Adventure: A Bowl of Mac & Cheese

The city of San Gabriel houses countless beings both mysterious and horrifying, but at times when one looks upon the supernatural they find themselves equally horrified and amused. In A Bowl of Mac & Cheese the intrigues of the Spring Court of Faerie come crashing into Martin Sullivan Middle School.
A Bowl of Mac & Cheese is a one-shot adventure recommended for Modern AGE in Pulpy Mode.

Plot points/Scenes

School Haze

Summary
Students at Martin Sullivan Middle School are acting unusually.
Scene Notes
At the beginning of the adventure there's a few likely encounters that will be summarized together here. Firstly, random students encountered by the PC's will act unusually unemotional for kids of their age. This is an excellent opportunity to point out that despite the school's lack of uniforms, most of the students are dressed eerily similarly, with plain shirts and no accessories or makeup in sight. When traveling between classes it should be noted that very few students seem to be rushing or chatting amongst themselves, mostly the walking directly to their classes. Virtually no one should be late. During this time, PC's may encounter janitor George and Mercedes, both of whom express concern with how the students have been acting of late, but the teachers seem to be mostly just be pleased with the lack of behavior issues. Deeper conversation with George or Mercedes will suggest that there may be outside influences affecting the population. George swears there's nothing wrong with the water fountains, but says he's not allowed to do any work in the kitchens by order of Brant. Mercedes is somewhat more conspiratorial, suggesting that the student body is being poisoned either intentionally or through criminal neglect. She'll suggest a few places it could be happening, including the HVAC system, the school's water, the food, or even something being introduced in the hallways and spread via skin contact. If school administartion is confronted, Fairweather will assure the PC's that any behavioral abnormalities compared to other schools are simply the result of their highly effective school policies and the lower expectations of other schools.
Action Notes
This scene is mostly an opportunity to determine how the PC's will engage with the school at large. If they're students they're going to be some of the few who haven't been affected by the start of the adventure, with the numbers of affected students having risen sharply in the past few weeks.
Obstacles
At this point the only real obstacles behing encountered are the administartors and teachers who aren't being terribly helpful. You may wish to share some early encounters with antagonistic characters to start building the relationships, but this scene could be as short or as long as your particular group prefers.

Investigations Begin

Summary
Exploring the possibilities of bad actors poisoning students in a manner which alters their behaviror, the PC's check a few places around campus.
Scene Notes
The PC's may choose to explore the suggested possibility of poison in a few different ways. Approaching the school administration, the school nurse, the lunch staff, or a teacher directly will result in the suggestion being soundly dismissed and, if the PC's are students, a reprimand for spreading such rumors. Exploring different areas of the school, may yield different results. The nurse's office could reveal messages from several concerned parents on the nurse's computer, but little else is found other than mention of Kevin having a food allergy. The kitchen staff refuse the PC's entry citing health code and assure them that all the food is prepared on campus and comes straight from the Wednesday delivery truck into the kitchen by their own staff so there's no chance of outside interference. The chemistry lab is a bust entirely, though it's a good opportunity to highlight some mild notes of concern from other teachers about the drammatic shift in student behavior. The custodian's office is accessed from the library which offers a couple possible encounters. If it's during school hours Mx. Brewer will offer feedback and answer questions to the best of their ability. Should the PC's eat at the school during this time, there is a possibilty one or more of them could beign to feel the strange effects happening to them that evenign as well, but do not directly connect it to the food unless they work it out for themselves.
Action Notes
Entering the school after hours is another possibility, which makes some information gathering more difficult, but comes with its own hazzards. For one thing, the school does have a security system and if the PC's trip the alarms they could face police interactions. If they avoid the security system, accessing the administration and nurse computers is significantly easier. However, if the PC's enter the library after hours they will encounter Kevin and a few others who will actively attack the PC's to hide their involvement.
Obstacles
If caught after hours in the school, Kevin and his allies can be very dangerous. While they are not physically imposing, they will use any resources at their disposal to try and dissuade the PC's attention. At first it'll be mostly verbal barbs, but if they are drawn into a physical conflict they'll improvise some potentially lethal weapons, including a hot soldering iron, varied caustic chemicals from the lab, and if it looks like the PC's will win Kevin himself will pull out a pistol. If defeated, they will claim they were put up to it by Nick Patrick. During the day, if the PC's are students and they begin pushing too hard with their investigations, Mr. Reagan will discipline the PC's for causing trouble and assign them all after school detention. If the PC's are outsiders he'll threaten to call in the campus police to deal with their unwanted presence on campus, which Mr. Fairweather will support.

The Dinner Club

Summary
Should the PC's be students who get detention or if they simply reenter the school after hours there is a chance they encounter a targeted bullying.
Scene Notes
This scene can play out wherever it fits nicely in the group's narrative, but essentially it's a targeted attack by Nick Patrick and his cronies. They'll threaten the PC's, but will only escalate to violence if the PC's are fellow students after hours or if the PC's swing first.
Action Notes
Mr. Reagan is the teacher monitoring the detention group, but before Nick shows up he'll leave to handle some "administrative matters" and he will not return until any brawl is concluded. In the event the PC's send the bullies running he'll try to involve the police. In the event the PC's are thoroughly roughed up before the bullies depart, message seemingly delivered, he'll simply dismiss it saying that they were probably looking for trouble when Nick and his friends came by.
Obstacles
It's clear that Nick and his goons are not behind anything that's going on, but they're also one of the only groups of students to not have any of them acting strangely. Indeed, if anything they're more violent because they seem like they've been waiting for an excuse. A couple of them will break out baseball bats in a fight. Defeating Nick without seriously injuring anyone will have him admitting he's giving them grief on behalf of an adult in the school, but Mr. Reagan will interrupt before he can name anyone. Losing to the bullies or defeating them by actively harming some/all of them will leave Nick refusing to talk, whether out of smugness or outrage.

Lounge Lizzard

Summary
During the school day, if the PC's are students they may be pulled aside into the teacher's lounge by Mercedes only to be met with a huge surprise. If PC's are outsiders, consider luring them into the lounge as a different NPC depending on their relationships up to this point.
Scene Notes
So far the events at the school have all been relatively mundane, but when the PC's join Mercedes in the teacher's lounge the door will lock itself and the one who seemed to be Mercedes will change into lunch lady Pauleen, but with horrifying, inhuman features. 
Action Notes
This encounter should only happen after the PC's have continued to dig into the scenario after their encounter with Nick and his goons.
Obstacles
Pauleen is a serious threat and this time there's no mistaking that she's aiming to kill. She will use magic to seal the lounge, limiting movement options and will otherwise leverage her fey anatomy to harm the PC's. The lounge is warded so no others will even notice that something is happening, so feel free to let things get loud. If they manage to greviously wound her, Pauleen will attempt to escape through the ceiling tiles and disappear. As soon as she leaves the room, or if she dies, the magic sealing the room will vanish and any damage the attack caused will be visible to anyone who enters.

Pep Rally

Summary
It's time to get some students emotional again!
Scene Notes
If the PC's have tracked down the cause of the abnormalities and brought Mercedes in, or even managed to turn Nick to their side, the school's Pep Rally will become an opportunity to break through the effects of they fey food that's been draining the kids. Some may break free, but Brant will open the concession stand for free to attempt to counter these effects, drawing more students' energy to himself and ultimately turning his magic on the PC's.
Action Notes
Mercedes will be able to dig up some information on the fey from her research and will try to counteract the effects by adding some supernatural ingredients to the water that fuels the school's sprinkler system and then setting it off. This will have the unintended side effect of whipping the previously docile kids into a Bacchanalian frenzy.
Obstacles
Brant is the real obstacle here, coming out to flex his own magical muscle (while remaining discreet), but if the students end up in a frenzy things will devolve into chaos swiftly.

Epilogue

Summary
Curse you meddling kids (or outsider adults who got involved)!
Scene Notes
In the end there's a few ways things can play out. The PC's could expose the cafeteria staff as poisoning the kids (written off in the media as malicious neglect to line their own pockets with the excess food budget), fight Brant directly, or the school burning down in a student riot (attributed to an outbreak of drug use by the media). In all circumstances, Brant is defeated and loses his job at the school, swearing revenge personally on each PC.

Themes

While the outward plot of the adventure centers around Brant and his motivations of climbing the ladder of the SCoF, the deeper element to the adventure is the idea that adults frequently use children to improve their own self worth or achieve their own goals regardless of the damage that does to the children so used. There's a reflection of the callousness of present-day society toward the suffering of young people and the fact that even those who aren't actively causing harm are frequently so uncaring as to end up oblivious to the harm that's openly being done becuase they prefer quiet, obedient children over healthy, happy ones. Only a small number of adults should actually exhibit meaningful support of the students, and while most outside Brant's group won't be openly harmful they should be shown as dismissive toward any concerns brought to them to help reflect the subtext. This is doubly reinforced if the PC's choose to play as students at the school rather than outsiders, but it is still possible to reflect the same kids-must-help-themselves theme by showing the bulk of the adult NPC's brushing off the concerns that would've brought outsider PC's to the school in the first place. Think of this whole thing as a reflection of the present-day experience of bullying in most US schools.

Components

Hooks

Here are a few plot hooks that may draw your players into the adventure:
If the players choose to play as students at MSMS

• 1 or more PC's friends are acting unusually dry and unemotional
• PC has been experiencing difficulty doing a creative activity they enjoy (art, writing, music, etc.)
• PC has noticed odd activity in the lunchroom
• PC had a very strange encounter with one of the lunchroom staff
• PC is a friend of Mercedes who's been encouraging others to help her investigate the kitchen staff

If the players choose to play as outsiders

• PC's are hired by a concerned parent to investigate due to their child's seeming lack of emotion (concerned about abuse, mental health)
• PC's are reporters/staff an an investigative reporting publication and they've gotten a tip something's going on at MSMS
• Word is spreading about a middle school which has completely eliminated behavior issues among their students
• There are whispers among fey circles that all is not well in the Spring Court of Faerie and that one of the princes is hiding out in the city
• An unnamed party has placed a bounty on the head of Brant or one of his servants

Stakes

Here are a few motivations for PC's involved in this adventure:

• Concern for the health and safety of the students
• Interest in the machinations of the SCoF
• Opportunity for recognition in stopping what's happening

Red Herrings

The school administartion are not only uninvolved in the events at the school, but are in fact completely unaware of any issues.

Relations

Allies

Mercedes St. James

she/her
The headstrong student body chairperson, Mercedes is an extremely driven young woman who considers it her responsibility to protect the students from abuse. While this has historically meant fighting against bullying or unjust school policies, she sees no distinction between those situations and what Brant is doing to her classmates. In fact, she initially believes that Brant is simply an adult to enjoys bullying and demoralizing kids to make himself feel superior. Practical to a fault, if confronted with the supernatural she will demand evidence but once she's convinced she can be a useful ally, even going so far as to rally other students to actually fight against the fey.

Janitor George Helms

he/him
George is an older man and doesn't really understand what's been going on, but he cares a great deal about the kids' well-being and will help however he thinks he can. He is also deeply distrustful of the administration, believing them all to be self-serving politicians who only care about their own careers.

Mx. Chris Brewer

they/them
Mx. Brewer is the school librarian and has managed to remain so despite repeated conflicts between themself and the school administration. Open minded and dedicated to protecting students from harm, Brewer is a fantastic ally and will gladly provide a safe haven for student PC's. However, Brewer is completely unwilling to entertain any thoughts of the supernatural and should such suggestions be brought to them they'll direct the PC's to the science books in the nonfiction section to clear up the obvious misunderstanding.

Neutrals/Bystanders

Principal Allan Fairweather

he/him
Allan Fairweather is a career man who is always focused on the school's reputation and standing within the district. When initially approached, whether the PC's are students or outsiders, Fairweather will spin any narrative to make the school like good as well as any career politician. While he does not condone any actions which would harm children, and will intervene if a physical altercation breaks out in his presence, he is also wilfully of no help in any investigation.

Mr. Harold Perry

he/they
Mr. Perry teaches history and is an excellent example of a teacher who is oblivious to what's going on at the school. He disbelieves any rumors about things happening in the school and while he is not an obstacle to PC's he also has little relevant information to share. He will however confide in other adults that he doesn't care for the lunchroom staff so if the PC's are at a complete loss of where to go he may be a solution to help get them on the path forward.

Ms. Nicole Ritchie

she/her
Ms. Ritchie teaches english and will actively deny there's anything questionable happening at the school. Despite her overtly bubbly mannerisms the PC's will likely be able to surmise that her goal at the school is not to teach but to move up to administration and advance her career prospects. She's also the faculty liason to the student council and does have a soft spot for Mercedes, so with luck she could be persuaded to help a group working with Mercedes to root out "a bully." Any mention of the supernatural will result in her dismissing the PC's and admonishing Mercedes.

Adversaries

Brant

he/him
Fey prince of the Spring Court of Faerie and kitchen manager at Martin Sullivan Middle School, Brant appears as a middle aged human male with thinning hair, a beer gut, and an extremely condescending attitude.

Corwyn

he/him
One of the fey servants of Brant and lunchroom staff at Martin Sullivan Middle School.

Marcas

he/him
One of the fey servants of Brant and lunchroom staff at Martin Sullivan Middle School.

Pauleen

she/her
One of the fey servants of Brant and lunchroom staff at Martin Sullivan Middle School.

Leman

they/them
One of the fey servants of Brant and lunchroom staff at Martin Sullivan Middle School.

Mr. Nathaniel Reagan

he/him
Economics teacher at Martin Sullivan Middle School. Nathaniel Reagan discovered Brant's true identity a while back and has since been working for him with the promise of financial reward when Brant takes his place at the head of the Spring Court. He is a callous and spiteful man who despises that life left him with no better option than teaching at a middle school and he aims that resentment directly at the kids. While he hides it well enough for the administration, if he is put into a direct conflict with the PC's he will attach student PC's and outsider PC's with equal viciousness. 

Nick Patrick

he/him
The unofficial leader of the jocks of Martin Sullivan Middle School, Nick is both a bully and an asshole, but he's also smarter than most want to give him credit for. This is a dangerous combination.

Kevin Dawson

he/him
A student at Martin Sullivan Middle School, routinely bullied and generally considered unpopular, but also exhibiting a deeply spiteful personality and a general sense of misogyny that makes it difficult for any of his classmates to empathize with him.