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Start Ups Welcome to the Assist Club

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Prez

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Sensing things becoming awkward, Erika turned around to look at the food Nathan was eating. "So, how is your fish?" She asked, leaning a bit closer to look at it. "I hope there isn't anything fishy about it, heh." With a slightly forced laugh, she glanced back over at Nathan.
 

Hector

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Nathan managed to summon a fake smile at this. He could tell that Erika wasn't exactly enjoying his presence at the moment. "Sorry to say it's rather fishy." He quipped. He hated when things were uncomfortable between the two of them. While it had been getting better of late, it was still one of those things that popped up on occasion.
 

Mint Elv

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Zima for a moment thought Jordan meant just the two of them but then he said everyone. "O-oh ri-right everyone. Definitely. It will be fun. Um I'm going to get ready for my branch exams. Lunch should be up soon," she told him, standing up.
 

Prez

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"Oh, that's rather unfortunate." Erika said with a slight laugh. She wasn't sure how, but things became even more awkward. As each minute went by, she found herself staring at the clock waiting for finals to start. While feeling completely awful at how downhill the conversation went, she knew that once the actual finals ended, things would go back to normal. If she didn't fail that is.
 

Flaze

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@Ayato; @smaug85; @Blake Belladonna; @Scholar; @AutumnRain; @Lyrebird; @Terram Validus;

Lunch time was finally over and it was time for the next phase of the final exams to begin. The Branch exams were about to get underway as everyone in the school headed to their respective branch for their examination.

Jordan and Jake walked out of the locker rooms, having changed into their soccer uniforms. “Well, so it begins once more,” Jake nodded his head while looking at Jordan, who seemed to be a bit more serious now. “You okay?”

“Uh…yeah I’m fine don’t worry,” Jordan laughed. In truth he was actually worried about what had gone on with Zima before, he felt that he had probably alienated her too much, was he just too worried about letting her see his feelings that he just pushed her away. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

“Okay,” Jake replied with a raised eyebrow. “I’ve known since we were kids you know, if there’s something worrying you then you should tell me since you and I both know that your concentration isn’t exactly top notch when you’re worried.”

“I told you I’m fine,” Jordan insisted, a frown crossing his face as he turned away.

***

All of the members of the Art Branch had been moved to the branch’s own showroom, a special building modeled after the Musee du Louvre in Paris. There were rooms showcasing the students artworks, sculptures, writing pieces and so on so forth for people to read. “I’m interested to see what the members this year will come up with,” Leo pointed out with a bored expression as he walked along the halls of the building, with the teachers of the branch following behind him. “You can never be too critical so don’t go easy on anyone okay?”

***

The members of the Science and Technology Branch were pretty much going through the same deal in their own building, with Terrance leading the rest of the judges as they all looked at what the students had worked on. This of course applied to the fashion branch as well.

It was different for Media and Performance Arts who had Aphrodite and Rafe as well as their fellows judges look at the videos and the performances that the students had prepared in order to judge them individually. As thus the judges had to be divided to be in charge of a respective year.

In the Media Branch’s case Aphrodite was in charge of judging both the first and third years together along with two other judges. While Rafe had been put in charge of the first and second years of Performance Arts.

***

Last but not least there was Culinary Arts Branch, much like Media and Performance in that the judges had been divided amongst the year, with Olive and three other judges being assigned to the second years.

“All right, I’m sure all of you have been wondering what the test was going to be this time,” Olive announced with a cold expression. Everyone had been told to change into their respective chef outfit and were given their own cooking stations. “The test for this time will be a cooking contest of sorts.”

“You will each make a dish of your own, once time runs out we will call you by pairs,” she explained as she held two fingers up. “We will then taste and compare those two dishes and pick a winner, the loser is kicked out,” she replied simply, not even hesitating when she said the last part.
 

Hector

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Upon hearing the rules of the contest, Nathan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. If he had to honestly place himself amongst his peers, he would say that in terms of cooking potential he was somewhere in the middle. He'd win the right matchup but if he came across the wrong matchup things... He wouldn't allow himself to think about that. For a fleeting moment he chastised himself for not just joining Performing Arts last year. He wouldn't find himself in the position of getting kicked out, that's for sure. And then the thought was gone and it was back to business.

Nathan decided that he would keep it simple and make sphagetti and meatballs with his homemade marinara sauce. If he had time, he would improvise and either make a side of chicken parm as well or he would add a creative flair to the pasta at the end.
 

Naoto

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Alice sighed, standing in front of her painting in the display of the art showcase.

I feel bad, I've been so busy with my artwork lately, I haven't really been spending much time with the Assist Club. I'll be sure to stop by after school.

Alice looked at her painting. I wonder if it'll be enough... I tried so hard, but they can get pretty brutal with their judging sometimes.

The painting depicted a girl, clutching a teddie bear, with a warm look on her face as she stared lovingly at it. In the back around, was endless in black, with streams of white that slowly shown from the black with a settle changes in value in the gradient.

The tittle was written underneath it.

Forever with you
 

Prez

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Erika listened to what Olive said in silence, the ends of her apron nervously being tugged at as she spoke. Her tone of voice wasn't exactly the most reassuring, but Erika quickly ignored this fact and continued to hear what the instructions were. The minute the words 'cooking contest' were spoken, Erika felt her heart drop. Her heart dropped even more as Olive continued to explain. They were to go up in pairs, present what they had cooked, and the loser would be kicked out. 'What?! I've never had to do this in a final before!' Erika thought to herself in shock, nervously tapping her fingers on the kitchen counter. She quickly looked over at Nathan before quickly shifting her gaze towards her station. 'Cut out all distractions...cut them out...'

She decided to cook a beef filet, or as her mother used to call it, 'Château de Thoiry'. Her father used to make it quite often, though he would normally have a cup of red wine for himself and her mom. Apparently it was connected to how they met, but Erika never bothered to listen to the story. She quickly noted to herself that any wine needed for the sauce would need to have its alcohol cooked out. Retrieving the meat and any other ingredients she needed to cook it with, she began to prep the meal.
 

Terram

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Jeremy took the opportunity to go first and present his presentation. His video was clean cut, and the editing had been done well. He also made sure to interview a wide variety of students for what they thought about the term in order to get a wide sample size.
 

Mint Elv

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Aphrodite stood in front of the third and first years of the media branch, staring down each one. "Okay so you already know your final. Each one will be shown up here, and then me and the other two judges will judge it. If we deem it unworthy, then well you're out of the branch," she told them, her voice void of emotion, her expression in perfect tandem. She looked around deciding who to target first. She was about to speak until she saw Jeremy stand up. "Did I say I was taking volunteers? I'm choosing the order. And since you seem so anxious you can wait. Now then," she looked around, smiling at a certain nervous first year. "Danny Boy Midorikawa. You're up first."

Danny frowned as he walked to the front and set up his video to play. He then watched with the others. His was stranger than many others. It had a natural feel to it as it was him simply walking up to people. No professionalism. Zima for example was done at home having just gotten out of bed. Others at lunch, or when they were running late to class. Everyone he did was in a natural environment and caught off guard, making it to where they had less time to answer and thus making their answers more honest.

The style was shocking but Aphrodite and the judges quite enjoyed it. It was innovative and entertaining. She then proceeded to call everyone, making Jeremy go last. Nevertheless she was quite vindictive.

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Rafe stood in front of the first and second years of the performing arts branch in an auditorium. "Okay simple. I will call your name.You are then to come up here and perform. This can be acting, singing, dancing. Whatever it is that you are in this branch for. If you are here for just one then perform one act. I along with two teachers will judge you. If we decide that you don't belong in this branch then we will kick you out of the branch. Fail the test, fail this branch. Now then let's begin." He soon started calling up different students before finally getting to a familiar one. "Anna," he said simply, knowing she would know that he was talking to her. "Come up and take your test."
 

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"Thanks for those instructions after I stood up and looked like an idiot" Jeremy grumbled to himself.
 

King Smaug

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Neil waited for the judges to come to his table to turn on his invention, and for good reason too. Neil's invention was a selective Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP).

When the judges came around to Neil's table they would find a small pill shaped object about 6 inches long and 3 inches in diameter, it was completely silver with a thin gun gray trench running around the diameter in the middle. On either side of the trench was a power button and a smaller red button on one side along with a small LED screen and two arrow buttons pointing left and right on the other.

Neil started his presentation, "Well, as all of you know, many different types of electronics emit and work on different, unique electronic frequencies. This machine makes use of those. I can set this machine to any frequency," said Neil, turning on his machine and using the arrows to select a frequency. "I have chosen 327.6 Mhz, an electronic frequency that is used by very specific types of laptops. I have set up about 7 of these laptops around the building, 4 in this room, 1 downstairs, and two upstairs, and since I know you won't want to run around the building, I have set up cameras on them," Neil pointer to one screen divided into thirds showing each computer. Neil then clicked the red button of his gadget. It began to hum, starting at a low frequency then raising higher and higher until a small shockwave (light enough to feel like a slight breeze). At once the laptops showed colored lines on the screen like they were infected with a bug and then shutting down.

Neil smiled, "I call it a selective EMP and the uses are endless. Want to shut down your enemies tech without shutting yours? Want to shut down enemy tech without shutting down a civilian hospital. Want to shut down the weapons systems on an enemy submarine without killing them? This is the answer." Neil ended with his charismatic smile and a handshake for each.
 

Lyrebird

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Since the males were at the football field, the females had to play the same sport but in a different location. Melissa and her best friend Emma were stationed in it and were warming up. They just had this look about themselves like they were fierce warriors raring to go and get the job done like Amazons. They were both talking about the sport itself because it was go time for Melissa and Emma.

"1-3, control pace, safety first but counter-attack with speed. Just treat this like another game." Melissa said to herself as her best friend was looking at her boots. "Shift right, cross left, pressure man to man and then do what it can with the ball." They were legit football buffs, Melissa especially since she was a very good reader of the sport. Melissa turned her gaze towards her gaze to Jordan and Jake who were there. She wanted to say good luck but she needed to keep in her mindset and not ruin the others.

Emma was warming up and stretching rather than spending time trying to shoot and play with the ball as she thought it would be too much of a risk of injury and a waste of energy than something like what most people did.
 

Flaze

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Olive had been staring at everyone attentively, paying attention at what each of them prepared and how they prepared it. She was a serious cook, and she thought that the members of the branch should be just as serious about their cooking, people that would triumph in the real world of cooking. Her eyes went to Nathan and Erika as she thought back to Erika's problem with cooking that she had noticed before. "I wonder..." she thought to herself while tapping her chin.

She was taken out of her thoughts when she heard the timer beep, signalling the end of the cooking period. "All right then," Olive pointed out with a nod from her head. "Utensils down and please stand with your dishes on this table," she said while pointing at a pair of long tables that had been set up in front of the judge's tables. "This is to stop you guys from adding any last minute ingredients," she explained methodically. "Anyways, we will start calling now."

***

As he walked around the building and looked at the works that the students of the Art Branch had done he came upon Alice's portrait. He looked at the portrait for a moment, scratching his chin in thought before looking at her. "Seems like you really put your thought in this," he said as he walked closer to the portrait and stared at it deeply.

***

Anna stood up from her seat when her name was called, a smile crossing her face as she walked towards the stage and bowed respectfully towards Rafe. "It's nice to be in your presence Rafe," she said with a smile before stepping back. She took in a deep breath before her expression changed, almost as if it changed when she got into her character. "I will be acting out the I dreamed a dream song from Les Miserables," she explained before beginning to act out her performance and singing the song. She was able to fully get inside the character, portraying the sadness and desperation not only through her movements and expression but her own voice.
 

Mint Elv

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Rafe smiled at Anna after her performance. He could tell that she had real talent. After calling the rest, the testing period came to an end. Rafe along with the judges took a little time to decide before he returned to the stage. "Now then the following will continue on in this branch. Anna Laguna," was the first name to leave the list. He made sure to shoot the girl a smile before he continued on with the rest.

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In the media branch Aphrodite walked forward after Jeremy's video. She like Rafe announced who would be moving forward in the branch, this including Jeremy and Danny.

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Zima stood by her project. It was a large children's book telling a tale about five little pigs named Market, Home, Roast Beef, None, and Wee. She had taken the names from the old nursery rhyme "This Little Piggy" and made it into and adventure centered around Wee the youngest and a scorpion named Rioscopianshi. The drawings were fitting for that of a children's book and perfect in how the real life animals looked if they wore clothes.
 

Hector

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Terrance raised an eyebrow at Neil's project and the following explanation and demonstration. There were definitely a lot of questions he had regarding the functionality and the limitations of such a device. But it was definitely a very well-done project, and Terrance had no problem with saying so. "Excellent work Neil. Excellent work." He complimented earnestly. "You most definitely pass." He added before walking off, heading to the next project to judge. His questions could wait for another time.

Nathan felt good about his dish. While it was by no means perfect, he definitely felt that he had a good shot of passing. He glanced over at Erika and sent a reassuring smile her way, as if to say that things were going to be okay.
 

Prez

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Throughout the whole entire cooking process, the bandages on Erika's hands constantly kept getting in the way. It got so bad at one point, they got caught on the side of her stove. When the bandages became soaked in the red steak sauce, that was her breaking point. She ripped off each band-aid and cloth that covered her hands and quickly chucked it in the garbage near her station. "Much better." She commented, rubbing the side of her wrist. With a slight grin, Erika continued to mix her dad's sauce together, the swift movements of each spin becoming much easier than before.

As soon as time ran out, she dropped anything that she was holding and slowly backed away from her meal. Looking over it, she was quite proud of what was accomplished. It wasn't perfect, no, but she had managed to cook something that wasn't a disaster. Even if she lost, this was something for her to be proud of. She finally was able to cook somewhat decent again. After looking over the meal one last time, she noted that Nathan was looking over at her.

Erika gazed over in his direction and smiled back.
 

Flaze

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Anna smiled, though she never doubted that should be able to pass her test. During the last few days she had gone to the park all by herself in order to practice and rehearse for the scene, not even telling Jordan or anyone in her family. "Thank you," she bowed respectfully before walking out. "Well, I think I can go see how my big bro is doing."

***

Olive and the other judges proceeded to call the students by pairs as they had explained before, with one person being kicked out and the other passing right there and then. After going through 5 different pairs she smiled, leaning back on her chair before proceeding to call the next pair over. "Please don't hate me for this," she muttered, her expression becoming serious again. "The next pair. Nathan Asher and Erika Shen."
 

Prez

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Erika couldn't believe her ears. She stood still, dumbfounded at what Olive just said. "Nathan and I...?" She muttered to herself, mindlessly pointing at him. Without saying another word, she took a deep breath and promptly walked towards the judges. To Erika, it seemed like nothing could ever go in her favor.
 

Hector

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"The next pair. Nathan Asher and Erika Shen." Nathan couldn't believe it. Out of all that could have happened... he had to get paired up with Erika. He looked up at the judges and his eyes caught Olive's. And then it hit him; she had set him up. Why, he didn't know, but now he was angry. Anger.. the emotion was one that was foreign to him... something he wasn't used to. So, without even thinking about it, he stood up, grabbed his guitar case and headed for the door. His eyes never left Olive's and when he reached the door, he simply said "I know what you did Olive." Erika would hear seething hatred and pure disgust in Nathan's voice, something she had never heard before from him, and probably never would again.

And then he was gone. Deep down he knew he had just signed his death warrant as a member of the cooking branch, and thus as a student at the school. Not knowing what else to do, he headed to the Assist Club's room to pack up his things. It would be painful to face Erika after what had happened, and it would be sad to tell his friends that he was going to have to leave, but it was something that had to be done.
 
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