I Know a Guy rough scripts

Scripts are rough and still need work, posting what has been drafted so far to prevent endless archive diving later.
If any of them ever actually get drawn then I'll remove them from this paste.

ctrl+f:
#The trade chain
#Hero Contest
#Pepper
#Mr. A
#Retired villain
#Beach trip
#Middle schoolers
#P.E. Class


--------------
#The trade chain

We begin with a hall monitor patrolling on his two wheeled segway wearing his flashing police cap.
Conner peeks out of a trash can saying to himself "What's Princess Daughter's game with these extra patrols? I need something to take the heat off for a while." There's a shadowy image of her in Conner's thoughts.
From off panel "What are you doing?"
It's Rudy.
Conner snaps back "Can it. Can't you see I'm hiding?"
Rudy gives a look like from that gif of Brock watering a Staryu.
"You know, this wouldn't be a problem if you had a hall pass." Rudy is waving his hall pass while saying this as the hall monitor speeds by again forcing Conner to duck and cover again.
"Not all of us are as privileged or well liked as you. I can't just get a teacher to fork one over whenever I want."
"I hear Belle has a huge stash of them she got from admirers."

Belle is head cheerleader, she has a scorpion tail and an extra set of claw arms, or she might just be like super popular

Belle is sitting down on a the bleacher when the mascot sits down next to her, it's a cutesy, bug-eyed, smiling rabbit or bear, perhaps based off the logo of Queen Mother's corporation. Ostensibly innocuous but inherently creepy in a fixed-expression mascot form drawn from different angles. Also wears the handcuffs for the visual gag
It's Conner in the suit, he asks her "So I hear you have some extra hall passes."
"Like, should you even be talking to me?"
"Rudy sent me."
"R-U-D-Y, he's the cutest boy in this whole high! Oh. Em. Gee. Your, like that guy aren't you? The guy who gets stuff for people?"
"Oh, you've heard of me? That makes this easier, so whatddya want for 'em?"
"Like, I think I'm covered on that front." as some other butler looking guy is holding a pillow with a pop bottle sitting on it with a straw sticking out of it that she sips from. "But there is this one thing I want for a friend of mine..." and she hands him a slip of paper.


Cuts to Conner outside of the sewing club.

The sewing club is overrun with fabrics with closets packed with clothes and a yarn ball so big there are people stuck in it
Conner fights his way through with a small pair of scissors, like cutting through a jungle. As he does so a student falls out of the yarn "A trapped soul! I must be near!"

He finally makes it to the actual sewing machines in a cordoned-off office shared with the Robotics/Engineering Club for working on augments/augmented uniforms; several of the workers wear their own tricked-out clothes; some of them are bilingual (Chinese) as many of the embroidery machines are poorly-localized from Chinese production.
Conner joined and left the club in the past, salvaged his green hand-me-down jumper using orange threads.

>Sewing Club President
Short-sighted, has lost most of the feeling in her fingertips; techno-looking gloves, has additional brain-controlled feelers built into her uniform (like a teenage nerd inspired by the SpiderMan 2 portrayal of Doc Ock); despite being the leader of a non-sports club she commands some respect from the council and other leaders

The sewing club president greets him "Oh, Conner, welcome back, here to help us knit the world's biggest blanket?"
"Janet, I left the club two years ago."
"Really? Time sure flies. So what are you doing here?"
"I need this."
Conner holds up the slip of paper he got from Belle with a drawing of a teddy bear on it and a back order ticket from the sewing club.
"Well then you'll have to wait until the order is up. The backlog is the backlog."
"Ok well, how about a trade? You do this design for me and in return you'll get...?"
"Money."
"I mean, apart from that."
"I'll get back to you when I'm less busy, Ok?"
Conner takes a closer glance. Janet's stitching a design onto an apron, a football player as a naked chef. Conner steps back and realises the wall is plastered with pictures of him, along with pictures of his abs and ass.
"Who's the beefcake?"
"[peeved expression] He's my *boyfriend*. I don't know if you know him? Daniel, he's in the Football Club?"
[flashback panel showing Conner in football gear, screaming, Daniel charging at him] "Oh, yeah, I know the Football Club. He's good people."
"[back to the office] [Janet with wistful expression] He's such a sweetheart. He's not very good at sewing but he offers to help all the time. And I'm not very good at football, so it all kind of works out!"
"Yeah, yeah, good times. Hamster eating a banana and all that. You do anything nice recently? Dinner by moonlight?"
[immediately peeved again] "I wish."
"Interesting. So if I grant your wish you'll get on this order?"
"What? Conner!"
"You just leave it all to me. I got this." as he ducks out of the club.


[Conner eating lunch at the school cafeteria] "Dinner by moonlight... dinner by moonlight... what if..."
[Conner pauses and turns to see various objects - a solitary round table with a vase full of roses; a painted background hanging on the wall depicting the night sky; a lunch table populated with a violin player and singing accordionist; a poster on a corkboard reading "Romantic Dinners For Your House and Home: An Easy Guide For Everyone"]
[Conner quietly contemplates this]
"Nah, it'd never work. I need to consult a professional."
[Conner outside the Cooking Club kitchen] "Someone who really understands the fine art of food and romance..."


Conner goes to the cooking club to see if he can enlist some help from them to pull this off.
The cooking club are all mad scientists and the place looks like a cross between and alchemist's workshop and a methlab
"OK, let's get this over with."
Conner is presented with a tongue scanner thing before a robo voice says "Welcome new applicant."
Conner is seated in a chair with an ultrasound head monitoring device, the chair is on a track that takes the new test subject to the various work stations of the club's members for them to feed him dishes.
Conner is served sheep's head
>"Meh, I've seen worse"
>They pour something innocuous like A1 sauce over it
>"nnNNOOOOO you SICK FUCKS"
Conner bails on the chair and makes his way to where the boss is

A sequence of club members working on more and more elaborate dishes (some technologically aided) and then the boss himself holds a simple egg and makes an omelette in 15 seconds, talking about how practice helps you do things without compromising speed or quality.
>Cooking Club President
>Looks like an ordinary handsome fella in sharp contrast to the club members and environment; has a cheeky light-hearted personality. His name is Jeff.
Conner has a flashback, meticulously preparing a dish to take home and then breaking down wanting to throw it in the bin.

President sees someone out of the corner of his eye and says "Can you just pass me that?"
Conner grabs for something in that vague direction and gives him the paprika powder to put on the steak. President stops, looks at the powder, looks at Conner, "You always had a flair for the unorthodox". "You know, we kept that hole you made in the wall."
"Yeah, so did the sewing club."
"Since you're here, mind lending a hand?"
Cue Conner in an apron and headband or whatever as he's chopping things.
"So what brings you here?"
"I'd like you to help me prepare a meal for someone. One of those real romantic dinners."
"Oh, right? You're dating someone?"
"She already has a boyfriend."
"..."
"I'm making the dinner for her and her boyfriend."
"... ..."
"Look, it's for an exchange, I need a teddy bear sewn up for a friend and in return--"
"Oh, I get you now"
"Great! So, what do you want in exchange?"
"Money?"
"... apart from money? And booze and drugs, I don't trade those."
[disbelieving snark from a club member, small font] "What kind of straight-edge are you?"
[leader musing] "That makes things a little difficult. We don't just normally trade meals, unless it's for the care home. We need money to buy ingredients, pay for equipment, maintain the kitchens. Let me think if there's something else we really need..."
[club member chimes in] "Dude! Concert tickets!"
Conner, thinking: "Concert tickets? Maybe if I go to the music club they can-"
Other club members "Yeah, Riggs Hagar is doing a show on Saturday!"


Smash cut of Conner lying face down on Rudy's sofa, dejected with no dialogue
Close-up of Rudy's face, unsure if he should say something. Close-up of a ticking clock. Slightly closer close-up of Rudy again. Then a medium-shot panel, Rudy's dialogue interrupted before it even starts, interrupted by "WHERE AM I GOING TO GET TICKETS FOR A RIGGS HAGAR SHOW? Whuh- I mean -what even is a Riggs Hagar anyway?!"

He rolled over while having this outburst and now he notices Rudy has an autographed poster of Riggs Hagar on the wall "Wait, how did you get this?"

"He's friends with my dad."
>Conner gives a blank look
>Rudy pointing to a framed picture on the wall of Riggs and George hanging out (block George's face with a word bubble or something), Rudy's eyebrows raised in expressing "THIS person??"
>Conner giving an angry shrug
>Rudy pointing to an adjacent picture of Riggs posing with Conner and Rudy at a birthday party
"It's not -- it's not ringing a bell, my dude. I don't know what to tell you."
"Just ask my dad! Just say, 'hey Rudy's dad, I need the thing, give me the thing to do'! He'll gladly let you!"
"He'd never -- I can't just ASK for -- you know what I COULD do? I could ask him to give me tickets to Riggs Haggar's show in exchange for something else. Like, beer, or women."
"He hates doing chores. You could always do those."

Conner walks into the living room, we see see an armchair facing the fireplace with a newspaper raised above the back of the chair.
Conner: "Hey, Mr. uh... Rudy's dad..."
A flaming skull head with a dad mustache and dad pipe turns around from the chair
George: "CONNER, MY BOY, TAKE A SEAT!"
He's a boisterous, back-slapping type of dad
George: "SO, SON, HAVE YOU PUT ANY THOUGHT INTO OUR OFFER? BARBARA AND I WOULD BE THRILLED IF YOU'D MOVE IN WITH US."
Conner is frozen in his seat, maybe show a flashback to his actual dad leaving and him living alone in an apartment. He replies barely louder than a whisper "I'm still thinking about it."
George: "THAT'S FINE TOO, TAKE ALL THE TIME YOU NEED. SO TELL ME, SON, WHAT'S ON YOUR MIND?"
Conner: "I'll - I - I need the thing, give me thing please? I'm willing to work for it."
George: "HMMM. CHORES, EH? YOU KNOW, I NEVER HEAR *RUDY* OR *HAYLEIGH* VOLUNTEERING TO CLEAN THE HOUSE! God bless 'em! AND I SUPPOSE YOU'LL EXPECT TO GET PAID!"
[Conner sitting ashamed, waving his hand in a "yeah kind of" manner]
"OK, SON, I'LL TELL YOU WHAT. YOU SEE THAT OL' DIRT PILE IN THE YARD?"
[frantic nodding]
"HAVE YOU EVER WORKED A *STEAM SHOVEL*?"
[frantic shaking]
"LET ME SHOW YOU HOW IT'S DONE! COME ON!"

Cue the landfill that is as expansive as the warehouse the Ark of the Covenant was shipped off to.

So he takes out the trash (with some training on industrial-strength equipment), George congratulates him on a job well done, signals Hayleigh to pull a lever that opens the home's trash chute and replaces the landfill. George laughs good-naturedly, "you know how it is with a house of five, you clean it spotless one day and then it's filthy the next"


Then after he gets the tickets he goes back to the cooking club all tired and possibly filthy and shows them the tickets and they go "Let's make some magic happen!"

Then we see the date between the sewing club president and it's all a professional production like a gondola and singing and stuff.
Then the sewing club president gets a kiss and has the hearts floating about her as she makes the teddy while still in his love daze.

Of course, since she isn't watching what she's doing, it's implied she fucks up most of her hands and right arm in the process and is dispatched in an ambulance, leaving the second-in-command to take over
"Normally we wouldn't carry out such a ridiculous request, Mr Jones, but the club leader insisted personally. Enjoy your adorable little bear."
"Finally! Man, for a minute there I was worried things were going to go horribly wrong!"
>Pause
"Well, enjoy your day."
"Thanks! Take care!"

He presents her with the bear and she's happy. He tries to give it to her. Realizes that's not going to happen. Offers to gift-wrap it, Belle declines; she'll allow him the privilege of escorting her over.
Conner should be jovial and chummy with Belle and the present, receives the envelope and holds it in one hand (bear in the other)

Conner and Belle are walking to the student council office.
Conner realizes where they are at the door and goes extremely quiet as the door opens and Frank is the wall that greets them.
"Oh, Conner, what do you want?"
He sees Conner is holding a present and then Belle ducks around him waving at Daughter Princess on her throne (What's a good nick-name for her? DP has some less than innocent connotations)
"Hey, hey [DP]! I'm, like, coming in!" and she ducks around Frank because she doesn't give a fuck
Frank: "Now you hang on a minute--!"
DP: "It's fine."
"I got you something for your birthday!" and points at what Conner is holding.

Frank takes the bear and walks it over to DP. She holds it up, looks at it, smiles, starts hugging it, nothing sinister.
Belle: "Like, thanks for the help, Conner!"
Close up of DP with the bear up to her face, she now looks more sinister like the way she looked in Conner's imagination earlier "Yes, thank you, Conner."
And the door closes with Conner stunned, holding the envelope.
Some complex conspiracy cork wall image forms in Conner's mind with lines connecting all the names of the people he traded with for the hall passes he's quietly leafing through, turns around and throws the wad away "I got played."
Walks off. Dives back into the trash can he just threw the passes in as another hall monitor goes by as Rudy looks on in confusion.

--------------
#Hero Contest

The story opens up with a TV in the classroom playing an advertisement for the upcoming contest.
A superhero is retiring and is looking for a successor, the winner of the contest gets the supertech staff that gives energy/gravity manipulation powers and is about 50 years more advanced than anything currently on the market.

The whole class is interested and Conner feigns nonchalance, until the big stipulation for the contest is revealed - normal, unaugmented kids only. Conner's classmates want him and Rudy to join the contest and they support them (albeit with some bants), whereas Conner thinks they just want to see him make a fool of himself.
From the classmates' designs alone we should be able to assume they're all superpowered; maybe they casually demonstrate their abilities so the reader knows they're not just cosplaying and they can't compete.

There are roughly 750 students, around a third of them (250) have some sort of super human ability.
Of the other 500-odd, about 30 would be permanently-augmented (disability-supervising), with 300-odd students who are allowed access to body-enhancements.
So are we looking at around 170 eligible applicants, more if students with augmentations are able to remove them.

Walking out of the classroom Conner tries to dissuade himself from entering, "what's even the point"/"do I really want to be a hero anyway". Mixed flashbacks of the heroes he grew up with on TV, then Conner being consoled by his normal-DNA parents ("cheer up son, there's always augmentation"), building up false hope. Interrupted by Rudy.

Rudy tells Conner about a new client, escorting him to the sign-up hall (re-purposed cafeteria hall?) and into a queue. Conner's distracted by Rudy making up the details of the trade until he realizes where he is. Rudy comes up with a lie on the spot - introduce the secretary at the registration table as a client, get Conner to sign his name on the paper as an informal contract for the barter. Then they get to the registration table and realize a councilor is sitting there. Conner escapes out of the queue and Rudy tries to get him to go back and sign up. Rudy asking him isn't this what he wants, the chance to be a hero.
Later during class registration the homeroom teacher informs the students that signed up for the contest to report to the front yard - the number of students being Conner. Denying he signed up, Conner leaves in the opposite direction of the yard to find new clients, walking through a door to the rear end of the school and inexplicably finding himself on the front grounds. Bucky introduces himself.

Conner leaves the way he came, going through the door and coming out on the front grounds again. Bucky encourages him to participate and possibly be a hero - but because he's a smug little shit that rubs peoples' faces in his own charisma and superpowers, he only depresses Conner further. Resigning himself to inevitable mockery Conner steps in with the other kids, including Renold (pudgy, incompetent, son of a governor) and Theodore (tall, stocky, boastful). Theodore's own brand of meritocratic crowing does the trick to aggrandize Conner and incite him to participate, if only to kick Theodore out of the contest.

Big speech by the vice-principal accompanied by the city mayor and the hero. Set up the details of the contest, each round is meant to test how well the entrees might handle the powers the staff gives, the qualifying round is later that afternoon. Everyone is asked to submit to a routine body check for powers and augments. Conner is scanned by a contest official, no abnormalities picked up, asked if he uses augments.

>Young Conner transferring to high school, taking the mandatory body check and getting his results from a different nurse. He's excited for his first augment-compatibility results.
>"It's got to be an A grade, right? At least an A! Maybe a B? C at least?"
>The nurse looks concerned at the screen, back to Conner
Conner responds with a flat "No" to the official.
The rules of the qualifying round are explained - the contestants have to make their way through a maze. During which we see Conner having to listen to Theodore's continued self-esteem pitch.

Doors open, students see the maze, realize gravity is disappearing. Judges tell the students to use their ingenuity. Many floating haphazardly, some pushing themselves forward by pushing/pulling others behind. One student rapidly ahead of the others.
Theodore struggling ahead, realizes Conner's chains are wrapped around his leg, kicks him off.
Conner shrugs, coils the chains around a hook to slingshot around the wall. Does this a couple times before hitting a wall face-first. A couple other students have plastic cuffs but not enough length to reliably use the same trick. Reaches the other end of the maze, past the cut-off point, past the rapid student who is red-faced/sweating in mid-air.

Conner doesn't look like he'll make it until Rudy launches himself into him with a double kick to propel him past the closing door cut off point.
"Oh no, I guess I didn't make it, oh well."

The judges congratulate those who made it, give information on second round - a big puzzle. The hero makes a speech about trickery, how some students might have thought that using tricks would be approved of (strategy under pressure) but they're wrong. Conner nervous. Hero doesn't name names but says a student was caught using augments, they're DQ'd. Students leave.

Rudy meets up with Conner. Conner asks him why he did that. Shrugs. Asks if Conner saw the rapid student (no response), says he had symptoms of augment burnout from overuse (no response), says the student must have wanted to win really badly to do that to himself. Conner asks what he's getting at.
Rudy changes tack, broaches the subject of the handcuffs. Comments on how they turned out surprisingly useful. He's been wearing them for a long time.
Conner points out they're for disciplined students that are for repeat offenders, a serious threat to themselves or other people. Their homeroom teacher Mr Carous wears cuffs all the time.
"Yeah, but he's a retired supervillain. And he needs two pairs of cuffs. I mean-- it's been two years now, I think the council would be more than happy if you said you wanted to stop."
"Yeah, maybe."
"...so... what's stopping you?"
Conner says the cuffs present some form of self-control. He thinks if he isn't careful he'll end like the rapid student, keeled over again. Rudy takes pains to assure him he has friends and support he can turn to if he's losing control. Conner feels a smidge patronized, but Rudy tries to soften it by adding that people face struggles all the time, and rarely overcome them alone.
"Even me, all the time I'm like... well... you know..."
Conner nods and puts his arm around Rudy's shoulder, trying to be his more jovial self. "I get you, man. Dark secrets. Everyone's got them. Us guys with our secrets, we have to stick together."
"Us guys and our secrets."

>Young Rudy transferring to high school, taking the mandatory body check and getting his results. He looks nervous.
>"I understand your mother and father were power-born. It's only natural if you would inherit their abilities or some other kind of mutation. Let's see..."
>sweating bullets
>"Huh, that's strange... you don't seem to display any of the basic abilities. Nothing here about fire-breathing or contortion..."
>sweating intensifies
>"No, it seems like you're a perfectly healthy young boy. I'm afraid there's no signs of superpowers showing whatsoever. On the bright side, your augment compatibility grade is a straight A. I think you have a bright future ahead of yourself, Rudy."
>Thanks, small talk, Rudy leaves
>Turns the corner and wipes the sweat off his forehead


Hero walks into an office to have a conversation with a senator, discussing the results of the contest and may the best person win etc. Hero leaves, we see a supervillain in costume skulking in the shadows.
Second round, fewer students. Each one is given a virtual puzzle themed around bomb-disposal. By happenstance Renold, Theodore and Conner are at adjacent stations.

>Governor's son asking Douchebag lots of rapid-fire questions ("what's that?" "what's that thing?" "why did you put it over there?" "how do I solve this?" "how do I move the thing?")
>Conner butts in every now and then to ask rudimentary math trivia
>Douchebag going purple with rage when he realizes his puzzle is fucked six ways from Sunday
Possibly Theodore grabbing Renold by the throat, getting ah-ah-ah reprimanded.

All three students finish their puzzles within the time limit, qualify for the semi-finals. We see the supervillain in civilian form as one of the changes in judges. Five remaining students are informed of the next test - obstacle course with an atlasphere. The courses contain rotating walls that pivot based on the atlasphere's "magnetic polarity", necessitating movement of the sphere and changing said polarity.
Pre-game confrontation where Theodore accuses Conner of cheating in the first game (admitted to) and the second game (conjecture). Conner spins it around on Theodore - if he's not good enough to succeed despite obstacles, he's a failure of his own philosophy. Theodore promises to demolish Conner in the next event fair and square, and Conner promises the same.
Unlike the other rounds, the obstacle course has a pretty sizeable crowd watching. Conner fumbles initially, but soon finishes the course. Realizes to his dismay that the only person who did worse was Renold, and expects to be sent out (only two can advance). Theodore appears to triumph, but is told by the hero that evidence was found of Theodore tampering with the atlasphere's polarity controls. He is DQ'd, the hero and judges summarily pushing Renold and Conner through to the finals. The crowd isn't best pleased at the announcement, but cheers for their finalists.
The supervillain judge seems surprised by this turn of events.

Bucky admits he has to congratulate Conner but Conner doesn't want to be patronized - it was pure luck, and he'll win the finals on his own terms. Bucky talks about how Theodore was fuming and claiming innocence. Conner seems almost inclined to believe him (siding with either Bucky or Theo is choosing the worser of two evils).
The final round has a larger crowd than before. A large elevated platform suspended above crashmats. Both contestants start in the centre. They must retreat to their designated far end of the platform, through a series of pendulums; retrieve the pugil stick sitting on their edge of the platform; then make it back through the pendulums to knock their opponent off the platform.
Both Conner and Renold succeed in navigating past the pendulums the first time around - Renold's are noticeably slower. They retrieve their sticks. The second time through Conner's chains get caught by one of the pendulums and he's thrown off, hanging by the chain. With some artful use of physics he propels himself back onto the platform and untangles himself, the crowd cheers. He makes his way to the centre to fight Renold.
The fight is an artless scuffle. Renold loses his pugil stick. He surrenders, but the judges call a stop to the match. Because Conner used a weapon on the platform other than his pugil stick, he is DQ'd. Crowd confusion, booing. Everyone goes backstage.
Preparation for the award ceremony. Conner dismayed, Renold bewildered, trying to apologize to Conner. The supervillain judge argues that the chains weren't a weapon and that Renold lost the match when he lost his pugil stick. The other judges and the hero stand firm, even refusing a rematch. The senator proudly walks in to congraulate his son, Renold, on winning. "With a little bit of help from your new mentor" his father says, patting the hero on the back. Renold connects the dots and gets into an argument with his father.

The vice-principal and city mayor step backstage, followed by the councilors - the crowd are protesting, claiming Conner got robbed. The supervillain judges suggest a rematch, the senator refuses it until he sees the crowd for himself. The adults come to the conclusion that, to save face, they'll just make Conner the winner of the contest and give him the blasted staff. Bucky gives Conner his congratulations, Renold tries to apologise again for his father cheating.

Frank: "It seems your victory has been decided. Congratulations, student Jones."
Bucky: "Hey, congrats, man! Try not to embarrass us up on stage, eh? You're representing the school now!"
Conner:
Amelia: "Is everything Ok? This is what you wanted, wasn't it? To be a hero?"
Conner: [walks off]
Council: [awkward glances, Bucky gets motioned to trail him]
While the senator has his heart attack the councillors are reacting as well (Amelia unimpressed "really?", Frank angry at the violation of social etiquette, Bucky smirking "oh, you") before Princess Daughter slowly starts laughing and the councilors soften. The judges demand that Conner be punished for embarrassing the school and the city, Daughter concedes with "Certainly. He will get what's coming to him."
Change Conner's attitude at the beginning. Have Rudy try and convince him that entering the contest is a great idea, looking at it from a pragmatic view ("you can put it on your resume" "think of all the new clients you'll meet" etc). "It'll be easier to barter with people around school if you have super staff powers" "But will I really want to, though?" Conner asks aloud. Maybe throughout the comic he wonders if bartering is more a stopgap and a means to offload stuff he hoarded from joining different clubs, rather than a passion, and should he feel guilty if he would drop it in a heartbeat if it meant he had powers. He signs his name, goes to the front yard.

The hero and the judges have a private talk with Conner - they want him to make a heartwarming acceptance speech to the crowd. Their collective posture is a far cry from when they made the anti-cheating speech.
Conner steps onto the big ceremonial stage and says the hero's powers shouldn't go to a person that cheats (crowd cheering). They should go to the talented, the most deserving, the person that would use them best (more cheering). That's why he's happy being disqualified (confusion). He believes the person who should receive the staff is Theodore because he stuck to his convictions. He thanks the crowd and leaves. Their piss is brought to a boil ("what happened?" "he was cheated and he's thankful?" "he was blackmailed!" "he's a fraud!" "he was bribed!")
The senator is having a heart attack backstage and the judges are furious that they've been made fool of and left to clean up the mess. Bucky disagrees - after everything he did, if Conner had accepted it, Bucky would've thought a lot less of him as a person.
Conner's classmates are confused at his behavior, but trying to be supportive. Theodore soon confronts him - he isn't happy either, because he wanted to win fair and square rather than being handed the prize. In a way, says Conner, he did win fair and square. Theo comes to the compromise that he won't be a schemer or cheater like Conner or the hero and senator, and will use his new powers with great responsibility.

----------
#Pepper

We start off with her sitting alone at the school cafeteria, she looks at another table and there's Rudy with his adoring fans. She thinks "Wow, he's popular." and goes over there.

So she says "Hey dude, can I talk to you?" and the other girls block her saying "You haven't been going to this school long enough to get some Rudy action."
"Geez, chill out, I just wanted to ask for some help."
And Rudy chimes in "Oh, help? I know a guy for that."

Cut to a fountain where Pepper is waiting "He said that guy should be around here."
From the fountain emerges someone dressed in an old-timey diving suit, giant helmet and everything with a severed tentacle wrapped around them.
They step out of the fountain
"What the hell? Are you the guy?"
The person takes their helmet off, it's a girl, a hall monitor
"Guy? You mean Conner? Stay away from that *lunatic*! He's cuffed for a reason!"

After she walks off Pepper scoffs "Says the chick with tentacles clinging to her."
Then Conner appears behind her and says "Hey, those go for a nice price in the school cafeteria."
"So you're the guy?"
"I am indeed the guy! What do you need?"
He pulls out a giant backpack from the fountain covered in shrink wrap and begins pulling things out of it. "Pencils, notes, books, wi-fi passwords, cursed whispering tomes?"
he holds up a fake looking spell book and lets gravity flip the pages as he turns his head and whispers behind it.
"Got any relationship advice, bro?"
"Wha-?" Conner begins packing up "Talk to Rudy about that."
>Pepper speaks up as he's walking away "He told me to ask you, you ass!"
>Conner: [stops, turns] "Yeah? Well I did teach him everything he knows. Are you new here? What's your name?"
>"Pepper."
>"Conner."
>Pepper: "So what's with the cuffs?"
>Conner holds up his hands and waves the chain around "It means I'm dangerous. Restrained. Fettered. A person to stay away from. Villain-looking, that sort of thing. Not everyone's favourite."
>Pepper: "You just look like a fag, though."
>Conner: [poker face]
>Pepper: "I mean no offense but, like, do you actually live on the streets? Like if you do, you can tell me, I won't tell anyone--"
>Conner: "Why does someone like you want to be popular anyway?"
>Pepper: "Been pinged around a lot, seems we're finally settling here. I'd like to not be bored."
>"Pinged around?"
>"My dad's military."
>"Ah, right. Forget I asked."
>"...what, you got a problem with the army?"
>"Nah, it's just, you probably get asked about it all the time, right? What's your dad do, what's it like moving all the time? Shit's annoying. I can relate."
>"I don't mind tellin' people. I'm proud of my dad."
>"Yeah. Same."

[Awkward silence goes here.]

>P: "I'm actually a clone."
>C: "The fuck?"
>P: "Yeah, bro. The army wanted to see if they could make more soldiers like my dad since his body just ignores shock-waves, but I came out a girl."
>C: "That-- Do genes work that way?"
>P: "I dunno, I exist, don't I? So my dad decides to raise me."
>C: "Wait, are we actually going into a flashback?"
"So my dad raises me the best he can" A comical montage of the army 'stealthily' trying to test if she inherited powers, 'stealthy' attempts like Take Your Daughter To Work Day, where Pepper's father is suddenly promoted to Landmine Detection Squad "But he's still gotta work and stuff."; Pepper and her father at Disney World or whatever the equivalent is with only suits around "He's done right by me as far as I'm concerned."; Pepper and her father in a china shop, accidentally knocking over a vase that inexplicably causes the entire building to detonate; interspersed with panels of Pepper growing up in different states and different schools. "But growing up with just him, I don't get along well with other girls I guess, and when I try hanging out with dudes they all end up hitting on me."

>C: "That's not even the strangest backstory I've heard this week. Alright, walk with me for a second." [proceeding to pretend he knows what he's talking about, bartering with people, giving her rules to follow, etc]

>"Now I said we're not allowed contraband or magic tomes but the most important rule is, no money. Absolutely not. Students trading money is against school rules, you do it, you get in trouble. You TRADE, and you trade as close to equal value as you can."
>"Isn't trading meant to be reported?"
>"Well-"
>"I mean we buy things from the shops here."
>"They're allowed-"
>"My guy, we're at a shop right now."
>"They're allowed! I'm not. If I start getting cheeky with the teachers or the council, my ass is out."
>"That seems harsh."
>"I-I mean for me, specifically. Most everyone else is fine. You see that dude there, with the plastic cuffs? And that one, right there? If any of them pulled that shit they'd be out. If I pull that shit I'm out. If you pulled that shit -- you'd get detention, I guess?"
>"That doesn't seem very 'equal value' of them."
>"Well, I'm just more equal than most of these guys."
>"...what does this have to do with relationship advice? All I've been doing is watching you jump out at people."
>"Pepper, this is the advice. You've been watching it in action this whole time, have you been observing?"
>"Yeah."
>"All the transactions, the handshakes - what have you learned?"
>"Don't do what Conner does?"
>"Yeah? You think you can do better?"
>"Maybe. It doesn't look so hard."
>"Yeah? Ok! Ok, good. Outstanding. You do bartering then. Hit me up if you need any pointers. [walking off, but stops]"
>"Conner, wait! What about relationships?"
>"...they're like bartering! It's not about if one person wins! It's about neither side feeling like they've lost."


Belle needs some help touching up and goes to find Conner, instead she finds Pepper at one of Conner's usual loitering spots.
>B: "Like, have you seen Conner? I need some help."
>P: "He's..."
Light bulb goes off in Pepper's brain
>P: "I'm temping for him today, what's going on?"
>B: "Oh, like, OK? I just need some help touching up my makeup."
>P: "Is that all? No sweat."
She thinks to herself "If he can do this, then there's no way I can't."
>B: "Cool, I need to look my best for the big game."

Pepper is doing the makeup
>P: "So why do you have Conner do this?"
Belle holds up her claws and clicks them a few times to indicate she can't do it herself.
>P: "Right, but why Conner?"
>B: "Because he's, like, professional about it. You don't trust someone to do your makeup if they offer to do it for free, you know?"
>P: "...I mean, I'm doing it for free right now."
>B: "Right, but Conner trusts you. That reminds me, his hall passes! Can you hand them to him when you're done? They're just in my bag."
>P: "Yeah, no problem. I'm a professional at this stuff! I know exactly the right look for you."

After getting her face painted by Pepper, Belle is strolling through the halls, her normal cheerful self, waving and saying hi to everyone. Everyone is staring at her face paint though without her noticing.
Belle pops into the council's office to say hi to Amelia, who is behind stacks of forums.
>A: Why isn't this all digital by now?
>B: Hi Amelia, you still want to have lunch?
>A: Sure, let me just "Who--!"
Catches herself mid freakout seeing Belle in full war paint
>A: "Er, who did your make up today?"

Cut to Amelia storming through the halls with Belle in toe, we see all the students wearing war paint now
>Random student chatter: "It's the new look! It's retro-chic-core!"
Belle stops to stare and asks
>"Why is everyone painted like that?"
Amelia grabs her with a forced smile and hurries her along
>"Don't worry about it! It's just some fad is all!"

Conner is at his locker talking to his reflection in the mirror in it, practicing the perfect ambush on a client, shortly before he bursts out triumphantly, "ha-HAH"
He closes the locker only to see a red faced angry Amelia with Belle watching in confusion
>Conner: "Belle! What happened to your face?!"
>B: "What do you mean, what hap--"
>A: "Your 'temp' happened!"
>C: "Temp? The only sidekicks I have are Rudy and sometimes Hayleigh."
>Pepper: [waving to Belle] "Eyyy, that look really turned out popular!" [slaps Conner on shoulder] "Hey, boss. You weren't here when, er, whatshername showed up, so I took over! Think I did pretty well, all things considered, right?"
>C/A: [gesturing to Belle in confusion/anger]
>P: "...is that a no?"
>B: "No, really, what's going on? Do I need a mirror?"

Conner is in the background wearing a shabby beret with a painter's palette in one hand and a brush in the other while Amelia lectures Pepper
>Amelia: "...even with the claws and tail, she's a cheerleader! What made you think it was a good idea?"
>Pepper: "She said Conner normally does it, and he walks around in green pajamas, I figure I couldn't do that much shittier than him."
>Amelia: "That's ridiculous. If you don't know how to do it, don't just launch into working on peoples' faces--" [turns to Conner] "You're a bad influence on her! Don't you even think about talking to her again!"
>Conner: "I'll try to restrain myself."
>Pepper: "What's even the big deal?! It's not like she's dead or anything, chill. You seem way too stressed out--"
>Amelia: "I have three clubs that still need to sign off on their budget, I have a school trip to the beach to organize, the printer's on the blink and one of my colleagues is upset because their mother is in the hospital - so yes! I'm a little tense!"
>Pepper: "Dude, you need to wind down badly. My dad, he has this ping-pong table, it's super therapeutic--"
>Amelia: "Give me one good reason I shouldn't suspend you."

Amelia's hair has turned blue in her anger causing Conner to do a double take while getting makeup on his mirror.

Belle's face is restored. She turns from the mirror to look at Amelia
>B: "O EM GEE, that's SUCH a good color for you!"
>A: "What?"
>B: "Like, I didn't know you were into dying your hair. Blue is so your color! You make it look natural!"
Amelia looks into the mirror and sees her hair has turned blue before running off
>Pepper: "So, rain check on that ping-pong game?"



She needs advice on keeping friends since this is the longest time she's ever been in one school and finds she has little in common with other girls and dudes all eventually try to date her making things awkward

Somehow reveal Pepper's backstory:
Dad has minor super power that makes him immune to explosive energy (impacts from bombs, projectiles propelled by gunpowder, etc). Army tried to clone him, clone turned out female somehow. Raises his clone baby as his actual child. Army kept bugging them her whole life testing to see if she got her "dad's" powers.

Still an outline in progress

----------
#Mr. A
It's in its own paste


https://pastebin.com/GsL1k7XA



---------
#Retired villain

>A teen who volunteers to be a villain's intern should set off red flags for the villain since they're going to be usurpers.
A story where Conner goes downtown and runs into/hangs out with/antagonizes a cranky retired roboticist in order to hunt down the scientist's teenage nemesis, a mysterious helmeted hero who Conner believes to be a client welching out on his end of a barter. The hero is actually the client's sister and they take turns assuming the suit (and identity) of the hero as a tag-team.

The roboticist is famous for his feud against the helmeted hero. He has long retired but still uses his AI-equipped flying pod to park down town and go shopping. He claims to have given up his evil ways until Conner-and-bag hitches a ride, exceeding the pod's weight limit and causing it to decide to eject the human passengers. Conner has nothing but admiration for the roboticist's genius (explaining how he built his own prototype augmentation, to the doctor's disbelief) and tracks the pod down to find the hero, cue mistaken identity, etc.
The close call causes the roboticist to relapse. With Conner's help he tracks the hero down (the brother swapping out with the injured sister) and battles them. Periodically the hero disappears behind a building or down an alleyway and re-emerges with a second wind. As the hero triumphs and disables the roboticist's pod, causing it to collapse and pin him down, Conner attempts to help the old man out but he pushes Conner away - the roboticist then sends the pod flying in the air into emergency self-destruct mode. He wants to go out on his own terms rather than be taken to hospital and either die in prison or in his cold mansion.

The helmeted hero is having none of it and saves the doctor in the nick of time, and the handcuffed teenager is mistaken for a hostage rather than an accomplice. In their escape the hero leaves their debt to Conner behind. In prison he visits the doctor one last time, to encourage him to find what gave him joy in his career, and he retorts that the young boy couldn't understand the weight of a lifetime of failures. Soon after the roboticist is bailed out by Queen Mother, who says the doctor has promise she can help realize - for good rather than evil.

The story ends with Conner, the brother and sister unpacking for science class when they receive the unexpected news (and appearance) of a substitute teacher.


-----------
#Beach Trip

Work in progress, still needs to be discussed more and organized.

>Conner wants to get a tan; he tries to convince Bucky and the councilors about how altruistic and well-thought-out his plan is
>"you should do a trip to the beach, the seaside at [Mr A's hometown]. here's the train schedules for the days with best weather, and here are the venues we can visit on each day"
>"that's a great idea Conner, I'm glad I thought of it"
>they get to the town and the weather is miserable and the beach is covered in trash
>"this sure was a genius plan of yours, Conner"
>"oh fuck off"
>Bucky and Conner busting each other's balls as they clean up the trash while the other councilors escort the students around town and see all the ""fun"" gimmicky attractions, museums etc
>Bucky's extreme speed and Conner's bag of tools (and ability to rope other people in to volunteer) enables them to actually make most of the shore hospitable and they start to get acclimated to one another; the students and local townspeople congregate near the end of the afternoon and relax
>"Another successful trip organized by the Motown student council"
>"I'm sweating buckets and I'm still about as tanned as milk, this sucks"
>"You know Conner... you're not as dumb an asshole as I took you for"
>"Yeah ok, fuck you too I guess"


>councilors have a meeting on what sort of event to organize for the students to have fun
>Princess Daughter suggests taking everyone to the nearest Disneyland-expy since it's where she takes her weekly date; money is no object
>Amelia suggests a haunted mansion theme for the school, or a maid cafe
>Frank suggests a cross-country running event, a sponsored walk, or rock-climbing; if money is no object, he'd like if everyone got the chance to do winter sports
>Ella goes with Princess Daughter because she's her friend, but she'll also go with Amelia's suggestions because she's her friend, and she doesn't like the sound of Frank's suggestion but she'll go with etc etc
>Bucky suggests taking the ferry again and going to the beach, maybe they'll find some lost cash or get to hit on girls
>Ella says she'll go with the beach too
>We need a tie-breaker, everyone's picking their own idea

>Conner declares he'll clean the beach up, Amelia assigns Bucky to help him while she organizes a sightseeing tour for the students
>Conner and Bucky take equal halves of the beach, Bucky sitting on a chair relaxing with a drink while Conner pulls reams of black bags out of his, well, bag and gets to work
>Bucky reaffirming his position of being a lazy-ass while simultaneously busting Conner's balls about Amelia; he says Amelia is way out of Conner's league; Conner admits as much, which is why he wants to improve himself, but forgets himself and doesn't want Bucky to blab about it; Bucky won't bother, he says the right person for Amelia doesn't have to improve themselves anyway
>Conner drags the full bags to the beach's entrance but realizes the landfill is literal miles away, and attempts to haggle with passers by for some kind of ride, however they mistake him for a vagrant or hitchhiker
>it takes Bucky peeling his ass out of his chair and negotiating with the local wildlife, using the tools and items in Conner's bag, to work their way up to getting a truck and driver to help
>soon the town's attention is drawn to the two 'tourists' organising the clean-up as Bucky takes charge organising and helping clean, since he has speed powers; Conner still working away; volunteers augmented or otherwise start to trickle in, and the fact outsiders are doing the clean-up is making City Hall and the press-ganged capes look bad
>more trucks (commercial and waste-management) drive in and Conner gets tangled up with a series of bags because of the chain of his cuffs, sending him off to the landfill
>a couple capes and a platoon of police officers arrive to monitor the situation, and consider breaking up the operation; however their sympathies are with the volunteers and they ultimately wag their finger and ask Bucky and the townsfolk to break it up by the next day
>Amelia, Princess Daughter, Frank, Ella and the students arrive back at the beach and see the commotion for themselves, Bucky taking full credit for organising the cleanup and dismissively saying Conner had "wandered off to bunk off work somewhere, he's all talk and no action anyway"
>Bucky eating his words as Conner immediately arrives with the emptied trucks; he sees the commotion but also Amelia has returned, and the work isn't even close to finished; he yells "OH, ****" in horror
>time passes and the ferry is waved off by the local townsfolk; the beach looks a great deal better; the other councillors leave their private suite, Bucky apologises to Amelia ("You know... that Conner, he's not as dumb an asshole as I took him for"), asking if he can escort her to the deck sometimes; she apologises, she has work to do, and he understands
>Amelia peacefully getting back to her laptop, sitting next to Conner, who's passed out and covered in bruises

----------------
#Middle schoolers

-The "I'm too tired to care" teacher is giving the middle school students a tour or whatever. He gets called away to deal with something, like a fire or a student who's powers are out of control.
-Dumps the kids on Rudy because he was nearby. Rudy is less than happy about this, but goes about showing them around.
-They ditch him because reasons like he won't show them the cool stuff because he isn't authorized to go to where it is.
-Kids run off and get into some shit. One of them finds Conner doing Conner things.
-Frank is deployed. He was busy reading a book while doing yoga and isn't happy about his 15 minute relax time being taken away. Becomes the non-giving up, school guy/terminator.
-Two kids caught and reprimanded in short order, and then there was one.
-Conner flees for his life thinking Frank is after him when he's actually after the kid in his bag. Maybe the kid is an actual kid who has skipped grades or something, or maybe Conner is actually saving the kid like Buttons saves Mindy.

Like one kid with a full on Magneto powers who wears a helmet with magnets on it to keep himself from flying off of the surface of the Earth.
Or another who can increase the acidity of liquids he touches.
Or maybe one can just jump good.

----------------
#P.E. Class

It's just a big cluster of discussion points right now, no actual cohesion yet.

P.E. for super kids in hero training is saving people
In disaster training non-powered students are both encouraged and taught how to escape disaster on their own for both their own safety and to lessen the spread of resources so those who really need to be rescued can be in a more timely manor.
But those designated to be people truly in need of rescuing during the exercise would have to stick to their roles.

There's a designated level assigned to each student that indicates the level of rescuing they require.
Level one - Work on getting out of the disaster on their own.
Level two - Can work on getting to safety on their own, but must limit their movements.
Level three - The equivalent of having broken bones and will have to stay stationary.

System is set up to teach students and also expect them to take initiative. Students would still harbor resentment/elitism over other students getting the 'good' roles or 'not doing their job' or 'unfairly denying me points' etc, so we'd see the intention of the system while also seeing conflict when the expected plans fall apart. Hostage Rudy follows rules of being rescued, Hostage Hayleigh resigned to following rules, Hostage Conner just breaks out and heads back to the 'goal'.

It's like having a goalie. You don't saddle the same kid with playing goalie every game if it's just casual matches. You change what distress level each student has every round. It could be fun if Conner blows up and the tables get turned with him playing the role of savior and the super kids having to play the role of the distressed. Conner knows he's ill suited for this role and didn't actually want it (he just wanted to skip the class entirely), but still tries to do his best out of spite. And the super kids try to not get an F for failing to stick to the "boring" roles. It would be good training for the super kids since even the super powered can end up in distress and need to know what to do if that happens.

I'm torn on whether Conner boasts about all his plans in class, but when actually put on the spot of 'designated hero' he realises he hadn't trained or mentally practiced for any of it; or whether he builds himself up as an unreliable, poor choice of 'hero' to spite himself, only for the teacher to put Conner's grade on the line as well as everyone else's if he specifically does poorly. Putting more pressure on him.
I think a 'hostage rescue' class would be good material for Conner's backstory where he's freshly-transferred into a class of superiors, stripped of his prototype and now made to be a hostage, like it's all being rubbed in his face. He feels deprived of agency and when the hostage rescue goes wrong and Conner is confronted by the 'villain' teacher putting on an OTT act of menace ("you're trapped, no-one's coming to save you" etc), he asks the teacher to just put him out of his misery. What's he even being kept alive for? The answer leads to his about-face.

The teacher has lectured Conner on skipping his classes, so now as punishment he makes Conner the head rescuer. He allows Conner to pick up to 5 other students for his team, everyone else in the class is a hostage. Partially out of spite and partially because Conner doesn't personally know the super-powered classmates that well, Conner goes solo. Let's say Conner's rescue plan hinges on just distracting the teacher while sending escape-tools to the Level 1 students, banking on them freeing themselves so they can free the other students and escort everyone back. How hard would the teacher penalise Conner for violating the spirit of the rules and the odds stacked against him? Would Conner feel justified in pointing out how poorly the classes prepare students for real-life emergencies (allowing too much prep-time, staging the hostage-taking, treating the class with kid gloves etc)? Would the hostage students feel compelled to use their powers to rescue Conner when he eats shit?