Going Nowhere.

[Garion DeLuse]

The halls of the Academy were deserted, as they should be at two o'clock in the morning. No one in their right mind should be wandering the halls this early in the morning... but then again, Garion wasn't sure if he was in the right mind.

The ten year old boy couldn't sleep. For one reason or another, he had become stricken with a feeling of worthlessness. An odd feeling for a ten year old to have... but then again, Garion was an odd ten year old.

All these brains. All this raw power. Wasted. Garion knew that he was becoming a waste, another face in the crowd. It wasn't a thought brought on by low self esteem, simply an observation. Garion had done nothing lately, nothing eventful since the... event. The only thing he had done worth merit was control his telekinesis, and you couldn't put that on a job resume.

Job. A job might provide him with a sense of purpose, if it weren't for those stupid labour laws. Garion turned a corner abruptly, simply because he could.

And where was wandering the halls going to get him? Midnight walks wouldn't get him friends, wouldn't get him ease of mind. He had no goals anymore, no image of the future.

The boy's face was devoid of emotion, but he desperately wanted someone to talk to, someone who he was familiar with.

Garion wanted a friend.

[olive]

"Gotcha!" The light of a very tiny flashlight shone in Garion's face, weilded by a very smug-looking girl in a Sherlock Holmes cap. "Like, whatcha think you're doing, wandering around so early, huh?! Stealing? Sneaking into girls' dorms? You have the face of a total pervert!"

Pervert Preys on Sleeping Students!

Wait until the Academy finds out about this! They'd be so grateful, they'd just have to give her her very own office! It was about time they got one for the school paper, anyway! And when her colleagues find out, oh, she'd have to get...a medal! A whole page in the Guinness Book of World Records, "Best Reporter-Slash-Journalist Ever!" She'd even have people asking her to write books telling them how to be as awesome as her!

And she'd have interviews, sign autographs, have photoshoots...her face would be on the cover of every major magazine! Most Influential Woman of the Year! They'd ask her how she got so successful, and she'd say...

Well folks, it all started one night at the Academy. I was like, sick and tired of waiting for stories to come to me, so I set out in the High-Crime Hour and single-handedly apprehended a Prowling Pervert! Of course I also like reported the event, and if you, like, read the story in the paper, that was mine, too!

It was when she imagined a concerned fan asking how she managed to wrestle the pervert into submission when she came back to Earth. She took a good look at her prisoner, and her eyebrows shot up.

"Um, like...aren't you kind of young to be stealing our undies?"

Perverts were shrinking these days. That was like, uber-mega-ew!

[Garion DeLuse]

The light was inexplicable. The light was sudden. Most of all, the light was painful.

Garion threw up his arms in a feeble attempt to block the ray of light from his poor weary eyes. The voice that accused him of various crimes was shrill, and definitely belonged to a girl. He had no idea what the girl was talking about. Was there some sort of pervert around? Were there strict unbreakable curfew laws, and anyone ignoring them would be deemed a thief?

The boy had no idea what to so in the situation. His brain reasoned that he should stand his ground, but his instincts told him to flee, to escape. His brain had been listened to for too long.... and that had gotten him nowhere. Maybe, just this once, the cautious boy could just listen to his gut.

And so he ran. Garion turned the other way and bolted down the corridor as fast as his little legs could take him. Once again he was painfully aware that he was out of shape, and but kept running as hard as he could away from the screecher of the night.

[olive]

When Olive saw how...little her Prowling Pervert was, she considered that she might have caught the wrong person. But as she was considering, he started running and that was all she needed. Why did innocent people run, anyway?

She knew she had no choice but to give chase. What sort of reporter-slash-journalist-slash-detective would she be if she let the pervert escape?!

"Like, get back here!" She shouted, trying her very best to keep up with him. As most young children were, Garion was pretty light on his feet, out-of-shape or not! Though she wasn't by any means on his heels, she was close enough to him to keep him in sight. If he tripped or took a wrong turn, though, she'd probably have him.

"I have to like bring you to justice!" She added, excitedly thinking 'Proof of Guilt! Proof of Guilt!' at him, as if he might somehow hear her and become too intimidated to move*.

*Olive does not really have the power to project thought. That would be terrifying.

[Garion DeLuse]

Garion turned many corners, until he was sure he was lost, and still the terrifying psycho woman pursued him. His legs were starting to burn as he pushed them to their extreme limits. Still he run, wishing he was bigger, fitter, stronger.

Stronger

The cogs in Garion's mind stared to spin. He was Gifted, was he not? He had superhuman powers, abilities that overcompensated for his normal self. Shy should super-strength be limited to his arms? If his theory and research was correct (which it always was), then his legs should also be stronger than normal.

Garion tested it out, focusing his new strength into his legs. Running became easier, faster than him. Suddenly elated, he took longer and longer strides. He found that his increased strength didn't really give him the finesse of a natural runner, so the more he pushed off on the ground, the easier it was. Soon Garion was just leaping instead of running, using the full of his increased muscle. It started to become fun, and Garion started laughing a tinkling laugh as he bounded through the hallways like a rabbit.

The laughing abruptly stopped as Garion hit his head on the doorway with a resounding thud, and fell to the floor.

[olive]

Olive suppressed a cheer; it looked like he was slowing down! Soon she'd catch him and then she'd take him to the office where they'd tie him up and give her a medal for catching such a dangerous criminal. She'd be famous throughout the land! Once her colleagues heard of her success, they'd never stop talking about how great she really was!

But just when she thought she had him, just when she jetted forward, reaching out to snag the back of his shirt, he took off again, this time even faster than before!
Where'd he go?! He can't get away! Good always beats evil!

Desperate to keep up, Olive pushed on, but she soon found herself unable to continue. She was just too tired, and she didn't know where he went...maybe if she didn't tell anyone, they wouldn't know that he got away just this time. She slowed to a swift walk, gasping for breath.

Just as she thought all hope was gone, a low thud echoed throughout the corridors. Perhaps that was her villain! With her energy suddenly renewed, Olive took off to investigate the cause of the strange noise. What she found had her smiling wide. She gently put her foot on the fallen 'pervert's' form, 'pinning' him should he try to escape once more.

"Evil-doer! I, Olive the Great, have apprependaged you! I will now take you to the office where you will be Brought to Justice!" She announced, waving her flashlight in his face menacingly. "Hand over our undies!"

[Garion DeLuse]

Garion opened his eyes to see a wealth of bright lights dance across his vision. H blinked a few times, and started to get back up and check his head, when some kind of super bright searchlight was shone directly in his eyes. He was apparently 'apprependaged' by an 'Olive the Great.'

"Ex- Excuse me? Why would I have your underwear?" Garion hoped that he wasn't hallucinating. How bad was that hit on the head? If the hot throbbing on his forehead was any sort of indication, it was pretty bad.

"Aren't you that girl who writes for the school paper? Why are you chasing me?" H had heard about Olive. If half of what he heard was true, the girl could talk you to death, write an article about it and then believe that all mortal men must bow down to her.

But then again, gossip was never that friendly.