wake him up.
he crossed his arms, leaning back, not realizing he was supposed to introduce himself. He felt...lighter than usual, he noticed in an instant, suddenly patting himself down. Growing more alarmed by the second, his sunglasses slipped, exposing his darting blue eyes.
Suddenly, he stood, taking his vest off and flipping it upside down and shaking it vigorously. He put it back on, somewhat skewed, as he patted down his pockets, distress clean on his face. After finding out what he was looking for was indeed not on his person, he slowly looked up to monobear, fear turned into cold rage.
"Where, tha bloomin' hell didja put my knives." He said, his voice level and threatening.
"I got around fifty on me, so don' tell me I 'lost' em!" His voice was rising, and he raised a shaking finger towards the dual-colored bear. "Cos I'll be bloody damned if I, expert game hunter Herbert Smith, ain't got a knife to protect myself!"

**
The bear tilts its head.

"Knives?" Monobear's eyes glass over. "Upupupu...I'm not giving anyone an unfair advantage. Confiscated, all confiscated!"
He looks away abashedly, "This is a school after all. My school, my rules."

A short silence.
"Eh? It seems we've saved the best introduction for last! I'm Monobear. I also happen to be, as I mentioned before, your lovely headmaster," he puts his stuffed paws to his mouth as though giggling. However; bears don't giggle.

"If we'd all take a seat," he glares at Herbert, "I may impart some knowledge to you bastards!"
After taking a dramatic pause, Monobear continues, "Open up the top of your desk. Don't hit the person next to you. Don't trust the desk of the person next to you either."
Waiting for the sound of desks opening and the possible crunch of a skull, Monobear continues "Inside is your Student ID Card! Very important! It'd be very very bad if you lose it."
"They're a lot like cellphones. You all love phones, yes? Yes, yes yes. Now if you'd all touch the map button," Monobear makes a gesture with his hand, "A map! Look just how handy those Student ID cards are - You can send messages to each other, write reminders for each other, identify each other..."

The digital maps flickered on screens across the room, casting an eerie artificial light on every face.




"And there's your new home! I would give you a tour, but I'm the headmaster. I'm busy." Monobear was, in fact, not busy at all.
"But that also means I know this school like the back of my paw, I call this my virtual tour!
Currently you're all in one of the classrooms. To be specific this is an English Classroom. A few heavy books, chalk, paper...this room is rather dull yes?
Next to this classroom is the library. There's even more books there if that's your thing. Anatomy, Capital Punishment, Mysteries - any subject you would ever need.
Then there's the courtyard. Plants tended to by Super High School Levels past. Some students say it's relaxing but I'd be careful with some of those plants, upupupu...
Next to that is the computers classroom. Sadly we're having some technical difficulties; the room is locked!
There's a cafeteria not too far from there. There's food there. That's it. There's some nice seats and a fish tank on one of the walls. Feel free to feed them. But be warned, they're all carnivorous.
There's a kitchen there too. Great place...Stoves, knives, food, freezers; please enjoy yourselves in there.
Connected to that is a Storage Closet. You'll find clothes and blankets and knick-knacks and hammers and rope and tarps and everything else you've ever dreamed of! Oh, but please, stay seated.
To the top left are the Spanish and French classrooms . I hope you'll forgive me if I don't describe them in excruciating detail, there are very few surprises in there.
Over on the right of the school you'll find our art classroom. there's really anything you can imagine in there, quite literally anything you can imagine if you're an artist.
Next to that is the gymnasium. It has balls, bats, clubs, but most of all a big empty space. Run around or something, a few of you bastards could do with the exercise.
And do everyone a favor and use the locker rooms!
Below that is the nurse's office. Unfortunately, the nurse is nowhere to be seen," Monobear smiles a most malicious smile,
"And if you find the staircase your dorms are all up there! They're all quite comfortable, do make yourselves at home.
Finally, there's the auditorium north of here. I expect to meet you all there by 8:00. Mandatory meeting."

And with that the bear waved his arms, "Go! Go explore!"

"W-Wait a damn minute!" Jaden exclaimed. "What kind of school gives out electronic ID cards that double as cell-phones! I had my own, and it worked just fine! Where the hell did you take it to?" Jaden stood up in his seat, aggravated.

"And for that matter, what the hell do you mean the nurse isn't anywhere to be seen! This is supposed to be a top end school, isn't it? What are you trying to pull?"

Outwardly he seemed simply annoyed, but Jaden was actually overwhelmed by what was happening. He'd transferred to many schools in the past few years, but none of them had ever made this kind of first impression. Something wasn't right in Hope's Peak American Campus...

Monobear only grins.

"Cellphones aren't allowed by school policy...but Student IDs are!" All other questions, remarks and exclamations go thoroughly ignored.

"Now, did I mention that I am very busy? Auditorium. 8:00. Upupupu...!" The bear makes a chuckling motion and disappears to a dark corner of the room. He has effectively vanished, the only remnant of him left being the laughter ringing in a few students' ears.

"Ignored?! Wait a damn minute! I'm not done asking questions!" Jaden yelled, but his words fall on empty air, as there's no chance the weird bear is coming back. "Goddammit," he mumbled.

Jaden turned to face his classmates, but he didn't particularly feel like talking to any of them. Should he explore? Nah. The others would look around and report what they find out either way, so there was no need to do anything else. "I'm heading to my room..." he said loud enough so anyone who might care would hear, then he stalked out of the classroom in the direction of the stairs.

Herbert scoffed.
There were two things of interest to him now. The knives were his priority. He felt naked without them, so his first order of business would be taking those. And the fish. He'd need to inspect that tank. He'd love to have something living in his room, and he presumed piranhas would be some cute roommates for him. If anything, he might spoil them. Those little underbites always made him feel warm and fuzzy. He pocketed the ID card, already having memorized the map of the school.
"I don't know about yall," he drawled, tipping his hat. "But I'm gonna haul myself outta here."
With no pomp, he exited the room, making his way to the kitchens for his- he already claimed mental ownership- knives.

"Wait a second please!" Adda called out to the two. "We really need to get to know each other, right?" She stood up. "I mean, what time is better than now to get to know our peers and explore a little?"

In response, Oscar only stutters, "Guys...d-did you see...that was a bear..."

He gets up from his seat warily, as if trying to avoid waking a sleepy baby. However, he doesn't find himself leaving the room yet, instead finding himself scanning every face of the room. Instinctively, his hands reach for his goggles, fiddling with them nervously.

And then he flinches again, his hands shoot to his pockets.
"My phone's gone too!" he exclaims, "What the hell!?" He scrambles around, turning pockets inside out, all empty of even fluff.

David turned the Student ID over in his hands a few times, checking for any weird compartments or something secret. He found none, to his disappointment, and went back to looking at the map.

He wasn't really worried about any of this. Maybe it was just because he lived right outside of Hollywood, and this reminded him of a set of a movie. Maybe this was some new movie making technique he hadn't heard of yet.

He looked around the map and recalled Monobear's descriptions of the small little boxes, and noticed that he hadn't even mentioned the main office.

He grinned, knowing where he was going. "I'll be off as well, then. Have a bit of an investigation to start. If you want, you can tag along. I won't mind," he declared, and strode out of the room, on his way to the mysterious main office.

"Meh, I've lost my phone plenty of times, it was a crappy one anyways," Asher mumbled, "This one seems nicer." He looked closely at the menus and buttons, then looked at it curiously.
"If its supposed to be like a phone, why isn't there a call option or anything? Hell, even if it was just a touch device it should have an internet option!"

She looked curiously over at Adda and nods in agreement.

"Really, we should get to know each other. I'm curious about all of you!"

She sighed. "As much as I do want to check out the library....it can wait."

Adda smiled at Marci, "well... we already know why we got in here," she clasped her hands behind her back, "So where should we begin?"

"I agree with the woman." Alexander stood, crossing his arms.
"I've never seen any of you in my life, and it seems that perhaps we may be here for a while."
The whole atmosphere was unsettling. Monobear's words didn't calm him as well, but he didn't let any nervousness show on his face. He was interested in the plants, but perhaps the other students knew something he didn't.
As he noticed everyone inspecting their IDs, he decided to do the same. It was strange, and unfamiliar. he never had anything like it in his life. He didn't state the fact he never used a cell phone in his life, but it was somewhat obvious by his confused expression.
Giving up, he tried to find a place to store his ID. He settled on his footwraps, hiding his ID against the side of his foot.

Laura pouted in response to Jaden's and Herbert's eagerness to leave, and rolled her eyes. "Eh, forget about them. Doubt they'd be much fun to talk to anyway, right?"

She turned to Adda. "Introductions it is then. As I said before, I'm Laura. And your name's Adda, if I remember correctly. Super High School Level Occultist. If you don't mind my asking, what exactly... does that mean?" Laura hated to be blunt, but she had never before even heard the word occultist, and Adda's explanation left her even more confused than before. Everyone else's special skills and talents were pretty straightforward, but her...

"I was curious what your title meant too, Adda." Marci questioned. "I mean, you did say it was something about ghosts, but...what do you do? Can you see them, talk to them? What do they say?" She seemed enthralled - she was thinking about what an amazing work this would make, in all reality.