First Aid is so Dope

[gentlesaint]

Who: Rhys, students, and onlookers if applicable
What: Class! ...with an unfortunate twist.
Where Health classroom
When Thursday, May 2nd
Ratings: A teacher under the influence.

The last half of the school year was a turbulent one for Rhys's attendance. Ever since January, he'd either be listless, in mortifying pain that prompted him to dismiss class early, absent altogether (which happened for a good chunk of February), or, especially lately, subject to serious mood swings or odd, almost frantic behavior. It was like he was trying to hide something or had somewhere he needed to be, and pronto. This was a sharp contrast to his usual placidly cheerful personality, which was much more patient and dedicated to his job than this version of Rhys, which just kept getting progressively worse every week. Sometimes, he wouldn't show up at all at the scheduled time.

This week, it finally culminated into something horrendous.

Before class, he scrambled through a last-minute rush to assemble his review unit. He'd indulged in another one of those insidious black pops, the kind that was rapidly starting to engulf his life. During his high, he had an epiphany that he needed to compile his unit plans before class started, which he'd neglected to do earlier during his agonizing low period. Riding on this burst of energy and good feeling, he worked on his presentation without delay, but through some wicked stoner goggles.

All this hard work in such a small time frame perhaps explained why he hobbled into class five minutes late. He made his way over to the front of the class on unsteady feet. There was an unnatural sereneness about him, like he'd stepped out from a meditative trance with Nirvana.

“My... You sure are a lively crowd today, aren't you?” he marveled, despite observational evidence to the contrary. “That's good. But you need to settle down maybe. I'm gonna show you a video... a presentation. I made it myself. I really felt like I was one with the computer today, you know. A connection, and I'm not talking the internet kind!”

Without fail, someone groaned.

Rhys, however, laughed at his clever remark, then proceeded to fiddle with the projector. He damn near broke the thing.

((OOC: I will slowly be updating the threads with more of Rhys's "special" presentation slides! So if it looks unfinished, it is because I am going to trickle them in installment by installment. Feel free to respond to them!))

Comments

[forgetbeam]

In this already unpredictable situation, Kiyotaka was not expecting a second gun to appear. He raises a hand in a panicked protest, but it's too late - the shot's been fired, Minako's brain matter is already spra... wait... that isn't the contents of her head floating up. It's more like a whole other person.

He's seen a Persona before, back when Eikichi was in the school, but he doesn't make the connection because a) that one looked completely different and b) nobody got shot in the head.

Either way, he looks significantly more horrified than Makoto. And is completely and utterly speechless.

[cruelcurse]

Henry could only stare in wonder, with a big smile plastered on his features. It was too bad that there wasn't any blood, though... That would have made this scene a lot better, in his mind.

"Ahaha, pretty neat~ Soooo, now what happens?" he asked, looking back at the health teacher. "Does she die, and he comes back? Talk about a selfless sacrifice~"

[will_be_god]

With all the fuss with the gun-that-wasn't-a-gun, Cyrus had difficulty getting to Rhys. "Inform me of his condition," he told Dachora, failing to address the student by name because he didn't know it. "If he is unresponsive, I will take over."

[dachopunk]

Dachora watched with detached interest as Rhys' body was carried safely off the cold, hard ground. She didn't understand the magic happening in front of her, but magic wasn't really her niche anyhow-- if it couldn't be explained with gears and algorithms, she was at a loss. She remained on her knees, but looked over her shoulder towards Cyrus.

"His heart is beating. It is just very slow."

[gentlesaint]

Life energy shot through the wane priest, and it was only a matter of seconds before consciousness did too. His surroundings clouded in, hazy at first, the sounds of voices saying incomprehensible things that slowly strung together to make sense in chunked phrases, buzzed about. Then, light filtered through his vision as he slowly peeled his eyelids open.

He looked around in a daze, slow to process. Why, it hadn't felt like he'd fainted at all, and he couldn't even register this beyond the fact that everyone seemed like they existed in some kind of gray blotchy filter that kept fading in and out as he adjusted to the light.

"Mmmn... N-no... I don't... want to go to bed..."

The drugs still messed with his brain and caused him to slightly misinterpret what was going on, as did the lightheaded fuzz brought on by recovering from fainting.

"I'm not sick... really I'm... not..."

[cruelcurse]

"If I've ever seen sick, it's prooobably you," said Henry, and he tacked on an airy giggle. "Hmm, let's get you back up, huh? Or at least sitting, maybe, since I can't lift you and you probably don't wanna fall over again."

Henry scooted closer to Rhys and tried to lift him by his shoulder to help him sit up, and he crawled to Rhys's side and kept his arm wrapped around his back.

[xxii]

See, guys? The teacher was fine and so was she! Jeez...

However, the question still remained whether or not she ought to try and fix him up further now that he was awake; she assumed it was within her capabilities. Looking up at Shinjiro, she glances back at the teacher and then back to her senpai, expression questioning and obvious enough to read. As for Makoto, she gets a smile and a slightly sheepish look at her question. "I don't think it's something teachable, sadly..."

[will_be_god]

Cyrus disregarded the students--including the one who, for all intents, had just shot herself and remained unharmed, there would be plenty of time to investigate that later--in favor of trying to steady Rhys. "Foolish..." he muttered, lightly slapping the groggy man's face. "Rhys! You need to be hospitalized. If you will, I will take you there."

[gentlesaint]

"Whu-" he burbled in response to the sudden contact with his face. Oh, he recognized that voice and face. And it wasn't a bird, that's for sure. Unfortunately, that voice said one word that he felt reluctant about. Struggling uselessly like a fish on a line, he protested.

"N-no! I changed my mind, wanna go to bed instead..."

[cruelcurse]

"But it's the middle of the day," Henry reminded him, reaching for one of Rhys's arms to put it over his own shoulder like they were tight-knit buddies. "You were teaching just a bit ago, and now you wanna go back to bed? There's plenty of fun stuff to do, though~"

Henry didn't notice that Rhys was still totally high, nor did he understand why Rhys was so afraid of being 'hospitalized', whatever that meant.

[busstopsign]

Definitely drugs. Cyrus guy had a good idea, now that he wasn't in a state of shock, it would be easier to take him to a hospital. But Minako seemed to propose a different solution.

"Think you can cure it?" he asked her, when their gaze met. While he knew she had spells at her disposal able to cure all sorts of strange effects they had caught during their fight in the tower, could it also purge a system of the ill effects of a drug? After all, he had taken his own, and nothing there had changed...although the effects had been related to a persona.

...well, it was worth a try anyway.

This time he handed her the gun, pretty sure it wouldn't be forced away from her. Besides, if they did, he'd be right there to stop them anyway.

[xxii]

"Possibly? We won't know until we try, at least."

Minako smiles up at him a little as she accepts the Evoker, taking a deep breath before she brought it up to her temple again. She had a certain Persona in mind for this one; if anyone had the abilities strong enough to take care of this, it was Messiah.

"Persona."

A crack of blue light emerges from the opposite side of her temple, almost as though it was a blood splatter made out of energy, and her Persona emerges forth above her much like the last one did. Minako spread out her hands and casts Salvation, a spell the entire room would be able to feel. Not only would any status effects anyone was suffering from be cured, but the health of everyone in the room would be bumped up to maximum as well. Hopefully being high to a sickly degree counted as a status effect...?

[gentlesaint]

It counted enough! Much like the surge of life force that permeated his body, wellness and a clearer mind coursed through him, snapping his groggy focus to a state more unimpeded by hallucinogenic noise, very much like a lost and faded ghost reattaching to where it belonged. For a time, he regained stasis. With new eyes he searched the room, Henry, Cyrus, the rest of his students, the supernatural figure standing tall before him, and felt a sense of bewilderment seep in.

"I feel... I feel so restored all of a sudden." Minako earned the most of his attention as he recounted what he was able to apprehend. It hit him, what must be happening, and if that weird slide he barely remembered constructing was any indication... oh no, what a humiliating mess he needed to sort out. He stopped relying so much on the help of others to stay upright and pulled out of his saggy position. "Did you do that?" he asked her in wonder.