fandomhigh | Heroes v Villains | Period 1 | Wednesday

The class was meeting in the Danger Shop today for a class Loki had been looking forward to for a few reasons. He enjoyed both annoying his students and making them think and he hoped this class would do both while also being more than just discussion.

"Today, we're talking about crime," he started, crossing his arms. "Most of you know what crime is or, at least, have a definition of crime. In the simplest of terms, crime is an action that breaks a law. Simple. It's not always that cut and dry though. Crimes can be committed for a variety of reasons and it's not always right to label someone criminal or villain or anything like that just because they broke a law. You sure as fuck don't know why they broke a law, do you?"

He stopped and glanced at each student. "If you went and stole a loaf of bread from the store because your family is starving, you've committed a crime but the reason behind it should be considered, shouldn't it? What if your husband or wife is beating the shit out of you and, while defending yourself, you kill him or her? You've taken a life but if you didn't, you would have probably been killed yourself. The reasons behind the crimes, they're not always considered. There are always exceptions to the rules but, generally, a criminal is a criminal. People think in black and white and shunt criminals into one large group. They have difficulty getting jobs, getting credit, getting fucking respect all because they wanted to feed their family or protect their children or something else. Where the fuck is the logic in that?"

He paused again just to get his breath, gather his thoughts. "Now, I'm not always saying that people have good reasons for committing crimes. Some people are just fucking jackholes. Some people want to steal for material gain and some people want to kill because it gives them a thrill. Crimes do birth villains. Crimes are sometimes committed because people just want to be bad. They're just fuckers. They're just evil. And sometimes they're not. Sometimes that criminal is a fucking hero to the family they fed or to the kids they saved from violence. Stop fucking generalizing. Look beyond the crime. Find the reason."

And when he realized he was starting to sound philosophical, he pursed his lips and laughed. "For today's activity, you're all going to fucking jail."

The sim started to reveal the dank and dark interior of a large jail cell. "There are prison jumpsuits that you need to put on and then into the cell, all of you. Once you're in there, I want you to pull out the piece of paper that's in the pocket of your jumpsuit. On it, there's a crime that you've committed with reasoning. I want you to tell me if you deserve to be let out of that jail cell because you committed a crime for heroic reasons. Convince me. Sound good? Go."

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//Well, it wouldn't be Fandom if it wasn't surprising,// Jono pointed out. //Anything in particular? Or mostly just the obvious?//

Things turning into people. Dead people running around. The obvious.

"People who knew things about me without me telling them," Madison said. "Stuff that I wouldn't necessarily tell anyone."

//Ah...// Jono leaned his head back against the wall, thinking that one over. //Either psychics, telepaths, or people who know some alternate version of you, then?//

Or else people who were very good at guessing.

"Psychics and telepaths, I think," Madison said. Though she wasn't sure how to qualify Didi and she didn't really want to get into the details about that whole thing.

Any attempt to qualify Didi to Jono would have just had him stifling a laugh, really.

//They must be more observant than I am,// Jono mused. //Admittedly, I'm not very good at it, and I'm not particularly trying t'figure you out, either. I don't figure whatever it is is any of my bloody business.//

Which was why he was asking about it, instead. Jonothon's logic was skewed, at times.

Madison tilted her head and studied him. "You said that you can't read minds, right?" she clarified. "How would you try to figure me out?"

There was a long pause, then. And then, Jono shrugged, switching his voice so that it could only be heard by Madison. There were some things that he didn't just go broadcasting to the world at large, after all.

//I... can,// he admitted, carefully. //I prefer not to. It takes too much bloody effort, and I don't think I'd like what I'd see in most people's heads, at any rate. But I feel things, sometimes, like it or not. Like... an itch, I suppose. If something isn't the way it ought to be.//

Madison blinked. "Huh."

She glanced around and lowered her voice. "Do you get that itch around me at all?"

//You mean the naffin' ant colony that feels like it's marchin' its way around the back of my brain right now?//

That would be a yes, Madison.

"Oops, sorry," she apologized with a sheepish look. "I... um..."

After another quick glance to ensure no one was paying attention to them, she lifted her hand to her amulet and caressed the stone with her fingers.

"I'm drawing my life energy from this amulet," she said quietly. "I kind of got killed."

//Kind of?//

Jono had a nagging suspicion that he really didn't want details, no. But, all the same, she'd actually fessed up to as much. He supposed he owed her more than a skeptical look for trusting him with it.

//Well. I suppose that explains that, then.//

"It's hard to explain," Madison said. "But, yeah. It's not something I'm keen to have spread all around school, you know?"

She tended to get the freak label as it was.

//I can relate,// Jono offered. //People think yer a freak for one thing or another, you don't really find yerself in th'mood to want to go around letting them think maybe yer a monster, beyond that.//

There was a moment, and then he looked up, waving a hand her way. //Not that I think you are, of course. Hell, I've probably got more monster to me at a glance than most of th'rest of the people around here.//

Madison nodded. "Yeah, I can imagine. And I definitely get labeled a freak because I'm not one of those perky cheerleader types."

//Th'hair is a nice touch,// Jono offered. //Honestly, I never used to wear all dark leather like this. I just started in order to finish up this whole 'bandaged-up freak' motif. And then I decided I liked it.//

The leather. Not the freak part.

It took a moment for her to figure out how to phrase her next question.

"So you didn't always need the bandages?"

That was phrased well enough for Jonothon's liking, really. He shrugged, shook his head.

//They're a fairly new development,// he replied, //right along with th'burning stench and my voice. Funny, innit, how th'world can go completely cockeyed on you all in an instant?//

He was talking to a dead girl. He figured she could probably relate.

Heroes v Villains | Period 1 | Wednesday | July 28

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