#lhevent

"Heeeey, I found you!” Steph said walking to the person with a grin on her face, tapping her drink with the other and spilling it. “Oops, sorry!”

Lizzy had been up since 5 in the morning, helping set up the cookout and coordinating exactly how and when the fireworks will go off and trying to get a last minute firework permit because Kirk fucking forgot even though Lizzy told him to get one 12 times. She was running only on coffee and energy drinks and desperately wanted to sleep. Unfortunately, she was stuck at the front of her parent's booth in a festive costume waving an American flag. “Welcome! Please try our burgers that were blessed by Father Tim himself. There’s nothing more American than Jesus and hamburgers.”

     ”I’ve called you all here today shockingly not because of the incident with the dragon and the paintball guns last week, though there will still be severe repercussions if I see any of the responsible step even a toeout of line — ” His gaze lingers specifically on Quinn before he moves on, ” — but because we’ve got something a lot more serious than that on our hands.” Headmaster Moore rubs said hands together gravely as he paces away from the podium, and then back again a few seconds later. He doesn’t precisely look nervous — you don’t think he has the emotional capacity to look anything aside from absolutely serious at all times — but his movements do seem a bit…unsettled.

     ”We are about to be invaded, to put it in simple terms. Our head of security, Miss Knight, was doing patrols two evenings ago and she happened upon something that did not fare well for us, or the city of New York. I’m sure you’ve all heard of Pandemonium.” It’s obvious by the way he says it that he isn’t speaking of some chic nightclub in the heart of Manhattan, or even the literal representation of the word; no, it’s a lot worse than that. Your caregiver used to tell you the stories when you were a kid, after all — about a hero gone rogue; someone who once stood for the good, but ended up, somehow, falling into the bad. Some say he lost his mind because of how horrible his power was, inducing extreme fear and panic in the hearts of his foes, sometimes to the point of death, and others say he never had it. You, for one, aren’t sure…it was fifty years before your time, after all.

     ”In the event that you haven’t, I will tell you now that even the necessity of mentioning his name is not taken lightly. History tells us that he was overthrown by one of our own, an inter-dimensional traveler — a portal jumper — and shoved into an alternate reality where he would have no means of returning. History was wrong. While he did get pushed through into a separate version of what we are, that did not mean that he would not find a way of coming back.”

    “And he has.”

     There’s a stir in the crowd, like the students have suddenly become uneasy, and the buzz of whispers filling the air as they express their surprise to their friends. You keep quiet, though, your eyes focused steadily ahead — on Headmaster Moore, and the way his expression changes for once. It makes a cold pit form in the bottom of your stomach, and a chill run up your spine —

     Headmaster Moore looks scared. 

     ”Pandemonium alone is enough cause for alarm, though he could be stopped once again by our graduates — your families, your friends, the people that came before you… The only issue being that he isn’t alone. He has an army.”

     ”The Jelly People,” he pauses for a tick or two, letting the gasps of shock fill the air, and then fade again. You thought that the crazy girl, Charlotte, had just been rambling on about nonsense when she talked about The Jelly People — they’re real? “are a foe best not to be reckoned with. They hold abilities akin to that of their creator, plucking your deepest fear from your mind and then making you believe you are immersed in that fear, or alternatively, faced with it. They are shapeshifters and illusionists, you see, but they are not bound by any of the laws of our own reality — the only way to tell if your friend is really your friend is to see the hue of their eyes. If they glow violet, then you know you’re in trouble.” Headmaster Moore reaches for his glass of water, takes a sip, and then clears his throat loudly.

    “I am not telling you all this to scare you — I am telling you to prepare you for what is to come. They are vast, they are powerful, and they are going to be upon us within days. Our scientists have already found the beginnings of portal activity on the eastern outskirts of the city, and they highly suspect that that’s where they are going to pour through from. There have been scouts that have slipped past our lines already, and we realize that in the lull of our virtual peace, we’ve become slack. We aren’t going to let it happen again.”

     ”Training hours are going to be redoubled, and you will all be meeting with our costume specialist tomorrow to be fitted. We’re going to need every able-bodied hero that we can find, regardless of their status…”

     ”Welcome to your initiation, students — and to war.” 

     There’s suddenly a stirring in the crowd, and someone a few seats down from you on your right has stood up. You recognize him — Jasper Knight, you think his name is. You tend to stay away from people that make you want to piss your pants, though, so you aren’t exactly chummy. The expression on his features is even more unreadable than the Headmaster’s.

     ”What about Evelyn Knight? What happened to her?” 

     Knight. Oh, yeah! The head of security is his aunt, isn’t she? Huh, well, that explains it, then — she’s always scared the shit out of you, too. Makes her really good for the intimidation factor of the job, that’s for sure. 

     You watch as Headmaster Moore makes eye contact with Jasper, before quickly looking down. He doesn’t respond to him, but rather turns away, stopping a few steps shy of walking down off of the stage, and turning his head slightly. How melodramatic of him.

     ”I expect to see you all in the training rooms within the hour. Fight hard, and good luck.”