NEO SPARTAN ADVENTUUUUURES 7

One month has passed.

RIKU’S TOTALLY NOT DEAD, no matter how much we ask. Celio had spent some time in hospital for a mild concussion and INTERNAL BLEEDING, and was released rather soon. He seems slightly more withdrawn, but otherwise fine. Ryu, meanwhile, is pissed he had to fight an EVA. Fabian is concerned, once again reminded of how HORRIFICALLY REPLACEABLE AND UTTERLY WORTHLESS HE IS.

Miranda, acting as OD in Riku’s stead, decided it would be best if the children attended a school. Not the Anchorage High School, but instead a SERF run education centre. Fabian apparently HAS NEVER BEEN TO OR HEARD OF SCHOOL EVER. Miranda tries to explain, using his training with NERV as a simile. This TERRIFIES FABIAN IMMENSELY. He also fails to see the value of building upon his functional knowledge in Maths and Science. Fabian, despite being incredibly uncomfortable, eventually concedes, and Ryu is pissed he has to do homework.

Meanwhile, Celio acts like a fucking robot because MUH TRAINING. Eventually, after perceiving just how much Miranda hates being around them, he decides that it may help his training. And if not, he can always skip lessons and walk back to training, regardless.

The next day, SCHOOL. In a class of 7 people, three guys and four girls. Jane, Rachel, Dominique, and Mae, Rob, Hansen, Jeremy. A VERY old woman, who seems to drink heavily, is leading the class. Ms. Mulberry. Fabian approaches her to seek DIRECTIVES AND PRIMARY OBJECTIVES like the good Manufactured robot he is. She tells him to sit down and actually take notes on the lecture she was busy giving.

Fabian seems confused, but is too beta to press the issue.  Celio tries to get into the Napoleonic lecture, but gets bored with the period and starts doodling Hoplites instead. BECAUSE FUCK YEAH, CLASSICAL SPARTANS. Meanwhile, Fabian is assburgers and blurts out about the logical fallacies in her arguments. So she offers to let Fabian teach instead. Which, being the autist he is, asks if that would be beneficial. So she waltzes out.

The class think Fabian is the hottest thing since sliced bread. Celio snaps out of his drawing, and tries to ask how long everyone’s been TRAINING. Fabian, meanwhile, ignores Mulberry’s textbook, and starts silently scrawling a Napoleonic timeline on the board.
The kids don’t like how he’s become a monster, just like Ms. Mulberry. Everyone is not soldiers, or pilots, and Celio visibly loses interest as he realises this. Fabian finishes his diagram, while Ryu is hitting on Mae with the spirit of Riku spurring him on to give her the Descartes. It seems she doesn’t know about the EVAs.

Celio was ignoring Fabian to read about ROMAN HONOUR, and one of the classmates asks Fabian if he likes dudes. Fabian doesn’t know if he likes anyone. The kid proclaims him a queer, as a result. The class erupts into laughter, and Fabian struggles to recover the situation without seeming to hit on him.  He then manages to bungle his way into starting a fight.

Celio, meanwhile, starts talking to Ryu for the FIRST TIME EVER, and they have some NEO-SPARTAN BONDING (no homo). Fabian is still digging holes. As the situation continues to escalate, Ryu eggs the bully on while Celio observes that they COULD step in to help if Fabian needed it. Kids start placing their bets, most on Hansen. Mae bets on Fabian.

Celio decides that, even if it’s FABIAN, being an EVA pilot means he’s going to win, right? Mae walks over and whispers in Fabian’s ear “I still believe in you”, while Ryu asks Celio if he can “take the first round” if Fabian goes down. Celio agrees, noting that HONOURABLE GENTLEMEN do not besmirch other gentlemen’s reputations by giving help where it is not needed.

Fabian once again fails to diffuse the tension, and so gets clocked around the face. He doesn’t even flinch, and throws back a punch of his own. Hitting Hansen square in the ribs, they both bungle their next hits.
Hansen goes into a frenzy, attacking only to be parried. His follow up attack fails to do any lasting damage to Fabian. He parries Fabian’s retaliation, but in his eagerness completely fails to hit him.

MUCH MISSING AND PARRYING ENSUES.

Fabian eventually takes damage as he parries the first hit, only to take the second straight into the face.  FIGHT CONTINUES FOR EVER, though Fabian seems to have the upper hand.

He then gives shivved in the arm by Hansen, as Hansen gets desperate. Fabian punches him back, only to get shivved again. Fabian, nonetheless, punches him out cold under a barrage of blows.

Celebrating, Fabian takes the knife from the body and places it in the teacher’s desk. Fabian gets respect again, because WINNERS DON’T USE KNIVES.