A/N: I'm SO SORRY I've taken so long to update, but sadly life can be really demanding some times, also dissertations thrive off killing creativity. If anyone has any questions about anything do not hesitate to ask. Otherwise enjoy! :D
Part 2: Detention, Evolution & Paper?
"I'm going to kill him." Skipper growled under his breath as he glared at Julien across the room.
Julien sighed loudly. "How long are we going to be in here?"
"Until detention is over." Kowalski sighed, he didn't enjoy this any more than the others, if only for the reason that Julien kept talking making it impossible to read.
"I still can't believe we're in detention!" Skipper snapped.
"I know!" Julien sighed. "If you had not butted into my Kingly business, I w-"
"You would have destroyed half the school."
Kowalski sighed and closed the book he had been trying and failing to read for the past five minutes, it had been for their science class, given that Dr. Smoke had assigned them to read an entire chapter before their next lesson, sure it wasn't for another two days but Kowalski liked to be prepared.
"So how much longer do we have to suffer this?" Private quietly asked Kowalski in fear of turning their leader's wrath upon them. He was still fairly surprised Skipper had not killed Julien yet, then again both Rico and Maurice were standing between them making sure to keep them away from strangling distance.
"Three hours."
Private groaned loudly, it was one thing being stuck in detention, it was a whole other thing to be stuck in detention with two grown men arguing like children even he was struggling to find something positive about this situation. With a sigh he turned back to his unicorn drawing the paper he was doodling on was covered in unicorns ranging from simple doodles to slightly more detailed sketches, the one currently he was working on being a sketch of a unicorn's head, the drawing taking up most of the paper which all the others filling in the free space.
"Say K'walski how can science explain the existence of a phoenix but not a unicorn." Private asked glancing at the scientist when he sighed deeply.
"They don't exist either."
Private rolled his eyes. "Then what magical creatures do exist?" He questioned his tone serious. He watched as Kowalski thought for a moment, he was honestly surprised that Kowalski was taking so long to reply, he only ever did it when he wasn't sure on the topic in question, it brought a smile to Private's face provided he asked the right questions and said the right things he had a chance to catch Kowalski out. He knew it was irk the older male to no end if he succeeded but Private was bored and he also really wanted Kowalski to admit he was wrong, which he was.
"None." Kowalski replied.
Private tried his hardest not to beam at how hesitant the scientist had sounded. "But how can that be possible? After all nymphs exist, and they're not so different from a phoenix. They can both turn into their respective element." Private couldn't help the grin that spread across his face as he watched Kowalski ponder the information, though he immediately tried to squash it down, he hadn't won just yet, Kowalski could still have a few tricks up his sleeves much like he always did during these discussions.
"Again I refer to evolution. Humans are more evolved than animals, along the way some learned how to change their physical form using the same technique mages, witches and sorcerers use to create 'magic'." He used air quotes on the word magic.
"But that means everyone would be capable of magic?"
"Indeed."
"So why isn't the whole world full of people who can use it?"
"That's like saying why don't all humans look the same. Much in the same way we have racial diversity. The more people used magic the better they controlled it, magic of course can be taught to people who don't currently use it whether or not they are able to perform the tasks depends on their mentality. Take yourself for example, you use magic almost subconsciously that is because for centuries your family have all practiced light manipulation at one point or another, over the years something that would have been very difficult to learn became almost second nature which is why you can manipulate light without any effort."
"But that doesn't explain why everyone can't use magic."
"That's because unlike your ancestry people who don't cast magic means that their ancestors also didn't."
"But you said it's possible for people to learn? You also mentioned that only some who are taught can perform it, what does that mean?"
"You can teach anyone that about magic, however actually being able to perform it especially by someone whose ancestry does not consist of magic users would mean that they have a very strong mentality, they are able to use the part of their mind that allows us to perform magic. These people may have had some ancestors perform magic for a time but if they did not teach it to their children eventually it would be forgotten, there is also the case of where someone can cast magic because someone in their recent family history would have had a child with someone who can use magic, this allows their descendants to perform it when they learn it."
Private mentally pouted he knew Kowalski would do this, all this talk of history was making his head spin, still he was determined, plus it was also helping pass the time. "What about shapeshifters? How do you explain them?"
Kowalski chuckled. "Exactly the same, only think about people learning to change their body instead of learning how to manipulate what's around them. Nymphs learned to manipulate their body into a different matter like fire, yet they also learned how to manipulate the space around them to create fire. Shapeshifters simply focused on learning how to manipulate their bodies in order to become an animal. Witches and sorcerers are like nymphs only they didn't limit themselves in learning what to manipulate."
"What about werewolves? They are people who are cursed are they not? And vampires? They don't have a heartbeat, how can they be alive?"
"Curses are the effect of those who learned to manipulate others. The origins would include someone casting a spell that would force the victim to undergo changes, sometimes permanent as is the case of vampirism and lycanthropy. For vampires their curse forces them to drink blood in order to remain alive drinking blood is the vampire equivalent to a heartbeat. Vampires can turn others into vampires though blood contamination which is where the curse originates. Werewolves are people who are forced to subconsciously manipulate their body into that of a large wolf during every full moon. That is why it's so painful, the victim has likely never tried to use their mind in such a way and then being forced to do so, so suddenly is likely to be painful, this is proven by the fact that older werewolves do not experience pain during the change, some can even change at will yet they will always transform on a full moon as the curse demands, it is also proven by werewolves who have mixed heritage they do not experience the pain and are more likely to learn to transform at will. Unlike vampires, werewolves transmit their curse though bite, normally in wolf form though it is possible to do so while human."
"But if the curses are via bite then how come werewolf offspring have been known to be a werewolf also? The same with vampires?"
"Genetics. The original curse would have been combined with the victim's genes meaning that their offspring would also fall victim. They too can spread it via bite as a werewolf or if a vampire through blood contamination."
Private groaned mentally cursing himself for even trying to argue with Kowalski in the first place all he had succeeded in doing was giving himself a headache. Still he wasn't about to quit, there was still about three hours or so left to detention he needed something to, even if it meant listening to Kowalski rant for hours. He supposed it wouldn't be a total loss, if the scientist got to boring he would fall asleep of course Kowalski wouldn't be happy but then if he really did start ranting he could last for hours before realising he was talking to himself.
Before he could ask another question Skipper screamed in frustration.
"What kind of black magic is this?" He growled while studying his hands only to glare murderously at Julien who could barely stand for laughing.
"What did we miss?" Private asked studying the scene before him.
"Skipper tried blasting Julien with water, but it didn't work." Maurice explained emotionlessly.
Private was suddenly even more confused it wasn't like Skipper to fail at water magic especially given that he was part nymph. They were literally connected to water – somehow. He knew it wasn't for the evolution reasons Kowalski had rambled about moments before but he did believe it all played a part somehow, still the whole ordeal was confusing none the less.
"Do it again!" Julien laughed a wide grin on his face.
Instead of trying to summon water Skipper tried to summon ice, the air around his hand swirled as it turned to water which quickly solidified as snowflakes before forming a small snowball on Skipper's hand. The PENGUIN leader cast an annoyed glare at the small ball of snow only to shrug and hurl it at the lemur king anyways.
Julien's laughter was cut short as the snowball hit him in the face bursting into a powdery substance on impact.
"Well that could have been more effective." Skipper grumbled, though he was pleased it had shut Julien up who was now trying to brush ice off his face. "Now someone tell me what the heck is going on! Why can't we use magic?"
"It's detention what did you expect? They can't just have people casting spells all willy-nilly. People might get hurt." Maurice explained.
"That's normally the idea!" Skipper growled causing Maurice to glare disapprovingly at him.
"Actually Maurice makes a good point. Since detention is a punishment for students who break rules it's only fitting to remove or in this case suppress said students powers and abilities. That way as Maurice stated no one can be harmed. The room is most likely charmed to suppress our powers to the bare minimum. We can hurt, so much as annoy each other with our powers."
"But we can still use our fists?" Skipper asked hopefully his eyes brightening at the concept of inflicting pain.
"Well… yes but I believe it would only earn you more detention." Kowalski sighed, trust Skipper to find a loophole about hurting someone. "But we are supposed to remain in our seats."
"Says who?" Skipper demanded looking annoyed.
Kowalski simply pointed to the wall displaying the rules for detention.
"Oh." Skipper thought for a moment. "Well too late for that." He shrugged. "Rico! Any chance you can conjure up some paper?"
Despite being confused by the request Rico did as instructed only mildly surprised when a small stack of paper appeared in his hands.
"Excellent!" Skipper beamed snatching a piece of paper and crumpling it into a ball before lightly encasing it in ice. The evil grin that spread across his face as he turned his gaze back to the LEMURs informed everyone of Skipper's plan.
Before Maurice could even begin protesting a paper ball encased in ice was thrown at them once more hitting Julien in the face who screamed in horror before glaring murderously at Skipper.
"So dat's how it's going to be! Maurice! Paper me!" Julien demanded with a snap of his fingers, before Maurice handed his King the offending paper ball that had hit him. Julien cupped the paper for a moment as his hands radiating with a black mist. Once the colour had faded he promptly threw the ball towards Skipper who dodged with ease.
Private half screamed half squeaked as paper ball hit his shoulder a black tar like substance bursting upon impact covering much of his torso in the sticky goo.
Skipper looked amused at the scene before turning and grinning towards Julien and the others. "Game on Ringtail."
Rico handed Maurice some paper before joining Skipper on the other side of the room to begin work on their fort.
"Is there a particular reason for all this Skipper?" Kowalski asked as he tipped over a table.
"Sure there is. I want to get Ringtail back for getting us sent here in the first place. Plus it can also count as a training exercise." Skipper grinned. "Besides who's gonna pass us throwing stuff at Julien?"
Rico grunted and nodded enthusiastically while crumpling up paper into balls before stacking them in small piles. Once done he promptly lit one on fire chuckling sinisterly seemingly entranced by the flowing flames.
"So… um…. What's the rules?" Maurice called over after he finished helping Mort turn over a table to add to their own fort.
Skipper picked up a paper-ball with a smile. "Simple. First team to surrender loses." With that said he threw the paper-ball at Maurice who screamed at the cold paper hit his face. "Otherwise we just continue till detention is over. The winner would then be whichever team hit the other team the most."
Maurice groaned as he brushed the damp paper off his face only to shriek and narrowly avoid the fire-paper-ball thrown by Rico.
"So your saying dat all I have to do, is hit you with enough of dese things and I win?!" Julien grinned. "Why didn't you say so? Maurice start throwing already! I will not lose dis game because of your laziness!"
"Alright men, here the plan…." Skipper grinned as he crouched behind his table fort. "Private, you and Rico are to get as close to their fort as possible for maximum hits on the enemy. Kowalski and I will cover you from here. Any questions?"
"What happens if we run out of paper?" Private asked with a raise of his hand.
"We'll only have a limited supply so don't waste and keep any that are thrown at you." Skipper replied as he divided their pile of paper-balls equally amongst the four of them. "Any more questions?"
"Yeah can we start already?" Julien called from across the room.
"Rico starting signal fireball." Skipper ordered with a smile.
With a vigorous nod Rico lit a small ball of fire in his hand, its size somewhat disappointing given that he could normally create a fireball the size of a baseball or bigger if need be. Still he threw it into the middle of the room and as it drifted down towards the ground it extinguished itself, once it was completely out the game begun.
Julien, Maurice and Mort wasted no time in bombarding the PENGUINs with paper-balls each charmed with Julien's magic. Private and Rico had to be quick in diving under the table that separated the two teams, occasionally throwing a few balls back while gathering as many as could that had fallen near them.
Skipper kept a sharp eye on the LEMURs fort timing his throws perfectly to hit whosevers head popped into view, though so far it was mostly Mort taking the hits, though he had managed to hit Julien twice a fact that made him smile.
Kowalski took a more tactical advantage and used the room to his advantage, it took a few moments but he was able to calculate the trajectory in which to throw the paper in order to hit the LEMURs hiding behind their fort. Of course given that he couldn't see through tables he was using the gaps to try and figure out where each of them were located.
Paper continued to fly back and forth across the room as the hours began passing more quickly. Private and Rico had made good headway in crossing the room and were almost by the LEMURs fort many paper-balls collected between them, if they made it and unleashed their load before time ran out they could secure the win for their team, they simply had to stay out of sight from the Julien and his followers and avoid getting hit too often if or when spotted.
Skipper and Kowalski were fairing slightly better their clothes stained in several places thanks to Julien's magic. Though Skipper was thankful Kowalski was using a similar trick no doubt the LEMURs clothes were just as colourful.
"How are we doing on ammo Kowalski?" Skipper asked as he threw another paper-ball that he had coated in ice, smiling as it hit Mort knocking him backwards.
"We only have five left sir." Kowalski replied before throwing a ball again his target Mort, he sort of felt sorry for the small shape-shifter then again if he hid himself better he wouldn't nearly be covered in as much paint and ice as he was. "Make that four." Kowalski corrected as he handed Skipper two of the remaining paper-balls.
"Okay, so we make our next two shots count." Skipper ordered as he waited for someone to poke their head over the LEMUR fort, he just hoped it would be Julien.
Kowalski nodded but he was curious as to where all the paper had gotten to, from what he could see through the gap in the table the space between the two teams was deprived of paper debris, though the floor and furniture had become just as colourful as they had. No doubt they would be in trouble if this proved difficult to clean.
"Maurice! Where has all de paper gone?" Julien cried from the other side of the room.
Skipper and Kowalski shared a glance of confusion before shrugging and waiting to see how things played out.
"I'm not sure your majesty." Maurice replied sounding fairly confused.
"I will check!" Mort cheered as he poked his head above the safety of their table fort only to be bombarded with four paper-balls at once. "I found them." He groaned as he collapsed back behind the fort.
"I think I've just figured it out." Kowalski smiled.
"Oh?" Skipper asked raising an eyebrow.
"Private and Rico." Kowalski stated simply, the understanding on Skipper's face told him he didn't need any more of an explanation.
Deciding it was worth the risk Skipper peered over the top of the tables only to narrowly dodge a ball thrown by Maurice, the man's aim had improved greatly over the hours. Before he could throw one back Maurice had already been hit with two shots from unknown locations.
Rico was grinning from ear to ear as they approached the LEMURs fort, with only a minute left till detention was over it was now or never to execute their plan. Mentally counting down the seconds as he continuing forwards towards one side of the fort aware that Private was headed for the other side.
Once in position he slowly counted to ten before jumping up and began bombarding the LEMURs with every paper-ball he carried.
Julien screamed at the surprise attack and quickly grabbed Mort and Maurice to use as human shields, once he was positive the assault had stopped he dared to open his eyes. The first thing he noticed was that everything was covered in either ice or what he guessed was paint, there wasn't a single inch left clean and he feared looking at himself. Mort and Maurice looked just as colourful as their surroundings, despite his fear he looked at his hands and his arm only to scream at how colourful he too had become.
The sound of the PENGUINs laughing broke him from his stupor, with a growl he glared towards the other side of the room. His eyes noticing that all the paper was now with him, he smiled as he thought about exacting his revenge. Before he could give an order the door opened.
"Alright detention's over." Alice spoke dully, before her expression went from being unamused to annoyed, as she noticed the state of the room. "You have five seconds to get out of my sight before I put you all in detention for the rest of the year."
Before Alice could even make it to three all seven culprits had fled the room.
"Do you think we'll get into trouble?" Private asked as they walked back to their rooms.
"Well she did let us go… so maybe not?" Maurice replied hesitantly. "But I think we're now all on thin ice."
"I second that Maurice." Skipper smiled. "Though there is one thing I'd like to say." Everyone looked at him expectantly. "We won! In your face!" Skipper cheered before laughing madly.
"Umm… no! I demand a rematch!" Julien huffed crossing his arms. "Or are you afraid dat we'll beat you now dat we are out of dere?" Julien smiled smugly as Skipper glared.
"Name the place and time Ringtail. We'll just beat you again."
Julien barked a laugh. "We shall see." Before storming off leaving Maurice and Mort racing to catch up with their king.
"Was that really a good idea Skippah?" Private asked looking worriedly towards their leader.
"Of course!" Skipper smiled before noticing the colourful patterns on his clothes. "Now let's all get cleaned up before someone sees us."