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Zion pulled out and looked at Kidd who was in the passanger seat then back at the road. "Yeah I hate being scolded by someone who's basically my age. As for the Gut Bomb it's about three blocks away from the highschool." She laughed when Kidd refered to Tara as 'bitchy'. "I don't know. She probably hates to think that I might have befriended mutants from Xavier's place and that you guys aren't 'spies'. Spies..." She snickered and turned the corner.

It was about ten minutes later Zion had parked her car in the parking lot of the burger place and they went in...

Raising an eyebrow she shook her head at the cashier and the cashier gave Darius his money back. "Don't worry about it..I got it." She said and nodded for the two to go have a seat.

This was the one power she could use out in the open and she did it often whilst at resturants and stores. As she talked to the female cashier the girls eyes rolled up in the back of her head for a moment then returned to normal. "Thank you ma'am and have a nice day." She said taking money out of her own pocket and putting it in the register. "No no..thank you." Zion smirked and sat with the other two.

Kidd grabbed her food as well and sat with Zion and Darius. she sank her teeth into the warm meet and let it warm her cold moth. Kidd somtimes felt like a snake or somthing. she was coldblodded thanks to her ice powers, she could function like everone eles, but even this small piece of meat could heat up her entire mouth." mmm, good." she said after swallowing. " Not, about us being spies. Thats just silly. i've been there for less than a month. i just got my room, wich i probably won't get the depossit back on." she took a sip of her coke, " and what secrets would i seen in the moments that we were there that'd have any us to anyone? It's just silly." Kidd took another bite and felt it warm all the way to her stomach. "hey Zion....do you do that... you know, what you did with the teller.. oftain?"

Sitting at a corner table nearest a window in the resturant sat the lonesome figure of the blonde haired Valerie Bell her deep blue eyes stared into a small book written in Japanese text which was held in her seemingly faultless grasp. Every now and again the teen would reach out to take a bite from her burger. Valerie didnt often eat burgers as she was too fond of her homeland food, Sushi and Ramen noodles but she had gotten a taste for the meat patties when she had arrived in Bayville.

Looking up from the book she watched the other customers with dulled eyes, 'Elemental' didnt normally pay attention to other people but she senced there was something different about them. Turning her attention away from the teens she looked at her empty glass on the table and sighed impatiently

"such poor service...and I asked for a refill!"

She muttered pointing her index finger into the glass, a smirk on her tanned face. Water started seeping slowly at first from the tip of her blue nailed finger until eventually it filled the glass. Looking into the glass with a pleased expression on her face Valerie took a quick swig.

"Now why cant service be like that!"

Kidd held her hand ove her glass and two ice cubs ploped into the lewk warm soda. she smirked, "ya mutant powers can be handy." she took a sip, "Anyway, i say we sleep out tonight, your house as a banshee in it and ours might have police. she the great out door look just super to me, don't you think?". Kidd munched alittle more on her food, he head getting a little dizzy but she just shook it off.

Tara had to had been going 60 mph the whole way to the dojo, because that's the only way she could think of herself getting there with 5 mintues to spare.

She was inside in a flash, and changed into her uniform in a flash. She walked into the dojo main room, remebering to bow to the picture of the O Sensei, the originator of Aikido, before removing her sandels and moving across the edge of the mat before adjusting her lower split dress-like part of her uniform and sitting in seiza (sitting on your own legs(very simplified). On the back of her uniform was, as always, the symbol for Dragon, her nickname of sorts within the dojo.

[[
uniform appearance:
http://www.aikidofaq.com/bilder/sensei/ueshiba3_6.jpg
]]

She did so with her fellow students and sensei for at least 5 mintues, clearing her mind, before the sensei comenced the practice. Most other students were simply in gi's, the sterotype martial art unfirom. It was their regular practice uniform, but Tara was required to wear a different outfit for her testing night, as were the 3 others testing for higher rankings.

After a the normal practice hour, Tara and the other 3 students remaind on the mat while the others went to the edge and either sat in seiza or cross legged. The sensei watched as one by one the other students did their trial runin front of the sensei to try and prove that they had the skill to move up. Each one faced two others before they finished the order in acending of what rank they were after.

Tara was last. The first opponent took only a single throw and then joint lock before he smacked the mat to show submitance. The second took a bit more effort. They traded a few failed jabs, locks and throws before Tara was caught offguard and thrown. She easily broke the hold half way threw, as she did many times, letting the opponent gain the advantage only in their mind before she reverse the move, as she did now. The man went sailing to the mat, only a few seconds before Tara came down on himand put him in a hold. She always had to reign in her enhanced strength to normal levels for a girl her age in top physical shape, but that was enoughforher when she could have her opponent in a position where they could bearly breath.

The opponent struggled fora minute before he gave, leaving Tarathe only one who had not lost a match. She sat with the other 3 as the elder sensei confered with two other senseis and then came forward, sitting in seiza as well and reading the judgings. The first student failed, he had lostboth matches. The second passed, the one who had given Tara actual trouble, she felt her deserved 4th dan as well. The third also failed, though the sensei encouraged him totry again.

Then the sensei paused at Tara, he sighed before saying, "Tara Illias, as much as it pains me to, you fail, you are to remain at the rank of godan (5th dan), but remain head sempai (senior student (like a junior or senior at college))." Tara had a look of disbelief on her face as the sensei continued. "That is all for tonight class, I will see you in two daysas per usual, I would like you to stay after though Tara-chan, wehave something to talk about..."

Once the rest ofthe class had left, Tara and the elder sensei were alone and sitting on the mat, across from one another. "Tara-chan," the sensei began, "Do you know why it is you were failed?" "No," Tara said, her head down in respect ofthe sensei.

"You should," the sensei continued, "You have been failing at this for the past 2 years. Tara-chan, you have unbelievable skill, and something tells me you still hold back some of your strength in practice, even when against a skilled opponent. Your technique, skill, sheer natural ability and ingeniuty in Aikido is something I have not seen in a good time. You have skill privy to that of at least a 7th dan, even at your age. I could say that you lack the experience needed to become a 7th dan, which is somewhat true, but you sheer raw overall ability is enough to compensate for the most part."

The sensei sighed again and said, "Tara-chan, it is not your power that has failedyou today, it is your heart, your mind and your soul. While you show power, respect and restriant in the dojo, I sense in you anger, uncontrolled, unchecked anger. I see it when you almostlash out, but reign yourself in through shear will power. You do not have inner piece, inner balance, nor do you really seem to try, or at least, you seem to think it more important to be angry at what you are anrgy at. You are not living the code that you swore to obtain through Aikido."

The sensei looked done for minute before he said, "By the way, an olderman by the name of Eric stopped by this afternoon, asking for a few momentsof my time. He said that he was a relation of yours, though he didnot say which. He said that he did nothave time to meet with you, but that he was checking in on a few things he knew you partook in, to see how you were progressing. I told him what I just told you, that I was going to fail you reguardless of what I saw in your preformance tonight unless I saw in you a changed person, more centered, controlled and calmed. I told him about what troubledme about you. Ihave to say that he had mixed emotions, he asked me to tell you that he is glad that you are still so determined to hold those who wronged you accountable, that is was a rightous anger. But he asked me to warn you to control yourself, that you could not let this anger flow against you comrades. He said that 'if you destroy the world to kill the wicked, what is left for the good?'"

The sensei got up and finished with, "While I am not sure about all this Eric said, I would hope that it brings you back from this edge you are teetering on Tara-chan. He said he will be keeping tabs on you until he can meet you and your friends, and that he hopes for improvement in that time. Goodnight Tara-chan, I trust that you as a Sempai of this dojo that you can clean up and lock up when you leave, you may stay until you finish what you wish to do."

Tara must have sat in the middle of the room for a good 30 minutes, simply staring at the floor. Even Magneto was dissapointed with her agner, even as her skills grew larger? She had always dreamed of being at his side, with the same level or respect and trust that someonelike Mystque had from him. She had always thought that her anger was focused on those humans that so hated her for no other reason than her birth right. Even now she felt it building in her, yet she realized now that it wasn't new, that she was just realizing it.

She had to think now, so she picked herself up, went to the lockers, showered, redressed in street cloths, the long sleeve shirt plastered with the symbol for the band A Perfect Circle and the back covered in the many symbols from the Mer de Normis album. Her pants were once again patched up jeans, though blue this time. She also put her 3 stud earings and dragon skull earing back on. She shut off all the lights and water and set the alarms on the way out.

Once in the car she sat for few minutes before realizing it was getting dark. She drove around for a short while. She was trying to home in on a specific signature of dead matter. You see, justlike all people have a specific dna code, or specific scent; the dead skin, dead hair and other things that flake off a human or mutant in their daily lives, has a specific signature to them that differs from person to person. Tara could sense these signatures when she tried.

AFter about 10 mintues, she found who she was looking for, Zion. She pulled up to the fast food resturant and got out. She went in and right up to Zion and her new friends. "Don't talk, just listen ok?" Tara said before anyone could say anything. "While you and I don't exactly like each other, and I can deal with that believe me, our little shouting match was far beyond what it needed to be. I don't need you to admit anything, as I'm sure you probably won't, once again, I can deal with that. I would like to say though that I know I was out of line. I've just been going through a lot lately, and what might have happened due to you accidentally using your powers for the whole school to see was a the straw that broke my back. I realize that although you did need some form of talking to, most of what I said was pent up anger about other things."

"And you didn't really do anything did you? Sorry for the noise," Tara said towards Kidd, though when she turned to Darius, she said, "While I may have prompted some of your responses, I think you'd best show a bit more cooth, like your friend here. You might want not want to poke the caged tiger got it?"

Tara straitened herself up and said, "Sorry again, just try to remeber I'm a bit of a powder keg." Then with a final shake of her head and grin, Tara added, "And try not to mess with too many minds tonight ok Zion?" With that, Tara turned around and walked out the door.

On her way to her car, in fact, right at the door of her car, a smelly, obviously homeless man nudged her in the arm and held out a can, jestering to the kid clinging to his left leg. Tara looked for minute at the man before the hard look in her eyes faded away and she put a folded up 100 dollar bill in the man's jar.

Just remeber, she thought of something Magneto had said to her once as she drove away. While I do not agree with much of what my old friend Charles says, I do see some what eye to eye with him on this. If you do not treat your fellows with compasion and respect, or even the poor begger. How can we claim to be their better? It is right for us to fight back against those who would strike us down, it is not just our right, but our duty in fact. But if are to just mindlessly hate and kill our own, or those who we could count as our own, how are we different from them Tara? You know I was in the holocaust, the humans ruthlessly massacred their own kind for now real reason. At the same time that we push back our oppressors with a harsh hand, we must greet our fellow mutants with a kind hand, or we just become the next oppessor. If someone treats you as a equal, be inclined to do so back.

((cool) cool )

dairus let he talk he want to keep her calm' i only snaped because she yelled at me' daruis thiough as tara was talking to them "well i know a few good spots that the police would not look" dairus said try to help seeing as he start the fight in way

(( hope it's ok gonna fast forward through the shopping bit...make it a bit faster ))

Zion smiled and nodded for them to follow her. "Lets get the gear and head out to one of Darius's spots." She said and lead them to the car.

They drove out to the mall and picked up the equiptment needed. Each got a sleeping bag of choice, Zions being an Invader Zim sleeping bag seeing as it was her favorite show. Once back in the car she looked at them. "Okay we got the three room tent, sleeping bags, food and drink and some random crap. Darius where's the spot that the cops don't go to at all?"