There's a strange sound coming from the gym... (open)

[Cale Beoulve]

Dull thuds echoed intermittently from behind the doors of the gymnasium. A punching bag rocked wildly on the chain links holding it up above the ground, easily as heavy as three men, the metal bar attached at the top groaning as the leather sandbag swayed back and forth. His knuckles dug into the pliable material with each blow, muscles down his arms bulging with each motion.

Classes were out for the day, and there were no sports meetings in the area, so Cale felt relatively safe that no one would bother him. He had zero desire to join any clubs, hell the only reason that he had joined the SHCP was to avoid having to keep Ragnarok at home, or piece-mealed in the compartments on Fenris, his bike. But between having to wait for his opportunity to track down the gang Stevie had sent him on and trying to get used to living away from home, he had to take out some aggression.

Inanimate objects were pretty good for that.

For a change, Cale's sword was sitting a distance away from him, leaning against the wall nearby still wrapped up in its holster, giving him more freedom of movement and he used every bit of it. Although the sword he carried might lead some to believe he had neglected training in other martial skills, the way he flowed from one punch to another, switching stances, an elbow, a backhand strike, would prove otherwise. Cale came out of a furious series of blows before taking a step back and launching himself upwards, spinning around and smashing his shin against the bag with everything he could muster.

There was ripping sound that tore as much through the air as through the bag itself, and it broke apart in two places: where his leg connected to the fabric, and where it was anchored to the chains. Sand spilled out, arcing through the air, as the bag went flying to the side for several yards, gravity eventually pulling it down to the ground and friction to a skittering stop. 

"Great," he sighed, stopping to catch his breath and wiping some of the sweat from his brow, picking up a towel and drying off his bare arms. "That's the third one..." Cale continued grumbling under his breath as he walked over to the emptying leather and kicked it towards the wall, alongside a couple other of its broken brethren, before going into the supply room to grab another.

He tossed the bag up over one shoulder and strolled back out, cracking his neck to the other side and affixing it back up where the old bag had been, taking a few steps back and dropping into his stance again.

No one to bother him. Just the feeling of his muscles straining to juice every bit of power he could muster out of them.

Unfortunately, his fervor to fill the air with the sound of pounded leather only served to mask the opening of doors on the far side of the gym.

[Emily Suddenfield]

And through that door walked three large males! Their eyes immediately caught on Cale, and the one in front snorted, pointing to the man and his punching bag while making a snarky remark to one of his fellows. The three turned to stare some more before their leader walked forward, calling out.

"Oi, Tough guy. Pretty easy beatin' on bags all day, ain't it? Yeh ever try and hit something that hits back, or are caveman punches more your style?"

The other two split up, walking around the bag to surround Cale.

"How about it, blondie?"

Stats of leader: 12 all

Stats of other two: 8 all.

[Cale Beoulve]

Cale spun around on the spot when the first snort sounded out, sizing up the three guys who were coming towards him. The two on the sides looked like chump change, but the guy in the middle was at least a dollar. He looked like he was a bit more solidly built than Cale was... but not solid enough.

As the three of them surrounded him he remained somewhat nonchalant, glancing to check on their positioning. This already smelled like trouble, and the three of them, perhaps without realizing it, had made a mistake by trying to corner him. "I try to avoid making messes that can't just be swept up," he responded, quirking a brow. "And the name is Cale. You ever go into a fight without needing to outnumber someone to feel big?"

[Emily Suddenfield]

The man gripped his crotch.

"I'm big enough for both of us, chicken little. Believe you me."

The other two chuckled.

"You got a mouth on you though. I'm gonna enjoy watching you choke blood, bitch."

The man lurched forward to fake Cale out, jumping to the side as a distraction while one of his men swung for the back of Cale's head, intent on their teamwork and distraction-skills giving him an opportunity to deal damage!

[Cale Beoulve]

Oh the crotch grab, very original. This guy had to have been held back a few times with amazing skills like those. Cale braced for the oncoming hit, glancing to the sides to see if they were moving alongside their "fearless leader", but he'd already been expecting the attack to come from besides him in the first place. He was caught a bit off guard by the attack seeming to come from the front and didn't react in time to stop the punch from behind.

He felt the blow to the back of his head and lurched forwards, gritting his teeth through the pain and stopping himself on his next step. Unfortunately for the sidekick, he was well within striking range. Cale reached back and gripped the guy by the collar, hefting him while still holding him up behind, his eyes locking onto the big fella's. "You know, sometimes it's not about size," he quipped, spinning around and absolutely launching the first underling towards the second.

"But you're right," he continued, snapping his head back to keep an eye on the leader while his comrade flew through the are towards the other one. "I've got a mouth. Difference is: I talk because I fight my own battles."

[Emily Suddenfield]

As Cale would grab the big guy by the collar and look him in the eye to talk, the leader didn't stand idly by. He was still close, and so threw a haymaker for Cale's ribcage at the front, while the big guy Cale was holding would attempt to palm his face. Assuming Cale still threw him, the second bully wouldn't even bother trying to catch his friend, instead jumping out of the way and ignoring his body as he was buried in the wall head first!

Bully #1, DOWN.

The leader, however, would still be there and in Cales face, the second bully now approaching for a little 2 vs 1 action.

"Stop fighting. Now."

Emily stood in the gym entryway, hood up. Her hands were in her pockets and her eyes were on all three. She started walking toward them calmly, gently pushing back her hood. She stared at all three with equal malice, pissed off they were fighting and destroying school property. She'd be issuing detentions for this. And if they refused to stop fighting, she'd be issuing infirmary stays as well.

Emily's Stats:

Attack: 24
Speed: 27
Defense: 20
Perception: 17
Energy: 10

[Cale Beoulve]

He barely had time to finish his smart comment before the haymaker hit him square in the chest, knocking him back a few paces. The choked sound of the flying thug smacking against the wall rang out in the silence before Cale was planning to launch himself at the second of the underlings, but the newcomer stopped him from flying into another strike.

Cale glared daggers at the girl who was walking in, a bit peeved that someone would try to stop his good fun. As both a new student and an SHCP member, he had an itch to get a name for himself. Enough so that people, instead of trying to pick fights with him and him having to prove himself, would simply get out of the way and give up the goat when he stepped onto a scene.

Still... he was a member of the SHCP after all. If anyone was allowed to dole out vigilante justice, it was him. He stood up for a second and went to go dust off his shoulder before launching a punch straight at the second thug's jaw, smirking a bit as he watched the guy likely go sprawling and finally standing up properly to actually straighten his collar.

"I'd hardly call this a fight," he smirked, feeling a little blood welling inside of his cheek.

[Emily Suddenfield]

Emily sighed and walked forward after Cale threw another punch. She, personally, didn't give a damn what group he belonged to. In her eyes, she outranked everyone but the administrator. So, she'd step between Cale and the guy who just took a blow to the jaw and stumbled to the ground. He slid along the ground, eyes rolling a little from the sudden force of the blow. She stared blankly into Cale's eyes, unimpressed.

"Please. Rethink your actions and walk away, or I will be forced to put you down."

Violet was the only reason this guy hadn't had her fist in his throat. Vi and Wren. The girls had tried to teach her not to be so violent. To approach people with a more....relaxed attitude. But sometimes, violence could only be met with violence. There were some who refused to learn a lesson unless you taught it to them properly. Unless you demonstrated why they should listen. Cale was a member of the SHCP, right? That's what the badge said? So, as such she was giving him an out.

Only one.

[Cale Beoulve]

Cale wasn't one for idle threats, but she didn't seem like the type to make them. Between her attitude and the way that even the previously VERY uppity leader had seemed to cower when she came in, he was pretty sure she could back up what she said.

He could, at the very least, respect that.

But it certainly didn't mean he had to like what she was doing. "Hey, I was defending myself," he pointed out, gesturing towards the two guys on the ground. "This numbskulls decided to pick a fight with the new guy and bit off more than they could chew. That's not my fault, and if I'm surrounded I'm gonna make sure I don't stay that way."

"And besides," he crossed his arms, relaxing his stance a bit. It was about the most display of agreement he was going to give her physically. "I'm SHCP. Corrections. And these three needed some correctional work. I'm pretty sure surrounding and threatening a student is probably against the rules somewhere, yeah?"

[Emily Suddenfield]

She glanced behind her at the other two. They looked away at the accusation. She turned back to Cale and shrugged.

"Fair enough. I don't take issue with self defense. I do take issue with no attempt at correction, just pure fighting being labeled as correction. Beating someone up doesn't solve the problem. Did you tell them who you are? Did you tell them to stop or they'd get detention?"

She didn't look away from Cales eyes- that's where everyone avoided staring when you were talking.

"For some reason, I doubt that was the case. Thrashing someone for fun doesn't make you more powerful. It just shows how weak you truly feel."

She turned to the other men, exposing her back to Cale without a care in the world.

"Pick up your friend and get to the infirmary. All three of you- James, Sirius and Peter will be in detention after school or I will find you and take you there myself. Get out of here."

They would promptly follow orders.

[Cale Beoulve]

Cale tried not to scoff. She was trying to air on beauracracy, which made him wonder just how much this girl had seen of the underbelly of society.

He'd seen plenty.

"And then what?" he asked her, watching as the trio scurried off. "They back out of trying to fight me and go find some other new kid. Someone who's weaker than I am. Who's terrified at the thought of fighting three people, let alone one." He let out a choked laugh, shaking his head. "Guys like those learn from object lessons, not verbal warnings. The only reason they'd listen to what someone says is if they've already learned that person can punish them physically."

[Emily Suddenfield]

As the men left, she turned back to him. Should she just walk away? That's what she'd normally do. Then...Violet came to mind again, and Mel. The student body needed reasons to trust her, right? Her...motivations?

"Your methodology errs on anarchy. That government and punishment outside of pain are purposeless- that the only measure of worth is through strength. Your statement isn't just naive, kid. It's wrong. The purpose of instances just like this is to show that there are people like us who will stand up for that other guy they go to pick on. It shows there are those in positions of power who don't just want to exert themselves over you, but help you to see that you can do better. Be better. If they refuse to listen to what their taught in detention and through our actions, then force is our last resort. But always our last."

She would look over at the piles of bags he'd busted and left in the corner. Then she'd look back to him once more.

"For someone like you, whose strength could so easily destroy, you'd think that the idea of using it to build would have crossed your mind. That lesson- that those in positions of power can help you be better- it's a lesson perhaps you need to learn too."

She waited to see how he responded.

[Cale Beoulve]

"So you're telling me that those three have NEVER been to detention?" he asked, her quirking a brow. "Even though you knew them by name. And they oh so clearly knew you?" Cale shook his head again, blonde spikes waving about. "I'm not the naive one here. What if I had been the guy they'd tried to pick on who couldn't stand up for himself, huh? What if you'd arrived too late, and I was already a beaten, bloody mess?"

He walked over to the wall, picking Ragnarok up and tossing the holster down. Cale lifted the blade, examining it in the light before casting his gaze back over towards Emily. "Believe me, I know how to build," he muttered, walking back over towards her, blade out to the side. "But instead of letting guys like that think that they can just surround and show off to whoever they want, I just taught them that they need to pick and choose their battles a bit more carefully."

"You think they're gonna try and pony up to every new kid who walks through the doors after this??" he demanded of her. "They're gonna walk on eggshells from now on, and they're gonna be looking over their shoulders to make sure I'm not around when they try to make a move. Hate to break it to you, but the world doesn't follow the rules. In fact, it's a lot more common to find that it doesn't than it ever will be to see that it does." His grip tightened on Ragnarok's hilt. "The people who already have that sort of obedience in them will respond to how you want to deal with things. Paperwork and slaps on the wrist. But don't try and tell me that how I handle idiots like those is wrong, because they don't care about the rules. They've already shown as much. I've got no problem stepping down to their level to make sure they get knocked down a few pegs."

[Emily Suddenfield]

Emily tilted her head to the side.

"They are members of one of the many gangs in this school. I know who they are because they are on the baseball team. I personally haven't seen them in detention, but even if I had, that's not the point. Lessons are sometimes learned the hard way- other times, they just need a reminder to get back in line. Your suggestions, your actions- your ideals and decisions about the reality of this school and the people in it are one dimensional and offensive. And, once again, wrong. In case you didn't know- A majority of the worlds population does obey rules. Because they have to pay fines, spend a night in jail and deal with the police. Sometimes, people need a reminder that police officers do their work- but when you get pulled over, a cop doesn't just shoot you in the leg or beat you half to death with a nightstick because the only way you'll learn not to break a rule is through pain. They also don't do that to you if you get in a fight. They use proportional, necessary force."

Emily didn't shift or move from him despite the thing he held.

"You're not moving to their level and taking them down a peg- you are far worse than they could ever be. They pick fights and bully because they don't know better. Because they feel lost or out of place in the school or in their own lives. You put the hurting to them out of some misguided sense of justice. Of self-righteousness. All it does is make you part of the problem, not it's solution."

She'd stare.

"And I won't have that. If I ever even think you continue down your path of doling out lessons through pure punishment to balance the scales in your head, I'll cut the legs from under you, and if need be, the leader that advocates such behavior. Assuming she does, anyway."

He was holding his sword like he had enough of her mouth. Let's see if he had the stones to try something. If he spoke again, she'd listen but not respond, instead turning and leaving when he was done. Or, perhaps, he'd be gone after she was done and that would be that.

[Cale Beoulve]

Cale was certainly not holding his sword as a means of threatening her. If anything, he was holding it a bit too tight to really respond in kind to a potential attack. His grip on Ragnarok was more of a comfort thing, an allusion that there might have been a bit more at play than just an urge to fight for the sake of violence.

"You do realize what we're standing in, right?" he pointed at the ceiling. "This is a public high school. Fully funded by the government. That not only allows its students to fight but ENCOURAGES it to a certain degree. Where teachers and administrators wear special armor and carry special weapons designed specifically to physically handle students."

He swiped his free hand across his chest, balled in a fist. "You don't see that because, clearly, everyone just listens to you. However you got to that point, you're there. If the rules were so all powerful, then punishments wouldn't even have to exist. The people who go to jail for not paying tickets? They made a choice to break the rules. They didn't care about them, they just couldn't escape the consequences. And there's nothing stopping them from doing it again aside from the fear of that punishment popping up in their lives."

He pointed at the cracked wall where the kid he'd thrown had impacted the bricks. "See that?" he asked her. "That's what happens when some idiot who's done this before doesn't pay attention to his surroundings against a stronger opponent. The way they came at me was practiced. They'd done it to other people. And they're gonna keep right on doing it every time they think they've got an opportunity unless they learn that it doesn't work."

Cale turned his head and spat out a bit of blood. "And that? That was me taking a hit just to make sure that they were serious about what they were doing," he pointed at the little smudge of phlegmy crimson. "That is what happens to innocent people when others think that they can get around or outright break the rules. I just take it a hell of a lot better than most. So don't tell me about misguided justice when you don't even understand how jackasses like that think."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "And don't. Threaten me. I don't work for you. You don't know me. And you don't get to tell me that violence isn't the answer and then threaten me with it. Those guys had a chance to stop before I smashed them, just like you're convincing yourself that you're giving me. So if you make good on that threat," he spread his arms, grinning at her. "You're no better than what you want me to be. I haven't attacked you. But I'm not going to back away. I'm gonna keep on doling out corrections however I deem it necessary. You gonna respect that, or show me the double standards of your broken system?"