School of the Shark [Open]

Being a peace officer on Manta Carlos was a great way for Lelei to leverage his previous experience as a guard into a workable career. As it was then, he served the greater community, the people, and ensured their safety and well-being. Granted, there were some differences between the two professions, if the former could even be called that. A peace officer, or a contractor for the police, felt more... regulated and controlled than being a guard. Being a guard was certainly regimented in a military fashion with many rituals and patterns and codes to follow. But guards were expected to act on their own should things go awry or when their services were needed. Being a police officer entailed a lot more red tape and things to memorize, now that Lelei had to contend with a more scrupulous legal system. In the end, it still filled the same niche.

But there was still something missing from his duties than Lelei felt a yearning for. It took a long time for him to realize what that want was however, because it seemed he got nearly everything he wanted out of his job. It hit him suddenly when, after intervening in a semi-superpowered scuffle between some youngsters, he realized that he more or less forbidden from taking either party under his fin to teach them how to control themselves or protect themselves. THAT was what he was missing: The mentoring of the new guard.

He missed the fresh faces and the eagerness to learn how to properly apply themselves in situations that necessitated force or even violence. Because it was always one thing to fight, it was another to properly fight and not lose oneself in it.

That was when he approached the administration at the Academy. It took some haggling, as they already had their own kind of faculty-lead power class, but Lelei eventually convinced them to let him have the power classes for a few periods over a few days to let him have a little extracurricular class.

As he was not an actual teacher, and possessed little knowledge of how to teach the youngsters of their own powers, his classes would mostly be general self-defense and confidence-building, in an almost militarized sense.

Drawing stares had descended into banal territory for Lelei. He was under no illusions about his appearance and stature. He was well aware that he looked strange and out of place and weird and a little scary. Unlike many others, he felt no shame or embarrassment in it, nor any need to hide himself. Despite his appearances, he was a civilized creature and he could exude that quality to anyone by just being a civilized creature, and not being the blood thirsty monster many made him out to be.

So to have some of his students gawk and whisper amongst themselves was of little problem to Lelei. He still gave them a wave and a friendly nod as they entered, waiting patiently at the front of the class with his arms folded in an authoritative manner. It was his instincts from his training. He was to always look intimidating and in control, thought that was easy enough to do when one stood a head taller than most of the students. The threat was somewhat diminished by his outfit however. Custom tailored pants, a short sleeved collared shirt, but not shoes. Also his shirt, while also custom ordered, had not been fitted with buttons one as large as Lelei could handle, so the couple bottom buttons weren't exactly done correctly.

One of the last students to enter before he started was a tiny, timid little waif of a boy. Lelei could barely hear what he was saying. Not that he needed an explanation of how the boy felt. The boy's shaking and scared looks told him enough, and Lelei chose to use the boy as an example.

"Nonsense! You are in JUST the right place, lad."

Lelei walked right up to the boy and gave him a hearty pat on the back, which had been downgraded from a full slap. With his hands weighing heavy on the boy's shoulder, Lelei lead him to the front of the class and stood tall and proud.

"Good day, young ones! I am Lelei 'A'amakualenalena. You may call me Lelei. I'm glad that you all came today because today is more than just about your powers or learning to defend yourself. Today is the day that all of you learn some self-confidence. Inner strength. Fortitude. A strong heart.

And to start, this young lad will stand tall and introduce himself in front of all you. Say it loud, young man, and make it proud!"

To let the boy have all the room he needed to express himself, Lelei had removed his hands from Alfredo's shoulders and took a good step back. The boy would have to stand on his own, though not in total solitude. Lelei would be there to make sure all eyes were on the boy, for better or worse, towering behind the young man like the predator that he was over the prey that Alfredo was.

When Alfredo finally worked up the nerve to introduce himself, Lelei clapped for him, which got the rest of the class to follow suit.

"Ah ha! Well done, Mr. Summers! Well done. Now that's what I want to see out of all of you today. A little volume and a little pomp. You all have it in you. You all--"

Lelei was cut off by the little hands of Alfredo. Craning to look down, Lelei got a good look at his own shirt, now fixed by the young boy in one motion.

"Why thank you, Mr. Summers. Very nice assertion there. Now please take a seat."

He smoothed out his shirt and stood at the front of the class again.

"Ahem. You all have the makings of greatness within you. and you just need the wherewithal to find, and the courage to make it so. Too often in my work as a peace officer do I see young people who are driven to two different positions out of a lack strength or conviction. They either become victims, prey for others, or they become the aggressors, scared youngsters driven to criminal acts to justify themselves.

For now we will focus on the former. So I ask of YOU!"

Lelei pointed a clawed finger at Sylvia.

"WHAT do you think is the secret to not being a victim?"

Suffice it to say, Lelei's speech-giving rhythm was disrupted by Sylvia not giving anything close to the kind of answer, or answers, he was looking for. It was a fairly open question, ready for interpretation and any number of answers that could or could not fit into the overall vibe he was trying to give out. But instead she showed that she had no been listening at all and proceeded to introduce herself like it was the first day of classes at the Academy. Lelei did what could have been interpreted as raising an eyebrow at her.

He crossed his arms at her response and question. But he did not look angry, per se. Miffed? Yes. But he was willing to cut the young woman some slack and repeat the question. That is, until Alfredo spoke up in Lelei's stead. That brought a bit of a smile to Lelei. Alfredo was showing initiative.

"That was the question indeed, Mr. Summers. But lets consider your answer for a moment.

It is true that avoiding trouble would technically keep you away from being a victim, but is it preventative? No. No it is not. Avoiding trouble only prolongs the time until it seeks you out and what then? No, there is a better answer. One that could also answer this next question, which I shall pose to Miss Cogman.

Miss Cogman! What is the secret to keeping yourself from a life of bullying and petty crime?"