The Reset Button

Remedial control class. It was a necessary part of the gym teacher’s job, as there seemed to be just as many if not more students who didn’t possess control over the forces within them. Plus, it was a sort of detention program for the misbehaving students he had to deal with day-to-day. Fortunately this time that didn’t seem to be the case. Though it was a pathetic sort of ‘sorry’ for the rest of the school to make up for a tragic accident a few months prior, at least the student in question wasn’t a bad seed per se. In fact, following the incident he seemed even less so. It was… Disheartening, to say the least.

”C’mon Oliver, you ain’t got nothin’ ta be afraid of…”

The man’s broad palms held out in front of him, as if to quell the boy opposite of where he faced. Except… This wasn’t the boy in question. At least not as he usually appeared. Towering over him was a parasaurolophus, as if it had stepped forward in time 76 million years. It was very much alive, and very much fully grown. A threat, hadn’t it been he was a herbivore. And in full control, for once.

”You can hear me, right?”

The dinosaur looked at him, its head lowering in confirmation. It stepped slowly forward, hesitantly, towards his teacher to show that he was in possession of this beastly body. In turn, Leeroy smiled, folding his arms in suit. ”Alright. Good. Now a few other students are probably gonna come in soon cuz ma other class is bout ta start… S’gonna be okay. I promise.” He hoped so. Guilt already welled up inside of him because of what he could have prevented. He was his teacher. He was supposed to save him from himself. And only now did the boy receive the training he really did need, after he had nearly torn up the campus and destroyed the lives of a few. But his powers weren’t the only things that needed to be patched up. Though he was feeling better than he was a few weeks ago, Oliver still felt that nagging fear of himself, the fear of the unknown.

Oliver grunted, his reptilian head pointed towards the entrance. He whined an unnatural sound, to which Mr. Bradshaw patted his side in comfort. Whoever were to walk in would meet with an easygoing class. Already the day had been hectic, and he didn’t want any other disasters to occur any time soon. Hopefully, it would stay that way.​

While his teacher was preparing for the next class, Oliver found himself lost in his mind in terms of getting his bearings. Alright... So far, so good. If he lost control at this point he couldn't imagine much happening, besides perhaps his host body wandering to decimate a tree or something for food. He really was a gentle giant in this state, in and out of power. Even still, he had to concentrate. Don't let anything happen. You can do this, okay? Oliver assured to himself mentally, the dinosaur he possessed in turn breathing slowly. Yeah... He had this. Now time to actually be comfortable once around others like him.

Fortunately this prayer was answered at an alarmingly convenient time. The door had swung open, standing in it another student, the girl looking not too terribly older than Oliver. As the dinosaur stood on its hind legs to see a bit better (even like this his eyesight was not up to par), the gym teacher approached to wave the student in. He smiled. "Ah, ya must be here for ma powers class right?" Just to make sure. He didn't want to think the poor girl was lost now. "C'mon in, you're just in time." He turned back for a moment to look at Oliver, before glancing at the girl. She looked like she needed some answers, and honestly he wouldn't have blamed her.

"What's yer name, by the way? I'm Mister Bradshaw." He heard a grunt behind him, a noise considerably sweet for a mammoth lizard. At least he was trying to be friendly. "Oh... And this here's Oliver. He ain't usually like this, trust me."​

Good. At least another student showed up. Out of all the classes at the academy Leeroy felt this was the one kids liked to skip out the most. Second place being his gym class. No matter. He figured it might have been embarrassing for some to have to come here. Maybe so for the older kids, but this girl looked to be no older than Oliver. It usually were the younger ones that had to learn a thing or two, even if they were already proficient in what they had. He nodded. ”Great. I’m just gonna give ya a few tips or whatnot, or if ya just wanna practice that’s fine too. Either way, he still could find a way to help. Or at least try to.

”It’s nice ta meetcha too, Miss Mansmasher300.” That was.. An interesting name. He’d heard a lot over his years though, so he wasn’t going to say anything regarding this. Not if he valued his job, at least. ”So, just what can ya do powerwise? Shapeshiftin, psychic powers, elemental stuff… It’s okay if ya wanna leave out details or whatever, but I can cover most bases.” He then looked to Oliver again, who sided beside the teacher and looked way down upon the smaller girl. It was sort of hard for him to adjust to being 16 feet tall. ”Oliver’s a dinosaur shapeshifter. He’s a parasaur… I can’t even pronounce it. But he can turn into different things. And that’s what I’m here to control.” He said almost gravely. He wondered if the other girl had heard of the incident from a couple of months prior. No matter. This school was all about new beginnings. He hoped it would be the same for the girl in front of him, however long she may have been at the academy.​

Just as Leeroy was finished getting to know his other pupil, it seemed that even more students were piling up in the room. Of course, this was a great thing. He looked at Mansmasher3000 before nodding, taking a mental note of what she could do. "Ice powers huh? Well, I got some experience with that. In no time, you could make yourself an igloo if ya wanted." That much he had confidence in. As a teacher of this he wanted to break kids out of their shell, and ultimately help them in developing as individuals. That included making something wonderful out of their powers, and using it to teach others. It was like a cycle, save for the middle step for Leeroy. In all honesty, he was still very much disgusted by his own abilities, yet saw intrigue in others. He was an emotionless man it seemed though, so this wasn’t a fact often conveyed to others.

Just then, his thoughts were shattered when a dark-haired girl yelled in panic. "Hey! S’okay! He wouldn’t harm a fly!" He called back. It was true though. At least, he wouldn’t intentionally. Oliver too became wary, but that was due to the reactions of other students. Once more he stood on all fours, tucking his crested head down with almost a whimpering noise escaping him. This was going well. But before he could indulge into his regrets further his teacher took lead again, gesturing the people forth. One such student, a cat-eared boy, approached him, voicing his apprehension and goals. Polite too. To that, the gym teacher smiled. "Well young man, dontcha worry. I’ll help ya in anyway I can." With that he looked up to the class, and in a louder voice, directed "Alright everyone, ta make this easier y’all are gonna stand side-by-side right here in front of me. I wantcha ta tell me your name if ya haven’t introduced yourself yet, what ya can do with your power, how ya got that power iff’n ain’t too personal, and your goals are for tha class. Not just ‘ta get better’, either. Surely it would be cool to save a burnin’ buildin or collect tha Nobel peace prize, right?"

A chuckle erupted from his throat as he looked to Oliver. He gestured with his head to run back to his office, to which the dinosaur agreed with a nod. It began to lumber over to a fortunately quite large doorway, before entering the half closed door with a bit of a struggle. He then turned back to the class. "I’m gonna go first. I’m Mr. Bradshaw, I hope ta use my powers to teach others about their own, I was born with em, and as for ma power specifically… Well, let’s jist keep that a surprise, hm?" That would certainly be a lesson on its own. He breezed a glance over the small crowd before piping back in with ”Who's next?"​