Fourth of July!

Log Info

Title: Fourth of July!
Emitter: {$emitter}
Characters: Amy, Ian, Jerry, Jonathan, Maggie, Miles, Miranda, Steven, Samantha, Sasha, Summer
NPCs: Megan Monroe
Place: Beach Party
Time: Evening
Summary: A fun afternoon at the beach turns funky when one of Jerry's Legion of Evil Exes arrives!

_( 4th of July Beach Party )__

This is a stretch of beach, set up with blankets, coolers, and lawn chairs.


Slender as Steven is, he is actually a decent swimmer. Out at the rock he grins at Jerry. "See? Told you I'd lose." He seems not at all worried about it. A grin then as Sasha shows up with a prop wake. "Oh…that's pretty kick ass, can you do any other forms?" He asks the cyborg. "I mean…straight swimming WITH metal limbs…props to you for even trying."

Maggie pops closed her sunscreen and lays back on the towel, finally taking off those big dark glasses and tossing them in the bag while the bottle of Coppertone is tossed at Ian. Finally settled, she gives Ian a heavy, incredibly put-upon sigh. What she says next is done in her best Georgian accent. "Y'all'er nothin' but plum fools. And I /do/ believe you promised me a hotdog, Mister Stoker, which you have yet to deliver upon. Fo' shame." She rolls over on to her stomach then, though the tank top of her tankini covers most of it and thus will not allow her to get much of a tan. Back to her normal voice, she adds "Have I mentioned I have tons more clothes now?"

The swimmers stroke stroke stroke for the rock, Jerry gradually pulling out in front perhaps thanks to the fact that he's taking swimming this semester. Or perhaps it's the Speedo. Anyway, the boy is several yards ahead of the others, smoothly kicking and stroking through the water — He gets to the rock and climbs atop it, waiting, and then when the others get there he dives off at a shallow angle, cutting into the water — and that might be what attracted it. A large and I mean large pale gray fin slices up out of the water and heads for Jerry at a good clip, the grisly shadow of the beast visible just below the water…Duuun dun duuun dun…

Speedo. Yeah, no shocker there. Sasha pulls around the rock, lifting herself half-up and propping against it. "Absolutely," Sasha says with a beam at Steven. He just had to ask. "This one, got a great motorcycle-form that's tons of fun, and I've been working on a bunch of subsystems. I can't do anything like Cordelia or the other super-thinkers can, but…."

The tigress nods to Summer. "Yeah, it makes sense. The whole thing 'bout making lemonade and all that." Jon stretches out her arms to the sky, arching backward to stretch her spine until it pops, and then falls backwards to land lightly on the sand. "I'm gonna give that a lotta thought, Summer. Thank you."

Amy sits quietly out on her beach towel, adjusting the top of her dark blue school-issue swimsuit with one hand and taking a sip of some kind of soda she snagged from one of the coolers with the other. It tastes like oranges, or how oranges taste in the imagination of some soda company chemist. Her strap adjusted, she settles back to prop herself up on two hands, content to just take in the scene for now.

"The usual banter, snark, and offers of food," Summer calls by way of greeting to Samantha. "Set down your bag and join the festivities. I think we're going to try to blow up a chunk of real estate when it gets darker — with actual explosives, not powers — which is fine by me." Her smile turns to a faint smirk, gaze flicking to where Miles is. "You don't fancy being caught up in it, Union-boy?" she teases, exaggerating her oh-so-faint drawl.

"The South shall rise again," Ian murmurs drolly. "Though none really too much in reenactment. I enjoy my home well enough, but tend to just play up the southern talk when there's too many New Yorkers or Bostonian's about. What part of Florida are you from …?" The last parts a question, having yet to catch Summer's name.

When Samantha arrives, Ian offers another light salute. "Not much. I was just planning on lighting these up pretty soon, which really is the point of the 4th right?" When his girlfriend does put up that put upon sigh and begins to do the proper southern, Stoker snickers lightly, lifting his arm in victory. Well, only until she reveals she went shopping. "See? That's information that should have been disclosed before the arrangement. I object, Ms. Kiraldy." He even hurmphs, before standing and walking towards the food, to pull out a few dogs.

"Oh man…" Steven sees the shark, and then gestures as lambent cobalt lines of energy form all over his body. The shark? Well, it gets grabbed by raw telekinetic force, hefted out of the water a moment, and then TOSSED out to sea. "You okay Jerry?" The dark haired teen asks. The glow fades from his skin, the Blaschko's lines on Chimera's form fading as he releases his power. The shark? Well, it had enough after being pitched a few hundred feet out to sea.

"Actually, my family moved here from Texas, back in the day. My…great-great grandfather was in the Rangers, I think?" Miles explains. "I am -so- staying out of any war between the states business."

"St. Pete's," is Summer's easy response to Ian. "So mostly out of it 'cept for that Osceola Rangers bit in Tampa." She shrugs. "One of my mom's cousins is big into re-enacting, though I don't know much about it. I just thought it'd be fun to dress up in period stuff sometime." She slants an amused look Miles-voice-wards. "And your grandmother'd steamroll us all, from the stories you tell." Jon's acceptance of her idea makes her smile soften a bit, but she leaves the cat girl to contemplate.

Maggie smirks, eyes closed and content in her victory. "You made the wager." She feels the brief shadow over her when Ian stands up again, then turns her head and opens her eyes just long enough to see where he's going. Finally, some damn food! This allows her to spot the shark-tossing out in the water, and Maggie can't help but sigh a little. To herself she mutters, "Sad, would have been nice if he'd gotten eaten." She props her elbows on and chin on her palm, glancing around, bored, paying only half attention.. until she spots the girl sitting on her towel not at all far from where Maggie and Ian have settled, drinking her orange soda. Her brows gather, thoughtful for a second. Then.. "Hi," Maggie calls to Amy, rather uncharacteristic for the red-head. "You new?"

Miranda grins, "Smart move, Miles." She grins, glancing in his direction. Or the direction of his voice at least. "Want to fly the kite for a bit?" Then Steven throws the shark and Miranda is just… agog for the moment. "Steven! The phrase is Jumping the shark, not making the shark jump!"

Amy Os in the midst of boggling over the sudden shark fling when Maggie's voice catches her attention? "Hunh?" is her eloquent response before she shakes her head and, blushing at her stupidity, replies. "Yeah…Only been here a few days. Just started taking classes a couple days ago." she explains. "Remedial, so that's probably why you haven't seen much of me." she smirks. "I'm Amy." she adds, giving a little wave. "Nice party." she comments.

Jerry had just felt the pressure wave of the thing approaching him and snapped up his force field, just before Steven grabs the thing. He floats up out of the water to watch the thing scurry off to the depths and gives the boy on the rock a salute, then drops back into the water to finish the swim to shore - with his force field hugging his sleek form, of course. He walks out of the surf, pushing his hair out of his eyes. "No mood to be sushi today.." he grins, seemingly unperturbed. Still Cool, in other words.

Sasha had just spotted the creature too, but Steven, he's incredibly on the ball, tossing the creature high up over their head. "That's….." she starts, finding herself entirely speechless.

Only now that she's close enough to locate him by the sound of his voice does Sam realize Miles is there. "Oh, definitely," she agrees, nodding to him (more or less) and Miranda. "People get stupid enough about /current/ politics without dragging whose great-grandpa fought whose into it. My Dad works for the state, and he gets way more politics in what ought not to be a political job shoved in his face as it is." Not looking in that direction, she happens to miss the shark-tossing. (Possibly fortunately!)

"I've been there once or twice," Saint Petersburg that is. Stoker's been all about really, but that isn't much to the context of today's event. "I think I've dressed up in regalia once. And that was for a school event. I looked like a dork. Though… I really cannot say anything ill if people suggest a day for the ladies to lace up corsets again." Hey, he was a guy after all- even as he flashes cheek over Maggie's way. His back is turn to the ocean, so he misses the shark jumping, turning around just in time to miss the entire thing. "You see, this is why I don't swim," he mutters, going back to the food and returning with a dog for Maggie - all the fixin's involved. For himself? Two dogs.

"Sorry, I never could get that straight." Steven answers Miranda, and he grins to Sasha, rather blase about the whole great white tossing. "Cool. Can you do a Jet Ski?" He asks with an amused grin. He isn't serious of course, once things are calm, he starts back towards the shore, swimming normally despite being able to fly. Once there's hot dogs, he gets a couple, and brings one over to Miranda, as he flops down on the sand and watches the kite flying. Belatedly he smiles to Summer. "No, Stephanie is not the sort to think the world revolves around her." Seeing more new faces he waves cheerily to the lot of them and munches on his hot dog.

"Oh, you're in my Neohuman Studies class, aren't you?" Yep, Summer's in the first module of the specialized classes, unfortunately, despite being a senior; it's entirely possible that Amy and she share the class. "I arrived a week or so ago, too." She, too, misses the shark-toss, but she doesn't miss Miranda's yell; she spots the splash, then blinks bemusedly. "… every time I think I'm getting a handle on the weirdness…" She pauses, glances sidelong at Ian, and just smirks. "A proper lady doesn't mention such things," she says mock-primly.

Miles sighs. "Probably. Or else she'd make someone go catch that shark and drag it back to shore to cook it."

Sasha presses her lips together and looks at Steven, "Dunno," she says. "Maybe I could if I had some time. Shouldn't be that hard and I can probably get plans on the internet," she tells him. Sasha pushes off the rock and drops fully into the water, making it *back* at a quite respectable pace. She slides up into the shallow water and reforms her legs, standing up, letting water run off her and walking back towards the group. "Hey, hotdogs. Awesome, guys."

"Oh, eurgh. Though I suppose there wouldn't be the coral contamination of sharks up here…" Summer muses, then shakes her head, switching back to a more amusing subject. Namely: "So, other opinions on a day of old-fashioned fashion? Though let's avoid the bustles and trains, shall we?"

"Eh, I dunno." Amy replies to Summer, nodding slowly before polishing off the rest of her soda in two long swallows. "5th period, right?" she asks. "And you _can_ get used to the weirdness?" she asks chuckling. "You're a Sophomore, right?"

Miranda chuckles, "Summer, I wear ankle length skirts and long sleeve blouse's every day… and /Jack's/ my RA… old fashioned fashioned… how would Baldwin be able to tell the difference?" As the sky starts towards sunset, she reels in the kite. Time for food! Or at least a hot dog and some cookies. And watermelon soda.

"Ooh! Could I dress as a flapper?" Steven asks.

"Maggie," replies the so-named young woman to Amy, nodding once and then glancing away as another stranger picks up on the conversation. This rather drops the young woman right back out of it, though she does spare a smirk for talk of corsets. But then she's got her 'dog, and pulls herself upright to eat. Mm, delicious strange meaty byproducts in a synthetic casing.

Samantha speaks up, looking at Summer and Amy, "I've seen you two in that class, but we haven't really gotten the chance to talk, with me having to hurry off for powers training right afterward. I'm Samantha — or just 'Sam' is good enough. What do you think of the school so far?"

Summer laughs. "No, I'm a senior. I didn't want to leave my school just after the beginning of the school year last year, so I'm doing catch-up. You may have a point about the weirdness, though." She glances at Miranda and grins. "There's a difference between ankle-length skirts of /modern/ style and ankle-length skirts that take up yards and yards of material," she notes drolly. "And Jack's great. Oh. I'm Summer." Pause. "Make a joke and I can't be held responsible for the continued good behavior of the weather."

Jerry walks over to get a 'dog and finish off his beer, clapping Ian on the shoulder as he passes, and waving to Amy. "Amy, hey, getting settled in?" he says as he daubs mustard, ketchup, relish and onions on the 'dog, chomping into it seconds later.

"Nice to meet you, Maggie." Amy replies, nodding to the older girl. "And you, Sam." she adds. "Eh, I dunno yet." Amy chuckles, shrugging eloquently. "It's kind of like…" she begins, then chortles at the remark about dressing like a flapper. "It's _different_." she snerks. "Hey, Jerry. Eh, I'm trying." she replies. "Think that shark fling's gonna take a couple of days to get my brain around."

Sasha takes her hotdog, dumps a good quantity of ketchup on it, and then retreats to stand next to Jerry. "You expect me to kiss you after that?" she asks him.

Miranda grins, and sits on her blanket, breaking down Summer's kite and storing it back into the tube. If there's any proof of Miranda's technical genius today, it's that she repacks the kite correctly on the first time. At Steven's suggestion of the flapper dress, she grins. "Sure! We can go dress shopping next weekend if you like."

"They wander up this way every now and then," Jerry quirks a smile to Amy, and shifts to introduce her to Sasha. "Sasha, Amy, Amy, Sasha," he says. "Sasha's my girlfriend with a completely surprising and heretofore unknown dislike of onions," he grins.

Summer looks impressed at Miranda's packing job. "It takes me two or three tries to break it down without winding up with something coiled the wrong way, or snared on something else," she comments, then twists just a bit on her blanket, pulling a bottle of sunblock from her bag (and replacing the volleyball back within it at the same time) which she begins to reapply to her arms and shoulders. "Miles, since you're so conveniently there—" She dangles the bottle over her shoulder. "Help?"

Settling down again, Ian takes a big bite of the dog. He begins to reply to something, but thinks better of it, instead finishing chewing and swallowing before. "Ah yes- proper. Dunno what that means, m'self." He never was a proper one. Good guy maybe, but never proper. There's another chomp, before he leans forward to whisper something into Maggie's ear, backing away a moment before offering a nod to Amy. "Welcome to the school. I'm Ian. Don't worry though. Shit's only gonna get weirder."

"I've had a little longer to get used to things, but not /that/ much," Sam replies to Amy, though the 'shark fling' comment did get a curious-confused look from her. "I transferred in with only a few weeks to go in the school year. It was kind of a sudden thing." Not elaborating on that, she instead adds, "I'll be a sophomore in the fall, but now I'm catching up on the 'extra' stuff freshmen usually take here that I missed out on."

"Sweet. Stephanie always really liked that look. Should really see about taking some dance classes, or make Jack teach us some moves." Steven states, and then he waves to the new arrivals. "Oh yes, definitely will only get weirder. But at least it isn't boring! Well, some of the classes can be, but the rest…not so much."

Amy quirks up an eyebrow at Jerry for a moment before turning to give Sasha a friendly smile and a little two-fingered wave. "Hey there, Sasha. Nice meeting you." Ian's comment and the other boys' confirmation of it causing her to groan playfully. "Oh…_joy_!" she chuckles. "Ah well, can't be any weirder than things were back home. Well, they can be weirder, but in a good way." she corrects herself. "And, yeah, I'm already finding out about the boring classes thing." she shrugs. "Remedial Math and English…lemme tell ya, they're a _hoot_." she says, making a rude noise with her lips.

Miranda smiles at Summer. "Technical genius serves a practical purpose from time to time… and I don't count lightning guns or force fields as practical. FUN… but not practical." She adjusts her beach umbrella to make sure that her blanket has maximum shade, then stretches out to nap, rolled up towel under her head, sunglasses on. She's napping. Honest. It's coincidence that her head is always facing Steven's direction.

"By the way, if someone tells you that one of the rooms in Baldwin is haunted and that you need to go exorcise the ghost, don't believe them." A pause, and he replies to Summer. "Um, sure." The disembodied voice asides to Amy. The bottle vanishes from her hands and then, well, yeah. Sunblock starts getting rubbed onto her back and shoulders by invisible hands. It is probably best not to think too hard about how this looks.

"Thanks, Miranda. And anywhere that 'lightning guns or force fields' can be considered as fun but impractical… well, it's strange enough for me." Pause. "I'm only fond of the word when it's convenient," Summer asides to Ian with a droll smirk, "Or appropriate. In this case, the latter." Pause. "Ouch." She winces at Amy's admission. "I'm sorry. I'm just catching up on the odder classes. Oh-" She glances Jerry-wards. "-Did you finish that book on the Fog? It sounded kinda interesting. And thank you, Miles." Given that she can't twist around to look, how odd it looks is /not/ going to bother her.

Maggie doesn't inhale her food the way Ian does, but at the same time she is not, as previously mentioned, a priss. She was hungry, food is eaten. Her eyes flicker up towards Jerry and Sasha when Jerry introduces the cyborg as his girlfriend, and it's only because she's chewing that she doesn't make a comment. Probably for the best, all things considered. But it doesn't contain the smirk, at least. When whispered to Maggie leans in to listen, then takes a moment to swallow her food as she nods her head in reply to whatever was said. Then there's another smirk, maybe closer to an actual grin this time. "Didn't feel like showing off." Whatever that means. To Amy, Maggie asks, "So what'er you in for?"

"And please. Don't try to exorcise Miles. My room's right next to his; I'd prefer not to be woken up by chanting," Summer adds.

Ian laughs lightly at what Summer mentions, before standing and hoping to the other side of Maggie, to prevent blocking the view from her. The last bit of Maggie's own admission brings a snort from Stoker, "A rarity I'm sure. Still, sad." He even mock frowns before looking back up at the group. When Amy mentions what classes she has to take, Ian gives a low nod. "Hoot indeed. Somehow managed to avoid the English, but the maths…" Oh yeah. Stoker was the artsy type, and technical mumbo jumbo like numerals and equations? Easiest way to sooth the savage wolf to dreams. That, coupled with near a year on the road was the reason why he was taking summer classes even to be a senior - and summer classes next year to graduate. Hurray for no summer vacation.

Jerry finishes up his hotdog and wipes his mouth, even as Sasha leans to whisper to him. He glances to the cooler and nods, and she takes off. "Drink run," he says, as the girl transforms once she hits non-sand, and roars off in cycle form. He contents himself with staying near the hot dogs, Ian and Maggie and others - if he's noticed any snark from Maggie he hasn't shown it, at least. He nods his head faintly to whatever music is playing and seems to be having a good time.

Samantha looks to Miranda with interest on hearing the 'force fields and lightning guns' comments. "Whoa, cool — Have you met Cordelia? You two should compare notes or exchange mad-science blueprints or something!" She laughs. "I can make machines do stuff, but outside of putting my own PCs together, I'm not so much for making stuff myself. That's awesome." Geek Girl enthusiasm, activate!

"In for?" Amy asks the other girl. "Oh…like my power and stuff. Eh, electricity, basically." she replies with another one of those little shrugs. "I'd show you, but I don't wanna fry somebody accidentally." she smiles a little. "I'm still learning all of the details of fine control, ya know?" she explains. "You?" she inquires curiously. "Matter of fact, what can everybody do, besides fling sharks around and know where those hot dogs are?"

Summer glances up towards the sky at Amy's query, then chuckles. "I feel your pain regarding the accidental frying," she admits. "My MP3 player's a hunk of burnt plastic because I got annoyed at something recently while I was holding it. Zot, bye-bye player." She sighs, then leans back to murmur something to Miles before re-orienting on the conversation. "But I control weather." She waves one hand towards the blue skies.

The invisible speaker offers, "Mine's fairly obvious, I think." A pause. "Or maybe not obvious, since that's sort of the point."

Miranda waves to Amy, "Super-Scientist here. Steven," Who has joined her on the blanket and is currently serving pillow-duty, "Is telekinetic, and his twin sister Stephanie is Telepathic." She tells Samantha, "No, we've not really met to speak of such. I work alone mostly… Started a video game company to earn pocket money, my first game, Fireworks Festival, came out in May." And was #9 paid game this week on the iPhone thanks to the holiday.

Maggie leans in to Ian once she's finished her food, never-minding all the talk of classes and the droll like. "Could fix it later," she comments to Ian about whatever the hell the two of them are on about, grinning lightly, then switches her attention back to Amy. Electricity, hm? "No need." For demonstration, that is. And then its her own turn for show and tell.. So Maggie, not missing a beat, allows her green eyes to fog over with an inky black cloud that covers any bit of white or green there is within them. "I'm a devil. He," she pokes Ian, "Is a werewolf. And I can't speak for anybody else, but I'm pretty sure he," she motions to Jerry, "Is an STD incubator."

Jerry snorts at Maggie, and finishes off his beer. "Kinetic control, actually, the energy of work. Every vibration, movement, change in direction - mine to command, kinda," he smiles to Amy. "Or stopping same."

" Wow…" Amy breathes…"Eh…yeah…this is gonna take a little while to get used to." Amy sighs, chuckling silently as the ramifications of where she is and who she's with start to come home. "I don't have to wear some silly costume, right? I can keep my underwear _inside_ my clothes in public?" she snerks.

"Could be," Ian replies to Maggie easily enough. When Amy mentions her powers, Stoker leans a bit so that he can pass a thumbs up. "Killer. I bet that can have all sorts of uses when you can get the fine details worked up." And when he's explained as a werewolf, there's a little shrug and a light upturn of the mouth. "Well sort of kind of. Though I guess it's as close of a descriptor as you can get. Except, y'know, no moon or silver thing. I think." And then the last bit comes up from Maggie, and Ian blinks a moment before putting his face into the sand. Why? Oh man. "MFfdf sdf wewge wefewwegfw." In Sandtalk-English dictionary. "You are evil, Maggie." His head finally comes up, covered enough that he has to spend a good few minutes wiping off his face.

And as for costume, Ian adds in: "Each hall has uniforms, but that's just to Thunderdome. 'side from that, I hope not. They'd try to put me into one piece I'd imagine. And give me a name like Manwolf. Or Manwolfman." A beat later. ".. I think it's way past due for a drink or two, and to burn these fireworks off."

"Official school uniform. Perniciously tight, but at least not underwear-on-the-outside." Pause. "I've got to admit, I wondered at the self-confidence required to wear that sorta thing." Summer is calmly ignoring any snark, at least outwardly, though there /is/ the faintest quirk of amusement at the corners of her lips. "Y'okay there?" she asks of Ian and his sand-facing.

Jerry hehs at Ian. "Of course, you now know your new name is ManWolf, don't you? I think I can get your name tag changed to that at the very least.."

"Like I said, I can make machines do things," Sam says, before explaining further. "Pretty much anything mechanical, I can work with my mind from a distance same as if I was operating it by hand. And I can link up with computers, or anything with a CPU, really, and read data out of them or just take them over."

"You do," Maggie tells Amy about the costume wearing, focusing on the girl and pretty well ignoring Jerry's correction. The particulars, however, are left to Ian and Summer to explain. Ian does get a side-long glance at his antics, however, though his girlfriend seems unamused. Not annoyed, just.. not charmed or tickled by his exasperation. She listens to the continued explanations of powers with some interest, filing information away before ultimately deciding to lay back down on her towel, face-up, to resume sunning.

Miranda looks over at Sam from where she is snuggling and cuddling with Steven. "I so /wish/ I could do that. Maybe I can make a device that will do it. My mind codes much, much faster than I can type. Being able to just /think/ at the computer would be such a relief."

"Well, I guess that makes sense." Amy nods. "Thunderdome and all, gotta need padding and stuff." she shrugs, dismissing the thought. "Never been inside the place, just seen it from a distance." she adds. "Big damn dome, though. Looks like somebody cut the Starship Earth ball at Epcot in half and plunked it down in Maryland." she chuckles. "Anybody know who's bankrolling the school?" she asks curiously. "Cause somebody's gotta have some _deep_ pockets. Just the food budget alone's gotta be through the roof."

Jerry looks to Summer. "That would pretty much describe my costume. Cool and light, so wearing it under your clothes is possible, even in the summer if you're not into shorts."

Miles offers, "A lot of it comes from private endowments from the families of students There's a lot of Neohuman families with like, famous adventurers or scientists, or what have you, and they've got deep pockets. Hell, my folks have been ponying up an endowment since I started going here. Sadly it isn't enough of one to get them to name a classroom after me or anything."

Samantha nods to Miranda. "When I'm linked up with a computer, it's… It's like my brain overclocks, or something, I don't know how to describe it better than that. But I somehow keep up with the data stream, and I code like, almost without having to think about it. Like I'm thinking in it, almost."

Summer reddens slightly, tilting her head. While the discussion between Miranda and Amy goes over her head, the light banter between Jerry and Ian is amusing. "What, perniciously tight?" she asks of Jerry, amused. "Good to know that the self-confidence isn't lacking, I guess. Though will Sasha let you out wearing it if that's the case?"

"I'm cool, I'm cool," Ian offers, bits of sand still flaking off of his face. "And if I get dubbed Manwolf, my revenge will be swift and daunting. You'd be the purple avenger faster than I can buy print cards. Not'ta mention a personalized speedo-pictured greeting card to every girl at school." And then there's uniform talk again. As it goes on, Ian begins to set out small boxes in a space a good ten yards away from everyone else. Fumbling with something before returning. "'suppose perniciously tight beats other alternative. I've gone through way too many damned pairs of clothes when I end up in fights. One of these days that's going to completely backfire on me." ANd right on cue of 'fire', there's a loud *POP* as the boxes begin shooting balls of fire into the sky, which blossoms into a private little display. As it goes on, Ian settles down behind Maggie, murmuring something into her ear again before looking up.

Miranda winces a bit. Well, more than a bit. She murmurs to Steven, and the two of them pack up their gear. "Steven and I are going to head out… See you all back at school."

Jerry grins at Ian and settles back to both watch the fireworks, and to /watch/ the fireworks preps to make sure nothing gets out of hand.

"See ya 'round, Miranda. Nice meeting you, likewise Steven." Amy calls, giving a wave to the two as her attention drifts over to the fireworks display. "Snazzy." she smiles to herself, idly drumming the three fingers of her right hand on one bare knee in a distinct, quick pattern.

Summer is settled on a blanket with an open cooler at hand, though it seems a little too neatly-stacked to be all that interesting. For now, though, she seems content just watching the fireworks. "Later, Miranda," she calls, waving over at the young woman.

Maggie stretches out on the towel to enjoy the little bit of ever fading sunlight and beats back her impulse to add in something unseemly about Jerry. Again. She does open her eyes as the crackle of flame on the fireworks wicks begins, rolling on to her stomach to again prop her head up on her arms. Aahh.. Fireworks. They bring a little smile to her face. Ian comes to sit by her and the girl shifts to lay her torso across his lap, turning her head up just slightly as she's whispered to. Another grin, another nod.

"Just in time for the fireworks," Adrian says as he makes his way towards the gathering of Steranko students. Dressed in appropriate beach attire— that is board shorts and a rash guard with sandals on his feet —he's got his bright orange backpack slung over one shoulder. Presumably there's a towel inside it, probably his (newly replaced) phone, and other belongings. He offers a smile to Miranda and Steven, "and in time for you two to head out. See you two… er… three, later."

A nod is given in the direction of Ian and Jerry and other greets to students that the younger of the two Young twins is familiar with. He'll just venture his way over to one of the coolers and grab a drink, dropping his backpack in the sand in the mean time.

Miles is quiet for the moment, which may mean he's not even actually here. Or else he's just watching the fireworks.

Adrian's arrival earns a faintly-disconcerted look from Summer, though there's also the 'nah, couldn't be' reaction. In the meantime, however, she lifts her hand in a wave from her spot. "There's lemonade if you want it, and a bunch of sweets in the Tupperware," she notes, jerking her chin towards her open cooler. "I think Jerry had the beer, though."

Samantha gives a wave to Miranda and Steven as they're headed out, and gives Adrian a smile as she sees him approaching. After pausing to watch the start of the fireworks, she turns back toward him and says, "I was just gonna get myself a hot dog. You want one?"

Ian winces inwardly as Miranda and Steven lead, a frown spreading on to his features. He had forgotten about the girl's hypersensitivity when he had planned for the fireworks. A mental note is taken to apologize to her later before a hand goes to Maggie's red hair, stroking idly as the display continues. "Think you might be able to take over, Jerry?" Ian asks the other young man before looking to the sky again. "We're gonna head out in a moment, and there's still plenty more to happen. Funny what a few sundry connections can do for acquiring fireworks." Adrian gets a salute from the SA. "I still haven't forgotten, dude. Been a helluva week. Catch up tomorrow?" Either way, Ian's already begun to gather what things he can without disturbing Maggie's perch.

"Hey Sam!" Adrian says with a warm smile at the girl, "Haven't seen you since you came over that night. You been doing okay? Sure… sounds good." That last to the technopath's offer of food. He gives Summer a bright smile as well, though there's no recognition from him. Hey, she's changed a lot over these last couple of years! "No beer for me," the boy says, going instead for the lemonade. Unless someone wants to take him to the hospital later. Ian gets a nod, "Same here, man. Don't worry about it. Tomorrow sounds great… but, I've gotta work. Mr. Mallory has me and some other guy keeping the Pharmacy open until he and his daughter get back from some family thing. Either before that or after'd be good though."

Jerry nods to Ian. He also kicks himself for forgetting about Miranda. "Crap. I could have filtered the sound for her.." he says as he shifts over and takes one of the controllers. "Sure thing, dude," he says, giving his best friend a smile, and one for Maggie as well; he sends up a cascade of fireworks that explode high in the night sky, showering out as huge plumes of red, white and blue.

Amy waves to the new arrival, glancing in his direction before stretching out on her towel to take in the show without craning her neck. "Whoever put this together, thank you." she calls contentedly. Ah, normalcy, or what passes for it in this place, such a comfort.

No more goth phase, at the very least, for Summer; she's back to her natural blonde, and without makeup. And, evidently, enjoying the fireworks, to judge by the delighted flush to her cheeks and small smile. "Ah—- oh," she says, tuning in on something Adrian says. "Does he have any openings? I'm not a pharmacy tech or anything, but I've been hunting for a part-time job…"

Maggie closes her eyes and releases a soft, content kind of sigh as Ian strokes her hair, allowing an uncharacteristically tender moment before she starts to pull away. She gets to her feet and stuffs towel and wrap and all and sundry into her bag. It's about then that she spots Adrian.. And Jerry is ignored. Pointedly. No Peace, it seems. "I'm gonna load the car. Meet you up there," she says to Ian, then b-lines it straight for Adrian. "Hey! Hi and Bye I'm afraid, but I wanted to tell you something.." Without a single care for the effect of his powers, Maggie slings an arm around Adrian if he will allow for it and leans in to whisper something to the boy. Once it's done, she backs up and gives him a little, knowing smile. "See you around, handsome." He's not going to be given an opportunity to ask questions - she just turns and heads up towards the parking lot.

Samantha answers Adrian, "I've been busy with starting summer classes and some family stuff, so I've been a little scarce. Should be calming down a little now, though. What do you want on your dog?" Meanwhile, she's keeping it simple with her own, just a line of spicy mustard added to the otherwise plain hot dog.

"Well if the whole Pharmacy thing doesn't work out for ya - me and Jerry work over at Sam Cash. So if you like music… hell if you just are willing to sell your soul, we can probably get ya an application." Ian gives a salute to most - dap to Jerry - and a hug for anyone who wants them. And then he's adjusting that hat on his head before flashing a grin and a 'v' to most to follow his girlfriend up to the parking lot and out stage left!

Adrian is prepared to answer both Sam and Summer when the red-head leans in for her whisper. The boy just blinks, staring after her as she drops that tidbit of information and then saunters off. His mouth is opened, then shut, opened again— it's rather comical really —and then his lips quirk into a wry smile. "Anyone know how to speak French? I think I'm gonna need a tutor."

He shakes his head, and then nods to Sam, "Relish and mustard." And to Summer, well, she gets a nod, "He could probably use a little more help, yeah. His daughter's going to be leaving for college in about a month. Reason he hired me on." Jerry gets a laugh, "I like music, but I think my soul has been claimed by the monster under Ian's bed." A beat and then, "More seriously though, thanks for the offer. Always good to have a back up plan."

Amy's head quirks up at the mention of music and she drags her eyes away from the fireworks to roll over onto her side and peer at Jerry for a moment. "You guys work at a music shop?" she asks the teen. "You and Ian?"

"No idea here. I took Spanish last year, and I barely remember anything except what my classmates taught me to swear with," Summer admits, continuing to watch the fireworks and time her remarks between bangs. "I'm curious about the music shop thing, too. What's that like? Standard retail?"

"Huh, Summer jobs. I could use…" A pause. "Right, nevermind." Miles speaks up finally, only apparently to immediately depress himself.

The "rockets' red glare" of the fireworks helps to conceal the color that comes to Sam's cheeks on seeing the Maggie-to-Adrian whispering, and then Adrian's reaction to it. Or at least so Sam hopes. With just a nod as a reply to his choice of toppings, she adds the requested condiments and picks up his dog and her own.

"Oh, hey Miles," Adrian says, directing the comment towards where the voice came from. At least he has the tact tonight not to say, 'Didn't see you there.' "You know, Mr. Mallory seems pretty cool about neohumans, considering what happened a few weeks ago. Some folks from school helped stop some thieves at the store. He might be up for an invisible stock boy? If you really want a summer job, I could put in a good word." Adrian takes a sip of his lemonade, then moves towards Sam to meet her partway and take the prepared hotdog. "Thanks." He gives Sam a light shoulder bump, careful that there's no skin-to-skin contact involved. To Summer he says, "I know I kind of met you at the pool the other day, but I must've had water in my ears or something. What was your name again?" To Amy, the boy also offers a greeting, "I'm Adrian and I'd shake hands for a proper introduction, but Jerry is here and I still don't know how to turn it off." Whatever that's supposed to mean, the raven-haired teen gives Jerry a smirk.

Jerry smiles to Amy and Summer. "Pretty standard retail, but we also carry some local band cds that Ian and I kinda push onto the unsuspecting public because we're the guys that control the in-store sound system. We're also in a band," he says. "So hopefully one of those CDs will be us, in a few months."

Jerry sets off another fussilade of fireworks, the quick POK POK POK kind, drifting flowers of fire and light that blossom and die. He catches that in the sudden stillness afterwards, and looks to Adrian. "Gloves, dude. Or, you know, I'll try to help you like I did your brother, OK? Get you to find that off-switch."

Summer digs an elbow backwards at Miles, evidently aware that she can reach him from where she is. "You could look into data entry stuff," she points out, glancing over her shoulder. "Or in this city, it seems like there ought to be /some/ sort of job where as long as the work gets done, it doesn't really matter if you're visible?" Pause. "Though those sorts of jobs can be … damning. But your grandmother might approve." She pauses, then looks at Adrian. "Summer," she replies. "I think I missed your name, too." She mouths a 'thank you' to him for the suggestion regarding a job, too.

"Eh…heh, okay, then." Amy replies. "I'm Amy." she replies, sitting up fully to give Adrian a nod. "I'll just assume you're being cool about the 'turning it off' part." she smirks playfully. "So, Jerry, how much do you get for a set of bass strings?" she asks. "Ones I've got are just about worn out from me boiling them for two years."

Miles oofs at the elbow. "Well, I could give it a shot, though…something less likely to freak out the public might be more my speed, yeah. Shelves stocking themselves would probably weird people out."

Samantha hands over Adrian's hot dog with just a split-second of eye contact involved before she — pretty typically for her — looks away quickly. Fireworks. Yes, watching the fireworks. Yep. Absolutely. Total attention. Um-hmm.

"It's summer time, I'm not wearing gloves," Adrian replies to Jerry, "I'm afraid to ask how you helped Linus, but I don't know that I want a repeat. We're working on it in Powers' Training, it's just going to take a while. I did however, turn someone's powers off on purpose last Saturday." The mention of that has Adrian glancing towards the ocean and then towards any nearby rocky structures to be sure Seaweed Man isn't lurking. This isn't that beach though.

"Nice to meet you Amy," Adrian says, then explains by holding a hand up, "I negate neohuman powers." The boy catches that brief eye-contact of Samantha and grins, taking a bite of the hotdog. "Wanna sit down?" he asks Sam as he takes a seat himself on one of the beach blankets near the group, patting the spot next to him. "I'm Adrian," he repeats for Summer, "Adrian Young."

Jerry hmms at Amy and names a pretty reasonable price. After that, he looks towards where he hopes Miles is. "Miles, have you thought about call center? I'm sure that Timothy could fake you up some documents that say you're handicapped and have to work from home." He gives a quick smile. "It's either that or phone sex for you, I think." He pauses. "Or, you know.. Can you draw?"

"Phone sex?" Summer repeats, momentary distracted by Jerry's suggestion before she laughs aloud, looking over her shoulder to where Miles is. "I think that we'd be able to see you just from the embarrassment radiating off you." She turns back, giving Adrian a thoughtful look. "I think we've met before," she says. "A couple years ago. I dragged you around Busch Gardens."

Amy bobs her head. "Awesome. I think I can swing that." she replies before chortling at his comment to Miles. "That's just wrong.." she chuckles, shaking her head as she hauls herself up to go and snag the hot dog her stomach's now craving. "Hey, Miles, I'm not trying to be, like, mean or anything here, but have you ever seen this movie called 'Memoirs of an Invisible Man?'" she inquires.

"Hey there sugar!" a perky-sounding southern drawl calls out, "I thought you might be out here." The source of the voice is a petite blonde girl who looks just as sweet and perky as her voice sounds. And she is heading right towards Jerry. "You should've called to remind me this thing was going on. I saw a couple o' students makin' their way back to the dorms from here and the lightbulb came on." This would be Megan Monroe, and when she reaches Jerry, she flings her arms around his neck and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Er! …Okay," Sam answers Adrian, and seats herself with slightly-flustered grace. And just in time for the, ahem, suggestions for Miles' employment are made, and this time there's no hiding the redness that comes to her cheeks.

Jerry flashes a smile. "Hey, Miles, if it's a job, it's a job, you know? Unless you're able to trust one or two strangers with your secret, it might be hard for you unless you can hire someone to impersonate you on your initial job interview," he says. This is a puzzle for him and he likes thinking over stuff like this. Perhaps indicative of the vague job area he's starting to outline in his brain.

Then he's being hugged and kissed and, while this is no real surprise, at the same time it is. "Um, hey," he grins, returning the kiss on the cheek. "Hey…" he continues, caught a buit flat-footed. It's obvious to the observant that he has no idea on Earth who this is.

Miles allows, "Seen it, but if you mean to try the makeup thing it doesn't work with my brand of being see-through, unfortunately. It's more that my brain convinces everyone else's brain that they can't see me or smell me or…feel my brain with their brain, apparently." He snorts as Jerry's suddenly embraced and kissed. "I think phone sex may be in someone else's line than mine."

"Ah." Amy calls, putting together a basic hot dog of mayo and brown mustard. "Well, it was a thought." she replies, shrugging a little. "Heh, I bet you're a hit when Halloween comes around." she grins, trying to do so in the direction of the boy, but not being used to him, it's understandably a little hard. Jerry's sudden glomping elicits a chuckle and a slow shake of her head. "Jesus Christ, Jerry! I'm starting to think my flirting with you the other day in the student center was too subtle." she chuckles.

"Does your family live near here?" Adrian asks Sam, "You said you've been doing family stuff." He takes another bite of the hot dog, eyebrows lifting as the perky blonde gives Jerry the greeting. Oh, hey, it's the girl from the soda fountain that was going on and on about Jerry. Wait… didn't he say he didn't know her? From the look on Jerry's face, this is the case. "Cough— Harem —cough." Hey, even if it's obvious Jerry wasn't expecting this, he still has to tease. He'll just studiously ignore talk of phone sex and quietly enjoy the show. Fireworks. Jerry glompings. Sam turning red. And then, "Busch Gardens?" Blink. Blinks. "GOTH girl? Wow, it's a small world!"

Megan smiles, releasing Jerry momentarily, only to catch hold of his hand. She intwines her fingers with his, apparently oblivious to the fact that he doesn't know her from Adam. Because he should. In her mind he very much should. "So, how's it going everyone?" that cheerful drawl comes out, "Happy fourth o' July an' all that. Jerry, pumpkin, could you get me a drink?"

"Evidently so. It's good to see you though, Adj." Summer pulls a strand of blonde hair loose from her hairstyle and examines it. "A bit of a change. Hey, stop by sometime? I'm in Baldwin." She quirks an eyebrow at the newly-arrived not-Sasha blonde. "Oh, there goes my good opinion." Because it looks damning, really, it does. "Help me pack stuff up, Miles?" she asks, evidently deciding that discretion's the better part of valor where Fein-love-affair-explosions are imminent. "Sasha tries to keep him on a short leash," she notes to Amy. "So, careful if you do." And, with that, she begins to pack up.

Jerry ums and nods and gets up once he's sure the remaining fireworks pits are safe. "Um, sure," he says, "Be just a sec." He walks over to the drinks and hopefully near the others. "Anyone have a freakin' clue who she is?" he says in a low tone to whoever is near.

"Heh, no worries, Summer, I didn't even know he _had_ a girlfriend until tonight." Amy smirks, starting to polish off her dog with a trio of neat bites. "He forgot to mention her." she winks. "Hey Megan, I'm Amy." she calls, waving to the newcomer between gnaws and swallows. "Happy Fourth to you, too. Jerry's told us _all_ about you." she adds. "We're so happy you kids finally hooked up!"

"Um—" That's Sam starting to answer Adrian, but not getting very far as the spectacle of Jerry and the Mystery Blonde begins. "Er…" That would be take two, interrupted by Adrian's sudden realization of Summer's prior identity and presence in his past. Take three, she finally gets it out: "I think I told you that before, or maybe it was your brother? I'm from Whitley. Like 15 minutes from campus."

"That's the girl I was telling you about the other night," Adrian tells Jerry. He glances over at where Megan is standing, smiling, waiting for Jerry. "The one that went on and on about you when she stopped in at the Pharmacy? I think she thought I was Linus at first because she started talking about 'our band' and how much she was looking forward to seeing us play." Adrian gives a forced smile towards Megan, lifting a hand in a cautious wave. "She's kinda cute though?" As if this is helpful. "Sure Summer, I'd love to catch up." And to Sam, "Must've been Linus. You never mentioned it to me. So, blessing or curse that your family is so close?"

Megan smiles, waving back. "Hey there Amy. Oh, Jerry certainly does have a girlfriend." And apparently Megan thinks this is her because when Summer mentions Sasha, the girl's blue eyes flash. "That two-bit hussy? Please… my Jerry is just too nice to tell her where she really oughtta go."

"Well, now, now, Megan, let's be nice, here." Amy replies gently, snagging a napkin and wiping her face and hands clear of stray mustard and mayo with mock delicacy. "Mm…damn that was a good 'dog…." she adds. "Sasha's a nice girl. Don't know her very well, but no reason to be like that. I mean, this _is_ Jerry we're talking about." she continues. "You can understand if it 's hard to let go." Oh, this is going to come back to bite her, but somehow, it feels so right.

Jerry ohs at Adrian and hmmms, "First time I've ever seen her," then returns with a drink for Megan, and stands with the others. "'/Is/ Jerry'," he quotes as he comes within earshot. "Man, you've been here a couple days and already you're hearing stories?" he smiles to Amy. "Hey, now," he says to Megan. "Sasha's very nice." Sip. "And she is my girlfriend, so.. Um, she is, you know?"

Adrian bites his lip, holding in some laughter as Amy is apparently going to encourage the blonde. If it's got potential for making Jerry squirm, Adrian is amused. Greatly. He also mentally notes to get to know Amy better. A hand is lifted to wave Summer and Miles off, then he's shoving another bite of hotdog into his face and wiping the mustard off on the back of his hand.

"I'm sorry, ya'll. I really should apologize for that. You're right Amy. That wasn't very considerate of me. It would be hard to just let him go, seein' as he's such a sweetheart. He does so well tryin' to make people feel comfortable on campus." She's just cheerfully chatting with Amy while she waits for her Jerry to get her something to drink. She looks down at her attire, a pair of capri pants and a flowery top. There's an odd swirl around her, like reality is bending and the light warps, then suddenly she's dressed in a red bikini and a thin American flag-printed beach wrap. There's even a white flower in her hair once things have settled. "I just think Sasha ought to go lookin' elsewhere for companionship. Everyone that's been 'round campus long enough ought to know Jerry an' me've been courtin' since the day he—" POP!

That was the sound of a bubble being burst. Blue eyes lock on Jerry and get a frighteningly frosty edge. Megan takes the drink from Jerry, but her hand tightens around it. There is a dangerous calm to the rest of her expression, however, and Megan takes a sip of the drink. Another. Just as carefully she lowers it, her eyes never once leaving Jerry's face. All that perky chatter has come to a screeching halt. She's not saying anything now.

Sam's caught up in watching the Jerry drama for a few seconds before she quietly answers Adrian. "It's good, having them close. It's made coming to the school a lot easier to deal with than if they were further away. Even if my brother's still a little freaked by knowing I have powers. I think he's afraid I've been snooping on his computer."

"Heh, well, you have to admit, he _is_ a little forgetful." Amy replies, shrugging as she does her best slinky stroll over to a cooler to snag a beer. "I mean, when I was flirting with him the other day." she says, popping the top off with a grunt of effort. "He didn't even mention either one of you." she sighs, pausing to take a sip of the frosty cold oat soda. "My apologies, for that, by the way." she adds simply. "As far as Sasha goes….well, if it's companionship she's in the mood for…." she says, letting her voice trail off at just the right tone to take herself off the hot seat. "Hey, you've seen her….'Meow…'." she purrs. "But she's probably straight. The hot ones are always straight." she sniffs, sipping at her beer mournfully. "Anyhow, you've got no worries when it comes to me, Megan." she says, hoisting her brew in a little salute. "Jerry is officially a 'no fly zone' on my map."

Most of what might be said or implied disappears in a fuzz of white noise as Jerry briefly thinks about Sasha and Amy together. He looks to Megan and raises a single eyebrow, takes a sip of his pineapple juice he picked up for himself, and waits for the screaming to begin. He's been in that scene before so his brain has a little featurette called 'The Best of Jerry's Lunches' ready to play while the verbal fireworks roar around him. Already he's briefly flirting with the idea of hiking down to Maria's Deli tomorrow for that really, really great Ruben they make.

Adrian's amusement dies a little when he sees the expression on the blonde's face. He looks towards Amy, then back to the unfolding teenage drama, and chooses the safest place to look instead: Sam. The last bit of his hotdog is shoveled in, fingers licked free of mustard and relish. "I can see that," Adrian says, "Though, for me? I'm kind of glad that the rest of my family is still back home in Ohio. So, um, you ought to swing by the Pharmacy some time when I'm working… keep me company. Or just drop over Rider and hang out… or we could…" a glance back to the Jerrydrama to be sure nothing is exploding, "…go catch a movie or something." Because unfolding Jerrydrama is the perfect time to ask someone out on a sorta-kinda-date.

Megan remains silent. Her frosty blue eyes do flick to watch Amy and she expresionlessly listens to the other girl speak, whom she was so cheerfully speaking to only moments before. They don't linger there. Instead those icy pools settle back on Jerry's face. That pretty bikini that showed off her curves? Well, the air around her body warps again, rippling with the shift of another illusion. This time it's of a black leather bodysuit with blue piping. The sand beneath Jerry's feet? It suddenly starts seeming to writhe like it is alive… and then starts rising up… or is it that Jerry is sinking into it? Quicksand anyone? Megan folds her arms beneath her breasts, her eyes narrowed, "You were cheating on me? With Sasha?" Her voice isn't raised. There's no screaming involved. Instead, that southern drawl just comes out in a scary whisper.

Jerry yipes and tries to push skyward, to hover a foot or two above the churning sand. "HEY!" he yelps. "What the hell?" he says. "Sorry, crazy, but tonight's the first time I ever /met/ you!"

Okay, this is coming back to bite her much faster than she thought it would, not to mention that her words are inevitably gonna get back to Sasha. Cripes. "Hey now……." Amy says, sitting her beer down and squaring her shoulders towards Megan. "You can cut that shit out right about now." she says firmly, flexing her fingers. "Let's keep this friendly, okay?" she asks the girl, brown eyes locking in as Amy braces herself for what might be a bitch of a fight.

The Steranko Institute: Adrian awards Jerry a hero point.

Given the ongoing spectacle, it takes a few seconds for what Adrian just said to sink into Sam's consciousness. The moment it does — the moment that particular process starts running? — it's easily noted, given the way those eyes of hers widen a bit, and the sudden intake of breath, and — wait for it — yes, the blushing! "Um…" Yeah, great coherent answer there, Daumier. The wheels spin, the possible outcomes are weighed, the panic is controlled (if barely), and…

"I'd like that," Sam says, her voice quiet. Then, after a beat: "Um, but what about… learning French?"

"Uh oh," Adrian says. He's quickly pushing himself up to his feet the moment he realizes that things with the Jerry Drama are taking a nose dive south. The sand rising up to try and drag the older boy down, plus the perky blonde suddenly being dressed in 'warrior garb' adds up to NOT GOOD <tm>. "Forget learning French…" He moistens his lips, weighing options here.

Megan begins walking a slow circle around Jerry even as the boy attempts to rise up off of the ground. She still has a look of dangerous calm on her face and she doesn't even look at Amy when the other girl attempts to intervene. "Back off. This is between him an' me," Megan says cooly. The sand beneath Jerry reaches up like a clawed hand grabbing his legs and dragging him back down, some of it snaking its way up his body and wrapping around his throat. "I'm. Not. Crazy." Megan purses her lips together, blue eyes narrowing, "You HAVE met me! You helped me pick up my papers your first day here when that huge oaf knocked me over in the student center! We live in the same dorm! We talked about our future together!" Okay, now she's not speaking so quietly any more and her blue eyes are actually glowing with an inner light.

Jerry's own body flickers with violet light as his force-field flares and flickers around him like heat lightning, the boy obviously trying to rein in his temper. "OK, yes, that.. /happened/.." he says after a second, remembering, as he tries to fight off the sand to speak. "But that was /it/," he says. "We haven't seen each other since then!" He frowns. "Now cut it out, or this gets physical.. " he says, hands clenching to fists.

"…I don't think I will." Amy replies, starting to counter-stalk the girl as she tries to size up eye lines. "Not just gonna stand here while you try to kill somebody….call me kooky…" she adds. "But that kinda thing tends to really piss me off."

Samantha gets to her feet also, though she's not at all certain what she can do to intervene, if anything, given what she knows of her own powers. Adrian's, on the other hand… "Um, shouldn't you like, shut her down or something before somebody gets hurt?"

"I think there's just a huge misunderstanding happening here," Adrian says, moving forward. He eyes the shifting sand warily and frowns at Jerry as it tries to take him again. "Megan? Big misunderstanding, right? No need for all this…?" Maybe if three people are saying it, it will get through to her. He's trying to keep his voice sounding calm here, hands held out in a passive gesture of peace, even as he attempts to get closer to her.

Megan's expression darkens, stormy… but… the sand settles back down and the girl clenches and unclenches her fists. Her eyes remain lit up, seemingly illuminated from within. She shakes her head and points a finger at Jerry. "You and me, sugar? We need to have a discussion…" She turns to look at Adrian, eyes narrowing further, "You keep your hands to yourself leech boy." She tosses her hair back, flicking it over one shoulder and starts to stalk off. The drink Jerry got for her is tossed in the sand and promptly swallowed by a gaping mouth that rises up and pulls it under. She sneers at Amy as she passes the other girl— not so sweet now as she was before —and sniffs. "This ain't over, kooky… not for you or for Sasha… or any o' you." And unless someone stops her, she's going to take off running. Once she's far enough away the 'sand swallowed' drink cup will ripple and reappear where it was.

The Steranko Institute: Adrian awards Amy a hero point.

And then Megan starts _monologung_, moving herself into Amy's line of sight, leaving Jerry in the clear. Amy doesn't even bother replying, just flexes her left hand at the girl. What happens next is kind of like what the Emperor did to Luke at the end of Return of the Jedi, with the addition of the deafening _CRACK_ of thunder as Amy's lightening like bolt seeks its target.

Well, Megan was going to leave… she had every intention of running off to deal with this another day… to go hide in her dorm room and console herself with large amounts of icecream and plot revenge… but NOOOO… Amy had to try to fry her. Megan lets out a pained yelp as the lightning strikes her, but the girl squares her shoulders and rides out the pain. Her clothing smoulders, little tendrils of smoke rising even as she twitches once, then doesn't react further to the electricity. She bristles, turning around like she's considering coming back for a throw-down.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Amy calls, dancing around a little and flailing her hand about, little tendrils of steam extending from her now blistered fingers. Her voice too loud from being _deafened_ by thunder. She doesn't even notice that Megan is still standing for a few moments too busy trying to put out the fire.

"HOLD IT!" Jerry yells, and forms a wall of purple energy between Megan and Amy. It's flickering and unstable, but holding. "Holy shit, just everyone calm down," he growls. "Both of you, neutral corners. I think we all just need to .. back off," he says, voice easing down. "Party's over, guys, gals. Beer's going home with me." He cuts eyes, looks around, meeting eyes. "Everyone just .. go home."

Electricity starts flying when the blonde was going to walk off and then things look like they're going to escalate rapidly. Adrian looks at Samantha and then hastily steps forward and grabs Amy's wrist, it's just a quick grab, but when his skin touches hers the electricity controller would feel sort of an odd twist in the pit of her stomach. It's almost like having an uncomfortable case of the butterflies, only… not… and then her ability to access her powers would be gone. And about this time, Jerry is putting on an impressive show of intimidation. Adrian hessitates for a moment, but takes the distraction to move quickly around the energy field to touch Megan's wrist too. He isn't sure this will work with two at the same time, and he knows trying this is probably going to tax him either way. Better safe than sorry and she did say she lives in Jerry's dorm. So, at least for a little while Jerry will be safe from her powers… "You heard him… party's over!" And now there's no powers to go flinging around either. Well, expect his own. And Jerry's. And Sam's… but… anyway… Adrian releases Megan and steps back, wavering just a little on his feet and wincing at the throb of a headache.

Megan jerks her wrist back away from Adrian and shrinks backwards away from Jerry. Her eyes lose that eerie blue glow, it vanished the moment the Sophomore Nullifier touched her. In fact that 'warrior girl' outfit she had on vanishes as well, leaving her in a pair of jean shorts and a baggy t-shirt. Megan lifts her hand as if to try and do something, looks down at her clothes, and shakes her head. Blue eyes look somewhat fearfully, and accusingly at Jerry, then angrily at Adrian and Amy, a tear actually leaks down her cheek before she turns to race off into the night. Samantha is the only one spared from the parting tearful glare she casts back over her shoulder.

Amy has learned the hard way not to let an enemy go without settling matters, so she tries, and tries _HARD_ to send a second volley of voltage towards the retreating girl. Only, as she does, a swirling, dizzying feeling comes over her as she feels her body disconnected from whatever bizzaro neruon that makes her capable of doing any of this to start with.. Staggering a little, Amy looks down at Adrian's hand, then up to the boy's eyes, fire and a sort of understanding in her gaze. Megan will keep.

Amy burps up hot dog…"Ugh.."

Now, Jerry is a lot of things and he's never shown the slightest hesitation to throw himself into a fight, but one thing he cannot stand is a person's tears. He rubs his temples and looks to the others, especially Amy. "OK, is.. everyone OK? Do.. any of you need a ride back to school? I need.. need to go talk to her.. tomorrow. Holy the crap, what is going on?" he says, as he dissipates the force wall between Megan and Amy, and drops to the sand. "Good going, Adrian," he says as well.

Samantha hadn't realized she was holding her breath until she lets it out with a relieved sigh. "Whew. Yeah, let's pack up and go home," she says, already starting toward gathering things up. Easier not to show the lingering effects of her fright at what just happened if she busies herself.

"Eh….yeah….I think so." Amy replies, pulling her wrist out of Adrian's grasp. looking down at it in amazement. "How'd you do that?" she asks, flexing her fingers in an obvious attempt to send another bolt out and gulping at the sudden wave of nausea. "Shit…..What the hell?" she says, shaking her head. "I'm sorry everybody." she adds, staring down at her bare feet shame-faced. "I thought she was trying to kill Jerry." she adds, looking up with defiance in her eyes. "I mean..what the hell?"

Adrian lifts a hand to his temple, rubbing at it. "…I'm fine… I think." He looks exhausted. And a little pale. But this is only the second time he's used his powers on purpose and to take away the powers of more than one subject at a time, so that's probably to be expected. At least he ate before this battle? There are bright sides! He looks in the direction that Megan ran off, at the speed she was going she's logn gone and probably has no interest in anyone talking to her.

"Thanks," Adrian says to Jerry, then looks at Amy, "Sorry about that, but… those weren't the kinda fourth of July fireworks we needed." He pinches the bridge of his nose. "Seemed that way to me too, but I think she needs help. That was… maybe we should say something to the school shrink about her?" You know, instead of frying her. He lifts his eyes to look at Amy, "That's my power. I, uh, turn off the powers of others." A look to Jerry, "Dude, don't talk to her on your own… have someone with you? Or at least tell me when you're planning on doing it so I can try to make her not so dangerous? Sam… you okay?"

Jerry blows out a breath. "Fuck if I know," he says quietly. "It's cool. Thank you, by the way," he says to Amy, as he picks up various things and helps clean the beach up from their party. He looks to Adrian. "I might just take you up on that. Honestly? I was thinking of talking to the counselor." Jerry? Involving a teacher? Damn, he must think this is serious.

Samantha turns and looks to Adrian, and nods, twice, slowly. "Yeah. What about you, though? You look kinda wiped."

"Very," Adrian admits, "Jer… how bout a ride back to campus?" He nods to the girls, "G'night."

"Night Adrian. Nice to meet you." Amy smiles, moving to collect her backpack. "Okay, let's get outta here."
