[OPEN] I don't need to fight to prove I'm right

[atmyage]

Who: Delinquent!Ema Skye and YOU
What: An AU Ema appears! One where Ema was convicted for Neal Marshall's murder and has been in jail for two years. What could go wrong?
Where: Out on the grounds
When: June 13th on
Warnings: Underage smoking?

A girl you might know is leaning against a tree outside. She looks a bit different from how she usually does, however. Perhaps it's a new haircut?

Or maybe it's that she's smoking a cigarette, wearing an orange prison uniform, and missing her signature pink-lens glasses.

It's been awhile since she's been able to lean against a real, honest-to-God tree. She blows the smoke out idly.

"Isn't it a little too early for the annual juvie field trip?"

She doesn't direct the inquiry at anyone in particular. In fact, she almost seems to be talking to herself. She busies herself with stamping out her spent cigarette and lighting another one.

"This place is kinda boring."

Comments

[punchtheflute]

Everything was kind of weird, lately. Strange people showing up. Strange stuff down in the bunkers. Strange purple-ness in the sky. At least some things were always the same, though. The food here was always good. The naps he could take here were always restful. And his friends? They were always his friends, no matter what!

So, when he saw Ema standing around outside, he thought he'd go and join her. She was one of his newer friends, but he thought she was really great!

...right now she didn't smell so great, though!

"Hi, Ema! I like your orange suit. When did you start smoking, though?" he asked, pulling a little face. "Wouldn't you rather have an apple?"

He had a spare one in his pocket which he offered her.

[atmyage]

She looks at the apple. She raises an eyebrow.

She blows smoke in his face.

"Who are you supposed to be, my mom? Yeah right." (Because her mom is dead, geddit?)

She doesn't move from the tree, instead affecting a very bored expression.

"Beat it, kid." Even if Sonny is clearly older than her.

[punchtheflute]

"Huh. No! I'm not your Mom." Sonny replied, coughing a little and stepping to the side. Wow! Rude. "I just thought you might want a snack."

Was this like what had happened with Kiyotaka and Hajime? Was she here from a different time?

"I guess you don't recognize me? Sonny Moe from Science Club?"

[atmyage]

"Science Club? What kind of nerd thing is that?"

She drops the cigarette and grounds it out with her heel. "Who cares about science? How lame. Is that what you do for fun around here?"

This place just got way more boring.

[punchtheflute]

"Hmmm. Sometimes?" He replied honestly. "Actually, it's what you do for fun around here. It's your club. You came up with it. We made a potato clock!"

Though, if this really wasn't the Ema he was used to and she really didn't remember him, telling her that was probably just going to invite more meanness.

"Do you even remember coming to this school? Smash Academy? Uh, let me think... Oh! Your friend Mr. Phoenix Wright was teaching here when you arrived! Remember that?"

[atmyage]

"School?" she repeats, looking a little surprised but mostly disgusted. "I haven't gone to a normal school in two years."

But Mr. Phoenix Wright... That name sounds familiar. She wracks her brain and, oh right, she remembers him. He came to talk to her about her sister yesterday. Not that she'd felt like listening to anything about her at the time.

"I don't remember any of that. What are you talking about?"

[punchtheflute]

"OOooo-kay." Sonny replied, nodding. Definitely something strange going on with the timeline, then.

"Probably, you won't believe me." she said, shrugging. "But this school is somewhere you've been going for months, now. At least, the you that I know. Um. Sometimes? Weird stuff happens with time here. People have been showing up from different times lately. Probably because of the purple stuff in the sky."

He pointed to the sky where a vivid purple tear had opened, was writhing and was slowly closing.

"Your name is Ema Skye and we're friends, normally. You love science! We were going to take Martial Arts together next semester, too."

[atmyage]

She raises an eyebrow. "Are you crazy? This isn't a sci-fi movie. Stuff like that doesn't happen in the real world."

Even if the sky being purple is pretty weird. She looks up at it impatiently for a moment before looking back at him.

"I hate science, and I already know how to fight. You could have watched the news two years ago to learn my name. Learn how to lie better."

[punchtheflute]

"Hehe, I knew you wouldn't believe me! But, it's OK. You'll catch up. Everyone does eventually."

That was a universal truth when it came to this place. Everyone eventually realized how this place was and how little they could do to change or deny it.

"I can't picture you hating science, though! That's so strange! You even wore a kind of lab coat looking dress to prom! I don't really watch TV news. Too depressing."

He paused for a second.

"...in your real world, have you ever seen a guy turn into a kind of giant bear?"

[atmyage]

She raises her eyebrow at him but says nothing while he rambles on about coming to accept the school, and about her liking science. Prom? She's never been to one.

"A giant bear? Of course not. That's not possible."

Even if she hates science, she knows better than to think that could ever happen.

1/2

[punchtheflute]

"Not possible? You're going to be surprised..."

[punchtheflute]

FLOOMPF!

"Laaax!"

He leaned down a little and waved at her. Man, was she going to be surprised or what!?

[atmyage]

More like terrified.

With a scream, she draws herself back far enough to have some room...

then screams, "HI-YAA!" and gives a roundhouse kick to his stomach.

[punchtheflute]

...which wobbles like jelly back and forth for a second.

Sorry, Ema. It wasn't very effective. (Don't feel bad. He's just used to being wailed on my other Monsters.)

"La-la-lax!" Sonny chuckled, showing off those large, lower tusks without even meaning to. He held up his paws, palm out, to try and convince her that he did indeed come in peace.

[atmyage]

IT DIDN'T WORK! And hurt her foot a little.

She stumbles back a few feet, looking stunned.

"What the hell are you!?"

[punchtheflute]

FWOOMP he changed back in a flash!

"I'm a Snorlax! That's a kind of Pokémon. You don't know about those yet, but if you stay here for long, you'll learn! There's lots of us around!" He grinned again. "But don't be worried or scared, OK? I'm nice! I promise! I just wanted to show you that you're somewhere pretty different than where you seem to THINK you are."

[atmyage]

"There's more of you!?"

She takes another shaky step back.

"What are they thinking, sending us to a place full of monsters?" Another step. "This is crazy."

She locks eyes with Sonny. "St-stay back! I'm in for murder, you know? I killed a guy! And I'll get you too if you don't leave me alone!"

[punchtheflute]

"Really!? You!? Murdered a person!?"

WOOOOOOOW! This was DEFINITELY a different Ema to the one he knew!

"That's crazy! You're so different to my friend, you know? I don't think the Ema I know could kill anyone. She was even worried when I told her I was going to take the armed weaponry class!"

[atmyage]

"Armed weaponry class?"

That makes her stop. She looks suddenly interested, ignoring the comment about never killing a person.

"They have one of those here?"

[punchtheflute]

"Yeah! Armed weaponry is for like, guns and stuff. And then there's fencing, martial arts, smash fundamentals, physics, biomechanical engineering, home economics, autoshop. Lots of different classes!"

He blinked at her, wondering how it was possible someone who seemed so different could still be Ema. His impulse was to try and be her friend, even now. But there was a little bit of him that was worried - what if she really HAD killed a person? Would she try and kill someone else here at the school?

[atmyage]

"Hmmm... well, maybe this place isn't so bad after all."

She smiles, patting around for another cigarette. "Where do I sign up?"

If she could learn how to properly shoot a gun, her reputation would shoot way up.

[punchtheflute]

"I'll take you to the administration block and we can enroll you in some classes, OK?"

He started walking there, though, not too quickly. If she was going to smoke again, probably it was best if she finished before they got to the front desk. He didn't want there to be any trouble regarding smoking inside.

"...so. You, um. Did you really kill a person? It would be a Human, right? Because your world doesn't have other kinds of people, I don't think?"

He remembered she'd known Phoenix - Voile's trainer. He and Voile had talked about visiting there, and how to hide that they weren't exactly Homo Sapiens.

[atmyage]

She does start smoking again, looking around her through the haze of smoke.

"Yeah. Stabbed a guy right through the chest."

It's not even close to what happened, but she plays the story up. "Stabbed a guy" earns more cool points than "knocked a guy into a suit of armor."

"We only have humans, and animals that don't talk." And she likes it better that way, thank you.

[punchtheflute]

"Yeesh." he said, shrugging and shuddering a little. Stabbed a guy right through the chest!? That was crazy! Maybe he shouldn't try to befriend this Ema after all...

"Well, just don't try to do anything like that here. It's a fighting school, so, if you pick the wrong person you could get seriously hurt."

[deathboss]

He walks around first as if nothing is wrong, only to stop, walk backwards and take a good, hard look at her, his right eye twitching.

"Since when have you started to smoke?"

[atmyage]

She looks unfazed.

"Since about none-of-your-business o'clock."

She blows out a smoke ring.

"Are the boys on this field trip too or something?" Weird.

[deathboss]

"EXCUSE ME?" He points to the piece of cloth band around his elbow....no, not the Gaschamber one, the one right under that. Do you see that? SMASH ACADEMY HALL MONITOR.

"You hand me that cigarette and whatever packs you're holding, or else I'll take you straight to detention!"

He had no mercy for smokers.

[atmyage]

She looks at the badge.

She looks at her cigarette.

She looks at Eikichi.

She blows smoke in his face.

1/2

[deathboss]

He looks at his badge.

He looks at her cigarette.

He looks at Ema.

He gets smoke blown in his face.

He then coughs violently. Eww, eww that smoke's gonna linger for days.

[deathboss]

This time he walks right up to her, his frame towering over hers, face a little darker somehow than before (despite the fact that he has 500cm of makeup on him.). The glare that drove many boy delinquents running away at the very sight of him, there's almost a visible aura behind him. Was his right eyebrow twitching?

"Give it up. Before I make you."

[atmyage]

Is that supposed to be intimidating? Ema stops leaning on the tree and leans forward on the balls of her heels. She's considerably shorter than him, being only just over five feet tall, but she glares up into his face without flinching.

She's embraced her status as official criminal since being convicted of murder, it would seem.

"I'd like to see you try it, fancy-pants."

[deathboss]

"This isn't like you," he replied back, ignoring the comment about how fancy his pants were. It was rather strange how the aura was now visible to the eye. It almost looked like electrical energy was coming off of him, as the wind picked up, foretelling of an upcoming storm.

"You're a good friend Ema, don't make me do this."

[atmyage]

She narrows her eyes. "How do you punks all know my name? What's going on around here?"

She knows who her friends are, and this guy isn't one of them. Even if he reminds her of some of her friends.

The aura is something she's never seen before, but she's not concerned about it. He can't do anything to her she hasn't already seen, after all. Or at least she's pretty sure he can't.

1/3

[deathboss]

Wait.

She's not lying. Eikichi had a gift to be able when someone lied, and nothing about what was said seemed to contradict her body language.

She has no idea who he is.

[deathboss]

DAMN was he that FORGETTABLE?!

[deathboss]

No. That made absolutely no sense. They had fun together, talked about horoscopes, dabbled in silly SCIENCE things. He remembered how rumors had once affected his city, turned a lady he knew since a child into a spy, but this was far different. It was like seeing Ema's entire life rerouted into something else and she was completely unaware of it, a dark parody of everything she would never stand fore.

It broke his heart.

"T-tell me then," he began visibly flinching. "Since when have you been attending Smash Academy?"

poor Eikichi

[atmyage]

She raises an eyebrow.

"Smash Academy? Attending? What are you talking about?"

She finally does discard the cigarette, grounding it out under her heel dispassionately.

"I'm in prison until I get let out on parole for good behavior. I don't attend any academy."

You're breaking his heart Ema

[deathboss]

No lies there either...but that made no sense.

"D-does this place look like a prison to you?"

[atmyage]

"This place? Nah. That's what's so confusing."

She turns away from him, pressing a finger to her cheek in the same thinking pose she always used, even if she looked so different otherwise.

"How did I get here? I'm supposed to be helping with dinner right now."

[deathboss]

"Dinner?" It was nearly noon! WOW THIS MYSTERY WAS EVEN MORE - okay no he was already worried without the time issues. He frowns, looking at her seriously.

"What are your last memories before showing up here?"

[atmyage]

She turns back to him suddenly, brow furrowed.

"I already told you, I was about to go make dinner! I'm from a juvenile prison and it's my night on kitchen duty."

What are you going to do about it, punk? She looks away from him so she can search her pockets for another smoke.

"This is going to hurt my chances at parole, I bet. Thanks a lot."